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Title:  Sand Chronicles Vol 6

Author:  Hinako Ashihara

Publisher: Viz

ISBN:  9781421524641

May Contain Spoilers

Reading Sand Chronicles is always painful.  I feel so bad for Ann because her mother’s suicide has left her so emotionally damaged that she doesn’t trust anyone, not at a deep level, and who can blame her? Though she had support and love from her grandparents and finally from her father, her mother’s betrayal caused doubts and fears that she will have to live with for the rest of her life.  Her constant struggle as she continues to be haunted by feelings of inferiority and even doubting that she is worthy of love is so emotional; this is one of the only series that gets me choked up several times during the course of a volume.  A volume, folks!  That’s how skillfully Hinako Ashihara twists and turns her readers’ emotions.  It is a turbulent rollercoaster ride, and it’s not just Ann who has to deal with the aftermath of her mother’s death.

Ann and Daigo have gone their separate ways, but when Ann discovers that he’s dating another girl, she’s heartbroken once again.  Even though she’s trying to move on with her life, and she thinks she’s over him, she’s finding it impossible to forget him.  He consumes her thoughts and her heart, and Fuji is having a hard time with this as well.  He loves Ann, no matter what, but he is beginning to despair that she will ever look at him the way she looked at Daigo.  Here are three people caught up in a painful triangle, and they are all so interconnected that a happy resolution for any of them seems doubtful.

There were so many powerful moments from this volume that it’s hard to focus on just one.  There was Ann’s inability to move on, symbolized by the hourglass, and Fuji’s realization that he will never eclipse Daigo’s place in her heart.  Fuji is another character who you can’t help but feel for.  He believed, all of his life, that he was not his father’s biological son and it tormented him.  His doubts robbed him of his sense of self.  Fuji’s relationship with his mother was also taunt and strained, and all because he wasn’t the child of the man she loved.  He has always been second best to Shika, and maybe that’s why he doesn’t mind being second fiddle to Daigo in Ann’s affections.  What a mess.  Like Ann, he feels that he isn’t worthy of love.

Sand Chronicles is one of the best shoujo series that is currently being released by Viz.  It’s the timeless story of a young woman who is trying to define who she is.  It’s painful and uplifting at the same time, because Ann, despite setbacks, never gives up hope for herself.  She wants to be a better person, a stronger person, and that is something that everyone can relate to. 

Grade: A

Review copy provided by Viz