Krystallina: First, a PSA: if you’re hungry, don’t read the first couple chapters of this second volume of Silver Spoon. Go grab something to eat first. But if you are the type who gets queasy easily, wait a while before reading the second half.
Yes, Hachiken once again gets some hands-on education in regarding the cycle of life. He has certainly come a long way in the short semester he’s been at Ooezo, but as they say, you can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy. Hachiken ends up at the Mikage family farm during summer break, and living the farm life 24/7 is another step out of his comfort zone.
First, though, the volume starts off in an unexpected way: a pizza party. It’s a bit of a culture shock for me to see how rarely rural kids in Japan eat pizza, but this does provide a way for Hachiken to start forming other connections. I felt a little overwhelmed by the number of characters going, “Oh, yeah, I can find [random pizza ingredient]” for two reasons. It’s hard to keep track of them when a lot of their introductions are kept short, and the ones we’ve met just seem like they were named in order to have the pizza-making work out perfectly. It might have been a nice time to slow down and really get to know characters outside of being known as Cheese Girl (my nickname for Mayumi).
On the opposite end, Hachiken starts to take his first steps toward understanding or reconciling with his family. His full backstory has yet to be revealed, and from his attitude in the first volume, I thought whatever the situation was or rebellious phase he’s in would prevent him from making any contact with this parents. But he’s already starting to blossom, and that’s even before he learns a little more about some of his classmates’ views on taking over the family business. Even Mikage, whom I thought was going to remain the dull, always smiling love interest, may be more suited for Hachiken than I first believed.
The manga doesn’t get overly graphic, but the art does show some cadavers and butchering. It’s to be expected because of the subject matter. Fortunately, Arakawa’s trademark humor still can be found all over. Silver Spoon is educational, but I didn’t want it to be too realistic. Otherwise, how could I enjoy my pizza when I tune into the next volume of Hachiken’s adventure?
Justin: In this edition of Silver Spoon volume 2 — Hachiken rallies his schoolmates to heat a pizza! Love and romance between him and Mikage (and dead animals just lying in the background) is heating up! And there’s even time for the school to have its annual competition with its technical school! How will Hachiken handle all these new experiences???
Well, with a bit of aplomb and some moments of reflection.
Silver Spoon is obviously unique in that it’s a shounen farming manga. Repeat after me — farming, shounen, as a manga? Yep, Arakawa manages to convey in fascinating fashion the joys and pitfalls of farming, and has a city slicker with no goals come to deal with all of the issues with it. The procuring fresh meats and veggies for his brick oven pizza party is great and healthy — the obvious killing of animals, or the amount of work it takes to run a farm, is one of the things that does get questioned in volume 2. Not everyone is cut out to do any of this, and many of the choices Hachiken has to make, whether it’s through peer pressure or his own troubles, are not easy.
But this volume does make sure it highlights its other colorful cast of characters, like Mikage and Komaba. From worries about taking over the family’s farm to working at a farm and dreaming about becoming a great baseball pitcher, the two have their worries despite their positive demeanor, and how it’s shown in the manga is touching and is refreshingly smile-worthy.
I mean, in general as well! If you thought the laughs in volume 1 were something else, volume 2 manages to place Hachiken in situations where he gets himself lost with bears around, everyone wanting him to work at their place over the summer, and him meeting new people for the first time. Some of them happen to be capable of crushing a part of the side doors of a car with a bad back (looks at Mikage’s dad).
But that’s what makes this manga so special. It mixes in farming know-how and technical skills with jokes, a character who has to grow up in some way, and characters that are somewhat crazy but also have their own goals as well. There are still plenty more characters that haven’t been touched upon yet, and after how the backstories were shown here, I’m definitely looking forward to finding out eventually.
I’ll just simply settle for whatever Arakawa dishes out next for now though.