Insomniacs after school vol 2 by makoto ojiro

The Astronomy Club needs to start holding events and doing actual club activities, but first, they need ideas and some funds. The club advisor suggests Nakami and Magari travel to a small town and visit with past Astronomy Club alumna, Yui Shiromaru, who is an award-winning astrophotographer, and who may be able to provide some guidance with Nakami’s budding hobby and make it lucrative for the club. Meanwhile. Nakami and Magari separately explore their feelings for their friend and try to decide whether the safe haven they have created has begun to blossom into a crush. Towards the end, the grade-level goes on a field trip to a famous beach, and the two hope to sneak away to capture their award-winning photo, but the constant storms and cloud-cover, plus watchful chaperones, might ruin their plan.

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This story has a much slower pace with hardly any action at all, but it is also very comforting and relaxing. The chapters are short and the overall feel is sort of slice-of-life, but each chapter progresses the storyline. Shiromaru also has an adorable cat, so this brings another cute element into this already adorable story. This volume introduces a romance element that might endear the storyline for some readers or it might disappoint others who were hoping this would be more of a story about platonic friendship. Overall, it is nice to see Nakami and Magari support one another, even though they have to break quite a few rules all the time in order to get what they need.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1+,

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781974737031 (Paperback)

This review was made possible with a digital reader copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Friendship, School Life, Iyashikei, VIZ Media