By Tachibana Higuchi. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Tokyopop.
We’ve all seen the ‘from the author of’ phenomenon before. Tokyopop has already gone this route, in fact, by licensing all the Natsuki Takaya they are able to in order to try to strike lightning twice with the success of Fruits Basket. Unfortunately, frequently what you find is that the artist, like any other, was honing their craft, and there’s a reason that the later series was licensed first – it’s better.
Portrait of M & N is from the author of Gakuen Alice, which was Higuchi’s breakout hit, one that’s still running in Japan. This one ran for 7 volumes, which is about average for a ‘mild’ hit in this magazine. There was a two-month gap after Volume 1, and the author admits in the notes to this volume that it was designed as a 5-chapter story, then she was asked to expand on it.
Our two heroes are fortunate that their names match their traumas. Mitsuru, due to a crappy family history, is a masochist who loves pain and beatings. Natsuhiko, due to bad family upbringing of a different kind, is a narcissist who ogles himself in any handy mirror.
(I am so tempted to add “Together, they fight crime!”, but sadly the book is not that interesting.)
The premise isn’t bad for a shoujo manga, really, but it’s the sort of thing that needs to be handled very carefully. The author makes, in my opinion, a very bad choice at the start by having Mitsuru be a shy wallflower-type. If you’re portraying a girl who gets off on pain, she had better be a loud sporty tomboy type or the readers are going to have trouble finding the humor. Indeed, Higuchi admits that the heroine was originally a strong, tough girl. But since her masochism clearly devastates her, it just makes you feel horrible. Bad news in a comedy.
Actually, for a comedy this is entirely too serious. Natsuhiko is pretty dull, even when he is being a narcissist. There are some funny moments (the rival’s reaction to dogs, Mitsuru trying to disguise herself), but for the most part this is played very earnestly, with Mitsuru and Natsuhiko desperately trying to not stand out and erase their personalities. Come on! You’re writing a series about a masochist and a narcissist! Have some freaking fun!
Even the one-shot at the end falls into a similar trap. (This is a common occurrence in Hakusensha works, by the way. Most manga artists have their first or second successful series collected with earlier one-shots they did that they feel are worthy of a book but weren’t long enough). The story itself is rather predictable, but I did like the heroine, who seems very down to earth. Unfortunately, the cage metaphor keeps reminding you of the violence and threats that led to her relationship with Sagisawa. Even though it ends up with her taking control, it feels wrong because of that metaphor of entrapment.
I’ll get another volume of M & N, because I find myself wondering if once the artist was told to expand the series, she started to paint everything with broader strokes. But as it is, this is a serious romance that’s crippled by its wacky premise.
