If there’s anything this chapter of Ikoku taught me, its that that Grand Magasin is an evil place that should be avoided at all costs. Yes, it may be pretty, but I’m convinced that you’re better off shopping elsewhere. At first I thought that Claude was making a big deal over nothing, but to be honest, I now understand why he has such an immense hatred for the place that robbed him of his father, as well nearly robbed him of Yune. After Yune’s trouble in the shopping mall from hell, I don’t see her coming back any time soon…though that might change if Alice drags her there.
Now the chapter starts out innocently enough with the trip to the Grand Magasin, though Claude is visible nervous. I would even go so far to say that he’s being overly cautious about the whole thing as he not only asked Yune to wear the geta that made a lot of noise, but he even contemplated putting a bell around her neck. When the duo finally reaches the Grand Magasin where Jean worked and died, the constant flashbacks of Claude’s father’s death were actually unnerving. Seeing such a thing in a generally feel-good manga was actually unnerving. Back to the story! Yune looked up at the high ceiling and marveled at the beautiful glass dome ceiling that low and behold was made by Claude.
Trying his best to brush aside his memories, the shopping trip goes on. The two were led by a sales attendant to the top floor where all the Japanese items are sold. Yune seemed genuinely happy to see things from her home country, but the moment is ruined by crazy Europeans, who were basically foaming at the mouth at the sight of a real Japanese girl in their midst. Claude has enough sense to drag her away from the crowd, but unfortunately the strap of Yune’s geta snaps and he has no choice but to carry her….bride style. (I’m a total Claude x Yune shipper, so please forgive me…) Seeing as Yune now is unable to walk around due to her lack of shoe, they wander to the children’s area to find her some new footwear. This eventually led to Yune being convinced to try on different clothes by another store attendant, and Claude agreed. I personally believe that this is where everything starts going down hill. If Claude didn’t leave, I forgot where he went as this is where the action really started getting confusion, he would have been able to prevent that mysterious person from stealing Yune’s kimono. If Yune didn’t run away to try and catch the person who did such a thing, she would not have been accused of thievery and padlocked into some room. This wouldn’t have led to Claude freaking out to find Yune as a fire starts in the cafeteria of the Grand Magasin.
The manga did a really good job here, as I was feeling Claude’s anxiety as he tried to find Yune in the department store filled with people frantically trying to escape. This chapter really made him grow, a lot more than the others have done. While this felt like an action-packed chapter that hardly seemed suited to the previous ones, it was well executed and tied in various elements from the other chapters.
I can’t wait to see the aftermath in the next chapter!
It's called Ta-no-shii 