Title: Anonymous Noise Vol. 13
Author: Ryoko Fukuyama
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
The Story
Tokyo Sailing is coming up but the conflict with Nino’s voice continues to be a problem. Nino cannot figure out why her singing has been off as much as it was even though everyone knows the answer. Yuzu, who is dealing with his own issues involving his mother over the discovery of his father’s remains, needs to tell Nino the harsh truth. When he does, he feels that he has caused a lot of unnecessary drama and wants to apologize to her Nino disappears to seek out Momo. Once she finds him, she’s finally able to say the words she’s been meaning to this entire time: “I love you.”
When Tokyo Sailing happens, the band is getting ready to perform. They hit the stage and all of a sudden, something becomes apparently clear to the entire band: Nino is singing her heart out but is doing so in such a harsh way that she’s preparing to shred her voice… in other words, Nino is making this her final performance ever. Yuzu notices what Nino is trying to do and changes the set on the fly to try and force her voice into highs and lows in an effort to save her vocal cords. We’re left on the cliffhanger of whether or not Yuzu’s efforts and silent message to Nino will pay off or if this really will be her final performance.
The story in this volume was actually the deepest it has been since the beginning of the series! Yuzu put himself through the wringer twice when dealing with both Nino and his mother. Nino came to a tough decision and realized why her singing has been off. Rather than find a way to regain her voice, she decided to walk away from it all but Yuzu isn’t about to let her do that without a fight! While the story was very straightforward this time around, the characters and the drama they all incurred really made everything stand out much more than usual.
Characters
The biggest star of this volume was Yuzu. There was just so much development for him. Despite him getting the most attention, nothing really got resolved which I think was designed that way on purpose. I think making the reader feel frustrated was supposed to generate the same emotion that Yuzu was feeling when dealing with everything. If that was the goal, then this was next-level storytelling. If I was just simply frustrated because we got all this build-up and execution and no resolution, then I have my own personal problems to sort out!
Nevertheless, Yuzu’s mom is refusing to acknowledge any type of closure when it comes to her husband. Yuzu even snaps and chews her out, instantly regretting it. He knew he shouldn’t have done so but he still went ahead and did it regardless. It’s also really touching that he wears his father’s remains in a capsule around his neck. It just shows how much he really meant to him, despite what his mother feels about it.
Imagine wrestling with those emotions all while dealing with your conflicts regarding loving Nino! At multiple points, Yuzu was dead set on throwing in the towel and doing his best to forget Nino. He wanted to move on just because his heart couldn’t take much more of this. Then, we see that conflict when he tells Nino the harsh truth.. that she needs to break up with Momo in order to yearn for him again. This way, she will get her voice back. Deep down, he wanted that to happen so that he could claim Nino all to himself. That right there says as clear as day that he’s not done loving her or is ready to throw in the towel.
How strong is Yuzu’s will to not only carry on through all of this but also switch the set on the fly in an effort to save Nino’s voice and help her? Yuzu is now officially best boy and if Nino doesn’t end up with him permanently by the end of this series, I’m going to riot.
Speaking of Nino, it’s like she just couldn’t take it anymore when it came to her voice. She wanted to find her voice but deep down inside, she already knew the answer before Yuzu even told her what it was. She couldn’t bring herself to break up with Momo so she took the next best option: Stop Singing. Momo didn’t want that either as he tried to crash the stage and/or stop the show to save Nino’s voice. Momo wanted to still write songs for Nino and have her sing them. There’s no way that would have happened if Nino destroyed her vocal cords like she was planning to. It really begins to make you wonder if Momo really loves Nino or if he’s more in love with wanting her to sing his music. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but with Momo wanting to write her songs and then trying to save her when he realized she wouldn’t be able to sing them… you can’t help but wonder.
There is also the part where Momo was down because Nino never said “I Love You” to him yet. Maybe he really does love her… in his own odd way.
Lastly, we got some Kanamari x Haruyoshi development that was too cute for words! Kanamari ran into some old friends, one of them being her ex, who said some not-so-pleasant things to her. Haruyoshi stepped in and pretended to be her boyfriend and made sure stuff like that would never be said to her again! Kanamari was really grateful but she was also pretty shocked that he would step up and go to bat for her like that. How can you not ship these two after that moment!?
Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved the drama in this volume. This is what the series needs a lot more of. Sure, there was still the in-your-face slapstick comedy but it was toned down and used in the perfect spots. It really drew attention to the serious moments and kept them serious when they needed to be. When Fukuyama-san treats the series like this, the series really shines and is at its best. I only can imagine, with how good this series already is, how much better it could have been had every volume followed Volume 13’s example.
I love the cliffhanger at the end with the fate of Nino’s voice yet to be decided. The band was booked for Rock Horizon again so it makes you wonder if they will be there with or without Nino. They can’t go back to Miou as the lead singer as she’s now a part of Silent Black Kitty but just imagine if they ended up trading them? This would be the second time that Miou lost a lead singing position because of Nino! The amount of hatred that would generate would be absolutely insane! If they really want to create a conflict, that’s the way you’re going to do it!
I hope that prediction comes true but I have a feeling it won’t
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
