Ichiroh! Volume 1

Ichiroh!, Vol. 1
By Mikage
Published by Yen Press

Ichiroh!, Vol. 1

Review by Megan M.

Nanako is a hardworking, penny pinching high school graduate who, along with her friends–Shino, a privileged rich girl, and Akane, a dim otaku–is studying for her college entrance exams. Unfortunately, though Shino passes, both Nanako and Akane fail and must now attend prep school. To save money, Nanako gets them a room at the cheapest boarding house she can find, which turns out to be a shrine, and their rent is discounted on the condition that they dress as miko (shrine maidens) and do chores.

Shino and Akane are both in love with Nanako. Akane’s love is a combination of that of a puppy and an adoring kid. Shino’s is concerningly stalkery and she attends college as little as possible, spending most of her time following Nanako around. Nanako’s brother is also obsessed with her, and he quits his job in order to stalk her. He and Shino declare themselves to be rivals in love.

The cast is almost exclusively female and centered around a trio of friends who want to go to college together, so it seems to clearly be my kind of series, but it’s presented as a form of fanservice that doesn’t appeal to me and it’s far too slapstick for my tastes. The series is told in mostly standalone four-koma style, which has worked for me in other manga but only drives home the lack of any real character or plot depth here. In small doses (as I’m sure it was originally released) the lighthearted, slapstick approach might work better, but in a concentrated dose, the result is something that, for me, isn’t overly funny or engaging.

There are various elements that I really liked-Nanako’s drive combined with her passive acceptance of the insanity around her, Akane’s attempts to turn everything around her into a manga plot, an otaku classmate’s attempts to make friends, a shameless teacher at the prep school, and the landlady and her granddaughter in particular-but the overall package didn’t do much for me, unfortunately.

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