Skip Beat! Volume 20

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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.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, it *still* says ‘From the creator of Tokyo Crazy Paradise!’ on the back.

It feels like it’s been forever and a day since the last volume of Skip Beat! This is the danger of catching up with Japan. After a long period where Viz released a volume every 2 months like clockwork, they’re now only 4 volumes behind, which is about where Viz likes to hover (about 1 year back). Still, it makes the waiting for the next volume almost torturous!

There’s not much of the overarching plot here – Sho and Reino don’t even put in an appearance. We do see a bit of Kyoko stressing out about her next role, something that will become very important in Vols. 21 and 22. But the major thing happening in this volume is Maria’s birthday – December 24th. Unfortunately, that’s also the day her mother died, so she has no desire to celebrate anything. Silly Maria! You cannot resist the power of Kyoko’s hyperoptimistic shininess!

Indeed, this is very much an ‘up’ volume in Kyoko’s collection of mood swings. She spends most of the book happy and delighted, with some of the best overreactive squeeing we’ve seen yet. Still utterly clueless about love, of course – but then, that is the plot of the book, and it’s still running in Japan, so we can’t have her wising up just yet. (I love the cover, which shows her making two kinds of chocolates – thanks and obligation. No love here!)

As a hilarious contrast, we have Moko, who gets to do all the dark, evil moods herself this time since Kyoko is so happy. Moko wants to see Kyoko be happy, and knows what to do to achieve it, but is simply at war with her basic grumpy standoffish personality. Really, she’s a typical tsundere, not as common in shojo as they are in guy’s harem mangas, but still prevalent. She struggles with herself to buy Kyoko a present she knows she’ll adore, and then manages to one-up even Ren in the ‘getting Kyoko’s love’ sweepstakes.

Ren, as always, is cool and awesome. That’s what he does. He may even be a little dull this volume because of it. And of course Lory as ever proves that if anything’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Luckily, his machinations prove to be beneficial. There are simply buttloads of heartwarming moments in this volume, topped off with an epic final chapters that’s one long happy grin.

Next volume will get back to the acting, and Kyoko’s struggles with typecasting in particular. But for now, it’s good to sit back and relax with a series that makes you smile and is filled with fun and sweet moments.

Soul Eater Volume 2

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By Atsushi Ohkubo. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

There’s a lot not going on in Soul Eater at the moment. The author is still setting up his world, so what we see here is a lot of short fights and ‘school’ stuff. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t really grab me. I find the storyline typical shonen, with the souls merely an added frisson. Likewise, the lead characters to date have done little to make me like them, and Black*Star and Soul can be actively irritating at times.

There is, at least, some humor to tide things over, though it tends to be of the goofy and stupid variety. Not surprising in a manga like this. Much as I don’t really like them, the two boys’ attempt to team up was not only funny but over very quickly, thus preserving the joke. And the relationship between Dr. Stein and Maka’s father is gleefully perverse and twisted.

However, there’s one big reason that you may want to read this title, and that’s the art. Note that I would not call the art great by itself. However, the combination of style, backgrounds and world gives Soul Eater a feel that is very hard to find in the shonen world. It’s almost art deco at times, filtered through a corpse-like lens. The insanely grinning constellations, the spike-drenched buildings, the bizarre accessories… I want to find out more about them. Not because of the story, per se, but because they simply LOOK interesting. It’s Soul Eater’s main selling point.

If this sounds like a weak recommendation, that’s because it is. Any manga where art is more interesting than character and plot is going to run into trouble. But Soul Eater was not exactly aiming high, anyway. It’s a shonen romp, filled with serious fights and goofy fights, and the occasional morbidity (nice to see a shonen series not afraid to kill people off, though I suspect the leads will have immunity). It’s meant to look cool to teenage boys, and thanks to its style, I think it succeeds. I’m not sure if I’ll keep up with it forever, but it’s earned my taking a look at a third volume.

I Hate You More Than Anyone! Volume 3

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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 is the volume where I really began to get addicted to this manga. It’s also the one where Hidaka-san relaxes and starts to stretch out. At 3 volumes, it’s clear now that this is going to be much longer than all her previous stories featuring the Akiyoshi Family. So she can begin to introduce subplots and pace herself.

One note about the glaring weakness of this volume: the cover. Hakusensha’s covers for Hana to Yume books can be… well, dull. But you can do a lot with them if you try – look at V.B. Rose from Tokyopop, or even the later Tears of a Lamb from CMX. This one, however, reeks of clip ‘n paste. They get better.

Most of the drama in this volume comes from two plots: Kazuha’s angst about Maki, and his ‘giving her space’; and her family issues. Maki, in fact, is not really in this volume much at all, which might be frustrating for those who like to see a romantic shoujo manga actually feature the romantic couple. We do get some time with him, though, and it’s becoming clear that he’s getting over his initial ‘glomp’ affection and really falling deeper in love.

Kazuha, meanwhile, is a mess. I’ve talked before about her being an emotional roller coaster, but you really see it come into play here. She’s mopey, she’s happy, she’s angry, she’s stressed, she’s terrified… it can be exhausting. We do see her dealing with most of it, though, especially the family issues, which take priority over her love life. Chizuru’s ‘mid-life crisis’ (even if he’s only 14 years old) upsets her, but also widens her narrow viewpoint.

I love the fact that the Akiyoshi family features prominently in this, especially as it’s such a big family that we get multiple viewpoints. Kazuha realizing that the reason her mom and dad are never home is that there’s 6 of them and finances must be horrible; Momoka being almost a mini-Kazuha and getting upset at Chizuru for rebelling; and the three youngest just missing their dad, who was far more ‘parent-like’ when it was just her and Chizuru.

This leads to her deciding to get a job right out of high school (even though her teachers are telling her she has grades good enough for college). The manga actually presents this as a positive thing, showing her trying to think ahead, and realizing after watching Maki work and discussing the finer points with Arata that hairdresser might actually be a career for her.

And of course there’s the love permutations. Arata tries to be forceful, seeing that Maki is not doing anything at the moment, but Kazuha really doesn’t see him as anything but a friend, so that’s not going anywhere. Meanwhile, Senko is still wrestling with herself, trying to take delight in Kazuha and Maki’s angst but in reality just ending up worried about her friend.

This leads to Honjo, Arata’s older brother, who gets his role greatly expanded here. The author notes indicate he was pretty much immediately popular, and we can see why here. He’s the sensible one, the advice giver. He’s able to watch all the madness around him and not be sucked in by it. He genuinely seems to be trying to do right by Kazuha and Maki. He has a wicked sense of humor. And he’s just cool in general. He knows how to give enough advice so that people will understands what needs to be done without lecturing them. “You need to have some self-confidence, Akiyoshi. As long as you’re like that, he’s gonna be like that.”

Hidaka-san is starting to learn her craft, as well. There’s some lovely juxtaposition here. Page 66 featuring a happy beaming Kazuha with her two friends staring grumpily at her, contrasted with page 96, with miserable Kazuha drawn in almost the exact same style, with the grumpy friends having merely adjusted slightly. In addition, towards the end (after the fight about Chizuru getting his ear pierced), we see Kazuha running off to yell at Maki, while Senko confronts Honjo. We cut from Akiyoshi slapping Maki across the face… to Honjo, who has caught Senko’s hand before she could slap him. It’s a nice sign of growth.

I really feel this is where the series starts to get good. Yes, it’s still a bit scattered compared to her later works, but there’s a lot to love here. Recommended.