ARC Review: A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 1 by Makoto Hagino

A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 1 by Makoto Hagino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes you find what you yearn for…

Konatsu is about to start a new school in a new town, and she’s basically all on her own. Her dad just got a job overseas, and her aunt can only check in from time to time. It’s a lot for a shy, reserved girl to handle. But on one of the first days of class, she discovers that the school has an aquarium! The club that runs the aquarium is headed by an older student named Koyuki, and Konatsu is instantly drawn to her. Konatsu’s introverted tendencies are hard to overcome, but maybe she’s found something worth coming out of her shell for?

Okay this series already melted my heart – it is a sweet story about two lonely girls who become friends. When Konatsu transfers to a new town, she once again has to face the hard task of making friends which is difficult for her shy nature. She comes across Koyuki, who manages the school’s aquarium club, who seems cool and collected. Konatsu makes friends with another outgoing and friendly classmate, but Koyuki having left an impression on her makes her want to join the aquarium club. Koyuki, meanwhile is freaking out about having a friend – she is so cute when flustered, honestly! – because most of the students are a bit distant to her, on account of her being a teacher’s daughter and thus expected to be a model student. A repeated motif in this book was the story of an aloof salamander who has to come out of its hiding place, and it is projected onto the girls, both of whom find themselves coming out of their shell for the other one. While this was only the first volume, already the story has gripped me and I await anxiously for the development of the romance!