Sweetness and Lightning Volume 11 Manga Review
Amaama to Inazuma Manga Volume 11

–> Buy Sweetness and Lightning Volume 11 from Amazon.com!

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

Welp, time to review the penultimate volume of Sweetness and Lightning.

The Story, in Brief

Tsumugi gets upset with her dad since he’s not listening to what she tells him. Kouhei and Kotori discuss things, where she decides to make omurice. As she makes it with Tsumugi, they talk, leading Tsumugi and Kouhei to “make up”. Next, Kouhei and Tsumugi visit his parent’s home for new year’s, where his annoying, older brother and his family will also be. Tumugi’s cousin Ayuko takes Tsumugi to find a store, but they get lost. Ayuko reveals why she’s angry with her dad, when he and Kouhei show up.

Following this, Tsumugi’s class celebrate Valentine’s day. A classmate named Kujirai asks Kotori to be “friends” after graduation. At the same time, Kotori learns that Shinobu is going to be moving some distance away after graduation. Things get awkward between Shinobu and Kotori, but they eventually work it out.

Later, Kouhei and another teacher get a general warning about girls confessing to them. Kouhei sees Kujirai confess to Kotori. She turns him down, citing someone else in a way that makes Kouhei wonder if it is him. At White Day, Kotori brings her French “biscuit” and makes a pseudo confession to Kouhei.

Finally, the month-long closure of Megumi Restaurant for renovation depresses Tsumugi. However, they have one final cooking session with Kotori’s mom as well.

Moving On

I suppose the main theme of Sweetness and Lightning Volume 11 is the notion of moving on with life. Granted, this takes place about midway through the volume, but still that’s the most memorable thing. For a start, Kotori passes her exams. Secondly, her best friend will be over an hour away by train. Third, her mom’s restaurant is getting a renovation. And finally, Kotori is graduating from high school. It was all very touching and made me think of my own high school graduation.

Another way the manga dealt with moving on is in the weak romance thread between Kouhei and Kotori. Right out of the gate, Kouhei gets warned that female students may confess to him. However, even though these girls are graduating, they aren’t supposed to do anything. That may be more related to hanky-panky, but it could be expanded to general dating as well.

Still, Amagakure-sensei gave me a start when Sensei had a guy confess to Kotori. I was happy when she turned him down. However, I wasn’t as thrilled with her pseudo confession. I guess Amagakure-sensei is acknowledging that fans probably want Kotori and Kouhei to be together. But now, she’s said her piece, didn’t confess, and seemingly has moved on.

Yet Kotori cherishes the scrapbook Tsumugi gave her as a depiction of her spending time with Tsumugi and Kouhei. However, I think the ship has saled with Sensei deciding not to go that route. Bummer.

Cooking

For the food dishes in Sweetness and Lightning Volume 11, things start with omurice and ketchup. When I saw they made homemade ketchup, it made me question why Jeremy Clarkson doesn’t make it for his pub or burger stand in Clarkson’s Farm, since he’s only selling food products produced in Great Britain.

That aside, the next dish is Kei-chan (Yaki), which is the Japanese name for Chicken and Cabbage as Kodansha lists it. Frankly, I wish the translator/adapter would always use the Japanese food name and just translate what it is in parenthesis.

Next up is pizza. That’s followed up by Sessami Short Bread and Boule de Neige. (French foods are cool to keep untranslated you see.) Finally, we get three dishes (I’m pressed for time, so I didn’t look these up) — spring vegetable rice, sea bream soup, and steamed turnip sea bream.

Omake

The first omake is a short manga featuring Suguru and Mikio buying something for Tsumugi for White Day. The second is a rather interesting short chapter about Kotori’s other friend Chiyo and the boy Kotori rejected, Kujirai. These two have a chat, where Sensei reveals in future, the two get married. That was kinda sweet and cool.

Finally, there’s an afterward from Sensei, followed by a two-page promotion for the final volume of Sweetness and Lightning. The volume concludes with ads for other Kodansha titles.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review with some final thoughts.

• The story with Tsumugi’s cousin was rather touching. I liked how Tsumugi fretted over the thought that she and her dad might eventually have an antagonistic relationship like Ayu had with her dad. Considering how Tsumugi became irritated with her dad in the first chapter, it made her fears understandable.
• Maybe it is just me, but for the last chapter when Kotori graduates, Tsumugi seems taller somehow, more so than a growth spurt would do in such a short period of time. Maybe Sensei realized that Tsumugi needed to appear a bit older and thus made a last moment adjustment.
• It has been hinted at somewhat throughout the series, but Yagi telling Shinobu to hurry up and get to drinking age kinda smacked of his interest in her romantically. Shinobu is always going to Yagi and seemingly likes him. So it is possible they hook up in future.

In the end, Sweetness and Lightning Volume 11 is still a fun, enjoyable volume, even if my Kotori x Kouhei “ship” didn’t sail like I wanted.