Last Kind Whispered Words

The concluding three books of Takashi Ikeda’s high school lesbian romance drama Whispered Words come together in One Peace Books’ hefty 480-page third omnibus volume. Just as the series’ first third and second third both had small, consistent weaknesses, the final third of the story likewise has some weaknesses. But the appeal of the characterizations and the attractive art design amply compensate for the storytelling’s slight flaws. Similarly, One Peace Books’ publication of Whispered Words volume 3 isn’t perfect but is the closest to ideal of the three omnibus volumes.

The concluding omnibus volume of Whispered Words illustrates the end of Sumika & Ushio’s second year of high school, the following summer vacation, and their third year of high school, ending the series with their graduation and preparation to attend college. Roughly the first half of the large book consists of focus on the school’s election for student council president. Sumika petitions for the office but encounters an insidious campaign of opposition attacking her sexual orientation rather than her political ambitions. Efforts to expose the muckraking turn from humorous to serious, first when a plan involves once again exploiting Masaki Akemiya’s affection for Sumika, then when Mayu Semimaru decides to force a solution with her own karate-expert hands. Ultimately, the situation resolves peaceably, leading into a summer vacation full of activity and new friends for Ushio that keep her apart from Sukika. When the school year resumes, Sumika and Ushio realize that their impending graduation is forcing them to finally face their plans for the future and their unspoken mutual attraction. At the same time, Ushio’s grandmother pressures Ushio’s older brother to find a wife while Sumika’s father likewise begins considering future commitments for his daughter.

Much the same way the first omnibus volume maintained a constant subtle focus on Sumika & Ushio’s tentative romantic relationship, the third omnibus volume also sustains a focus on the girls’ relationship while overtly concentrating more on the practical cycles of high school life, including student body elections, athletics festival planning, senior trips, and college preparation. The third omnibus volume includes fewer digressions away from the linear story of Sumika & Ushio’s high school life, which makes this volume feel more concise and affecting than particularly the first half of the second omnibus volume. However, the final three books contained in this omnibus volume have a recurrent tendency to literally throw readers into story arcs. The student body election cycle is already in full-swing when readers realize that Sumika is running for a position. The girls are already in Hiroshima during their senior trip before the story even mentions them going on a senior trip. Readers aren’t told that Sumika has been tapped to be her class senior class representative during graduation until literally moments before she actually delivers the graduation address. Mayu’s defense of Sumika’s honor occurs so abruptly, and isn’t clearly explained until so much later that it’s very confusing when it initially occurs. This concluding third of the story is filled with situations, like Norio’s class reunion, that occur so suddenly that readers are briefly left rudderless, trying to catch up with what’s going on. Furthermore, Norio’s class reunion beginning the book and then not even getting referenced again until six chapters later makes the initial chapter of the book seem superfluous and distracting. Pacing also feels skewed when the student council elections alone take up nine chapters, yet summer vacation flies by in only four chapters.

One Peace Book’s publication of the concluding volume of Whispered Words is entirely monochrome interiors published with a crisp, detailed print. Unfortunately, due to differences in page counts between the original Japanese editions and the compiled English-language edition, several double-page spreads throughout the book get reprinted as back-to-back pages, entirely destroying the composition of the original splash images. Unlike the prior two volumes, book three contains no typos or errors in the text, although a line referring to a “kuru” (emoticon) gets “kuru” left in hiragana instead of translated into English. Background sound effects are left intact with subtle translation. Likewise, on-screen text is left unaltered and translated rather than visually overlaid. The book contains no foul language or graphic violence. Nudity is limited to one panel with a bare female butt. Sex is limited to a pair of non-graphic kisses.

Whispered Words reaches a satisfying, affecting conclusion not so much because it overcomes any great obstacle or climax but rather because readers have lived and grown-up with the characters and watched their tentative relationships blossom. Like the prior two omnibus volumes, the story in book three is pleasant: humorous, lightly dramatic, romantic without being sappy. Readers that have travailed through the previous 900+ pages of the story can look forward to the final omnibus volume with a confident certainty that the storytelling continues to hold up right though its final page. From beginning to end, Whispered Words is lighthearted and amusing with occasional bursts of emotional angst that remind readers that the story is an unconventional teenage romance that consistently feels natural and believable.

EDIT: I’ve received word from One Peace Books that the double-page spreads not lining-up properly was due to the first printing of the English language volume 3 omnibus accidentally omitting a single page that wasn’t vital to the story progression. A second printing to re-insert the missing page is already scheduled.