The character popularity rankings are in!
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 opens up this installment with some fun material that I’ll admit I grin at even though I have no real investment in it in a sense and I do find it silly. With readers having voted for their favorite characters and there being something like thirteen thousand votes overall, it’s fairly predictable and mostly you just want to see how the supporting characters rank. That Tsugumi is as high as she is just boggles me. The plus side is that we get some color pages out of it, some silliness in how the cast reacts, and just some nice artwork overall even if the whole thing doesn’t fit the tone of the issue itself. The real fun is in reading the “also got votes” section to see the weird things that were nominated.
The actual story itself is one that admittedly plays to some very familiar elements of the genre and while I had hoped it would go a little further it actually sets things in motion for some potential change and drama depending on how it really unfolds. With the trio stuck in the school amid the typhoon, it’s good to see them having fun with it by enjoying the food that Raku has brought and reminiscing about things since this is their final year and they’re really having to look forward as it’s very much on their minds. There’s an ease about them here even we get the tension from the girls about their desire to confess if they can find the right time and place amid the storm to do it. Naturally, the opportunity becomes a bit more bleak when they realize they have to rescue the telescope from the rooftop and Raku ends up unconscious through circumstances.
This is where the chapter enters that familiar yet full of potential aspect. With Chitoge off to get things from the nurse’s office, Kosaki does her best to watch over Raku. Though he’s out of it, this is the moment that she chooses to confess to him in order to build up her confidence. What she doesn’t know is that Chitoge overhears her and is shocked by this admission. Now, this could draw things out a bit depending on how Chitoge reacts and there are a few ways she could go with it, so I’m curious to see where it’ll play out. I’m really curious to see if she connects the dots in Kosaki’s admission and realizes that things do go back pretty far between them and how she’ll react to that as well. Admittedly, I wanted a full on conscious confession and for Raku to have to go through a stunned moment or two, but I’m definitely not surprised to see it go in this direction.
In Summary:
Nisekoi has a solid enough chapter here and gets the extra bump in the grade for the potential of what it can lead to as well as the fun of a couple of color pages for the character poll results. The series is definitely looking to alter the landscape of events and I’m ever so hopeful that we’ll get to work through some interesting material because of it. Just the admission we get here will have ramifications that could really make for some good material, even if just for a few chapters to work through all of it. Komi continues to do some solid work in the post-Marika storyline phase of the series and that’s both in story and artwork as I really enjoy reading this series and taking in all the details of the characters and settings as it’s one that feels pretty well lived in and authentic.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media via Weekly Shonen Jump from ComiXology
Release Date: March 28th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
