Ceres: Celestial Legend, Volume 4: Chidori Book

~3/5 (maybe)

[Contains some spoilers, and anger.]

This series is just not impressing me at the moment. There were even a couple of parts that frustrated me. I still have hope, though, that it will get better. Also, I'm hoping the next book to be easier to read, if only because it's in the modern format that VIZ prints today, and not this American-reading-style, large and skinny way that they used to produce them.

So. In this volume: Suzumi got fixed, then we met this new character, Chidori, who looks younger than the rest but I guess is about the same age as Aya and Yuhi. She saw Ceres flying with Yuhi, thinks they can help her sick brother, and so has come to find them. There's this one annoying part, though, when she first shows up, where she throws herself at Yuhi, and the others make fun, calling him a pervert and all that, when he's clearly never met her before. I didn't really find that funny; it also didn't help that Aya was acting like she was disgusted by him, supposedly in a funny way, but also in a jealous way. The jealous part continues throughout the volume, and that just annoyed me to pieces, because she's supposed to be fully in love with Toya.

I think I'm kind of starting to really dislike Aya. I'm not really sure how this came about. Maybe because she's starting to act like she's in love with Yuhi as well as Toya, and because she's just generally not being helpful to anyone with anything. Also, this:

"I just wanted a little excitement at first. I'd flirt with him like a silly schoolgirl with a crush, and get all giddy when he humored me a little." Aya thinks this at one point while staring at Toya, and it just pissed me off. Because that's a total lie. Not once did she act like it was a harmless, petty attraction; the whole times she's been acting like she's in love with him, like she wants to be with him forever, yada yada yada. She can't just now realize that she has a real attraction to him when she confessed her love in, like, the first volume. I don't accept that.

The only good thing Aya's done, I think, is decide to start getting along with Ceres, let her take over every once in a while when it's needed.

Because, for some reason, I'm starting to really like Ceres. I think she's supposed to be wrong, or cruel, or something, but I personally think she's the only one who gets anything done. She's useful in fighting, she isn't hurt easily, and she doesn't back down from anyone. Also, when she first came out and was with Yuhi, she confronted him about his sexual attack on Aya, telling him that that wasn't right. Which, thank god, because no one else said anything. Aya didn't even say anything. Yuhi, even, acted like he knew it was wrong, but excused it because he couldn't help himself, which is just bullshit.

I don't know why, but I just seem to be pissed off about this book. It just… happened, somehow.

Anyway, other things that happened. Aya's family poisoned the town with her blood, because anyone who feels weird from it apparently has celestial powers inside themselves. That's why Chidori's brother is sick, only for some reason, he doesn't have powers, Chidori does. As does this other girl in the hospital, who starts causing explosions all over the place. But don't worry, Aya's family takes the other girl with them, claiming they're going to help her or whatever. Chidori decides to go with Aya and Yuhi, so she'll be sticking around for a while.

Aki, on the other hand, is starting to experience weird blackouts and this weird attraction to his sister, and these moments (the blackouts, as he doesn't remember them) where he believes Aya is his or whatever, and where he's kind of violent, because his past self is starting to show up. The next volume, I believe, is going to have more of him, and that's surely not going to be good.

There's still tension between Aya and Toya, only now there's also tension between Aya and Yuhi, and Yuhi and Toya. Also, Aki knows that Toya likes his sister. The whole love thing is getting rather ridiculous, honestly. Oh, and at one point, Yuhi was told that Aya will love him at some point, which just doesn't make sense to me. And I'm not sure if I want it to, because I think I prefer Toya.

Humor is still not working for me, just as the horror is still not. I'm really hoping that that gets better soon. The italics are still ridiculous and horrible and make the reading jilted, and it looks like it will continue into the other format. I'm not really looking forward to that. Here's an example: "Their necks were broken when they tried to shield Shota and me. …They died instantly! …That's how Shota got hurt!" (Also, be aware that those ..."'s are not my shortening the quote, those are actually in the book.) I don't understand why shield needed to be italisized; it needs absolutely no emphasis, in my opinion. Also, why do those exclamation points need to be there? It doesn't even look like she's exclaiming, in the book. The writing is just not the best

So. I have the next volume, and I will be reading it soon. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but I'm holding onto my optimism.


This review is also available on my blog, among many others.