Honest at last.
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 brought out some very good stuff the last time around as it deal with Raku and Kosaki’s relationship and feelings on top of all the things that they’ve learned. About each other, about themselves, and about their past. There’s a certain maturity that came with it simply because of the time involved and while fans of the Kosaki and Raku pairing may be upset about it, you have to admire the way both characters handled it and that Kosaki will sooner rather than later feel a sense of closure about things that will help her move on. And realistically, as much as I do like Kosaki, I long got the feeling that she would be better off somewhere else – but always appreciated that we didn’t get into a regular competition with someone else constantly going after her like you get in these kinds of stories.
With Raku having finally caught up to Chitoge after all this time, which I thought was only drawn out with the Tsugumi and Claude segment overall, the two finally get to have their confession. But it’s one that takes time to get to as Raku has to work through how things are between him and Kosaki while Chitoge tries to distance herself from him because she knows her hopes were foolish and has convinced herself that there can be nothing. While we do get a brief montage of material from the early days in showing their first meetings and problems, the bulk of the chapter is in the present with the emotional aspects of it all. Raku’s reasoning is something that I’ll say makes perfect sense to me as he goes into how things were with him and Kosaki and how his own feelings changed over time. The reasons we feel for someone aren’t logical in the slightest, it’s just something that is. And he’s fallen for Chitoge in a way that moves him, challenges him, and engages him like nothing else.
Similarly, Chitoge’s reaction to things and her own explanations and self deprecating elements all feel realistic, the kinds of things that some of us say in these moments because it’s how we feel about ourselves. She’s worn a mask all this time, much as several of them have, and as she pulls it away we get the flood of emotions, the confessions between them, and some really beautiful artwork along the way. The two panel spread we clipped below alone is worth the price of admission as it utterly and completely expresses the emotions that she’s feeling and drives it home in a huge way. Between that and the last panel with the intense embrace we get between the two that even surprises Raku since he wasn’t sure of Chitoge’s feelings, it’s a fantastic sequence.
In Summary:
Just great stuff all around. It’s very character focused here in the confessions and while there’s an air of the familiar about it, it’s the execution that has it clicking perfectly. Both sides express themselves and make things clear so that there’s no misunderstandings and we get the flood of emotion that comes from all of that in a fantastic way. Komi and his assistants deliver a strong installment here visually across the board and it just leaves me positively pleased to see it as it unfolds.
Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media via Weekly Shonen Jump from ComiXology
Release Date: July 25th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
