Twin Spica vol. 3

Three volumes in and I’m having the sinking feeling that my optimism regarding the first volume was misplaced.  While the subject matter here is considerably less depressing than it was in the last volume, it’s all hugs and smiles as life lessons are learned, bitter adults become less bitter, and displays of the power of friendship are out in full force.  As for the kids learning how to be astronauts, we get some scenes of them in class and one of them running a cross-country training course.  Call me crazy, but I’d think that preparing kids for the rigors of space travel would require more creative and/or hands-on training. 

Yet it’s becoming clearer with each volume that this book isn’t for a bitter old adult like me.  I was expecting something that had a bit more hard science (or any science at all) than what we’re getting here, and mangaka Kou Yaginuma isn’t telling that kind of story.  So if you’ve got a kid (or know one) who thinks that being an astronaut would be totally cool, this is the book for them.  Everyone else would be better served by tracking down copies of Makoto Yukimura’s excellent “Planetes” for a look at not only the personal struggles adults have to go through to get into space, but the scientific ones as well.