Otomen 7

Aya Kanno – Viz – 2010 – 11+ volumes

It is an utter tragedy that I’ve fallen behind on this series. It’s still one of my favorites, and I’m still not bored of the jokes, which, admittedly, all revolve around shoujo manga cliches and being manly while keeping girly habits. It’s got a repertoire about as diverse as Detroit Metal City. I love both of them though, even seven volumes in.

I wasn’t too big on the Otomen band from last volume, though I did think it was funny that they were forcing Asuka to sub for their singer because they looked so much alike. The ending makes up for the blandness of this story, simply because the true identity of the singer and his rival is so funny. I probably should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. I’m sad Asuka didn’t have a more extreme reaction.

The second chapter is a one-shot story about Asuka encountering a ghost at his kendo training camp. Asuka hates ghosts, and is getting increasingly frustrated with the extreme threats against his life and having to hide his fear from his teammates. It was cute, but there are better stories in this volume.

For instance, the third story, which focuses on Juta again. Juta is my favorite character, I think, and I love it when we learn about his life as Jewel Sachihana. This chapter is more personal, turning into a sweet story about Juta’s first love and why he’s not too serious about girls now. But the important thing is that we get to see Jewel Sachihana make another public appearance. I love that the fans comment that Jewel looks exactly like they imagined. Asuka shows up, much to Juta’s dismay, and witnesses Jewel’s almost-confession to her childhood crush. Asuka misunderstands in a really hilarious way, and the chapter ends. This is why I love Juta best of all.

This, and because he’s a bushes-hiding creep. The fourth story focuses on Ryo and Asuka again, which means lots of creepy behavior from Juta. Asuka is worried that Ryo doesn’t love him back, so Juta launches a plan that involves a rumor about Asuka leaving for America in order to get Ryo to confess. It works to some extent, since Juta and Asuka learn that absolutely everyone else adores Asuka. Ryo? That’s a different story, of course, since this is a shoujo manga. Asuka’s scary mom puts in another appearance, which is always a plus. And for a bonus, we get to see a super-manly cake chef make a super-girly cake after “looking into the heart” of Asuka.

Yeah, this is still funny, and I love reading every volume. Some of the one-shot stories are starting to put me off a little, but it makes me laugh so hard that I can’t begrudge it that. I also like the sidebars, where Aya Kanno talks about how much she liked drawing something (pompadours, leather outfits, horror stories) and how unpopular those choices are with readers. That made me laugh, especially since earlier comments have made it sound like this is exactly the type of manga she hates drawing.