Manga: Aoharu x Machinegun 10

Aoharu x Machinegun Vol 10
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Stage three of Matsuoka's training camp turns out to be a trip to the hot springs! Not wanting to let her teammates down, Hotaru tentatively ventures into the forbidden men's bath...Are her friends finally going to discover her true identity?! 

I'm sure you're all aware that I've been eagerly and impatiently anticipating the big reveal with Tachibana and I'm also sure you're all wondering....is this it? Is this the volume where Matsuoka FINALLY FINDS OUT!? Well...yes my friends. Yes it is. And it. Was. Glorious. 

We left off with Tachibana and the others ready to enjoy some communal bathing at the hot springs, and she was in quite the dilemma. Haruki is literally no help at the start, like come on dude, help a girl out?! Yukimura also does quite an excellent job of guilt tripping Hotaru, like honestly it was A+ and thus her fate was decided. 

Friends...she most certainly goes in to the male area of the hot springs with the other boys and it was freaking hilarious. I had to snort at one innuendo, I really did. I just couldn't help myself. To top of the whole situation...Midori was even there, for this tense situation, which is you know, just adding fuel to the fire because we all know he won't help. 

Haruki and Hotaru devise a plan, and they merrily go in, just wanting to have a good time but they ended up having a...horrifying experience. Shall we say. Midori and Hotaru have a moment too and I was lowkey screaming. 

Honestly guys, I think this might be one of the funniest volumes yet because Matsuoka and Yukimura finally find out she's a girl, and aside from the whole comical aspect of the bath scene with her trying to hide that she's a she, the reveal was freaking hilarious and I was practically crying with laughter. Their inner thoughts where priceless, as where their facial expressions. 

She also inadvertently gives Midori the smack down he so deserves, and we have the awkward moment when Fujimoto says the exact thing Matsuoka and Yukimura should have said...and they know it. Interestingly, I'm detecting a budding friendship between Fujimoto and Yukimura that should prove to be entertaining, I'm totally here for it! Oh and we finally find out what that number was all about, I'm fairly sure! 

I'm also wondering if I'm detecting some potential romance between Haruki and Hotaru? I think he has some feelings for her and it's kinda obvious Matsuoka feels something for her too....so perhaps we'll be getting some romance coming in to play in the coming volumes, which should be interesting to see play out. I have my ship already. 

Towards the end of the volume we get a new team introduced, and they're supposedly the best team. The ones who used to be on top and are now back in the game. Interestingly Midori and Matsuoka used to be in this team, and it could provide some interesting tension. Particularly judging by Shingen, the leader, who we meet briefly. He appears to hold a grudge against Haruki's brother, but I'm not sure how he feels about his previous team members. 

Aoharu Vol 10 gives us hilarious comedy at the beginning, an intense and sinister battle in the middle, and we end with Hotaru's mother appearing which starts out being kind of funny, but then ends on a cliffhanger that has you screaming "Noooooo WHYYYY?!". Oh and if that wasn't enough we're close to the next TGC starting too! This volume moves things along nicely and brings in some interesting elements to the story!