Category Archives: reviews

Girl Friends The Complete Collection, Vol. 1

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By Milk Morinaga. Released in Japan by Futabasha, serialized in the magazine Comic High!. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

I had reviewed the first digital volume of this series when JManga released it a while back, but it’s always worth revisiting things, especially in print. This omnibus contains the first half of the series, i.e. 2 1/2 volumes. It’s a chunky read, but I think that works to the book’s favor as it helps us really get to know the two heroines before we get to plunge into their new friendship and growing romance.

You’ll note the title is split into two words, and I think that’s for the best, as the author makes it a point to show us Mari and Akko bonding as friends for an entire volume before it really starts getting into the potential yuri romance. Given Mari’s shyness and insecurities, this helps keep things realistic. It also ups the stakes: Akko is Mari’s best friend, and while the romance may take all five volumes to really break out the friendship is close and endearing immediately. Mari is a sweet and sympathetic protagonist. and Akko is outgoing, impulsive and oblivious without it becoming too irritating, as many who read one-sided crushes know can happen easily.

But of course this is a yuri manga, and so Mari’s admiration of Akko soon turns into attraction to Akko. This can be tricky, as there’s a vague line between the sort of close ‘skinship’ friendships that aren’t necessarily sexual, and those what do turn into blooming relationships. Indeed, Akko’s reaction on hearing that Mari kissed her while she was sleeping is ‘oh, girls do that *all the time*’. Of course, when Mari is a little more drunk and a lot more forceful, even Akko manages to notice what’s going on.

These are teenagers, so there’s a lot of puzzlement and ‘is this what love is really like?’ on both sides, as well as yuri’s addition of ‘it will never work out because we are both girls’. Akko has a presumed sexual past with a guy (though we quickly learn that nothing happened, of course – this did run in a seinen magazine) which adds to Mari’s dread that all she’s doing is making herself miserable for something that can’t happen. So she turns to a guy from middle school who happens to like her – and manages to get Akko jealous, though she’s not quite sure why…

This is meant to feel like a fluffy shoujo soap opera, just with two girls as the lead, and that’s mostly what it does. There are also two best friends who are also very touchy-feely with each other but clearly aren’t going to be a couple, which is a relief in a genre that sometimes has everyone pairing off with everyone else. Seven Seas’ omnibus obscures the well-times endings of the first two books (Mari thinking she kissed Akko for Vol. 1, Akko boggling at Kiss #2 in Vol. 2), but that works out fine as it gives the omnibus volume a better cliffhanger, as Mari reveals she went all the way with her new boyfriend. (Does anyone really believe her? Well, except for Akko…)

This isn’t a lights out of compulsively addictive series. But it’s fun, wtih likeable characters and as realistic a yuri romance as you’re going to get in something that’s basically “Story A”, written with little consequence besides ALL THESE FEELINGS… IN MY HEART. I hope the second volume resolves said tortured feelings.

Crazy For You, Vol. 1

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By Karuho Shiina. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Bessatsu Margaret (“Betsuma”). Released in North America by JManga.

I will admit, JManga is very good at planning their surprises. I had thought the big news for NYCC would be the Kodansha rescues, where they picked up several old Del Rey series that sold poorly enough that Kodansha Comics didn’t want to continue them, and are going to finish them off on the JManga site. And that is indeed very awesome news. But they followed it up with new, unreleased in North America titles from another of the ‘untouchable’ publishers that everyone assumed was supporting JManga quietly without actually giving them anything. Shueisha has added two older shoujo titles that Viz presumably doesn’t have an interest in, and I couldn’t be happier. Especially as one of them is an earlier series from the author of Kimi ni Todoke.

The first 3/4 of this volume is, quite simply, warm fuzzy fluffy shoujo romance. The heroine is Sachi, who is bright, bubbly, and eager to experience life, whatever it may be. She’s naive to a fault, but otherwise is quite different from Sawako, Shiina’s other heroine. Her more down-to-earth friend Akemi is arranging a get together so Sachi and her other friends can meet some guys Akemi’s boyfriend knows (the curse of all-girl schools). While there, she sees Yuki, a somewhat passive yet handsome guy, and falls almost instantly in love. The problem is that Yuki has issues. Will she be able to get through to his true self and show him her feelings? And is she really ready for love herself?

Sachi is an interesting heroine, at once incredibly naive and yet aware of her own naivete. At times in this volume she sets herself up to be hurt, knowing that even if she does it will be a good life experience and make her a stronger person. She’s also able to see that Yuki is a deeply wounded young man, though she’s unable to see exactly what those wounds are. After he initially rejects her (we suspect as she’s not the sort of girl he can casually date and drop), they become friends, but Sachi is still trying to show how much she cares for him. There’s a very awkward yet warm tone to their conversations that KnT fans will find familiar.

So, we get a cute bubbly girl and a quiet guy whose mask hides his loneliness and true feelings. We also have the cute beta couple of Akemi and her boyfriend, and another guy, Akahoshi, who is another shoujo cliche, the guy who initially is annoyed by the girl’s ditziness, but starts to fall for her as he realizes she has a truly good heart. It’s all very cute but slight. But this is six volumes long, not one, and we realize that something has to go wrong. The last 15 pages or so are a total mood swing, turning violent and dramatic, and end with a brutal cliffhanger. I suspect Volume 2 will be a lot less happy and fluffy.

(I actually liked the way all the players came together. Kimi ni Todoke’s main romantic pairings all tend to happen in parallel to each other, with no intersections (except maybe Kent). This is a giant messy pile of friendships and relationships.)

I’ve said this before about other titles, but again, this is what I want to see JManga doing. A nice, solid shoujo title that other publishers aren’t going to bother with. It doesn’t quite hit the heights of Kimi ni Todoke (the art, in particular, is less elegant and more typical shoujo), but it has a likeable heroine and an addictive plot. I want to know what happens next. Good thing Vol. 2 is also out now.

Skip Beat!, Vol. 29

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By Yoshiki Nakamura. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.

I hope you enjoyed the Black Bird-esque cover art, as that’s really the closest thing Skip Beat gets to romance. Oh yes, there’s Kyoko and Ren teasing each other briefly, but the point of that scene is the same as it’s been before – when pressed, Kyoko freaks out completely and shows, as Lory lampshades in this volume, that she’s not remotely ready for love or romance. Which is one reason why Skip Beat is at Vol. 29 and things are still up in the air. Not that we’ve any doubt that the final pairing will be Ren and Kyoko – if Sho somehow manages to win her heart I’ll be mind-boggled (and I think angry fans would storm Hakusensha’s offices). But there’s simply demons in Kyoko’s past that really haven’t resolved yet.

Honestly, I wish we’d see more of Kyoko’s mother. Yes, she’s horrible, and I certainly don’t want to see more of her interactions with Kyoko. Except I totally do, because her emotional abuse at her mother’s hands is what continues to drive her story. Every single time she twitches or reacts poorly to someone getting angry with her – even when it’s obviously meant to be comedic – it reminds me that she’s hypersensitive to everyone’s reactions. And one reason she may be so good at method acting is that she grew up trying to be the good child – or, as she increasingly got pawned off on Sho’s family, the dutiful wife/sister figure. Kyoko’s ability to immediately sense when Ren is upset with her, and her over the top reactions, are incredibly funny, but they’re also built on a foundation that screams ‘trigger warning’.

In a way, Kyoko’s emotional maturity when it comes to love and romance (and even simple things such as friendship) is trying to catch up to the personas that she’s put on her entire life. Which is why she’s still so incredibly naive about love. Her discussion with her Bo costume about Ren’s ‘playboy’ ways show that Lory isn’t kidding about her being completely unable to love. He may glibly tell Ren to avoid taking ‘that final step’ with her, but there’s a reason behind it – if Kyoko is freaking out to the point of bolting across the room when Ren even suggests seducing her, she’s not ready for anything else.

As for the rest of the manga, despite the fact that we’re twenty-nine volumes in, not much time has passed within the manga itself, as we can see given that Dark Moon is only just wrapping up. Meanwhile, Cain Heel’s drama finally starts filming, and we meet one of his fellow actors, Murasame, who seems to be a combination of rival and tsukkomi, as he points out to himself all the weird things Cain and Setsu are doing, but is also clearly attracted to Setsu. Of course, he shows this attraction via his own emotional immaturity – after pondering the best way to introduce himself to her, he starts by insulting her brother. Kyoko’s not the only one with issues.

I love the fact that this cute, funny shoujo manga can make me write about serious things. It doesn’t look to be ending anytime soon, so here’s to more volumes (and perhaps Kyoko conquering her love and affection demons).