Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5
Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 10
Spoilers?: Yes.
Buy it here: Amazon. (Out-of-Print)
Take one young actress
used to getting her way, add a handful of ruthless bullies, some
humorous twists, and a plastic toy hammer, and you've got the recipe for
one crazy story Kodocha follows the antics of Sana, a spoiled
11-year-old TV star, and Hayama, a 6th grade Machiavelli who terrorizes
both his teachers and his classmates. In their classroom war of wills,
Sana and Hayama find there is more to both of them than meets the eye.
Something Specific:
Quote:
- "'But if you have at least one person you can depend on... You'll be able to get through anything. It could be a friend, a lover, family...anyone. As long as you have that person...'" // "'They didn't have that one person in their lives... That person...like you.'" (Two different quotes, talking about the same thing.) I mention this in the review, but I just love it. You can probably understand what they're saying just fine, but the context in which it's used here is just so... special, so significant.
Review:
I’m getting so
close to the end! Urghh…
This volume starts
right where the last one left off, with Akito going to find Kazuyuki and Sana
worrying about it but going home. Akito searches the forest for quite a while,
I’m not sure how long exactly, and eventually finds him. And Kazuyuki looks
exhausted, drained, and psychotic. This chapter flashes back and forth between
Akito dealing with Kazuyuki and Sana telling the adults that she knows where
the two are and worrying about when he’ll get back and if he’ll be okay.
He’s not okay when
he gets back. Because Kazuyuki gets crazy and sets up how he and Akito are
going to die together, but Akito doesn’t believe he’s strong enough to go through
with it, so he goads him, and Kazuyuki runs at him with a knife, but stabs him
in the arm and cries, because he is too afraid to do anything more. Akito is hurt,
but immediately after getting stabbed, he wraps up the wound and tells the kid that they’re going
back home now. It’s a treacherous walk back, but they get there, Akito barely
holding on. And when they finally get home and he sees his family and Sana, who
are all freaking out, he passes out and is rushed to the emergency room.
Everyone is
freaking out as they wait to find out what’s going on with Akito, and whether
he’s going to live since he’s bled so much, and the tension is high. Which
means it doesn’t help when the police try to question Kazuyuki and his mother
gets all defensive and yells and blames Akito. Sana, Fuka, Tsuyoshi, and Aya
don’t take kindly to that and yell at her. Afterward, Sana’s mother even goes
over to Kazuyuki's mother and tells her that she thinks she’s not a very good parent to her
son, who is obviously not doing okay, and is feeling bombarded with pressure from
her.
During this,
Akito’s heart is slowing down, and his ghost tries to move on, only to be
stopped by someone… I’ve decided not to say who, even though it’s not a huge
surprise, but in the end he goes back to his body and starts fighting and
breathing, and everyone finds out that he’s going to live. Although, the talk
with that person and the whole experience seems to have made him feel really
guilty about everything that he’s done in the past. I’m not saying he shouldn’t
be for some of it, but he shouldn’t feel it so overwhelmingly so.
Oh yea, Sana
ditched a live show to stay at the hospital, which Naozumi fills in for at the
last minute, but she hears that Akito is going to be okay and makes it for the
last half of the show. The producers aren’t happy about it, but neither her or
Rei care, as long as Akito is okay. The press is also really curious about it,
but Sana avoids saying anything about Akito or a friend, just that it was
because of personal reasons.
After that, Sana
decides that she doesn’t need to see Akito, as long as he’s okay. But, finally
Fuka has a talk with him and they break up, and Sana doesn’t know till Fuka
tells her that Akito needs her. Akito’s been having some kind of fit every
night, including throwing up, and no one knows why. Also, his hand is
paralyzed, because the knife hit some nerves. When Sana hears about this, she
doesn’t waste much time getting to the hospital to see him. Which is a very
sweet scene, and a little heartbreaking, and I love it.
God, the romance
between these two is just perfect. It’s a bit unexpected, seeing as this seems
like a kids series at first, but the romance… They are just perfect for each
other. That scene, and one later in this volume, really proves it, too. They
haven’t really kissed, aside from those surprise attacks earlier in the series,
and they don’t get affectionate too often, but that doesn’t matter. Really, all
that matter is the look on Akito’s face when he sees her, when you can tell
that he needs her right then (and not in a lust way, but in a vulnerable way), and
what he says in this volume, how he knows that she’s the one, she’s the one
that’s capable of keeping him sane and alive… There’s this line, about how
there’s that special someone out there for everyone, and Akito knows that
Sana’s that person for him, but the way it’s done in this volume is so… So
completely perfect. It’s what dreams are made of, you guys. God, they’re just…
It’s all just perfect and I love it all so very much.
For the rest of the
volume, Sana has another talk with Fuka, Sana and Akito go say farewell to
Kazuyuki, who is now officially Akito’s friend (which is really good and
understandable, from what happened between them in this volume) but is moving
away, and there’s a cute scene between Akito and Sana, and a nice scene between
Akito and his family (where we find out some more about Akito’s mom, which,
aww…).
At the end of the
volume, it seems like the rousing fight between Akito and his teacher (who is a
complete jerk) is finally going to come to a head. Also, there’s mention of a
Christmas Eve midway-Birthday party for Sana and Akito (and Fuka, who’s actual
birthday is that day).
This series just
keeps getting better and better. I am really loving it right now. I like the
more serious parts, but there’s also been a lot of really sweet moments and
funny ones, which oddly seem to work much better than they did in the beginning
(the humor more so than the sweet stuff; the sweet stuff has always been pretty
good, just seems to have gotten better). Right now this series, as a whole, is
at a very high 4 stars, and might even be leaning higher. I’m really surprised,
and really glad.
I’m really looking
forward to the next volume, even if it is the last one that I currently own.
Sidenote/Update: in
the first chapter of this volume, Obana snuck in three ghostly figures, and I
noticed one through my first read, but she mentioned it in one of the side
panels, which made me go back and try to find the others. I found two, but it
was really bothering me that I couldn’t find the last one. In volume nine,
though, she says where they are; I was totally off on where I thought the last
one would be. Ugh… I’m glad she said, though, because it was driving me crazy.
I was about ready to look it up online.
