Sorry Iāve really fallen behind with my Japanese reading, I want to do better with it this year so Iām trying to get back into it now. Iām planning on starting again soon but if I end up not making much progress donāt feel the need to wait for me. Iāll try and check in anyway though so you donāt get stuck with three posts in a row again.
No worries! I know youāve been busy with school!
Sounds good! I think the announcement of a 25th volume has really lit a fire in me, so Iād like to get as up-to-date as I can before it releases, I think, just to have a fun goal to aim for. I donāt think itās likely Iāll actually be 100% caught up (especially if I keep reading the side stories in between main volumes), but Iāve wanted to kickstart my progress in the series again for a while now.
Chapter 6: I feel like this chapter best encapsulates my feelings on the Kazuya arc so far: Iām so glad we finally got a decent with Kaitoās entire family, but Iām ready to move on, to finally slip back in time. This chapter feels like an excuse for one last (? Unlikely) big feelings scene between the two boys, but honestly I didnāt think weāve really been getting anything new for a while now. Seems like Kaitoās acting skills have potentially leveled up, at least. Iām curious if Nigelās grandfather is going to assist in his escape after allā¦
Iām thinking this drawn-out drama between him and Kazuya has probably whatās been demotivating me to read; even after a break of a few months this doesnāt feel all that fresh, so Iāll be glad to move things along. Maybe itāll feel better paced for me in a future potential re-read if I donāt take as long of breaks, haha.
Omg I didnāt know it was announced thatās so exciting! I was gettting a little bit worried we might get stuck at the 24th volume forever (also noticed the cake, happy birthday!)
Thank you! Birthdays on Wednesdays are tough, but it was a good day.
Right?! It was just announced this past December/late November, so the news is still super fresh. No clue on release date at the moment, but Iāll be sure to update everyone in the main home thread as soon as I know.
Iām glad the author is doing well; last I heard years ago according to her Twitter she may have gotten a cancer diagnosis at the time, which is always worrying.
Interrupting my reading to once again marvel at @ekgās thoroughness in filling out the people/place mini-wiki in the OP. I thought I was finally gonna add something you overlooked with Papa Legba - Wikipedia, but dang, you were on top of it! (And now @pyororon gets to ponder how exactly that Wikipedia page is related to F&B. )
Edit: Chapter 7: Escape! Escape! Itās happening! Surely Kazuyaās going to be waiting at the Hoe; surely heās going to be there just in case the impossible happens. I really enjoyed this chapter; we return to action, to doing, and got some nice moments with Keisha and JP at the end. I teared up a bit at a few points. Kaito reminiscing on climbing up/down boarding ropes on the Gloria, him thinking of Nigel, him remembering a brief moment of time at El Escorial; perfect gathering of feeling.
The part where Keisha was telling him about Legba was approximately spooky and mysterious, I thought. 100% did not expect ę¾å²”å
ēās research to take her there.
I just canāt see how Kazuya will let Kaito go. Maybe he goes with him? For some reason I feel like he wonāt, but I donāt see any other way Kazuya would allow this, or at least follow in the future. Maybe he will, some books down the line?
And done. Good lord; as always, her endings are never let up.
Chapter 8: wow, this was a ton to unpack. Kaito has a nice long conversation with JP on the helicopter ride to his house, then by car from there to Plymouth. JP gives Kaito a letter and a ribbon (Joanneās) to give to Nigel, and tells Kaito about his encounter with a fairy. Itās so interesting to see ę¾å²”å ē slowly but surely leaning more and more into the supernatural with this series; first the ććć«ćć¼, now the gnome that JP met, who gave him his eyes, the ability to sense wealth in the ground, and his shattered leg. It even ties together with the ććć«ćć¼ that was following Nigel and Kaito; was ę¾å²” planning all of this even then? Regardless of her plans, itās brilliant, and brings in the touch of fantasy that I adore with my books. Perhaps itās too fantasy for some, who, disregarding the whole time slip thing, are in it for the historical aspect, but Iām certainly not complaining.
Things go pretty smoothly, despite the police presence Kazuyaās brought down on Plymouth. Kaito meets a nice black man named Greg, who he gives Lilyās gold coin to in exchange for help, and then itās just Kaito, Kazuya, and Reevers in a showdown on the Hoe.
This sceneā¦went about as well as expected. Kazuya makes one final, desperate plea for Kaito to stay, even kissing him, but Kaitoās unmoved. Reevers standing there in the background wondering wtf was happening was hilarious. I find it really interesting that nothing was really resolved for Kazuya. I hope his ending line of Kaito being åŖćć, and definitely changing his mind and coming back one day, is more an indication of leaving an open end that ę¾å²” can capitalize on in the future, and not some sort of weird premonition of a mental breakdown on Kazuyaās part (which, sadly, I could totally see happening).
Speaking of mental breakdowns, Kazuyaās plan to pin Kaitoās āabductionā and year-long āimprisonmentā on JP was absolutely brutal, maybe the worst thing heās done throughout all this. I have to say, I appreciate that in a yandere. I really hope he comes back in some capacity in the future, probably finally getting tired of waiting and jumping into the time slip himself. Kaitoās conversation with JP about how willpower was the #1 requirement for opening the tunnel the second time onward and how it was Kazuyaās will that allowed Kaito to cross back over all felt really good together.
Chapter 9: short chapter, like is usual in her post epic-final-main chapters. Nigel and Kitās bargaining chip, leaking news of Walsinghamās son Thomasā debauchery, has suddenly died, leaving them in the lurch. (Thomas was some sort of relative to Walsingham in real life, as far as I can tell, though I donāt remember their exact relation. Thomas did not die prematurely, so this will be a å·®ē° if it turns out to be true.) The biggest question this left for me was the timeline: this reads like weāre picking up not long after the last time we saw them sometime in volume 16, but months have passed since then, at least in Kaitoās world. So either this just disrupts the timeline by jumping back, and ę¾å²”å ē is planning on making up the difference next book, or Geoffreyās already been in questioning for months. Iām leaning towards the former so far.
One more book and Iāll be caught up with @ekg. @pyororon: Iām planning on starting the next book soon; thereās another I want to read for my bingo board on Natively, but I know the dangers of not picking up a book in a timely manner, so Iām probably going to read a bit into the other one to get a head start, then start F&B 17. Hoping you can join me again soon, but no pressure if you canāt!
Thanks, and Iād secretly love to get back to being involved in this convo, but for now, thatās simply not possible for now - just to let you all know - thatās my situation for now , with the emphasis being is that I AM THINKING ABOUT YOU ALL and I AM soooo HOPING THINGS WILL CHANGE in the coming months thatāll let me be more engage in purson. For now, I think sadly, this one message will be it for another time. Just bear with me, as Iām sorry and I love you all <3
No apologies needed! Take your time and do what you need to do. Flesh&Blood and the rest of us will be here when you are!