By Izumi Tsubaki. Released in Japan as “Oyayubi kara Romance” by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.
Looking around the web, it would seem there are several positive reviews of this series. However, what I most remember it for is a convention at a panel, when a group called it one of the worst manga currently being released.
In my opinion, one should save the ‘worst manga ever’ label for things that are truly offensive, appalling, or are poorly adapted. The Magic Touch is just regular old shoujo. Sure, it’s not great. The cast is too big, the art if very odd-looking at times, and the plot is scattershot and unfocused. But it’s very funny, and has a lead couple that are cute and a beta couple that I find fascinating.
It’s possible the mere massage club premise upset some people. I know that there is a cliche when you see young women giving massages of thinking that it’s a front for something else. This isn’t that. People haven’t even kissed in this manga, much less sold their bodies. But one reviewer said it was very hard to get past the premise’s ‘sordid implications’. I’m not seeing that.
In any case, we’re about 2/3 through the series now, and the lead couple are starting to realize that they can’t simply be cute at each other forever. Chiaki is dealing with her growing feelings for Yosuke, and trying to figure out a man who reveals very little about himself. To her credit, she does confront him directly about what he’s hiding, but when he tells her “It’s all right”, in that ‘don’t ask’ tone, she backs off.
Yosuke, meanwhile, is clearly haunted by something in his past, and is afraid to move forward with Chiaki because of that. I’m going to guess we’ll get a big flashback arc in the next volume or two that will help to resolve that.
There’s two other subplots in this volume as well. One involves Ryo, the tomboyish girl from a rival school, who has just lost an arm-wrestling match to her male classmate and is now panicked. She thinks she makes a horrible woman, and if she can’t defeat her fellow males she has no idea what to do. When she hears Chiaki being described as ‘the strongest women I know’, she goes off to challenge her. Of course, we find Chiaki’s strength is her honest and refreshing spirit, etc. This was probably the weakest story in the volume, as there were few surprises.
Then there’s Harumi and Natsue. I’ve noted on Twitter before how much I love this beta couple. I have a weakness for Natsue’s type of character anyway (deadpan snarker females), and seeing her try to subtly get Harumi to confront the future he doesn’t want but feels he has to accept can be rather bittersweet. Harumi’s smile at the end of the volume is heartbreaking, and the art is well-done here, as it really conveys how false it really is.
Luckily, this is offset by some very funny comedy. Chiaki’s general personality leads to humor, as her brain doesn’t quite work normally like everyone else. So she can be imagining Yosuke in various uniforms, or debating the legality of riding on his bike, and a truly indescribable sequence where she and Harumi are talking about his future plans and segue into… something, even they’re not sure what they were talking about. It’s a broad, fun comedy that helps to balance the occasional angst in this series.
Again, this isn’t great. It’s the author’s first long shoujo series, and she’s already shown improvement over it with her current one, “Oresama Teacher”, which is as yet unlicensed. But I think its faults are exaggerated. The massage club is simply meant to be goofy rather than sordid, and the likeable characters and comedic situations make this a perfectly serviceable title. Recommended for those who like lighthearted shoujo with some massage obsession.
