With student council elections out of the way, it’s time for Mitsumi to head to the zoo. Naturally she’ll end up bringing Shima with her, but can even a zoo close the distance between them? Then it’s time for Mitsumi’s homecoming, plus a little lesson on how guilt is a hell of a drug.
The best word to describe Skip & Loafer at this point is reliable. It may not be the flashiest book going, but it’s got a strong cast and some lessons to impart and it knows how to generate decent drama without being too crazy or preachy.
Literally everybody gets a moment or two here, from Takamine, the stuffy student council girl (oh, I didn’t say president? Huh.) to Kanechika and his unending love for the arts. He’s definitely a speak before thinking type, but means well. And stay tuned for the shocking revelation from Fumi-chan!
Really the best part is the confirmation that Nao-chan, Mitsumi’s aunt, is transgender and absolutely nobody bats an eye. In fact, Nao’s unexpected relationship with Mitsumi’s would-be rival/friend Miku is absolutely the best thing in this story. It manages to be equal parts silly and sweet.
If Mitsumi’s problem remains that her reach exceeds her grasp, her solution definitely seems to be ‘keep walking until you can grasp it. She definitely got in over her head at the start, but by this volume you can see her constantly learning and in motion.
Which makes a nice contrast to Shima, who turns out to be a bit of a wreck behind his carefree facade. He’s definitely lashed out before, but he really seems like he’s bottling a lot that’s going to explode at some point.
Beyond his complicated family life, it turns out that he was very good friends with a model once, but one who just bounced back from an old scandal. In a swerve, but a believable one, Shima somehow caused this scandal, either through enabling her or peer pressure.
As a consequence, Shima’s stuck mired in guilt, which this girl is more than happy to use against him to make sure he’s miserable and unable to fully enjoy his life. It’s a stark contrast to the way he’s able to enjoy spending time with Mitsumi (not fully, but he can at least not hate it or himself for a bit) and he’s well aware that this is destroying him but can’t yet let it go.
It’s a really interesting way to take this - she’s not a rival, since Shima doesn’t want much to do with her aside from what he sees as an obligation, but she is 100% the biggest obstacle in the path of the series’ primary romantic pairing. And Mitsumi doesn’t even know it! It’s actually a pretty smart reworking of this trope.
The zoo date, the sleepover the girls have, the delightfully mixed personalities in Mitsumi’s girl gang, the triumphant return of Mitsumi to her hometown that’s an especially nice story of not leaving behind what’s important to you (as if she ever would), the pain of losing something that IS important to you. Lots of good work here means there’s not much to complain about.
4 stars - my only real gripe is that nothing really grabs me here and makes me go ‘wow’. I suspect the rather underwhelming art is part of the problem, but this book keeps on doing strong work and doesn’t need to be loud about it, really, just quietly confident.