Black Sun, Silver Moon 5
February 6, 2010
Tomo Maeda – Go!Comi – 2008 – 7 volumes
Continuing on with the color theme of the past 24 hours, I recently bought the last three volumes of this on sale, and no time like the present to finish it off.
I still don’t really care for it. The parts showing Shikimi’s past were mildly interesting, though still didn’t grab me, and now that we’ve gone back to the back-and-forth of everyday with Shikimi, Grey, Laz, and Taki, my interest has pretty much flown out the window. I just don’t really care for any of the characters, and can’t get into the little comic asides and banter between the characters.
The overall plot chugs on, though, with a major revelation about Taki. It seems like this might go in an interesting direction, and the story takes its time to unveil it, but then… it doesn’t really change anything at all around the house. There’s one moment where it seems like the dynamics might change, but then they don’t. This still has the potential to go somewhere, and I do have higher hopes for the final story arc starting next volume. But boo, Black Sun Silver Moon. You’ve got all the right ingredients and just aren’t mixing them together right.
I also just… hate Laz. I hate her so much. What is she still doing there? She sort of facilitates the discussion about Taki’s true nature, but that would have come out anyway since Grey figures it out himself. She continues to insist she is a man and beg Shikimi to go out with her. She plays no other role. I just… can’t figure out what her role in the story even is.
I did like the unrelated short story at the end of the volume. It was about a strange artist and the neighbor who tries to help him. It had just the right touches of supernatural and sadness, and while fangirls could certainly read a lot of things between the main characters, it also never turns into a BL story, which I liked. It was nice. I wonder if some of her other work is more like this story, “Red Shoes,” than Black Sun, Silver Moon or Beyond My Touch.
