Title: The Palette of 12 Secret Colors Vol 3

Author: Nari Kusakawa

Publisher: CMX

ISBN:  9781401217716

May Contain Spoilers

This volume of The Palette of 12 Secret Colors was a mixed bag.  A pretty big chunk of the book was an unrelated story that was unfinished and unsatisfying.  Jinro is the spirit of an apple tree, and he’s been cursed by a greedy witch who is after the vein of gold ore underneath his apple orchard.  Sui is a nun with a knack for dispelling curses.  When the wicked witch interrupts Sui’s attempts to remove the curse from Jinro, Sui finds herself in more danger than she’d ever imagined.

I liked the characters and the easy way they interacted, but the story itself is incomplete.  Jinro was a cutie in his cursed, chibi form, but it was hard for me to picture him as an apple tree.  Especially after the curse was broken.  Dude!  There’s no way that hottie could ever  be a tree!  Especially not a wimpy apple tree.  Though innocuous appearing, the witch was creepily evil in her pursuit of the golden apple imprisoning Jinro.  Meanie!  Leave the helpless trees alone!

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors chapters were breezy and enjoyable, and offered a lot of variety this time around.  Cello is a little taken aback by a fellow student’s superior attitude, but she quickly feels sympathy for him after learning that his bird has died.  Though he gets on her nerves, Cello is soon helping him obtain a suitable replacement bird.  Fenne would have had me looking for another potential friend, but Cello’s good humor soon wins him over.  What will Dr Guell have to say about that?

My favorite chapter starred Cello’s rival for Dr Guell’s affections, his bird, Olga.  Determined to drive the pesky girl away from her human, Olga institutes a vigorous training program for Cello, thinking that if she has fewer color accidents, she’ll have fewer opportunities to bother Dr Guell.  Olga is one merciless bird!  Even Yo-yo wasn’t immune from her tough tutoring techniques, getting a couple of swats on his round little head.  Ouch!  What a wonderfully fun and creative chapter, though I don’t think that I’ll be following Olga’s unorthodox methods of building confidence.  Nah, playing chicken on a bike by a cliff just doesn’t seem like a bright idea, but since Olga has a bird brain, it must have made sense to her.

Grade:  The Palette of 12 Secret Colors chapters - B+

Apple Family Bonus story - C+

Overall - B-

Rated for Everyone