SHY Vol 30,31 - Kiss?! Finally! The truth about Shine's final days.
Volumes 30 and 31 of SHY cover the inevitably tragic stories of the last two Amarariruku members who had not yet been explained: Kekerakera Kufufu and Ruiz Aitsvakka. These volumes also explain exactly what happened to Shine and what brought her to the moon, setting the stage for the final confrontation.
Kekerakera Kufufu seems to have known Shine since Shine was just a small child who was already being forced to act as a hero. They met by coincidence when Shine lost her memories and became stranded. At the time, Kufufu was just a young girl living with an abusive, alcoholic mother, but she went out of her way to protect and entertain Shine.
A lingering question remains, however, because that part of the story ends with Shine saving Kufufu and her mother from a car that was about to hit them during a storm. Where exactly is the tragedy? The characters themselves are puzzled, but I suspect the author is saving the true finale of Kufufu's story for the next volume.
Ruiz Aitsvakka's backstory focuses on the final stages of Shine’s journey. Shine was being targeted by the VAMP organization, the primary antagonists of the series, to be used as a weapon of war and destruction. To prevent this, Ruiz, who is highly skilled with disguises, faked being Shine and allowed himself to be shot to convince the world that the hero Shine had died.
This pained Shine deeply, but the plan worked so well that only Shine and her grandfather knew the body in the coffin was actually someone else. Shine then moved to the moon to sleep, where she still resides and where the Amarariruku phenomenon apparently originates.
On a separate note, Iko feels like she has reached a hero's level of power at this point. We watched her fight through two heroes to reach Teru, and she really seemed to be holding her own without much trouble. I guess that is the power of love. I am curious to see what role she will play in the grand finale.
She also shared her first kiss with Teru during an emotional scene (see the attached screenshot). I honestly was not expecting her to actually go through with it, and I was incredibly hyped for the rest of my reading session. I surely hope we get to see them together in a post-credits scene by the end of the series.
Volume 31 ends with Stigma activating his final plan for the world just as the group is about to reach the moon. Judging by the preview, the next volume will feature a massive battle on the moon against Stigma and likely a final meeting between SHY and Shine. I am a bit confused, though: is Shine actually alive? I had assumed she was dead from the start, but perhaps there is a chance for her to get a happy ending in this wretched world after all.
