Sand Chronicles continues to impress in vol. 5

Ooh, this series is really good. But before I gush about it, let me first just say that sometimes I would really like to kill whoever writes the summaries on the back of these manga volumes. Case in point:

"Shika will stop at nothing to steal Daigo from Ann. And the competition ramps up when an attractive girl resurfaces from their past. Meanwhile, Fuji patiently waits to win Ann from Daigo. But who do Ann and Daigo want to be with …?"

Does that sound like something you’d be interesting in reading? Honestly, this summary makes it sound as though Sand Chronicles were chock full of mindless, ditzy fluff when in truth the story focuses on very real and serious issues. If someone unfamiliar with the series picked up this volume in the store they’d have no idea, judging from this description, that they were holding one of the more mature and poignant shoujo titles out there. In fact, Sand Chronicles often reads a lot more like josei than shoujo, but since its main characters are adolescents I guess that’s the age group it’s marketed towards. Then again, they (the characters) have been aging pretty progressively throughout the series thus far, so who knows where they’ll end up by the end. (I think it’s ten volumes long.) In any case, notwithstanding the stupid and misleading summary on the back, Sand Chronicles vol. 5 continues to impress and engage me. I sped through this installment all too quickly, and can hardly wait till September for volume 6.

This volume contains two lengthy chapters that focus on the summer and winter of Ann’s 17th year, respectively. It’s really heartbreaking to see her and Daigo fail to maintain the happy, easy relationship they once had, especially since they clearly love each other a lot. (Maybe too much? Ann even says at one point that her feelings were out of control.) But Ann’s still pretty fragile, and Daigo just can’t fix her issues for her no matter how much he wants to. He’s completely devoted to her, but she can see the strain she’s putting on him and I think that’s why she leaves him so abruptly. Ever since her mother’s suicide, she’s basically clung to Daigo and depended completely on him to get through all her troubles. And while she clearly loves him, she’s never going to be able to heal or grow emotionally if she never learns to stand on her own two feet. And so even though separation from him is painful, I think it’s good for her in the long run. Poor Daigo gets a pretty raw deal though. I think this is a case of love just not being enough to keep two people together.

Meanwhile, Fuji (depicted on the cover with Ann) isn’t really featured very prominently in this volume, especially compared to the last few chapters. I’m still kind of rooting for him, though. Don’t get me wrong, I like Daigo plenty. I just find Fuji to be a much more interesting character. Plus, he’s way more my type. Shika – what to say about Shika? She’s dealing with her own demons and stumbling pretty hard along the way, but I think there’s hope for her to grow into a really healthy, happy girl. She’s in a really difficult position because her status really isolates her from her peers, and her brother’s been absent from her life physically and emotionally, so she doesn’t really have anyone to support her. But I’ve got a suspicion that she’s much tougher than Ann deep down, and that’s she’ll pull through this in time.

I also just want to say that although I’ve emphasized the heavier, more serious aspects of Sand Chronicles, the series does have humor as well and some of it’s relatively light in tone. The serious stuff is the main focus, but it’s got a broad spectrum as well. The thing I really love about this series is that it always feels very real. Sure, it’s dramatic and all that, but the emotion always comes across as complex, genuine, and deep. Plus, all the side characters and minor characters are charmingly three-dimensional, which also contributes to the ‘real’ feeling as well. We’ve got the Tokyo crew and the Shimane crew, and they’re all great.

Ugh, I can’t believe volume six doesn’t come out until September. What’s up with that? Some of Viz’s other shoujo titles are released every other month (Skip Beat!, Nana). I’d understand if Sand Chronicles wasn’t very popular, but it is. Oh, well, go figure.