Secret, Vol. 2

Secret #2

by Yoshiki Tonogai

When one of the students is attacked after his sins are brought to light, the remaining survivors grow ever more suspicious of each other. As secrets arise and suspects collide, the question If one murderer truly was hiding in their midst, are there really two more watching from within?

Genres: Manga, Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2015

About the author

Yoshiki Tonogai (外海良基 Tonogai Yoshiki, born March 14) is a Japanese manga artist from Shiga, Japan.

Reviews

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metto 5☆ perchè i manga di Tonogai mi piacciono ma attualmente al primo posto rimane Doubt. Non so ancora se Secret sarà prima o dopo Judge nella mia classifica. Saprete nel numero finale.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Sunread26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronique complète :
https://sunread26.wordpress.com/2021/...

Extrait :
On se retrouve pour la suite de Secret avec ce nouveau pleins de rebondissements. Malheureusement pour lui, Yukito n’arrivera pas à se suicider, des éléments pour empêcher ce genre d’évènements de se reproduire ont été mis en place. En effet, un des camarades d’Iku c’est « suicidé » après l’accident, mais pourquoi ? Était-ce vraiment un suicide ? Pour Yukito, se sera la case prison, ce qui fait de lui le premier meurtrier sur les trois annoncé par le psychologue… Aurait-il finalement raison ?

Avec ce second tome est l’annonce que Yukito est bien un meurtrier, la tension monte dans le groupe, car cela signifie que le psychologue à sûrement raison… Certains viennent alors à penser que l’accident en lui-même pourrait en réalité ne pas en être un. Les aveux commencent à tomber, les secrets à être dévoilés… Iku et Ozu décident de mener l’enquête, Iku en vient même à penser que suicide de son ami Shun est plus que suspect au vue de leur dernière conversation. Le psychologue quant à lui continue à les mener par le bout du nez, sachant pertinemment qu’ils sont faibles psychologiquement et que les suspicions trop rapides finiront par mener à un nouveau drame…

Pour le moment, il n’y a pas ce fameux drame tant prévisible, ce nouveau volume met surtout en avant le personnage de Shun, son rapport vis-à-vis de l’accident et des autres personnages, sa fin, tragique également. De part ce biais, on s’éloigne un peu de l’accident de bus, qui reste malgré tout le fil conducteur, pour ce rendre compte que l’histoire ne s’arrête pas autour de cet accident, mais porte surtout sur ce qu’il en résulte, comme la paranoïa après l’annonce du psychologue… Tonogai au travers de ses différentes œuvres, arrive toujours à montrer la faiblesse de l’esprit humain, de ses limites aussi parfois plus infimes que ce que l’on pourrait penser…

[...]

[Joseph Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

More killers are revealed, but it still seems confusing as to what motives are. I wish there were more clues so that it could feel like things didn't just come out of nowhere. There just isn't enough there to get the sense of feeling and desire for resolution; instead we're dragged about wherever the story wants to go. Definitely could do more to stoke the atmosphere.

[KarleeXx0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Still enjoying this series. I do wish that Yoshiki Tonogai would change things up because all of his manga seems to showcase a group of people dying or killing each other off. Don't get me wrong, it is still enjoyable and I still want to continue this manga trilogy, but it would be nice to see a change.

[Sleepy Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

just when you thought the situation couldn't get any heavier and bam the second volume happens. All the secrets are coming out the woodwork now and my god that counselor is creepy. Definitely some weird hidden motive there.

[Tarot · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars ~

0.5/1 for plot
0.5/1 for characters/character development
0.5/1 for writing style/art style
1/1 for pace
0.5/1 for world-building

[(╯`▭´）╯︵ ǝɔnɒꓷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Called it. I freaking called it.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

So in this book we find out who all three killers are. Great. But I will say this. There are one to many people falling off of roofs in this trilogy.

[Ophilia Adler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very predicteble, but still good. I would say this is actually better than the first.

[19Utopia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recensione al Vol. 1

[Intania C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was something terrible and planned for the bus accident, but it wasn't.

[Knutschi · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤗👍💫

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just sad

[ashes ➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review of the first book (and overall series) here.

This volume focuses on Futami’s suicide (...or was it?!), which makes for a good balance between one specific mystery to focus on and the myriad other questions swirling. The progression of this specific mystery was extremely satisfying, particularly given the fact that we’ve only been given so many murderers. If you believe that any three given mysteries end in “it was a murder”, you essentially have to assume that no other murders exist, which makes for an intriguing little logic puzzle.

As usual, Tonogai utilizes common tropes. You know what? I still don’t mind (for the most part.) The main example I’m thinking of is that Futami’s girlfriend was pregnant at the time of her death. This might be a little cheesy, but in Tonogai’s defense, it’s not a trope he’s used before, and I found it well utilized here. It was realistic, made sense, and contributed to an overall good storyline.

The one concern I have is that—and you know I’m biased against tsundere characters—the tsundere being involved REALLY annoyed me. It just seemed so incredibly stereotypical to have this whole “I don’t like you baka” character end up trying to fling the bookmark off the building because her feelings make her an asshole blah blah blah… Accidentally is the reason for his death… I just didn’t find this compelling. It seemed like a stock character, not a person, and her reasoning for not telling anyone didn’t particularly move me.

If I can go insane for a moment here, I wish a guy had confessed to Futami. There really isn’t much reason not to admit that you were present for someone’s death if there’s ample evidence of what happened. Futami jumped for the bookmark. No doubt the bookmark was on the ground near where he jumped. “I confessed my feelings and chucked his bookmark like an asshole” is not that big of a deal, especially compared to a lot of the other secrets present. Kunikida even went to his home and told his mother that she had a crush on him! What in the world is she actually trying to hide!

You know what would be very interesting? “I confessed my love to him but it was supposed to be a secret because I’m not out to anyone else.” Throw in them being close friends and Futami supporting Character I Just Made Up without revealing the truth to anyone else, and you have a genuine reason someone might not want to give the truth behind the situation. I get that there’s survivor guilt involved, but I don’t know; I just didn’t feel that the intensity matched the situation… but I recognize that Tonogai has written a gay character once who dies nearly immediately so his quota is pretty much up. (THIS IS A JOKE I AM JOKING.)

Overall, a great addition which moves the story along without killing the momentum. On to the next!

[Pip (Bookish_Pip) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can honestly say I was in two minds about whether or not to continue with this series. After loving Doubt and Judge to bits, Secret wasn't really doing anything for me. I wasn't really routing for any of the characters and, to be honest, I'm still not. There's no one to really focus on and I can't tell who the protagonist is even though there are five characters still in the running (I think??) A boy called Sanada seems to be taking up a leading role so they have at least one character to piece everything together and say 'I GOTS IT!' but like the protagonists in the previous series he's bland and there doesn't seem to be much going on with them and they're just a little bit 'meh'.

Another problem with Secret is that there isn't any peril. The other two had them locked up somewhere with no escape and an unknown murderer amongst them in a group of strangers. Sure, there's one more secret to uncover now but they're back in their home town, they've been given help in hospital, they're with teachers and are still going to school, they're going home! They're all friends! They know each other! We had a great unknown factor in the previous series which is so badly needed for this genre to work but here it's pretty much non-existent. The psychological thriller series is now just a murder mystery with a time scale because deadlines are truly terrifying.

Also, what's with the rabbit masks in this one? Rabbit Doubt doesn't seem to come anywhere into this anymore. Doubt was a reenactment of a video game by the same name, voting for who the murderer was in Judge and staying on people's good side so you don't die could be called something like a game. In this there's just straight up murder. Secret doesn't seem to link with Yoshiki Tonogai's previous works or themes in said work so why have the rabbit masks still? Gimmick for the mangaka?

In hopes that the series will end with the next volume, I'll get it. I'm just glad that I'm not the only fan of the previous series who feels let down by this latest instalment. Let's just hope there's some mind blowing twist and the art gets a little better at the end of this one which'll pull it around. I just want to know what the deal is with the councillor guy now.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

These volume is pretty good! A lot more things are connecting, a lot more secrets are coming out. It's pretty great.

The first volume was more about learning what happened to them and the mystery is presented. But the second volume is more about throwing suspicion and showing more of the secrets coming out.

Definitely looking forward to seeing the end of the series.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first book but it was still a good book,now I have the long wait until book 3.

[LaBioVaincra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still great so far !

[Liz Marnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was far more exciting than the first and it is heart breaking too. I wish I had volume 3, c'e la vie.

[Earvin Putra · Rating 4 out of 5]

masih belum kejawab siapa pelakunya. tapi beberapa misteri mulai terpecahkan

[Titis Wardhana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sedikit lebih seru dari buku satunya. Di buku ini mulai terungkap rahasia besar di balik kecelakaan bus karyawisata kelas 2D. Gambarnya mirip2 orangnya, cuman beda rambut :p

[˗ˏˋ mckenna ˎˊ˗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awesome continuation of this story!

[Guillermo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly better than vol. 1

[mar ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read this series asap!!!! It's amazing