Reading: MY BROTHER'S HUSBAND VOLUME 2 - Gengoroh Tagame (writer), Anne Ishii (translator)

The conclusion of the story of what happens when a divorced, single, stay-at-home dad (Yaichi) in contemporary suburban Japan, raising his smart, high-spirited little girl (Kana), is unexpectedly visited for a few weeks by the spouse of his recently-deceased twin brother - a big, burly, happy-go-lucky Caucasian Canadian named Mike. Volume 2 of this highly-regarded manga set continues Mike's first-time visit to Japan, trying to learn more about his dead partner's old life and past, while Yaichi - mostly through Kana's loving, accepting eyes and personality - comes to realize that, though he never fought about or disagreed with his brother's homosexuality before his twin relocated to Canada, maybe their estrangement/lack of communication cost Yaichi more than he's realized until now. As Yaichi witnesses prejudice against Mike, symbolic of today's climate toward homosexuality in Japan, his eyes are opened more and more to the fact that we are all human first, everything else secondary, and as the date for Mike's departure back to Canada looms closer - his visit nearly over - Kana's heart grows heavy with the idea of saying goodbye to her new uncle as Yaichi tries to learn to say both I'm sorry and goodbye to a brother - a twin brother - he'd once known as well as he knew himself. My Brother's Husband, Volume 2, even after the brilliance of reading volume 1, hit me with an emotional impact I was not expecting. It also makes you think - about mortality, what we as people have in common more than what our differences are, and the importance of appreciating who (and what) we have while they are there. Keep a few Kleenex handy, this is a keeper. Also one of those books that, once completed, will leave you with that "book hangover" feeling of, somehow, wishing you could continue to follow the lives of these very-real characters you've grown to care so much about. A truly wonderful duology.  4.5/5 stars