Title: Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle Vol. 6
Author: Hiromu (Story), Bobkya (Art), raemz (Characters)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 186
Genre: Slice of Life, Drama, Romance
Publication Date: June 18, 2024
The Story
Things heat up with Yuzuki’s stalker as Chitose learns that they are taking photos of them. In those photos, Chitose is scratched out with a Sharpie marker along with a message for Yuzuki to leave him immediately. This throws a monkey wrench into Chitose’s investigation as he didn’t think that the stalker was the type to become angry over Yuzuki having a boyfriend. Things get a bit more hectic when Yuzuki is about to play in her basketball game when her shoes are stolen. Chitose and Kaito search the school until Chitose figures it would and discovers where the shoes were stashed. Because of this, Chitose comes to the conclusion that the stalker is someone from their school and not from Yan High.
After the basketball game, Yuzuki and Haru get into a bit of a squabble over a date Chitose promised Yuzuki they would go on and battle over it in a game of air hockey. In the end, Yuzuki ends up going on the date which is your typical cultural festival. While there, they run into some people from Yan High who know who Yuzuki is. She refers to one of them as her Senpai who says some rather disgusting things about her. Chitose wants to hit him but comes up with an alternative solution to the problem.
Once that’s over, Tomoya continues to ask Chitose for advice about how to approach Yuzuki and get to know her on a personal level. Something about that conversation sparks something inside of Chitose because as such, the volume ends in a way that you would expect but not expect at the same time!
Characters
Chitose did get some development but it does borderline on spoiler territory; however, outside of this one moment, he’s still the same Chitose. He’s doing his best to uphold the agreement he made with Yuzuki to be her pretend boyfriend and while he has narrowed down the stalker to Fuji High, it still doesn’t get him anywhere. In his dealings with Tomoya, he’s still as direct, yet, roundabout as ever. He tells it straight to Tomoya about what he needs to do if he ever wants to have a chance with Yuzuki but he seems quite dense and unwilling to walk the path that he should. I mention this because you can sense a bit of frustration within Chitose over this which I believe was the spark for his slight development in this volume.
Haru is still a flirt. Making Chitose give her a massage after the basketball game is some direct evidence of this; however, that’s all she seems to be is a flirt. Even when she was battling Yuzuki in air hockey for the right to date Chitose, it didn’t seem as if she truly wanted to go on the date for the sake of love but rather as another opportunity to be a flirt. For some reason, even though it’s easy to say that Haru wants to date Chitose, I think she just enjoys playing with him. It’s just a feeling I’m getting but I could be wrong. The only reason why I’m not buying this straight out is because the style of this manga likes to lay things out as if you were meant to take them at face value but it’s not how you should really take them. Maybe I’m wrong, though.
Yuzuki did get a little bit of development when they ran into the Yan High guys during the cultural festival. We got a small glimpse into Yuzuki’s past and how she was potentially (or more obviously) in an abusive and/or controlling relationship when she went to that school. Outside of that assumption, we don’t know the full details but, again, as aforementioned, this manga isn’t about things being taken at face value. While I have no doubts something bad happened to her, the idea here is to make you link this to the stalker. I have a feeling that this is a separate story in and of itself and a form of misdirection.
Final Word
The mystery of the stalker remained the focus for the first half of the volume while the second half focused on character development. I would have mentioned Tomoya but the guy is still pretty hard to read. I still don’t trust him which means nothing truly changed from the last volume. Outside of this, there was a nice balance between the two halves with an ending that makes me wonder if it’s just more misdirection. I think someone is playing 5D chess here and that this is just one of the pieces moving into the place it was meant to be in.
As I mentioned before, I’m still up in the air about the jealousy angle between Haru and Yuzuki. Could be valid, might not be. Nothing truly got solved but things did get narrowed down but just because they were, it doesn’t mean anything can be taken off of the table just yet. In a weird way, I feel like this story arc took a step forward but didn’t truly go anywhere. The next volume might but, then again, I don’t expect anything to come of it which would make the last page just an empty panel designed specifically to hook you to get your money for Volume 7.
Well, it worked.
Good job, editorial/marketing department.
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.
