The Bon festival approaches in the second volume of Neji’s Dear Noman, and the Boundary Preservation Society will be busy with it. This also happens to be the final volume of this particular manga series. It contains chapters eight through to fourteen.
Front cover of the second volume of Dear Noman, featuring Mashiro Unohana and Bazu
As summer comes to an end, Mashiro and her partner, the crow spirit Bazu, have begun to grow closer. They don’t have time to relax, though, as the Boundary Preservation Society is entering its busiest time of year – the Bon festival, when souls of the dead come home to visit. But even as she works, Mashiro is left to wonder: If she can see ghosts, why has she never seen the spirit of her dead sister? Could it have something to do with why nomans are going missing? Find out in this final volume of Dear NOMAN!
Mashiro and Bazu’s story comes to a conclusion in this second volume of Dear Noman, with a focus on the mystery surrounding the death of Mashiro’s sister. As such, we get a flashbacks to the events that happened shortly before her sister died in mysterious circumstances – naturally, it is steadily made clear what happened, and the consequences that follow.
What also becomes clear is the exact reason that Mashiro was recruited into the Boundary Preservation Society – everything connects to that one event from the past. Both Mashiro and Bazu blame themselves for what happened, though when it comes down to it, neither of them are at fault at all. Mashiro has been shouldering that burden for longer, since Bazu only learns of what transpired in this volume.
The rules by which a noman can stay in the human world are also told to us here, and it has a big connection to unfinished business. I would’ve liked to see more about the unfinished business that keeps Bazu in the human world, but this volume gives most of the focus to Mashiro.
Since this is the final volume, the story is brought to a conclusion. The ending is… well, it feels rather familiar. I’ve definitely come across this kind of ending before. Not the greatest ending out there, but it does at least offer up a proper conclusion for the story. At least the journey to get to that point was fun, though.
My slight reservations with the ending aside, I’d say that Neji offers up quite the enjoyable story with Dear Noman. The characters are fairly interesting, and the premise was one I liked. Decent stuff, overall, I’d say.
Rory Muses 