Creative Staff
Story/Art: Naoshi Komi
Translation: Camellia Nieh
What They Say
It’s hate at first sight when Raku Ichijo first meets Chitoge Kirisaki. But much to their chagrin, the two are forced into a false love relationship to keep the peace between their feuding gangster families. Meanwhile, Raku’s still hung up over the girl he made a promise with ten years ago, keeping a pendant around his neck as a memento. The girl, in turn, holds the key that opens the pendant. To Raku’s surprise, he discovers three girls have keys from a promise they also made ten years ago – Chitoge, his current crush Onodera, and the police chief’s daughter Marika!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As Marika and Raku’s “date” continues, Marika offers information on the past, but only on the condition that he breaks up with Chitoge. Though they’re not actually dating Raku still does the “right” thing and refuses, much as he wants to know. Chitoge’s spying is then revealed leading to something of a fight, and ultimately resulting in our hero being left all alone. However, he realizes Marika left her purse and decides to do the gentlemanly thing, at which point he overhears that the girl really is sickly. In the midst of the ensuing conversation, Marika finally snaps and reveals her true Kansai accent (of course translated as a Southern drawl). With this Raku finally remembers the girl he once called Mari, whom he used to visit while she was cooped up in a health facility. It turns out she strove to change herself completely and become the kind of woman that Raku liked (based on his childhood musings), and she even sneaks in a kiss before departing.
Following a story in which Raku goes to meet Marika’s scary father, we find Raku helping out at Onodera’s family shop. After getting vetted by her rather intense mother, our hero then finds himself alone with his crush. Thanks to a coming typhoon this situation escalates, and the pair end up forced to spend the night together, each more elated than they want to let on. This ends up a real bonding moment for the two, though it’s certainly full of stress as well, and they end up exchanging numbers at the end of the ordeal. Next up comes a run in with a lie detector and a chapter about an abandoned puppy, each of which give our heroes something to deal with.
Finally, just what will happen to Raku’s tumultuous relationships at the festival and the beach? And just what form will Onodera and Chitoge’s growing feelings take?
In Summary
As can be seen on the cover, Marika takes center stage here, and she certainly earns the place. Quite a few wrinkles are added to make her an interesting character, and she’s also got a ton of fun quirky moments as well. At the very least, it looks like she’ll definitely fit in well with the rest of the cast. We also get some great development for Onodera as well, with a particularly solid two-parter revolving around her and Raku. Add in some nice one chapter stories that provide some laughs and a few emotional moments, and you get another fun entry into the series.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: September 2nd, 2014
MSRP: $9.99