Kimi ni Todoke Volume 8

Leave a reply

By Karuho Shiina. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Margaret (“Betsuma”). Released in North America by Viz.

Well, I didn’t really get what I wanted at the end of Volume 7. Kazehaya and Sawako are still misreading and frustrating me. Not just me either, as Yano is starting to be driven a little nuts by the whole thing. However, there’s a new guy on the cover, and this is really his volume, as Kento, who was introduced at the end of Vol. 7, makes a full appearance here, and hits the cast like a nuclear bomb.

Kento is, of course, the male rival that this series really did need, and the counterpart to Kurumi. But Kurumi was rather sneaky about her manipulation, projecting a facade of sweet young thing while working to get rumors spread… and yet strangely open with Sawako, who she always referred to by her correct name. Kento is, by contrast, very open and obvious about his manipulations, going right to the source and instilling doubt and confusion with no need for intermediaries. What’s more, I noticed that he refers to Sawako as ‘Sadako’ whenever he speaks to her, but when talking with others when she *isn’t* around, he uses her real name.

His conversation with Kazehaya is devastating to the latter, as Kento feels (whether this is true or just something he’s saying we don’t know yet) that Kazehaya is only interested in Sawako as she’s an ‘outsider’ and that Sawako is better off developing on her own rather than having to worry about jealous girls trying to sabotage her maturity. (Oh Kento, you’re a good 4 or 5 volumes too late.) What’s more, he notes – and Ryu and Chizu both later agree – that Kazehaya doesn’t understand Sawako at all, and that the two are quite far apart.

Kazehaya gets a lot of attention this volume, which is good, as he needed a crisis of some sort. We see him almost managing to work on a confession at the start of the book, after seeing Kento and Sawako bond so quickly, but then he chickens out, and later proves to be awkward around her. Sawako doesn’t really get it, but everyone else immediately notices the difference. Now he has to genuinely aalyse his feelings, which can be quite difficult for a high-school boy, even one as squeaky clean as Kazehaya.

Yano and Pin, as always, get the best moments in the manga in terms of figuring things out. Yano is particularly aggravated here, as the relationship between Sawako and Kazehaya, not exactly a fast-moving one to begin with, is now actually moving backwards thanks to Kento and Kazehaya’s own insecurities. As she notes to Chizu (who has now, as of Volume 8, finally realized that Kazehaya likes Sawako ‘that way’), she wants Sawako to be more confident in herself before they start dating, so that it doesn’t look as if he’s doing it because he feels sorry for her. Kazehaya becomes so paralyzed at this proposition (which Kento brought up) that it requires Pin to kick his ass into action. Pin noting that starting off knowing nothing about the other person is how ALL relationships are, of course – that’s WHY you get closer.

As for Sawako herself, despite being a bundle of nerves due to Kazehaya’s treating her differently (and a small mini-breakdown in front of Chizu and Yano), she is getting much better at dealing with others, though I’m not sure it translates into more confidence in herself, as she still hasn’t equated her actions and behaviors with actual good things, but it’s great to see. Kento *does* have great interaction with her, and it’s rather startling how quickly they bond – and what’s more, Kento’s direct ‘Do this, do that’ advice seems to be working better than Kazehaya’s mild positive reinforcement.

So we end with another cliffhanger, this time with Kazehaya going off to confront Kento and Sawako. Now, the sensible shoujo fans knows that Kento is not going to win the day here (it’s not even clear if he’s actually interested in her romantically), but the fun is in the journey, and I look forward to seeing if Kazehaya can throw off his doubts and step up his game.

Manga the week of 5/11

Leave a reply

After a huge first week from the folks at Diamond, things calm down considerably for Week 2. Good, because my wallet needs a break.

Dark Horse has Volume 38 of Oh My Goddess. I’m sort of running out of ways to joke about this series. It’s a comfort manga, and I won’t stop buying it after 15 freaking years of buying it merely as the current arc is boring. Plus I hear there is an awesome arc soon to come. Sadly, the current arc *is* boring.

Viz has its second week, and there’s more meaty stuff here. Biomega gives us a final volume. Inu Yasha has Vol. 7 of its VIZBIG Edition, presumably containing Vols. 19-21. There is a new Jormungand for readers who like to watch cool people kill things. Kurozakuro hits its halfway point. And Maoh: Juvenile Remix hits its halfway point as well. Fans of the latter are in for a treat, as I understand this volume’s remix was done by Richard D. James. Given how the Death In Vegas remix of Volume 3 turned out, I expect good things.

And there’s a Shonen Jump. What interests you?

Higurashi: When They Cry Volumes 11-12

Leave a reply

Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Yutori Houjyou. Released in Japan as “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Meakashi-hen” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Wing. Released in North America by Yen Press.

So at last we come to what are known as the “Answer Arcs”. Each of the first 4 main arcs of Higurashi (Vols. 9 and 10 were a manga-only side story) set up the basic situation, watched it descend into paranoia and death, and had us confused and trying desperately to figure out what the heck was going on. By the end of the “Time Killing” arc, we sensed we were getting closer to solving things. And now we get this, the “Eye-Opening” arc, which (like all the answer arcs) is much longer than its predecessors, and hopes to let those who have not played the games figure out what’s behind this.

Despite the manga beginning with the Rena-focused arc, this set actually is the “answer” arc for the Mion set of books, the “Cotton Driftijng” chapter. It’s drawn by the same artist, so manages to give even more of a sense of deja vu than anticipated. It stars Mion’s twin sister Shion, and purports to tell the events of “Cotton Drifting” from her own perspective. Purports being the right word, as we quickly come to realize that Shion, like Keiichi before her, is descending rapidly into paranoia and madness.

The plot actually begins a year before the main events of the other arcs, as we see Shion escaping from the private Academy she’s been exiled to and returning to a town near Hinamizawa. Shion has issues from the start, being the younger twin of a family that is essentially the Yakuza. As a result, Mion is being groomed to be the next head of the family, and Shion gets the short end of the stick, as the family has sent her off to school hoping she4’ll quietly disappear. No such luck, as not only does Shion start “twin switching” with her sister, but she also runs into a young boy named Satoshi, who we’ve only ever met before in flashbacks or backstory told to Keiichi.

Satoshi’s similarities to and differences from Keiichi are both deliberately played up, and unfortunately we get another heaping helping of the child abuse that plagued the earlier volumes of the series, as Satoshi and Satoko’s aunt and uncle as as horrible as ever. Shion is trying to cheer him up, but in the end, it doesn’t seem to be enough. And then comes the night of the cotton drifting…

I’d spent the past few reviews laying into Keiichi as a horrible hero, so I feel I should say that the series is keeping up that tradition, as our sympathies with Shion slowly vanish as the series goes on. Clearly whatever happened to Keiichi and Mion in the earlier arcs, be it “Hinamizawa Syndrome” or what have you, is happening to her here, and Satoshi’s disappearance only helps to send her further into the spiral. Interestingly, we also get a more in-depth portrayal of Mion – while her crush on Keiichi has been heavily implied in previous volumes, here when she can open up to her sister without anyone else around it’s outright stated – as is her jealousy of Rena, who is more feminine and so gets the doll that Keiichi has.

We also see the side of Mion that we’re more familiar with from “Cotton Drifting”, which is to say the inheritor of power. The scene in which Shion is ordered to tear off three of her own fingernails by her grandmother is horrifying, and easily the most disturbing in these first two volumes. (On the other hand, seeing later on that Mion has done the same thing is also possibly the most heartwarming moment.) Mion has always been my favorite character, so I was very pleased to see all of this. Shion, on the other hand…

Shion has to date been played as a bit of a tease who was in love with Satoshi. Here we manage to see the depth of that love goes well into obsession territory, and also that she would seem to be the main ANtagonist so far, as well as the PROtagonist. And, as these volumes end with their grandmother dead by Shion’s hand, Mion locked up in the Sonozaki Family torture chamber (what, doesn’t every family have one?) and Shion giving the famous bug-eyed hysterical Higurashi laugh, we’re starting to realize that all the twin switching and “which one is really Mion” of the previous 10 volumes (especially after the last manga-only arc, where Mion literally possessed Shion’s body), we’re now left with a big question: Was that really Mion we saw at the end of “Cotton Drifting”?

By the end of the second volume, we’re exhausted and Shion is insane. It’s a bit difficult to see how much further down she can go, given we have two more full volumes to go. But, having said that, I feel that the author will show us how much worse things can get. After all, Keiichi and company are all still alive. In the meantime, we get a month’s breather from all this start horror with another one-off manga-only arc, this one complete in one large volume. Good thing, too, I need a break from Shion as protagonist.