“After making their music festival debut, Kanade and Otoha set off to take part in their first overnight event—the massive Rock On Japan Festival. Along with a slew of their favorite bands, they get to enjoy all-new thrills like camping, barbecue, tents, and even a hot spring?! This summer is set to be the best ever!” (Yen Press)
Buy This Title
on Amazon
The first volume of “Days of Fes” captured both the joy of experiencing a music festival for the first time and the electric atmosphere of performance on the big stage. Now with the Jitters out of the way, the second volume sees Kanade and Otoha going to an overnight fest ready to fully embrace the experience and wander about on their own. As such, the series allows its characters to dive deep into the food, tunes, culture and crowds at one of Japan's biggest fests.
If anything, volume 2 acts as a bridge between the celebration of music towards deeper character development and establishing the relationship between performers and their fans. Consequently, the personalities of the cast are becoming more pronounced and the reader gets a more intimate view of their lives and what it is about the music scene that drives them personally. Furthermore, this is where the diverse crew begin to give some variations on such reflections, as while the enthusiasm of the two young girls puts the book in a constant upbeat tone, personas like Ritsuru's will relate to veteran fans who have a more refined pallet – “I use to really like this band” being an all too common sentiment. Ultimately, the second excels in showing Oka's skill in the ‘slice of life' genre by presenting an engagingly diverse cast.
Aesthetically, “Days on Fes” keeps the expressive and upbeat visuals that made the inaugural release an idyllic comfort read. In addition, the art of Oka, now with character introductions out of the way, has more time to examine and exist within the music scene, wonderfully encapsulating the environment of big stage shows and camping out. Ultimately, Oka encapsulates the sense of community and the sensation of being one with the crowd in quite a remarkable way – enough to make you yearn for the days when concerts were frequent and free of restrictions faced today.
When I covered the first volume of “Days on Fes”, I noted how it was the perfect piece of escapism for the summer months. Now here we are in the Fall and the statement still resonates despite many of us getting ready to spend the winter indoors. For an avid fan of self discovery through music, the manga has proven to be the perfect companion to capture that joy and celebrate the strength it brings to so many people's lives. Thankfully, even removing the component of fandom, the title conveys the strength of ‘slice of life' by creating sincere characters that play off each other in humorous and heartwarming fashion.
If you are the type that finds yourself easily lost in the beauty of music and also happen to love manga, “Days on Fes” could easily be your favorite release of this year. Conversely, if you happen to be a fan of ‘slice of life', “Days on Fes” has all the elements needed to suck you into the story. Don't feel left out, dive into the crowd and let the music overtake you!
