Title: Anonymous Noise Vol. 8
Author: Ryoko Fukuyama
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
The Story
The eighth volume of Anonymous Noise mainly focused on the two idols that commissioned In No Hurry to Shout to write a new song for them. Sui and Juri Mizukami were the names revealed for the idols and they are a, well… peculiar duo to say the least. Sui has your typical idol complex as he feels that he’s more popular than he really is while Juri doesn’t like being touched by men. She does have a bit of a snobbish attitude, but it’s not as pronounced as Sui’s.
Nino and Yuzu write several songs for their voices, thinking that each one would be perfect for them, but they demanded something harder. The magazine that Sui and Juri are contracted to say that the softer more “pop-like” song will do, but Yuzu asks for a one-week extension as they will write something both hardcore and sweet as a compromise. Interested in seeing if they can pull it off, our two idols accept the extension.
Meanwhile, Kuze locates Momo and coaxes him to come back. As a result of this, Silent Black Kitty is reforming and it seems that they are getting double billed in Osaka with In No Hurry to Shout! It’s going to be round two of a battle between the two bands. Momo becomes crazed and wants to perform nothing but new songs at the Osaka show which Kuze immediately shoots down.
From here we get a cornucopia of emotions as each individual character winds up throwing caution to the wind and going for broke with their individual love interests. This includes the awkward triangle between Miou, Yuzu and Haruyoshi, Ayumi and Ui and a rekindling between Nino and Momo with a possible snag in the form of Kuze. Heck, even Juri and Sui even got teased as a possible ship! The volume ends by stating that all of their feelings are coming to a head during the winter break!
The Juri and Sui story kind of felt like a distraction at first, but it did warrant the volume to give enough time to allow all of these other relationship stories to get fleshed out. Plus, it made for some good comic relief. In my last review, I felt that this would be kind of a detour volume and I was right in suspecting that. It does look like; however, that the main story is back in full swing and we’ll see it progress in volume nine as both bands head for another clash in Osaka!
Characters
Sui and Juri’s characters were a bit rough around the edges. I get that they are idols now, but their backstory showed that they weren’t always that way. In fact, it was kind of a generic backstory where Juri was moving from band to band with no real dedication or direction. She then saw Sui singing to a massive crowd of six whole people and thought that maybe something could brew between the two of them. Well, one thing leads to another and now the two of them were apart of Zero Magazine as idols. It wasn’t an overnight success story, though as they did have their struggles along the way, their backstory just didn’t really stand out as anything special. It certainly wasn’t the kind of backstory that warrants their elitist attitudes, that’s for sure. I don’t think we’ll see the last of them, but I won’t be sad if we never do get to see them again.
Miou poured her feelings out in this one for Yuzu. She went in knowing that she would instantly be rejected, but she still went in regardless. You have to give her major props for her courage in doing so! What happened after that actually surprised me. I really hope it doesn’t head in the direction that they are setting up with Miou, but I have a feeling that this turbulent situation is far from over.
Yuzu is getting more and more determined to make Nino’s voice his and his alone. However, when it came time to perform the hardcore, yet sweet song for Sui and Juri, there was one insane moment that I never thought I would see at this stage of the manga. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it, but it was so casually introduced that I had to do a double take when it happened! I was actually mind-blown and it was an excellent foreshadow to something that will more than likely happen during the upcoming Osaka show when they face off with Silent Black Kitty once again! I still got chills thinking about the potential here!
Ayumi’s story got a little more attention in this volume. He decided to grow up a bit and call Ui, but his call went straight to voicemail. He left her a message that he’s coming home after winter break and he wants to talk about everything, apologize to her and confess his true feelings to her. This is a great step in Ayumi’s character and it really shears away that childish attitude he had and makes him seem more adult. It’s just a small side story that they’re doing for him, but it’s really making me respect him as a character. It’s proof that not all backstories need to be bold. Something nonchalant and subtle like this goes a long way!
Final Thoughts
This was another great entry into the series. While the Sui and Juri arc was mainly filler, it did lead to a huge shocking moment that was just casually displayed. It reminded me of the episode of Attack on Titan where Reiner and Bertholdt casually made their confession to Eren and you were just like “wait, what?” It was one of those moments so while the arc seemed a bit like a throwaway, the ending to it had a profound realization that things were about to change in a huge way for In No Hurry to Shout.
Outside of that, we got more and more character development and this was the perfect volume to do it in. With the story taking a little bit of a detour here, it was the perfect place to, not only, build up your supporting cast, but rev things up for the next segment of the main storyline. Ryoko Fukuyama did an excellent job building up the next chapter of the story and even got me excited for the second battle between In No Hurry to Shout and Silent Black Kitty. Even though we are not that far removed from the Rock Horizon concert, the battle still seems fresh and the rivalry still feels interesting.
I do think it was a little early to bring Momo back, though. I would have teased it some more and then right before the In No Hurry tour began, maybe even after their first couple shows, drop the bombshell on them that Momo is back and the Osaka show would have been the double bill with both bands. That would have been a huge shock and it would have made for some excellent reactions, but this method works as well and I’m still excited to see what comes next!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
