By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.
Last time I said that this volume is the final one, which is not true anymore. That said, last time I reviewed this series it was June 2023. Yuki Yaku has been busy with the anime, as well as writing Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night. But, he assures us, the 12th volume is done and will be out a few months later. Um, well, this came out in Japan in January 2024. And there’s no sign of it. But honestly, that’s fine, as this book was a jaw dropper, and I was emotionally worn out by the end of it. We’re at the finale even though this is not the final volume, and you can tell because the cast has narrowed considerably. It feels thematically relevant that everyone who ends up in the sciences classroom for third year doesn’t appear for the rest of the volume. We can’t solve this with numbers. In fact, that may be part of the problem. We need to solve it with words… which Tomozaki is good at, but “good” isn’t enough anymore.
We pick up where we left off, with Aoi seeing the family video that was made for her. Let’s just say her reaction is… viscerally bad. After we return to school, and the main cast starts their third year, Aoi is absent from school, and does not appear to be returning. It doesn’t help that she’s not in either arts OR sciences, but the “advanced” classroom, meaning she’s isolated. And so Tomozaki is forced to do things that are, well, sketchy. Namely, lurk around her house, and eventually start talking with her younger sister Haruka, who, after verifying Tomozaki is not a kidnapper or creeper, opens up to him – a bit – about her family. Eventually these meetings do drag Aoi out of the house, and she too opens up to Tomozaki. Unfortunately, learning the full story of the death of her other sister does not fix everything magically.
There’s a lot of really big scenes in this book – the author excels at writing compelling set pieces to advance the story. Fuka, who is the secondary heroine of this whole series, shows off why she’s the only one besides Tomozaki who’s been able to rattle her, and Fuka’s response when Haruka explains her family is stunning – and also drives home the fact that she truly thinks like a writer. The lightest part of the book is at the live Atafami competition, with Mimimi’s novice commentary, but even that has Tomozaki realize that while he wants to be a gamer he doesn’t really have a compelling enough dream that will make him attract others. Lastly… we really had not seen much of Aoi’s mother at all, but we get a much better portrait of her here. And oh, I wish we hadn’t. There are some things you should not say to grieving children.
We came very close to ending on a MASSIVELY depressing cliffhanger, but fortunately, Fuka exists, and as always is there to pull Tomozaki up and push him forward. Though if they’re going to save Aoi, they’ll need the entire cast, not just this scaled-back version. As for when we’ll see the finale? Or if it really will be the final book? Stay tuned.
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