Anonymous Noise Vol. 14 (Manga Review)

By: I.Am.No.Man

Review

Anonymous Noise is back with another volume! After all the excitement of the last two manga volumes, this one does feel a bit lacking in the "action" department. The big shocker in this volume is *spoiler* (is it really a spoiler though) Momo and Nino's break up. I was expecting some big melt down, world ending emotional saga once the breakup inevitable happened... but it plays out rather emotionless and nonchalantly. In fact, Nino seems more than relieved to be broken up with.

After the enormous build up and emotional crises of the last 13 volumes, this shift in mood and emotion seems a bit off character. Or maybe it's some form of character development I haven't picked up on yet. For being a teenage love drama, there's a bit of a lack of the drama I think we all expected. The closest reaction I got to what I was expecting was probably Yuzu trying to shoot his shot after he realized the breakup happened. I think he'll try and make his big move in the next couple manga volumes.

Besides the strange love triangle non drama, there was another glaring exemption from this volume. Miou's character was completely missing from the volume. Miou has been my favorite character from the beginning. I haven't been shy about that. She's been the lonely outsider. The true jilted lover in this strange rock and roll love story. I hope that she gets some attention in the next volumes once she learns that Momo is single again.

Although Miou and the entire band took a backseat in this volume, both Momo and Yuzu get pretty in depth backstory drops. Momo deals with his mother's cold shoulder, and learns that this appears to be the only way she can think to stay in his life. So he tries to make amends and repair their relationship. Yuzu deals with the consequences of learning of his parents deadly dealings with debt and running from their troubles. All in all, a fair attempt at character building, but I did miss having the comedic relief of the band interspersed through the volume.

Next volume will begin to cover Nino, Yuzu, and Momo discovering who they are as musicians with all the new changes that have come to light. We'll see if the character development takes a sharp tick up or continues to meander through the mire.