Volume 7
by Yumi Unita
This one was better again. The focus is on Rin and Daikichi, more than the high school drama stuff. Rin notices the mothering tendencies of women around her and starts to wonder about her own mother. She becomes determined to seek her out although Daikichi, having met Masako himself (and disliking her), is afraid that she will just get hurt. Then Daikichi sustains a back injury and has to depend on family and friends to tend to his needs. His brief time as an invalid makes him really wonder about the future: what will it be like when he really gets old? Who will be there to care for him? Because of course he expects the best for Rin- a good college, marriage…. and Nitani has made it clear she\’s not interested in a relationship. He fears he will be a bachelor again into old age.
More serious stuff, and I started enjoying the series again. I particularly liked that despite Daikichi\’s negative impression of Masako, when she and Rin finally meet although it is awkward, Rin\’s natural politeness and friendly manner smoothed things over. Having no expectations of what her mother was like, Rin didn\’t perceive her as an unpleasant person at all. It\’s refreshing to see how good some of these characters are, what decent people.
Rating: 3/5 224 pages, 2010