From the back cover:
Tsukasa’s 18th birthday doesn’t go smoothly at all! Tsukushi is introduced to Kaede, Tsukasa’s mother, by way of falling over a table and causing a scene. Kaede tells her to get out, but Tsukasa defends her by declaring that she is precious to him. Thus begins a three-sided war between the three most headstrong people you’ve ever seen! Tsukushi and Tsukasa get away for a while and spend some time on Tsukasa’s boat, but they can’t hide from Kaede forever…

Review:
A lot of awesome stuff happens in this volume!

Firstly, Kaede is such a great antagonist. Not only does she create strife for the two leads, she also sets off the sorrow in the lives of the other rich characters around. In the previous volume, Soujirou talked about how he cannot choose his own spouse, and now it seems that Tsubaki might have a lost love of her own. I hope that gets explored in future volumes.

Secondly, so many of the supporting cast get awesome things to do. Tsubaki has now completely redeemed herself for her bizarre actions of the past and is acting as Tsukasa’s champion of sorts, helping him get away from the party and then expressing concern at what their mother has planned for him. Tsukushi’s mom is also (very briefly) cool, showing for an instant a strong resemblance to her daughter.

Lastly, I loved the scenes with Tsukushi and Tsukasa on the boat, especially the part where they’re fishing and discussing their families. She also finally gives him the homemade cookies she made as a birthday gift; the awesome thing is that he’s still proudly showing them off two chapters later.

Kaede’s plot involves accelerating plans for Tsukasa’s arranged marriage with Shigeru, a tomboyish girl who is the first serious rival for Tsukasa’s affections that Tsukushi has faced. She’s likable and also seems to be amenable to the arrangement, not letting Tsukasa off the hook so easily.

All in all, a very solid volume through and through. Alas, I’m now caught up with my original reading plan (two per month, finishing just as the final volume comes out next June) so here’s where I’ll be pausing until next month. It’s soooo tempting to just keep plowing on, as this series is seriously addictive, but I expect I’ll regret it afterwards during the long wait between volumes.

From the back cover:
Junpei has promised to protect Tsukushi and always be there for her. His promise comes just in time, since Tsukushi has been given another of the infamous “red slips,” the mark of someone targeted for abuse. Meanwhile, Akira and Soujirou are desperately looking for Tsukasa, who has been gone for days. It turns out that Junpei harbors a terrible grudge against Tsukasa and is using Tsukushi as bait to get him! This has shockingly violent results. Later, Tsukushi gets dressed up and attends Tsukasa’s birthday party. Little does she realize the implications that attendance has!

Review:
Um, thanks for ruining any surprise anyone might’ve had regarding Junpei’s intentions, back cover blurb!

Anyways, the most important thing to come out of Junpei and his grudge is that Tsukasa submits to a beating from several guys he could’ve handily defeated because to fight back would’ve put Tsukushi in jeopardy. I love that when he arrives, she tearfully cries, “Why did you come?!” and he advises her to keep her eyes shut so she won’t have to witness the beating.

There follows a chapter that must’ve been a lot of fun to read in its serialized form. Tsukushi has a dream that Tsukasa has died from his injuries, and the next few pages seem to support this notion, with the F4 pretending to grieve, et cetera. She’s furious at the jest, of course, but it leads into another sweet scene between the two leads. Then the other members of the F4 try to convince Tsukushi again to give him a chance as a boyfriend, but she blurts out something derogatory and flees.

The effort to flesh out Akira and Soujirou continues, as well. When Tsukushi is invited to Tsukasa’s birthday party and is freaking out about possibly being introduced to his scary mother as his fiancée, Soujirou points out that sons of rich families are never allowed to marry a girl of their own choosing, so she should just relax because there’s no chance she’d ever be able to marry Tsukasa anyway. I thought that was a neat, kind of subtle way to place a new obstacle in the path of their relationship. And then, of course, Tsukasa’s mom becomes the physical embodiment of said obstacle.

These middle volumes are showing quite a consistent level of quality. Gone are the things like basketball showdowns and I hope they never return. We’re also heading into what was the final arc of the anime, so soon I’ll be into material that I’m completely unspoiled on.

My final thought comes in the form of a favorite quote. Tsukasa has, once again, gotten himself fired up over something at the drop of a hat, and one of the other F4 (possibly Akira) quips, “I wish my water heater worked like him.” Hee. So do I.

From the back cover:
Tsukasa’s raucous behavior at Tsukushi’s middle school class reunion has her fed up with him once again. Tsukasa is crushed by this but is too stubborn to apologize. Later, Tsukushi is assaulted by two schoolgirls and then rescued by a “young nerdy boy” who turns out to be Junpei, a famous male model who has been dying to meet Tsukushi! Her dumb luck then gets her involved in a photo shoot with him, and she ends up on the cover of a famous magazine. This causes quite a scene at school, but not nearly as big a scene as when Tsukasa finds the two of them together!

Review:
Setting aside my dislike of Tsukasa’s overreaction concerning Tsukushi’s middle school admirer, it actually sets up some pretty good stuff in this volume. Junpei (the younger brother of the admirer) is introduced, and though he seems yet another potential love interest for Tsukushi, he also provokes Tsukasa into admitting that he loves Tsukushi so much it makes him insane.

That confession is certainly wonderful, but even better is how Tsukushi can’t get his words and expression out of her mind. She had said she wanted him to leave her alone, but when a red slip appears in her locker, she sees it as a farewell from Tsukasa and it makes her sad.

Also good are Akira and Soujirou’s continued efforts to get Tsukushi and Tsukasa on the right track, this time by coaching Tsukasa on how to apologize for ruining her middle school gathering. My favorite panel in the whole volume features Akira and Soujirou eyeing Tsukasa warningly as Tsukushi approaches, Tsukasa glowering, and Kazuya waving doofily in the background. There are lots of other lovely panels, too; I particularly love how Tsukushi is drawn for her magazine photo shoot.

I’m uncertain how I feel about Junpei. So far, he’s okay, but I have some vague memory from the anime that I didn’t end up liking him very much. Sakurako is suspicious of him, too, which makes me think he’s up to something. Speaking of Sakurako, she seems to becoming more of a friend to Tsukushi, or at least helps her out when, spurred on by the red slip, the other students are chasing her.

It’s a little bit full circle now, with Tsukushi the victim of persecution again, but at least she finally knows how Tsukasa feels about her.

From the back cover:
It’s Tsukushi’s first time abroad, and she and her friend Yuki plan to tear up the slopes on a Canadian snowboarding adventure. But how much fun can Tsukushi really have with Tsukasa and those nasty Eitoku Academy girls always hanging around? Not much, it seems, because Tsukushi is sent out on a wild-goose chase to rescue Yuki in below freezing temperatures. But who will rescue Tsukushi?!

Review:
One guess who rescues Tsukushi. I was kind of annoyed that she blunders off into the snow so stupidly, but it does lead to one of the golden tickets of this series: a wet-haired Doumyouji scene! It’s been a while since the last one; Kamio must know how popular these are, and so spreads them out judiciously.

Anyway, Tsukasa warms Tsukushi up and she tells him he’s a good person. The rest of the F4 are proving themselves to be good guys, as well. Rui gets very peeved at the bitchy girls who tricked Tsukushi, and Akira and Soujirou—always kind of relegated to the background—show some unexpected sweetness. Not only do they intervene to keep Tsukasa and Tsukushi from bickering, they’re also the only ones to notice how upset Yuki is about the whole thing and offer her reassurance. They’re starting to emerge as better-defined characters now, and I like that a lot.

I wasn’t so keen on the last few chapters, though. After the group returns to Japan, Tsukushi and Yuki meet up with some old friends from middle school at a restaurant Doumyouji happens to be patronizing as well. He overhears them discussing a guy that once had a crush on Tsukushi, and promptly dislocates said guy’s neck. Um. Y’know, I like most of the silly twists and turns this series takes, but when it goes so far into the realm of wtf to manufacture a conflict between its leads, it’s hard to enjoy.

To conclude the review on a positive note, there was a bit of dialogue here that actually made me laugh out loud (a rarity, I assure you). It’s the morning after Tsukasa and Tsukushi have spent the night at a ranger’s cabin. They were discovered in a shirtless snuggle (sharing body heat) by some dudes, so Tsukushi’s kind of freaking out about that as they return to the Doumyouji villa. As I type this out, I guess it doesn’t look so funny, but I really did crack up when he said, “Oh, don’t get all grumpy just because somebody saw your little booboos.”

Juvenile, perhaps, but amusing all the same.

From the back cover:
Tsukushi shocks everyone by making it all the way to the final competition in the Miss Teen Japan Contest. Her striking individuality and dumb luck have gotten her a long way indeed! Now the field is narrowed down to Tsukushi and Ayano, the competition favorite. The final event will determine the girl most likely to become a “good wife and wise mother.” Who is fit to judge such a contest? Why, twenty-one kindergarteners, of course! Unfortunately for Tsukushi, the innocent little darlings remind her of the F4…!

Review:
The contest wrapped up in this volume and I was pleased with how it turned out; to end otherwise would’ve required extra suspension of disbelief. Tsukushi’s final challenge (wrangling rich kids), and how she approached it innovatively and ended up befriending a rival in the process, reminded me a lot of Kyoko from Skip Beat!.

I was also happy that she spoke with Kinsan as promised. Their scene was good, as was the one she had later with Tsukasa when she revealed she’d hurt Kinsan. She also dared to ask Tsukasa why he does so much for her, but he didn’t answer seriously, and their outing (they were at the zoo on Christmas with a cute kid) ended in a suddenly-escalating fight that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Sigh.

I love it when Tsukasa’s serious and Tsukushi is forced to consider her feelings for him, so it frustrates me when that gets derailed. And now everyone’s on a jaunt to Canada with some bitchy rich girls, etc., so there’ll be some feuding and snobbery and stuff to get to before (finally) Tsukasa and Tsukushi are in a position where he can be sweet to her again. Oh well.

One-third of the way through now!