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Sensual Phrase, Volume 17
January 1, 2007

Volume Summary: It's time for Lucifer's final concert in Japan, and Sakuya agrees to make a comeback, but the event is bittersweet now that their indomitable producer Hitoshi is gone for good. To realize Lucifer's dream of truly going global, Sakuya and Aine relocate to New York, and over Hitoshi's grave Sakuya makes a solemn vow: if his band tops the charts in the U.S., he'll finally marry Aine. But if Lucifer tanks it big time in the Big Apple, what will happen to Sakuya's music, and what will become of lovely Aine?!

Review: In honor of Takayama, Lucifer gives the concert of their life, while struggling to keep their grief under control. Aine really finds her feet again, and even makes an interesting decision about the career she wants to pursue now that she has graduated high school. It was really good to see her standing up for herself, and taking the last step in healing from being raped. This volume skips two years after the band goes to America, before coming to what appears to be the series conclusion. Aine looks more beautiful than ever as she gets more mature, and Sakuya is looking more like a man too. It is a great ending to this up and down story, I think. From the final main story, would appear like the series is at an end, however there is another volume to go. Some people have said that the last volume is a prequel type volume, but the volume description that Viz has put out seems to indicate that it will have a story that happened during the two years that are skipped during this volume.

Meanwhile, the bulk of this volume is actually taken up with side stories. First we revisit Forbidden Phrase, i.e. the romance between Atsuro and his stepsister. They are still very much in love, but Yuuka is struggling with the guilt she feels over their relationship and insecurities since they are still hiding things from everyone but the band. I was glad to see this one revisited and I thought it was pretty well handled. I hope the last volume of the series revisits the other band member's stories like this to give them some conclusions as well. The second bonus story in this volume lets us see Sakuya's childhood and how he ended up where he was before joining Lucifer. It was sad, but it certainly gave a little extra insight into what made him the way he was before he met Aine.

All in all, an excellent volume, and a good wrap up to things, even if it isn't really the wrap up. ;-)

Rating: A+