Psycome, Vol. 6 (light novel): A Murderer and the Deadly Love Affair (Volume 6)

I thought the description for the first book was so entertaining so I decided to pick the first book and after that I was hooked. I was behind by 4 books and the fifth was barely about to come out when I started but as I picked it up, I just couldn’t put it down and I caught up to the six book before it was released. I love the series and sad that now I am most likely not going to see any more books to this collection besides the seventh side story book. Overall I am satisfied with the series’s and hope people can see its potential because this is an fantastic series and ending.

The most brutal of the series and in my opinion the best. Great series overall

only reason it getting 4 stars instead of 5 is because its the final book... its the end and i don't want it to end. really great story, if you haven't read these books you should order them right away! you will be glad you did!!

So sad this series ended, and the ending was so depressing. That aside, this is a great series, loves all 6 books!

I think...I liked this book. Liked this series. The characters were entertaining, some in a very twisted fashion, but fun to read nevertheless. Seeing how everyone turns out, one way or another, was good to see. I'm going to miss this series. Shoutout to the localizers, and of course thank you to the author, for a different, unique experience that I don't regret, and won't forget.

It is the best book I have read in a while. The book had a lot of twist and turns.

Reviewing the last volume of a series without spoilers is difficult, but I think I can be vague enough about the details to manage. In a nutshell, Volume 6 of Psycome delivered an action-packed and bloody finale and provided real closure for the story as a whole. However, I have to knock off two stars because it wasn’t the ending I wanted in so many ways, and it felt like it deviated from the rest of the series in something important. First, I need to explain that what makes Psycome really *work* as a light novel series is its delicious contrast between the twisted and the wholesome. Most dedicated anime and manga fans can think of series where the outward facade looks wholesome but the real story is kind of twisted – call it the “Madoka phenomenon” if you like. However, Psycome did something pretty unique by going in the opposite direction: setting up this twisted, horrible surface scenario of an innocent guy trapped in a school for young murderers and ends up filling it with some of the sweetest, funniest, most wholesome characters you can imagine. The dark and twisted edge is always there, always real, always a knife’s-breadth away… but you finish each book feeling good and loving the characters more and more. You see the murderer-students and even the teachers at the academy grow, and mature, deepen their bonds, and genuinely improve as people despite their decidedly-not-normal attitude toward homicide. Volume 6 features some of that, too, but I can’t help but feel frustrated that the final arc (which covers about the second half of the book) went full “dark” in the name of drama and shock value and largely jettisoned that sweet underpinning of goodness that provided the contrast. It’s hard to describe exactly what I mean… the characters were all there, and their actions felt mostly consistent, but it was as if the rules of Psycome's fictional universe suddenly changed in some important ways that felt a little… wrong. Characters we saw gradually getting better instantly became way worse, bonds were broken, and the mood turned black as pitch. The mood did a hard reset to the opening of Volume 1, and it was very jarring and (in my opinion) felt a bit inconsistent and unsatisfying. Some characters -- not all -- suddenly behaved as if 5 volumes of character development simply never happened, and that made it a frustrating read at times. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t all gloom and doom and was factually a happy ending in some ways. But man, it was also very bittersweet. The first 5 volumes of Psycome had me convinced that the author Mizushiro, who seemed to be an absolute genius at pulling happy endings out of impossibly grim situations, was going to make my heart melt in the final volume even if the ending featured some unavoidable tragedy. Instead, it left me with this strange feeling between satisfied and sad, but maybe leaning slightly more toward the latter. I can’t help but regret that a bit. The final-final battle also felt anticlimactic and vague, especially after the epic fight with Renji in Volume 5. One last knock I have against Volume 6 is that its pacing was a roiling mess. It featured a slow beginning, a zoomy-fast middle, a final fight that felt like it went on forever without accomplishing anything, and a very long epilogue. To give credit where credit is due, though, Volume 6 did manage to do some things right. It managed to create great pathos and emotion and does feel like a proper, definitive ending, which is more than you can say for many series. My personal "best girl" choice got the happy ending she richly deserved, which was great to see, and the same was true of several others. Plus, despite my complaints about character development erasure for some characters, this volume also showed how character growth DID stick for some other members of the cast in ways that I thought were memorable, vivid, and cool. But mixed feelings about this final volume aside... Psycome as a whole? Easily still a 4.9/5 light novel series. Absolutely freaking fantastic! The ride was absolutely incredible, the characters were wonderful from start to finish, and this ending was still solid even if it wasn’t everything I wanted in some ways. Plus, at only 6 volumes, it’s a very manageable series to delve into for someone who doesn’t want a long commitment. Its vibe of twisted wholesomeness is almost totally unique in my experience, too. As a series, Psycome still gets a strong recommend from me! Now, if we could only get the short story collection the author teased in the afterward translated...

This is by far the greatest book I’ve read. Even though it may have much violence and strong vocabulary, I found it amazing and I seriously appreciate the author for putting so much work into this. It’s incredible, amazing. I hope for more book like this one in the future.

Precisamente lo que esperaba

Just Read the Book!

An open ending to the series, it does feel a little rushed, i feel like it was a little incomplete. I guess the ending was due to demand for the series to end.

La verdad que no puedo opinar mucho del libro dado que mi nivel de inglés me ralentiza en la lectura de los anteriores volúmenes y más aún cuando usan un lenguaje tan informal, simplemente puedo decir que el producto cumple con lo especificado en la descripción.

Great series, but slightly crippled by an outstanding first book. The sequels just couldn't measure up