Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun, Vol. 9

This is really a review of the series as a whole after reading this final volume. The series stayed pretty consistent throughout with an anthology of stories that ranged from bittersweet to down right depressing. I didn't really feel an emotional connection at any point, which definitely dampened the whole thing from being amazing, however I DID find the stories fascinating in respect to their exploration of human psychology and how people's perceptions of themselves and others can and often dictate their happiness or unhappiness, the direction of their lives and the meaning they find in life. Showing that through twisted dreams and nightmares was very interesting and topping it off with twists to each story to reveal something profound was quite brilliant. The execution was not always the best, but it often gave me food for thought.
I thought things broke down in the last two volumes though. I found them confusing to follow and deviate suddenly from the anthology style to explaining the backstory of the Baku, which was a strange way to end it. I think I would have rather had bits and pieces of his story told throughout to create empathy with the climax at the end, instead of the sudden shift in the last two volumes, where at this point, I'm not sure I really cared. I felt the way some of the characters acted in the last two didn't fit with the previous ones and I even downright disliked a few of them by the end. So while I think overall I enjoyed the series, the end was too much of a mess for me to put it on my ‘greats' list.