By Yuki Yoshihara. Released in Japan as “Chou Yo Hana Yo” by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Petit Comic. Released in North America by Viz.
OK, yeah, I’m starting to get that Hot Gimmick feeling a bit here. Just a *bit*, mind…
Oddly enough, Masayuki isn’t the problem. He continues to be the world’s worst boyfriend, constantly giving out mixed signals, vacillating between sweet and caring prince and horrible asshole. But the author is at least trying to show that she knows he’s being an ass. Both times he’s at his worst, Choko calls him on it and stomps off, leaving him devastated. As with Volume One, he has no idea how to behave around her, and thus falls back into easy patterns. Unfortunately, neither of those patterns are healthy.
But they’re funny. Oh god, they’re funny. If there’s anything that’s keeping me reading this series like a madman, it’s that Masayuki’s abuse of Choko is so ridiculously over the top that I can’t help but laugh. I will try to avoid spoiling the best lines, but he really takes sexual harassment to a new level. Your jaw will drop several times as you leaf through this volume, and as you double check to make sure it says ‘Shojo Beat’ on the spine still. Likewise, Choko’s morning after conversation with her two ‘girlfriends’ is hilarious if only as it’s far more accurate than we’d expect from romantic manga, with Choko harping on the painful aspects of losing one’s virginity.
Yeah, sorry, have to give that one away. There is sex in this volume. Not that this should be a surprise, as Yoshihara said in the last volume that she’d never gone two volumes before without her heroes jumping into the sack. They came close last time, but manage to go all the way here. It’s handled pretty well here, with Masayuki being on his best behavior (well, aside from his tendency to scale small buildings with Choko draped over one shoulder…), and it’s explicit while not being crass, just as you’d expect from a mainstream josei title.
However, one of the main problems of the series (like so many other shoujo series that I complain about) is its heroine. Choko needs to take charge more, not of her boyfriend but of her life. She looked fine standing up to Masayuki in the two scenes I mentioned earlier, but both times she then went off and immediately got herself into trouble, which of course required a rescue. (At least the second time she manages to escape on her own, but the implication at the end is this will be more problematic in Volume 4.) So the manga is sending a bit of a mixed message, showing that in the end she really *does* need the big strong man to come rescue her, and keeps her in a default mode of meek and helpless.
I enjoyed Volume 1 so much because it showed that both Choko and Masayuki have personality issues that needed to be overcome before they could be a good couple, and seemed to imply that the goal of the series was seeing them get to that point. 3 volumes in, I worry that the point of the series is that Choko just needs to sit back and let Masayuki take good care of her (and give her great sex), and all her problems will be solved. And while that sounds like a female fantasy, it’s not really one I want to see in a shoujo manga, especially one of the few in North America that stars sexually active women *over* 18. And yes, I know this is a josei manga in Japan, but Viz is marketing it (albeit shrinkwrapped) as a Shojo Beat title. Marketing is important.
I will still be buying the series, because I love the over the top humor. As I’ve noted before (and this is slightly hypocritical), jerkass guys work better for me if they’re being very silly, and Masayuki’s jerk moments are so ridiculous that I actually want to see more of them. I think the author has good characters, and my hope is that we’ll see Choko grow into a strong woman. It doesn’t happen here, sadly.
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