Natsu no Arashi Volume 03 Manga Review
夏のあらし！
Summer Storm

Welp, it is time to return to the world of time traveling “ghosts” and their human companions. Shame this manga was never licensed (well, from what I read so far).

The Story, in Brief

Hajime and Hideo head to the mansion where the aggressive Kanako and the wheelchair bound Yayoi live. Hideo goes to find Kanako, but she ambushes him. Hajime finds the sleeping Yayoi, who panics a bit over Hajime’s arrival and threatening attitude. After she drags herself to her wheelchair, she learns that Hajime knows Arashi. As such, Yayoi tells Hajime the Arashi and Kaja were her schoolmates, along with Kanako. Initially, Kanako didn’t want to be her friend, but eventually, that changed.

Kanako attacks Hajime, who accidentally falls into Yayoi. This causes them to go back in time. After Yayoi calms down, an angry Kanako from the past shows up and verbally attacks her. However, when an American fighter plane comes in for a strafing run, Yayoi rises to save Kanako. After Kanako leaves, Yayoi is happy that she can use her legs again. Past Kaja and Arashi show up, where Arashi thinks she knows Hajime.

That evening, Hajime gets to a place where girls gather for a concert put on by past Yayoi, Kaja, and Arashi. Past Kanako is there, thanks to current Yayoi. Current Kanako shows up with Hideo. The group return to the present to restore Arashi. When she awakes, Arashi explains how Yayoi and Kanako can survive, so Kanako hires Hideo to be their butler. The restaurant owner hires the two ghosts. Meanwhile, Jun’s model friend Yoko pretends to be Jun’s girlfriend to help her cover.

A man named Takeshi shows up at the shop, claiming a girl like Arashi saved him as a kid. Hajime gets jealous when they go out on a date. However, in the end, he agrees to go with Arashi to the past to save him. Later, Kaja goes nuts when her strawberry shortcake goes missing.

Predestination Paradoxes

I mentioned this in a previous review that I liked how Hajime and Arashi going back in time completes a predestination paradox “loop” (if you will). That continues in Natsu no Arashi Volume 03. To get things started, new characters Yayoi and Kanako only became friends in the past, thanks to Hajime and Yayoi accidentally going to the past. While I like the symmetry here, I will admit that it is a bit of a stretch for past Kanako to not realize that the Yayoi that saved her suddenly had longer hair, and was a tad older. But I’ll let that pass.

The next predestination paradox comes from new male character, Takeshi. What made this one interesting is that he’s not someone from World War II. His arrival and interest in Arashi is the trigger that causes her to go back and save him. We didn’t get to see that rescue in this volume. I don’t know if it gets shown later or not. I vaguely want to think that we did see something in the anime adaptation. Nevertheless, it was neat seeing daily life in wartime Japan.

Finally, there’s Hajme’s “Cutie Strawberry-chan” creation, which is basically a spiked strawberry. Regardless, this chapter of the manga is full of predestination paradox loops. But, there’s the added element of the danger of disappearing if one meets oneself. Beyond that, this part was pure comedy, and revealed how the normally prim and proper Kaja loses it over a dessert. If I recall correctly, this story “wrapped” the first season of the anime, making the entire season a predestination paradox.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Natsu no Arashi Volume 03 was quite enjoyable. I liked how Kanako went from an opponent to one of the gang, while retaining her aggressive personality. And I enjoy how these predestination paradox loops play out. It really is a shame this manga wasn’t officially licensed.