Konosuke and Aki the Ichido fight off a band of assassins masquerading as performers, and finally make it out of Konosuke's house. Even though they don't have a travel permit, they decide to go after Tsuki anyway. They are almost immediately attacked by Madara, a terrifying gifted being who controls all manner of deadly bugs. She has had a tragic life full of persecution in her village and has a fierce loyalty to Haretake of the Tsuchimikado clan who have been ordered to kill Konosuke. As he is ferociously attacked, Konosuke starts to unlock some of his power and control over metal in order to save himself and Aki.

There is tons of action in this volume as Konosuke and Aki escape one battle only to be thrown into another. Konosuke has a little bit of development as he steps further into this world of supernatural people, but we didn't really get time enough to delve fully into why Aki is helping Konosuke because they keep getting interrupted. Hopefully, they'll get a moment in the next volume where she can fully explain to him what happened so it's not just the readers who are in on it. There is also an attempted rape in Madara's backstory, so this volume earns its older teen rating yet again.

​Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Volume 3 of Steel of the Celestial Shadows continues the story very well. We're getting more information on who the Big Bad of the story might be, and we meet a new villain who has the ability to control bugs. This particular volume is not for those who dislike bugs. In additional content warnings, there's one panel alluding to sexual assault as well. The main "fight" presents our hero with a possible end game, which leads to a new application for his effect on steel. I'm looking forward to the fourth volume.

This is a fun next volume in this series. I really liked the bug lady and her story, and I am glad Konosuke is starting to understand his powers. I look forward to the next volume.

I hate bugs, so the villain of this volume was definitely not for me. I'm still intrigued about what exactly is going on, but I'm starting to feel less so. There didn't seem to be any progress in this volume.