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SAND CHRONICLES VOL. 2 (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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Reviews
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | HINAKO ASHIHARA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 200 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/06/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 04/30/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Three years have gone by since Ann has had to move to the country after her parents divorce and subsequent suicide of her mother. The tragedy would have broken her except for the friends she has made there and the support of Daigo, her boyfriend. She didn’t know that such bitter beginnings could lead to such a rich treasure of sweet friends and gentle happiness found despite the sorrow that sometimes clings to her. She has managed to find a small and precious happiness in the most unexpected of places and with the most unexpected people. But all that is about to get upset when her father returns after all this time to ask her to return to Tokyo, and it may not be a request she can refuse. The bittersweet manga continues with the theme of the seasons. It begins this volume with Autumn which sees the end of some things and the start of something new. For Fuji his school has come to an end as graduation approaches and he’s going to leave for Tokyo. Meanwhile Ann’s father arrives for a great deal of upheaval in her life. She discovers the reason for his leaving his mother and why he has never returned since her death. Can the knowledge assuage the grief and hurt his abandonment has caused Ann? With his request for her to return with him to Tokyo, and a whole other aspect occurs when she must consider leaving her newly peaceful life behind to try to regain a father. But what that will mean for her and Daigo is another thing entirely. A few months pass, Spring arrives and with it Ann’s 16th birthday. She’s not adjusting to life in Tokyo as easily as the former city girl would have expected. She longs for her life back at the country and she yearns for Daigo. A brief reunion makes her miss her life even more. But it also opens the door for an unexpected moment with another friend. Fuji has been in Tokyo as well and his reasons don’t only involve his academic ambitions. It turns out a deep pain has driven him to Tokyo in search of answers that threaten to open up an old and deep would within the young man. Dealing with this pain, this anguish involving his family and the truth behind his birth, he turns to his only friend in Tokyo – Ann. In doing so however, the line between friends and more is crossed. What this might mean for Ann and her friendship with Fuji, Fuji’s growing turmoil, and Ann’s difficult long distance relationship with Daigo remains to be seen. Throughout this dramatic series the story telling has remained poignant. It tells the emotional depths of the lives of these characters with an understated appeal and some lovely illustrative styling. The at, like the story telling, is softly done and gently moving.
IN SUMMARY:
Big changes occur in the lives of Ann and her friends in the latest volume of Sand Chronicles. It is a gently moving and poignant tale. |
