Twilight Out of Focus: Long Take Part 2 Volume 6 Review
Talking about the future is tough. It’s just so unclear. Mao. But… I want us to keep growing… so we can overcome our difficulties in our own way. Together.
Sometimes, boyfriends Mao and Hisashi completely forget about the outside world as, once they’re back in their shared room in the high school dorm, everything else recedes… But Mao fears that he’s overstepped the mark when he gets carried away and suggests to Hisashi that he come home with him to meet his family. Hisashi’s guarded response: “I think that might be tough for me” makes Mao immediately wish he’d bitten his tongue and not spoken so impulsively. Hisashi, after all, comes from a broken home. And before they can clear the air, the school trip to Kyoto is upon them (how could they have forgotten it was happening so soon?) and the two will be split up for most of the time. Four days and five nights sounds like nothing… but it’s actually an eternity, Mao realizes.
Sure enough, when they’re in Kyoto, there are organized activities and trips and they’re both in different groups, so there’s little to no chance to even see each other, let alone talk, and they’re reduced to texting. Add to that the fact that Giichi (now president of the film club) is convinced that he’s being stalked, and Hisashi is constantly being approached by girls from other schools asking for selfies etc. Mao begins to worry that he’ll never be able to clear the air and set things straight between the two of them again…
The second (and final) volume of Twilight Out of Focus: Long Take plunges us straight back into the deeply awkward moment in Mao and Hisashi’s relationship when, carried away by his enthusiastic response to watching Hisashi’s stellar performance in the high school Christmas production, Mao blurts out without thinking that he’d like Hisashi to meet his family. And immediately wishes he hadn’t done so. This is a very relatable moment for anyone who remembers their first serious relationship and mangaka jyanome cleverly keeps us turning the pages throughout the volume to find out how things turn out. Her distinctive and attractive art seems to improve with every volume, as does her gift for telling the story in often innovative and inventive ways when it comes to panelling and page layouts. The humour that enlivens the earlier volumes is still very much in evidence (especially on the Kyoto school trip) but so is her sympathetic but clear-eyed portrayal of her two young characters in love. It’s also great to see Hisashi hanging out in Kyoto with Honjo, the buddha-like star of the school theatre group and the two getting to know each other better. It doesn’t matter that the film club and making movies doesn’t feature so much here – apart from Mao obsessively taking photos everywhere they go and a very special visit to an iconic film studio park.
Sometimes when an anime TV series of an ongoing manga is over, the spark seems to die for the mangaka – but happily this is far from the case with jyanome and Twilight Out of Focus, which goes from strength to strength. In focusing on the problems facing high school relationships as the adult world of jobs and university draws ever closer, jyanome is not afraid to show her characters struggling as they face up to the challenges that lie ahead. Some series are all sweetness and light but I prefer the ones that – more realistically – don’t necessarily promise a happy ending. When we’re in our late teens, we might not yet be ready to settle down with the first partner we’ve fallen in love with – or they with us. Circumstances change – and so do we, as we deal with adult life.
The extra chapter at the end: ‘Let’s Go Somewhere Together’ will please fans of Giichi, Jin, Rei and Shion who all feature and there are two pages dedicated to Mao and Hisashi to round off, as well as a two-page preview of the anime series (which began airing in July 2024). Best of all, is the promise of a sequel to Afterimages in Slow Motion featuring Jin and Giichi which is already being serialized in HoneyMilk in Japan. (We can only hope that Kodansha Vertical will pick this up too in due course.)
This volume is translated by Caroline Winzenried and lettered by Nicole Roderick and both do an excellent job (as before) at conveying the voices (and innermost thoughts) of all the protagonists. There are two colour pages at the front; another attractive addition to the volume.
If you’ve been following the evolution of Mao and Hisashi’s relationship, this is a must-read, especially as it feels like a genuinely satisfying ending to the story of their high school years. Recommended.
Special mention here for the Kodansha/Vertical Box-set of Volumes 1-4 including ‘a special booklet with U.S.-edition-exclusive art, a never-before translated short story, and all-new full-color illustrations’ (pictured above; not seen but an attractive proposition if you haven’t bought these volumes already).
Our review copy from Kodansha (Vertical Books) was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).
