4.08 AVERAGE

fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional medium-paced

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

~4.5/5

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]

I love this ending. Going in, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel, or how it would be handled, and while I was reading I was wary, but I really liked it. I’m impressed, even.

Misao and Kyo are really sweet together, which shows throughout the entire volume. Kyo really, really cares for her, and he’s protective, and worried, and tries so very hard. And Misao is really happy with him, and understands him. They get along so well, and the chemistry is great.

(Warning: possible spoiler in this paragraph.) I didn’t believe that Misao was going to die (although I was honestly a little unsure at one point while reading, I’ll admit), but I wasn’t sure how it was going to happen. And I’m sure some people will have problems with it, but I honestly really liked how it was handled. I think it’s pretty believable, and I particularly like the consequences of it. I like that it didn’t happen scot-free.

And the aftermath was shown, which is one of my favorite parts, I think. It didn’t just end with the result, it showed how that affected everyone. The problems it gave the couple, how the other characters were affected and how they grew. I really, really liked that. And some of those scenes, too, were so well done, and emotional. Their pain is so clearly portrayed, as well as their happiness. I don’t want to get too into it, but it was good.

This volume, this ending, I think made me fall in love with the series all over again. I love the romance, the humor, the emotional moments, the way the characters get along (and how the author obviously has fun playing with them), the way the emotions really show in their facial expressions. It was all just fantastic. I loved it, and am so very happy with it. This is probably even a volume that I could come back and re-read, it was so good.

And I hope that VIZ picks up another series by Sakurakouji.

Also, can I just say that I'm jealous of anyone who doesn't already own the series, and thus is able to buy the box set?

so much weird, so much internalized misogyny, so much to discuss
emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

‘twas a beautiful ending to a good series, and yes, i cried. this manga is very lighthearted and has tension where necessary; i rate it.

welp saw that coming

i feel like at this point i can't really complain about the relationship dynamics in black bird because they were present from the very first volume. i can, however, complain that misao essentially got demoted from being the main character of her own story by the end. not cool.

2 stars

When it finally came to it, I wasn’t sure if Misao living or dying would be the better ending, but I’m ok with how things ended. I also liked the first of the extra stories at the end.
adventurous emotional fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes