Title: Fly Me to the Moon Vol. 19
Author: Kenjiro Hata
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 197
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
The Story
Volume 19 of Fly Me to the Moon is all about going to Tokiko’s hidden mansion up in the mountains to sort out her effects after her passing. Nasa realized that they would have to drive there and they don’t have a car yet. With him reading up about people scuffing up cars on mountain roads, he doesn’t want to take a rental. One of Chitose’s maids shows up and mentions that Shiori has a car that’s already been scuffed up beyond repair (or it could be but they don’t want to spend the money). They allow them to use it on one condition… Chitose comes along with them.
Meanwhile, Kaguya and the other students are planning a summer trip into the mountains to do a bit of exploration, filming, etc. When they arrive, they notice a village along with a mansion but Kaguya feels that something is off. There are no signs of the village being lived in and everything feels very fake. Kaguya has a feeling that the village is a decoy (it is) and wants to find the real mansion.
It takes a bit of time but they eventually find it… with Nasa and Tsukasa already there! What will come of their meeting?
Characters
Thinking back on this volume, I can’t really say that there was much in the way of character development. Tsukasa did have her reasons for being hesitant for wanting to go to the mansion but those reasons aren’t anything new that we haven’t learned about her already. However, through her, we did learn about the mansion and how that’s where she hid herself when she had to get away from people before they suspected she was immortal.
Kaguya did get some pretty obvious hints about her true identity, though. Although, I don’t consider this a major revelation if you’ve been paying attention to the blatantly obvious clues. The only thing that would shock me is if she turned out to not be the Kaguya that supposedly returned to the moon. We’ll see, though.
Final Thoughts
This volume of Fly Me to the Moon was kind of a mixed bag for me. While it was nice to learn about the mansion, I don’t understand why Tsukasa was so hesitant about going there. Sure, it had a lot of memories and such but I don’t really think they were so impactful that it would cause hesitation like that. Especially when they arrive and there really isn’t much to the place outside of Tsukasa’s 30-year manga collection just sitting in there collecting dust (hey, I’ll take them if she doesn’t want them!)
The most interesting part of the volume didn’t come until the end when Kaguya arrived and had that one-on-one interaction with Tsukasa. Even still, with the way they built up the story so far, and the fact that her name is KAGUYA, there really isn’t much suspense or mystery behind it. It felt more or less like “Ah, they really are making her out to be THAT Kaguya. Okay.” I’m more interested in seeing the results of their meeting and/or having a discussion about things that will probably happen in the next volume (or maybe not. Who knows?).
Chitose saying that this might be the last time she visits is also interesting as we don’t really have much of a reason as to why she feels that way yet. But at least Shiori is doing well for herself! I love how her paintings were “on-sale” for over 2 million yen. CHEAP! I’ll take 2.
Expensive paintings aside, I’m hoping we get some more to Tsukasa’s backstory next volume along with Kaguya’s story as well. This has been the most interesting turn in the series thus far so more of this is always a good thing!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
