Will Maria be able to reunite the class in time for the competition?
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Miyoshi Tomori
Translation: JN Productions
English Adaptation: Ysabet MacFarlane
What They Say:
Maria encourages antagonistic Ayu to be true to her feelings, but that simple action snowballs into a huge rift within their class! As secret crushes and hidden motives are revealed, the backlash of honesty just might destroy Maria’s efforts in uniting everyone for the choral competition!
Content:
While off trying to practice by herself, Maria runs into Ayu trying to fix herself up for the tv crew. Maria tells her that she should be more true to her own feelings before departing. When the tv crew shows up Yusuke tries to go find Maria, only for Ayu to confess her love in front of everyone, shockingly effected by Maria’s words. Things start to snowball until they reach the point where Ayu ends up confronting Hana and getting dragged off by Yusuke to help locate Maria. They find her and bring her back, and in the process Ayu appears to get drawn into Maria’s circle of friends. Upon returning to the classroom, Maria purposefully plays into the script, only for Ayu to burst out against the plotting of Hana and the teacher. Things reach a breaking point when Hana gives up on the competition and the teacher almost slaps Maria in front of the camera.
Thanks to Ayu’s efforts, the class tries to boycott the competition, but Maria and company say that they still want to keep going. While discussing the issue over food, Shin pulls Maria aside and kisses her, leaving our heroine rather flustered. Maria continues to worry about the issue over the course of the next day, but things start to turn around when Shin shows up to school even though he is terribly ill. Maria then admits to Shin that she was pushed away by her only friend at St. Katria, which hurt her deeply.
Thanks to Maria’s efforts, the other students finally agree to go on with the competition, and Maria even manages to make up with Hana. When the time for the competition finally comes around, though, the teacher proves just how despicable he is by pouring ink over Maria as she’s on her way to the auditorium. The teacher tries to pin it on the students, but Maria confronts him about it and the class starts to fall apart. Everyone urges her against going out looking like she does, but Maria simply turns it into a riveting tale, working the ink in as part of her performance. At first she thinks that she’s been deserted, as she ends up singing the entire piece by herself, but it turns out that everyone was simply shocked by the beauty of her performance and unable to butt in.
In Summary:
This volume brings the first big arc of the series to a close, and includes quite a few nice moments in the process. Ayu’s role in particular is a pretty cool one to see, and it really helps to give her character some depth. Hana’s arc also comes to a solid end, and there’s even some nice interaction between Maria and Shin. Most of all, though, the volume focuses on Maria, and really helps to flesh out her already intriguing character. The tidbits into her past and the ways that she interacts with the class are all great, and definitely make the volume. It will certainly be interesting to see where the series progresses from here, as it seems that Maria has finally found a place that she belongs.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: August 7th, 2012
MSRP: $9.99