Hanakimi 21
Posted: April 10, 2009 Filed under: Hana-Kimi 7 Comments »HOLY CRAP YES.
So here is the climax of the series. Not only did Sano say it, without an accident forcing it out of him, or a misunderstanding making things obvious, or any other event influencing his decision… there was an entire chapter of Izumi forcefully grabbing Mizuki and making her stay put while he got everything he wanted to say out. It was divine. After Mizuki has some time to dodge awkwardly and digest everything, she says her piece, and there is a kiss. Again, the scene is very wonderful.
Notably, this is the only shoujo manga I can think of where the main couple takes 21 volumes to hook up that can get away with the line “He kissed me! He wasn’t drunk this time!”
There was a bowling outing among the main characters, which was notable because Kayashima was a creep and freaked Noe out. I always forget about Kayashima, then he manages to remind me of what an awesome side character he really is. Don’t ever stop being a creep, Kayashima.
Also, within the first couple pages, the characters manage to use the phrase “shit-eating grin,” which is one of my favorites. There just isn’t very many opportunities one gets to use that phrase, much like telling someone their face is “folding into a mask of ancient sadness.”
Ha ha ha ha! Nice job working that in! :)
Your review made me go and dig up mine on this volume, and I think I had pretty much the same reaction though I distilled it into:
“Finally! Confessions! Smooching! A puppy!”
Reading your reviews of this series makes me want to reread this series. Sano is just awesome :) – I like all the gang, actually.
Haha, very concise! That’s pretty much it. I was a little surprised the confessions came in this volume, because even though all the signs had been pointing to them coming up, I figured it would drag out to the end. Your volume 23 review also sums up my feelings on that volume, which was that it was totally just going through the motions and wrapping up what needed to be wrapped up. I was pretty disappointed with everything after this volume.
I had to sneak that line in somewhere.
Glad you like them!
Yeah, there were surprisingly few unlikable characters in the series for how many people are in it. I had forgotten how much I liked all the guys that hung out with Mizuki until I picked these last several volumes back up. There are just so many genuinely funny moments between them.
Yeah, everything from the sudden desire to learn karate on is very disappointing.
[...] Smith on vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Crimson Hero (soliloquy in blue) Connie on vols. 21 and 22 of Hana-Kimi (Slightly Biased Manga) Amanda on Heaven’s Will (Blogcritics) Oyceter on [...]
Yeah, the whole surprise karate interest struck me as really lame. You’re right, it breaks down from there on out.