Book 87
In/Spectre, Vol. 5 by Kyo Shirodaira
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Last time I said it was getting boring, now it's right on into tedious. As I said in my last review, I got this as a bundle from Right Stuf so I have couple more to get through but this Steel Lady Nanase has gotten ridiculous.
The most exciting thing to happen in the last two volumes is the revelation about who is to blame for this vengeful ghost of Nanase. There are a few panels of fighting between Kuro and Nanase but the rest is Kotoko trying to discredit the theory of Nanase to rob the spirit of power. SHe has four stories to tell to split off enough people from believing in the spirit.
And we're going to see each and every one in complete detail. There is nothing more boring than to listen to a theory and watching her type it into forums and Saki sitting there adding commentary.
And it's STILL not done. It's really taking a manga with an interesting premise and unique characters and burying it under the largest pile of boredom ever. The editor really should have put their foot down and cut this storyline in half. Then it would have been interesting.
The art is lovely but it's not going to save this dragging storyline.
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No Place Like Home by Kim Fielding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This short story was originally in an anthology dedicated to mature romance which was nice. You get tired of reading about 20 year olds sometimes.
Stephen is a 58 year old artist who moved back to his Mom's home in small town Kansas as she was dying and decided to remain, retiring early. With a bum knee, he's starting to feel his age and second guessing his decision. He's not exactly in the closet but being in the rural Midwest, he's nervous about how he'll be perceived.
He finds a cryptic note in an interlibrary loan which brings him into contact with Max who's a mechanic from a few towns over. Who knew a little note could have such a big impact?
It's a sweet story with a nice dash of heat, very satisfying.
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