Feb 8, 2025
TL;DR - Hm, was interesting. Ambitious and really needed more than 2 chapters, but I liked what was there. Really interested in seeing Kotoyama take on a full-length sports manga.
I'll start with the art - the art style is very unique and recognizable from Kotoyama. Some of the signatures of their art include incredibly clean and detailed backdrops and still life, thorough shading/lighting to set the mood for scenes, concentric circles in pupils (usually in female characters), and well-proportioned, realistic bodies, particularly the joints and bones.
Also notable are close-ups of faces, especially surprised/excited expressions that almost reveal a raw, animalistic side of people when they
...
get caught up in the exhilaration of the moment. Kotoyama is one of the few artists whose action scenes will elevate my heart rate, because I can almost feel the same excitement the characters are feeling.
I've got no particular remarks about the art other than it's great, and it feels like Kotoyama has locked in on the style that really works for them. Whether the story is about confectioneries/being a mangaka, vampires and love, or kendo, you can be sure Kotoyama will insert a lot of commentary on life and self-identity, and their art seems perfect for it.
Many Japanese mangaka (and maybe Japanese people in general) are very proud of their traditions, culture, and heritage, and one of the sports unique to Japan is kendo and the art of Japanese swordplay.
This short story is about two young students who practice kendo but are disillusioned and dispassionate because they're so good. People don't approach the male lead, Takasago, seriously because they assume they'll lose to him anyway, and then people won't take the female lead, Oumi, seriously because she's female. A simultaneous interplay of the boredom that highly competent people deal with, and on top of that, sexism, if they are also women.
They are both considering quitting, but Oumi starts prowling the streets at night dressed up and attacking people she sees carrying kendo swords. The hope is that the random, unprovoked attack and the fact they can't tell she's female will result in more serious, exciting fights.
Honestly, that bit was a little weird for me. But it does at least feed into the narrative and Oumi's overall character arc.
Takasago is randomly attacked by her and is soundly defeated, which revives his interest in kendo as he tries to figure out who the attacker is. He finds Oumi rather quickly and then realizes that she's completely hiding her real skill during their club/school practice, and the surface conflict becomes him fighting her in earnest while the underlying conflict is the two of them finding their passion in kendo again.
It's not perfect because a lot seems rushed and shallow given only two chapters. But honestly, I'd be very, very interested in Kotoyama doing a full-length sports manga like this. Most other sports manga devolve into play-by-plays and technical analysis of the sport itself, with power-of-friendship MCs who attain victory through hard work and optimism. Kotoyama would approach this way differently with gritty commentary on self-growth, psychological challenges, and societal expectations, complete with slow-burn relationships/romances.
Overall, not a bad read! If you like Call of the Night, this might pique your interest, but more than anything, it's mostly to get you excited for the next longer, proper manga that Kotoyama takes on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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