I Hate You More Than Anyone! Volume 4

Leave a reply

By Banri Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Sekai De Ichiban Daikirai!” by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by CMX.

This volume’s primary focus, besides the still simmering relationship between Kazuha and Maki, is about Kazuha’s new part-time job at Honjo’s family hair salon. (Probably a good thing the school has no rules against part-time jobs, like many other manga I’ve read.) The manga does not sugarcoat the world of hairdressing, and it’s shown that the job can be pretty grueling. Of course our heroine, being the determined girl she is, is not going to get things like standing all day and dishpan hands get the better of her.

No, Kazuha prefers to angst and panic about people. Honjo’s mother, who we meet this volume (and who seems to be a female him) is all right, except for her tendency to grope, but her co-worker Moritaka is one of those people who keeps a straight face and doesn’t always say what she’s thinking. In other words, Kazuha’s worst nightmare. Much of this volume is spent with Kazuha convinced that Moritaka hates her, either because she’s the new girl, or a replacement for someone else, or what have you.

Of course, in the end it’s all a misunderstanding, though Moritaka *did* have issues with Kazuha’s hiring. An earlier co-worker, who Moritaka took a liking to, had to quit as the doctors said her hands were getting too chapped from the hair solutions. This led the girl to getting depressed and abandoning her job, and Moritaka felt guilty that there was nothing more she could have done. Of course, this being shoujo manga, we then meet the girl again, and Akiyoshi brings her and Moritaka back together though the power of HEART.

The other major plot line in this volume is resolving Senko’s crush on Maki, and her decision to let it go. You really feel for her here, as it’s become crystal clear that Maki is not only head over heels for Kazuha, but completely unaware of Senko as a girl. Before she confesses, she asks Maki what he thinks of her as, and he replies bluntly “My rival,” implying he feels he would lose if HKazuha had to choose between them. To her credit, she does confess, but then promptly admits to him that she’s giving him up.

Balanced against this is the growing prickly relationship between her and Honjo the elder. This is the first volume where we can see that Honjo is genuinely interested in her, but in many ways he’s just as bad as Maki, deciding that teasing her is more fun. Of course, his teasing can also be advice giving, which is his other bad habit. He notes that she has to choose between Kazuha and Maki, and forces her to confront what she’s been denying. In the end, after her confession to Maki, he even shows up at the train station to comfort her.

I note the title, by now, makes no sense whatsoever in terms of our lead couple, but at least for the next 2-3 volumes we can pretend it’s referring to Senko and Honjo. At one point she refers to him as “her number one enemy”, and it’s clear that, much like Kazuha, Sensko has no idea how to handle men who put her off balance.

There is a wonderful scene towards the end with Senko describing to Maki how frustrating it is being Kazuha’s friend. Noting that Kazuha only thinks about things right in front of her, is idiotic at times, constantly panics, but then becomes suddenly mature and pulls through when you’re expecting everything to fall apart. Seeing as the only character in this series more emotional than Kazuha is Senko, I found this dead-on analysis very amusing. Most of the characters in this series are fantastic at diagnosing everyone but themselves.

The Akiyoshi family troubles take something of a backseat here, though we do get a lovely scene with Kazuha and her sister Momoka, who is upset about her fight with Chizuru and generally feeling depressed as she feels like an only child. (The family had Kazuha and Chizuru, then waited about 3 years before Momoka, then about 3 more before having the youngest three in close succession, so Momoka feels she’s the only one not part of a group.) Kazuha’s advice to her once again shows off her mature side, and proves that she’s an excellent older sister.

So, to sum up, I still love this series. The liabilities remain the same – her art is still too busy, something she’ll fix by the time Tears of a Lamb rolls around. But really, this series is just plain happy and fun. Even the angst is touching rather than the heavy grip on your heart of a ‘We Were There’ or ‘Sand Chronicles’. Recommended.

One Piece Volume 35

Leave a reply

By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

This volume is fantastic, but also heartbreaking in many ways. Things begin to fall apart here, and much of the manga seems to be devoted to systematically destroying Usopp. He gets beaten to a pulp multiple times, called weak and feeble (and it’s implied that therefore his friends are the same), forced to deal with the fact that the Going Merry has to be abandoned, and finally quitting the crew in a haze of rage and self-loathing.

Usopp’s always had it rough, especially over here in North America. Several of my friends simply hate him, calling him the weak crybaby. (They don’t like Chopper either, but he gets a pass as he’s not human.) In a fandom that keeps talking about how guys with awesome strength can beat up on other guys with awesome strength, Usopp’s clever fights, tricks, and constant need to deal with honest to goodness fear rub some people the wrong way. Of course, Oda knows exactly what he’s doing. Usopp’s drive to overcome his weaknesses is his entire plotline (Oda has said point blank that Usopp will always be the weakest crew member), and that’s what makes this volume so hard to read.

Not that he doesn’t get in some badass moments in his fight with Luffy over the Going Merry. Usopp is smart, and knows Luffy and his powers very well. Using his sharpshooting skills, some tricks, and a few dials from Skypeia, he manages to get in a few major blows on Luffy (which puts him ahead of a lot of the villains). Of course, Luffy is Luffy and Usopp is Usopp, so the outcome is not in doubt. Usopp gets curb stomped.

Robin also has a major role in this volume, which is especially interesting as she doesn’t actually appear in it. The crew is continuing to search for her, but all that becomes academic when Iceberg is shot, and he reveals that she was the culprit. This makes everyone suspect the entire Straw Hat crew, meaning that things are about to get much, much worse in Vol. 36. Indeed, the manga ends with Kaku, Paulie, Rob Lucci and Lulu showing up to kick some Straw Hat Pirate Ass, and looking really pissed off.

And of course we meet Franky. Oda loves to draw goofy characters, and Franky, a cyborg who looks like a cross between Frankenstein and Popeye, fits the bill perfectly. He dresses in only a speedo and Hawaiian shirt, he has blue hair gelled up high on his forehead, and he’s accompanied by two identical twin sisters who wear their hair in giant square afros. Never let it be said Oda can’t bring the goofy, especially when it comes to his character design. (I also loved the running gag of Lulu’s cowlick, which migrates all over his head and which he’s constantly trying to push down.)

Overall, though, this was a serious, melancholy volume. And the next one won’t be much easier, as Robin returns and we find out who’s really behind all of this.

Otomen Volume 5

Leave a reply

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.