Teru Teru X Shonen: Volume 1 by Shigeru Takao (amazon)

Sometimes when I do my monthly DCBS manga order, I’ll throw in a first volume of a series randomly just to try out something new. Sometimes I luck out and find series that I really enjoy, and other times I end up with a dud. Teru Teru X Shonen is a dud. I thought this series about a girl in high school and her ninja protector might be cute, but it was just not very good.
This manga is a broad comedy, and while I understand that in comedies often the characters do not have a great subtly of characterization, every character here was so unsympathetic that I found the manga ore annoying than entertaining. Shinobu is just the type of girl I would have hated in high school She has long blond hair and an imperious manner that causes most of her classmates to find her incredibly annoying. She’s living under the cloud of a threat on her life, so isn’t it lucky that her childhood friend Saizou has shown up at her school after becoming a ninja? Shinobu’s idea of using Saizou’s ninja powers is to send him after a cat that stole her hair ribbon. Saizou is so besotted that he will do whatever Shinobu asks, while constantly calling her “Princess” and “My Lady.” Although he’s a ninja, he abhors violence; he takes off his glasses when fighting so he can’t see what he’s doing. I found him just as annoying as Shinobu due to his blind devotion to her, I would have hoped that a ninja might find something better to do.
The art for Teru Teru X Shonen is nice, with plenty of capably rendered fighting scenes. I just found the characters so annoying, I have no desire to read any more volumes of this series.