First the 2 stories that weren’t in the anime, then finally the amusement park date. Between getting to see a totally new side to Yoshino, and the interactions between Yumi & Suguru in the last story - this was such a rewarding volume!! The Shimako story was ok too. It wasn’t really a huge development, but it filled things out a bit better, and the interactions between Noriko and Sei were amazing (omg Sei is such a troll!! And I love that Shimako is totally oblivious to Noriko having not so great feelings towards Sei).
Also Yuuki being protective of Yumi is something that will never get old. I love these two siblings
I didn’t 100% understand what Yumi’s conclusion about Suguru, and why he told Sachiko he’s gay was. Also while it’s possible I’m reading too far into things bc of a line from (I think) vol 25 that was in the anime, Suguru definitely seems to be developing some sort of feelings for Yumi. Idk if it’s [presumed] “future sister-in-law” (Suguru & Sachiko are still engaged right?) or something romantic or what, but it definitely seems like something. It wouldn’t be the first time Yumi’s told him not to say something as a joke, when he was actually being serious tho…. Anyway this is about the part of the story that started to solidify Suguru as one of my favorites.
I love how this volume opens up various “probably not, but it’s not impossible?” possibilities/eventualities for the characters’ futures. Also I love how much the male characters in this series (sometimes) add to the story.
Looking at the chapter headings for 22, were onto more of the parts I’ve been really excited for
I like the Tsutako & Shouko scenes. Do you remember whether Shouko appeared in the anime and how?
Volume 21 reply to Luna
I must admit, I totally forgot, that volume 21 was about their amusement park date.
Regarding Suguru and what the anime might predict: I also get the feeling that he develops some kind of romantic feelings. But I’m also not sure whether he has romantic feelings for Yuuki and then gets confused when he is meeting Yumi. Or something like future sister-in-law feelings, yeah. Suguru is quite difficult to understand here… :-/
Yumi and Yuuki really are nice sisters & brothers. I also get the feeling that Yuuki matures a lot. Or maybe that he matured before Yumi does?
I’ve just finished volume 28. What a nice collection of short stories! Though in the beginning I felt a bit frustrated as the main story did not continue, it is really rewarding. I got a lot of new favorite stories, and I really enjoyed the characters that made an appearance!
But I must say the numbering of volumes is so confusing. Here on learnnatively it is volume 28. In my personal collection I had numbered it volume 30. Maybe I had counted in some volumes that are not part of the main story. By accident, as I had “volume 29” in mind before I started with the volume 29 JPDB deck … And it kind of fitted, too. Though now that I started the following volume it fits much better. So I guess my own counting is wrong. Maybe I should change that number I wrote in the book to not confuse myself
Acc to my friend, she was at the matchmaking event, and Yumi gracefully turned. But they didn’t have the part where she’s sent to Touko, since they never showed her and Touko meeting in the first place
21 reply (continued discussion spoilers, not blurred)
My assumption is that he doesn’t, and that it’s more like Sei & Yumi… But it could be that his feelings changed over time. I suspect we’ll have to read お釈迦様 to find out!
I really love that the author does this - it’s quite a fun frustration
I think Yuuki’s school environment is a lot less sheltered, and he had to deal with more responsibilities (and nonsense) at school - whereas the student council work at Lilian’s is really handled by the roses. I think you’re right, but also they’re mature in different ways - and sometimes she’s the one standing up for/helping him too. She’s definitely growing up more and more tho! Especially having to introspect hard, after recent events. It’s so nice watching it
Yeah the short stories are pretty solid so far. I’ve definitely been glad I read them - even the ones that don’t connect to the main plot
I just checked the physicals. The Natively numbering & order is correct, based on the こ7-xx numbers on the spines
Thank you for checking. I assume I did count in the special additions (wikipedia link here). As I’m curious regarding the こ7-xx number, I understand how they help with ordering (never checked those before), but for the actual number they are off, right? On the 28th I have 7-54 for example.
21 reply (continued discussion spoilers, not blurred)
Probably the most plausible outcome And I agree, it is definitely a fun frustration
Good point! Compared to her he is already the student council and having a lot of responsibilities.
I also really like how she is growing up. With the way Konno-sensei is in general changing the narrating style of her characters I also like the way how her characters are growing up.
That reminds me, I should spend some time with the premium book. It’s really pretty!!
The numbers are seemingly including other Cobalt Series books that were published besides マリみて. No idea how the larger grouping works (maybe it’s by imprint?) - but either way they’re still in ascending order. I really don’t get why they didn’t just put volume numbers on the cover - or at least the inside - like most other series
growing characters and narration style
Could you elaborate on the changing narrating style more? I think I have an idea what you mean, but curious to hear more
Book-off have an article explaining the numbers: apparently the hiragana is the first character in the author’s name, the first number says “this is the Nth author whose name starts with that kana that this publisher has published”, and the last digit is “this is the Nth book by that author published by this publisher”.
So in this case it’s こ-7-54 because the same publisher already published other books by the author before this series.
Since the idea is that it’s the shelf order, it wouldn’t surprise me if the publisher tried to “leave space” in the numbering where an author had several ongoing series, so they don’t end up interleaving. But I don’t have any evidence about that.
Finished 22 (reading instead of doing work). Don’t have much to say besides damn that was soooo good. Most was already in the anime, but I think a few things were not, and they definitely added a lot to the story. On the other hand, if the Touko x Shimano conversation (and Shimako telling Yumi about it) was left out, I think that was a good choice on the anime’s part, bc it really helped build the suspense there
The rejection scene hit a bit harder in the anime, for whatever reason. This time around it was easier to see why Touko responded the way she did. I feel like the anime dragged that scene out just ever so slightly more, and so it hit harder. Or maybe it’s just because I already knew it. I probably need to slow down a bit too tbh
Anyway we’re in the thralls of what I was looking forward to when I started reading. So
I need to check with the earlier volumes to be sure, but in Yumi’s case I have the feeling that the sentences become longer & there is less direct speech in her thoughts. Like her character changes that she does not show everything on her face it seems she is also not showing everything in her thoughts or at least in a more reserved way?
Will check some of the earlier volumes tomorrow and directly compare her narrative style to make sure
Thank you for the explanation! It seems Konno-Sensei has published quite a lot. Need to check what else she all published. I remember some other long historical series, and the side-story of Marimite.
I’m currently right at that point in volume 29 and I’m fangirlying like all the time I’m so happy I じわじわと stuck with this series and read through the volumes to reach this point
I see what you mean. Yeah her narration definitely feels different. Starts changing in the mid teens. She’s also a lot more crafty/cunning, and confident a lot of the time. That’s a good point about not showing everything in her thoughts. Like she’s not phased by every little thing anymore.
Also imo the vibe of the narration has started feeling a bit different around vol 21. Actually I think it’s mostly around Touko. It feels like Yumi already subconsciously perceives her as a younger sister, and a lot of her thoughts are focused on her. Whereas before, there was a broader concern with the other characters, and a lot of her thoughts were centered on Sachiko. Sachiko almost feels like an afterthought a lot of the time (which I’m very fine with). But also her thoughts feel a bit more imaginative now, and not just anxiety spiraling
It doesn’t have dates, but there’s a list of most of it here: 今野緒雪 - Wikipedia
The historical series you’re thinking of is probably 夢の宮, which I’ll eventually add to the site. But there’s no digital versions, nor series page, so I haven’t been in the mood to add 22 unnumbered volumes that I have to look up individually, and put in an ordered list.
Finished 21. Winter vacation stories aren’t my favorite, and new years vocab is annoying, but I still enjoyed. Also that 1st illustration
Otherwise my main thought is: THAT’S THE REASONING BEHIND THEIR ENGAGEMENT?! THIS WHOLE TIME, HER PARENTS BARELY CARED, AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN BROKEN UP THIS SIMPLY?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
There’s some songs mentioned in the あとがき, one of them is really good, and make me wonder what other music I might be missing out on:
24 thoughts: I went right into 25 & 26, so I need to go back and write reviews for this & 25. Right now they’ve all blurred into one, in my head
25 thoughts
ok, so Suguru is bi, and had romantic feelings for Yumi. Indeed like I thought. I appreciate that Sachiko was both perceptive and understanding about this. Also her mom is hilarious. I can’t quite decide if I ship Yumi & Suguru yet… like they clearly have some chemistry, they both have the shared bond of immensely cherishing Sachiko, and I feel like the ways they’re maturing seem like they could match each other well.
Otoh unless Yumi is also bi, it’s been kinda heavily implied that she’s lesbian (tho doesn’t realize this), and she’s never remotely exposed any interest in male characters so far. And on a meta level, I’d feel mixed about the series just tying up nicely into a hetero romance. Also tbh, I’d be much happier seeing Yumi paired with someone middle class, and not having to deal with the high society BS. Anyway, I’m assuming it will end open-ended, but with the implication that there could be something possible between them. I mean they’ll only be 18-19 (unless there’s a time skip… but I wouldn’t expect it from this series)… Tho I could also see the author never giving us any more information than Suguru having a crush in the background
That aside, everything involving Touko was great!! Especially that whole exchange between her and Suguru. I was really disappointed in Sachiko walking away from Touko like that. Even if she knew Noriko was there. But it’s not like Sachiko being disappointing is anything new. (I get it, storytelling logic… but still…)
26 thoughts: treasure Hunt year 2 was great! Somehow I’ve forgotten whether Touko asked Yumi to accept her as her sister, at the end of the hunt, in the anime. So that made for a nice surprise when I read it. Edit: (spoiler for results, fully revealed in 27): ok seriously, how were “under Yumi’s butt” and “under a car on the parking lot” valid choices?? Like Shimako’s clues aside, those were both totally unreasonable and the latter is kinda dangerous
Yumi x Touko: yessss, excellent! Everything else: what happened??
Seriously - 2 dates that were exactly the same as last year, but one had lots of bickering, and the other had an idiotic bait & switch with the character avoiding Shimako for half the story?! I think it was fitting enough for Yoshino x Chisato, given their history. But for Shimako’s date, how unoriginal can you get?!
At least last year, we had the fun of Yoshino + newspaper girl & Tsutako trailing everyone. Not to mention we got to see Chisato come and complain to Yoshino afterwards. Admittedly I’ve become less of a fan of Yoshino over the last few volumes (bc of how she treats Rei a lot of the time, and how petty and petulant she is with the whole event planning), so that’s not helping. From a writing perspective, I appreciate that she’s flawed, and I’m really glad the books have given us Rei’s perspective a few times. I appreciate that the story acknowledges their relationship is messed up, and that Yoshino herself gets that her behavior is messed up, but doesn’t know to stop. I think that’s excellent writing/portrayal. It unfortunately also makes me like her a lot less.
Two things I appreciated:
Sachiko mildly pouting over losing to Touko (both concretely, and implicitly in the sense of Yumi’s affections)
I appreciate that it’s the younger sisters moving on from the older sisters, as time goes on - instead of them just feeling passively abandoned
Vol 28 looks like side stories(?). I’m sure there will be some good ones, but also I wanna finish the damn arc already!! Guess I’ll just have to have some more patience