Title: Komomo Confiserie Vol. 2
Author: Maki Minami
Publisher: VIZ Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 200
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: December 1, 2015
Volume two of Maki Minami’s Komomo Confiserie is here and there is a lot to cover this time around. The second volume had several story plots which saw Komomo continue her duties at Natsu’s pastry shop, however, things begin to get interesting when her former friend Rise enters the picture and wants to make amends. In addition, Komomo begins to realize just what it is like to live a normal lifestyle which leads her to meeting Seto, a shoemaker. Now Komomo begins a journey to experiencing the things she’s never been able to experience when she was rich.
Final Thoughts
Wow… there was a LOT of character development in this volume. Komomo and Natsu got the bulk of it and we get introduced to Rise and Seto. Right away we don’t leave anything a mystery with either of the new characters as we get their backgrounds situated almost right away. Some mangas tend to do a slow burn, others throw information at you way too fast, but in this manga, while it does throw a lot of information at you, does it in organized sections that make sense and the timing of the information is spot on. They give you just enough of a new character’s personality and story to make you want more and just when you ask for more, they give it to you. It’s all very straight-forward, too. There’s no deep multi-branched history or convoluted story plots for any of the characters, which makes reading the story all that more enjoyable. You can take everything in and absorb it easily and that creates an enjoyable reading experience!
Natsu is really the only character with some mystery to him because we still don’t fully understand why he is the way he is with Komomo. I mean, it’s very obvious that he’s in love with her and his overprotective inner monologues back up that claim 100%, but in the first volume of Komomo Confiserie, something had to have happened in that time skip to cause Natsu’s attitude to change. We know he studied pastry in France and wanted to torture Komomo when he came back in order to get some sort of revenge for always having to make her sweets when they were young, but in volume two, he kind of has a bit of duality about him. On one hand, he seems like a big brother who genuinely cares for Komomo and her safety, but on the other hand, he carries about it in such a way where it’s pretty obvious that he loves her. Seeing how most of the character development has been straight-forward, perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into it.
Komomo’s character development has been splendid. She had that harsh exterior in the beginning, but that was because of her upbringing. Now that she’s been forced into working for a living, she’s beginning to realize what it means to be a “common” person. The thing is, most characters would reject that change in lifestyle, but Komomo has learned to accept it and that has caused her to grow and mature at an accelerated rate, but she’s not without her faults. Because of her previous lifestyle, she has never gotten to experience simple things, such as love. She wants to experience what that’s like and that leaves her quite vulnerable due to her naivety. In fact, there is a scenario in the second volume that accentuates that perfectly.
All in all this was a great volume. The story continued, characters got some major developments, the cast of characters grew, and they left us on not really a cliffhanger, per se, but more or less a feeling of question. We want to know what happens, but not in a way where it’s going to leave us biting our nails until the third volume. Still, a very enjoyable read!
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**This item was provided for review.
