”That unbelievable jerk.”
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Ryoko Fukuyama
Translation: Casey Loe
What They Say
I’ll never be reflected in those eyes.
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’s voice remains in terrible shape as she takes the stage at Tokyo Sailing… In a last ditch effort, a determined Yuzu removes his mask and whispers, “Sing with me, Alice.” Will they be able to save In No Hurry’s performance?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Let’s be clear about this: a majority of shojo, Anonymous Noise included, is full of lip service– a lot of characters saying they’ll work out their feelings, with nothing in the way of meaningful actions to really lift up the series. People can go on endless internal monologues that don’t really lead to anything consequential. But that’s the point. You get invested because characters have obvious shortcomings and end up spending the rest of the series working on that flaw for volumes at a time. And for some reason… some inexplicable reason, it’s thoroughly entertaining.
What author Ryoko Fukuyama lacks in concrete actions for her characters, she makes up for in these multiple small, personable moments. Yes, it would be great if characters just shut up and kissed already, but to be able to make a fun read out of all the other intricacies leading to and around a teenage romance can be just as solid a read.
As we wind down our latest concert arc, Nino is once again at odds with her own voice. And yet rather than tying this up nicely and moving on to the next big arc, this early-volume chapter ends on a rather bittersweet note, with Momo and Nino breaking up. It comes off as a very abrupt, downplayed moment that doesn’t pause for dramatic effect, which is rather surprising considering most shojo relish in doing such. Instead, characters continue with their day to day as if nothing happened. It is only late in the volume do characters ever acknowledge the strangeness of this plot point, and finally gives some decently satisfactory closure to the Nino/Momo coupling.
Sandwiching the opening and closing of these events are a wide mishmash of events, ranging from seed-planting of future plot points, to simple character-centric moments. And while the former has yet to accomplish much (initial reaction aside, the gang seems pretty chill about getting a job writing an anime opening song), it’s in the latter that this volume shines.
Between Kuro’s developing relationship with An, Yuzu’s friendship with Haruyoshi, and even Momo’s with his manager Tsukika, everyone is treated to a small moment that makes them feel like something outside of a typical shojo character. Having Kuro finally realize he cares for An is a nice buildup, and I’m curious as to how Fukuyama will write An in response to these new developments. Meanwhile, Haruyoshi fretting over In No Hurry‘s future past high school comes off as a very natural progression to his character. As the leader of the band, it makes sense for him to have such a concern, and Yuzu is the perfect character to bounce these feelings off of. Even Momo’s relation with Tsukika feels more realized this volume, as Momo’s family drama is drawn to a close. Momo feels restless even after having paid off his mother’s debts and his manager having to baby him through this process comes off as more interesting than creepy.
In Summary:
There’s a lot of moving pieces in Anonymous Noise vol 14. But while most of them feel like seed-planting for later volumes, that doesn’t make them feel any less important. Between the secondary and major characters, there’s a lot of self-reflection going on. The cast in considering their relationships with each other and are being careful to act accordingly, lest they ruin what they’ve built up to begin with. It’s all very shojo, but in a meaningful way.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: May 7, 2019
MSRP: $9.99
