High School Debut #11 – I have to say, I didn’t really care for the storyline about the mean fat girl who tried to come between Haruna and Yoh. Other aspects of this volume continued to be adorable, so that offset the storyline I didn’t care for very much. Haruna decides to invite Yoh on an overnight trip for his birthday, completely unaware that she might be implying that their relationship is going to be consummated. I like the way this series circles back to the characters earlier behavior. Once Haruna realizes what is going on, she decides to consult her old standby of reference material for relationship advice – magazines. After reading comments from boys in magazines she is grimly determined to see the overnight trip through. The expressions on her face as she talks to Yoh about the trip are priceless.

Nana #18 – I don’t tend to write about Nana very much, because I think it would just lead to an endless parade of entries that would say “Nana is still one of the best manga being published today,” and month after month that might end up being a little wearying. That being said, I never thought that I’d feel that much sympathy for Takumi as a character, but volume 18 almost made me feel for him when he displayed what appeared to be genuine remorse after what happened to Shin. The time-shifting storylines make me intrigued to find out what is ultimately going to happen to Nana O, and her situation in the future seems more poignant when she is just starting to demonstrate greater signs of self-awareness and sensitivity to how her actions may effect the people surrounding her. I really wish I had the time to go back and reread the series from the beginning. 18 volumes is long enough that I’m starting to get a little hazy about some of the earlier plot details.