Title: Mint Chocolate Vol. 11
Author: Mami Orikasa
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
The Story
After the last volume’s cliffhanger, everything comes out in the open about the two of them dating to their parents. The funny thing is, they knew about it before they even got remarried and kept it from them all along! This whole time, there was no reason to worry about them finding out which was the biggest tension breaker of all time! Now that everything is out in the open, a new problem arises… Kyou thinks that with their parents knowing, they may become more suspicious of them doing couple things together so now he’s trying his hardest to make it seem that nothing funny is happening between them!
Meanwhile, Andou comes over because his father came back and things are awkward at home. During this time, Shouta from next door stops by and he has a cold. He has a picture book of ants with him because there was this girl he saw the other day looking at ants and he wanted to give it to her as a gift but can’t because he’s sick. Nanami grabs the book and brings it to her and then offers to walk the girl home and explain that she’s borrowing the book to her mother.
When they arrive at the girl’s apartment, she sees something and gets rather tense. She gives the book to the girl, whose name is Koto, and excuses herself. She talks to Andou about what she saw and asks him to confirm something for her. Andou is curious as well and heads off to investigate which leads into another huge cliffhanger!
Characters
The biggest development here was with Nanami and Kyou’s parents. The fact that they knew this entire time definitely dampened the impact of the news. In fact, we received a whole flashback to how the two of them were discussing their remarriage and how it would impact Kyou and Nanami’s lives. Through that, we were given a glimpse at how Kyou and Nanami were back in school and how they would talk about each other to their parents. That was the clue that tipped them off about a potential relationship and they still went through with the remarriage knowing that a relationship between them could be a possibility. This means that Kyou’s father is cunning and wears a great poker face because when Andou found out the whole story, he admitted that he never picked up on it this whole time!
As for Nanami… not much has changed but Kyou showed a more assertive and “take charge” side to him. When Shouta spilled the beans, he took full responsibility immediately and was even direct with asking for a family meeting. He knew that there was no hiding it anymore and decided to take action all by himself. That shows a lot of maturity but, then again, after we’ve seen Kyou act this whole time, it kind of fits his character.
Our new character, Koto, is kind of a mystery. You can’t really tell what she’s thinking. She looks like she doesn’t want to be bothered and is rather cold but she’s willing to sit and talk with Nanami when she brings her the picture book. Still, some of her facial expressions gave off this vibe that she, at five years old, was the alpha female between the two of them. Less is more and with Koto, her barely saying anything and just reacting was fantastic! I like her already!
Final Word
It’s funny… in the last review, I called Shouta a little brat and that he needed to get friends his age and what do I see in the very next volume but Shouta trying to get a friend his age… although she is a little younger than him… still… close enough, I suppose.
The resolution to keeping the secret was about as safe as it could have been played. I was expecting some drama but instead we had four people who ended up with the proverbial egg on their faces. Then again, there was enough drama at the end of this volume to where it wasn’t needed. Speaking of the ending, I was wondering where this series was going to go once the secret was out because you would think that would be this series’ endgame. I had to double-check to make sure that this wasn’t one of the series I was reading that was ending soon and, sure enough, it wasn’t.
Well, if you read this volume and think the same thing, then the ending will let you know exactly where we are heading next… if it’s even confirmed. If it is, this will be a rather interesting arc coming up and I have a feeling if it goes the way I’m thinking it will, there will be no safe ending to this one. Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to volume 12 to see where this story is headed!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.
