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Yami no Matsuei, Volume 5
We're back to a book-length plot. With an author's note about how bad the last short one was, heh.
This volume really did make up for a lot of what preceded it; it's full of things I want, including details on one of Tsuzuki's prior partnerships, Byakko, someone standing up to Tsuzuki about his career angst, shinigami having lives outside of work, the inverse of the Shovel Talk trope, and every writer's dream - a book that writes itself for you!
We get a lot of information about Tsuzuki & Tatsumi's former partnership... and "partnership." They never say they were partnered in more ways than on the job, but they describe it in dating language. "I'm glad we split up so quickly," Tatsumi says, and then explains that they weren't ordered to split; "I dumped him." And then there's art like this:
I've somehow avoided the kind of work partnership where you embrace under the moonlight with your hands on the extremely-lower-back. :D
My intial reading notes after this image read: I'm getting the idea that they were involved during their brief work partnership, but that makes me sad because I don't really want to imagine Tsuzuki having such an uncaring partner in the romantic sense as well as the work sense. After finishing the story and seeing that Tatsumi cared, and still cares, I'm less sad but more resigned; I like the idea that they had something and they tried, but I don't feel that they'd be any more successful if they tried again.
This volume had lots of little moments where I was delighted by the art! There's dramatic moments like the atmospheric chapter-image above. There's Tatsumi's goofy expression when he discovers Tsuzuki's whereabouts, and Tsuzuki's hilarious reaction to the book's version of Tatsumi:
As a bonus, have this adorable moment of Tsuzuki and Byakko hanging out:
Which brings me to Byakko! We get to see Byakko in action, and something of his and Tsuzuki's relationship. (This volume is totally the Dictionary of Tsuzuki's Relationships, Failed And Succeeded volume, isn't it. He names the book character after his sister, which I think is the first we've directly heard about her.)
Oh, yes, and my other favourite moment: Tsuzuki's alternate self (the girl in the book is based on him) gives him a righteous chiding about his career angst. We opened this plot with Tsuzuki musing to himself, We become shinigami... in the hope that we may someday get to do the things we neglected t odo in life. We're given a new body, and allowed to walk the earth. And as we dream of the moment when our wish will come true... we go on killing. He pulls this out again when Luka thanks him for helping her; "I bring misery to everyone around me." (I'm a creature of darkness, he thinks, and in my head Phantom of the Opera starts playing: ♪Pitiful creature of darkness...♪)
Luka's having none of it, and I applaud her! My initial reading notes: MY HERO. Telling this poor walking angst-bomb to get over himself, but nicely. ♥ Seriously Tsuzuki I love you but the amount of inner conflict you have about your job is ridic. I'm sure the Ministry has some counselors somewhere.
Watari saves the day by using his power of "breathing life" into inanimate objects to summon Tsuzuki out of the book with a picture. He's a minor character so far, but I really like him. His character design is cute, he's refreshingly drama-free, and the character based on him in the Count's novel seems like a (sneaky) good guy. I hope he gets to come to the rescue of his angst-laden coworkers again! ♥ And I need a cute Watari icon.
To top it all off, I had a moment of (narrative) kink discovery while reading this volume.
You know the Shovel Talk trope? Yeah, I hate it! But I'd never consciously put together before that there's an inversion of this, the 'I'm entrusting you with this person I couldn't be right for' speech, and how much I love it as a specific thing. Tatsumi gives one to Hisoka - "I was one in a long string of partners he lost. But... perhaps you'll stay with him," he tells Hisoka, and wishes for Hisoka to take care of Tsuzuki and stand by him. Knowing, mind you, that Hisoka's an empath and will pick up how much Tatsumi cares about Tzusuki still.
This volume really did make up for a lot of what preceded it; it's full of things I want, including details on one of Tsuzuki's prior partnerships, Byakko, someone standing up to Tsuzuki about his career angst, shinigami having lives outside of work, the inverse of the Shovel Talk trope, and every writer's dream - a book that writes itself for you!
We get a lot of information about Tsuzuki & Tatsumi's former partnership... and "partnership." They never say they were partnered in more ways than on the job, but they describe it in dating language. "I'm glad we split up so quickly," Tatsumi says, and then explains that they weren't ordered to split; "I dumped him." And then there's art like this:
I've somehow avoided the kind of work partnership where you embrace under the moonlight with your hands on the extremely-lower-back. :D
My intial reading notes after this image read: I'm getting the idea that they were involved during their brief work partnership, but that makes me sad because I don't really want to imagine Tsuzuki having such an uncaring partner in the romantic sense as well as the work sense. After finishing the story and seeing that Tatsumi cared, and still cares, I'm less sad but more resigned; I like the idea that they had something and they tried, but I don't feel that they'd be any more successful if they tried again.
This volume had lots of little moments where I was delighted by the art! There's dramatic moments like the atmospheric chapter-image above. There's Tatsumi's goofy expression when he discovers Tsuzuki's whereabouts, and Tsuzuki's hilarious reaction to the book's version of Tatsumi:
As a bonus, have this adorable moment of Tsuzuki and Byakko hanging out:
Which brings me to Byakko! We get to see Byakko in action, and something of his and Tsuzuki's relationship. (This volume is totally the Dictionary of Tsuzuki's Relationships, Failed And Succeeded volume, isn't it. He names the book character after his sister, which I think is the first we've directly heard about her.)
Oh, yes, and my other favourite moment: Tsuzuki's alternate self (the girl in the book is based on him) gives him a righteous chiding about his career angst. We opened this plot with Tsuzuki musing to himself, We become shinigami... in the hope that we may someday get to do the things we neglected t odo in life. We're given a new body, and allowed to walk the earth. And as we dream of the moment when our wish will come true... we go on killing. He pulls this out again when Luka thanks him for helping her; "I bring misery to everyone around me." (I'm a creature of darkness, he thinks, and in my head Phantom of the Opera starts playing: ♪Pitiful creature of darkness...♪)
Luka's having none of it, and I applaud her! My initial reading notes: MY HERO. Telling this poor walking angst-bomb to get over himself, but nicely. ♥ Seriously Tsuzuki I love you but the amount of inner conflict you have about your job is ridic. I'm sure the Ministry has some counselors somewhere.
Watari saves the day by using his power of "breathing life" into inanimate objects to summon Tsuzuki out of the book with a picture. He's a minor character so far, but I really like him. His character design is cute, he's refreshingly drama-free, and the character based on him in the Count's novel seems like a (sneaky) good guy. I hope he gets to come to the rescue of his angst-laden coworkers again! ♥ And I need a cute Watari icon.
To top it all off, I had a moment of (narrative) kink discovery while reading this volume.
You know the Shovel Talk trope? Yeah, I hate it! But I'd never consciously put together before that there's an inversion of this, the 'I'm entrusting you with this person I couldn't be right for' speech, and how much I love it as a specific thing. Tatsumi gives one to Hisoka - "I was one in a long string of partners he lost. But... perhaps you'll stay with him," he tells Hisoka, and wishes for Hisoka to take care of Tsuzuki and stand by him. Knowing, mind you, that Hisoka's an empath and will pick up how much Tatsumi cares about Tzusuki still.