Title: Boy’s Abyss Vol. 11
Author: Ryo Minenami
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 201
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Drama
Publication Date: October 28, 2025
The Story
This will probably be one of my shorter reviews because Volume 11 of Boy’s Abyss continues to flesh out Esemori’s complete backstory until it is complete. This is a pure character development entry into the series, but there is a little something to talk about without going into deep spoilers.
While we were listening to Esemori explain everything to Reiji, we got some scenes in between with Reiji’s mother and Ms. Shiba. Although we do not know the circumstances yet for his involvement, Reiji’s mother invited Gen’s father over to her home to have a discussion with her and Ms. Shiba. The goal is to “prepare the town for Reiji’s return,” as she has a plan to bring him back to Tokyo, but we do not yet know what that plan is. We do know that she’s gone insane by “adopting” Ms. Shiba as her new daughter and making her part of the family.
Characters
Outside of Reiji’s mother’s plan, this was all about Esemori. It explained how he became an author, what happened with his relationship with Shinooka, further explanation of his relationship with Reiji’s mother, why he returned to town with Nagi, and everything else in between. We finally get the complete picture with him, and on top of that, we also get a shocking revelation that reopens an old question. There was a lot of depth here for Esemori that paints a picture of tragedy. Since around 95% of this volume is the conclusion to Esemori’s backstory, I’ll let you guys read it to discover it for yourselves as it was an incredible read.
Final Thoughts
As I said, this was probably going to be a very short review due to the sheer number of spoilers that would be revealed had I discussed Esemori’s backstory in-depth. Sometimes, a volume of manga will do that, making it difficult to talk about without ruining it for those who haven’t read it yet.
But I will reiterate that Esemori’s backstory was incredible. To date, he has become one of the most fleshed-out characters in the series. He’s very similar to Reiji in the sense that tragedy, misfortunate, and regret follow him wherever he goes, but unlike Reiji, he was able to escape from the town. While you may wonder how that is, given how he returned with Nagi, all of that is explained. Escaping didn’t come without a price; however, as there were a lot of things he sacrificed and left behind, and yet, his mother’s death still pulled him back in. The difference between Esemori and Reiji is that we saw even after his return, he had the will and the freedom to leave and go back to Tokyo… a luxury Reiji hasn’t quite earned yet.
I am not sure how much longer Esemori has, though. His cancer is progressing, and the mere fact that he just poured his heart out and exposed his entire life to Reiji, along with the reason why he did so, tells us his time is close. Now that we’ve gotten to know him, and that all of the death flags have been planted, I fully expect us to say goodbye to Esemori in the next volume. What effect his death will have on Reiji remains to be seen, but I have a feeling he might return to the town despite his mother and Ms. Shiba’s psychotic efforts.
Another phenomenal volume! I can’t recommend this series enough. It’s November 2025 when I wrote this review, which means my Manga of the Year column will be coming up next month (or it’s already out of you’re reading this in 2026 and beyond). My only regret is that I won’t be picking this series due to my rule of only nominating series that debuted in 2025… otherwise… this would win with no questions asked. I love this series that much!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
