Silver Spoon vol. 6

That I’m writing up this volume by itself shouldn’t be taken as a sign that there’s anything wrong with latest volume of Kaguya-sama.  In fact, the latest volume of that series is up to its usual standard with quality gags involving Kaguya putting herself on trial (in her own mind) and Kaguya and Shirogane confessing their feelings to each other (about cats and dogs).  The reason “Silver Spoon” gets a solo writeup here is because it has finally reached a point I’ve been looking forward to (re)reading once the series was set to receive a proper English release.

It’s not the equestrian competition that Hachiken takes part of, even though it occupies the majority of this volume.  Even so, the competition still manages to be good fun due to how it showcases the character’s growth since coming to Ezo Ag.  He actually winds up doing much better than expected in the events he competes in, with the second delivering a real nail-biter of a finish.  While the skill he demonstrates is impressive, it’s seeing his irritation at not doing better that lets you know he’s actually starting to enjoy what he’s doing… even if he still needs to get over himself.

After that the story dives headfirst into preparation for Ezo Ag’s annual school festival.  You know, the one that Hachiken seriously overcommitted himself to in the previous volume. While we see him struggle with his commitments here, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel after Aki accepts his request to go out on a date after everything is over.  (Except she doesn’t realize that he was asking her out, and seeing Aki’s friends call her denseness out is good for a couple laughs.) The problem is that Hachiken does wind up paying for trying to do everything in a shocking and surprising way. Worse still is that instead of receiving comfort in his time of need, he’s visited by the very reason he decided to attend a school so far from home at the end of the volume.  All this may seem like a jarring infusion of drama, but it winds up working because it makes perfect sense within the context of the story.