Another entry for the desperate to be renamed Manga Monday. Someday I might review the previous volumes of this. It’s an excellent series, especially if you love romance. Though the suspense part of this is well-written, the romance is obviously the heart of the story.
Warning: the review below contains spoilers. Not many, but they are there.
Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 8 by Kyousuke Motomi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For those who don’t know (though I don’t know how you wouldn’t if you’re trying to find information on volume 8), Dengeki Daisy is about Teru Kurebayashi, a sixteen-year-old orphan protected by a mysterious stranger named Daisy and annoyed daily by her school’s janitor, Tasuku Kurosaki. At least, that’s how it started. A lot has happened since.
Whereas the previous volume was about how things don’t always work out the way you hope, this one explores Tasuku’s past after his disappearance and the importance of knowing the full extent of the sin before a person can give true forgiveness.
It helps that Teru starts off wanting to forgive Tasuku. Because she has no idea how he could possibly bear any responsibility in her brother’s death, it’s easy to forgive. But what makes her fantastic as a heroine is that she’s not willing to forgive Tasuku based on her limited knowledge. She wants to know exactly how he was involved so that her forgiveness has meaning and can’t be easily shot down.
As a result, there’s a lot of dialogue in this volume. Lots. Flashbacks are handled well and weave beautifully with the present, including scenes with Tasuku trying to fix a mistake from his past that might effect Teru. In the process, we find out just how dark Tasuku’s life has been. This makes for some incredibly poignant scenes between Tasuku and Soichiro. It also gives enormous depth to previous scenes that focused on Soichiro’s request that Tasuku, as Daisy, watch over his sister.
Though there is some humor in this, it’s not as pronounced as in previous volumes and with good reason. There’s murder, conspiracy, blackmail, politics, and even an attempted suicide (one of my favorite scenes in this volume by the way).
The best part, however, was discovering just how Tasuku Kurosaki “killed” Soichiro Kurebayashi. Seeing the details make you glad by the end that Teru is now able to fully forgive Tasuku.
Not just that. She’s going to go after him herself and prove it to him.
Amy Keeley 