”I wonder when music became such a burden to me?”
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Ryoko Fukuyama
Translation: Casey Loe
What They Say
Our love was about to change
Nino Arisugawa, a girl who loves to sing, experiences her first heart-wrenching goodbye when her beloved childhood friend, Momo, moves away. And after Nino befriends Yuzu, a music composer, she experiences another sad parting! Luckily, Nino reunites with Momo and Yuzu in high school, but things haven’t played out the way anyone expected…
Nino, Yuzu and Momo take the stage together with six years of emotions racing through their hearts. When Nino’s singing unleashes her deeply held feelings, how will Momo respond with his love for her?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
For a typical shojo story, Anonymous Noise hasn’t really done much in the way of having all members of its love triangle share the same stage. So when volume 11 starts off with just that, it seems like a long time coming.
We’ve had plenty of moments between Nino and the two boys separately, as well as scenes with both Momo and Yuzu together, so it’s not like we don’t have a good idea of how they contrast with each other. But to have all three characters together literally sharing a stage as they all perform together during the end of In No Hurry’s Japan tour offers a uniquely different experience. We’re able to see Nino, Momo and Yuzu work towards the same goal of utilizing music to their best degree possible, and in that regard it makes for a very unique scene. Usually in shojo, it’s in the differences that the drama is born. But in this case, to see all our characters working towards the same goal is as thoroughly entertaining as any typical shojo mushiness. Music clearly has a big role in these characters’ lives, and to see each of them so passionate in making sure the final concert of the tour goes off without any hitches is just so great.
…I say that, though the one minor hitch was in the forced drama that was Yuzu being unmasked on-stage was something that could have definitely been dropped entirely. The plot thread concludes with little to no fanfare that you question why it was even included in the first place (for meaningless drama. It was included for meaningless drama and nothing else). Author Fukuyama frames this plot point against the larger plot of the group’s tour. The two plots are supposed to go hand-in-hand in that the band’s final performance goes so spectacularly that nobody ends up caring that Yuzu was outed as being in In No Hurry in the first place. And yet the follow-through with this is handled so poorly (we see little of the twitter-drama unfold as well as any repercussions this would have on the school) that it stands out like a sore thumb.
Minor gripe aside, though, the rest of the volume carries along nicely. Of additional note is just how skilled Fukuyama has gotten at blending her more comical moments into the overall plot. Tiny details like Nino happily bouncing back and forth while performing, or Kuro poking his in-law’s cheek is a nice balance of standing out while still moving the story forward in a way that breaks up the pacing and melodrama well. Similarly, Fukuyama really goes the extra mile to make the “secondary” pairings feel as fleshed out as possible, for how little screen time they get comparatively. Miou’s lack of confidence and almost melancholy in her relationship with Haruyoshi is an oddly adult feeling to have in a relationship, but it’s played off very well. To compliment this is Kuro’s one-sided love with his in-law, which he finally lets fall to the wayside after some instances of immaturity on his part. Everyone is getting some character development, and that’s just great.
But the volume’s crowning achievement has to be how it ends. Finally, after 11 long volumes of will they/won’t they, Nino is finally given a clear love confession from Momo—no misunderstandings, or convenient forgetfulness, or second-guessing here. Of the love interests, Momo was clearly the more alpha of the two, so it makes sense that his confession be as in-your-face and explicit as possible. He’s clear and honest about his feelings, and makes sure that Nino is on the same page as well before they carry on with their life. The real downside here is that Yuzu (as far more likeable than Momo as he is) has yet to give up on his love. Thus, the love triangle continues, even after a confession has been made. As something to leave the volume off on, it feels like a pulled punch. Why establish a coupling only to immediately go back on your word? But on the whole, only time will tell how this drama will play out.
In Summary:
Anonymous Noise volume 11 finally gives readers a well-deserved shojo-y confession of love, but the fact that the love triangle itself has yet to be resolved gives me some mixed feelings. It’s very much a two steps forward, one step back sort of deal, but slow progress is still progress nonetheless.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: November 6th, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
