Title: Anonymous Noise Vol. 4
Author: Ryoko Fukuyama
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
The Story
In the fourth volume on Anonymous Noise, the kiss between Yuzu and Nino ends in turmoil as Nino wants Yuzu to stay away from her. This even prompts Nino to come to Yuzu and tell him that she’s going to leave In No Hurry to Shout! Not wanting to lose Nino, Yuzu lies and tells her that he’s not in love with her. He takes her to Shibuya in order to show her their music video. Yuzu says that when Nino sings, she’s always looking up towards the sky, singing out to Momo. He reaffirms the fact that they’re just friends and convinces Nino to stay with the band.
Nino then drops some knowledge on Haruno stating that she has their entire catalogue (including demos) memorized… even every words that’s on their “Mikipedia” page. Despite knowing all of this, Haruno decides to tell Nino about how In No Hurry to Shout formed as a band. The members were all in the hospital together when, one day, they heard Yuzu play the piano, but his mother intervened and stopped him from doing so. They all devised a plan for Yuzu to escape the hospital so he could go compose. When he came back, he claimed that he found his voice (which is a call back to when Yuzu met Nino back in volume one.)
Since then, they became friends and learned to enjoy music together. They all decided to stick together and create a band. Once the backstory arc was over, we shift focus to Nino running into Momo. Momo continues to insult In No Hurry to Shout and wants to make a wager that if Silent Black Kitty draws a bigger crowd at Rock Horizon then Nino has to leave In No Hurry to Shout. Nino flat out declines the wager stating that the band is her only reason for singing right now. Momo walks away in disgust. We then find out about the Rock Horizon schedule. Both bands are headlining, but Silent Black Kitty is on the 8,000 capacity stage while In No Hurry to Shout is on the 5,000 capacity stage. Despite being on the smaller stage, it fires up the band and gives them an even bigger reason to blow it out of the water. The volume ends on their determination.
This was a calmer volume from a drama perspective. I like the fact that they took a break to explain the band’s backstory and how they all came together. The rivalry between In No Hurry… and Silent Black Kitty is getting even more intense, but it’s on so many different levels. It’s not just a competition to see who the better band is, it’s a lot deeper than that for both Nino and Momo and that’s what’s making this rivalry so good. The desire is there for each band to outdo each other, but that’s only shared by everyone else. Momo and Nino know of the additional stakes involved here when it comes to their feelings for each other.
Characters
The only real development here was with the band and, even still, there wasn’t much there. Haurno explained how he grew up in a house filled with nothing but women which is why he often speaks with a feminine tone. He said he just picked up the words and to him, they’re normal. Makes sense, I guess. Plus, we know he’s in love with Miou and now that we know that they are also childhood friends from the hospital, his interest in her makes a lot more sense.
We didn’t get any more insight as to why Yuzu’s mother doesn’t want him composing music, but it’s nice to see that they revisited that plot point in this volume.
Momo is still a male tsundere, but it seems like he’s growing even more bitter towards Nino. I understand that he doesn’t want to confess his feelings for Nino until he can accomplish the things that he wants to, but this whole cold shoulder thing is getting a bit much. I, honestly, can’t see a realistic reason for Nino to continue involving herself with Momo when he treats her so coldly.
Final Thoughts
This volume of Anonymous Noise kind of felt like a filler volume. While the backstory of the band was touching, it didn’t really do much to delve deeper into the supporting characters. It was a nice tie-in; however, to the first volume when Yuzu met Nino. It explains how he got out of the hospital to see her and why he would go to the beach to compose his music.
I’m really finding Momo annoying now. The manga is painting an extremely clear picture that Yuzu and Nino will end up together. I just can’t see how Momo and Nino can be a couple. It’s like Ryoko Fukuyama is going out of her way to burn Momo’s bridge with Nino. Momo has done everything short of physical abuse to distance himself away from Nino without any reasoning or explanation to her. All the while, Momo wants Nino all to himself and even states that to Yuzu. It’s like he wants her, but doesn’t want her all at the same time. After seeing the anime I can say that it’s not going to get much better from here. Then again, the anime ended once the Rock Horizon arc finished so I don’t know what lies beyond that.
All I can say is that Momo needs a new direction as a character soon, otherwise if Fukuyama does decide to have Nino end up with him at the conclusion of the series, it’s not going to make sense. He needs a big redemption arc… and I mean BIG redemption arc at this point. Until then, I’m just going to ship Nino x Yuzu until the end!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
