In this volume, Hatsuharu turns into his "black" personality and starts destroying the school because his girlfriend dumped him. Poor darling! I just want to hug him! I'm interested to see how Haru tries to get his mysterious unnamed girlfriend back.

We are introduced to Ritsu, who is possibly the most annoying person in the world, and the least likable character in this entire series. Ritsu screams apologies to the world at every breath, and even contemplates suicide because he's sorry to have been born. This person is just screaming for attention, and it's so far off the pathetic scale that I can't find a single thing to redeem this character. bleh.

Favorite scene: Haru encouraging Yuki to call Tohru by her first name instead of always calling her "Honda-san". Haru tells it like it is! Woo!

The gang has to turn in end of term papers describing what career they want when they graduate, and it brings up a lot of anxiety about the future. But they support and encourage one another as always, and there's some deep philosophy stuff going on that I love!

The boys take Tohru to a haunted house and she freaks out because she is so scared, but surprisingly it is Haru who saves the day with a timely fairy story that calms Tohru's fears. That guy has so many levels!

Ah, this is the best one of the series so far! All the emotional stuff happening!
The gang are all enjoying their vacation at the summer resort, but the evil Akito decides he needs to "teach them a lesson" and shows up unannounced to ruin their fun.

Kyo teaches Tohru to swim properly, and there's general merrymaking by the beach. Momiji wants to smash watermelons and hunt for beetles. But Yuki is serious as always, contemplating opening his heart to Tohru. At the same time, Kyo connects with Tohru over memories of her mother. There are so many good scenes with Kyo and Yuki becoming closer to Tohru!! Ah, I love it!

Mayuko is caught up in one of Shigure's plots, and meets up with Hatori after having avoided him for years. Seeing them reconnect was so sweet, especially because it takes place in a bookshop!

The weird Kureno makes an appearance. I can't figure that guy out. Why is he attached to Akito? They both gross me out.

Emotional upheaval!! GAH! I'm so scared of Akito; that man is horrible and terrifying. He hurt my babies, my characters. I just want to punch him and throw him in jail, and hug my characters and make them happy again. I cannot stand the awful things Akito says. He's emotionally abusive to his entire family, and there's always the threat of violence lurking behind everything, and then he actually physically abuses children and I want to scream. I get so upset!

There are some very sweet scenes with Momiji having fun with fireworks, and Tohru building a sand castle. They are so adorable!

Tohru officialy meets Rin (Isuzu), and Rin has some serious anger issues and she's skulking around and hiding from everyone. I'm curious what her whole story is, because she has been mentioned or made a small appearance in the last few volumes. It's all very mysterious, and I want answers!

Kyo has to confront the evil Akito, and in doing so realizes the extent of his true feelings for Tohru, but Kyo lies and says that he hates Tohru in order to protect her. He does a lot of emotional healing and has some wonderous development in this volume, all in the midst of horrible abuse and pain. That Kyo simply amazes me! He resilient and strong and has a beautiful soul.


Favorite scene is when Tohru overhears Kyo and Momiji talking about her and how they like her and would do anything to protect her. Squee!!

In this volume, Yuki is further annoyed by the members of the student council, who seem determined to leave him with all the work. But everyone says that it is good for Yuki to break out of his shell and interact with normal people, so he endures. Poor Yuki!

Tohru makes a resolution to find out how to break the curse, and seeks advice from Kyo's Shishou, but doesn't get many specific answers. I'm so proud of Tohru for taking this on, even though she knows it will make Akito attack her.

Kagura and Kyo go on a date, and resolve their true relationship. Kagura admits how she truly feels about Kyo beyond all her suffocating love, and I think she finally accepts that Kyo will never be in love with her because he's in love with Tohru. It's so touching and sweet, and I'm so impressed with Kagura for finally being honest about her feelings. And I'm impressed with Kyo for responding with kindness and calm.

Yuki reaches out to his parents to come to a parent-teacher conference at school, but is disappointed in his mother. That poor guy has so much crap to deal with. I felt bad for him.

Haru tries to reach out to Rin again, but she continues to push him away. They had a very touching and beautiful scene! There's something very mysterious going on between Rin and Shigure, and I don't like it. That Shigure has something up his sleeve and he's manipulating everyone.

Tohru's grandfather hurt his back, and when Tohru goes to visit him, she is overwhelmed by the fear that he will die, despite the fact that his injury is not severe. Poor Tohru, she has already lost so many people, and she can't stand any more loss!

In this volume, Yuki is taking up his duties as the new student body president, and he meets his vice president and treasurer, who have some strange behavior, sleeping on the job and creating chaos among the class papers. I'm not sure what is up with those two, and I think Yuki is just as confused.

I loved reading about Hana's backstory, and how she was mistreated at her previous school before she met Tohru. Apparently, she used to be able to hear voices in addition to manipulating electrical waves. That girl is full of delicious mystery!

Uotani meets a special guy at her workplace, and sees him again on the street. The two sit down for a meal together and have a little romantic moment. Seeing this softer side of Uotani is completely adorable and sweet!

Kyo's Shishou, Kazuma, is called in for a conference with Kyo's father, where they discuss the possibility of Kyo being imprisoned at the "inside" Sohma house after his graduation (as his grandfather was imprisoned), because his true form as the cat is supposedly too dangerous to be left free. Scary stuff!! Why do you think you have the right to imprison someone in the family home? These people are beyond domestic abuse at this point! I was glad to see that Kazuma sticks up for Kyo to protect him, though the issue was left unresolved and Kyo was not told about any of it.

In the last chapter, Momiji starts planning a trip to a summer resort, and the elusive Rin shows up begging Shigure to "promise" her something. All very mysterious!

In this volume, Yuki finally has his Parent-Teacher Conference with his mother, and she is horribly demanding and rude. Yuki has to learn to stand up for himself and voice his own opinions before his entire future is decided for him! I'm so proud of beautiful Yuki!

I don't even know what is going on with the Student Council. They are all out of their minds, and I can't keep track of their characters anyway.

The best part is meeting Momo again, and finding out that Momiji plays the violin!! Momo is the most adorable little girl in the whole world, and I love her! And the whole storyline with Momiji is perfection. That kid is so cute and sweet and wonderfully smart!

The gang goes on their class trip, and some random girl in the class proclaims her love to Kyo, who rebuffs her because he's obviously in love with Tohru. Ah, the teen drama!

Favorite scene is Yuki being unable to wake up in the mornings. He just kind of stumbles around like a zombie until someone insults him, and then he wakes up in order to throttle them a little. haha! He's so funny!

Kyo and Tohru have another sweet scene on a rooftop. Why are they always climbing up on roofs?!? What is with this roof trend? Kyo is getting to be really self-sacrificing, especially when it comes to Tohru. He sets aside his own feelings just so that he can see her be happy, even if it's apart from him. He's such a hero! I adore this guy!

Most of this volume is focused on Rin, who is very ill and fighting her urge to confide in Tohru. She's very conflicted, wanting to be friends with Tohru, but also wanting to be independent. She hates admitting that she needs help or comfort from a friend. She thinks it's a weakness to need others, and she's determined to be strong, but it's really just her pride holding her back. I loved finding out about Rin's past with her parents and with Hatsuharu. Their love story is so wonderful and sweet!

One of the members of the student council trashes their classroom, and Yuki tries to figure out what made her do it. He's such a compassionate person, and he's always ready to give people another chance! Yuki gets locked in a closet and has some bad memories resurface from being claustrophobic, but is rescued by an unlikely person.

Favorite scene is when Tohru gets a little fever, and when everyone is worried about her, she says it's because all the space in her head is too full up. Kyo laughs and asks if she has a "thinking fever", and he feels her forehead. So cute!

In this volume we get a lot more backstory on Yuki's childhood, and the emotional and verbal abuse that he underwent from his parents and from Akito. Poor Yuki! Through all the memories that Yuki is fighting through, he realizes the nature of his true feelings for Tohru, and it was not quite what I expected!

We also see a flashback to when Kyo and Yuki first met as children, so that was especially heart-wrenching since they've almost been tolerating each other lately. Kyo is mostly sulking and brooding, and the only thing that will bring him out of his shell is Tohru.

I was interested to find out more about the strange power that Akito has over all the Sohma family, why he is head of the family, and why no matter how much he abuses them, the zodiac members never blame Akito or fight back. It's all mystical curses, and creepy history going back hundreds of years.

Tohru and her classmates are putting on a play, Cinderella, for the school festival, but no one gets parts that match their personalities, so they rewrite the play into something that is easier for them to act. It's hilarious and wonderful and I was laughing my head off!

This series addresses some issues like abandonment and feelings of loneliness, of not belonging or not being needed, and it really touched a lot of deep emotions in me and made me connect with the characters. I’m so emotional about it, but I love the journey the characters go on to find healing and happiness!

I'm crying forever! Crying, weeping, brokenhearted, grieving, crying... this book slaughtered my emotions from several different directions, and I went through half a box of tissues.

This volume tells the story of how Tohru's parents met and fell in love, and how her father died. Kyoko, Tohru's mother, went through intense grief when Tohru's father died, and the only thing that saved her from despair was her little girl Tohru.
I'm crying forever.

Kyo wrestles with his feelings for Tohru, and has a nightmare that he takes as a sign from the dead.

Yuki becomes closer to his student council friends, especially the weird girl, Machi.
Yuki decides to go home to the Sohma house for New Years celebrations, and accidentally angers the evil Akito. So much drama and domestic violence! Agh! So then I was crying again, because I want my Yuki to be safe, and it's just terrible and upsetting to see him abused.

Plot twists! Gah! What is happening?!? This is insane. I never saw it coming. I have to rearrange all my thinking now. I have to revisit every scene, every character, all the things I thought I knew. The whole story just got turned upside down!

Kureno Sohma confronts Tohru about her efforts to bring him and Uotani together, and he reveals a massive Sohma family secret!
Hanajima hears Tohru crying through her electric vibrations and arranges a sleep over so that she and Uotani can cheer Tohru up. Those three are such wonderful friends!

The gang are all making paper flowers to decorate the school for the graduation ceremony, but the crazy fan club girls steal all of the flowers Yuki made! So the gang has to decide whether to confront the thieves and get back their stolen flowers or just buckle down and make new ones.

Shigure has a heated conversation with Akito in which some of their history is revealed, and new questions arise. What is Shigure really up to?!?