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SAND CHRONICLES VOL. 3 (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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Reviews
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Monday, 25 August 2008 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | HINAKO ASHIHARA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 200 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 09/02/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 08/25/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
A year has passed since Ann has moved to Tokyo to be with her father. The long distance relationship with Diago has been hard, but the upcoming school break promises a reunion – but it may well prove to be a bittersweet one. Riddled with confusion and guilt over Fuji’s stolen kiss, Ann doesn’t know how to tell Diago. But the truth comes out, it always does. However this may be one that could tear the strained lovers apart. Sand Chronicles continues to be a thoughtful dramatic piece. The latest events between Diago’s yearnings and Ann’s confusion create a time where both hearts are set adrift and other influences may see them kept apart. Ann makes a choice to try to get closer to Diago but that may prove to have repercussions of its own. The transition from child to adult is never an easy one and with the tragic pasts shared by some of these characters, it will be even more painful than most. Fuji’s story does not end. He returns to the household to demand the truth and finds out an upsetting realization of his own. And it is one likely to destroy his beloved sister Shika. In her need for comfort she turns to the one person she truly trusts – Diago. Being the rough but nice guy that he is, Diago cannot refuse to help her. But he may not understand the true depths of her feelings. Meanwhile Ann has no choice but to understand Fuji’s when she fears the worst, that he may be more like her mother than she could have guessed. Fearing that he may be prone to taking his own life, Ann goes to Fuji and spends a night out on the town and at the amusement park. He makes a heartfelt confession, met with one of Ann’s own. But this isn’t a story so far of happily ever after. Instead Sand Chronicles is exactly that, a story that looks at the time and moments of the lives of these characters like the accumulation of sand in one’s hand that is slowly sliding away. What could happen next with these four is anyone’s guess. That is a testament to the dramatic writing of Hinako Ashihara. There is a rare depth and verisimilitude to these characters that is uncommon in manga. Much of the turbulence these young people go through runs a sympathetic vein to that of real life growing pains. Perhaps not the circumstances themselves, but certainly the poignancy and intensity of the emotions that are brought forth and come across clearly in her writing here.
IN SUMMARY:
The lives of the four friends are threatened to be torn asunder in the latest emotional chapters of Sand Chronicles. |
