Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty 6

Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Vol 6
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

After a hectic summer, Shizu and her mother welcome a calm autumn in their home. Every day, Shizu grows more certain of herself, but after meeting the living daughter of one of her ghosts, she realizes it all comes at a price. The spirits within her know they are existing on borrowed time, and no one is more worried than Shizu. As a newfound loneliness creeps into her heart, she finds out the hard way that there is plenty to gain in letting go... 

We have finally come to the last volume in this series, so of course we see the story wrap up and honestly? It's kind of bittersweet! We get to learn all about Harumichi and how and why he died, and what his life was like and it was genuinely so sad, I'm kind of surprised it was left this late, but it was nice to get to know him before we said goodbye to the ghosts for good. 

Tetsu and Shizu finally sort everything out and come to terms with what has to happen, and they sort out their relationship too, obviously. This final volume has a nice pace to it, and it wraps everything up beautifully! Yes it was sad because of the ghosts leaving, but at the same time I had time to emotionally prepare myself...it didn't make it any less sad though! 

This has been such an interesting series, it's twisted and changed Sleeping Beauty so uniquely, and I loved getting to see the characters grow and change, we've had some excellent character development, and the romance was nicely developed and came about naturally without being forced! All in all, it's been quite a fun little series and it ends brilliantly! 

Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty 5

Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Vol 5
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Every moment spent with friends who care has gradually brought Shizu Karasawa out of her shell. So when her father plots to isolate her in a hospital, Tetsu has no choice but to take Shizu and run. With no place left to go, the two head to the beach where Tetsu's maternal grandfather runs a lodge. But Tetsu's rash decision dredges up a former tragedy that could tear his family apart, and even drive Shizu away... When the Karasawa family's fraught relationships catch up to her, a surprising enemy may become Shizu's most-needed advocate. 

After the events of last volume, Tetsu and Shizu have run away to the beach, or specifically to Tetsu's grandfather and his B&B. This volume has a really nice pace to it, and I actually thought it was kind of an emotional volume too. Shizu and her mother have a lot of issues that they deal with in this one, and Tetsu and his family deal with theirs. There's also a mind blowing, yet heartbreaking reveal about Tetsu's mother. I feel like I should have seen it coming! 

After some intriguing flashbacks I kind of get where Shizu's father is coming from...but it doesn't make his actions any less wrong. I'm hoping we'll see him sort himself out next volume. With this volume it seems we're steaming towards a happy ever after for our two main characters, with issues being resolved left, right and centre. Although it seems things with the ghosts will be resolved pretty soon too, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. 

Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty 4

Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Vol 4
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Shizu's grand scheme to get Tetsu to play soccer one last time was a big success, and has become a catalyst for change for everyone involved. One of the biggest changes comes from Chihiro, who works up the courage to tell Tetsu his biggest secret. Will this revelation tear the friends apart? 

Shizu is getting more and more out of her shell and finding things she likes, and I'm living for it! Each volume see's her growing and kind of forming her own self a bit more. There's tension this volume though, with Tetsu and Ryo, but luckily the two of them work it out and it's super cute! 

We fiiiiinally get some background on Chihiro as well as his friendship with Tetsu and how it all started! There's also an epically brilliant plot twist with him, which has me excited to see how it's going to play out! 

Meanwhile things are going so great with Tetsu and Shizu, they're so cute together and he's totally caught feelings, and I spent a lot of the volume internally squealing! 

.....so of course enter Shizu's father who is a prize a-hole and drama ensues as he reveals some things about Tetsu. Nothing too serious, just you know....that he's being paid to be her friend. I should have seen something like this coming when I started to get all happy/excited about the developments of the volume. 

Honestly, things look pretty bleak for Shizu, but there's a daring escape leaving us curious to see what's going to happen next! There's also a nice bit of mystery about what happened to Shinobu before he died. 

With this volume, we see Shizu continue to grow and change and start to come in to her own. The romance steps up and moves along, as does the plot! Plus we have a nice villainous character come strolling on in. 

Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty 3

Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Vol 3
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

As Shizu begins to venture outside more and more, her days are filled with new experiences. When she shows an interest in going to school, Tetsu and the spirits dwelling within Shizu think up a foolproof plan to get her there. But when the two teens arrive on campus, they bump into Tetsu's old soccer team. Suddenly, his carefully curated life begins to unravel and Shizu may be the only one who can save him. 

Things are really heating up with this volume, Tetsu has come up with a plan to help Shizu, part of which is a guide to handling things outside of the mansion and the other part is taking her to school with him. 

This volume really gives us a lot of insight in to Tetsu and his childhood and his friendship with Ueno and everything he gave up for his family. I actually really felt for him. This volume was so heartwarming seeing the lengths his team went to for him and helping him achieve his dream with the help of Shizu. Tetsu has been doing so much for her, overcoming his fears and helping her as much as he can and it was nice to see her come out of her shell and help him for once! 

I'd definitely say the romance has finally kicked off in this volume too, and it's so cute! Things get all warm and fuzzy and cute and I'm so ready for more of it the next volume! As well as seeing what kind of solutions Tetsu comes up with! Plus....the characters have already come quite a way since volume 1 and I'm looking forward to seeing them grow and develop even more!

Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty 2

Wake Up Sleeping Beauty Vol 2
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Despite being a scaredy-cat and crybaby, high schooler Tetsu finds himself working at the eerie estate on the hill, where Shizu–the only child of the Karasawa family–is secreted away. However, his friendship with Shizu quickly turns to fear when several spirits of the dead appear before him, borrowing her appearance. As he struggles to find the humanity in her supernatural condition, Tetsu must also face a question at once terrifying and heartbreaking: What if the true Shizu never returns? 

So, Tetsu is low-key freaking out about the spirits, he's kind of scared but he doesn't want to be and he's determined to overcome his fear and work with Shizu to get to know her better so he's less afraid. I had to admire his determination considering how much of a scaredy cat he can be! The third spirit, Mirei, makes an appearance in this volume. She's kind of a cow, I'm not going to lie but I'm wondering if there's more to her beneath her bitchy exterior. Haru remains in first place as my favourite! 

We also get a new spirit this volume, who appears to be sticking around, and pretty much takes Tetsu for all he's worth. I kinda felt bad for the kid, believe me I did, but there's no need to be such a brat! Tetsu actually gets mildly scary because he nearly grows some balls when it comes to his sister, which was kind of funny. 

The ominous ending provides some more intrigue, as does the notebook, as Tetsu tries to work out how to help Shizu. The pace is still quite slow, and I still want to learn more about Shizu and why she is the way she is. Tetsu is a really interesting character to me too and there's clearly going to be some drama revolving around his friend and soccer and I'm intrigued to see what bearing that has on the story. 

Manga: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

High schooler Tetsu Misato is hardworking, frugal, and easily scared, but he commits to a part-time job at the mansion on the hill—the one that’s rumored to be haunted. As he toils away, he notices a building separate from the estate, and the mysterious girl who lives within it: Shizu Karasawa. Tetsu slowly becomes enchanted by Shizu’s lonely smile, but by their second encounter, he quickly finds himself in over his head. There’s an unsettling feeling he can’t quite shake, but there’s love there, too.

The bright colour pages draw you in, the art is well drawn too! Particularly the buildings and backgrounds. The characters are beautiful too! 

Tetsu is kind of relatable, at least for me, in a couple of different ways and you have to admire his work ethic and determination. He's all about the money which makes him seem kind of superficial until you realise there's a deeper meaning behind it and a purpose to it! I ended up quite admiring him by the end of the volume, and I want to know more about him! 

Shizu/ Harumichi is an interesting contrast as she's more laid back and kind of messes around and he doesn't so much. Well Harumichi is anyway! Actual Shizu we haven't seen much of yet, she seems quite shy and it's kind of adorable. I did enjoy the plot twist with her and her dual personalities! I didn't see it coming and I wasn't really sure what to expect to be honest! But then it turns out that it's not a personality disorder at all, but a really cool supernatural twist! 

This volume lays the groundwork for what's going to be an interesting and entertaining series. Tetsu is such a scaredy cat of all things supernatural, yet he finds himself in an unusual supernatural situation. Shizu and her personalities as it where, all contrast against each other interestingly. So far I really like Haru as well as Shizu and I'm intrigued to see if there's any other personalities to be met aside from her Grandfather. There's also some mystery thrown in about Tetsu's mother, and there's the heartwarming friendship blossoming between Tetsu and Shizu that could lead towards romance and probably will! It's certainly a fresh and interesting story so far! 
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