Do you like meandering talks about emotions while two people try to say how they feel about one another? I know I do, so here come Ko and Nazuna to do just that for an entire volume.
One more volume and the series ends, so we’re back to where we started in terms of romance. Somewhat literally, as it happens, since Ko and Nazuna are stumbling over all the important things for a lot of this volume.
Which makes sense - Ko finally ends up having a young man’s awakening this volume, leading to a hilarious talk with his unprepared mother, and Nazuna has spent eighteen previous volumes deflecting with her flippancy when things get serious.
Slow Call of the Night is my preferred format, plus some of the very fun chibis it uses (Kyoko and Nazuna hiding under an umbrella is, in fact, peak chibi). Add in some gags and some splashes of romance and it’s a good enough time.
There’s definitely a sense of finality coming, enough that this probably could have wrapped up in this volume if it wanted to. Ko and Nazuna are very distant, now that Nazuna’s fallen in love with Ko, since their mutual feelings mean trying to turn Ko could end both of them.
But there’s a whole other way around this that I was happy to see them bring up at the end. Whether or not they do anything with it remains to be seen; I just like that it was clearly considered by the mangaka.
Everybody still in the story gets a moment here, which is nice. Kyoko, our dear detective, gets the brunt of all the actual romance, or aspects of it anyway, while Akari and Ko come to an understanding about just what Ko’s real desires are. Akari’s chapter in particular feels nicely melancholic.
The way Nazuna has no clue what she’s doing is nothing new, but she is really putting herself through it here. From jealousy to acceptance to, well, being kind of petty, she’s not sure how best to handle Ko.
Unless, you know, they’re friends. It’s a little sweet to see them hang out over break and do what they’ve always done so well together, even if things won’t ever be the same by the end of the volume.
Slow, but enjoyable. Lots of callbacks, some fond farewells, and set-up for the big finale. We’ll see if there’s enough to make a full volume out of, but given how glacially these two move, it’ll probably be fine.
4 stars - pretty darn good, honestly. Not for everybody, but this is very much the moody style I personally enjoy for this manga. It’s been going pretty good and, fingers crossed, it hopefully ends on a high note.
One more volume, I'm so sad that it's ended. It's been a bit in Japan, but finally, I'll get to read it. A little nervous to see what happens. This volume was great, a lot of emotion, some laughs, and goodbyes. I feel his sadness.
A very bittersweet volume, mostly because now it's clear the series is ending very soon. A lot of loose threads were closed on the last book, and this pretty much concludes the remaining big one, while it also does an interesting dive into human relationships, love and its meaning - and how it can be something hard to understand sometimes.
Really soecial series that will probably end being one of my favorites, if it sticks the landing - and everything seems to point that it will.
This volume is sombre and you can tell that things are coming to an end. I liked how a lot of characters are getting closure but it is also sad seeing some of the endings. Akira's was particularly emotional. Im excited to see how this ends but there is also some trepidation because I fear that this might not end too happy.