While shopping in random bookstores in Japan at the end of last year I kept seeing books with girls in school uniforms wielding swords. I did that thing where I pick a thing up, then put it down, then pick it up at the next store…. ^_^; Eventually I found a copy of Volume 2 signed by the creator, so I nabbed both volumes there….neither of which were Volume 1. So please forgive me if I get some of this wrong. I am coming in to this story in the middle.

So, let’s start from the beginning. Oni to Yoake is a web series by Ikuta Hana, about the members of a school kendo club who have the reborn souls of important swordsmen of the Bakumatsu, which was the end of the Edo period. Bakumatsu Joshi Kousei Oni to Yoake, Volume 1 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け) begins the story with two high school girls who have the reborn souls of Sakamoto Ryouma and Toshizo Hijikata. Sakamoto transfers to Koharu High School, where the spirits of late Edo period warriors attend school, and falls in love at first sight with Hijikata, a member of the public morals committee. However, love is strictly prohibited by school rules. Got that? Good…because that is not what I am reviewing today. I haven’t read that. ^_^ That series has a Volume 2 and a Volume 3 thus far. I picked up Volume 2 because it was signed. But based on how confused I was reading this volume, I guess I had better start with Volume 1. ^_^

Oh wait, but it gets better. The book we’re looking at today isn’t the main story…it’s a sequel!  Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け　夕月夜) follows girls from a different school who also have the souls of Bakamatsu Shinsengumi swordsmen (or the infamous Hitokiri, which we’ll get to in a bit.)

Todo Yoshino, who has the soul of Toudo Heisuke, and Okita Sou, who hold the soul of  Okita Souji,  are having problems in their already established relationship. And there is something disturbing going on at their high school.  The Shinsengumi vs. the Hitokiri is about to begin. 

You may be familiar with the Four Killers of the Bakamatsu, called the Hitokiri from Ruroni Kenshin. Kenshin is supposed to be a former Hitokiri, on the run from the Shinsengumi.

Also, I know next to nothing about the Bakumatsu period! So there’s that complication as well. Ask me how lost I was? I was “stay up hours reading Wikipedia entries on the Shinsegumi and the people in this book” lost. LOL But I think I have the gist now.

This volume depicts the problems between Yoshino and Sou, and a historical intermission in which their souls’ previous bearers met, along with the  the purge of deserters, and, according to the books synopsis, “the events leading up to the Ikedaya Incident.” This is followed by a  “BL edition of the story with further new-souls of long-dead people being paired, along with school festivals, Valentine’s Day, and events at the high school of Izumi Kazusa and Tsuji Kaneshige,” who are dating.

You can tell this is an online comic, as it is in full-color. The art is good enough and dynamic when it needs to be. I’m interested enough to go back to Volume 1 and see where this started  – and to have stayed up late reading articles on the Bakumatsu and Shinsengumi, because why not?*  The real-life people seem pretty awful, though, for all the reasons you might expect.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – The boys do a cross-dress cafe, if that’s for you. I preferred the girls in Edo period men’s clothes, in the flashback
Yuri – I have *no* idea. 6?

Overall – 8

There is also a second stand-alone volume,  Oni to Yoake  Zenya (鬼と夜明け前夜 )

Girls with swords and karma. Totally in my wheelhouse.

*But! When I came across the Neale Incident I was amazed to find that I knew about that from, of all places, the Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki (くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月 ) series! Who says that vampires aren’t good for anything? (Well, me, obviously.)

In my review of Volume 10, I said, “I’m ready for something to lighten up.” Welp, Volume 11 of Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな) by Tamifull is not that volume. And here’s the thing…not every relationship people have is a good one or the “right” one. Sometimes things just don’t work out, even if you like someone a lot.

Miwa is trying to understand Tamaki, and Saeko is trying to understand Yuria, and in both cases, they really need to sit down and have it out with their partners. And, they do…but is it enough? For Saeko and Yuria, maybe, but the resolution may not be to stay together. But something is festering into an ugly thing between Miwa and Tamaki, and I really cannot understand what it is at all. I get not being sexually compatible, but this doesn’t even feel like that anymore, although their incompatibility is the vehicle for it.

When we start to hear about sexual mismatches among others in the band, I admit, I checked out of the story. If absolutely nobody in this story is having a good time, why am I reading it?

And then the volume ends in a very bad place that makes shockingly little sense, except as a way to flog how much Tamaki and Miwa are not in sync, but in the grossest, most appalling way. I think, at this point, I don’t really care what happens to anyone in this story, except that I hope they graduate and move on, quickly. This is how we kill perfectly decent relationships.

Again, the best part of the volume is how Saeko and Miwa have become very good friends to one another. There has been some discussion on the Okazu discord, about whether the two of them might get back together, but I am firmly in the “I hope not” camp on that. Lovers can be important, but friends are even more so. Also very good was Tamaki’s band performing live, to very positive reception. It’s just that everything after that was ugh. ^_^;

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 7 CW on the end of the book for sexual assault survivors

Overall – 6

Volume 12 is out this month and it appears that it is going exactly where you expect it will. I sincerely hope that the end game here is not Saeko and Miwa getting back together.

This is one of the few books I had picked up at Gamers while in Japan, because 1) I had not seen it before and 2) it came with an acrylic standee and I am a such a sucker for extras. ^_^

Natsuki is the school Prince. Excelling in grades and sports, Natsuki literally takes direction from the Student Council President every day on which club needs her help. In part, this is because Natsuki likes to be of help, and in part, because the Student Council President is the only person in school who will just talk with Natsuki. Being a Prince is a lonely job. Everyone admires her, but no one is her friend. Natsuki is very bored…and lonely. When transfer student Jun comes in to the school and just is…friendly and chatty to Natsuki, she can hardly credit it. How? Why? What does Jun want from her?

Just the other day, I had the chance to revisit the ideal of the girl prince of the school. It’s a pretty old trope and has been addressed in many ways. I started to wonder, as I read Yukidoke to Agapanthus, Volume 1 (雪解けとアガパンサス) by Nauchi, if we had finally gotten to the end of the line with this idea of the school prince. The answer is no – we haven’t.  Natsuki is just going through the motions, until Jun changes her life completely. Jun hates her name, so Natsuki calls her Haru-chan (the words share the same character) and Natsuki doesn’t love her name, so Haru calls her by her family name, Hinata-chan..as will I, since using names that make people uncomfortable is yuck.

Until two things get in the way of this new friendship. One, Hinata-chan’s feelings rapidly become more than just friends and, swept up in a moment, she kisses her new friend. Haru-chan seems to become distant after that and Hinata-chan is stressed that she may have broken what they had. Unbeknowst to her, Haru is being harassed by an unknown stalker and tries to protect the Prince by pulling away from her.

When Haru is almost injured by the stalker, the stalker’s identity is uncovered. As the book ends, Haru returns to her usual ebullient self, and Hinata is still left wondering if what she feels is…okay. Tune into Volume 2 to watch Hinata-chan struggle with her feelings in a vacuum caused by her isolated status.

Of course being the object of admiration must be a very exhausting role to play! I’ve thought about it on behalf of idols and performers…and even online personalities…but how miserable must it be for everyone in school to love you, but have almost no one who likes you? It would be very isolating. And so, in this series, we have a school prince who is simultaneously the most and least popular person in the school.

I found it a bit off-putting at first, the aloof character sad about their own aloofness, but as the story developed it wasn’t as artificial as I had feared. As a result of her popularity, Hinata’s going to have a lot of emotional growth to catch up on if anything will become of her and Haru. I hope she gets there, but I don’t know if I’ll be reading it. Yes, this gave me a fresh perspective on the Girl Prince, but I’m not sure it’s one I want to continue with. We’ll see. 
Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 1 (Hinata-chan being princely is service)
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

Agapanthus, also known as Lily of the Nile, or African Lily, was understood as the “flower of love” in Victorian language of flowers. It  came to mean “love letter,” which is why this series is subtitled in English “Snow Melt and Love Letter.”