REVIEW: ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ Volume 2

Fly Me to the Moon, from mangaka Kenjiro Hata is localized in English by VIZ Media and is currently getting the anime treatment under the title TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You for Crunchyroll’s Fall anime season. The series follows Nasa Yuzaki who has felt connected to outer space. Last volume, we saw his efforts to outperform the space program veer off course when an accident introduced him to Tsukasa, a mysterious girl with strange powers. At the end of the volume we saw the two get married, years after their first meeting. Now in Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2, we get to see the two start their married life in a wholesome romantic comedy style.

Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2′s starts with a bath chapter. Nasa’s apartment is too small and doesn’t have a bath, so the newlyweds head to a bathhouse and introduce their marriage to the outside world for the first time. Now the reason a point out the “bath chapter” in this volume – because Hata points it out. This volume embraces the tropes of manga and anime and does so through a fourth-wall-breaking narration from Nasa. But, after that, the volume introduces Nasa to Tsukasa’s family. Or rather, he gets kidnapped by Tsukasa’s overprotective sister Chitose and her combat maids.

While there is a lot of Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2 that is just about humor, there is a wholesome love story unfolding around it. Nasa, while he is awkward, does what he can to learn more about Tsukasa, her tastes, and get her a ring to show the world he loves her. The ability of Hata to balance absurd plot points like a giant sword-wielding maid with small moments like Nasa’s declaration of love, or his focus on getting Tsukasa elements of a wedding she missed, is what makes this series work.

My only issue with this volume is more of an issue with the series as a whole: the ages. While the artwork is done to make sure that Nasa doesn’t look older than Tsukasa, he still is and if anything the way Hata illustrates all of the characters to be young makes certain scenes uncomfortable. In Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2 specifically, there are multiple sex jokes about Nasa’s sex drive made between him and one of the young girls who runs the bathhouse. Clearly a child, she not only talks about his sex drive, but we later see her coming out of the pornography section of a video store and recommending smut to Nasa. This is a common issue I have with anime and manga in general, especially romantic comedies geared towards teen boys.

That said, this shonen rom-com isn’t all bad, in fact, the wholesome label still because of the way Nasa and Tsukasa interact. While we get to see their first kiss in Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2, it’s a moment about emotion and commitment and showcases that both of them are new to this thing called love. While I hope we see less of talking about sex from underage characters, I would still recommend checking this series out.

Fly Me To The Moon Volume 2 is available now where books are sold.