Haxa 3, the conclusion of the Nicolò Pellizzon saga
Haxa 3
After three intense volumes (although initially they should have been four), Haxa ends, the saga created by Nicolò Pellizzon for Bao Publishing, in which magic plays a fundamental role, in an original universe and with its own mythology. Obviously, we announce that, since this is the review of the last volume of the saga, there will be spoilers on the entire plot of the work.The starting point
The story takes place in a distant future, in which, after the fall of the Al-Hillah tower (located in Iraq), the existence of magic is discovered and there is a small percentage of the world population who is able to use it. This, called Haxa, flows through matter and can be of two types: a purely elemental, called Ars Alchemica, which allows you to manipulate the elements; one, on the other hand, which gives the possibility of evoking beings from another time and space, called Ars Goetia.In a dystopian future, in which the balance between the various states is already dangerously in balance, the people's lives are also upset by the management of the two currents of thought of magic itself, with some dedicated to crime and others dedicated to the repression of an "improper use" of the Haxa itself.
So let's meet Sophia, a young student with magical powers who decides to go into hiding to avoid being locked up in a sort of "re-education school" for those who are carriers of magic. During her escape, she decides to join a gang of street witches (called "Gyangu", a term deriving from the Japanese which means, precisely, "gang") and meets Aiko and Claire, who will prove to be fundamental for her survival and to hone his skill with the Haxa: from them, in fact, he will learn that the two types of magic are closely linked and that the nature of the Haxa itself is much larger than ordinary people believe.
The "reckoning"
At the end of the second volume of Haxa, we left our protagonists orphaned by their "Nechan" Aiko (a crippling deriving from the Japanese "Neechan", used to indicate a sister major), killed by the perfidious Mark, now definitively affiliated with the Hexacustodit (those who define themselves as custodians of dimensional balance) and in league with the Metatron, an ambiguous humanoid entity that wants to prevent the spread of magical power.In a situation, therefore, of absolute disadvantage, we notice how, at least initially, the protagonists have taken different paths: Sophia is looking for her mother in the company of her new creature Suwi; Claire and Tsisia, on the other hand, are busy following a meeting of the Consortium, the association containing all the schools that practice Ars Goetia, convinced that there is a mole that reveals their moves to the enemy.
Non we want to reveal too much of the volume, but the story told comes perfectly to close the circle of the story of Sophia and her companions, with a final showdown that solves most of the questions that had remained open throughout the entire work. Despite this, however, the ending remains almost open, which certainly leaves room for the reader's imagination on what will happen both in the immediate future and in the distant future of the protagonists, however giving a more than satisfactory "happy ending" and definitively closing the pending matters, especially as regards the character of Sophia.
Perfect evolution of style
Comparing this third volume with the first two, there is clear evidence of how the style di Pellizzon has matured steadily over time, taking it, at least as far as the writer is concerned, from a slightly confused and too rich in information writing to another much more engaging and clear, without this becoming too didactic.The evolution of the characters, moreover, is the most successful and denotes a remarkable attention to detail: let's take as an example the character of Sophia, who begins her story as a ragtag Azza with an insecure, insipid and not at all attractive personality (not from a physical point of view, but as an attraction of the character itself), passing through a phase of total rebellion and irascibility, as well as morbid attachment to his gang, in the second volume, and then get to his "definitive version" in the finale of the story, where we see a character tried by the many battles he has fought, selfish and indifferent, but with an experience that puts her above everything, including Aiko, who is described as a sorceress with incredible powers and capable of things out of the ordinary.
We really appreciated how the characters of the individual characters, including secondary ones, were developed, so much so that we think that, in reality, in the world of Haxa all have a history and are developed in a very specific way, even if the focus is not on them. This is both a positive and a negative side, because surely we would have liked to know more, such as the Metatron, of which we see little or nothing.
A vast world
The world of Haxa it is vast and complex and, like any self-respecting magical universe, it has its rules, its dogmas and its mythology. In just three volumes, an incredible amount of elements have been introduced, many of which never fully investigated, making the whole complex and varied, but still capable of arousing curiosity and mystery.The precision and care with which this was created to denote an in-depth study on what you want to stage, hypothesizing, why not, some hypothetical scenarios in a dystopian future of our world. All this, amplified by science fiction events seasoned with references ranging from the stories of Ursula Le Guin, to works by other media such as Bloodborne, the video game by From Software.
Helping the reader to extricate himself in all these elements , you can read between the pages of the story some in-depth information in the form of "File", which explain concepts dealt with just before in the chapter and which open up to other possible stories within Haxa: an example above all are those referring to the Master Breeder and the various cults present within the work.
But Haxa would obviously not be what he is were it not for Pellizzon's unmistakable drawing style: very colorful, but not for this caricatural or banal, it manages to be dynamic and perfect for the magical world we are talking about. In some very concise cartoons, but really impactful in the action scenes and detailed in the creation of creatures and anatomies, he manages to fully convey the emotions that are expressed in the story.
