Mayumi’s job as a teacher in this small town has begun and she is settling in. Well, settling isn’t the right word at all. If anything, in  Uminekosou days Volume 2 (海猫荘 days), by I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up creator, Kodama Naoko, she’s become increasingly unsettled as she learns more about Ashima, the young woman who hangs around the Umineko boardinghouse.

The daughter of a prominent businessman with his lover, Ashima’s family situation is complicated….made more so by a romantic relationship with her half sister…and even more complicated by Ashima’s feelings about Rin the boardinghouse landlady. When she sees Rin and Mayumi bonding, Ashima is not at all happy for them or for herself. But while Mayumi is dealing with Ashima’s emotional turmoil, she’s ignoring her own.

And she is in turmoil. She’s developing feelings for Rin and starting to feel like one day she might belong somewhere, when her “friend” from home, shows up. Touko is the woman who stole Mayumi’s boyfriend and instantly we can see that she’s no friend to Mayumi. She’s one of those hideous toxic people who undermines the people around them and sure enough the first thing she does is sabotage something Mayumi was working on.

And the book ends with us hoping that Mayumi will be able to see what her “friend” is like before she gets hurt.

The final chapter of the series is waiting for me and, even if I don’t necessarily believe in Mayumi, I definitely believe in Rin. She’s introduced to us as a former yanki, but she’s always shown as a good person who interprets the word family as anyone under her roof, and has that family’s best interests in mind.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 6
Service – 5 Bathing Whee
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

 I’m just hoping to see Mayumi be the one to kick Touko in the butt. ^_^

You’ll be able to read this series in English this autumn from Seven Seas as Days of Love at Seagull Villa..