World Trigger, Vol. 24 (24)

I gave the book a five-star review because I am a fan of the art and story this author has created. This volume has none of the usual action of previous volumes. This volume deals with testing and test parameters of characters to see if they are qualified to go on a mission. The testing takes place in sealed environment and mostly just has characters talking to each other. Most of the entertainment derived from this volume will be from you trying to figure out if any of the uniform choices, tests, and actions will have any future relevance to the overarching story.

As much as I love this series, I have found this simulation arc to be rather boring. It was fun seeing the teams split up and have to deal with new dynamics. But there isn't a lot of action and admittedly it can be VERY confusing to tell one person from another since they are not in squad uniforms. This volume does come with a chart of the teams in the beginning but it was still incredibly confusing.Story: The teams have been chosen and it is now time to enter their simulators. Each have to figure out how to work with each other while also accomplishing tasks sent by management. All this under the watchful and judging eyes of the A squad members! Mistakes will be made and a lot of speculation will be made by everyone wondering exactly what management wants from this exercise.Most of this volume is about a) the teams adapting to each other while also finding what they need to do and b) musing on exactly what this simulation is all about. Even the A-rank observers don't know what this is about and why it is being done. We did get to see the remaining A-rank squads that hadn't made an appearance until now.The problem here is that somehow it isn't as interesting when the squads are split up and we don't have those dynamics any more. We have to listen to Katori whining about Mikumo a lot while also not getting enough payoff from the dynamics of the other teams. There is one incredibly funny scene of Kikuchihara's absolute disbelief and disgust at captain Kitazoe for choosing his team because they were all 16 year olds (rather than for their skills or teamwork). As well, Ema trying to project to Ninomiya to NOT say anything about his crush on Chika was also cute.This is a longish arc and will include battles and some interesting strategies by captains in the coming chapters. It's all about gaining points - but there is a LOT of leeway in the simulation's rules on how to get those points. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.