Paradox Blue – Ch. 03: Medousael
I am the master of this Labyrinth. Won’t you play a game with me?
Paradox Blue
Author: Nakanishi Tatsurou
Artist: Nini
Genres: Mystery, School Life, Sci-fi, Supernatural, Shounen
Scanlators: Maigo Scans
Stage 2. Labyrinth Game vs Medousael
Chapter three gives us the first look of the school the main characters saved from the slug think last chapter. It looks typical enough though I’m pretty sure with such a fully decked out Student Council equipped with Mage and Princess it’ll be one of those really rich schools with weird rules and weirder secrets.
We arrive right in the middle of the school festival called the Aoba Festival which causes Student Council President Chris to return to her naïve otome persona. It’s ridiculously different from last chapter’s control taking action girl. Granted, last chapter she was about to throw down against the Angel but I’m just saying… the difference is there ;p
Chris states that she’s never even seen a Japanese school festival, which must mean this is the first time she’s actually gone to a Japanese school. So how did she become the SC President?? The princess thing must have something to do with it…
A quick look at the information about the school confirms its weirdness. It’s home to over 15,000 students with the ages ranging from elementary school through to high school. Chris starts freaking out (happily) as the vastness of the school of course makes for the best party atmosphere.
She wanders from place to place until Kujou-senpai, the super relaxed, cool girl with glasses who panics for no slug creature calls her over.
At first it almost seems like she’s going to talk some normal into Chris but no, she just wants to warn her not to waste her money on student stalls ^^: A bit of character explanation from Chris starts out with Kujou’s role in the Student Council, the treasurer then moves quickly into listing off a bunch of stuff that basically says she’s awesome. The first thing I noticed though was that Kujou always seems to be posing. Chris finishes up saying more stuff about how awesome Kujou is.
The real story begins when Master of Disguise-senpai reports that there have been an unusually large number of missing people being reported since the start of the Aoba Festival. Chris immediately moves into ‘helpful person’ mode and insist they do something to help find the missing people.
After searching for a while, the Student Council regroups at the Festival’s Haunted House which is strangely located on a floor with hardly any people. Shindou-senpai reveals that he’s been trying to contact people from Class 1-D but none of the girls have been answering their phones. Chris goes into President mode wanting to head in and solve the problem once and for all while Hijiri goes into Hijiri mode, needing to be convinced to stop freaking out for the greater good.
They walk into the ‘Hauted House’ and finally come face to … voice of the enemy Angel who is wearing a bunny costume.
I am the master of this Labyrinth. Won’t you play a game with me?
The bunny explains that the students are indeed trapped in the haunted house. A large hourglass dictates how much time they have left. If they can escape before time runs out they win, if not, they get turned into statues just like the previously missing people.
Shindou and the girls seem unfazed while Hijiri finds himself cowering on the floor at the Angel’s threat. Mostly ignoring him, the group starts to gather all the information they can in the labyrinth noting several items that must somehow connect with each other. As time goes on, Hijiri regains his usual manly-ness as his brain goes to work piecing the puzzle pieces together.
Chris also comes up with a response of her own but the senpai believe her answer is a little too easy for an Angel’s Paradox. Kouda-senpai tries to fit two pieces that don’t match together and ends up being turned into a statue which leaves the chapter’s story at a cliffhanger.
Izanamiel makes an appearance at the end to explain how the puzzle is solved. She also explains that the Paradox has a hidden rule that the characters haven’t discovered yet.
We also get a few pages on our new character for this chapter Kujou-senpai who is nowhere near as annoying or bossy as she seemed like she was going to be in chapter one lol.
End Thoughts:
I quite liked the school-life aspect of this chapter that they focussed on in the beginning. The interactions between Chris and Kujou-senpai was a good way to finally introduce her as a part of the group.
Chris’s characterisation is also pretty interesting for me as the way she reacts to situations is still kind of believable. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to a Hijiri power-up next chapter since he was a bit slow (laaaame ^^;) this chapter. The difference between him and Chris for me is that she has the same underlying trait of wanting to do the best for people in both of her personalities; the nice first year student vs the Student Council President while Hijiri is a bit of a coward who only uses his skills when Chris asks him to.
Out of the guys, it’s still Shindou-senpai that takes the spotlight in regular life while I suppose Hijiri is the Ace when it comes to getting out of dire situations. Then again, the case we’re dealing with for this chapter is a puzzle so it might be Kujou-senpai herself who ends up solving this one.
About Ryuuko
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
It’s been a long time I picked up something new. Definitely catching up to this soon! xD
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here! keep up the good work.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
I’m hoping more chapters come out soon too. I’m really getting into it!