Asadora! V02 starts with a short flashforward to “now” (or the “now” of the story), we are teased by a theme introduced but not explored in book one. Two scientists find a clue to proving Asa might not have been seeing things the day of the tsunami that destroyed her home and tore her family apart.
We then go to where we left off in book one continuing Asa’s story of trying to help others by flying over the flooded town, dropping food to those stranded. In the process we find some of her siblings and see how she wants to fly on her own. In a maybe not so ethical manner, Asa obtains that plane, and the next chapter of her life starts.
Niaoki Urasawa’s main character might be only 17 and in school, but she is running her own business, still helping her community and the three siblings she found, and not so quietly wondering why an old military pilot have a photo of the thing she saw all those years ago during the tsunami. It is now 1964 and the Olympics are not the only thing going on in town. There is a mystery to solve and rice balls to serve.
An opened ending (frustratingly) allows for the next book to be read ASAYFV2AFV3 (As Soon As You Finish Volume 2 And Find Volume 3).
There are a few themes that might be slightly sensitive reading (Asa was kidnapped in book one and now works with her kidnapper, he is seriously injured, and the way Asa obtains the plane) but overall, this is a teen friendly book. I am wondering how it might turn out thought, as I’ve heard Urasawa can be dark in their writing.
And while I am not screaming “best book ever” the interesting part of this serious is, even if some of the characters are not always likable, they are possible going to grab you and not let you go until you finish their story.
