Peach Boy Riverside (Volume 2) - An Eerie Glow Marks the Start of an Awakening…

Sally found herself standing in front of Sett, a high ogre who was surprised to see that she just punched off one of his arms. She had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t about to sit back and let her work it out!

Peach Boy Riverside (Volume 2) – An Eerie Glow Marks the Start of an Awakening…

What happened?

Frau had been in trouble, which was why Sally charged in without a thought for her own safety. However, after inflicting that wound on Sett her body glowed with a strange power as the symbol of the peach appeared in her eye. Sett tried to attack again, but it was useless. He couldn’t hurt Sally. Desperate, he turned to his ogre blast to destroy her. The castle wall crumbled under his terrifying power, but Sally barely noticed it.

Outside the city walls, Mikoto had given the humanoid ogre enough time to recover her power and was now ready to fight. They had been discussing ideals and why ogres kill humans. She tried to tell him that it was because humans destroyed the land, but he believed it was simply hate. Mikoto toyed with her and then allowed her to use her ogre blast on him. It did no more damage than Sett’s did to Sally. He defeated her, but not before she sent for help. Then, as she lay unconscious, Mikoto took her ogre eye and horn, taking away her powers.

Sally woke up in her bed unsure as to what happened. Frau told her that she defeated the ogre and then passed out. Hawthorn came into the room, relieved to see that Sally was all right. He then asked her and Frau to follow him to the dungeon. There, they found the unconscious humanoid ogre, although she now looked like a human. He asked them to stay with her and find out if she was an ogre or not. As soon as he left, Frau pointed out that the girl was fake sleeping. She confirmed that she was an ogre, but her powers had gone. When she hoped for Death, Sally couldn’t stand back and let it happen.

Peach Boy Riverside Volume 2 Sally slays Sett

What did you think?

This volume was excellent and really started to get to the bones of what this series is really about – discrimination. We get to see a number of views on the subject, such as Mikoto telling the ogre (who was named Carrot by Frau) that it’s simply a matter of hate, but he also gave Sally a more thorough explanation. Sally, however, isn’t blinded by societal pressures thanks to her sheltered upbringing. As such, that gives her the chance to truly form her own views on the subject and they are not tainted by other factors.

I love how righteous Sally is, but she’s also not afraid to do what she thinks is right even if others wouldn’t agree. If anything, that’s kind of the point with her. She will befriend a demi-human and an ogre because she has no preconceptions and accepts them as people. I like that she accepts that it will be a struggle to change much, but is willing to do whatever she can to start that ball rolling.

Also, I love that scene where the city is obliterated and Hawthorn is left holding a severed hand. I do think the anime did it better as it zoomed out to show us the scale of the devastation. That really hit home just what had happened, whereas the manga didn’t really focus on that for long enough. Otherwise, this was another great volume.