Another anthology, another chance to spend time with Yuu, Touko, and Saeki before closing the book on everybody for good. What more can you ask for?
Not much, as it turns out. Turning a bunch of manga creators loose in this world was so successful that they did it twice, after all. This is just as strong a second time around - some stories are better than others, but there isn’t a bad one in the batch.
The tone is set by the very first story, where Saeki gets dust in her eye that leads to a hilarious joke of her giving Yuu the bitchiest look imaginable, whereupon Yuu has to help her walk around by taking her hand, which Touko is naturally super put out by.
Most of the stories similarly aim for the comic side of things and are pretty fun. Many of them illustrate that Touko and Yuu are kind of perfect for one another because they’re both enjoyably mischievous when they’re together. They make a great pair.
Yuu’s worries over her height and Touko’s hilarious penalty game to get Yuu to stop calling her senpai are both very fun stories that show them from both sides of a similar coin. Yuu’s sneaky as all get out in both the penalty game chapter and another where the student council plays Werewolf and Yuu shamelessly meta-games the whole thing.
Most everybody gets a chapter to stand out. Even Dojima gets more to do here and poor Maki gets put through the wringer thanks to a chair shortage that’s capped off in brilliant fashion. There is a series of 4-koma shorts featuring Koyomi (4-Koyomi?) that is easily the best thing in the book and is all about being too smart for the room, while reinforcing how fun Yuu’s friends are.
We get some very sweet chapters as well, many of them focused on perennial favourite Saeki, who gets a lovely little monologue chapter plus another one featuring the barista who took Saeki under her wing. The latter chapter ends up having a surprisingly poignant message at the end of it and is really well written.
Obviously this won’t mean much if you haven’t read Bloom Into You, since you won’t get the in-jokes or circumstances that these characters find themselves in. You could still enjoy it, but this is really meant as a treat for fans - especially with the rather sweet Nio Nakatani story that ends the volume.
5 stars - it’s probably a 4 overall, but it’s the last time we’ll see anything new for Bloom Into You and my nostalgia for a series I’ve always loved is more than enough to nudge it just that extra bit higher, one more time.