Another fastball special.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Naoshi Komi
What They Say:
It’s hate at first sight… rather a knee-to-the-head at first sight when Raku meets Chitoge! Unfortunately, his gangster father arranges a false love match with their rival gang leader’s daughter, Chitoge! However, Raku’s searching for his childhood sweetheart, with a pendant around his neck as a memento, and is surprised to discover three candidates with keyes: Chitoge, Onodera (his current crush), and Tachibana (the police chief’s daughter)!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Nisekoi moved up to a pretty fun area in the last installment where it was a bit heavier on the dialogue as Raku made his way into the wedding hall and made clear his intentions. Not to whisk Marika away as his bride instead but rather just to stop the wedding so she can be free to live her life. It was a familiar angle played out all too often in storytelling for years to be sure, but the execution was solid and it wasn’t a drawn out affair since this particular arc got itself fully underway.Not beating the story into the ground has been a strength of this work and Naoshi Komi keeps things moving at a pretty good pace while knowing when to slow it down, like the last chapter.
This chapter is all about the action, though we do get some good dialogue in here as well. With the battle lines drawn, Marika is positively comical (and right) in how she just pulls out a chair and waits for Raku to arrive and save her. It’s a smart thing to do rather than adding to the chaos and it puts the objective in a clear position. What becomes welcome along the way, even if dealt with in a small way, is that the groom does eventually get involved by asking for the ring back. We don’t know who he is (and I doubt we ever will) but we get a small bit of his story that just reinforces that Marika’s mother is an utterly controlling type with no regards to anyone else’s life or humanity. Not that we didn’t know it, but it’s fully reinforced and makes you dislike her even more.
The bulk of the book is focused on the action and that’s split in two ways. With Raku and Chitoge, they make a pretty good push towards Marika while ensuring friends are safe along the way. It’s kept straightforward but with some fun invited guests that are a bit more than meets the eye. The more personal fight that comes into focus brings us back to the Honda and Tsugumi match where they’re preparing to go at it again. There’s a little mixed into it with Honda trying to remind why Marika can’t go back, but the sequences mostly focus on the action. Between the two pieces of this installment with the action it’s all well laid out and has a great sense of movement and flow about it, drawing you in. Naturally, backgrounds take on a lesser role to the action effects themselves but it doesn’t detract in the end because the whole series of events is pretty dynamic and very fun to watch.
In Summary:
Nisekoi has another solid chapter within this rescue arc that plays out well for just about everyone involved that has an actual part in it. The fights match up pretty well and while there are no surprises they also don’t come across in a poor way. It’s all a natural evolution for how these sequences have gone, notably with what’s coming up for Honda and Tsugumi. The best part really is with Marika and her almost-husband as they talk a bit and we’re reminded once again that we’re dealing with a bunch of kids here that are being manipulated by adults. Not the groom to be but rather Marika’s mother and also what we get from Chitoge and Raku’s parents respectively as well. That’s a nicely placed reminder, one that’s easy to forget when those elements aren’t used for a bit. Things do feel like they’re moving closer to the wrapup point as well, which it definitely feels like it’s just about time for.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media via Weekly Shonen Jump from ComiXology
Release Date: October 26th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
