Days of Love at Seagull Villa
Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Vol 2
After spending New Year’s Day working on tasks on my giant List o’ Stuff, I retired to the bedroom - and stayed up very late reading all three volumes of Days of Love at Seagull Villa (Umineko-sou Days), which were given to me by Trisha and Nancy at Christmas. I was indulging myself in some time away from my giant task list - especially as I have to return to a difficult work situation come Monday.
I had read reviews of the volumes at Okazu, so I was generally prepared for the tone of the series. Erica Freedman’s assessments were spot on, and I knew we would eventually get to a happy ending, so I was able to breeze through the volumes without fear. I got what I was looking for - a not-too-heavy story about relationships and family that ended up sweetly. As a romantic who likes happy endings, I was quite content with the series.
There are certainly some very dark parts of the books... some bullying... some toxic people (Mayumi’s friend, Touko; Sakura’s mother). But fortunately things don’t go too dark. There is cause to be wary as Kodama Naoko also wrote NTR: Netsuzou Trap, which is a problematic series that I have avoided.
Normally, I’m drawn to the quiet, smart, dark characters - but protagonist Mayumi and secondary character Ashima are both too mopey, moody, and insecure. I much prefer their counterpart characters, protagonist Rin and secondary character Sakura. Both are upbeat and energetic. I like them a lot - and my favorite is Sakura by a smidge. However, as a secondary character, she doesn’t get much panel space.
The artwork is better than average but not quite excellent - let’s say Very Good, Pleasant to Look At. The series is a welcome addition to my library and will be nice to have for quick re-reads down the road.
Reviews at Okazu are interesting as Erica usually reviews the Japanese tankoubon. Later she might review the English releases, and those reviews are very similar to - but not identical to - the Japanese reviews. Her reviews of this series are: Japanese Vol.1, Japanese Vol.2, Japanese Vol.3, English Vol.1, English Vol.3.
My tsundoku stack is a little shorter now.
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