Reviews - Sweat and Soap, Vol. 9

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215 reviews for:

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 9

Kintetsu Yamada

4.41 AVERAGE

mariakureads's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

After all the laughs from Volume 8, this one had me tearing up a little...
It's great to see this oddball relationship grow from where it started to this moment in which Asako and Kotaru have been living with each other for some time and both are thinking forward to the future which is pretty scary, exhilarating and worrisome and it made me think about some life choices of my own.

Yamada does a great exploration of this moment from both Asako and Kotaru and I can't stress enough how much I love their open communication, even when the bad stuff happens, as it does. Asako is the main focus on this volume as a blast from the past presents her with some harsh realities that she thought were behind her to realize that maybe they never were...

bluehairedreads's review

4.5

4.5 stars

I think this is my favorite volume of this series. I really related to Asako and her downward spiral after she unexpectedly runs into one of her old bullies. Her being closed off and trying to keep her distance while dealing with all of the inner turmoil. Also, her being deeply self conscious after her old bully's comments and knowing that she shouldn't care, but not being able to stop herself from being self conscious. I really liked meeting Asako's friend and seeing how different they are but understanding why they would be friends. What she said about the reason she did cut Asako off after all these years, like she has done with past friends, is because Asako gives her space really hit me. I hope that she comes back again and they have another talk. I also hope that she cuts on the bully, but I'm not sure if she'll get involved. Also screw her bully. I hate that she kept call Asako by that cruel name instead of her actual name.

I really liked seeing Kotaro realize that something was wrong but not know how to approach her. Their confrontation where he doesn't let her pretend that everything is fine after she has been distant for two weeks was really good. I loved that he told her that she could lean and depend on him. It was just really well done.