Review: YAN Vol. 2 ramps up the action and tension in penultimate volume

Writer & Artist: Chang Sheng
Publisher: Titan Manga (print)
Translation: Dala Publishing Company
Editor: Jonathan Wilkins
Publication Date: Sep 9, 2025
Rating: 15+
Genre: Action, Supernatural, Sci-fi, Thriller, Manhua, Manga

After reading the first volume of Yan, I was extremely excited. The stakes get so much higher as more information about the incident that killed Yan Tieh Hua’s entire family comes to light and new characters get introduced. When I reached the end of Vol. 2, I was desperately hoping there were a couple pages left because I couldn’t take the suspense!

The second volume starts with a bang as Yan Tieh Hua fights off a giant robot through a mix of sheer physical prowess and determination. Just as things are looking dire, a mysterious man in an Ant Man-esque mask who carries an enormous gear that has the power to open up portals between parallel worlds appears. As it turns out, this man, Rabbit Herlock, comes from another world and is another survivor, along with Tieh Hua, of the explosion.

We also meet the mastermind behind it all, and for fear of spoiling, I won’t say too much about who it is. But the revelation of their motivations are what set the story in motion. One thing I liked about the antagonist was the parallels between the antagonist and Tieh Hua (despite the latter’s insistence that they’re not the same) and how, in a different world, Tieh Hua might’ve ended up as the antagonist.

I was a little nervous that we had a new member added to our ragtag trio since we barely had enough time with the original three before it became a quartet. But Rabbit fit well into the group, mainly because his own goals aligned with Tieh Hua’s: they both want to find the culprit responsible for the explosion.

Where Vol. 1 focused on Yan Tieh Hua’s story and her purpose, Vol. 2 takes a much-needed step back to focus on the other characters as well as the world and themes of Yan about fate and autonomy. It even touches on the real-life battle between humanity and AI through a creation called Thirteen, treading more deeply into sci-fi territory.

I was surprised when I saw how big the physical edition was. It’s about twice the height of a regular manga volume and about 1.5 wide. With art as beautiful Yan‘s, the larger size makes it much easier to appreciate every stroke and detail. My favorite part of the artwork were the extreme close-ups of the characters’ faces–especially their eyes. Chang Sheng conveys so much emotion–fear, anxiety, a calm sadism (if you’re the antagonist)–through the different shading and angles of their faces. According to Chang Sheng, this was how he wanted the book to be presented. With a story of such epic proportions, it makes sense that the physical size of the book should match.

It feels like the gas pedal got stomped on in the second half of the story as Miku Higa reveals more of the contents of the last few prophecies and we lose an important character whose fate remains up in the air by the time we reach the last page. I liked how Chang Sheng added a two-page epilogue that contextualized Miku’s powers because it helped answer why Miku was so insistent that there was nothing they could do to change the future.

The next volume will be the final volume, and while I’m sad that we won’t be able to see more of this group of heroes, judging by Chang Sheng’s pacing and storytelling thus far, I have faith that it’ll be a satisfying ending.