Grand Guignol Orchestra, Vol. 4

人形宮廷楽団 [Guignol Kyūtei Gakudan] #4

by Kaori Yuki

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audience T+.

Lucille loves heading up the traveling Grand Orchestra, roving from town to town entertaining the masses and making money. But now the musicians have met their toughest audience: people infected with the Guignol Virus, turning them into zombie dolls intent on killing all humans!

Stigmate

The Grand Orchestra is wanted for the murder of Duke Rhodonite, and being on the run is causing the group to fracture. Can Lucille keep his band together, or will the rogues take this opportunity to go their own way? And if the Grand Orchestra dissolves, who is left to face Le SÉnat?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Horror, Comics, Gothic, Graphic Novels, Shojo

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Kaori Yuki (由貴香織里) is a Japanese manga artist.

She debuted in 1987 with Natsufuku no Erii (Jap: 夏服のエリー) on the manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha.
She is best known for her gothic manga works, such as the Earl Cain series (Jap: 伯爵カイン, Hakushaku Cain) and Angel Sanctuary (Jap: 天使禁猟区, Tenshi Kinryōku)

Her work is typically serialized in one of Hakusensha's two shōjo manga anthologies, Bessatsu Hana to Yume and Hana to Yume. In 2010, Kaori Yuki was one of many manga artists whose work would appear in the new shōjo manga anthology Aria by the publisher Kodansha on July 28, 2010.
Her doujinshi-ka name is MoonClock.

Reviews

[Mizuki]

In vol. 4, the violinist of the Orchestra must confront his haunting past as a former rebel while the rest of the crew must come toe to toe with the powerful, mysterious Senatus, a group of four elites who had been in power for the past 100 years?

The setting about the Senators and their secrets are pretty intriguing, I do like this volume a lot!

[endeavoursofvic]

Royal Doll Orchestra 4: 4.5 Stars
[7.24 - Amazing!]

Okay... I am totally here for all of this. Very excited for the final volume.
And I guess... we now offically have genderqueer characters? I mean - that's one hell of a step up from what I thought we were gonna get so... I am down.

[Liz Weasleyhead]

Ehrlich gesagt war das der mit Abstand schlechteste Teil bisher aus der Reihe. Während des Lesens fühlte es sich für mich so an, als würde ich sehr wichtige Details überlesen. Ständig habe ich Seiten mehrmals gelesen und sogar zurück geblättert. Mir war die Geschichte (besonders die Backstory von Kohaku) in diesem Band einfach zu oberflächlich, wirkte total gehetzt und fehl am Platz.
Ich bin gespannt, wie das alles enden wird.

[Torra]

I really love this series. Kaori Yuki's artwork is beautiful and I love her characters. However this was the first time I've ever had an issue with her work... for some reason I felt that some of the action sequences were missing panels and often had to re-read the scene just to be sure I understood what just happened. (This is the only time I've had to do this for this series... maybe it was just this volume)

Regardless I look forward to the next one!

[Lissibith]

This one is a bit of a letdown in the overall arc of this manga. Book 56 actually comes up a bit short, and I can't help but feel like this book could have used a bit more room to breathe. We start off with the final secondary character, Kohaku, encountering his backstory and it just feels rushed. I think it really could have used another issue.

Else, it was pretty good overall. Art is strong as always and the final descent into the climax has begun in earnest by the 3/4 point.

[Katie Casey]

Riveting, an excellent example of the genre

Kaori Yuki has this amazing way of using all aspects of her manga to enthrall the reader. The art is stunning and the concept is even moreso.

As the penultimate volume, this does an amazing job of setting up everything for a grand finale, without ever feeling too overexpository.

[Cat]

As usual important information is revealed, and mysteries are deepened, as Kohaku's past takes centre stage.(About time too.)One of the best yet.