Manga Notes: Bloom Into You Anthology 2
Apr. 26th, 2022 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
While I was reading the official translation of a Bloom Into You “anthology,” I knew a second volume of short works by various artists would follow. Once I had that second volume sitting around waiting to be read, however, I guess I got to thinking finishing it would really, really be it for the whole story for me. At last, though, I picked it up.
I’d supposed more than known in advance the second anthology would acknowledge the conclusion of the story proper. The first piece was a moment between Yuu and Sayaka, however, and then there was a story about Touko teasingly trying to get Yuu to stop adding the “honorific” to her name, which to me must have preceded one memorable part of the conclusion. Eventually, though, some pieces began showing Yuu and Touko a bit closer to each other (which might have made them feel a bit more “familiar” so far as “girls’ love” goes), even if their high school uniforms were still much in evidence. I at least took note of Sayaka’s ultimate significant other being mentioned, but this did lead into a tale about the established adult same-sex couple of the story. The artwork just might have looked a bit more consistently like Nio Nakatani’s original work than I recall from the first volume, although once again the weakest-looking piece was near the end.
One piece before that just happened to imply two girls I couldn’t remember from the main story were at least something of a couple themselves; a few odd thoughts swam through my head before I decided there was one particular place in the story proper. The handful of pieces that didn’t deal quite so much with romantic issues remained welcome in their own way to me, although I missed the few out-and-out fanciful instalments of the original anthology. (The closest this volume might have come to that was one story with the student council playing “Werewolf,” which managed to get me thinking that had shown up in “Haganai” too.) The real draw for some might have been the closing story from Nio Nakatani, set in a sort of in-between time where Touko had graduated but Yui hadn’t. Its “official” status might have given an intimation they hadn’t quite revealed their coupleship to Yuu’s mother a bit of a sting for me, though. With that things were really, really finished, and with all the other manga I have sitting around waiting to be read I’m stuck wondering when I might be able to experience the whole story again. Still, that a work of manga has had this much impact on me in these story-crowded days seems to mean a bit in itself.
I’d supposed more than known in advance the second anthology would acknowledge the conclusion of the story proper. The first piece was a moment between Yuu and Sayaka, however, and then there was a story about Touko teasingly trying to get Yuu to stop adding the “honorific” to her name, which to me must have preceded one memorable part of the conclusion. Eventually, though, some pieces began showing Yuu and Touko a bit closer to each other (which might have made them feel a bit more “familiar” so far as “girls’ love” goes), even if their high school uniforms were still much in evidence. I at least took note of Sayaka’s ultimate significant other being mentioned, but this did lead into a tale about the established adult same-sex couple of the story. The artwork just might have looked a bit more consistently like Nio Nakatani’s original work than I recall from the first volume, although once again the weakest-looking piece was near the end.
One piece before that just happened to imply two girls I couldn’t remember from the main story were at least something of a couple themselves; a few odd thoughts swam through my head before I decided there was one particular place in the story proper. The handful of pieces that didn’t deal quite so much with romantic issues remained welcome in their own way to me, although I missed the few out-and-out fanciful instalments of the original anthology. (The closest this volume might have come to that was one story with the student council playing “Werewolf,” which managed to get me thinking that had shown up in “Haganai” too.) The real draw for some might have been the closing story from Nio Nakatani, set in a sort of in-between time where Touko had graduated but Yui hadn’t. Its “official” status might have given an intimation they hadn’t quite revealed their coupleship to Yuu’s mother a bit of a sting for me, though. With that things were really, really finished, and with all the other manga I have sitting around waiting to be read I’m stuck wondering when I might be able to experience the whole story again. Still, that a work of manga has had this much impact on me in these story-crowded days seems to mean a bit in itself.
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Date: 2022-04-28 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-29 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-29 01:58 am (UTC)I believe that manga (and TV series), when they get to a happy conclusion, can just stop. I've not been a fan of extensions and sequels. And I think fan fiction, while entertaining, doesn't really add much to a finished universe. I wanted Saeki Sayaka to have a happy ending, but I wasn't happy with the light novels. I probably would have been better off leaving things to my own imagination.