Maid-sama! Volume 5

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By Hiro Fujiwara. Released in Japan as “Kaichō wa Maid-sama!” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine LaLa. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

Writing a shoujo manga where the plot is ‘will they get together?’ can be very difficult. Most shoujo romances I see, especially from Hakusensha, fall into 2 categories: 1) the heroine hooking up with the hero is the purpose of the manga, and it will end when she realizes her feelings; and 2) The hero and heroine hook up at some point during the manga, and the rest of it is fighting various things designed to cause trouble for them, and trying to get ‘closer’ (without getting too explicit – this is Hakusensha, not Shogakukan).

The difficulty with this, of course, is that you risk irritating your audience. Otomen makes fun of this exact point, having Juta desperate to get Asuka and Ryo closer so that his own manga can develop, but the two are trapped in a classic ‘shy and oblivious’ circle. Maid-sama has a similar problem, but in this case it’s all about Misaki getting over her dislike of men and coming to accept Usui has genuine feelings for her, and it’s not just about his sadistic love of teasing.

We understand where Usui’s coming from, because he’s right, seeing Misaki flustered and blushing *is* fantastic. She’s never cuter than when she’s warring with herself, as best exemplified by the final chapter in this volume, where we see her attempting to care for Usui after he broke an arm protecting her from a fall. Her cooking is horrible, and she laments that she’s unable to do anything for him, even after all he’s done for her.

Of course, Usui knows this is stupid, because he’s seen how strong Misaki can be. The butler contest shows her at her stubborn best, taking on a herculean task because of Usui’s rival Igarashi being a giant jerk. (Didn’t he try to sexually assault her when last we saw him? I’d expect a little more venom for him than we got, really.) She’s good at the physical, but not so much at the elegant, which is where Usui can take control. And she’s really good at laying into selfish people and coming up with the perfect rant to make everything better, which is what happens here.

The plot is inching along, slowly – we see Igarashi hinting that Usui should enjoy his freedom while it lasts. I’ve seen this sort of plot in a few other manga, notably Ouran High School Host Club and The Magic Touch, so I suspect that he’s in some way connected to an obscenely rich family, and will be having that old arranged marriage hanging over his head soon. I could be wrong, though.

The other characters are there, but more than any other volume this is a two-hander. Misaki and Usui dominate, and if you like them I think you’ll like the volume. No, it doesn’t look as if Misaki will be getting over her denial and getting together with Usui anytime soon, but at least she’s blushing and stammering more and more each time out.

Manga the week of 7/8

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Things are shipping one day late to comic stores due to the July 5th observed holiday. So you must wait an extra day to get far too much Viz.

In non-Viz news, Last Gasp are releasing a handsome artbook dedicated to the art of Toshio Saeki, one of the most famous erotic artists out there. It’s $40, so a bit too rich for me, but it’s supposed to be fantastic.

Vertical releases Chi’s Sweet Home, which I reviewed earlier today, and the second volume of Twin Spica, which I will be reviewing once I get my greedy paws on it. Both series are well worth your time.

A bunch of Yen Press’s stuff is hitting Midtown, though oddly not the things I’m interested in from them in July. We do get the third volume of the Haruhi Suzumiya novel, though. Unlike the first two, this is a collection of short stories featuring the cast. My favorites are the time travel headache of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and the murder mystery mockery that is Remote Island Syndrome.

And then there’s Viz. The title I’m most interested in is Dengeki Daisy Vol. 1. A while back on Twitter Shojo Beat asked for license requests, and I noted that they tended to license fluff from Shueisha’s Betsuma, and angst from Shogakukan’s Betsucomi. I suggested they try some Betsucomi fluff, and mentioned this title. Turns out my psychic powers were working well. :) It’s from the author of Beast Master, and the description seems utterly cliched. Great, I love cliched shoujo. (No, I’m not being sarcastic, I really do.)

Aside from that there’s the 2nd to last volume of S.A, the 3rd Natsume’s Book of Friends and the 14th Ouran High School Host Club from the Hakusensha end of things, the Shueisha end gives us the last Mixed Vegetables (which I liked at first, but grew weary of fast), the 2nd Stepping on Roses (can it top the first volume for being utterly screwed up?), and the 21st Nana, which is the last Nana to date – the series has been on hiatus in Japan due to health reasons, and Viz has now caught up. And from Shogakukan, we have the 11th We Were There, which I presume will be depressing yet riveting, as always.

On the shonen end, there’s only one volume of One Piece out this month. What is the world coming to? Even worse, Viz tries to mess with my head by releasing Kekkaishi 22. That’s a Sunday title! Get back in the 2nd week of the month where you belong! There’s also a new Eyeshield, which finally gets to the Christmas Bowl.

Lastly, it’s always great to see a volume of Ultimate Muscle come out, which I suspect is sort of along the same lines as Knights of the Zodiac at Viz headquarters. “Whooooo’s your daddy?” “*sigh* You are, Shueisha.” “Now put out another volume of this!” “As you wish.” (I eagerly await getting bashed by all the Ultimate Muscle fans, who may actually have gotten into it via the WWE rather than manga.)

Chi’s Sweet Home Volume 1

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By Konami Kanata. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Morning. Released in North America by Vertical.

We don’t really see all that many cute animal manga over here. Neko Ramen, while it is a manga starring an animal, is not what I’d call cute. But Chi’s Sweet Home is primarily about a cute l’il cat and her sense of wonder in everyday life. Japan loves its cat manga – there’s a manga magazine out there that’s entirely devoted to cat stories – but Chi is a cut above these, managing to just avoid being cloying and precious. Just. It does come close at times.

We’re introduced to Chi, one of a family of kittens who is being led around the neighborhood by their mother. Unfortunately, Chi is easily distracted and winds up separated from the rest of her family. One thing the author does very well is to convey Chi not forgetting about her old family – Chi’s motivation for the first half of this volume is to get out and get home, and the only thing stopping her are the many distractions along the way.

Incidentally, the way that Chi’s naming is conveyed is a tribute to Ed Chavez’s excellent translation. This is not a manga that needs footnotes or translation pointers, being primarily very simple – except for the chapter dealing with Chi being named (and toilet trained). Kanata’s art and the dialogue, though, make it easy to note through simple repetition that ‘chi’ is the Japanese word for ‘pee’, and that while she’s being toilet trained (the young boy in the house is as well), she learns to respond to this name. (Chi also means small, so I figure that it won’t be a stigma on the cat later in life.)

I was also pleased with how well the family Chi ends up with were presented. Managing to have character traits yet not be caricatures, the family has a weight to them that pleases me. The worry with these sorts of stories is that the humans are just there to be the straight men for the animals, yet here you see the Yamada family as a young couple with young child, living their own lives which happen to have a cat in them. The mother seems more stressed out and worried about the ‘no pets’ policy, while the dad seems more laid-back and accepting (loved the gag about his vintage jeans). And the child is written as your typical 2-3 year old kid.

This manga was colored and flipped for its North American release, but you’d never guess it. It feels natural and smooth, and the color is great. I understand that the artist approved it herself, and was also full of praise for it. I also approve of the decision to do so – despite appearing in the men’s magazine Weekly Morning, there’s nothing in Chi that can’t be read by a family, and marketing this book to a ) families, b) cat lovers, then c) manga geeks makes perfect sense. I hope it does very well for Vertical, and look forward to further cute cat adventures.