Pumpkin Scissors Vol. 2

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Ryoutarou Iwanaga Publisher Del Rey

It has been three years since the long war between the Royal Empire and the Republic of Frost was brought to a ceasefire. The Royal Empire, plagued by rogue soldiers, starvation, theft, drugs, and disease has created the “Imperial Army State Section III” to help with the war relief effort. Referred to as the Pumpkin Scissors, their job is to cut through the layers of lies, power, and money that protect the corrupt and bring justice to an unjust society. Things have not been easy for the Pumpkin Scissors as they have often been viewed distastefully by their fellow officers, but all that is about to change..

The Pumpkin Scissors consist of Captain Hunks, the commanding officer and administrator to the group. Second in command is Lt. Alice Malvin, a hot-tempered noble woman who has begun to have less than professional feeling for the latest recruit. Warrant Officer Machs is the sensible voice of reason for the group and is often offset by his best friend, and resident ladies man, Warrant Officer Oreldo. Sergeant Major Lili Stecchin is the longest running member of the team and is Captain Hunks personnel aide. Lili is also in charge of Mercury, the teams messenger dog that was demoted due to an incident involving the bitting of a superior officers head. Corporal Randel Oland is the last and newest member of the group. A former member of the Invisible 9, a secret super soldier experiment of the Empire, Randel has come out of retirement to help with the war relief effort and quickly proves himself to be a valuable, if frequently injured asset.

Volume 2 starts off with the Pumpkin Scissors investigating the creation of an advance tank system that they had to fight against in Volume 1. Before the team can get anywhere in their investigation, two unidentified soldiers stage a suicide mission to take out the tank. While the Pumpkin Scissors survived the attack, Randel once again is placed into the hospital due to serious injuries. While recovering from his injuries Randel meets an older gentleman that helps ease Randel's worries of becoming a true member of the Pumpkin Scissors squad.

After Randel is released from the hospital, the Pumpkin Scissors are ordered to help with the relocation of citizens living in the sewer to a government sponsored farm. All does not go well as a group of drug dealers has gotten many of the refugees addicted to their merchandise, and the refugees are reluctant to leave what little bliss they have left. As the Pumpkin Scissors investigate the source of the drugs a member of the Invisible 9, unit 908 flamethrower squad, has been sent in to deal with all the witnesses. It's a showdown between Randel and the 908 with the lives of innocent civilians, drug dealers, and the Pumpkin Scissors on the line. And in the shadows, the Caplan Institutes Medical Research Department waits for the bodies to begin to fall.

Pumpkin Scissors is drawn in a style that is quite prevalent in Manga today, and doesn’t really bring anything new to the genre. Still, Pumpkin Scissors #2 seems like it has a lot to offer to a wide audience. We have intrigue, we have suspense, we have a budding romance, and we got a guy with a really big gun. For those of you looking for a new Military style drama, give this one some of your time.