Title: Fly Me to the Moon Vol. 15
Author: Kenjiro Hata
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 195
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction
Publication Date: January 10, 2023
The Story
Um… For the first time in a long while, I’m at a bit of a loss for words.
For the past fourteen volumes, we were given a look into the lives of Tsukasa and Nasa in the cutest way possible. Sometimes, I felt that the cuteness was running stale and that we needed some things to mix it up a bit. That’s when we got Kaguya and some teases as to who Tsukasa truly was.
Well, be careful what you wish for because we received that in spades with this volume. The manga takes a HARD 90-degree turn and because of such, it has now garnered the sci-fi tag in addition to everything else. However, this isn’t a 7th Garden situation where the entirety of the manga changes after seven volumes, severely disappointing you because there was no warning about a genre shift. The clues were there. The hints were there. You almost expected it to come and then it did. Instead of being shocked for all of the wrong reasons, you were shocked for the right ones and even brought to the verge of tears.
Every volume of Fly Me to the Moon until now, I smiled on every page. There wasn’t much smiling in this volume because just like Nasa in chapter 1, I’ve felt as if I were hit with a truck except this one feels good to get hit by. I know the manga needed SOMETHING to keep things interesting but man… we REALLY got that something. I know this is the story section and it’s sounding more like my Final Thoughts section but what am I supposed to say when the entire volume is just one giant spoiler?
I mean… the manga does remind us that Tsukasa and Nasa are about to move into their house and I guess I can say that it also deals with going back to the first chapter and filling in some blanks because we learn that Nasa has a slight case of amnesia. If I said anything more than that, it would literally ruin the entire volume. This is what I meant by saying that I’m at a loss for words. This is the toughest manga review I’ve had to do!
Characters
Okay, the character development is just as filled with spoilers as the story but, I will say that Tsukasa is the biggest focus here. We learn more about her past with Tokiko, the day of the truck incident with Nasa, and we learn who Tsukasa truly is. There were a lot of guesses because of the whole foreshadowing when Kaguya showed up. I will say that my guesses were semi-right but mostly wrong. Still, it adds a whole new dimension to this story and revitalized the series from becoming a bit stale by overusing the cuteness factor.
As for Nasa, his development comes from his partial amnesia. There was an important moment he was forgetting and while the moment is pretty minor, it carried with it tremendous weight and importance… so much so that… well… you’ll see what happens.
Through it all, it appears Kaguya is involved, too… or that she at least knows something. It wasn’t explained how or what she knows exactly but with this focus on Tsukasa and Nasa, there is still plenty of time to explore Kaguya’s role in all of this.
Final Thoughts
Just wow. I don’t know what else to say that I haven’t already said. All I will say is that this was like the beginning of a whole new series. I kept waiting for the usual cuteness to return but it barely did. We went from cute and cuddly to dead serious and practically dramatic.
Plus, I’m a tad confused. The last chapter, which I think is 147, is labeled as “Part I: The Final Chapter.” I’m wondering if Kenjiro Hata means the volume because according to Japan, they are up to Volume 22 in the series. I can’t imagine “The Final Chapter” being 7+ volumes long. Plus, there was a Chapter 104 Subscript Chapter and a “Chapter XXX” one as well… so are we really at Chapter 147? Is it 149? I’ll go by the official chapter numbers but the layout was a bit confusing… especially when this turn just came out of left field.
Still, I would say that this was the most profound volume of this series so far. It completely changed the entire direction of things and I am really interested to see where this new journey is going to take us!
In before we go back to cute comedy as if nothing happened.
You can also check out other The Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
