The Emotional Follow-Up of the Edge of Balance Volume 1 Has Arrived

The Edge of Balance Volume 2 by Shima Shinya and Daniel José Older officially marks the end of the High Republic’s Phase 1 releases for older audiences, and our authors do not disappoint. In the wake of the Drengir attack on Banchii, the Jedi are preparing themselves in case the Nihil attack. Just as the operations are starting to get underway, Lily is tasked to go to Starlight beacon with a couple younglings - Nima and Viv’nia - and trust the preparations on Banchii to her Padawan, Keerin. While the story does coincide with the events of The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray, it does pick up almost immediately where we leave off in the first volume. As I’ve expressed previously, I’ve been waiting for an original Star Wars manga for awhile and the Edge of Balance series is great so far. The scope of the Edge of Balance Volume 2 is smaller since it primarily follows Lily on her travels; however, she has great character development throughout the volume and has prominent, distinct growth by the end. My only critique is Lily's growth is focused on shifting her teaching style from the rigidity the Jedi are known for to allowing to Force to guide her as she teaches, which is a lesson that can be translated into anyone's life (don't stress over the little things and not everything has to be perfect), but I was hoping for her arc to showcase other ways for characters to develop instead of portraying overused clichés.

To my surprise, Justina Ireland passes the baton to Daniel José Older for this volume, and while I miss what Ireland brings to the story, the connections to IDW’s High Republic Adventures is a treat; I didn’t know I needed Zeen and Lula depicted in a manga, but now I want more! At this point it is unknown which High Republic author will continue writing alongside Shima Shinya; although, I would love to see Justina Ireland return to the series. Who knows what Volume 3 will have in store, but I am looking forward to the next installment of this series.

Click the image to see my visual review on Instagram