I don't really understand how their relationship is still undefined when they've both said they like each other, and kiss multiple times in this volume. But I suppose they haven't sat down and literally said "let's date," so that's on hold until after Fujinaga's play is over.
There's a big shift in this volume to the acting side of things, really showcasing Fujinaga's audition, rehearsals, and the opening night of his play. And I like that! I was incredibly skeptical of his acting abilities, but this volume did a great job of finally showing what's appealing about his acting and what makes him a little bit different from other people - and in need of a director and casting agents who get how to work into his skills.
Kind of weirdly, this entire manga-adaptation-play seems to have been developed for him? That irritates his better-known costar a bit, but Lem also recognizes Fujinaga's talent and seems to genuinely like him. I'm not getting love triangle vibes just yet, but I am enjoying him as a character.
Keito kind of takes a backseat, with Lem calling him "a charity case," much to Fujinaga's dismay, with a stronger sense of isolation because he can't experience Fujinaga's acting in the same way hearing people can. The scene with him standing in a room unable to hear Fujinaga singing was pretty powerful.
What's good about his character is that you never feel a sense of victimizing or...how to say it...I feel like a lot of the manga I've read with characters who are Deaf, in wheelchairs, etc, come across very ableist in their depictions, leaning into fetishization that tends to make me kind of uncomfortable. Keito's treated the same way as any other character would be, with his Deafness as simply an important part of him that impacts how he interacts with the world.
When it comes to sign language, I liked how Fujinaga put it...he wasn't trying to learn sign language for any Do-Gooder type reasons. He just wanted to communicate with Keito in his own language. Which puts a whole different spin on it, because he's approaching their communication barrier the same way he would if he was dating a foreigner and needing to learn English or French or whatever else to fully understand them. I think that's a neat way of looking at it.
I liked this volume a lot more than the first one, and feel like it's found its footing here. Looking forward to more.