Chmakova, Svetlana - Dramacon, vol. 03 (orig. Eng.)

[oyceter]

Is this the last volume of the series? If so, woe!

I didn't like this as much as I liked the first two volumes; there are a lot of pacing issues in this volume.

My main problem was with the Chriss/Matt relationship -- a lot of what happens in this volume feels like a retread. I can see that Chmakova wanted to get us to the point where we believe they were viable as an actual couple, but that's not what I went away with. I think I wanted to see something beyond all the meet cutes and the shoujo doki-doki moments; it would be nice to see them after they had been dating for a year and seeing their interactions then. As it were, the constant avoidance and getting mad and misunderstandings felt too contrived and grew out of plot, not character.

I also wasn't quite sure why Emily was in there at all; yeah, it's nice to have her blessing, but again, it felt more like a plot-necessary misunderstanding rather than anything natural.

There should have been a lot more pages dedicated to Beth's storyline, which was much larger. Part of me rolled my eyes at the car accident and subsequent forgiving, but on the other hand, I've been in that position with my parents before, and so even though I knew some heartstrings were being tugged, I still cried. Like the car accident, the role of her aunt was a bit obvious, but I didn't mind it as much. And I love that this manga has a good deal of pages dedicated to women of color! And the potential for an interracial relationship with Beth and Raj that isn't POC-white. Ok, the main couple could have been POC as well, but I will take what I can get.

Still, this is a pretty good series, and it's really nice to find an OEL manga that captures the feeling of shoujo. I'm really looking forward to what Chmakova does next.

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I think Bethany unexpectedly became the main character in V2. If it had been planned, it could have been worked out more smoothly, with different main characters for each volume, but instead there ended up being too much Bethany plot and too little Chriss plot to fit into the allotted space.

I liked that Emily turned out not to be the Evil Ex-Girlfriend, since I hate that trope, but the entire plotline basically ... depended on that trope. Or on Matt and Chriss acknowledging how they'd behaved, which isn't enough plot for an entire book. I am also iffy on the inclusion of Chriss' ex. Not necessarily against it. Iffy.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I think you're right about Bethany becoming the main character. Chmakova tries to assuage it a little by comparing Bethany's plot to Chriss' in the end monologue, but... too little too late.

I like Emily as not-evil, but gah! I hated the misunderstandings and the whole "will he won't he" feeling to all the Emily interactions. I think it would have been more interesting to me if Emily and Chriss had ended up talking, as opposed to everything being centered on Matt, even though Chriss and Emily have zero in common.

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

*gasp* I completely forgot this was out now! Thank you!

*runs to store*

[oyceter]

Go forth!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me you'd posted on this.

I had trouble with this volume, too. I tied together the not seeing enough of the Chriss/Matt relationship with the tepid Emily blessing to get "okay, so what did she see that satisfied her so much?" I remain unhappy with that unanswered question, and therefore grumpy with volume 3.

Bethany was awesome, though, despite the giant Hand of Fate with her mom, and I liked the series as a whole. Just, yeah, pacing and imbalance stuff.

[oyceter]

Yay, more people who have read Dramacon!

I totally didn't get why Emily was in there at all! I mean... her sudden relinquishing of Matt and blessing of the relationship made absolutely no sense.

But yeah, Mely mentions above that Bethany seemed to have accidentally become the protagonist in v. 2, which ... yeah. I wish that had been planned so we could get more focus on her in this volume.