After School Nightmare 9
Posted: January 25, 2009 Filed under: After School Nightmare Leave a comment »Setona Mizushiro – Go!Comi – 2008 – 10 volumes
I wanted to wait until just before the last volume came out to re-read this and write about it. This is a very special series, and I wanted to make sure I was all caught up before the finale so that I wasn’t tripping over half-remembered plot development.
You gotta love those red herrings. I was right about the knight all along. There was evidence that made me halfheartedly reject my theories, but I was right about it, and I held out for a long time before I accepted anything else. Nothing short of Sou’s confession a few volumes ago swayed my opinion, but something about that felt false. I mean, I didn’t guess outright… because that would be weird and uncanny. There is a curveball I didn’t see coming at all. But I liked it.
I didn’t see the thing about Ai and Sou coming, though. I always had a sneaking suspicion about Ai not being what she seemed, but again, what is actually the case is not something that could easily be imagined. This volume alone has pulled off some of the most unbelievable plot twists I’ve ever seen. Of course, without re-reading the entire series, I want to say there were parts that sort of… go against the explanation offered here. Mashiro and Ai taking at school, for instance, but I don’t know how many scenes like that there are. But I’m willing to go along with this explanation, especially since it offered such an amazing climax where Sou had to choose.
Unfortunately, the climax seems like it will lead to a misunderstanding between Sou and Mashiro. Plus the last few pages in the volume don’t make much sense to me. I suspect that the explanation will somehow involve… ghosts, or death, or something. Many of the characters seem to have situations where they would have committed suicide or died, save for Mashiro. I wonder about this.
So volume 10 came in the mail today, and I had to keep myself from reading it long enough to read this one first. Excuse me while I finish one of my favorite series.
