Naoshi Arakawa

This series goes for big emotions which you either roll your eyes at or let yourself get swept away with. I'm swept. This volume deals with catharsis, denial, and love as the hero finishes his concert, the mystery of his missing musical partner is solved, and another character comes to realize their true feelings.

Soap opera with pianos. Love it.

The best parts of this series are the sequences when the protagonist plays piano and we jump from character to character -- on stage and in the audience -- as they think about what the music is expressing or revealing about him and, in this case, the girl with whom he is playing a duet. It's heavy-handed and manipulative as the author basically tells us how to feel, and I'm sure it won't work for everyone, but it hits me directly in the right spot.

Also, the love rectangle is firmly show more entrenched and ready to drive the drama of the final volumes. show less

A little too heavy on the soap opera this go-round, with a break-up, a mysterious illness, the unnecessary introduction of a new villain, and a cliffhanger final line that inspires "Wait, what -- ??" and WTF double takes as it references a Japanese novel with which I am unfamiliar but quick research shows has a similar storyline. Ichigo Dōmei by Masahiro Mita

There's not a whole lot of story in this volume; it's mostly one very long scene covering just a few minutes. Still, it's packed with feeling and some really nice art. We're essentially seeing internal changes, shifts of emotion and attitude, rather than anything more visible.

I'm still feeling like this is all the Arima show, and I'd really like to see Kaori stepping forward into a co-protagonist role. I feel like we know what's going on with Arima; Kaori is a mystery, and starting to unpack show more that would help her move from being a muse for Arima to being a serious character in her own right. So far it feels very much like Tsubaki and Ryouta are more established and rounded, which just isn't right. I suppose at this stage, I'm just not sure whether Kaori is going to get that limelight, or whether she's doomed to be a Manic Pixie Dream Girl for Arima - I feel like the story hasn't given me enough hints one way or the other. That uncertainty meant I gave it a lower rating, because I can't decide how much I'm looking forward to the rest. show less