In Volume 1, we met loner Akira and enthusiastic girl Pyua, who claimed to love her.
In Volume 2 of Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido ( ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度), we spend most of our time inside Akira’s head as she tried to figure out what the heck is going on with herself.
What is going on with her, (obviously, to us) is that Akira, who is a very lonely person, is struggling with the idea that she cares about another person.
We learn why she and her brother live alone – their father left, took up with another woman and had a second family, and their mother withdrew emotionally. Mom died in a car accident, leaving Akira alone but for her hikkikomori brother.
And her brother is not on Akira’s side. He tries to run Pyua off unbeknownst to his sister. Worse, at Pyua’s behest, Akira goes off to see her father for the first time in years. She’s doing well, even admitting that her new baby half-sister is cute…until her father’s new wife shows up.
Akira runs off to find Pyua, trying to sort herself out. The moment she sees the other girl, she puts a name to everything she’s feeling.
The art is clean and pleasant, typical of a Dengeki comic, and with little to no service, which is unexpected and nice.
Volume 1 didn’t leave me with any particular hope that this series would develop any depth, but Volume 2 surprised the heck out of me, frankly. Actually delving into Akira’s inner life turned out to be more uncomfortable than expected and watching her finally admit that she likes Pyua was more satisfying than I would have guessed.
Ratings:
Art – 7
Story – 7
Character – 7
Service – 2
Yuri – 6
Overall – 7
Whether this series will develop further, I don’t know. Guess I’ll have to keep reading. ^_^
Yuri Anime
It’s not often I review a single volume of a serialized magazine here (although it’s not entirely unheard of), but this review is completely justified, I assure you. ^_^
