Reading the 6th volume of Kimi no Tamenara Shineru (姫のためなら死ねる) is like slipping into a comfortable pair of old shoes. You can spread out and relax a bit and not worry about rough patches or sore areas. It’s all been worn pretty smooth and soft. And, at the end of the day, if you’ve done enough walking in them, you might have seen something new.

In Volume 6, Kuzushiro-sensei manages to do any number of interesting things with these well-worn areas. She manages a bathing scene, for instance. Something so tried and true and predictable in any other 4-panel gag comic is a bit of a stretch when that comic is set in a time when bathing was done more like annually than daily. But there we are, we have a bathing scene and a chance to watch Sei Shonagon overheat about Teishi-sama in a whole new way.

And we have a seriously unlikely, alt-historical moment, as Benkan suggests that Shonagon marry Teishi-sama’s other Number 1 Fan, her older brother Korechika. Ultimately it’s Teishi-sama herself who kills this idea. In reality, we actually know very little about Shonagon’s husband (or, possibly husbands) or whether she was divorced or became a nun in her later years…or, anything, really. Frankly we know pretty much fuck all about her, except for what she wrote, so I’m perfectly happy with whatever obscure Heian-period nonsense Kuzushiro-sensei wants to throw at me. ^_^ I have the Internets. I can do the research.

Ratings:

Art – 7 (Am I hallucinating or is it getting better?)
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 5

Overall – 8

In other notable news, Shonagon actually gets to say the title line. Finally. But not yet to Teishi-sama.