Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10 Manga Review
Amaama to Inazuma Manga Volume 10

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***SPOILERS***

The story for Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10 starts with Kotori suspecting her divorced parents may be dating again. After discussing things with her friends and remembering making udon as an older child with her mom and dad, Kotori sets up a meeting to discuss the matter with her parents.

Kouhei decides to start giving Tsumugi an allowance. Tsumugi’s class are given play money to spend at the upcoming school festival. At the festival, Tsumugi and Mikio discover older kids misusing the play money. Although they refuse a bribe and the students get punished, the event haunts Tsumugi when it comes to money.

Tsumugi practices learning how to ride a bike. As such, Kotori draws courage from this to practice doing interviews for entrance into cooking school. To celebrate both of their successes, Kotori and her mom make sukiyaki for Kotori’s friends, including Kouhei and Tsumugi.

Kotori’s friends discuss romance. As such, Kotori wants to make sure to spend maximum time with Kouhei and Tsumugi since cooking school will take her time.

Older student Mizuki-kun is unable to escort Tsumugi to school, so his female classmate does instead. The girl adores Tsumugi in a smothering way, causing Tsumugi distress.

Tsumugi Continues to Grow

One of the fun elements in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10 is watching Tsumugi continue to grow up. I got a chuckle out of her reaction to seeing how much money she’d saved up. I remember as a child, I had a $10 bill in my bank, and I thought I was so rich (to say nothing of the dollars and change). She learns the value of money, and that’s a good thing for kids to learn.

Additionally, I smiled at Tsumugi chaffing when the older, elementary school girl smothers her with affection. It was harmless on the part of the girl as she just found Tsumugi adorable.

Then there was Tsumugi’s reaction to learning that Kotori might get busy again, thus be unable to spend time with her. She really does look up to Kotori, and Kotori is a good role model for Tsumugi. Their dynamic is pretty sweet.

Kotori’s Feelings

It is interesting that Kotori’s parents are getting back together in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10. It was a touching chapter when Kotori opened up about how her parent’s divorce wrecked her. However, in the end, it seems we are going to get a happily ever after for her parents, which is cool.

As to Kotori herself, I think this volume takes the deepest dive into Kotori’s feelings, both for Kouhei and Tsumugi. When she heard Tsumugi loved her, it touched Kotori. And after she’d pondered what love is, she realized that what she felt for both Kouhei and Tsumugi is love, even if the manga doesn’t expressly state it.

I like the wholesomeness of everything here. Kouhei is no predator as he’s blissfully ignorant of Kotori’s feelings. To him, she’s a precious student, but also a friend to himself and to his daughter. To her, Tsumugi is like a little sister. However, Kouhei is more than a teacher. He is someone she loves spending time with, both in public and in private at school. And thus we finally have Kotori’s romance option unlocked.

There are two more volumes, so I expect that this will follow form and not resolve things until the final volume at the very end.

Cooking

So, what dishes were made in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10? First off was udon. Next was different homemade salad dressings and homemade mayo. Following that was sukiyaki, a dish I like, but one I cannot get in my current location. Next up was salmon roe with soy sauce, followed by zukedon, a donburi dish made with marinated, raw tuna and salmon roe over rice. Pass.

And finally, they made oden. I can’t remember if I’ve ever had this or not.

Omake

There’s not much in the way of extras in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10. There’s a short manga chapter that seems to be an extension of the last chapter, where they make oden.

There’s an afterward manga strip and thanks from Amagakure-sensei.

After that, there are several pages of ads for other Kodansha Comics titles.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Sweetness and Lightning Volume 10 continues the wholesome, slice of life goodness we’ve come to expect. It also decides to make some actual, if small, progress in Kotori discovering her feelings for Kouhei.