Tag Archives: shoujo

Natsume’s Book of Friends

Natsume’s Book of Friends Volume 1 by Yuki Midorikawa

I always tend to like manga about yokai or spirit hunters, especially when they incorporate interesting storylines and unexpected character designs. Natsume’s Book of Friends seems like a great addition to the yokai genre of manga. Natsume is a boy who was passed around from relative to relative after his parents died. People didn’t want to get close to him because he acted strangely due to his visions of sprits. As a teen Natsume is living with a new family and has just transferred to a new school. Yokai hound him, calling him “Reiko.” Natsume runs away to a nearby shrine where he meets a powerful spirit who has taken the form of a lucky cat statue. Natsume discovers that his grandmother Reiko had the same abilities as him, except she used to beat up Yokai when she was lonely. She captured their names in a book which gave her power over them. Natsume has now inherited this “Book of Friends” and he has the power to release the captured yokai by munching down on the page that contains their names and exhaling. Natsume calls the cat Nyanko Sensei and they strike a slightly ominous bargain. The cat will aid Natsume as he attempts to give the names back, but if Natsume dies unexpectedly the cat will inherit the book and its power.

I always enjoy seeing different illustrations of yokai. Midorikawa’s illustrations range from delicate to surreal. Some of the spirits look almost human and signal their otherworldliness by wearing masks or fabric over their faces. Others have cyclops eyes or long hair that almost covers their bodies. Nyanko Sensei’s usual form may be that of a lucky cat, but is actual appearance as a giant feline spirit reveals his true power. I enjoyed the developing relationship between Nyanko and Natsume. Nyanko keeps commenting about Natsume’s weakness as he expends energy in giving back the yokai their autonomy. Nyanko threatens to consume Natsume, but I think he secretly enjoys having a human companion to boss around. The rural setting of the manga gives it a pastoral feel, as Natsume is often being chased through forests or finding shrines in a field.

My favorite stories in the collection explored the connection between yokai and humans. A tiny shrine spirit who wears a noh mask has shrunk as his worshipers have died off or lost faith. Only a sick old woman named Hana still makes offerings at his shrine. The spirit comments “I’ve always felt that humans were such sweet creatures.” I always think it is a good sign in a first manga volume when it concludes on a strong story. By far my favorite story in Natsume’s Book of Friends was the final one, about the spirit of a swallow who wants to visit a man who helped her when she was a fledgling. Natsume ends up playing fairy godmother to the swallow’s Cinderella, as he enters a yokai contest to win a special kimono that will allow her to take human form for one night and visit the man that she has cherished in her memory for twenty years.

I thought it was refreshing that Natsume’s Book of Friends was published under the Shojo Beat imprint. It isn’t about high school romance, and it has a boy as a main character! I’d like to see the human aspect of Natsume’s life explored more in future volumes. There were brief glimpses of him falling asleep in school and the perplexed reactions of his classmates, but it looks like Natsume might be inching towards making more friends who aren’t yokai. I’m going to be on the lookout for the next volume of this series. This manga would be a good pick for fans of Mushishi or Dokebi Bride.


Review copy provided by the publisher

St. Dragon Girl

St. Dragon Girl, Volume 1 by Natsumi Matsumoto

This cute fantasy/martial arts manga is a good choice for the younger set. I seem to remember this title getting a few lukewarm reviews on other manga blogs. While St. Dragon Girl might not be for everyone, it will be a great title to check out for younger teens or anyone in touch with their inner 12 year old.

Momoka is the heir to a martial arts dojo. Ryuga is her childhood friend who happens to be a master of magic. Together, they fight crime! Momoka and Ryuga maintain the pretense that they are platonic friends, but there is obviously something going on under the surface. Momoka enjoys beating up peeping toms. Ryuga throws around paper spells like a dedicated litterbug. When a Serpent King threatens to make Ryuga’s cousin and Momoka’s friend Shunran his bride, Ryuga summons a dragon. The spell goes wrong and the dragon spirit possesses Momoka’s body, thus giving her access to incredible power. Ryuga and Momoka team up to fight an assortment of mystical beings.

I don’t expect super-enlightened gender politics in shoujo manga, but it was a little disappointing that for someone who is supposed to be a competent martial artist, Momoka needs to be rescued by Ryuga so often. Also, Ryuga controls Momoka’s access to the dragon’s power by sealing up the spirit that possesses her body so she can only draw on the dragon when he releases it. These quibbles aside, St. Dragon Girl is filled with lighthearted fantasy fun as the duo team up to fight demon cats, unexpected relatives, and a teacher with hypnotic powers. As Momoka and Ryuga spend more time together, their romantic relationship begins to progress.

Matsumoto’s art reminds me of a slightly less detailed version of Arina Tanemura’s style. Everyone has big sparkling eyes. Ryuga is Chinese, and Matsumoto uses this as an excuse to give the characters Chinese-influenced costumes. I thought some of the fight sequences were a little muddled, but the flow of events throughout the manga is clear and easy to follow. I’m glad I sampled this manga, but I don’t think I’m hooked enough to want to sign on for 8+ volumes of the series. There’s not a whole lot of dramatic tension, because Ryuga and Momoka clearly like each other so much. I’m guessing that a series of wacky events and misunderstandings will conspire to prevent them from really dating until the series wraps up. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to a 12-13 year girl old wanting to read something fun. This book is rated for teens, but there’s very little objectionable content in it, just some teasing about bra sizes and some kissing scenes.

Alice in the Country of Hearts

Alice in the Country of Hearts Volume 1 by QuinRose and Soumei Hoshino

As I was reading Alice in the Country of Hearts I started wondering if it was an adaptation of a dating simulation game. Alice Liddell is transported to a Wonderland filled with beautiful boys who all seem to want to fall in love with her. But would Japan really turn this classic work of English literature into a romance game filled with bishonen? They sure did!

In this version of Wonderland, the white rabbit is a cute guy with spectacles and rabbit ears who decides to toss Alice down a rabbit hole and force her to drink a mysterious liquid by kissing her. He introduces himself as Peter White and says that he is in love with her. Alice is not amused at her first kiss being stolen from her and vows not to acknowledge it. Peter announces that since Alice drank the medicine, she has “to play the game.” He leaves and Alive begins to explore. As she wanders around the strange world she discovers that Wonderland is split into three factions, with a neutral clock tower in the center. Julius runs the clock tower, and he provides Alice with background information about Wonderland and the game she must play. The empty medicine bottle begins to fill up as Alice interacts more with the Wonderland inhabitants. When it is full again she might be able to go home. The warring areas of Wonderland include the Hatter mansion, which serves as a hideout for the local mafia and is guarded by a pair of twins. The man in the hat is Blood Dupre who looks suspiciously like someone from Alice’s past. An amusement park run by a man with an unfortunate name and the Castle of the Queen of Hearts completes the geography of this altered Wonderland.

There is always something a little shallow about manga that adapts dating simulation games. Perhaps because of the nature of the source material it is all too obvious which characters are matched up with stereotypical traits. There’s the dangerous one, the stupid but sweet one, the enthusiastic one, etc. The plot is really secondary to the parade of hot guys. The costumes in the manga are a cosplayer’s dream. Alice’s striped socks, ruffles, and hairbow are very cute, and I appreciated the attention to detail in the costumes of the male characters. Everyone seems to have several pocket watches pinned in various places on their person, and there are plenty of tiny heart, club, diamond, and spade motifs that remind the reader of a pack of cards. Unfortunately while the costumes are elaborate and the backgrounds are attractive in Alice in the Country of Hearts, the character designs and execution don’t approach the levels of hotness that I would need to read the manga for eye candy alone.

There were two things in the manga that did capture my interest. One was that Alice is aware that the whole adventure is a projection of her unconscious, and she isn’t too happy with the quality of her imagination or her own emotional neediness. Alice meets a man named Nightmare when she goes to sleep in Wonderland and she asks “On what planet would everyone trip over themselves for me? I guess my subconscious is as stupid as this world.” She finds the rules of Wonderland disturbing because she assumes her mind is creating them and nothing makes sense. When Alice thinks about the fairy tale Heart Castle and frilly clothes she’s wearing, she wonders if she secretly craves them, and concludes “this is the most humiliating way to explore my subconscious. I hope I wake up soon.” If this aspect of the story is followed up on in future volumes, it has the potential to be interesting.

The other aspect of the manga that I thought I’d like to see explored further is the stark difference between the characters in Wonderland who seem to have agency and those who do not. All of the male characters who seem to be about to fall in love with Alice (and Vivaldi, the Queen of Hearts) are characters called “ones with duties,” people who have a function in Wonderland. The soldiers and servants are drawn with less detail in their faces and are effectively disposable props, speaking to Alice’s cry in the original source material “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”

So as a dating sim version of Alice in Wonderland, I found Alice in the Country of Hearts interesting since Alice is aware of her dream and offering her own internal commentary on the ridiculousness of her situation. I’m hoping that this aspect of the story is explored more in volume 2, because I probably won’t be as interested in reading the series if it is only an endless parade of Wonderland hunks.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Karikuri Odette Volume 2



Karakuri Odette Volume 2 by Julietta Suzuki

I tend to follow a two volume rule when evaluating a manga series. I’ve often found that I ended up enjoying a series after reading the second volume even if I had vaguely lukewarm feelings about the first. I think that sometimes due to the way manga publishing works authors often don’t know that they’ve been picked up for a full series until after they’ve produced four or five chapters. I can’t point to specific examples, but I remember reading plenty of author notes in second volumes that refer to this situation. On the other hand, sometimes I’ll pick up a second volume with a little bit of trepidation because I’m afraid it won’t live up to the potential of the first volume. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I enjoyed the first volume of Karakuri Odette so much, I was afraid that the second volume wouldn’t be as good. Fortunately my fears were unrealized.

I love the small defining character moments in this series. Although Odette is a newly born android she has a strong personality, which she will express in unexpected ways like telling her professor that she wants to take a specific backup battery with her to school because she put a bear sticker on it yesterday. I enjoy the episodic nature of this manga. The stories are little vignettes that serve to illustrate the subtle ways Odette is learning about human behavior. In the first story a new classmate is smitten by Odette but is warned off by the school bully Asao, who knows Odette’s secret and acts as her protector. The assassin android Chris Seven is remade by the professor, so Odette has a friend who is just like her. Odette’s personality is more fully developed. She’s able to decide what she likes and dislikes, while Chris is confused at how she can so quickly make a decision when they go shopping for clothes.

Chris decides to accompany Odette to school too, and he’s introduced as Odette’s cousin who hasn’t fully recovered from a serious illness. All the girls want to talk to Chris, but the only person he seems to like is Odette. In the meantime, Odette explores the meaning of “tasty” as she struggles to put together a bento box for Asao. An android-android-human love triangle seems to be the way this manga might be heading, but since the stories focus on small moments like playing a board game at a sleepover or Odette’s fascination with nail polish, romance definitely takes a backseat to the main theme of a quirky android slowly discovering her humanity. Odette’s facial expressions have become more emotional, and the reintroduction of Chris provides a contrast since he’s more of a blank slate.

For me, this series is now firmly in the category of “feel good manga.” Odette’s personality is naive in the best way, because she doesn’t make assumptions about people or the world around her. Seeing her slowly discover how to act human and her delight in learning how to relate to people makes for a reading experience that is very satisfying. I put down this volume in a better mood than I was when I picked it up, and I don’t think there’s much more you need to ask for from your manga than that.

Portrait of M and N


Portrait of M and N Volume 1 by Higuchi Tachibana

This is a series I was intrigued by when I read the solicitation in Previews. The relationship between a masochist and a narcissist seemed like it would be a little different than most shoujo series. While the premise might seem engagingly weird the execution left the story with some predictable plot elements.

At this point I have read many manga that start out with the protagonist entering high school and just wanting a “happy normal school life.” As soon as this happens you know that wacky things will be afoot that will cause said protagonist to suffer more in high school then they have ever suffered before. The protagonist might be dealing with aliens, reincarnation, a pushy witch, a student council with strange hierarchical rules, or in the case of Portrait of M and N’s Mitsuru struggling to hide her extreme masochism.

Mitsuru’s family is proper and upper class. They warn her not to be the subject of unwarranted attention like before as she prepares to face her first day of high school. Natsuhiko is another student at her school with a dark secret, and the couple are destined to be thrown together. Natsuhiko bumps into Mitsuru and his coke-bottle lens glasses slip off, revealing a beautiful face. Mitsuru thinks he looks just like her favorite character in a story she’s reading. Mitsuru and Natsuhiko run into each other when they are hiding out in a classroom to avoid having lunch with their classmates. Natsuhiko accidentally overturns a desk on Mitsuru and her reaction is to beg him to injure her more before she passes out. Natsuhiko doesn’t act repulsed by Mitsuru’s revelation and when she wakes up in the nurse’s office and talks to him some more she thinks that she might have found a true friend. Mitsuru subsequently observes Natsuhiko’s dark secret too. When his glasses are knocked off and he catches a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror, he just wants to stare at his own beauty all day long.

Mitsuru and Natsuhiko’s relationship develops in a halting fashion. She’s sure of her feelings for him, but Natsuhiko’s self-involvement is an effective barrier. They both owe their psychological issues to severe family problems. The second boy (there always is a second boy, isn’t there?) is Hijiri, an upperclassman who learns Mitsuru’s secret and blackmails her into spending time with him. The plot lines revolve around the couple’s dread of discovery by their classmates and some mean antics by some girls who are jealous of the attention that Mitsuru seems to be receiving from boys. I haven’t read Higuchi’s other series Gakuen Alice which I think was published more recently but the art in Portrait of M and N reminded me a little bit of Banri Hidaka’s work, especially the somewhat spiky bangs on most of the characters. The front pages for many of the chapters have a slight gothic feel, which I wish was carried over more into the main illustrations.

My ideal ending for this manga would be for Mitsuru and Natsuhiko to just embrace their weirdness. Perhaps Mitsuru could hold up a mirror for Natsuhiko to gaze upon himself as he beats her up and they could both live happily ever after. Unfortunately I’m guessing that their relationship will prompt a return to happy normalcy, with the most interesting aspects of their personality erased. I wasn’t too happy at the way Mitsuru just seemed to be passive about being passed back and forth between her two suitors. I’m interested enough in the outcome to stick around for volume two, even though this manga wasn’t as weird or kinky as its premise suggested.

Tokyopop Ongoing Series – Maid Sama, V.B Rose, and INVU

Maid Sama Volume 3 by Hiro Fujiwara

While Maid Sama might not reach the heights of other new shoujo series from Tokyopop like Shinobi Life or Karakuri Odette, it continues to be a fun if very lightweight read. School President Misaki’s secret job at a maid cafe is almost revealed during a cosplay race at school, but the suave Usui comes to the rescue as always. Other problems in the third volume of Maid Sama include Misaki’s difficulties portraying other aspects of moe culture and Usui’s struggle to come up with a color to assign to her for a power ranger/fighting maid day. There are small glimpses of character development as the reader learns that Usui’s admiration of Misaki comes from seeing her try so hard in everything she does in contrast to the way he seems to be able to pick up things easily without being truly challenged. Things take a serious turn towards the end of the volume as a saboteur begins to threaten Misaki’s hard work with the student council.

I think one of my favorite aspects of the book are the full-panel drawings included at the beginning of each chapter. Misaki springs into action as Usui is dressed like Rambo in the background with a knife clenched between his teeth. Usui perches on a throne as a king with his crown at a jaunty angle. An accident at school turns Usui into a parody of a soaking-wet romance novel cover model. There were plenty of comedic outtakes with the trio of useless students who worship Misaki in her maid persona as well.

Misaki’s determination to be the best at what she does begins to extend to her job at the maid cafe when one of her co-workers accuses her of not taking the job seriously. I’m wondering if Misaki’s relentlessness will cause her to burn out so I’m hoping that she manages to take a vacation or rest day before the end of the manga.

VB Rose Volume 7 by Banri Hidaka

I previously enjoyed the first two volumes of this series about a girl and her adventures working at a bridal boutique. I intend to pick up the intervening volumes eventually, but I decided to go ahead and sample volume seven.

A “will they or won’t they” storyline can be hard to pull off compellingly. Seven volumes in and Ageha and boutique owner Arisaka are aware of their feelings for each other, but neither of them know for sure how each other feels. The age difference between Ageha and her much older boyfriend may cause some readers to worry, but I’m guessing the romance won’t actually start until after Ageha has graduated high school. The group at the boutique have a birthday celebration and Arisaka has too much to drink, leaning in and vomiting on Ageha after getting too close to her. She’s relieved to see a less than smooth side of Arisaka, since he always seems so perfect.

Arisaka is just getting ready to work up the courage to tell Ageha how he feels when a couple of developments take place that keep the would-be couple apart. Ageha finds out that the standoffish corsage maker Kana is Ageha’s ex-girlfriend. She isn’t sure how to react at the revelation that another woman is part of the inner circle of VB Rose. Ageha’s friend Nat always shows up just when she needs him to walk her home. She’s suddenly aware that he’s been growing up too, and Nat isn’t happy with the way Ageha always seems to be sad when she thinks about her feelings for Arisaka.

The clean lines and deceptive simplicity of Hidaka’s art have really grown on me. She adds plenty of details to the precious fashion creations of the characters, but some of my favorite panels in this manga were the ones where she just focused on Ageha and Arisaka’s facial expressions as they reacted to the new emotional tension that has settled between them. Arisaka’s partner Mitsu keeps the budding romance from being overly sweet, as he gleefully lurks in the background to observe his new favorite soap opera. The major strength of VB Rose is the interplay between the characters. The boutique workplace setting gives it a different feeling than most other shoujo manga, and it is fun seeing Ageha enjoy perfecting her craft, struggle with her feelings, and have fun with her co-workers. If the story and humor continue to develop as they were in this volume I’m definitely going to look forward to the next seven volumes of this manga and I won’t be resentful that the series is fourteen volumes long.

INVU Volume 5 by Kim Kang Won

Ah, I feel a little bitter about this series because I really wish Tokyopop would bring back Queen’s Knight by the same author instead. But if it isn’t selling, I guess I can understand why. I’ve actually read all four volumes of INVU, but I gave/traded them away because I thought that the rest of the series would never be published. I wished I still had the older volumes to skim through before picking up the fifth. There was a character guide and plot synopsis in the front of the book, which was quite handy.

As I was reading this I was struck that the wild soap-opera type plots would make this manhwa perfect for the Korean dama fan. Hali is in love with her teacher, forced to dress like her dead brother by her insane and abusive mother, and just starting to make her way in the fashion world as a model. In contrast with all the drama surrounding Hali, the more low key story lines of the supporting cast serve to ground the narrative a little bit. Sey and Siho’s halting progress towards romance may have reached a breakthrough point by the end of the volume, as Siho shares information about his childhood with Sei. Aspiring model Rea may achieve more success by working as a stylist.

INVU is disposable fun, but the hints of a conspiracy centered around Hali’s teacher introduce a darker theme that is much needed with all the fashion world antics. I am noticing that most of the parents in this book are either absent, insane, or controlling which ensures plenty of drama to come for the cast of teenagers.

Review copies provided by the publisher

Itazura Na Kiss

Itazura Na Kiss Volume 1 by Kaoru Tada

Itazura Na Kiss is an influential shoujo series. While some of the plot elements might seem cliched, that is because it was published in the 1990s and influenced many titles that came after it. I’m happy to see some old-fashioned shoujo get translated, so I selected this book as my first manga to read in the new year.

Kotoko Aihara’s school sorts people into classes by academic ability. She’s in the lowest category, Class F. While she doesn’t care much about academics, she has the misfortune of falling in love with a boy from the academically gifted Class A. Naoki Irie is a genius with a photographic memory and an acidic personality. When Kotoko tries to give Naoki a letter that confesses her feelings he refuses to read it! He comments that he doesn’t like “stupid women,” ensuring that Kotoko has the sympathy of her entire class. She’s crushed, but the situation gets even worse when her new house collapses in an earthquake and her father announces that they’re going to move in with his old friend Iri-chan, who just happens to have a son who goes to Kotoko’s school.

It isn’t a big surprise that Naoki and Kotoko are now sharing the same house! Naoki continues to be as off-putting as ever. Kotoko still has feelings for him, but one of the things that makes Itazura Na Kiss interesting is that she isn’t content to be a simple doormat. Kotoko’s personality type of an attractive, bumbling girl with a lot of heart is very familiar to anyone who reads a lot of shoujo manga. But Kotoko does take initiative to get what she wants. Naoki’s mother decides to show Kotoko pictures of Naoki as a young boy and armed with incriminating evidence, Kotoko blackmails Naoki into becoming her tutor. She’s determined to become the first person from class F to get her name on the list of top 100 students and with Naoki’s help she succeeds. Her pleasure in the achievement isn’t her own academic success but seeing her name included with Naoki’s on the same list even though they are separated by 98 other people.

Naoki’s cool mannerisms and occasional casual cruelty could make him be a bit hard to take. But it is interesting to see the thaw in his personality as he spends more time with Kotoko. While misfortune might trail in her wake it has an effect on him as Naoki begins to experience some unexpected emotions that shake up his world like test anxiety.

The supporting cast in Itazura Na Kiss is hilarious. Kotoko’s father is a hard-working chef. Naoki’s mother has longed for a daughter for so long, she greets Kotoko with a room that is decorated with enough pink ruffles to make a princess puke. Naoki’s little brother Yuuki wants to be as much like Naoki as possible and he resents the feminine interloper in his house. He channels his feelings by treating Kotoko like a lab experiment, observing her and documenting all her behavior in a notebook. Kotoko has another suitor in the form of Kin-chan, a fellow student from Class F whose main goal is to marry Kotoko at any cost despite her vigorous protests.

I’m glad DMP decided to take a chance in releasing some classic shoujo that might not fit with what most modern readers expect from manga. The art in Itazura Na Kiss might seem unattractive to a modern shoujo fan, but I liked the loose sketchbook quality of Tada’s illustrations. I hope this series does well enough for DMP for them to release all 12 oversized volumes as planned. This series is a must read for any serious shoujo fan who wants to appreciate the history of the genre.

Name of the Flower Volume 3

The Name of the Flower Volume 3 by Ken Saito

One of the many things I like about this series is the way the point of view will sometimes shift from character to character, giving the reader a chance to get to know the supporting cast a little better by seeing their inner thoughts. The third volume of this series shifts the focus to the cheerful and ever persistent editor Akiyama. We see the origins of his friendship with the moody author Kei when they were in college. The relationship between Kei and Chouko hits a crisis point as Kei abruptly leaves to be by himself, sending Chouko into a deep depression. A woman from Kei and Aikiyama’s past threatens to make the situation even worse.

There’s a turning point for the series in this volume, as the reader finally learns about Kei’s family history and the reasons why he struggles with relationships. The next volume is the concluding one, and I’m curious to see if there will be a happy ending for the moody couple of Kei and Chouko. While it is obvious that they find happiness with each other when they let themselves,they are both so emotionally unstable in their own ways and I’m not sure if a relationship that seems to be based somewhat on mutual dependency is going to work out. Despite the almost overwhelming moodiness of the plot, there are small moments that bring light and happiness to the characters. Chouko contemplates her garden, and her friends from school visit her.

Part of me wants someone to grab the main characters by the shoulders and give them a good shaking and a prescription for Prozac. But if that happened, that would take away from the moody charm of the book which has one of the best portrayals of inner darkness and despair I’ve read in a manga.

We Were There Volumes 2-5


We Were There by Yuki Obata

Most of the time I tend to read series as they come out. With We Were There, I bought the first volume, liked it, and meant to get around to reading the other volumes eventually. I was happy to be able to dive in and wallow in drama, reading four volumes of this series in one day. We Were There starts out seeming like a fairly conventional high school romance, as Nanami begins to fall for her new classmate Yano. By the end of the first volume the reader knows there is plenty of pathos ahead, as it is revealed that Yano hasn’t yet recovered from the death of his ex-girlfriend, named Nana. To make the situation more complicated, Yano’s ex was also cheating on him at the time of her death. When Nanami tells Yano that she likes him and asks if he’ll be able to return her feelings, he simply says “I don’t know.”

We Were There Volume 2

Nanami misses Yano during summer break. He’s ditching rehearsals for their class play, so she’s not even running into him at school. She dresses up in a yukata for a summer festival, but just runs into Yano’s best friend Takeuchi. He tells her that the anniversary of Nana’s death has just passed. Nanami realizes that she’s just been trapped in her own mind and not seeing Yano’s point of view. Takeuchi tells her that Yano needs someone like her who is happy and cheerful to be around him, and snaps a picture of Nanami with his cellphone. Nana visits Yano at his house and tells him that she’ll always be there for him.

Nana’s younger sister Yuri Yanamoto is in Yano and Nanami’s class at school. Yano and Yuri occasionally have brief, silent, emotionally charged moments hinting that there’s something between them, even if it is only sharing dealing with the impact of the same person’s death. Yuri is able to comment on Yano’s irresponsible behavior and he doesn’t use his usual comebacks when talking to her. A flashback scene shows Nana when she was alive; capricious, somewhat stupid, and with horrible taste in men. The younger Yano decides to rescue her from her abusive boyfriend.

Nanami and Yano grow closer, and he announces that he likes her. They start going out, but with Yano still haunted by the specter of his dead girlfriend and Nanami seeming to think if she loves Yano enough she’ll save him from himself I have a feeling they have a rough road ahead of them.


We Were There Volume 3

Yano and Nanami start to adjust to their new relationship. They try to figure out what type of Christmas present to buy each other. Nana asks Takeuchi to help her find a present that Yano will like, but their planned shopping trip has the potential to turn disastrous thanks to Yano’s heightened sense of betrayal and jealousy. Yano decides to secretly follow Nanami as she waits for Takeuchi in a shopping district, but he only observes her take a phone call – Takeuchi isn’t meeting her because he thinks Yano will be happiest with a present that Nanami picks out all for herself. Events like this make me think that heartbreak will soon visit Nanami and Yano, because if a simple shopping trip can be the source of so much unspoken tension it doesn’t bode well for them being able to navigate relationship problems in the future. Nanami heads off on her shopping trip and later runs into Takeuchi. He’s come to check up on her after all, but he refuses to go get tea with her. I have a feeling that Takeuchi is holding himself back because he has a better idea of what Yano’s reaction would be if he found out that his best friend and girlfriend were spending time together without him. Yano stares at the scene between the two with a blank look on his face while Nanami thinks that Takeuchi is kind as she watches him walk away.

While Christmas ends up passing without incident, Nanami overhears a conversation between Yano and Yanamoto that makes her even more suspicious that something happened between them. Takeuchi isn’t much help. When Nanami confronts Yano, saying that he made her promise that there’d be no secrets between them, he changes the subject and brushes her off. My sense of impending doom grows even more.

We Were There Volume 4

Nanami and Yano run into difficulties when they try to physically consummate their relationship. Going to each other’s houses after school isn’t going to work out, so they decide to save up their money so they can go somewhere to be alone. Nana comes across a photo in Yamamoto’s book – a group picture that includes Yano. She doesn’t have time to replace the photo in Yamamoto’s book and later Yano finds the photo again in Nanami’s notebook. He returns the photo to Yamamoto and comments to Nanami “Only a lowlife would snoop around, don’t you think?”

Nanami senses the anger underneath Yano’s cheerful facade, and he’s enraged even more when Nanami gives Takeuchi a goofy cellphone strap as a joke birthday present. Nanami confronts him, and he says she can’t understand him because she’s never had someone betray her. They make up, spending time looking up at the night sky. Yano is desperately clinging on to their relationship and Nanami forgives him again and again. Yamamoto confronts Yano about the day Nana died by visiting him at his house when Nanami is there. Nanami is tired of all his secrets when he’s made her promise not to hide anything from him. As Nanami and Yano walk on the beach together, it is clear that he isn’t over Nana, and for all his efforts to throw himself into a relationship with Nanami he isn’t able to truly love her.

One of the things that I like about Nanami is even while she is exhibiting some remarkably co-dependent behavior, when things get really bad she does stand up for herself. She hasn’t really been in a relationship before and her first boyfriend is charming, popular, and comes with an incredible amount of unprocessed pain and trauma. Although she keeps asking herself if love is enough to make them happy, when confronted with Yano’s feelings that remain for Nana she decides she has to end things.


We Were There Volume 5

Breaking up with Yano isn’t so easy after all because everyone at school wants to know what the problem is. Nanami is hounded by questions. Takeuchi cheers her up by taking her to visit some puppies that he’s taken in after they were abandoned. Yano is badgered to going on a group date, but just sits there silently. When someone tries to delete a picture of Nanami from his cellphone, he reacts frantically by trying to get Takeuchi to send him the picture again. Takeuchi and Nanami begin to spend more time together, but Yano tells Nanami that he won’t accept that they’ve broken up. Everyone goes through the motions of preparing for the school festival.

One of the things I like about We Were There is the way the characters seem fully human, with their own quirks and emotional baggage. Too often, manga authors resort to stock character types, but Obata has really done the work in establishing each character’s unique personality. Even when We Were There seems it might be headed towards a stock plot, as Yano’s friend Takeuchi develops a crush on Nana, I was genuinely curious to see what would happen next.

There’s a certain amount of tension that the manga develops due to contrast between the adorable snub-nosed character designs and the anguish that the characters experience. I can’t help but compare We Were There to another another dramatic series, Sand Chronicles. Sand Chronicles seems to have a slightly more balanced story in terms of the range of emotions the reader experiences, with a few more light-hearted moments or pastoral interludes. Even when Yano and Nanami are seemingly happy, there’s still an underlying current of unease just because they are desperately trying to be happy together so much. No relationship can sustain that type of desperate effort. As a result, while I might consider Sand Chronicles to be a two hankie story, We Were There definitely requires four or five hankies. I think I’ll wait a bit more until more volumes are out, and lose myself in We Were There again whenever I feel like I need a healthy dose of drama and teen angst.

Rasetsu and Tail of the Moon Prequel

These two volumes are continuations of other series that I’ve enjoyed in the past, Yurara and Tail of the Moon. I was curious to see if these spin-off series were as enjoyable as the manga that inspired them.

Rasetsu Volume 1 by Chika Shiomi

For some reason it took me a long time to read this book. I kept picking it up, reading a few pages, and putting it down. While the story seemed to fit well as a continuation of Yurara, there was a certain amount of dramatic tension missing that I think I subconsiously expected from the previous series. Rasetsu is a woman who has a very familiar look to her – she resembles Yurara’s guardian spirit. Yako, the ghost hunter from the previous series is all grown up and when he goes to visit Rasetsu’s agency he is struck with her resemblance to the spirit he loved and lost.

He tags along on Rasetsu’s missions and is able to help out with his water-based powers that contain spirits. Rasetsu has a habit of powering up before exorcisms by eating an insane amount of sweets. She’s also possessed by an evil spirit who threatens to consume her forever if she doesn’t find her true love. There’s a certain amount of attraction between the outspoken and spunky Rasetsu and the stoic and somewhat antisocial Yako. He gets in trouble with the unfortunate suggestion that Rasetsu consume straight sugar instead of spending a fortune every week visiting cake shops. I’m probably going to buy the second volume of this series due to my residual fondness for Yako as a character, but I’m not finding Rasetsu nearly as entertaining as Yurara yet. I hope the second volume is better.

Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) by Rinko Ueda

The Hattori clan seems to have an odd habit of naming all their ninjas Hanzo. So while Hanzo Hattori and Usagi’s romance was detailed in Tail of the Moon, the other Hanzo(u) was the blond and womanizing Hanzou who was steadfastly in love with the ninja princess Sara despite his roving eyes. Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) gives readers a glimpse into the origin of the romance between Hanzou and Sara.

A girl named Kaguya has a case of horrible amnesia and a crescent shaped scar on her back. She was taken in by a brothel and works by cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children there. One day the infamous Hanzou visits the brothel. When he catches a glimpse of Kaguya he is curious about her and offers to pay for the time just to talk to her. He brings her a hair ornament and they begin to spend more time together. They fall in love. But their love is a forbidden one, because Kaguya is actually the ninja Sara from a rival ninja clan! She was sent to kill Hanzou’s master and nearly succeeded, except Hanzou wounded her in battle thus causing her amnesia. When Hanzou tells her the truth, she runs out into the woods, stunned that she’s actually his enemy.

Sara’s companion ninja Rikimaru locates her and with her lost memory activated she gets to work to fulfill the terms of her botched mission despite her desire not to cause harm to Hanzou. There’s never any doubt that these lovers will prevail somehow. A second story in the volume features Sara’s undercover mission where she almost marries Usagi’s Hanzo in order to retrieve a valuable recipe for gunpowder. I enjoyed reading about these secondary characters from Tail of the Moon. Ueda’s art features clear, crisp layouts that highlight both smooching and ninja action. This was a satisfying single volume, and while it doesn’t have the comedic antics of Tail of the Moon I think it would serve as a good introduction to Ueda’s work for people who might hesitate to pick up a multi-volume series.