The fourth volume in the series, this book focused on Mayama and his complicated, convoluted relationship with two women - Rika San and Ayu Chan (Yamada). He's confused, others are confused, and I may feel like knocking some sense into him but you can't do that with matters of the heart.

Meanwhile, Morita Senpai is still in L.A. and Hagu Chan - still tiny, still struggling - is working on her masterpieces with the driven passion she puts into her art as she channels (so says the manga) the spirit of all the great artists who have gone before her.

And the food! How about some chocolate curry with slimy bright yellow mushrooms??? Mmmm, soups on! Come and get it! (The new guys - they don't get it.) The Shrine festival looked fun. Dressing up in kimonos and going to see fireworks - that looked like fun. I guess I'm in a carnival mood, now.

So lots of stuff going on and I'm really starting to get into this manga. . . .

The review is really more of a 3.5. ( )

The series was very bittersweet, and perhaps if you don't want a lingering unfinished romance set during college years, among artists, it's probably not for you. But I really enjoyed the soul-searching of a young architect who finds solace in temple restoration, and a petite sculptor who wants nothing more than to paint gigantic landscapes and flowers instead. There are others, and they all have their own journeys. It's slice-of-life, and there are some meandering romances, but I don't think any of them is ever really resolved. There's also a fairly bizarre parody of Peter Jackson/George Lucas that transported the series into Sci-Fi territory just to give a breath of air... I think. ( )