Teru’s first kiss gets stolen by a stranger!
Creative Staff
Story: Kyousuke Motomi
Art: Kyousuke Motomi
Translation/Adaptation: JN Productions
What They Say
Kurosaki decides that he needs to tell Teru the truth, but little does he know that an unsettling fellow called Akira has other ideas. What is Akira scheming, and how will his actions irrevocably affect Teru’s relationship with Kurosaki?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The way Teru bumps into the weird hoodie guy in the last volume it’s pretty much a given he’s going to return, and he does, in a big way. The shadowy Akira adds on to the cast of bad guys, and though he’s in cahoots with Mori, he is a bit of a loose cannon. He seems less interested in the intrigue surrounding Daisy and more interested in messing with Teru’s mind, which he’s quite effective at, especially since he physically resembles her brother. It’s still not quite clear what he and Mori are after, but we do get more hints about Daisy’s less than upstanding past.
At any rate, Akira’s mischief does the trick of pushing Teru and Kurosaki’s relationship along. When Teru gets her first kiss stolen, her reaction is standard shojo stuff. Kurosaki’s, however, is adorably hilarious, and what follows is an entire chapter of Kurosaki agonizing over the convoluted situation between him and Teru. Despite all the guilt and angst Kurosaki struggles through, Motomi-sensei does a good job of injecting just enough humor so that the plot doesn’t get completely bogged down.
Kurosaki’s ultimate decision to confess to Teru will probably draw a collective “Finally!” from Motomi-sensei’s readers. Of course, such confessions never go as planned, and it’s little surprise when Akira and Mori show up to ruin things. It’s almost too easy how Kurosaki takes down Mori, but with Teru in Akira’s clutches at the end of the volume, the story seems headed toward another big rescue/confrontation in Volume 8.
In Summary
Teru and Kurosaki have been doing the dance of Kurosaki holding back and Teru pretending she doesn’t know Kurosaki’s secret for some time now, but the time has come for the truth to be revealed. As that moment approaches, there’s more than enough emotional angst to satisfy the shojo reader as well as a helping of intrigue as Mori and her shadowy accomplice Akira seek to turn Kurosaki’s confession into an opportunity for themselves.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
