Kaito '84 #4
Marcell Hines
Recap
Forced into an impossible alliance, Kait? and Tomoe now face the ultimate test. To escape a sacred shrine, they must overcome three ancient trials designed to push their courage, intellect, and compassion to the absolute limit. With monstrous guardians and spectral demons at every turn, their only hope for survival is each other. But is a partnership between a thief and a cop strong enough to endure a final test designed to break them apart?
Review
Kaito and Inspector Tomoe Ame are whisked away by Sasuke to a mystical temple in order to prepare for the imminent arrival of Jei. What awaits them in this mysterious place are three trials that are set to test their minds, bodies, and spirits in ways they never imagined.
After the events of the last issue, Kaito, Ame, and Gen are whisked away to prepare for the revival of Jei and for the most part this issue is just one big set of action scenes. The whole trial thing is thrown out immediately in favor of Ame and Kaito just barreling through the trials on the way to their goal and while that’s fun, it doesn’t do that much in the way of deepening the pair’s characters any, especially in the wake of Kaito and Yukichi’s fallout last issue.
Zack Rosenberg has some moments to build on Kaito and Ame’s relationship via dialogue and actions, but this issue is mostly where Jared Cullum’s talents are on full display. He brings a visual feast that has some of the best sequences in the series so far. Ame is easily the star of the show as Cullum beautifully illustrates her excellent sword skills, and she even saves Kaito a couple of times. Without her Kaito would have quickly become rabbit stew.
Final Thoughts
Despite not having much in the way of compelling dialogue or character progression, the penultimate issue of Kaito '84 more than makes up for it in the action department. Next time we see how it all will end.
Kaito ’84 #4: Temple Run
- Writing - 7/107/10
- Storyline - 8.5/108.5/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10
