Title: Astro Royale Vol. 2
Author: Ken Wakui
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 213
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Publication Date: October 7, 2025
The Story
We open up with a side adventure. A police officer named Gen rushes up to them, stating that a haunted mansion filled with ghost thieves is going around and robbing people. They even took his gun! Hibari and crew head there to investigate, where they are attacked by a giant head and some sort of sticky substance. When things were looking down, we were introduced to a new character, a girl named Kinpa. For some reason, the powers that affected them have no effect on her. After they figure out the trick behind the “ghosts,” they are able to dispatch the thieves and recover the stolen goods.
When they return, they help with some clean-up work around the city. This leaves them famished, so they hold a cooking battle. While it was fun, we got another new character, Torazo (Tora, for short), at the end of it. Tora is the third-in-command of the family and the one who heads up the Roppongi branch. He reveals that Shio’s Hawk Faction has targeted their headquarters, and he’s on a mission to put an end to them, so, naturally, Hibaru wants to tag along.
As they head off to face Shio, Hibaru is given the duty of riding on the car’s hood to act as a lookout. He falls asleep and, in turn, falls off the car. When he wakes, he finds a little girl named Nono who has the power to use a bookmark to make four-leaf clovers. She’s on her way to the hospital to visit her mother, but suddenly, they are attacked by a member of the Hawk faction named Senei Kariyazaki, who has the power to extend his fingernails as if they were razor-sharp blades. Tora and the others circle back and chase him off. After they continue on, they meet Senei again at a checkpoint. Tora gets out and single-handedly wrecks their day.
After a stop at the hospital and dropping Nono off at public safety, it’s off to confront Shio, but it won’t be easy getting to the final boss. They have to contend with Kiyochika Gido, Shio’s underboss advisor and Hawk faction executive. He has the power to control ants and have them form a massive kaiju version of an ant itself. As they battle, we learn a bit about Hibaru’s resolve and some backstory with Terasu. Towards the end of the battle, Shio himself shows up, and our volume comes to an end.
Characters
As expected of Ken Wakui, we have a ton of new characters this time around!
First up, we have Kinpa Yobana. She’s Ginji’s daughter and a childhood friend of Hibaru and Terasu. Apparently, Hibaru has a soft spot for her because she claims that he’s always hugging her. Her power is quite handy as she can turn invisible with a make-up kit as her link. She has a bit of a tomboy personality and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. In fact, when it came to the ghost mission, she was braver than almost all of them combined. Even though she shows a tough exterior, she’s quite the sweetheart. Given what we saw, I can already tell there might be a romantic thing between her and Hibaru in the future.
Next, we have Torazo Yotsurugi. He’s the third adoptee, third in command, and head of the Roppongi branch. His link is a special glove that enhances his already inhuman strength. He doesn’t like Shio and has a “don’t turn your back on your friends” aura to him. Even though Hibaru is the heir, and Terasu is the boss, he still treats them as equals, not letting rank faze him. Still, he has their back at all times and cares deeply about the family. A very solid character that you feel as if you can put your trust in. I like him, too, because even though he’s insanely strong, he doesn’t act like a brainless meathead!
Nono is a little girl whose mother is sick. Her father passed away, so she doesn’t truly have anyone. Her power is to create four-leaf clovers using a bookmark as her link. She’s just a cute and innocent kid that you want to hug. I’m not sure if we’ll see more of her later, but she did get dropped off in the care of our next character…
Sakura Hijikata is a public safety division detective who has her hands full since the disaster struck. She was initially going to reject watching Nono for them; however, after Tora showed up, she changed her tune, considering that the two of them are old friends. While she seems like a minor character for now, she could become a bit more involved in the future. We’ll have to see.
Next, we have Kiyochika Gido, who has a high level of gratitude for Shio. In his backstory, it showed how he used to be bullied because he had misshapen teeth. Because of this ridicule, he viewed people as ants. Shio gave him a mouthguard, which became his link, allowing him to control ants to various degrees. As long as Shio needs something, Gido is there to provide it for him. His loyalty to Shio is beyond measure in saving him from the life he had. While the backstory wasn’t anything Earth-shattering, it does build a case for him for the way he turned out. It works for what it is.
Next, we have Shunichiro Fudo and Kanjiro Fudo. They are identical twins who are directly under Towa. Their unique ability is that they can transfer items between themselves, which helps Towa get his link back. Right now, there’s not too much known about them except that they are loyal to Towa, and that will allow them to be powerful allies for Hibaru.
And now that we’ve got all of the new characters out of the way, we can talk a bit about Terasu’s development. We learned that he used to be under Shio and his Hawks faction; however, after he received some orders from his mother, there seems to be an ulterior motive with him. When you think that motive might be detrimental, we also discover how he met Hibaru, and how that meeting changed his entire outlook on things. It’s a pretty interesting backstory… one that might have been planting some seeds for a future plot point, or maybe it was squashed here and now. We’ll see.
Final Thoughts
This volume had a lot to take in. We were given a ton of new characters; however, I think this might end up being our main cast for a while. Then again, Hibaru’s goal was to round up as many people as possible to fight back against Shio, but with Shio appearing at the very end, I’m sure this series isn’t about to call it a day this soon… (checks notes)… I’m sure this series is heading towards its conclusion as it’s set to end in just four more volumes!
So, even though this is set to be a short series, I can’t see them winning here against Shio. I can see them realizing the level of power they are dealing with, only to fall back and formulate a plan. If Shio were to fall in the third volume, that would make me wonder what would be left to tell story-wise, as nothing else has been set up. To develop something new for the final three volumes wouldn’t seem all too natural, so I’m guessing we’ll see a fallback and a regroup.
The action in this volume was pretty good. Tora is just an insanely overpowered character, but at least they showed that he did have some weaknesses (albeit not many). I did like the character development here, but for such a short series, I feel as if Ken Wakui is just unloading everyone all at once without letting us have time to breathe and get to know them. It’s almost like a Tokyo Ghoul scenario where I feel the need to break out a spreadsheet just to keep track of them all. If this is the last of the introductions, though, and this is our crew moving forward, I think that would make things even out a bit more.
Still, a great follow-up to the debut volume. Let’s see where it goes and how it can wrap up.
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
