MANGA REVIEW | "Fly Me to the Moon" - Volume Nineteen
You ever feel like a writer is just dilly-dallying in order to fill page counts? Because that’s how I felt reading the nineteenth volume of Fly Me to the Moon. I’m not sure what was going on with Kenjiro Hata, whose works I’ve admired for well over a decade. Maybe it was a bad case of brain fart?
So what’s making me think this? Well it has to deal with Nasa and Tsukasa’s trip to the former home of the latter. Secluded in the mountains, it’s a place she and the deceased Tokiko Tsukuyomi resided and did research in. Although it’s a place that’s certainly filled with answers, one can’t help but wonder if the narrative is in the right place to reveal them right now. And maybe Hata felt this way, too, as he decided to fill the majority of the volume with…well, I’m not too sure a what to call it.
We have friend Shiori filling in Nasa with information he already knows. There’s a long chapter about borrowing the Tsukuyomi vehicle, which is all battered up. Nasa’s students — including Kaguya — aim to search for an elusive home in the mountains (which you can guess whom it belongs to). And we also get a proper face-to-face between Tsukasa and Kaguya, with a sprinkling of foreshadowing for an impending plot.
It all sounds interesting, but the actual material is lacking. While there’s a good laugh or two, there’s nothing here that really moves the plot along. And when it comes time for the story to continue, it waddles its way to its current point rather than march onwards like a good manga should. As a result, this manga volume winds up being a bore.
The one good chapter in this collection of Fly Me to the Moon involves cats. Seeing how Tsukasa learns to communicate with Toast via blinking is very cute. When Nasa imitates that when Tsukasa wishes to be intimate, it delivers an adorably frustrating response from the wife. Okay, perhaps the return of Hayate the Combat Butler was also a nice touch, with a good nod to the talented Kakushigoto author Koji Kumeta. (Here’s hoping VIZ Media brings Shibuya Near Family to the US soon!)
Other than these two chapters, Volume Nineteen of Fly Me to the Moon is a major misstep. It lacks the magic of past volumes, and it takes too long to get to where the narrative should be at. Hopefully with Tsukasa and Kaguya finally crossing paths, the story will get back on the right path. Until then, consider this volume of Fly Me to the Moon a chore to get through.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
