Wave: Listen to Me! vol. 10

Vol. 9 concluded with Mizuho in the clutches of the remnants of the School of Wave Wisdom cult while Minare and Madoka were setting off to rescue her.  The latter was even serious enough about this to bring her rifle along.  Things pick up in vol. 10 as we find out that Mizuho is more resourceful than you’d think, that the cult is struggling to reach the standards of “barely competent,” and that there’s at least one bear wandering around the snowy woods this night.  So it’s a good thing Madoka brought that gun and will be able to one-shot it, right?  Of course, even if she and Minare survive, they’ve still got the events for Valentine’s Radio at MRS to take part in.  Well, at least one of them does, and the other may just wind up making this whole situation worse by taking matters into her own hands – no points for guessing who!

We’re smack dab in the middle of another ongoing storyline for this series and mangaka Hiroaki Samura manages to throw in enough comedic twists to keep things interesting.  The cult’s incompetence is certainly good for a laugh, as are Minare’s gung-ho efforts to take them down and find Mizuho.  Mato’s efforts to keep things running at MRS are also fun to see, as is the surprise return of someone from his past at the end of the volume.  The best part of vol. 10, however, is Samura’s dedication to hoisting the flag of bear-based plot complications (and comedy) that I thought had been put down for good with the end of “Golden Kamuy.”

Despite the mangaka’s best efforts, it’s not hard to feel like this arc drags a little here.  Previous storylines that have been set up in one volume of “Wave” have always been taken care of in the following volume.  That’s not what happens here and I’m wondering if extending things out into vol. 11 (or beyond) is going to be worth it.  Then again, history has shown that Samura always delivers the goods in the end, so maybe I should be preparing myself for a crazy, over-the-top finish when things finally wrap up here.