Volume 5 left us on a bit of a cliffhanger, as Saki accidentally allows her truest thoughts to be seen by Kanon.
The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 6, by Kuzushiro, picks up with Saki mortified beyond her ability to express and Kanon struggling to find words to address it. Luckily for both of them, life as a Japanese teenager is filled with enough activity to allow them both some space to roll around on their beds, screaming into the pillow.
Nonetheless, things are changing, Kanon has become aware that since she lost her hearing, she has not been a good friend to the people she leaned on. And she takes a small step to caring about someone and something other than herself. Suddenly aware of all the people around her who have given her opportunities, Kanon is changing. Saki reaches out to the one adult she is pretty sure gets what she is going through, and Tomita returns to class with surprising results. Although they have spent most of the summer together, Saki suggests one special event for them to share watching fireworks together from her apartment balcony, where they take one more towards opening up to one another and to themselves.
Rinne finds herself changing as well. As a little sister, she was unable to help Kanon much, could only watch over her in a general sense. But she sees that Saki has changed her sister for the better and it’s made Rinne more willing to take a risk, a little despite herself. She encounters Chiyma, a girl with a condition that is not harmful but has and will make her life difficult and unpleasant and decided to get involved and be a friend.
I have repeatedly said here and elsewhere (and to anyone I could pin up against a wall and tell) that I love this series. From my perspective – which is not that of an HHD person, but of a person who is chronically ill and had many of the same kinds of issues as both Saki and Kanon as a teen – this story does everything right.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Saki and Kanon in yukata is definitely meant to serve.
Yuri – 4 It’s only just begun.
Overall – 9
The Moon On A Rainy Night is a masterwork of manga and an outstanding example of how good storytelling can help us to be better.
I cannot *wait for you to read the next couple of volumes! Volume 6 is out now from Kodansha.
