In the wake of the final episodes of Whisper Me A Love Song anime finally seeing light of day, and the cancellation of a Blu-ray release, I wanted to finally take a moment and catch up on the manga a series that is one of the top titles serialized in Comic Yuri Hime. I read Takeshima Eku’s series in the magazine, but it is easier to see the story progress when I read it in a collected volume. ^_^ And I apparently forgot to review Volume 9, which is the final arc in the Aki / Shiho conflict, woops. Don’t worry – if you watched the anime, you’re basically caught up. ^_^
Sasayakuyou no Koi wo Utau, Volume 10 (ささやくように恋を唄う) came with a little 24-page booklet that centers Shiho and Aki, and a a photo of themselves taken at a photo booth in better times, before the band break-up and Shiho’s spiral into whatever it is that she became. It is cute, and poignant and – in the bigger picture – a little silly, because these characters are like 17 years old and this huge falling out was probably 3 years ago. Life is so much more when we are young, because we have so much less to compare it to.
The majority of this volume follows Shiho and Aki as they go on a date. This is a rather huge moment for the two of them, and we watch every cringe and cute moment to see if they can navigate through the coral reefs they’ve both built up around themselves. Aki is a master at pushing Shiho’s buttons, but Shiho surely must get props for actually trying.
Yori stays over Himari’s house and once again, they discuss consent. In a very entertaining scene Himari’s mother cops to knowing that they are an item and welcomes Yori into the family. It was nice to see a scene where a parent just accepts her child’s girlfriend with a smile – there will be no fraught coming out for these darlings.
So, now, Himari and Yori are ridiculously happy together and now that Aki and Shiho are a couple…what’s next? Well, Aki’s younger sister and Himari’s best friend Miki has a sempai in the brass section of band, Aya. Aya reaches out to Miki’s older sister, Aki, who reaches out to Yori and the next thing Aya knows the whole band and Himari are in on her struggle to decide whther to tell Miki her feelings. Aya does fess up, but when Miki learns that everyone in the entire cast knew before she did, she understandably gets royally pissed at Aya! Is their relationship dead on arrival? We’ll have to keep reading to see if this is another Yuritopian school. ^_^ That is to say, yes, it is, and probably they will get together cutely.
Takeshima Eku’s art is instantly recognizable at this point. Her characters are cute, endearing, sincere and frequently seen at dramatic angles. The adorable-ness of everyone here is at Level 9000. Now that Shiho is reformed there is no one to really even dislike… although she’s probably be a prickly favorite for at least a few more volumes. ^_^
Sasayakyouni Koi Wo Utau just continues to be a really sweet series, that is growing just a little every volume.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 8
Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 1-8 are available in English from Kodansha, Volume 9 is headed our way in autumn 2025.
Yuri Manga
