An absolutely pitch-perfect romance
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Go Ikeyamada
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
Uesugi has been making plenty of enemies since coming to town, and a group of them have kidnapped Megumu as part of their revenge. Aoi and Uesugi put aside their differences in order to team up to rescue her, but in the ensuing battle Aoi loses his eye patch! Can Megumu convince him that his hidden wounds won’t scare her away, or will the trauma of his past be the end of their future together?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Faced with the nasty scar underneath Aoi’s eye patch, Megumu is certainly surprised. But when one of the kidnappers calls him a “monster” for it, Megumu grabs him and attempts to force an apology, only to be hit away. Which of course sets Aoi off, and he thus expediently takes care of things. But when Aoi hesitantly approaches our heroine in the aftermath, she reaches out for him, not wanting to let go despite his condition. This embrace and kiss is presented in a series of spreads that simply jumps off the page, and as a romantic climax to their arc, it just nails everything it needs to perfectly. You can really feel Megumu’s emotions for him, and it doesn’t come off as “cheap” in the slightest (as it easily could have) to have him “cured” by this moment.
Afterwards, Megumu also quite resolutely shuts down Aoi’s fears that what she feels is pity rather than love, and we in turn get to learn the story behind his scars. Once more, it’s handled quite well, letting us see his tragic past without feeling out of touch or forced. It simply works, and despite being an “odd” place to put it, it still functions quite well as a climax to their story. Oh, and we cap it all off with a nice little scene introducing Aoi’s uncle in a rather amusing way.
With Aoi and Megumu’s story wrapped up neatly, the focus shifts once again to Azusa and Mitsuru. At first this seems to be retreading the same old ground, with both of them being too stubborn to just commit to a proper relationship. But when Azusa’s mother is introduced, we get a new wrinkle that hints at some definite issues in her family. And that only grows more complicated when we learn about the secret behind the relationship between Azusa and Shino. Oh, and it’s a small matter, but it’s actually pretty nice to see the series reflect back on the bullying Azusa herself did in the past. Rather than simply hand wave it away, she’s forced to effectively confront her old self and come to grips with the way she used to be, in turn showing how she’s changed. It’s a simple but powerful way of showing some real character growth, and it’s handled wonderfully.
In Summary
In this volume, the star of the show is the climax of Megumu and Aoi’s romance, and needless to say, it absolutely sticks the landing. It hits its beats perfectly and jumps off the page, working wonderfully throughout. This really is a stunning example of how to nail the execution of a romantic climax, and I can’t praise it enough. With that out of the way, though, we do get a good bit focused on the other main pair here as well. And fortunately, that doesn’t drop the ball either, as it introduces some real complexity to Azusa’s story in particular. Perhaps best of all, though, it takes her awkward past and instead turns it into a positive, using it to flesh out her character and show her growth in some small yet none the less impactful ways. Needless to say, this book absolutely lives up to the high standards of the series thus far, and proves why this really is a standout in its genre.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: December 6th, 2016
MSRP: $9.99