Cake, Christmas, and terrible stomach problems
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Nico Tanigawa
Translation/Adaptation: Krista Shipley, Karie Shipley
What They Say
As the second term of high school winds down, Tomoko Kuroki’s life continues to be full of awesome… nothing. But ever the optimist, she pins her hopes on the possibilities that winter break will bring. Unfortunately, there’s a cold breeze blowing in more ways than one, and Tomoko’s in for a disappointment. Is she doomed to spend her theoretically monumental first year as an HSG without any friends at all?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Tomoko’s latest pursuit to break free of the chains of unpopularity comes forth when she watches an interview with a Shinjuku hostess. Though it’s obviously not something she’s suited for, she starts to get worked up, even going over the potential interview in her head. After her “preparations” are complete, she heads off into Shinjuku. Of course when she gets to Kabuki-chou, the late night atmosphere overwhelms her and crushes her dreams thoroughly before she can even take a shot at them.
Next up, Tomoko pins her hopes on working with cakes, and though she gets her wish it doesn’t exactly turn out how she wanted. When it comes time to run a marathon in school, Tomoko is finally excited to do something athletic, but even that falls apart due to some unfortunate stomach troubles. She then gets an excessively embarrassing reminder of her past self when she tries thinking about her future. Following this, Tomoko trys to shirk cleaning duty, but ends up caught up in it despite her efforts to strive for maximum irresponsibility.
The holidays come next, complete with Tomoko failing to build up the nerve to go to a Christmas party and getting scolded by Kii-chan when New Year’s rolls around. Tomoko then manages to actually make her reputation a little worse after realizing she’s simply getting ignored by her classmates. Finally, our questionable heroine manages to screw up extra hard by forgetting to mail her brother’s high school application, and when her birthday arrives she realizes just how much she’s still a child.
In Summary
This volume is a bit of a slow entry in the series, but it’s still plenty enjoyable. There aren’t really any big events or themes here, and no new character introductions or developments to shake things up. Fortunately, the goofy little shorts that make up the volume are still a good bit of fun. Though it isn’t likely to sell anyone who hasn’t been feeling the series so far, this book does a solid job of keeping things moving and should absolutely keep fans satisfied.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 22nd, 2014
MSRP: $12.99