Manga Review: Otomen Vol. 13

There are many stories about tomboys, girls with boyish tendencies, but what about the opposite? In fact, what would you call a boy with girly interests? The manga answer is: Otomen!

For those unfamiliar with this series by Aya Kanno, “otomen” is a play on the Japanese word otome (乙女), meaning “young lady” or “mistress,” and the English word “men.” The plot centers around Asuka Masamune, the manliest guy in his high school.  However, he has a secret: the things he really loves are sweets, shojo manga, and sewing. He hides this part of his life from everyone until he meets Ryo Miyakozuka, the least feminine girl in school. Volume 13 of the series has just come out and you can read on for the review! (For those interested, you can click here for my reviews of earlier volumes).

Back Cover Blurb

Ryo ends up coaching a high school judo team, but women aren’t allowed at that school! She finds a way around this obstacle, but the real challenge comes when she finds herself facing off against… Asuka?!

The Review

With Asuka finally aware of his dad’s true identity, that leaves Kiyomi Masamune’s anti-otomen attitude and Asuka’s never-quite-dating relationship with Ryo as the main plot drivers for this series. In regard to the Asuka/Ryo romance, it’s been dragging for a while. In Volume 13′s opening chapter, even Ryo’s family expresses concern over the lack of progress between her and Asuka. For readers who’ve been feeling frustrated, Kanno-sensei finally delivers with a Ryo-centered arc in this volume.

The story’s set up to create tension between the couple when Ryo starts coaching judo at Odo Boys’ School but doesn’t tell Asuka. Yet despite Juta’s suspicions and the Odo team captain’s crush, you never really feel that Asuka’s relationship with Ryo is in any real danger, especially when Asuka immediately recognizes the “suspicious boy at Ryo’s house” to be Ryo herself, but it does push Asuka into mopey mode as he wonders if there’s truly anything between him and Ryo.

Ryo for the most part is oblivious–as usual–to the feelings of the men around her, but even she comes to the realization that her actions may have hurt Asuka’s feelings. The resolution is almost a parody of shonen “communicating through fists” with the two of them determined to “clash head-on” in the Odo-Ginyuri judo match. Fortunately for the romantics, a last-minute development changes the match from that of a couple wanting to work things out to a duel between boys interested in the same girl. And when Ryo finally does make up with Asuka, she does it in an unexpectedly romantic way. Sadly, Kanno-sensei cuts that scene short, keeping us from seeing Asuka’s response to Ryo’s Christmas gift, but she makes up for it with a Valentine’s Day chapter guaranteed to delight Asuka/Ryo fans.

In Summary

Finally, progress in Asuka’s relationship with Ryo! Kanno-sensei takes her time getting to it, working around a plot that has Ryo cross-dressing in order to coach a boys’ judo team, but readers get real confirmation of Ryo’s feelings toward Asuka at last. However, Ryo/Asuka fans will be even more thrilled with Asuka’s Valentine’s Day gift at the end of the volume!

First published at the Fandom Post.

Manga Review: Otomen Vol. 12

There are many stories about tomboys, girls with boyish tendencies, but what about the opposite? In fact, what would you call a boy with girly interests? The manga answer is: Otomen!

For those unfamiliar with this series by Aya Kanno, “otomen” is a play on the Japanese word otome (乙女), meaning “young lady” or “mistress,” and the English word “men.” The plot centers around Asuka Masamune, the manliest guy in his high school.  However, he has a secret: the things he really loves are sweets, shojo manga, and sewing. He hides this part of his life from everyone until he meets Ryo Miyakozuka, the least feminine girl in school. Volume 12 of the series has just come out and you can read on for the review! (For those interested in my review of Volume 11, click here.)

Back Cover Blurb

Secretly taking a baking class for men, Asuka is relieved that there’s a safe haven where he doesn’t need to hide his girly side from his anti-otomen mother. But when she finds out that he’s been attending this class, things get set to explode!

The Review

Teen romance takes a backseat in Otomen Volume 12. In fact, Ryo only shows up in a couple panels. Instead, the focus is on the mysterious pastry chef of Violet. The series has been hinting for a while at the connection between him and Asuka, but now we finally learn of their true relationship as well as that of Amakashi and a couple other characters.

The circumstances by which the chef comes to live with Asuka and his mother are a bit over-the-top, but once past that, the otomen bonding that takes place between the two is really, well, cute. Kanno-sensei goes off the deep end again a chapter later with a parody of a violent yakuza kidnapping. The gangster and the demand he makes are nothing short of laughable, but the chef and Asuka treat the situation so seriously that it works, creating a dramatic revelation scene followed by a touching conclusion.

For the final chapter in this installment, the focus switches back to love – as through the eyes of the poet of Ginyuri. Amakashi gets his moment to sparkle (literally) in the spotlight as Kanno-sensei delves into his particular otomen obsession. The ending is somewhat bittersweet, but considering the way other shojo manga have depicted fordidden student-teacher love affairs, I’m glad Kanno-sensei handled this story the way she did.

In Summary

Asuka continues hiding his otomen self from his mom, but he finds solace as he and the Violet pastry chef connect on a deeper level. Their bond, though, goes even further than he expects. It’s a couple of close calls and one big revelation for our hero in this installment of Otomen.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Manga Review: Otomen Vol. 11

There are many stories about tomboys, girls with boyish tendencies, but what about the opposite? In fact, what would you call a boy with girly interests? The manga answer is: Otomen!

For those unfamiliar with this series by Aya Kanno, “otomen” is a play on the Japanese word otome (乙女), meaning “young lady” or “mistress,” and the English word “men.” The plot centers around Asuka Masamune, the manliest guy in his high school.  However, he has a secret: the things he really loves are sweets, shojo manga, and sewing. He hides this part of his life from everyone until he meets Ryo Miyakozuka, the least feminine girl in school.

While I love the concept of this series, Kanno-sensei’s storylines tend to fall in the realm of so-so. There was a live-action series based on the manga a couple years back, and I thought the TV writers executed Kanno-sensei’s stories far better than she did. At any rate, Viz has just released Volume 11 of the English language manga. Please read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

Asuka engages in a battle with Suzaki Oji to see who will get the most Valentine’s Day chocolates! As Oji seduces girls left and right into giving him chocolates, Asuka wonders one thing–who will Ryo give her chocolates to?

The Review

In terms of plot, Volume 11 doesn’t offer much that is original or surprising. You pretty much know from the get-go that Asuka will overcome the challenges Kasuga throws his way. What saves the story from becoming completely boring are the character vignettes that Kanno-sensei throws in, which are, for those who are already completely invested in the main characters, a lot of fun.

In the conclusion of the Naito-samurai-otaku arc, we get a bit of interaction between Ryo and Tonomine in the woods. Apparently, this is the first time Asuka’s love interest and main rival have any real interaction, and it felt like it could lead to an Asuka-Ryo-Tonomine love triangle. To my disappointment, Kanno-sensei quickly veers from that path at the arc’s conclusion. As overused as love triangles are in shojo manga, it could’ve been an interesting development in Ryo and Asuka’s relationship.

In the next arc, Asuka faces off against Suzaku Oji. In terms of Kasuga’s goals to reform the high school, Oji, whose natural pheromones sends females swooning, seems a bizarre choice, but in terms of manga plot, Oji is the perfect foil to Asuka’s pure-hearted ways. Unfortunately, Kanno-sensei depicts him as a one-dimensional stock playboy so you can pretty much guess what the final outcome will be when Oji throws down the Valentine’s chocolate gauntlet. The thing that keeps this arc interesting is Asuka’s correspondence with the mysterious “Poet of Ginyuri High.” The poetry itself is not that great (something might have been lost in the translation), but Asuka fans will enjoy watching his girlish excitement over a new piece of cuteness.

After Oji, Kanno-sensei finally breaks away from the wacky teacher parade to bring out the big guns: Mom’s back! Suddenly, Asuka can’t drop his manly facade at home or school and goes through withdrawal. That aside, the story hints at something larger brewing at Patisserie Violet, and I’m hoping Kanno-sensei will deliver something really fresh in the next volume.

In addition to its usual extras, Volume 11 includes a chapter of Juta’s work, Love Chick.

In Summary

The series continues with Asuka’s pure-hearted ways and love for Ryo thwarting Kasuga’s anti-otomen plans. With the appearance of school nurse Suzaku Oji, the pattern of Asuka winning over less than conventional teachers gets a tad stale, but the plot perks up again at the end of the volume with the return of the biggest anti-otomen around: Asuka’s mom!

Also, for Juta fans, the extras include a chapter of the Love Chick manga!

First published at the Fandom Post.