Dagashi Kashi (2018)

[だがしかし]

Volume 11

Author/Artist: Kotoyama
Publisher: Shounen Sunday Comics

Synopsis:
The new school year is starting, but all Kokonotsu can thin about is Hotaru's ultimatum.

Story/Characters:
The pacing is a bit quick because the author has a lot of things he wants to get in before the end, hitting some of the major seasonal notes like the opening ceremony for the new school year, Valentine's Day, hanami, etc. Unlike the previous year, Hotaru stays around during this time. I don't know for sure if that helps or hurts Kokonotsu growing into his decision about the future. Hajime gets a lot of attention. Some awkwardness is introduced between her and Kokonotsu, which I don't know if it was the best idea so late in the game. Even trying to get so much into so little space, the series ends on a rather satisfying note, with just enough ambiguity to tug at the imagination.

Art:
The quality of the art never lets up. We run through half the year in a short time, so we get a good variety of settings and such. We have another dynamic sequence dedicated to the animators that never got animated (in this case because it happens after the point Season 2 ended), which amuses me.

Other:
We get a whopping eight 4-koma to send off the series. Five take place after the end of the story, so that's nice. One is a subversion of the ending of Chapter 179, which I liked.

Conclusion:
This is the kind of story that feels like it could keep going on forever (and there are plenty of long-running slice-of-life stories here in Japan). You want to see more but it closes on a good note. For the series as a whole and not just this volume, I'm more than satisfied with adding it to my collection and I'm sure most of you would too.

Rating:
Own It