Sweet Blue Flowers Volume Two

By: EyeSpyeAlex With a lot of great manga that has recently come out, I’m struggling to play catch up to read it all. Up next on the menu is Sweet Blue Flowers Volume 2. Need to catch up? Check out my review of the debut volume here!Fumi and Akira, along with Akira’s brother Shinobu, travel to spend time with Kyoko and Ko during the summer break. The pair spends all their time together on the trip, even getting sick together. Their summer would be remiss without a little drama, which comes in the form of Yasuko Sugimoto’s sister’s wedding. The wedding causes Yasuko to want to see Fumi again, and she tags along with Akira to meet up with Fumi. In a surprising moment of courage, Fumi tells Yasuko that she doesn’t want to see her again, and Yasuko soon leaves to study abroad in England.The school year causes both girls to come out of their shells a little bit. Akira befriends Haruka Ono, an incoming first year student. Akira also befriends fellow second year Ryoko Ueda, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Fumi. With her two new friends’ insistence, Akira auditions and lands a principal character role in the upcoming play Rokumeikan. Due to being close with acting prodigy Yasuko, the girls of the Fujigaya theatre club also insist that Fumi audition. Fumi does, but feels inadequate to the other girls’ talent and to the ever looming shadow of expectation Yasuko left behind.This wouldn’t be a romance manga without a little relationship drama, and this volume delivers in droves. Akira ends up stuck in the relationship woes between Ko and Kyoko. Kyoko still has feelings for Yasuko that she can’t get over. While Ko doesn’t know who Kyoko likes, he knows it’s someone other than him. Meanwhile, Fumi tells Akira that she likes her romantically. This confuses Akira, who is unsure if she likes Fumi as a friend or as something more.With all of these love triangles, love lines, and general love confusion, I can’t wait to see how everything is resolved! Despite having an unclear storyline at times, I really enjoy Sweet Blue Flowers. Each volume is longer than your typical manga volume, which is nice as it means the story doesn’t need to rely on cliff hangers. The soft art style and simple dialogue gives this manga a calming effect. Sweet Blue Flowers is by no means a page turning thriller, and I appreciate that. It’s nice to have a manga to read that I can enjoy for its’ relaxing story.Sweet Blow Flowers Volume 2 is currently available in stores and here on Viz Media’s website. Fans can look forward to reading Sweet Blue Flowers Volume 3 on March 20, 2018.Note: Viz Media provided us with a digital copy of this manga in exchange for our honest review.