Title: Mujina Into the Deep Vol. 3
Author: Inio Asano
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 199
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Dystopian, Action
Publication Date: December 16, 2025
The Story
We begin by catching up with Mai. She pays a visit to Reiya at the club, and it’s almost as if she’s saying goodbye. Shortly after, she receives an assignment. She is to battle in a duel to settle a dispute between a husband and wife’s divorce. Mai feels pretty confident that she’ll come out on top… that is, until she sees that her opponent is Tenko.
After this, we join Kashio and Lin as they go over some of the information involving the Happy Club case. Kashio decides to do a little extra digging and visits Ubume. He cuts her a deal by telling her that she could be targeted, but if she cooperates, he’ll do his best to throw everyone off her trail. She doesn’t provide much information, but she does provide a clue that happens to be a breakthrough. Kashio receives high praise, but also shares it with Lin, which confuses him. Lin then gets summoned to a private, off-the-record meeting where he seems to be progressing the case in his own way and for his own self-interests.
From here, we shift to Ubume as she’s facing a bit of a crisis as a mujina. She feels that her mind is keeping up with her in battle, but her limbs are lagging. She talks to the underground doctor about it, but he doesn’t exactly offer her any encouraging news. He even brings Terumi in to tell him what he believes is going on, which is quite unsettling. Just when things are about to calm down, some shady men visit them. They are the ones who tried to prostitute Juno, and they came to get her back. Terumi offers to settle matters on his own, but it doesn’t exactly go so easily. Because of what happened to him, Ubume swears that she will kill them all!
Characters
The biggest development here came with Ubume. She’s beginning to understand that she has limitations, but she cannot understand why. Of course, the doctor tells her that it’s because she’s developing feelings and emotions. She’s supposed to be the invincible mujina assassin, but she’s thinking and acting more like a human these days, and that’s why she feels as if her limbs are drowning and she can’t move well during battle. Even though she is experiencing these limitations, she gets fired up when she wants to avenge Terumi. Whether or not something like this will restore her ways as an assassin remains to be seen, but the human side of her is taking control, and that is definitely a problem for her… especially when she still needs to pay back her debt and get Juno her human rights card back.
Kashio also received a lot of development. During a rather intimate moment with Tenko, she reveals that he has a rather nasty scar over his left eye. He tells his backstory about how he used to be tortured and was saved by a mujina. That mujina later died, and he never figured out who murdered her. Since then, he’s been kind of a double agent. He’s been using his position as a public servant to try to protect mujina as best as possible to honor the one who saved him. Of course, no one at the office suspects any of this, but he does need to be careful because it wouldn’t end well for him if his true intentions were discovered. Still, even if he has to play the role of bad cop sometimes, it’s nice to know the mujina do have a protector out there.
Final Thoughts
This was another good volume. It opened up with a bit of a somber moment with Mai and Reiya, then brought us back into the world of mujina with Ubume going on an assignment. What was kind of disgusting was that she got paid over 6 million yen for her job, and all but 600,000 was taken for the debt that she had to pay back. I mean, as long as Terumi is helping her out and letting her live with him, I guess the pittance will suffice, and it’ll just get her debt resolved faster, right? I do like the human aspect to Ubume, though. Even if that means her future as a mujina is in jeopardy. Still, I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a detriment as we think. This is a classic story plot where a character will morph and change until they adapt to their newfound personality and/or philosophies, becoming stronger than before. Then again, this is an Inio Asano work we are talking about here, so there is a good chance none of that happens.
Juno is a bit too carefree, though, and she almost paid for that when her former captors showed up looking to take her back. It looks like she will be enjoying that carefree life a little less from now on, but with Ubume on the job, there’s a good chance that will be protected. Either that, or Ubume will suffer another setback, which is also a good possibility.
All I know is that this volume was a bit slower than the second, but it is setting up things for the long run. Sometimes, you need to let things breathe to build up the bigger moments in the future, and this volume did exactly that. There were enough seeds planted for much bigger plot points down the line, some of which look to have a huge impact on the series overall. It’ll be interesting to see how they continue and what those moments will look like. Again, this is an Inio Asano work, so I wouldn’t expect anything heartwarming or glamorous!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
