By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.
Several volumes ago, I mentioned hearing that the author had worried they would die before the series was finished, which is the main reason we’re getting all these short story books and “Vol. 99.9” in between volumes. You’d think, given that, that the author would also be trying to bring the series to a conclusion, but no worries there. 13 is out in Japan. What it does mean, though, is that the last few volumes have been drenched in mortality – death and what you do after you die, as well as what your loved ones do if you die before they do. We get a few more stories here showing the elderly Shimamura, having lived longer than everyone else, playing an old video game with Yashiro to try to reconnect with her beloved. We also get Adachi waiting in an afterlife parking lot,. unable to move on without their partner. It’s meant to be sweet, and it is, but I also found it a bit grim, to be honest.
The stories, as with many prior books, divide themselves neatly into two. The first part of the book is set from Shimamura’s POV, and shows her life with Adachi as a working adult, with them living together. Adachi has mellowed – a bit – and Shimamura is attempting to be proactive – a bit – and they’re both really fantastic together. The next chunk is from high school days, and Adachi’s POV, mostly showing her interactions with Shimamura’s family and the aftermath of her and Shimamura becoming a couple and sort of trying not to tell anyone yet. We also get a couple of stories in the future of Hino and Nagafuji, showing Hino living at her estate and Nagafuji working there as sort of a part-time maid. And of course we get Yashiro throughout, the same age and mentality even as the characters grow older and move on with their lives. She has a ukulele now.
As the series has gone on, and especially as Adachi’s mother has become one of the main supporting characters, we’ve seen more and more of Shimamura’s mother and her… um… zeal for life. To Shimamura, she’s just an annoying mom. To the Adachis, she is utterly terrifying, as the two of them are both incredible introverts who are terrible at just making conversation, and Shimamura’s mom tries to drag them into that constantly. She can be incredibly annoying, but it’s never malicious, and you can definitely see how Shimamura is a product of her mother as well as her father. As for the short stories themselves, they’re mostly short and sweet. I really loved the marriage proposal, which was very much exactly the sort of thing Shimamura would do. It’s also nice to see that, ambiguous though it is, Hino and Nagafuji are mirroring the relationship Hino’s mom and head maid had. Oh, and we get a semi-sequel to the “Adachi rant”, which is hilarious.
There is, mercifully, no real creepiness in this book, and aside from a “oh no, I woke up and Adachi is a cat” stories, few alternate universes. If you like the couple, you’ll like this.
