Krystallina: One of my favorite types of characters is the haughty rich girl. You know, laughs like “o ho ho”, ringlet curls, and has the drive and determination to bring her rival down — in this case, Aki.
Well, meet Ayame. She checks off all those boxes, but of course Arakawa can’t stop there. For you see, this rival character is…well, a little too inexperienced to face off against Aki. So who does she settle for challenging instead? Hachiken, of course! And considering Hachiken is still an beginner in horse-riding, defeat seems inevitable for him.
Or it would be if Aki’s so-called rival wasn’t also a beginner…and lacking some brain cells. So much so that she doesn’t realize that Aki is spending more time wondering about where Ayame gets her hair done than trembling in amazement at Ayame’s talents and money. Idiots are often fun characters (see: Tokiwa), and to combine one with a rich girl? Yes, please, and more Ayame, please.
With the equestrian meet and the festival about to kick off, there’s a lot on Hachiken’s plate. So much so that it doesn’t seem like this would be the right time to introduce a new character, but Ayame is just too much fun. But don’t worry about her hogging the spotlight — there’s plenty of room for Hachiken and many of his classmates. Whether it’s Aikawa lamenting his club’s contribution to the festival, Hachiken getting a surprise visitor, the former club president giving the world’s worst pep talk, or Chestnut the horse being…well, a capricious horse, Silver Spoon layers a lot of the humor on other gags, but it also spreads the comedy across the entire cast.
Story-wise, it’s about time Hachiken learns why saying no is important sometimes. The full impact won’t be shown until the next volume, but this isn’t the only signs of his personal growth either. At the equestrian meet, the grades-oriented protagonist gets his first chance to compete in a live competition. Will his self-doubt get the best of him, or will the spirit of the event cause a change in him? Plus, romantic developments are afoot when the other girls bluntly tell Aki that Hachiken sees her as more than just a friend — and her response is a little deeper than just, “Dwah?! No way!” Good on Arakawa for not having Tamako and the others just sigh as Aki friendzones Hachiken with her denseness and continue the usual romantic misunderstandings.
Really, good on Arakawa on all fronts. The faces, the side jokes, the continuing friction between the Hachiken family — it all works. At no point did I feel like this volume was dull or dragging. But the introduction of Ayame means I’m even more looking forward to future volumes of Silver Spoon. I didn’t think that was possible!
Krystallina’s rating: 5 out of 5
Justin: When we last left off Hachiken, he pretty much had to solve a puzzle. What Hachiken didn’t realize was that puzzle was missing a couple of the pieces, so valiantly he tries to tackle it.
Spoiler: it doesn’t go well. And not just in the way you think, based on the ending to Silver Spoon Volume 6.
There’s little doubt of this being another hilarious romp through Ezo Ag, as not only do students take part in the equestrian meet, but they continue their prep work for the festival. Needless to say, everyone is nervous, but none more so than Hachiken. As he’s not only taking part in his own club’s events, he’s also having to help other clubs due to his ideas that leave him with little time to rest. Well, he tries to push through it, and he manages to get mixed results. Whether that means he needed to accept getting his head munched by Chestnut, we’ll never know, but that was funny.
Him contemplating if everything is all right suggests he realizes something’s up with him. Throughout this volume, he starts wondering if going to this school and joining the club was the right thing. I guess this is where his past begins to creep up to him — after all, you have to remember that he went to Ezo Ag to get away from his parents. He’s certainly adapted to life as best he can there, but is this what he really wants to do? Well, he’ll keep trying to push through to do so. Unless the ending to this volume changes him (I doubt it).
Outside of Hachiken’s growth, the obvious standout of this volume is Mikage’s “friend” Ayame Minamikujou. You wouldn’t expect someone to dominate with as much style and idiocy as Ayame could, and maybe for others she won’t be their cup of tea. But every time Ayame tried to recount her dominance and leadership growing up and Mikage just remembered that one time where cow poop got on her, I laughed. She’s the rich girl type that’s extremely dense. Like the type of dense that’s somehow illogical. And it somehow works. It’s hard to describe how amazing Ayame was without also mentioning how the characters around her fed off her personality, for obviously the better for anyone who reads this volume.
So between that, where Hachiken’s at mentally, proper procedures to fall off a horse (or else), and the continued character development of everyone, this is an excellent volume. The tease at the end is just that extra kick that will make me look forward to Volume 7’s release next month.
Justin’s rating: 5 out of 5