Iniziano gli All-Japan Junior, l'unica gara in cui due pattinatrici di categorie diverse come Inori e Hikaru possono gareggiare faccia a faccia. Dopo la sconfitta contro la sua rivale ai nazionali novice, stavolta Inori si appresta a scendere in pista pronta a dare il massimo. Tuttavia Iruka, la senpai che tanto ammira, è vittima di un infortunio il giorno della competizione. Inori dovrà così affrontare il rink mentre soffoca dentro di sé lo shock per l'accaduto.
One of the many things I appreciate about this manga is that it never forgets where Inori is starting from. She can proclaim herself to be Hikaru’s rival all she likes, but beyond her using it as motivation she has to back it up.
And she is coming to skating much later than the others, no matter how prodigious her talents might be. Which is my subtle way of saying that you should buckle up because this volume is going down a bumpy road.
What looks like a moment of triumph, worthy of the classic achievements of the most over the top sports manga, quickly turns to ash when reality decides to assert itself and the whole event turns into a crushing debacle for Inori.
It’s a story about loss and how difficult it is to deal with at any age, but especially that age. Tsukasa’s reaction is heart wrenching and just shows his dedication and despair in the moment.
Naturally, Inori puts on a brave face, as she thinks she should. But the one person who can break through that is Hikaru herself, who finally sorts through her feelings over Inori’s drive. It kiboshes my ‘dark Inori’ arc concept for something more believable, which admittedly works better for something this grounded.
Which leaves Hikaru to whole cloth inspire her would-be rival to get back in the saddle. If this was a video game, there is no question who the final boss would be and it’s not even close.
Hikaru’s performance here is absolutely insane, both in complexity and its depiction on the part of the mangaka. You can feel the power of the crowd coming through the page as Hikaru holds absolutely nothing back and proves to Inori that this is worth striving for. It’s absolutely stunning.
There’s a lot going on this volume, but things are very much centred on the characters that need exploring with the greatest urgency. Specifically, this really drills down on Inori and her reaction to losing and her feeling of letting down Tsukasa.
But Tsukasa has his own lessons to impart and the two of them have a real heart-to-heart where we learn a lot more about Tsukasa’s skating past and what really drives him as a coach.
It’s very touching and the way the two aren’t communicating well this volume is believable. Being able to deal with winning is a no-brainer, but being able to deal with losing, especially at this level, is hard. This is a lesson Inori is having to learn all over again.
And the shadow over all this is the skater who got injured last time. That story goes into all sorts of problems that this causes, not just the obvious ones. It’s very complicated and I loved the way it was addressed.
That’s just some of the great work in this volume. There’s a lot to dig into, more than I can cover without another half dozen paragraphs, and all backed by the usual strengths. It has lots of well-portrayed skating and tons of interesting character beats to work with. Rarely does the series let me down.
5 stars - and it didn’t this time either. By having such fallible characters, who realistically cannot win every time, you make for a far more compelling story. This remains one of the great sports manga and a personal favourite.
Inori is trying to move forward after her heartbreaking performance. The real powerhouse moment for me in this volume was when we visit Iruka in the hospital. That was a gut punch. I am very sad that this manga is on hiatus. The author's health is top priority and I hope they are ok. Knowing that I have only two more volumes and not potential end in sight has me wanting to possibly hold off for a little bit.
4.5 stars Was ein super, wenn auch harter Band. Auch wenn Inori versucht hat, ihren Schock nicht zu zeigen, hat er sich in ihrer Leistung widergespiegelt. Dadurch ist es zu einem Ergebnis gekommen, mit das belastet. Ihre und Hikarus Beziehung finde ich super spannend, denn obwohl sie Rivalinnen sind, bauen sie sich gegenseitig auf und feuern sich aus der Ferne an. Hikarus Lauf war Klasse und sie geht nun ihren eigenen Weg. Inori hatte mit der Niederlage zu kämpfen, aber sie und Tsukasa konnten daraus einiges lernen und blicken somit positiv in die Zukunft. Auch Irukas Lage sieht nicht gut aus, aber wie Inori versucht sie mit Resilienz voranzukommen. Als nächstes steht nun also der Junioren GP an, den ich gar nicht abwarten kann.
5⭐️ After Iruka fell and was taken to the hospital, Inori seemed unaffected, but she couldn't jump—she lost the short program and couldn't compete in the long program the next day. To help her get back on her feet, Hikaru decided to skate the long program the following day for her... Iruka, meanwhile, must rest for three months after surgery. Her figure skating career will become precarious.
I know Hikaru Kamisaki is Elena Valerievna Kostyleva, Iruka Okazaki is Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Trusova (now Ignatova, due to marriage, and a mother) and since these two are my favorite ice skaters in the whole world, it is fun to read this manga and think about how their relationships and personalities could have been different for the better or worse, but I get to share it by reading the manga. Inori Yuitsuka is Margarita Bazyluk (irrelevant to me) but I like thinking Hikaru Kamisaki would behave towards her per Volume 13 and how I wish they could really hug as they both stand on the platform, but Margarita Bazyluk hates Elena Kostyleva and will never hug her, if they both place. Jun Yodaka and Shinichiro Sonidori are a composite of one man known in Russia as Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver). I think I'd rather lead the QUAD revolution in female ice skating, as Alexandra "Sasha" Trusova did than any such Olympic awards. She is the QUAD QUEEN or RUSSIAN ROCKET and her little brothers telling her at ten years old to "tear them all to pieces... to pieces" in regards to the other ten year old girls in their ice skating outfits and her career to be the BEST at all time to show her last name "Trusova" meaning "timid" or "a coward" could never describe who SHE REALLY IS... first female to do four of the five jumps in ice skating in the category of QUADS, first female to do two, three, and four QUADS in a single performance. Alexandra Trusova is the first human to do FOUR QUADS in one performance. Volume 13 had the words I wanted to read in regards to THIS AMAZING ATHLETE.
For some reason Goodreads thinks this won't be published until April 26. It is most definitely out in Japan and the licensed English translation is also available. (Got mine from Bookwalker, which is where I buy all my manga.)