VOL. 10
37 – True Character
So... instead of us
seeing the events leading up to the malfunction of yet another of Lala’s
inventions, we get to skip straight into the “disaster” phase. Nowadays, it’s not so much Rito’s clumsiness
that gets him into “awkward” situations but he’s just at the wrong place at the
wrong time. Still, that’s still no
excuse to barge into a changing
room without a thought when experience dictates something unpleasant
will happen to him (okay, so he gets some very pleasant first so the punishment
is probably worth it).
What was the
whole point of this chapter? Mea reveals
her power to the school (and no one cares that yet another alien has appeared)
and Yami spouts some cringe-worthy monologue recognizing Mea as her
sister. Oh well, it could be a lot
worse.
38 – Clinic
Putting the focus upon Yami and her
relationships, this time with Tearju, it wasn’t too horrible. It could have been worse and the author could
have put some more cheesy sentimental stuff in there. As it is, there were some gags which were
funny due to the irony since it involves Rito being turned into a female
again.
It was good that the author
resisted the urge to have Rito save the day again and with everyone hiding
their feelings from him. This chapter
was also an excuse quite a few characters into nurse uniforms. The events get very predictable once the
chapter starts to near the end.
39 – The Beginning of Darkness
As you can tell from the title, the chapter
will focus on Yami, Mea or Nemesis. In
fact, it focuses upon all three. It
starts with a bit of ecchi, as you do.
Then onward where Rito stumbles and Yami tries to kill him (of course,
she does not succeed and it is all for show).
Then comes the reflective part in which Yami accepts her life here. Then the twist comes where it pushes the plot
marginally forward. It will be
interesting to see where this leads as it is something we have not seen before.
Nemesis ends up being able to “activate” Yami
and Mea and I really hope that this doesn’t turn out to be some dud or anticlimactic.
40 – Release of Darkness
The chapter continues straight after the
previous with Nemesis presenting an exposition on the events. While it’s good and all, the chapter picks up
around halfway when Yami transforms into a more powerful version, complete with
a new outfit. While the outfit looks
nice with the horns and claws, it’s also much more revealing which will either
sit well with you or not.
Personally, I
would have preferred some black armor but this is To Love-Ru, we must have some
fan service in here. It’s hard to take
the rest of the chapter seriously when it ends up being funny. The gravity of the situation isn’t conveyed well;
maybe this was the intention, maybe not.
Either way, it was funny with the fan service at the end and of course,
it must end in another cliffhanger.
Extra – Moonlight
Celine grows up!! This was somewhat hinted back in Chapter 35 but it was still a surprise. At least the author resisted the urge to create some of the more... extreme fan service when it came to involving Celine (truth be told, there weren’t massive amounts here, which was good). The ending was very abrupt though as you would have expected Rito and Mikan to wake up and do that whole shouting business.
Extra – Photography
Extras seem to have the trend of having more fan service than normal and so I was expecting the author to set a new record. Combine this with the title, “Photography” and you have an idea of something pervy. Rito ends up taking gravure photos of Run yet the ecchi never went overboard. What’s more, there were a few chuckles along the way and it ended up being quite amusing. It was actually one of the more funny chapters in a while that also didn’t feel forced.
Overall
The volume once again focuses upon Yami and
her relationships with Tearju and Mea.
This is interspersed with Rito getting clumsy and smashed. However, the final two chapters bring the fun
on a trajectory upwards. The fan service
toned down, humour went up and things got more interesting. Hopefully, this trend will continue.