I hate when a good series comes to an end. It means that I'll have to leave the world and characters that I love. Today I said goodbye to the characters and the world of Emma, the Victorian romance manga series that I started reading last year. Emma was my second manga series and I enjoyed every minute of it. I recently finished its 10th and final volume, which unfortunately made me disappointed.

Description: Volume 10 is another collection of short stories that wraps up of several story lines and some background stories. We see Emma and William spend time together. Adele and Maria's history is explored in a story where we revisit Maria's first days as a maid. Arthur, William's younger brother, has his own story about being a prefect at his school and dealing with a troublesome new student named Ramsey. Eleanor also has a brief story, and then we conclude the next three chapters with the wedding.

Review: As I mentioned earlier, I was disappointed with this volume of Emma. The pacing and placement of the stories are very rushed and fast. It's as if Mori jammed anything and everything she possibly can in this volume, which is a shame because I wanted to see how the plot and characters develop from one volume to the other. As a result, there is a noticeable time gap and lack of character and plot development between volume 7 and volume 10. While I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite characters happy and loved the terrific artwork by the author and illustrator, the lack of manga's usual warmth during the entire book left me on a sad note. The complete plot in this volume feels disjointed and incomplete. I think this volume by far is the series's weakest installment. I wish it would have ended in a better way.

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: None.

If you like this book try: The Shirley series by Karou Mori