The Square King Cup reaches its conclusion in the sixth volume of Sankichi Hinodeya’s Splatoon manga, and that is followed up with a round of Salmon Run.
This volume contains chapters twenty through to twenty-three, as well as one bonus chapter.
Front cover of the sixth volume of Splatoon, featuring Goggles and Emperor
The match between Team Blue and Team Emperor heats up toward the big finale – with both sides exhausted and losing ground! Plus, in the aftermath of the final match, a new enemy awaits who will require the tournament rivals to work together!
Team Blue take on Team Emperor in the final of the Square King Cup, and that is the focus of most of this volume of Splatoon. Naturally, Team Blue are running on full ridiculousness – there’s a reason that they have earned the moniker ‘Team Ridiculous’.
Emperor and his team are far more serious when it comes to the Turf War, so those ideals clash on the battlefield.
The battle between Team Blue and Team Emperor is a very worthy finale – one in which not even Emperor can escape Team Blue’s ridiculous tactics.
The final match is followed up with a party, in which many of the Inklings that Team Blue have fought before show up. Of course, ridiculous things happen because Team Blue are involved. The party also serves as a transition into the next part of the manga.
We get an adaptation of Splatoon 2‘s Salmon Run mode, which gives us the unlikely team of Goggles, Mask, Gloves and Emperor. This particular chapter is pretty good representation of how chaotic things can get, and wouldn’t be too far removed from something a Splatoon 2 player could actually experience in the game.
There are a few quirks here and there, but that’s about what you’d expect from Goggles by this point.
This volume ends with a tease of the next arc of the manga, which will be adapting the Octo Expansion.
As ever, the Splatoon manga is a fun read. The same old running gags are as present as ever, and Off the Hook only get to appear in two panels, but this volume is still a half-decent read.
Rory Muses 