Title: For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams Vol. 3
Author: Kei Sanbe
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 184
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Publication Date: November 26, 2019
The Story
Volume three of For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams is going to be a tough one to review as there is a really huge plot development point in it. Normally, these things are used as cliffhangers but this time, it encompasses the entirety of the volume so talking about it would, theoretically, ruin the entire book for anyone who wishes to purchase it.
What I can say is that it picks up with the revelation made in volume two that Kazuto is still alive in some capacity. The volume deals with Senri’s investigation into it and how he can find a way to reunite with Kazuto after all of these years apart. He discovered Kazuto was still alive when his shared vision returned. During the volume, the only slight spoiler I’ll reveal is that Kazuto learns that the shared vision is a one-way street. Kazuto can’t see anything Senri does, making their reunion that much more difficult. What Senri discovers along the way; however, is the huge plot development that I simply won’t talk about. I will say that the implications of the said discovery are causing a massive stir among many forces which makes this race to find Kazuto even more dramatic!
I, for one, did not see that turn of events coming. It is an interesting direction being taken by Kei Sanbe that really adds a new dynamic to the story. I loved how Sanbe used some of these dramatic elements in ERASED but the problem here was that some of those elements were way too predictable. Here, Sanbe is using the unpredictability aspect but not trying to mask it as he did with ERASED. It is a different approach and it raises a lot more questions this time around. I’m excited to see where the story is going to go from here.
Characters
While the majority of the development goes to Kazuto, Senri did have some nice flashbacks to kick off the volume. Enan recalled their time at the Red Leaf orphanage together and noted how Senri never smiled. She also realized that she had never smiled, either. Enan decided to start smiling and it even made Senri smile at her for the first time which made her happy. This was because she became the first person to ever believe that Senri had this “second sight” connection with Kazuto so when Senri claimed that he was still alive, Enan completely believed him.
This is, pretty much, an obvious ship; however, so was Satoru and Kaya and we all saw how that turned out. Knowing our luck, Senri will just end up getting shipped with our new character Wakazono… and that’s what I call a segue!
Wakazono is a bit of an oddball character. He’s a police officer but doesn’t carry a gun. He reaches out to Senri and wants to give him his information so he can aid him in whatever way possible. This comes after Wakazono ends up breaking up and would-be beatdown of Senri which directly relates to the big plot point in this volume. However, the way Wakazono acts, he seems more two-faced than helpful. The ending showed him accepting a long-awaited phone call, presumably from Senri but I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s not from him at all. Guess we’ll have to see how this plays out but I certainly don’t trust him.
Final Thoughts
Volume three continues to press the pedal to the floor and keeps the momentum going. Senri is now inside of a massive tangled web with one goal in mind but with the way things are ending up, his goal is getting harder and harder to reach. I’m not sure if this plot point reveals the true endgame for this series or not but it definitely has become one of, if not, the major goal to accomplish. Then again, I thought we had a clear direction from the first two volumes only to get proven wrong time and time again. I like where Sanbe is going with this series as it continues to add twists and turns to keep you guessing. Nothing is for certain so far so it makes volume four that much more appealing.
Despite that, I can’t see Sanbe switching gears again for a while. All of the misdirection we’ve had up until now I felt was built upon on purpose to get us to this point. I’m still expecting some twists along the way but I think the overall goal has been set and will remain steady for quite some time. Still, I think that this series is far better than ERASED which is difficult for me to say because I enjoy the hell out of ERASED so much!
Kei Sanbe is just an amazing mangaka. Plain and simple.
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press