Are You Lost? volume 2 continues to follow four high school girls stranded on an island and their fight for survival. We have Homare continuing to display her obsession with tools; Asuka going out of her way to dive into the ocean with awful timing; Shion displaying her elegance and disdain for not so elegant things; and Mutsu, who…wants an “incident” to happen at Honno Temple?
Said incident involves two dudes in one room…
Anywho, one reason why this survival series works so far is despite the despairing situation, the girls make the most of it. This of course means showcasing these characters freaking out at doing uncomfortable things (Mutsu and Asuka trying to kill a rabbit) but also showing them not relenting from their normal standards (see Asuka, Mutsu, and especially Shion’s desire to have healthy skin, which means Homare can only sigh).
We also continue to see Homare think back to her father’s lessons that saves them from immediate harm physically. Though chances are that telling Shion that she’s not alone in smelling bad (she informs all 4 girls are likely smelling terrible) is a “you should probably read the room” situation. All in all, the humor is pretty neat, and as the chapters are not too long (about 10-13 pages for each), it’s not dense at all.
This doesn’t mean they’re not thinking about their immediate future — the girls begin trying to discover what’s on the island, as rescue doesn’t seem to be imminent. While they also had some fun in a hot spring, the realities of their situation slowly hit them the longer they stay on the island. One such moment happens with Asuka when she realizes she will miss a scheduled basketball game, and she can’t help but shed tears regarding this. And if the anime’s to go by, there will be more reflection and moments like this as the manga continues.
But even my anime-watching self was surprised at the reveal of two entirely new characters! The anime (probably for the best) focused squarely on the four girls; the manga, however, can do what it wants. In this case, it revealed two more survivors, Rui and Soji. Rui is a high school girl who ended up wearing a boy’s uniform after her girls’ uniform was ruined. Soji is a high school soccer guy who is plenty strong and plenty dumb — as he can’t tell Rui’s a girl. Feeling it’s in the best interests to let it stay that way, Rui maintains this lie, which leads to a good amount of silly times (Soji touching Rui’s small chest and not realizing it’s a girl) and silly thoughts (Soji thinking Rui “has a small wang”). Despite all of that, the two do what they can to survive, and Rui’s initial meeting with the four girls (she saw them bathing in the hot spring) might lead to them eventually meeting in person.
Are You Lost? volume 2 did a couple things that made it nice to read — it lessened Homare’s survival jargon, it got the other girls involved (even showing Mutsu’s growth in the process) and even included two new characters. So I’m certainly curious how the manga will show off everyone in their states of distress — and whether or not Shion will not make an unreasonable food request, but the team will try their best anyways!