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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane Romance is in the air in volume 7 of S.A.--at least compared to the previous two volumes I've read. As the school sports festival comes to an end, Kei has accepted his feelings for Hikari, although that doesn't mean that confessing them to her can possibly go smoothly. Meanwhile, Akira is trying to come to terms with her love for Tadashi, who's apparently oblivious to how she feels, and Megumi takes matters into her own hands in an attempt to deal with the potential fallout from everyone else's romantic complications. Unlike the last volume, which was mostly devoted to one main subplot, each chapter in vol. 7 has its own storyline. The stories tie together in a way that keeps this from feeling choppy, but it makes it a bit harder to think of the volume as a single unit. Minami has a lot of balls in the air here, with the spotlight constantly moving between characters, and some chapters are much stronger than others. For a series that's nominally about Hikari's lifelong competition with Kei, that doesn't really come up much. It's still on her mind from time to time in this volume, but she finally seems to be consciously aware that her feelings for him are changing. That relationship, whether or not it's at the forefront of the action, continues to not interest me all that much. I do like some of the ways the group's friendships are developed in this volume, though, even if the events surrounding them aren't entirely to my taste. (The high school hijinks subgenre of romantic shoujo is rarely my thing unless it's done exceptionally well, as in Ouran High School Host Club.) I don't think my mixed feelings about this title are going to be resolved anytime soon. Volume 7 of S.A. includes several pages of bonus material from the author. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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