By Aya Konno. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume (“Betsuhana”). Released in North America by Viz.

This was quite an enjoyable volume of Otomen for me. One of the main reasons being that it actually focused on Ryo for a short period. It’s no secret that Otomen is a manga written solely for female readers, and that the focus is clearly on Asuka and Juta. We see things from their point of view, and hear their internal monologues. Ryo may be the female love interest, but we rarely if ever see what she’s thinking.

Now, I’m not sure this bothers most fans (Ryo suffers a bit from Himawari Syndrome, which is when you’re the female love interest in a heavily yaoi fandom), but I’d like to get to know her better and see how she thinks. This volumes beauty contest goes a long way towards giving us that. Putting Ryo up against a female rival who’s excellent at ‘traditional female’ things helps to show off her insecurities, which is necessary for a ‘pedestal’ character like Ryo to possess. Plus she gets to drop kick heavy Kliegl lights out of the air while dressed in a kimono.

Of course, her relationship with Asuka is still ambiguous. The author is still having trouble handling the actual romance, partly as I suspect she’s more interested in interaction between Asuka and Juta, but also partly as Asuka has now confessed TWICE, and yet nothing has seemed to change. The lack of forward motion in their romance that frustrates Juta also frustrates us, as he’s correct – if you like each other, and have confessed, WHY AREN’T YOU A COUPLE?

But then, the manga is not really about their romance. It’s about Asuka’s struggles with his love of feminine things. The final chapter in this volume has Asuka torn, as his growing fame as a ‘masked beauty samurai’ is starting to open up the risk of being outed to the world – and more importantly, to his mother. Asuka’s mixed feelings towards his father are handled well, but it does lead to a very obvious cliffhanger. Oh well, Otomen is not exactly about subtle.

The other chapter in here is about Juta winning an award, and realizing that his own secret identity is at risk. Juta’s remarks about the dreams of young girls is very telling, and I suspect much of this chapter is a parody of the current shoujo manga market, where it would not surprise me at all if many shoujo artists *were* men using a female pseudonym as a front. This climaxes in Juta’s solution to the problem, which once again could be seen from 93,000,000 miles away, but is still very funny.

As a romance manga, this can be quite frustrating. But as a comedy, it’s really very funny. Filled with likeable leads you sympathize with and wacky sitcom situations (I’m sure Ryo will have to impersonate her identical twin Eastern European sister any day now), it’s a bright and easy read.