Title: Silver Spoon Vol. 10
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Slice of Life
Publication Date: August 27, 2019
The Story
Volume ten of Silver Spoon takes a break from tutoring Mikage and focuses on the pork meat that they purchased. They create two teams… one to make bacon, the other to make sausage. Since the manga explored making bacon last time, it’s only natural that Hachiken and Mikage ended up choosing sausage and, as expected, we end up getting a lesson in sausage making! Of course, making it is one thing… selling it is another and it’s up to Hachiken to set the price. We also learn that it’s not just the price but branding that matters as well. Once they figure that out, the sausage begins to sell!
The biggest surprise this volume is the return of Komaba! We finally get caught up with where he’s been and what he’s been doing all this time! Although his appearances are a bit sporadic throughout the volume, it still adds to the overarching story. Komaba isn’t the only one who returns as Hachiken’s brother makes an appearance and he brings his wife Alexandra along for the ride… quite literally at one point.
Not much of a cliffhanger at the end of this volume but without spoiling anything, the last page will bring a smile to your face.
Things are moving forward once again; however, I may just be taking a stab in the dark here but I have a feeling I know how this series is going to end now. It’s just a bit of a bold prediction but I’ll touch upon that in my final thoughts section.
Characters
I think this is a rare occasion. I believe this is one of the first volumes where I don’t get to complain about Hachiken not learning his lesson! Hachiken kept his nose clean this entire volume, made some responsible decisions, and didn’t do anything that he should have learned not to do from previous experiences! It’s almost if his character is actually now developed and we are all reaping the benefits of that development. Still, seeing Hachiken as a more decisive person is a bit promising… even if he didn’t want to go back home for New Year’s because of his family. I think that’s one problem he may not overcome so easily because family matters are an entirely different subject altogether.
Mikage is beginning to subconsciously fall for Hachiken. You can see a few little nuances here in this volume. Picking the same team as Hachiken when it came to making bacon or sausage and even being the first to excitedly volunteer when Hachiken suggested that they do this again. Heck, when they were making wishes, even though Mikage wrote her wish to get good grades, the way she expressed herself, it was like she was willing to work hard but she was also putting her hope into Hachiken. While that example might be stretching it quite a bit, it still ties into the whole Mikage x Hachiken relationship. Small, innocent steps but cute steps nevertheless!
Then we have Komaba. He returns but he has a serious chip on his shoulder. It’s pretty obvious without spelling it out that he’s angry over the fact that he had to give up his dreams in order to help pay down his family’s debt. It’s really filling him with regret but with the kind of person Komaba is, he won’t show those emotions at all. He’s pretty hard-headed and stubborn like that. So much so that he didn’t even want anything to do with anyone from the school because he felt it would be a painful reminder of everything he had given up. Komaba is a mess but this volume showed us that I think he will be just fine after all.
Lastly, we have a new character in Alexandra! She’s highly energetic and friendly and is already taking a liking to Hachiken and the school. She ends up going horseback riding and connects with Mikage after telling her a tale about the Cossack Cavalry. She stays a while but then exits the volume. She was a pretty fun character that portrayed that excitement when a foreigner comes to another country and just takes in all of the culture. She does invite Hachiken to come to Russia at some point so maybe that will be a plot point in a future volume. I hope so as I enjoyed the Alexandra character and would like to see more of her.
Final Thoughts
All around, a pretty interesting volume and, once again, all of this food making in the book made me hungry just reading it. Arakawa is secretly trying to make people hungry in order to increase the world’s food economy. Don’t think I’m not onto, Arakawa! I see what you’re doing!
Conspiracy theories aside, I eluded to having foresight into how this series may end. From the very first time when Hachiken had to sell off Pork Bowl until now, Hachiken has been in a cycle of raising and selling off pigs for meat. The fact that he wants to do so a third time has gotten everyone, Mikage included, excited. This tells me that with her low grades, Mikage won’t be getting into Ban’ei racing. She’s going to fail at that dream but Hachiken is going to be there to pick her right back up. This volume even mentioned that Hachiken still hasn’t figured out what he wants to do in life but isn’t that a lie by now?
It’s quite obvious that Hachiken has found his niche in raising pigs and selling them off for meat. He already knows how to feed them, clean their stalls, he’s learned about the market value of pork, and he’s learned to make bacon and sausage. The writing is on the wall big time and I have a feeling that when the eventual relationship comes together, Mikage will end up becoming his wife and the two will own a pig farm… with a horse because that’ll probably be his wedding gift to Mikage.
I can see that happening… or… I can be completely wrong about it all. Just going by what the manga has given me so far. Still, I’d say I took a pretty fair shot at it. Only time will tell, I suppose!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
