Manga the week of 5/18

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First of all, the new releases from Kodansha Comics are starting to roll into bookstores and onto Amazon and basically everywhere except the direct market. I am hoping next week brings us some titles, I don’t want to start a Kodansha whine at Diamond the way I did a Tokyopop whine.

Meanwhile, there are some titles that the direct market just LOVES! And for them, well, here you go. The 17th volume of Gantz, from Dark Horse. It’s almost written for the Western comics fan.

Viz also has its Signature and SigIkki titles, traditionally reserved for the 3rd week of the month so that they can show off on their own while not surrounded by Naruto and Black Bird. This week sees the final volume of Natsume Ono’s Gente, the sequel to Ristorante Paradiso. This was a lovely surprise for me last year and this one, and I greatly look forward to it. There’s also Volume 3s of the Ikki titles I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow and Saturn Apartments. I love the fact that Japan has so many magazines where these two disparate titles can run in a magazine together with nary an eyebrow raised.

Aaaaaaand that’s it. What’s intriguing to you?

Itazura Na Kiss Volume 5

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By Kaoru Tada. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Bessatsu Margaret (“Betsuma”). Released in North America by Digital Manga Publishing.

Wow, there’s a lot going on in this volume. No, Kotoko doesn’t suddenly grow up and get mature, nor does Naoki come out with an amazing love confession. But in their own way, they inch forward, and this volume has more moments that I really enjoyed reading, both romantic and dramatic. Tada-san has also shown herself to be very good at tension-building cliffhangers, including one right at the end of the book.

The main thrust of this volume, even though it doesn’t technically start until almost halfway through, is Naoki’s father having a heart attack. Naoki has been keeping his transfer to the medical school from his father, mostly as he knows there will be a giant argument once it’s discovered, and sure enough, he’s right. The heart attack is a surprise though, and is played very seriously. It also gives us Kotoko’s best moment in the manga, as unlike Naoki’s hysterical mother, she stays level-headed in the crisis, calling the ambulance right away and going to the hospital with food and supplies. Naoki even gives her one of his rare smiles – and praises her!

Unfortunately, life is getting in the way of Naoki’s dream. With his father recovering, someone needs to run the toy company – and Naoki seems to be the only one who can, given the company is not doing very well. His leave of absence from school is rather sad, but not played for melodrama (except maybe by Kotoko) – it’s just life throwing grenades into your path, that’s all. Speaking of life, Kotoko is starting to finally realize that she’s a flake – she talks with Naoki about her future dreams, and sadly notes they’re all ‘I’m helping Naoki in whatever profession he’s in’ rather than any dreams for herself. Naoki manages to cut her down *and* give her some support – which is becoming his specialty.

On the romance front, Matsumoto finally makes her move here, confessing her feelings to Naoki. He’s slightly nicer about rejecting her than he would be with anyone else (including Kotoko), but it’s still a definitive rejection – complete with Naoki noting he’s kissed Kotoko before. Kotoko, of course, is listening in to all of this, but still doesn’t get much relief. Especially as we’re then introduced to Sahoko, the daughter of a colleague of Naoki’s father who gets set up with him for an omiai. She is, essentially, the perfect Japanese woman, a type we’ve been missing here with all the sporty girls and ditzes. She also likes Naoki, and appears to be the perfect match for him. Naoki being Naoki, he accepts their meetings somewhat straight-faced, but doesn’t really show his feelings outwardly.

Kotoko, meanwhile, takes this badly, as you might expect. So badly that she’s even willing to go out on dates with Kin-chan. It’s pretty clear that her mind is elsewhere, however, and there’s no suggestion she sees him as anything but a friend. However, we’re moving to a crisis point. The relationship between Naoki and Sahoko is going so well that Kotoko’s family is moving out of the Irie home. And what’s more, Kin-chan is doing the same thing that Matsumoto did earlier this volume, confessing his feelings in order to make them transparent even to her. He goes one step father, though, actually proposing. I actually regard this as sort of desperate, given how he knows that she’s still broken up over Naoki’s actions. But then, desperation os Kin-chan’s character. Hopefully Kotoko won’t overreact.

Still very happy DMP is bringing out this series, though some of the translation can read awkwardly. “I have kissed… with Kotoko.” being the main culprit that leaps out at me. Naoki continues to bottle everything up and show his true feelings only rarely. And that’s just not working anymore. Given Kin-chan’s proposal, something has to give soon. Will Vol. 6 be the one where we finally get the long-awaited confession? Hopefully we’ll find out soon…

Oresama Teacher Volume 2

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

In my review of the first volume, I noted that while I enjoyed it, Tsubaki-san still had the same issues of the plot and story being very messy in general, an issue that carried over from The Magic Touch. Luckily, this second volume is much stronger in that regard. Even better, it’s hysterical, being one of the funniest shoujo manga I’ve read in months.

There’s so many hysterical moments that it’s really hard to narrow it down. Mafuyu and Hayasaka ‘escaping’ from Takaomi suggesting a club; Mafuyu’s realization that she was the ‘Bancho’ of her old school; the entire Morse Code sequence; Mafuyu’s cosplay outfits (I agree with Takaomi, she does have great legs); the letters by pigeon; Hayasaka getting convinced that an actual rabbit turns into Super Bun, and Mafuyu’s reaction; and possibly best of all, Takaomi simply knocking Mafuyu out with a punch to the back of the head, then lifting her up like a sack of potatoes. Tsubaki-san has noted that she’s better at comedy than romance, and she certainly proves it here. This is just plain funny.

Which is not to say that there aren’t sweet or serious moments. Romance is still on the back burner here, and one of the best examples of that is in the final scene, where Hayasaka has realized that she is Super Bun, and is starting to treat her as an incredibly fighting legend. Which… depresses the hell out of her. She doesn’t want to be worshipped, she wants a friend. It’s a good reminder that Mafuyu is the type who has lots of followers but no close friends, and it pulls at the heartstrings (earlier on, she gets very excited at the idea that Hayasaka has similar issues, which pisses him off). There’s also a nice scene with Takaomi where she realizes why she took his abuse for so long: so that she could get his praise.

By the way, those looking for a contrast with Ai Ore! could do worse than to try looking here. Not only is the tone of the manga completely different, but we also have a much more likeable jerk in Takaomi, and Mafuyu proves that she can kick ass better than any of the main cast. Seeing her take out the bancho mid-way through the volume was incredible. More women in shoujo manga who can throw a punch like that, please.

In this sort of series, the characters are not deep – in fact, trying to analyze them might be a mistake. Mafuyu and Hayasaka are both the sorts whose thought processes are both very simple, direct, and on the surface – this is even lampshaded later on, as Mafuyu realizes that Hayasaka is the type that unconsciously makes bad situations worse. But that’s all for the better, as it leads to pure silly. Hopefully Volume 3 will have more fun – and more Super Bun!