Otherside Picnic, Volume 14 of the manga presents several turning points in the story. One seems inevitable, while the other is, at this point, deeply awkward. 

Presented with an opportunity to spend a night together at an onsen, Sorawo and Toriko chicken out and asks Kozakura to accompany them. Despite the several deeply creepy experiences they encounter (or maybe because of them?,) Toriko  admits something everyone by Sorawo can see – she likes her partner. That way.

Sorawo is nowhere near being able to address that yet. Baggage from her past is coming up again and again, and while she can rely on Toriko, she doesn’t yet rely on herself. That’s going to take a while. We get a bit more of her backstory, and are introduced to the Red Person, a being that immediately makes it seem that Sorawo has always been targeted by the Otherside, even if she only noticed it now.

We get to see a glimpse of Kozakura engaging with her fans on her stream, and she seems so much nicer that one has to wonder how it all went wrong for her.

This is an incredibly strong issue of the manga. Their encounter at the onsen rates as one of the top three moments of pure horror for me. 

And, at last, 13 volumes in to the story, it has become a romance. There’s so much more time and space for that to develop. I’m looking forward to seeing the continung adaptation.

Ratings: 

Story – 9
Art – 8 It doesn’t *quite* give the thrill of imagining the onsen scenarions, but is very good. And finally we see the ATP!
Characters – 10
Yuri – 6 Bathing at an onsen
Service – 6 Bathing at an onsen

Overall – 9

I definitely recommend the manga adaptation of this series. The art really communicates the funny, the creepy and the emotional…..stuff. It’s a great read.