Papillon Volume 4

I read the first three books of this series, and with the fourth book came a plot development so absurd I have decided to throw up my hands and just surrender to the crazy. Ageha is feeling insecure about her budding relationship with her guidance counselor and when she finds out that her twin sister Hana has come to Ichijiku for advice, her jealousy and insecurity goes into overdrive.

It turns out that Hana has her own issues to work on too. She feels inferior to Ageha, and always tests her boyfriends by dressing up as her sister and hitting on them. If the boyfriend resists Hana as Ageha, they’ll have passed. Unfortunately all of her boyfriends, including Ruysei are unable to resist when Hana dons her disguise. One of Ageha’s classmates announces that she has a mutant nose and can now tell when students have just had sex. When the sex detector girl announces that Hana and Ichijiku have the same smell, Ageha suspects the worst.

I’m not sure why I’m finding this series so appealing. The fact that Ageha is so hesitant about standing up for herself and that she’s basically dating a teacher aren’t plot elements that I generally find appealing. Hana is just twisted, and Ichijiku’s relentless flirting with anything in skirts doesn’t make him an admirable character either. But there’s something about Papillon that is compulsively readable. It is like Ueda has made a stew of vaguely unsavory ingredients and then sprinkled some hot steaming crack on top. I don’t think this manga is particularly good for me to read, but I’m hooked now and I can’t look away because I really want to know what happens next.