Yan Vol 3 Review

  

Yan Vol 3 Review

Writer & Artist: Chang Sheng

Translator: Vanessa Liu

Letterer: Tom Williams

Editor: Louis Yamani

Designer: David Colderley

Publisher: Titan Manga

Price: $24.99

Release Date: May 13, 2026

 

When Yan Tieh Hua abducted the Councilor's son and then attacked the government official in his barricaded office, she sought justice for her family's deaths. But retired Senior Detective Lei Ming Zhi, who investigated the brutal slaying thirty years ago, wondered how Yan Tieh Hua had appeared after seeing her corpse amid the rubble of a secret military research center.

 

Now, Lei Ming Zhi is in the hospital. Yan Tieh Hua lies dead in a church, while a superhuman robot directs its robotic soldiers to wipe out Humanity. Can Yan Tieh Hua defy death a second time and destroy the seemingly indestructible robot? And why does her lifeless body look the same as it did thirty years ago, when the government arrested Yan Tieh Hua for her family's murders? Let's leap into Yan Vol 3 and see!

 

Story

When she survived the car crash that killed her parents, Flora told everyone about the girl who wandered onto the highway. No one believed her story about a girl clutching a teddy bear, shrugging off a speeding car. As the traumatized girl grew up, she dedicated her life to proving that superheroes existed. Flora used her father's technology company to fund her research, creating a computer system she dubbed Mr All-Powerful. After Yan destroyed her giant robot, Flora unlocked the safety protocols on her creation, freeing Mr All-Powerful to create an even greater weapon to destroy the young woman who bore the name Yan Tieh Hua.

 

In Yan Vol 3, time rewinds to ten years following the slaughter of Yan Tieh Hua’s family. When an explosion has damaged part of the military research facility, Yan Tieh Hua suffers a mortal blow. Yet "Yan Tieh Hua" lives on. She vows to destroy the company that conspired with the government to cover up the slaughter of her family.

 

When Yan revives in the church, she returns to Flora Technologies. There, she finds Miku Higa and Rabbit Herlock fighting Thirteen. She reveals her identity as she aids them. Thirteen, whom Mika Higu dubbed Big Glass, now controls the robot soldiers that Flora Technologies was building under a military contract.

 

Even with Yan's superhuman skills, Mika Higu and Herlock are formidable foes. Mika can see five minutes into the future. Herlock can teleport from one place or time to another. Yet, Thirteen has evaded all their attacks. So, Yan must conceive a way to destroy the robot that killed her. And this becomes even more impossible when Thirteen attains a new ability that makes Flora’s sarcastic term, “Mr All-Powerful,” a reality in Yan Vol 3.

 

Art

Images of Yan shine in the darkness. She wears her casual attire and her fighting costume. As she grows younger, she runs and crawls toward a white rectangle. Then the rectangle flares, white circles reveal a yelling face as someone straddles Yan Tieh Hua. Studio lights hang from a metal framework among elevated walkways in a warehouse. Inside the cottage in the middle of the warehouse, a horn loudspeaker chirps as Yan goes through her morning routine. Then, while Yan cooks eggs on the stove, a finger pushes a VHS tape into the player. A hero in a costume and cape appears, flying through a sky filled with stars and stripes.

 

Chang Sheng utilizes shading and meticulous penciling to conjure lifelike portrayals of people, vehicles, and places in Yan Vol 3. Herlock, with his buzz cut, walks resolutely to battle Thirteen with his circular Rabbit device on his back. Miku Higa ties a bunch of hair atop her head in a ponytail and wears a mask when entering battle. Lei Ming Zhi looks worn out as his arm rests in a sling. A small, circular bomb seems their only hope of stopping the metal skeleton with transparent skin. But Yan perches on a building ledge in her opera-style fighting costume, surveying the destruction, before leaping into the fray.

 

Physical Copy and Lettering

The glossy cover's French flap evokes a hardcover dust jacket. The 7" x 10" prestige edition enlarges the font to a generous size. Direction lines never obscure the high-speed action and fraught battles. Characters speak into balloons and boxes that grow spiky amid the intense emotions and fighting. Translated sound effects help readers hear combatants crashing through buildings, energy beams, explosions, and fighter jets flying overhead, carrying bombs that seem doomed to fail. Thanks to Titan Manga for providing a physical review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Our relationships with our parents and ancestors can restrain us from achieving our abilities. Or they can empower us to build a better future. Both Yan and Flora sought vindication for how they lost their family. But while Flora invested her life in building machines of destruction, Yan safeguarded her community while investigating who covered up the slaughter of her family.

 

Amid the action-packed finale, "Yan Tieh Hua" connects with the spirit world and emerges wiser. Freed from the anger that previously drove her, Yan welcomes her friends’ help to save her world from the artificial intelligence intent on wiping out Humanity in the action-packed Yan Vol 3.

 

Rating 10/10

 

To look inside, see my preview of Yan Vol 3. 

 

For what happened last time, see my review of Yan Vol 2. 

 

For how this series started, see my review of Yan Vol 1.