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Michelle Smith

Crimson Hero 3 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Former star setter Tomoyo joins the ranks, and now the six players are an official team at Crimson Field High School! However, Nobara is so focused on training that she fails to notice her team is falling apart under the pressure. Not only that, but Nobara must now find the money to pay for her uniform and club dues. Will Nobara be able to swallow her pride and ask her mother for help? Or will she have to give up on her dream after coming so far?

Review:
I was enjoying that Crimson Hero was all about girls striving and doing things purely for themselves to see what they could accomplish. I thought it didn’t need any romance. But then, the romance, she burgeoned, and I find that I kind of love it.

Ever since Yushin heard Nobara’s story and witnessed her passionate love of volleyball in action he, like his dormmates, has become more supportive of her. Lately, when she has had problems, he’s been the one she talked them over with, because she sort of instinctively knew he’d understand her. In this volume, he accompanies her during a very silly, melodramatic rescue of her younger sister (who’s attending an omiai with a cretin), and after Nobara returns from dealing with her parents, she has a good cry against his chest. Nobara’s so clueless about love that she doesn’t realize that she’s got any kind of feelings for Yushin beyond friendship. That is, until she sees him together with his girlfriend.

I’m not quite sure why I love this so very much, but I do. I think it’s because Nobara’s feelings are based on friendship and are directed toward a boy who is very good for her, as opposed to one who’s just princely or popular. I also like that Yushin and Haibuki, while probably classifiable into the “hothead and cool guy” stereotypes that often occupy romantic triangles in shojo manga, don’t really fit so easily into those roles. Haibuki can be a bit of an ass, but he can also be a nice guy. Yushin’s not really a hothead, though he is honest and direct.

Oh yes, and there’s a practice game, too. It was pretty short, though. I’d have preferred more of that and less sister rescuing, but at least the latter provided an opportunity for Souka to see how phenomenal Nobara really is.

Crimson Hero 2 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Nobara is issued a challenge from the boys’ volleyball team: if her team can score one point against them in a match, the girls will win. But, if the girls lose, Nobara will have to give up on having a girls’ volleyball team at Crimson Field forever. With everything on the line for the girls, the boys are playing to win, and even Haibuki seems determined to crush Nobara by aiming at her on the court.

Review:
This volume is a lot of fun. First, there’s the three-on-three challenge between the girls and the boys, which goes exactly as one might expect, but is nonetheless very entertaining and features Haibuki sneakily alerting the broadcast club so that a bunch of students will turn out and lend their support to the underdog girls’ team. I also like that the formerly assy boys living in the dorm begin showing much more support for Nobara’s endeavors after her showing at the game.

Next, there’s Nobara’s search for team members which reminds me a lot of Hikaru no Go in terms of the acquisition of a couple of enthusiastic newcomers who help fulfill the numbers requirement without really providing much by way of talent. These newbies bring the club’s membership up to five, leaving Nobara one person short of officially qualifying as a team.

Enter Tomoyo Osaka, who was a star player in junior high until an injury sidelined her before an important game. She was convinced that her team needed her in order to win, but it turns out they found a replacement pretty quickly. Since then, she’s stayed away from the sport and adamantly maintains she has no intention of playing, but of course we and Nobara know better, and our protagonist exerts her hero skills again as she finally breaks through to what Tomoyo’s real objections are. This whole section was perfectly paced; Tomoyo’s sour attitude and backstory angst would’ve gotten irritating if it’d continued for too long, but here it wraps up in just enough time for Nobara’s success in getting through to her at last to feel well-earned.

About the only complaint I could make is that all of this scrambling and struggling—the entire series, even—could’ve been averted if only Nobara had made sure that she was going to be attending a school with a strong girls’ volleyball team. You’d think that if she’s so passionate about it, she’d put forth that extra effort.

In any case, Crimson Hero is definitely fun and I am eager to read the next volume. Which is handy, ‘cos I have about eight of them sitting here.

Crimson Hero 1 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

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From the back cover:
All that matters to 15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi is volleyball—she’s an awesome player with big-time ambitions. But sometimes it seems like a girl just can’t get a break in the competitive world of high school volleyball.

Nobara’s family wants her to inherit the role of “young mistress,” serving rich patrons at her family’s old-fashioned Japanese restaurant. No thanks! When Nobara transfers to Crimson Field High School, known for its top-notch volleyball team, it turns out that her mother will stoop to dirty tricks to keep her off the court. With assistance from her feisty Aunt Momoko, who’s got some connections at Crimson Field, Nobara decides to start playing offense.

Review:
Seriously, are there any bad Shojo Beat manga? I suppose I wasn’t very keen on Time Stranger Kyoko or I.O.N, but I think I’ve liked all the others that I’ve read.

From childhood, Nobara’s parents tried to mold her into a “young mistress” of grace and refinement who would be suitable to take over their traditional family restaurant. She continually disappointed them, and was always being unfavorably compared to her lady-like younger sister, Souka. It was only through volleyball that she found something at which she excelled and, through it, she eventually learned to like herself as she was.

Fast forward to high school. Nobara has enrolled at Crimson Field High School purely on the strength of its volleyball program, but when she arrives, she finds that her mother has exercised her PTA clout to get the girls’ team disbanded. In a fury, Nobara runs away from home and her aunt, the school nurse, sets her up with a job as the interim house mother for the school’s volleyball dorm, currently occupied by four rather assy boys. Nobara makes many mistakes, but eventually the fact that she’s trying so hard purely for the opportunity to play volleyball starts to win over a couple of the guys.

I think this may actually be my first shoujo sports manga, but so far I’m enjoying it a lot. I love Nobara’s androgynous character design, and also that she tries to be tough but sometimes experiences insecurities. Most of her vulnerability comes from having her dream continually thwarted by her family, so when someone actually speaks up for her—as dorm resident Yushin does when her mom shows up at the dorm to collect her—it’s actually a pretty emotional thing.

Towards the end of the volume, Nobara begins to make contact with the girls who used to be on the volleyball team, as she’s been told that if she can assemble enough players, the school will reinstate the team. Her passion and refusal to submit to insults from the boys’ team inspires the dispirited remnants of the team, making one realize just what the title really means. I find I’m really looking forward to the formation of the team and actually seeing the girls work hard in pursuit of success.

On the negative side, there are a couple of cheesy plot elements, like the fact that Nobara has met one of the boys before in elementary school and that, as a result of juggling all of her responsibilities, she (of course) contracts a fever and requires nursing. A more minor, yet still annoying, quibble is that Nobara seems to be the only student at her school who does not wear a uniform. How is she not getting in trouble? Too, there doesn’t appear to be any standardization in the sailor fuku the other girls are wearing, so it’s just entirely confusing

Lastly, I think Nobara and Haruna from High School Debut should meet. They would probably get along well.

Crimson Hero is still being serialized in Japan and its fifteenth volume is due out there later this month. Viz publishes the series in English; they’ve released through volume ten. I think this series is the only one of the original batch of titles featured in the Shojo Beat magazine to still be included in its line-up. This results in rather lengthy delays between volumes.

Click 2 by Youngran Lee: B-

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From the back cover:
Poor Joonha has moved to the big city and is now living incognito, as a girl, at a new school. But that doesn’t mean his (her?) troubles are over. First, Taehyun, the obnoxious class playboy, coerces Joonha into a “friendship” that royally ticks off Yoomi, Taehyun’s ex. That’s before the reappearance of Heewon, the lovesick stunner who’s followed Joonha all the way from their old school—and whose feelings apparently stay the same whether Joonha is a boy or a girl!

Review:
I liked this one much more than the first volume, to the point where I’m tempted to give it a B. There’s just too much lingering sexism (albeit an incredibly diluted amount compared to volume one) for me to justify doing so. There does look to be some progress on this front, though. First, Joonha, being severely humbled, is not actively being arrogant and cruel to girls. She does still, however, have this notion that being a girl means that there’s no reason to do well in school anymore or to have ambitions of any kind, so she’s been slacking off in a major way. When her new friend, Taehyun, gets wind of this attitude his response is one of disbelief at this antiquated notion. He encourages Joonha to live life to its fullest, whatever her gender may happen to be, and she ends up turning out a bravura performance on her next round of class exams and makes plans to join Taehyun as his business partner.

There’s all sorts of other drama going on, too, including the girl Joonha spurned in junior high emerging on the scene and beating up the leader of Joonha’s new gang of admirers, Taehyun’s serious-minded lackey falling in love/obsession with her, an angsty family background for Taehyun, and the return of Joonha’s childhood friend Jinhoo (now a famous concert pianist) after a concert tour.

Despite the persistent problem of no truly likable characters, but I can’t deny that it’s getting pretty addictive at this point. The volume serves up a couple of nice cliffhangers in the final chapter, too.

Goong: The Royal Palace 3 by Park SoHee: B+

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From the back cover:
Chae-Kyung and Shin return to their separate quarters at the palace, but the crown princess can’t shake the feelings aroused by her new husband. Try as she might, there’s no denying it—she’s completely fallen for him! When Chae-Kyung lets a confession slip, she braces herself for the prince’s rejection. Instead, he doesn’t even acknowledge her! Though the suspense is killing Chae-Kyung, does she really want to know what Shin has to say?

Review:
This series kind of reminds me of Newton’s third law of physics. No, really. This law states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In volume two, the relationship between Shin and Chae-Kyung was on a pretty even, if antagonistic, course. In this volume, matters first swing one way, as they seem to be getting closer. In one particularly nice conversation, Shin admits that he’s jealous of the closeness of Chae-Kyung’s family and also says that he feels closer to her than anyone. The pendulum then heads back in the opposite direction, with Shin behaving rather cruelly to both Chae-Kyung and his former girlfriend. Because of Shin’s nastiness, I just couldn’t like this volume as much as its predecessor.

I was kind of disappointed with how the cliffhanger from volume two was resolved, but I guess it’s too soon for that kind of thing to go anywhere squee-inducing. It’s kind of frustrating seeing all these covers and splash pages of the main couple being affectionate, because it’s probably going to take a long time for the story to actually get to that point. As the back cover blurb points out, Chae-Kyung does (after some annoying pseudo-confessions done in jest) end up telling Shin how she feels about him. Alas, it’s this that seems to spur him into cruelty, as he threatens to answer the question of whether he still loves his ex in front of both the ex and Chae-Kyung, not to mention a bunch of witnesses at Yul’s birthday party. Chae-Kyung reacts impulsively to her strong desire not to hear the answer, and though she makes a pretty big mistake, I was sympathetic to her sudden fear to know.

This volume also introduces new levels of political intrigue, which I always appreciate. Yul’s late father was the original crown prince, and his mother is now spearheading a campaign to get him posthumously declared King. This will give her a rank called daebi, which will allow her to move into the castle and have a say in how things are done. Her main goal, however, is to restore Yul to his place as the rightful crown prince. Meanwhile, there’s also some romance drama among the older generation, as it’s hinted that Shin’s parents have never loved each other, and his mother is made miserable by knowing that his father was once, and might still be, in love with Yul’s mother. Lastly, Shin concludes the volume by announcing that he intends to relinquish his crown prince duties in a few years.

Oh, teh drama!

Goong: The Royal Palace 2 by Park SoHee: A-

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From the back cover:
With the wedding ceremony complete, Chae-Kyung and Prince Shin are finally newlyweds… but now they have to spend their first night together! And, as she tries to get accustomed to life as a princess, homesick Chae-Kyung finds no comfort in her haughty husband who seems determined to antagonize her at every turn. Will the crown prince’s attitude ever change? Is the dream of marital bliss doomed to be a nightmarish marital blunder?!

Review:
As much as I enjoyed volume one, this volume is even better.

It begins by outlining the procedures of a traditional Korean wedding, including a nifty scene where Shin and Chae-Kyung are being conveyed across town via palanquins through a very modern downtown area. Cool as this is, it’s what happens next that’s truly worthy of praise. There are a few chapters that consist almost solely of conversations between Shin and Chae-Kyung and they are absolutely fascinating. They’re both very complex characters with their own way of looking at things, and even though Shin does seem to do more than his share of the antagonizing, Chae-Kyung is also pretty prickly at times. Still, even though there’s a lot of bickering going on, it’s never frustrating to read.

There’s also not as much comedy this time, which I appreciated, since the art during those segments is so unappealing. Still, the comedy in this series is pretty amusing, as it grows from the story rather than interrupts dramatic moments. A great example is the scene where Shin and Chae-Kyung, about to spend the afternoon smiling for the public as they ride along a parade route, practice mouth-stretching exercises beforehand. It’s basically a two-page spread of them contorting their faces in amusing ways and is very cute.

Lastly, I am enjoying the further development of the other prince, Yul. His late father was older brother to Shin’s father, and so was the original Crown Prince. In fact, when the old king and Chae-Kyung’s grandmother promised that their grandchildren would marry, it was actually Yul that the old king had in mind. When Yul’s dad died, however, the line of succession shifted to Shin’s dad and ultimately to Shin himself. Yul’s nicer, if more melancholy, than Shin and since volume one has remarked more than once on Chae-Kyung’s cuteness. There’s a nice scene between Yul and Chae-Kyung in this volume and one can’t help but think how much happier they both would be if the marriage had taken place as originally conceived. There’s a great part at the end when Yul watches the happy couple drive off after school, in which he says, “You’re in my seat.”

Also, the end of this volume—involving Chae-Kyung’s growing physical attraction to Shin—leaves one very eager to read the next. Luckily, I have it on hand.

Click 1 by Youngran Lee: C+

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From the back cover:
Joonha is a normal, healthy boy of sixteen who has cruised through life without too many problems. Imagine his surprise when a recent trip to the bathroom suddenly reveals that he’s not normal at all! With a shriek of “Oh, my God!!!,” he finds himself missing, well, something he never thought he could live without.

As it turns out, his family is abnormal in the weirdest possible way. After puberty, their chromosomes undergo some kind of mutation, which converts their bodies into the opposite sex!

Review:
There are a few things that bothered me quite a lot about Click, even while I think it’s fundamentally fairly interesting and I plan to keep reading.

1. Before spontaneously turning into a girl, Joonha is the most thoroughly infuriating chauvinist pig imaginable. He treats girls like his playthings in an attempt to teach them the feminine virtues of obedience. When the girl he likes confesses to him, he blows her off, saying that it’s her duty to “wait gracefully until you are chosen.”

2. When Joonha begins to live as a girl, he’s more tolerable, but I can’t help but think that this is because he suffered such a tremendous blow to his pride. The remorse he shows for his past actions is more along the lines of, “I should have kissed her” rather than “I shouldn’t have treated her that way.” It’s still ultimately about what’s in it for him.

3. None of the other characters are really all that likable, either. Joonha’s friend from childhood, Jinhoo, comes closest. The fact that he merely expresses mild disapproval of Joonha’s treatment of girls, however, speaks volumes.

4. Joonha’s parents are annoyingly chipper and dim. When he asks why they didn’t tell him about the family’s tendency to change genders, they claim they forgot about it. Yes, I know, I always take stories with wacky premises too seriously, but this is just too ridiculous to be suffered quietly.

There are a few good moments scattered throughout, though. My favorite is the scene in which Jinwoo and Heewon (the girl who confessed her feelings to Joonha) share their hurt feelings about Joonha’s sudden disappearing act. The art is also quite nice. It’s interesting to note, too, that once Joonha begins living as a girl, he doesn’t embody the same ideals of feminine behavior that he once held.

At this point, it’s hard to care about the story or any of the characters, but I plan to give it a couple more volumes at least to see if it gets any better.

Goong: The Royal Palace 1 by Park SoHee: B+

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I reviewed the first volume of this long-running manhwa for Comics Should Be Good. Check it out!

This volume was published by ICE Kunion in May of 2006, after which the series languished in licensing limbo. After a delay of over two years, volume two was published by Yen Press in July of 2008 and the series has been coming out every few months since then. As of January 2009, there are currently 18 volumes published in Korea.

The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold: B

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From the front flap:
Young Fawn Bluefield has fled her family’s farm hoping to find work in the city of Glassforge. Uncertain about her future and the troubles she carries, Fawn stops for a drink of water at a roadside inn, where she counters a patrol of Lakewalkers, enigmatic soldier-sorcerers from the woodland culture to the north. Though Fawn has heard stories about the Lakewalkers, she is unaware that they are engaged in a perilous campaign against inhuman and immortal magical entities known as “malices,” creatures that suck the life out of all they encounter, and turn men and animals into their minions.

Dag is an older Lakewalker patroller who carries his past sorrows as heavily as his present responsibilities. When Fawn is kidnapped by the malice Dag’s patrol is tracking, Dag races to rescue her. But in the ensuing struggle, it is not Dag but Fawn who kills the creature—at dire cost—and an uncanny accident befalls Dag’s sharing knife, which unexpectedly binds their two fates together.

Review:
For all that this book took me something like six weeks to finish, I find that I don’t actually have all that much to say about it. The description quoted above admirably sums up the beginning of the novel, in which Dag rescues Fawn from some bandits, her pregnant status provokes a nasty creature to kidnap her back again, and they end up taking down a “malice” together. I can’t help but think that the reason the blurb doesn’t touch on any plot after this point is that there really isn’t much of one.

Beguilement is really more of a romance than a fantasy novel, though Bujold has still done a good job with the worldbuilding, working in details on the differences between Fawn’s and Dag’s cultures throughout the novel. But after the malice is defeated, there isn’t much going on except them riding on horses, staying in inns, developing fancies for one another, finally consummating their relationship, doing it many more times and often outdoors in the company of bugs, encountering Fawn’s not-so-supportive family, convincing them to support a marriage, and getting hitched. I guess if I lay it out like that it looks like a lot happened, but really, how much of that sounds like a fantasy novel?

The fact that the characters are both likable makes up for some of the plotlessness, at least. Fawn has had a very sheltered upbringing where her thirst for knowledge was not encouraged. Now, with support for her quick wits, she proves herself to be pretty clever and resourceful. Dag is a very experienced patroller who was widowed before Fawn’s birth (there’s quite a big age difference between them) and has been fiercely solitary ever since, so opening himself up to her is a pretty unique experience for him. Because there’s a lot that Fawn doesn’t know and is curious about, it sometimes seems like you’ve got the “wise man teaching ignorant girl” dynamic going on, but it’s not really pervasive. There’s one scene near the end where Dag praises Fawn for a brilliant leap of logic that comes across as completely admiring and not at all patronizing. It even made me a bit sniffly after seeing how little her family appreciates her.

Too, Bujold simply writes really well. Without being overly wordy, she can paint a scene so vividly that it’s incredibly easy to visualize. The best example is probably the part where Dag has found the malice’s lair and is taking in the layout of the area: I swear I could picture it perfectly after only a couple of sentences. And even if the parts with Fawn’s family were rather uncomfortable to read, considering their dismissive treatment of her, they were still entertaining. Probably, enduring all that strife was necessary so as to be as relieved as the main characters when they were finally able to leave it all behind.

While I like Fawn and Dag both together and separately, I do hope that there’s more of a plot to the next book. A typical fantasy series would have an epic quest to wipe out evil, but I sort of doubt Bujold is going to adhere to standard genre tropes. Because I do admire her writing, I’m willing to stick around and see how the story develops, but if this was the first installment of a story by anyone else, I’m not sure I’d be too keen to continue with it.

Additional reviews of The Sharing Knife:Beguilement can be found at Triple Take.

Monkey High! 5 by Shouko Akira: B+

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When reserved, intelligent Haruna transferred into a new high school, she never expected to fall for the most chipper and scrawny guy in her class. That’s exactly what happened, though, and she and Macharu have now been dating for a year.

In this volume, some difficulties arise in the lead characters’ relationship. It’s not as if they fight in dramatic fashion, but because they see the world differently, they sometimes have trouble understanding each other. Macharu is very open and optimistic while Haruna is neither of those things (she doesn’t even have any internal monologues). She seeks to protect herself and in, so doing, occasionally gives Macharu the impression that she doesn’t care about things that are important to him. Add in the complication that Macharu’s best friend, Atsu, actually sees and understands this side of Haruna better than Macharu does, and you’ve got an interesting romantic triangle forming.

On the negative side, in five volumes of the series, nearly every chapter has centered on the kind of event that veteran manga readers will have seen dozens of times before: a date to an amusement park, a trip to the beach, a summer festival, major holidays, et cetera. It grows quite tiresome. Too, while the art in general is good, some pages are so slathered with screen tone that they are positively grey.

Still, even though I can already predict that the next volume will prominently feature Valentine’s Day in some capacity, I’m looking forward to seeing how the drama plays out.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Monkey High! 4 by Shouko Akira: B+

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From the back cover:
Macharu’s best friend Atsu is really starting to fall for Haruna, especially since she’s been working at the same place he works and they’ve been spending more and more time together. With a jealous Macharu waiting and a persistent Atsu pursuing, who is Haruna going to choose in this bizarre love triangle?

Review:
I think I’m just gonna have to resign myself to semi-clichéd outings and a meddlesome bunch of friends with this series, because neither appears to be going anywhere any time soon.

Summer is approaching and, with it, opportunities for chapters about going to the beach, watching fireworks while wearing a yukata, et cetera. As before, Akira-sensei skillfully uses these familiar backdrops to develop her main characters. In the first chapter, we get some follow-up on the end of volume three, where Haruna admitted that she was uncertain of her own capabilities, seeing as how her father’s clout might’ve been responsible for her past successes. Now, when the opportunity comes to start a part-time job at a café, she goes for it, saying that she’s been inspired to try new things.

Macharu is supportive, but once he spots that Haruna and his best friend, Atsu, also an employee at the café, are becoming a bit more friendly, he begins to grow jealous. It’s something he can’t shake even by the end of the volume, despite Haruna saying that she wants to be closer with him and various occasions where she reinforces that he is the one that she likes. Playboy Atsu, too, seems to be growing more serious in his feelings about Haruna, and takes his mission to pester Macharu to the point that Yuko—one of those omnipresent supporting characters whose name I finally learned—comments, “Atsu, sometimes I just don’t know if you’re teasing Macharu or actually trying to sabotage him.”

I continue to like the relationship between the main characters, especially that Haruna continues to be quite unabashed in initiating smoochy time. In this volume, they talk about one day doing more than just kissing, and also admit that they’re scared. “It’s difficult to see where this love is headed.” It’s moments like these that enable scenes with overly familiar settings to seem like something new and unique. Too, it’s also difficult for a reader to see where this love is headed. While I highly doubt that Haruna will chose to be with Atsu in the end, I definitely think that interesting times lie ahead.

Love*Com 11 by Aya Nakahara: B-

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After briefly breaking up in the previous volume, things are going okay for series protagonists Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Ôtani. It’s up to the supporting cast, therefore, to deliver the angst. Risa’s best friend, Nobu, fulfills her obligation by suddenly deciding to attend college in Hokkaido so that she can be with the ailing, much-beloved grandmother whom she’s never previously mentioned.

Well, I guess every series can have a dud now and then. I would’ve been far more interested in Nobu’s decision if she had ever actually talked about her grandmother, if any seeds at all had been planted in advance of this suddenly sprouting plotline. As it is, it feels completely random, like saying, “Oh yes, I have this best friend who I’ve never ever mentioned but I am suddenly very devastated that they have died.” Also, Nobu and her boyfriend Nakao are simply not very thoroughly developed characters in their own right, existing primarily to advise, chastise, or encourage Risa and Ôtani as situations warrant.

The art also looks a lot different to me in this volume. At first, I thought maybe the reason Nobu looks almost like a different person is because we usually see her in background and not close-up. But then I noticed that Ôtani looks rather different, too. I compared the art to volume ten and it was obviously evolving back then, too, but it wasn’t as noticeable. The new style might actually be more polished, but it’s also more generic-looking.

The final chapter is an improvement on its predecessors. For the past few volumes, Ôtani has been studying furiously for his college entrance exams. Risa went through a range of reactions to his efforts, from attempting to dissuade him from a futile endeavor to resolving to stay out of his way until his exams are over. When a family flu outbreak, snow, and cancelled trains threaten to keep Ôtani from making it to the testing facility on time, it’s Risa’s determination that gets him there in the end, which is nice to see. They may bicker far too often for my liking, but when they really come through for each other, it’s very satisfying.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Love*Com 10 by Aya Nakahara: B+

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From the back cover:
Risa got a job at a restaurant so she could be close to Ôtani’s cram school. But now it looks like one of her coworkers wants to get close to her! Kohori is cute and short and majorly into Umibouzu, but Risa just wants to be friends. When circumstances conspire to make it look like she’s interested in more, what will a super-stressed Ôtani do?

Review:
It seemed like I was always annoyed with one or the other of the two leads throughout this volume and, at different times, mentally advised each to dump the other. First, Ôtani, with the excuse of being stressed out about college entrance exams, says a lot of really unkind things to Risa, saying that she’s basically useless and has nothing to offer in terms of helping him out. Next, Risa, who already knows a guy at work fancies her (since he’s been caught in the act of kissing her while she slept) and that Ôtani is exhausted and jealous, stupidly agrees to basically go on the date with the guy to a concert. And, of course, Ôtani runs into the two of them together.

This act is so stupid, in fact, that it was EXTREMELY satisfying that Ôtani breaks up with her as a result. I was probably supposed to be all, “Oh noes,” but instead I felt a vicious glee. One thing I didn’t like is that, because Ôtani is always mouthing off and saying mean things he doesn’t really mean, the impact of his harsh words was lessened. The rest of the volume is Risa trying to get back into his good graces, eventually resolving to stay away from him until he finishes his exams and planning to persuade him to take her back at that time. Interesting how I kind of forgave her too by this point, making the volume’s happy ending a welcome one.

Risa’s propensity to start sentences with “Well,” continues. In one chapter, she did it ten times. Three of those were the “Well, gosh” variant. I had to snicker at one square o’ narration (squarration?) that was comprised entirely of this meaningful sentence: “Well, I mean, gosh.” I assume that she really is saying some particular Japanese phrase over and over again, but it’s starting to get on my nerves. While I’m griping, who the heck is that other kid on the cover? I recognize Kohori (the aforementioned coworker who fancies Risa) but I have no idea who the other dude is.

Love*Com 9 by Aya Nakahara: B+

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From the back cover:
Risa’s life should be perfect. After all, she’s finally dating the guy she loves. But Ôtani’s never actually said that he loves her, and they don’t even act like boyfriend and girlfriend. Wasn’t dating supposed to fix all that? To make matters worse, graduation is looming and Risa’s not sure she likes the way her future with Ôtani looks. Could this be the end of her love and their friendship?

Review:
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve read this series. I kind of forgot how good it is.

Risa and Ôtani are getting a little more comfortable together as a couple, but Risa still isn’t sure how Ôtani feels about her, since he keeps saying mean things to her. The tendency of both characters to speak insultingly to each other is the one thing I really don’t like about this series, so I was happy to see it actually addressed in the plot, even though it doesn’t seem like it really gets any better afterwards. Essentially, Risa just realizes that Ôtani doesn’t mean what he says and that he actually does love her.

Random observation: Risa’s friend Chiharu is the Tina Hakim Baba of the series. When Risa complains about Ôtani calling her stupid, Chiharu attests, “I think that’s just his way of saying he loves you!” Totally Tina. If you don’t catch that reference, you’re probably lucky.

Moving on, there’s a brief chapter on the school festival then it seems like we kind of branch into a new arc. Everyone except for Risa knows what they want to do after graduation. Even Ôtani has begun to study to try to get admitted into college. Risa initially tries to dissuade him, since his grades are so bad, but it turns out that when he buckles down, he can actually do pretty well. This just makes Risa feel more alone and abandoned than ever, though.

Even though I’ve seen variations on this plot before, I still think it’s interesting and well-handled and look forward to where it’s headed. I’m especially pleased that the characters are graduating now, when the series is only half over, since it seems we might be following them at least a little while into young adulthood. Risa also ends up taking a part-time job in this volume, bringing with it an injection of new characters, too.

One final random observation: Has Risa always begun 80% (approx.) of her sentences with “Well,”? I was seeing it all over the place in this volume and it was really distracting.