The Palette of 12 Secret Colors, vol. 3

The story: The beginning of this volume shows how much everyone has missed their birds during the break. Unfortunately, during the break, the bird of a first-year student, Fenne, died. Cello and Fenne become fast friends, which makes Dr. Guell jealous "for some reason." Later, Cello celebrates her 17th birthday with Dr. Guell, Moss and Fenne. Then, there's Olga, Dr. Guell's bird, helping Cello study and an adventure involving Cello, Dr. Guell and Cello's father, Theo. Lastly, there's another one-shot, "The Apple Family," this time involving an enchanted apple, a nun who exorcises evil spirits and a witch.

Reaction: Okay, so it's fairly obvious Dr. Guell likes Cello, but she's oblivious to it. With her turning 17, I find it less inappropriate than I did when she was 16, especially since she's mostly unaware of it. While one year doesn't make a huge difference, it's "enough" of a difference for me, I guess. Otherwise, this volume is filled with some funny moments, especially the chapter involving a jealous Olga as whip-cracking tutor to Cello. I also found myself wishing there was more than one chapter to "The Apple Family."

Deep thoughts: I thought it was interesting when Fenne found a new bird partner and removed his black coloring (it was a migratory bird, not native to Opal). It's mentioned that soon enough the bird, named Blackie, will eventually develop the coloring of the island's birds once he starts eating the native colorful flowers. This reminds me of flamingos, which are pink because of their steady diet of shrimp.

Artwork: For some reason, I noticed the screen tone a lot more in this volume. Otherwise, there were some cute costumes for both birds (both Olga and Yoyo dress up) and people (when Dr. Guell dresses up as a thug, it's fairly laughable).

The verdict: If only... Again, I think I'd like this a lot more if it weren't for the pseudo-romance between teenage Cello and Dr. Guell. While Cello is quite endearing, Guell's attraction to her makes me wonder just how small Opal is if he can't find someone his own age. The Palette of 12 Secret Colors is available in the U.S. from CMX.