Love in the Palm of His Hand Volume 3 Review

“Once the play starts… I might not have the time to think about anything else. Since I’ll become Soma for a while.” Fujinaga to Keito (Volume 2)

Keito and Fujinaga have been apart while Fujinaga rehearses for the play in which he’s been given a leading role: Demon Tag. But when the play opens, Keito is in the audience and, thanks to some specially adapted smart glasses for people who are hearing-impaired, he’s able to fully appreciate the performance as the lines are converted to subtitles.

The two students have agreed not to meet up until the run of the play is over but after Keito’s seen the performance, they can’t help getting together. Maybe because of the after-show adrenaline still running in his veins, Fujinaga admits, “It’s just that once I knew you were close by… I suddenly wanted to see you” and this leads to Keito asking him directly if he wants to go out with him. The answer is yes but not until after the show has finished its run. And then Fujinaga confesses that he’s never dated anyone before. But Keito isn’t deterred in any way and signs that he doesn’t have to use ‘his words’ with him – he can communicate in any way that he feels like. Although, the going-out part is going to have to wait as the play’s run has only just begun…

The play eventually comes to an end but then Fujinaga is cast in a comedy mystery The Phony Dining Table with potentially an even longer run. His acting career seems to be taking off! However, he’ll be sharing the role of the older brother with Lem (his co-star in Demon Tag) – and Lem is a prickly, blunt guy who has never hesitated to tell Fujinaga exactly what he thinks.

But when Keito and Fujinaga are at last alone together in Fujinaga’s apartment, Keito asks, “Should I… give you a present?” What could it be?

Reading this third volume of Love in the Palm of His Hand is an unusually intense experience. Right from the start, mangaka Rinteku focuses on the faces of her characters, much (one imagines) as Keito must do to make up for his auditory loss, carefully reading expressions and body language. It’s one of the reasons he and Fujinaga hit it off from the start: Fujinaga communicates with his whole being.

By showing us the play performance through Keito’s eyes, we gain a unique insight into his experience and the impact it has on him. The smart glasses (surprisingly, Lem’s suggestion) make a tremendous difference – although later on when he and Fujinaga are together, we find out the problems he experiences wearing a hearing aid (something that hasn’t really been discussed before). But there’s maybe more in showing us the play as it unfolds on-stage with the theme of the two oni brothers, Enma feeling very protective toward Soma, that in some way could be seen to resonate with Keito’s own family situation.

The play in action and then the rehearsal scenes are very convincingly portrayed (as anyone who’s taken part in a production will recognize!). It’s not difficult to identify with Keito’s excitement as he watches Fujinaga in the role of the oni Soma, commanding the stage alongside Lem as his brother Enma. But the first rehearsal for The Phony Dining Table is also very realistic (and funny too) as the director goes round the table, asking the cast to talk about their own dining table experiences at home (you’ll cringe or laugh, or both).

Much of the impact of this compelling portrait of a nascent relationship is conveyed by the partnering of Jacqueline Fung’s insightful translation with Kyla Aiko’s lettering. As before, the lettering is used by the mangaka to portray the way Keito speaks as a hearing-impaired person: wonky lettering for when Keito is speaking aloud, pale text for what he might or might not be hearing when others speak. There are again some inspired translation choices, as when Keito and a friend are reading Fujinaga’s ‘official’ texts on-line about being in the play, and she asks, “He really wrote that?” and Keito replies,” Maybe it’s his worksona!” and she laughs, saying, “Ah yes, I get it!”. The Square Enix Manga edition again has a colour page, this time with cute chibi versions of the main characters – and there’s a one-page preview of Volume 4 at the end, as well as a bonus page and Jealousy, a side story. No date yet for Volume 4 in English, although it’s already out in Japan.

The change of focus onto Keito and his family at the very end of the volume brings important insights when Keito mentions to his mother that he’d like to try living on his own. She covers her initial reaction well by managing to say guardedly, “I’ll consider it” but his younger brother tells him in no uncertain terms, “I can’t agree to this.”

In some ways, this is a transitional volume in which Keito and Fujinaga gradually discover more about how they feel about each other – but all the little insights and interactions are believably portrayed, making their evolving relationship seem much more ‘real’ than many other Boys’ Love manga being produced today.

Read a free extract at the publisher’s website here.

Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).