Volume 3 continues Konosuke and Aki’s journey in their search for Tsuki. New enemies and new revelations are abound as they fight to save all their futures and hopefully live to see their fates come true.

Brutal. Some of the scenes are so violently drawn if you know what I mean. This art does not shy away from the gory at all. So do be warned.

The story is shaping up to be very typical to me. Meet one enemy, defeat them, get a new ally, move on. I also miss the romance aspect from volume 1 but hopefully that will return in the future. Or who knows, maybe that’ll be the last chapter at the end of the series. There’s only one way to find out.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC of this book to read and review.

This was a one-note volume. Nothing really seemed to move and the bugs and violence in this one were incredibly gross and off-putting for me. We get a LOT of background on the Bug Baddy, I guess to make her seem sympathetic and understandable to the reader, but it was too much for a minor level bad guy that didn't have a lot to do with the plot, unless her existence ties in somewhere in a future volume.

The only thing I liked about it was the vision we see at the end of the book. That was pretty cool, but too little too late to save this from being both "meh" and "icky" to me. The pacing was off, it dragged too much. I was unable to follow the action scenes, so glossed over them in a state of confusion and annoyance. All me reading this wrong, I have been in a bit of a reading slump recently.

I do want to read further in the series, I want to see the samurai get his girl back, but I will be looking forward to it with cautious optimism rather than the bated breath I had for the last few volumes.

2, it's probably me take this review with a grain of salt, stars.

Konosuke and Aki the Ichido fight off a band of assassins masquerading as performers, and finally make it out of Konosuke's house. Even though they don't have a travel permit, they decide to go after Tsuki anyway. They are almost immediately attacked by Madara, a terrifying gifted being who controls all manner of deadly bugs. She has had a tragic life full of persecution in her village and has a fierce loyalty to Haretake of the Tsuchimikado clan who have been ordered to kill Konosuke. As he is ferociously attacked, Konosuke starts to unlock some of his power and control over metal in order to save himself and Aki.

There is tons of action in this volume as Konosuke and Aki escape one battle only to be thrown into another. Konosuke has a little bit of development as he steps further into this world of supernatural people, but we didn't really get time enough to delve fully into why Aki is helping Konosuke because they keep getting interrupted. Hopefully, they'll get a moment in the next volume where she can fully explain to him what happened so it's not just the readers who are in on it. There is also an attempted rape in Madara's backstory, so this volume earns its older teen rating yet again.

​Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Volume 3 of Steel of the Celestial Shadows continues the story very well. We're getting more information on who the Big Bad of the story might be, and we meet a new villain who has the ability to control bugs. This particular volume is not for those who dislike bugs. In additional content warnings, there's one panel alluding to sexual assault as well. The main "fight" presents our hero with a possible end game, which leads to a new application for his effect on steel. I'm looking forward to the fourth volume.

This is a fun next volume in this series. I really liked the bug lady and her story, and I am glad Konosuke is starting to understand his powers. I look forward to the next volume.

I hate bugs, so the villain of this volume was definitely not for me. I'm still intrigued about what exactly is going on, but I'm starting to feel less so. There didn't seem to be any progress in this volume.