Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03 Manga Review
Amaama to Inazuma Manga Volume 03

–> Buy Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03 from Amazon.com!

* * * S P O I L E R S * * *

It has been YEARS since I read volume 2 of this series. Now that I have almost adequate shelving capacity for my books (I need to buy one more bookcase), I can now catch up on series that were literally just stacked wherever I could find free space.

Note: It has been too long since I watched the anime. So I won’t do any comparisons as to how the anime did. Well, there will be one, but I’ll go over that in a bit.

The Story, in Brief

Kotori gets Inuzuka-sensei (Kouhei) to help her with her studies. Tsumugi wants her mom’s “dry curry”, so she and her dad (Kouhei) go to “Megumi” restaurant to make it with Kotori. Kouhei and Tsumugi take a trip to the beach and catch some fish. They return to “Megumi” restaurant to dress and cook them, then eat them.

Kouhei gets sick, so Tsumugi goes out to buy stuff to help him. She’s found by Kotori, he makes sure she gets home safely. When he’s well, Kotori throws them a party at the restaurant.

Kotori’s mom (Megumi) tells her that she’s going to reopen “Megumi” restaurant. This depresses Kotori as it means she won’t get to spend time with Inuzuka-sensei and Tsumugi. Kouhei comes to the reopening, but there’s so much business, he can’t speak with Kotori’s mom. As such, Kotori invites him back the following day. Kouhei returns with Tsumugi, where they make food. Kotori asks her mom if they can continue to use the restaurant on weekends and holidays, and she agrees.

More Cooking and Slice of Life

As with all manga in this series, around half of it will be dedicated to food. I suppose it can be classified as a cooking manga. So in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03, The first featured food item is warm bread porridge. Next is homemade dry curry. After that is aji, the fish. Next is hiyashi chuka (literally “chilled Chinese”, made with cold ramen). Lastly is tamagoyaki, which is the Japanese rolled omelette.

As to the actual stories, I continue to like Kotori’s and Kouhei’s relationship. Despite their age gap (probably around 10 years), and the fact that Kouhei is Kotori’s teacher, I really want them to become a couple by the end of the manga. The reason for this is that there’s just something so wholesome about their relationship.

Kouhei has no feelings for Kotori, other than a friendship and a teacher. Kotori has feelings for Kouhei, though she hasn’t acknowledged them yet. But, Kotori and Kouhei work well together when they are cooking. And even at school, they will secretly talk during breaks. (I say secretly ’cause Kotori is usually sitting outside under a window, and Kouhei is casually at the window, thus no one knows they are communing.)

I do find it interesting that Megumi seems to be aware of her daughter’s possible crush on Kouhei. Yet, she knows it is harmless as Kouhei would never do anything untoward to Kotori. That’s aided by the fact that Tsumugi is always with them. And Kotori loves Tsumugi, almost like a mother. Likewise, Tsumugi loves Kotori. I mean, the whole thing just makes me go, “Han-yaan!” 😂

Shark Song

Although I have no plans to compare the anime adaptation of Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03, there is one element I do want to discuss. When I watched episode 7 of the anime, the biggest thing I remember from the episode is the “Shark” song that Tsumugi sings.

In the manga, the song is only a single panel, so obviously she doesn’t imagine sharks. And the whole thing with the two, high school girls is a combined total of three panels. Then the stuff with the jet (she didn’t imagine a pterodactyl) and the dog is just another page. However, as seen in the above video (assuming the embedding still works as you read this), the anime expanded on this greatly.

And yet, this is the kind of modification I don’t mind in an anime adaptation. Yes, it is filler, but it is good filler. It fleshes out a simple scene, and for me, makes one of the most memorable, adorable anime songs ever. 😆

Omake

The omake manga chapter in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03 deals with Tsumugi’s favorite anime getting a new theme song. Then she watches the show with her dad, who doesn’t understand it.

There’s a note from Amagakure-sensei. That’s followed by a quick preview for the next volume. The book wraps up with a log of ads from Kodansha Comics.

Final Thoughts and Concusion

In the end, Sweetness and Lightning Volume 03 continues the wholesome, cooking, slice-of-life series. I really love the chemistry between Kotori, Kouhei, and Tsumugi.