ANONYMOUS NOISE VOL 2 BY RYŌKO FUKUYAMA

After Miou says Nino’s voice is the bottom of the barrel, Nino decides to practice every day and read books on vocal training so she can one day reach Momo. Yuzu, meanwhile, starts writing blockbuster songs again and can’t work up the courage to ask Nino to be the Alice/lead singer of In No Hurry to Shout. One day, Nino sees the name of another songwriter on an audition sheet, and the first name is Momo. Can it be the same Momo she’s been searching for for the last seven years?  She decides to audition for the music company and hopes that she can meet this Momo, but Yuzu can't stomach the thought of Nino singing lead for someone else's band!

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I like that this story is bucking the tradition (slightly) of having everyone be naturally amazing.  Nino is putting in work in this volume to better herself and become a stronger singer.  She has natural talent, but no one is born an absolutely perfect singer.  Meanwhile, there's Yuzu and other songwriters being perfect and writing hits even though they're still in high school and they've had no formal training in composition.  There are times when the narrative is a little hard to follow because so much of it is happening within the thoughts of characters.  The characters are in school, but the focus is definitely not on any sort of scholarly achievement or studying, which is slightly refreshing and different from most high-school aged manga set in a real world.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Music, School Age