Yoh and Haruna are finally dating in volume 4, but neither one of them is very good at it, having had little practice. Haruna’s competitive nature makes this very funny, since once she gets an idea in her head, she’s determined to do it to the best of her ability. Take, for example, Christmas, a romantic holiday to spend with your sweetie. Haruna wants to be the Best Girlfriend Ever, only she doesn’t realize that that’s determined only by what’s […]

As this volume opens, young artist Hagumi is stressing out while preparing for an upcoming art show when the gang of students unite around a late-night snack break. In other stories, the group goes on a ferry and a Ferris wheel, welcomes the professor back from Mongolia, and talks a lot to and about each other. I had such high hopes for enjoying this series by Chica Umino, after hearing great praise for it, but it’s still not quite clicking […]

High School Debut by Kazune Kawahara keeps growing on me. (I’ve previously recommended volume 1 and volume 2.) I like that the twists move quickly, but not too much so. Concepts are explored thoroughly, but nothing is left to run so long it gets stale, and changes make sense based on what the cast is learning about themselves and each other. As a result, each book feels new and fresh while bringing back characters I’m growing to care about. In […]

After my mixed reaction to the previous volume, I’d put off reading this next book for a bit. I hoped that a fresher start would keep me interested, but my approach was fresher than the storylines here. The last chapter of volume 7 sets up Stage 2 of the series, where a teenage Hollywood hair and makeup artist challenges the Scissors Project makeover group. That story gets into full swing here in volume 8. Billy, the young professional from America, […]

I’ve recommended the Nana series up to this point, but now, reading this volume, it’s clear that everything that’s happened so far has just been prologue. Volume 8 opens with a flashback to Nana coming to Tokyo. Knowing what’s happened since puts it in deeper perspective, or a new reader can start here and fill in the background later. The long-time reader will notice a key difference, though: the singer Nana is now narrating, so we get to see how […]

I wasn’t as blown away by the first volume as I’d hoped to be, after hearing wonderful things about this title by Chica Umino, but after reading the second, I suspect that this is going to be a series that grows slowly on me. After reading this installment, I felt as though I knew the characters better. They were less figures of fun, defined by their quirks, and closer to being people with deeper emotions. The mood’s different, less sitcom, […]

In this volume, Suguri, her dog Lupin, and her boss Teppei have left the Woofles pet shop for a field trip. They’re visiting the ranch of the shop’s owner, where he raises the puppies they sell. That provides plenty of opportunity for lots of wonderful drawings of various dog breeds by Yukiya Sakuragi — Corgis, a husky, Labradors, and Bernese Mountain Dogs, the breed Suguri calls “stuffed animals” because they’re so cute and fluffy. That’s what keeps bringing me back […]

Missing Genshiken now that it’s ended? Try Honey and Clover by Chica Umino. The characters aren’t as fannish, but they’re all distinctly odd personalities with complicated interactions at school together. The opening portrait of student life won me over, in which roommates can be bought with free food, griping all the while about the lack of meat in their diet. They’re familiar with each other, sharing living quarters, but they still have their own secrets and histories. Take, for example, […]