Nakahara Aya - Love Com, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Koizumi Risa is the tallest girl in the class, and Otani Atsushi is the shortest guy. Everyone pairs them up because the contrast is so funny, and the two have now decided to do something about it. They'll quash all "All Hanshin Kyojin" taunts by helping each other find dates. The problem is, the more they try to date other people, the more well suited they seem for each other!

Like so much of shoujo, you know exactly where this is going the second the characters are introduced. But Nakahara does it well, and she had me smiling through much of the volume because of how much I liked Koizumi and Otani. Not only do I like them, but I even think they work together as a couple, which sadly isn't always the case in shoujo. Even their squabbling comes off as good natured. I love the way they always answer questions at the same time with the same words and the way they geek out over a musician they both like. Mostly I just like how the two of them are endlessly enthusiastic and seem to have absolutely no ill will in their bodies.

Koizumi doesn't completely break the mold for shoujo heroines (she reminds me a lot of Haruna from High School Debut), but I like that she's not small and cute and girly, and that she stays up too late at night gaming and stressing about whatever big boss she couldn't kill. Granted, the manga version of "not girly" is still very girly by my standards, but she's still refreshing and fun to read about. I also love that Otani is not at all grumpy or angst or silent; he's cheerful and peppy and happy and smiles a ton. They are just so cute together! They grin all the time when they're not squabbling!

I also lilked what happened with the "find each other dates" plot, which could have dragged on for far too long. Instead, it's fairly neatly resolved, and in a way that may not be fully realistic (I wish I had been that mature in high school!) but makes me love all the characters more. And even the secondary couple in the volume is briefly but nicely characterized in a way that makes them feel like people, not tropes.

Fun and fluffy and happy-making, and I am sad my library only has volume 1.

Comments

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I have this, but haven't read it yet. I have read a couple short series (Ringo Nikki and Love! Love! Love!) by her that I liked, though.

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it. I too love the fact that Risa and Outani are clearly good couple material. And it's not based on looks or a peril/rescue kind of scenario but on... gasp!... shared interests! And kindness!

Later on, the squabbling and name-calling does start to get on my nerves, but there are also lots of good moments, as well.

[octopedingenue]

I LOVE THEM SO. They are so good together! I don't want to take out restraining orders against either! They like the same things and like making each other laugh and be happy! Their friends are charming and have their best interests at heart! I am very fond of Risa's best friend, who would like to mother-hen-organize Risa into romantic happiness and always wearing warm socks.

And Risa is so My Girl: for one thing, while her dislike for her body is not as sharp as Michiko's in Walkin' Butterfly, I still wince in recognition at bits like the boy Risa is crushing on not thinking of her as a girl because of her height, and her mother not being able to find her a yukata that isn't several inches too short. (I am six feet tall and built like a football player, so I am not going to even let myself become interested in trying traditional Japanese fashion.)

Did the disc of the anime survive the trip to you? I don't love it as much as the manga, but the Osaka accents with Risa yelling "AHO!" at Otani are great fun.

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode, and while it was pretty good, it left so much out (of how Chiharu and Suzuki got together) that I thought it would ultimately annoy me. I didn't watch any further.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Otani Atsushi is the shortest

I thought this meant Otani was the shortest girl for the longest time (until the second half of your third paragraph), and wondered why this was still shoujo :)

[deepad]

The way you phrased your first sentence I thought that both of them were girls, and I had a double take moment of, 'wait, there's femmeslash manga now?'

Sadly, this was not to be, but it still sounds interesting, because I can't remember the last time I've read a pairing where the girl is taller than the guy. In fact, I think I remember reading an otherwise well written book where I could figure out who the heroine would end up with solely on basis of the competitors' heights.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Are you unaware of there being boy/boy manga?

[deepad]

Nope! I've seen a lot of the pretty boy/boy stuff, I just hadn't heard of girl/girl before.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I figure there must be, given that there is manga porno. rachelmanija's userpic says it best:

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

There is, of varying quality, of course. :) Not a lot has been released here, but I did like Blue, released by Fanfare several years ago. SevenSeas has a few titles on offer, but many would probably appeal more to guys.

[oyceter]

This one is very cute! I mean, I am hoping later volumes do not drag on too much, but the pacing of this was good, and I liked the characters a lot.

[oyceter]

*nods* Yeah, I can see the squabbling getting old. But I love that they actually seem to like each other before deciding that they like each other romantically.

[oyceter]

They are so cute! And yes, I have the disc and am looking forward to watching it, yay. I need happy shoujo to relax me, so this will be perfect. I am just so grumpy that my library only has v. 1! And there are so many volumes out already!

[oyceter]

Doh! Heh, missing a crucial word there....

[oyceter]

Alas, the problem with posting while trying to rein in rats at the same time...

There is femmeslash manga, but most of the ones I've found are more adult, and I should try to find more happy fluffy femmeslash shoujo.

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

One that looks sweet is Sweet Blue Flowers (or Aoi Hana). It's technically seinen, but as Yotsuba& proves, that doesn't preclude sweetness. :)

[octopedingenue]

The first volume of Maka-Maka by Kishi Torajiro (ISBN 9781598832938) should be out from MediaWorks soon, and it is A)girl/girl, B)gorgeous [see icon], C)incredibly sexually explicit, and D)totally sweet.

[octopedingenue]

I'm not sure from your wording whether you've read Sweet Blue Flowers; if not, let me chime in that it's VERY sweet, and strong with female friendships (and Takarazuka references)!

[octopedingenue]

Maria-sama ga Miteru is like the fluffiest femmeslash you can get

Gentlemen's Alliance/Shinshi Doumei Cross is het shoujo but it is my secret shoujo crack, featuring SPOILERY STORYKINKS of mine, a femmeslashy relationship that is given serious narrative and emotional weight even though its resolution dissatisfied me, and a canon gay happy-ever-after in the supporting cast. Who'd've thought?

And Maka-Maka is totally porny and totally my darling. I ship those young women something fierce.

[deepad]

Yeah, I find femmeslash, or indeed any erotica, geared to male tastes, doesn't work for me at all. Thanks for the rec.

[deepad]

::stares at icon:: That's actually prettier than Buffy/Faith, and that's high praise from me. Thanks for the rec!

[octopedingenue]

More icons here! They are so sweet together and gorgeously drawn. Here are sample (NOT WORKSAFE!) scans. Maka-Maka originally ran in a Japanese equivalent of Penthouse, which gives me hope for a future of genders coming together for the love of sweet romantic totally hot girlsmut!

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to say but "Yay!" Also, you should totally look at the anime OPs on YouTube....they're adorable.

[deepad]

Eeee! The one where they are making little 'sniff sniff' noses at each other! If I hadn't reached my 6 icon limit, I would totally take that one, even though I haven't read it. So... would this sort of manga be available at a library? I am a newbie to reading manga, and also broke, so advise on how to read it would be welcome. Oyce already told me that translations that don't flip the pages right to left are better, but that's about all I know.

[octopedingenue]

All the Youtube clips keep getting pulled for copyright violation! While the crappy fanvids stay untouched. Grump. Oh well, you can still see the OPs on the fansubs up to watch.

[octopedingenue]

You are VERY unlikely to ever find Maka-Maka in a library, as it is pretty much Porn Without Plot. Or really the plot is just "Best friends Jun and Nene hang out, chat with each other, have lots of smutty sex, chat some more, rinse repeat for two volumes"--but the little character touches of their conversations and their playful physicality with each other make it great. But it's still totally porn, porn, porn that you can try to get on interlibrary loan if you want(?).

Lililicious did the great scanslation of the series that they've pulled since its licensing; I'm uploading volume 1 now if my wireless will cooperate and will link it when it's done. You can read scanslations on your computer with the program CDisplay (google it) or other image viewers.

ETA Maka-Maka volume 1!

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Oh no, that sucks! Or maybe not...? Has this series been announced as being licensed by VIZ yet?

[octopedingenue]

Not to my knowledge. I hope soon, though! The clips I had bookmarked are now replaced with "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc." which suggests the Japanese license holder.

[oyceter]

Ooo ok, thanks!

[oyceter]

Takarazuka references? Ooo! Do you think I would like it?

[deepad]

Downloaded it, thanks so much! I'll get an image viewer over the weekend and try to read it. You're a good pimp!

[octopedingenue]

I bet you would! Two girls who were friends as children meet again in high school; the story is mostly about them getting re-acquainted with each other in family life and school, especially as the more shy girl begins to come out as gay. I don't think her childhood friend is gay too, but she's very supportive and matter-of-fact. An older student the gay girl likes is an actress, very much in the cool otokoyaku type, so there is a lot of quiet squeeing in that regard. It's a very warm series without being Japan the Carefree Gay Mecca fantasy. And the art is so clean! There are downloads here.

[octopedingenue]

You're welcome! Let me know what you think either way.

[oyceter]

Yay, thank you! Haha, and I have just found out that I have apparently downloaded this once, probably thanks to your rec ;). Now I just have to remember to read it!