Mizuki Tsujimura invitingly concludes her comforting duology with How to Hold Someone in Your Heart, which proves as sigh-inducing as its predecessor, Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon. Yuki Tejima returns with another absorbing translation from the Japanese.
Seven years have passed since Ayumi inherited the "go-between" position from his late grandmother, making him a conduit--during a full moon--between the living and the dead they wish to meet. Tsujimura uses the first meeting of the sequel to cleverly link back to Lost Souls, when television star Yuzuru requests a meeting on behalf of his would-be love interest, which breaks all sorts of otherworldly rules. Unable to help his friend, Yuzuru ultimately confronts his abusive, runaway father. Other inquiries include a retired educator with questions for a centuries-ago historical figure; two desperate mothers who seek their beloved daughters, one who drowned, the other who died of cancer; and an 85-year-old chef who finally succeeds in seeing a girl he knew in their teens, after repeating the request since his 40s.
Beyond his go-between duties--the service is always free of charge--Ayumi works a "regular job. [He] needed to stand on his own two feet." By day he's a product planner of handcrafted toys for a wooden toy manufacturer. Tsujimura incorporates Ayumi's growth as an artist and his burgeoning personal relationships throughout the supernatural episodes, creating an engaging narrative arc that instills her searching protagonist with lingering multidimensional gravitas. Deftly balancing regretful mourning with redemptive joys, Tsujimura gifts another J-healing charmer. --Terry Hong