This eighth volume of +Anima continues the adventures of the characters introduced in the first volume: Cooro, the cheerfully impetuous crow-winged boy; Husky, the sulky hot-headed mer-boy who can't stand girls; Senri, the silent older youth whose right-arm is that of a bear; and Nana, the chatty bat-winged girl who main defense is her ultrasonic scream. This volume takes up the story with the flashback into Senri's past and then back to the present with Cooro, Nana and Senri's quest to find and rescue Husky. And we finally learn a lot of the secrets of Husky's past, including revelations about his family and of who Husky is.
There are six stories in this volume. The first one concludes the flashback to Senri's past that ended the previous volume on a cliffhanger. The other five pick things up with the kids' adventures in Sailand as they try to find and rescue Husky. In "Stella", we learn how Senri got the eyepatch that helps him keep his wild +anima under control and how he came to be separated from Lady Crystala. And Husky learns that he's to be sold to Lord Hercius, the court painter of Sailand, which causes him to worry. In "The Green Mansion", Husky has been sold to Lord Hercius, but in disguise. In spite of the disguise, Lord Hercius notes that something about Husky seems strangely familiar. But the other kids find Husky and rescue him, even though Husky for some reason doesn't want to go. In "Midnight Confession", Husky finally reveals who his mother and father are and who he really is. The other kids want to help him see his mother but it's difficult. However they unexpectedly get an offer of help from Kazana, the eagle +anima youth who leads the rebel +animas in Sailand. In "Royal Palace Mystery Tour", the kids, helped by Kazana, sneak into the royal palace where Husky is recognized by a boy they run into, who reacts as if he's seen a ghost. In "Stairway Capture", the kids are discovered and must flee but end up being captured... by Husky's mother. In the sixth story, "Black Talons", Husky and his mother have their reunion, but then the unexpected happens when Kazana reappears and kidnaps the king of Sailand, who we discover has a connection to Lady Crystala.
The stories in this series, even after eight volumes, just keep getting better. This is a really great manga series with great characters and a truly interesting set of plot lines that keep yielding surprises. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys this genre.
