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2 - Takami Sakuragi's Trip Home
Takami's past catches up with her within about five minutes of her reaching her hometown - no sooner is she there than old friend Takano runs into her. Seems Takano has some sort of hold over Takami, and it's not long before Takami is roped into things she'd hoped she'd left behind...

3 - Eiko Rando Goes Home
Eiko in a yukata. Mrow. Anyway, we find Eiko with her little brother, lost in the countryside & trying to find their way back home. They soon manage to catch a lift back to town, but the car's occupants aren't the most friendly of people - of course, they aren't to know that Eiko's not the sort of person to mess with. Meanwhile, Irie's also in town, and as usual, he's plotting something...

4 - Yu Himehagi's Trip Home
Yu seems to sleep just as much at home as she does on the job - more, even. The difference is, at home there are a bunch of siblings who realise they can do what they like to her while she's asleep - things like dress her up in mouse outfits, mess with her makeup... Their problem is dealing with her once she wakes up again...

5 - Red Shooting Star Goes Home
Maki at home is pretty much Maki on the job - still determined to make sure she's the best gun-for-hire there is. At home, though, there's competition to deal with, in the form of Ryu - who seems to know something of Kagura's shady past & warns Maki to get away from the company...

6 - Cat No. 1's Assignment
With a little help from Takami, Maya's been learning how to cook - so since Taba & Yuka don't show much inclination to cook themselves, she's taken on chef duties back at the Kagura offices. Problem is, she only knows how to do pasta... Later, Yuka feels there's trouble coming & tries to recall the rest of the team - but none of them seem to be paying attention to their pagers...

7 - Cold-Blooded God of Guns
Maki has a point to prove with Ryu, but their moment of truth is interrupted by a phantom cat. Here's where you get to see just how much Ryu knows about the Cats, thanks to his own past involvement with Kagura...

8 - Airport #9 (Part 1)
When an airliner is seemingly hijacked by the Phantom Cats, Kagura are called in to 'discreetly' resolve the matter. Not much chance of that. Kagura are better placed than anyone else to do something, as Yu is on the plane - although true to her usual form, she's sleeping through the whole incident, so those on the ground are left to come up with a plan...

This volume starts off with six short chapters that deal with each of the gang making the most of their holiday in their own way, and this section of the book is almost pure comedy. There's gunplay involved in Maki's chapter (it wouldn't really be Red Shooting Star if there wasn't), but the rest of the gang somehow manage to stay of out any trouble related to Phantom Cats, guns or explosives. All this is great fun to read through, and acts as some character development too. Good stuff.

Normal service is resumed in the final chapter, which brings the usual elements of high explosives & behind-the-scenes scheming back into play. As if making up for all the talking in the earlier chapters, this part is almost completely devoid of dialogue, with the action left to tell what little story there is.

Overall, it all adds up to fairly standard Geobreeders. Production-wise, the editing seen in the earlier volumes has thankfully gone, but the reproduction is still a bit iffy - nothing that would cause me to pass on the series, though. I'm still enjoying this for the mindless filler that it is.

Just to note - I've reviewed the First Edition, which is now out-of-print & hard to come by. The Second Edition will be out in December 2004 - it's smaller & cheaper, but otherwise should be the same as reviewed.