I Hate You More Than Anyone! Volume 2

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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.

I Hate You More Than Anyone 2 continues to develop its various plotlines. We get more scenes with Kazuha’s brother Chizuru, and notice that there’s something troubling him that he can’t quite talk about with her. Well, he does try at one point, but Kazuha is so wrapped up in her own love issues that she doesn’t notice. Maki gets a ‘love rival’ as we meet Arata Honjo, who has fallen in love with Kazuha without actually meeting her. And Kazuha and Senko have definitely gone from rivals to best friends in this volume, which makes things even more difficult as they’re both after the same guy.

One thing that is both a strength and weakness of this manga is how you can really see the gears turning in Hidaka-san’s head, as she figures out where she wants to go with things. On the downside, if she had an outline it’s pretty clearly been crumpled up by now, as much of this reads as if she’s writing on the fly from week to week. (As I’ve noted earlier, those reading IHYMTA alongside V.B. Rose will note the difference between a beginner and a veteran.) On the upside, it lends an energy and verve to the title, which feels like it might careen out of control but never does so, mostly as we are following Kazuha’s exhausting mood swings.

Maki has settled down in this volume, realizing he went too far with the kiss at the end of Volume 1 and trying to pull back a bit. And now that Kazuha has admitted (to herself) her feelings for him, the title is not quite as accurate as it once could have been. I was also very amused at Arata Honjo’s intro, as he’s clearly set up to be the other guy who won’t get anywhere, but the author is aware of it; everyone enjoys pointing out in this series how pointless his crush on Kazuha is. And, naturally, we get him fondling her as he tries to tell by her small chest if she’s really a girl. Good to see some manga classics never get old.

My favorite part of the manga is how Kazuha deals with realizing that she’s in love with Maki, who Senko also has feelings for. It’s very realistic; she handles it horribly, trying to hide things and pretend that there’s nothing between them. Since Kazuha is one of the most transparent characters in all of manga, this doesn’t work out very well. Notably, she has to be kicked in the butt by both her friend Asako (who tells Senko everything) *and* by Arata, who points out that hiding your crush merely hurts the friend more. Her heart to heart with Senko at the end of the volume doesn’t resolve things, but it feels real.

And then there’s Arata’s older brother, Tohru Honjo. He only has one scene in this volume, so I don’t want to go into his character as much now, saving it for future volumes. I note that the moment we see him he manages to project an aura of ‘cool’ – genuine cool, rather than just trying to be cool. He’s easily the character who sees the most and recognizes the contortions all the others are going through. And right away, he meddles, trying to move Kazuha and Maki closer together. His meddling is very honest and upfront (necessary considering the cluelessness of his friends), and doesn’t seem mean or cheap, the way it often does in manga. He’s a great addition to the cast. He also has bedroom eyes (called ‘droopy eyes’ here). I love any character with bedroom eyes.

Best gag in the volume – Momoka teaming up with the rest of the family to whack Kazuha with a magazine and then blame it on Ichihisa. I love seeing scenes of this huge family, because they feel so real.

The art is messy, there’s tiny little side comments everywhere, and following Kazuha’s ups and downs can be literally exhausting. But I still love this series. If I recall, Volume 3 also kicks more plots into high gear. Stay tuned…

Fairy Tail Volume 9

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By Hiro Mashima. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Del Rey.

I enjoy Fairy Tail. It has fun characters, good action sequences, and an intriguing backstory. This volume wraps up the Guild War arc we’ve had for a few books, and shows Lucy rejecting her father and siding with the Guild. This is probably the strongest scene in the volume, and gives Lucy a nice chance to shine.

In fact, the whole volume is Lucy-dominated, as she also is a big part of the other plot, dealing with fellow Guild Member Loke and why he’s been avoiding Lucy. The answer to that is not quite a surprise, per se, but it’s handled well, and gives us a good idea of what Lucy’s keys are like with the wrong person wielding them.

I’m also fond of the goofy humor in the series. Natsu is, of course, always there for some silliness. But it’s nice to see Erza, a badass warrior maiden who should be a stoic sort, getting involved in pillow fights of destruction and trying to make it on the stage (despite her acting sucking rocks.) It gives us a more human side to her.

In the end, though, Fairy Tail has a couple of big flaws. It’s getting better at avoiding this, but it’s hard to read this manga without the spectre of One Piece over its head. To be fair, this is because they’re both shonen manga with similar tropes, and almost all shonen manga have groups of friends banding together to battle enemies, befriending those enemies, and getting stronger. But there’s still a sense that this is Kodansha’s attempt to get a One Piece of its own. Originality is not part of the draw here. (To be fair, judging by popularity in Japan and the recent anime, Kodansha may have succeeded in getting its own One Piece.)

Another problem I have is with simple memorability. I enjoy Fairy Tail while I read it, but it doesn’t stick with me as much as a One Piece or Negima does. We’re only 9 volumes in, and the character sheet is already unwieldy. Even Negima, with its class of 31 girls, rolled them out a bit more slowly. It can be hard to keep track of everything, and I find myself having to reread the previous volume when a new one comes out to jog my memory.

Still, in the end this is a fun, action-filled manga with lots of humor and fighting, and of course The Power Of Friendship. If you want a typical shonen manga, and not in a derogatory way, Fairy Tail is an excellent purchase.

A Tale Of An Unknown Country Volume 2

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By Natsuna Kawase. Released in Japan as “Shiranai Kuni No Monogatari” by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine LaLa. Released in North America by CMX.

In the second volume of this short shoujo series, our hero and heroine are already together, so what’s keeping the plot going? Why, the approval of their family, of course! When you’re royals, things are bound to be more complicated.

There’s some nice character development here, particularly of Reynol. He’s right in that he’s closed off and not able to read people well, but at least he’s trying. In fact, the open communication and trust between him and Rosemarie is very refreshing, and one of the series’ strongest points. In a market dominated by characters hearing rumors, misunderstanding, and overreacting, it’s lovely to see a couple actually think.

We meet Reynol’s brother and mother here, and they’re both interesting, though it does lead into the manga’s main flaw. Everyone except the lead couple in this seem to be Machiavellian schemers. Prince Grayle plots to see why Reynol has opened his heart to Marie; Grayle’s not-quite-girlfriend plots because, well, that seems to be what she does; Reynol’s mother outplots both of them and keeps her true motives secret from even her eldest son; and of course Rosemarie’s brother is still manipulating her as he was doing in Volume 1. To be fair, they’re all rather upfront about it, but it can still be rather exhausting.

This volume also contains two unrelated short stories. They’re the author’s first two manga stories ever, and aren’t as good as the main feature. But they do offer an opportunity to show how she’s grown.

Overall, this is a cute manga with appealing main characters and a nice romance plot. And, as it’s rated E for Everyone, you can happily give it to your kids, provided you don’t mind explaining why every character seems to have eight ulterior motives each.