This series has been running in Yuri Hime for so long that saying goodbye to it is like saying goodbye to to a friend...only it isn't quite goodbye, because of the Gold and Silver Tips continuation coming soon. Anyway...
With a push from her friend Sumire, Seriho finally realizes that she's in love with Sarasa. Sumire speeds things along by setting up a surprise date between Sarasa and Seriho.
Sarasa shows up two hours early to check out the shops and restaurants in the area so she can play it cool and show Seriho around. lol Seriho unwittingly floors Sarasa when she buys them a pair of matching rings, making it quite clear what she means by it. Sarasa defers answering because she feels awkward doing it in front of so many people. The entire date is awkward, in the adorable way that it would be between two introverts who like each other but aren't completely sure about where they stand.
Later at the Amber Teahouse, Sarasa prepares tea and scones and accepts Seriho's proposal...only to find a gaggle of people cheering them on from outside the shop. I'll admit that I teared when Sarasa accepted Seriho's proposal. And I love that the elderly lesbian couple who gave Seriho advice in volume 1 returned for this scene. We get an epilogue featuring some cute couple time with Sarasa and Seriho.
The three chapter Otome-iro Stay Tune series, about two seiyuu who become a couple, is in this book as well. It's cute (and a must-read if you want to see where Manabe-sensei, the yuri mangaka who patronizes the Amber Teahouse, first appeared), but not as good as Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan. (The afterword in Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan volume 1 shows that Fujieda Miyabi was pretty much pushed into adding Otome-iro Stay Tune to his list of projects when his heart was really in drawing AKK.)
My one complaint for the ending of AKK is that Sarasa and Seriho, while undeniably together forever and very snuggly, don't kiss. I anticipate seeing a kiss in Gold and Silver Tips. I'm looking forward to even more of Sarasa and Seriho's post-Happily-Ever-After.
Story: B for the Otome-iro Stay Tune chapters, A- for the Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan chapters.
Art: A- Fujieda's art has really grown on me.
Overall: A-
I can't review the Blue Christmas drama CD that comes with the special edition of Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan volume 2 because it's in my laptop, which I stupidly left at home in Florida.
My new rule for any drama CD packaged together with a tankoubon is that if it's an original story, I'll give it its own separate review. If it's a re-enactment of the manga it's based on, screw that, it'll just get a brief mention at the end of my review of whichever tankoubon it comes with. For now, at least, I can say that the Blue Christmas CD is great- perfectly cast seiyuu, sweet story, totally worth it if you want to spend more time with these characters and can understand (or plan to understand) Japanese well enough.
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