Will the loving affection of a hearing impaired girl prove dangerous for our heroes?
Creative Staff
Writer/Author: Kiito Yumi
Translation: Kinami Watabe
English Adaptation: Sean McCoy
What They Say:
Iku is about to face her most difficult challenge: her parents are coming to visit the library where she works! When she joined the Library Forces, she told her parents that she was just going to be a librarian. Now she has to come clean that she’s on the ultra-dangerous Task Force. Can her parents ever accept that she’s a library warrior?
The Review!
As the volume begins, we find Iku once more trying to prevent her parents from finding out her secret, and panicking quite a bit in the process. When her mother tries to talk her into a more “suitable” job, Iku is shocked as her father stands up for her. As a result, Iku and her parents are able to part ways without any problems, though we soon find out that her father has figured out her secret (a fact that Iku remains oblivious to.)
From there, we are introduced to Marie Nakazawa, a young girl who is hearing impaired. As it turns out, Marie and Komaki have known each other for quite a while, and as such are quite close. Iku quickly detects a hint of romance, despite a 10 year age gap between the two. We are then treated to a quick overview of Marie’s past, in which we learn she has in fact been in love with Komaki for a long time, but has always felt tormented by the age gap between them, and the fact that he simply saw her as a child.
Before long, we see people from the MBC come and take Komaki away on suspicion of abusing a disabled person. With a little snooping, our heroes find out that he was taken, and is being tortured, on the ridiculous grounds of a rumor that he hurt Marie by giving her a book in which the heroine is deaf, an “insensitive” action. Iku manages to get a hold of Marie and inform her of the situation, and the group is able to track down where Komaki is being held, allowing our heroes to rescue Komaki, and helping Komaki and Marie become closer in the process.
In the bonus chapters, Iku tries to get a picture of Tezuka smiling, and ends up wearing a rather fancy outfit while guarding a party.
In Summary:
The core plot here is a solid one, both giving us an interesting new character in the form of Marie, and using her to flesh out Komaki’s character. However, the main catalyst for the central drama of this volume feels a bit forced, with charges that feel ridiculously overblown even for the world presented in this series. All in all, a nice volume with a touching little story to tell, but one in which it felt like the setting only worked to the story’s detriment.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A-
Package Rating: A-
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 7th, 2011
MSRP: $9.99