Written and illustrated by mangaka Kenjiro Hata, Fly Me To The Moon is one of the most wholesome shonen romantic comedies you can pick up. The series focuses on Nasa and Tsukasa, a couple who got married after only meeting each other one time years ago. Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4 is published by VIZ Media’s Shonen Sunday imprint, translated by John Werry, and features touch-up art and lettering by Evan Waldinger.
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In the last volume, Nasa and Tsukasa visited his parents and went sightseeing along the way. Interrupted by Tsukasa’s family, the couple’s romantic time together was shaken, but now in Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4, the romance comes back. Having gotten full acceptance from Nasa’s parents, Tsukasa showcases some otherworldly skills, swings a sword, and translates ancient historical texts in Nasa’s father’s library. But, the romance ends when they return to Tokyo to a shattering surprise—a burned-down apartment.
While each chapter is short, they’re all made special by Hata’s fourth-wall-breaking narration and the way Tsukasa and Nasa interact with each other. They’re clueless in many ways, but they’re also very much in love, and that’s why it works. Their awkward journey through married life and house hunting is adorable to read. There honestly isn’t much to Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4; no grand combat butlers busting in, just wholesome married life with two young people trying to make it.
Like the chapters before it, Hata ensures that both characters are slowly maturing. There is more intimacy in their interactions, and in the special chapter, 31.5, you get to see Tsukasa make a move. It’s all done in a way that showcases how each of them is growing comfortable with each other. And that’s what I like about the series as a whole. Then there is Kaname…
Kaname is the minor who works at the bathhouse and who is too enthusiastic and nosey about Nasa and Tsukasa’s sex life—which is still nonexistent. While it’s not as featured in volume two, the use of Kaname is frustrating and reminds me of my issues with romance made for shonen audiences. That said, this is pretty much contained to one chapter in a volume that collects chapters 29 through 38. The distribution between wholesome and cringe weighs in this volume’s favor.
That said, a long-standing issue in this volume is that when narration is used, it’s hard to tell which perspective it’s coming from. Is it the meta narration from Hata himself? Is it from Nasa? Tsukasa? Most times, it takes a couple of lines to know who it is coming from.
As a whole, Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4 is a solid entry to the series. Nasa and Tsukasa are a couple that continues to move forward and grow despite the hardships around them. And while I wish Kaname would stop making comments about sex when she’s very clearly a child, the volume is a good read overall and worth picking up.
Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4 is available wherever books are sold on March 9, 2021.
Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4
TL;DR
As a whole, Fly Me To The Moon Volume 4 is a solid entry to the series. Nasa and Tsukasa are a couple that continues to move forward and grow despite the hardships around them. And while I wish Kaname would stop making comments about sex when she’s very clearly a child, the volume is a good read overall and worth picking up.
