Wave: Listen to Me! vol. 11

Two friggin’ years!  That’s how long we’ve had to wait for this volume.  Not that we needed to as this volume originally came out back in 2024 in Japan.  However, because I can only assume that “Wave” doesn’t do top-tier numbers for publisher Kodansha, it took that extra year for vol. 11 to arrive out here.  We at least got a new volume of manga from Hiroaki Samura in the meantime, for which I’m grateful – even if it turned out to be the least good thing I’ve read from him.  Still, the hope is that this series can continue with its annual release schedule for the foreseeable future.  I wouldn’t mind if Kodansha decided to play catch-up and release vol. 12 before the end of this year, though.

That’s because, after all the time it took to finally get it, this volume delivers.  We left off with Mato and the MRS crew scrambling to cover for the disappearance of Minare and Mizuo.  The latter who was kidnapped and escaped, while the former went out after her friend, found her and then wound up in a situation where the two of them looked like they were going to freeze to death at the end of the previous volume.  That doesn’t happen, of course, but they’ve still got a show to put on.  And what about the people responsible for Mizuho being kidnapped in the first place?

Building off of, but not replicating, elements of the title’s best arc, we see Minare and company clutch out a well-earned win that may have long-term ramifications for her radio career.  We’re also treated to some much-deserved dunking on the opinions of conservative old men, and some interesting thoughts on the future of radio.  Vol. 11 is satisfying in the way a good end-of-arc volume should be, even with the little leaps in logic it took to get to its end.  It also leaves me eager to know what’s going to happen to Minare after this, and hopefully I’ll find out around this time next year – if not sooner!