by KatGrrrl, Guest Reviewer

Adachi and Shimamura, Volume 12 is the twelfth numbered entry and fourteenth overall in this now long running light novel series by Iruma Hitoma, available in English from Seven Seas. This volume features three ‘what if…?’ alternative universe chapters followed by a return to the main timeline as our titular couple take a trip to the beach.

Despite the way this volume is numbered, it actually continues on from themes established in 99.9, one of two short story collections that were released after Volume 11. In particular, Yashiro’s newfound role as a cosmic matchmaker, making sure every Adachi finds her Shimamura in every timeline and alternate reality. Yashiro, as decently a fun comic relief character as she is, was always a bit too omnipresent in previous volumes for my liking, so giving her constant presence a greater purpose, as well as finally playing into her status as an extraterrestrial, really boosted my overall enjoyment of her character, as well as nicely tying in the AU chapters into the main timeline.

Unfortunately, the first AU story of this volume somewhat sullies this idea. “What If Adachi Was a Teacher?” is the title of this chapter, an innocent enough idea… except that one of her students is a six year old Shimamura. And if the alarm bells aren’t already ringing for you, this story sees child Shimamura propose to teacher Adachi, who promises on the condition that Shimamura wait until she’s eighteen. Twelve years later, Shimamura keeps the promise, proposing once more, a happy ending all round and another job well done for Yashiro… Look, I don’t really have to explain how completely irresponsible and predatory Adachi comes off as here, or how the thoroughly positive, ‘destined lovers’ framing is inappropriate for such a story. If this was a one-shot, I wouldn’t have much more to add, but as an AU, I still found some value in it when reading things a little less literally. Younger Shimamura here really stood out to me with how open and upfront she was to Adachi about how she felt, compared to the emotionally withdrawn teenage Shimamura of the main timeline who needed Adachi to help and push her to open up to her feelings. The way she keeps her proposal promise to Adachi throughout her withdrawn teenage years really shows the strength of her love for Adachi, particularly in comparison to her doomed childhood friendship with Tarumi. The Japanese blurb of this volume (if I’m reading it correctly,) seems to imply these AUs are daydreams of Shimamura’s, and for this chapter I feel the framing of a dream or daydream would be such a simple yet effective improvement that would greatly reduce the grossness and further highlight the insight into Shimamura’s character, and I’m annoyed this framing isn’t text.

Thankfully the next chapter, “What If Adachi Was an Author?,” is not only the standout of this volume, but the best AU chapter in the series so far. In the main timeline, Adachi’s thoughts are so pre-occupied by Shimamura, more Shimamura, and oh, did I mention Shimamura? that we rarely get any insight into other interests and hobbies, if they exist at all. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a flaw of the series, in fact I’d say Adachi’s single-track mind for Shimamura is one of its strengths. But after thirteen books, I felt some areas of characterisation were still a bit too lacking for the fully-realised characters that the series needs if it’s going to continue throwing them into random slices of life with no overarching plotlines to rely on. So to see author Adachi here giving an interview about her thought process behind becoming an author, what she thinks about the writings of others and her own, and her lack of interest in the film adaptation of her novel, was exactly the kind of fresh look into those lacking aspects that her character needed and I want to see more of it. Not just a continuation of this AU—novelist x actor Yuri is an excellent concept—but more of seeing Adachi and Shimamura interacting with the real world as people with rich, inner lives.

The third AU chapter, “What If Shimamura Fixed the Timeline?,” is fine. It’s mainly a retelling of the events of volume one chapter one where Yashiro shows up too early and breaks the timeline. From the title, I expected Shimamura to take a bit more of an initiative in fixing things, but in the end she’s handheld by Yashiro for most of it. It was fun to see her befriend Adachi for the first time in a different setting, but overall I felt this chapter stuck to the original events to a point where it felt like it was playing it too safe. I still enjoyed reading it, but it left little to no lasting impression. “What If Everything Was Back to Normal?” is the fourth and final chapter and brings us back to the present part of the main timeline, although it actually seems to take place before Summer18 from Volume 11—any sense of linear storytelling in this series is well and truly gone. I’m impressed it managed to take this long to get a proper beach chapter. We’ve had swimming pools, bikinis and even Nagafuji and Hino at the beach already, so it was about time. With this being their last summer of high school, there’s a definite ‘end of an era, start of a new’ atmosphere here, with Shimamura in particular starting to think towards adulthood and a newfound desire for independence fueled by her desire to be with Adachi, whilst also looking back on her past beach trips with family and whether they would ever happen again, which contrasts with Adachi, who has never been to the beach before. I really like this contrast and subsequent balance between the two, Adachi has independence but no childhood, Shimamura has a childhood but no independence, and this beach trip represents the merging and sharing of both experiences, creating new memories and a new life together. I get the impression Shimamura’s mother has also noticed Adachi and her daughter are now an item, she makes some interesting choice of words for sure. I can’t wait to find out the climax of this plot thread in volume twenty-two in ten years time! Overall this was a solid chapter and my analysis above aside, their beach date was exactly the kind of wholesome cute I can’t help but smile at when reading.

There’s a couple of short shorts here, one involving Nagafuji and Hino, the other with Yoshika and Akka (yes, that’s the correct reading of her name.) There’s not much to say about these other than Nagafuji has large breasts (just in case you forgot, you know? Can’t have the reader forgetting something important like that, can we now? No way…) Molly Lee gives us another excellent translation as always and raemz is really making a habit of giving us beautiful cover illustrations.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 7
Characters – 9
Service – 1 (bikinis, Nagafuji)
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

KatGrrrl finds herself getting more addicted to Yuri by the day. Socials at linktr.ee/katgrrrl.