MANGA REVIEW | "Love’s in Sight!" - Volume Three
Much of what works with Uoyama’s Love’s in Sight! is the relationship between Morio and Yukiko. But every great manga needs a strong supporting cast, and this series showcased some memorable side characters via Morio’s friends Hachiko and Shishio in Volume Two. In Volume Three, Yukiko’s friend Sora takes the lead in this story arc, with a tale about bullying and overcoming rough areas. And just like in the past volumes, it’s presented with plenty of heart and intelligence.
Sora’s favorite hobby is to run, and she does so with the aid of a sight guide. But at night, when her sight isn’t troubling her as much, Sora likes to run in a park away from would-be delinquents. At least, that’s what she thought, until she started noticing someone has been laying out objects in her path for her to trip over. The situation results in Sora to start hating those with the ability to see, something that bothers Yukiko completely.
Enter Morio, who aims to find the perpetrator. He at first acts as an extra running guide for Sora, who is taken aback by his strength. (His stamina, on the other hand, is an entirely different situation.) The two talk about perception, and how the world has looked at them differently due to either Sora’s blindness or Morio’s scar. It’s a moment that showcases the greatest strength of Love’s in Sight!: its rationality.
Author Uoyama knows that this world can be a cruel and unfair place for those with disabilities and disfigurements. Not only do they not sugarcoat the cruelty that people dish out to those who aren’t “normal”, but they also hammer in the fact that changes for the better won’t happen overnight. What’s easier is helping people one-on-one with these issues to overcome these obstacles, not as a major collective. After all, as this manga shows, even similarly-labeled disabilities will have their differences, so a solution for one person may not be a solution for another.
Morio is the glue that holds everything together in Love’s in Sight! While he’s not the focus of this story, he’s certainly the one helping to push it along towards its natural conclusion. Working together with his and Yukiko’s friends (and one drunk grandma), Morio set out to find the person responsible for making it hard for Sora to run on her own. At first, the plan doesn’t seem to come together. However, the thing about people with bad intentions is that they can be lurking when you least expect it.
In the moment the perp is caught, you see the side of Morio that made him infamous. Holding nothing back, he makes the guy pay for his crimes. That is, until Yukiko forces her hand in the matter. It’s when the perp gets a chance to speak when you hear about his side of things. While it’s no excuse for hurting Sora, it’s a moment where readers can see how a certain upbringing can warp a person’s mind for the worst. Once again, it goes back to how some folks are forced to experience the cruelest and most unfair situations the world can dish out at humanity.
The “love” part of Love’s in Sight! might’ve taken a backseat in Volume Three, but it continues to impress with its storytelling. Sora’s story is one that will ring true to those who’ve been bullied for their disability, with Morio and Yukiko acting as the moral high ground in the situation. It goes to show Uoyama’s narrative strengths, proving that they can tackle a serious situation as strongly as a comedic one. Although the world can be a tough place for the disabled, Love’s in Sight! has demonstrated how these challenges can be tackled and — with enough gumption — overcome.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
