Burn the House Down Vol. 8

Title: Burn the House Down Vol. 8
Author: Moyashi Fujisawa
Series: Burn the House Down #8
First Published: June 11, 2021
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Pages: 210
Genre: Drama, Josei
Format: Web
Source: Web
Rating:


Synopsis:

Anzu Murata sneaks into the Mitarai household under the guise of a housekeeper, suspicious that the second woman her father married, Makiko, was the culprit behind the fire 13 years ago -- a fire for which her mother was labeled the criminal behind its outbreak. After overcoming many dangers, getting Makiko cornered is finally within sight... but it turns out the real culprit is someone else! After experiencing betrayal after betrayal, just what is the truth behind the fire?

Review

A marvelous ending to one of the most engaging manga series I’ve read in a long time. Burn the House Down delivered the emotional ending that I wanted and I am so glad that I decided to give this series a try. That final twist ending was absolutely devastating and made me realize through all of this that I had never even considered the motivation behind the fire, the story was so masterfully constructed.

While this series speaks a lot about social class, and the way that wealth can open doors and change a person’s life, this series was more than anything about mothers and their children. What a mother will do in order to protect their children to give them a good life, and how much a woman will give up in her own life to guard her children. The plot is filled with messy relationships, toxic friendships, and how love is still possible despite tragedy.

The title of this series is both literal and metaphorical, with two households falling apart in a fiery blaze. Even the pacing of this series feels like a fire that slowly builds into an inferno, falling to ash, and then coming out at the end with new life among the embers. I dearly loved all of the main characters in this series, even Makiko who I loved to hate and who is just as incorrigible to the end. This manga is an impressive narrative woven with such care despite the difficult subject matter that is addressed throughout. This is a series that I will think about and treasure for a long time, and have already set about recommending it to just about everyone that I know.

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