I remember when Yamada-kun was still really good (it’s right now, in these volumes).
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Miki Yoshikawa
Translation: David Rhie
Lettering: Sara Linsley
Editing: Ajani Oloye
Kodansha Comics Edition Cover Design: Phil Balsman
What They Say:
There’s going to be a fire in the old school building and it’s up to Yamada to stop it! Guided by Sarushima’s precognition ability, Yamada and the gang set out to alter the future. They suspect that Sarushima’s friend, Tsubaki, is responsible for the incident. To keep Tsubaki from the scene of the fire, Shiraishi invites him on a date!
Yamada switches bodies with Shiraishi and his mission is simple: don’t let Tsubaki confess his love to Shiraishi and keep him distracted until the time when the fire occurs! Can Yamada pull off playing the perfect woman? Perhaps his friends should just kick back and ready the s’mores…
Yamada and the members of the Supernatural Studies Club have been tasked with keeping problem-child Noa Takigawa and her lackeys in line. However, Noa is no ordinary student – she’s a witch – and it’s up to Yamada to figure out her power. Yamada will use his brawn and (not so) clever tactics to discover Noa’s power and end her hell-raising, but with her unconventional ability and devoted followers, it won’t be easy! Can Yamada stop Noa before she causes more chaos at Suzaku High?
The Suzaku Festival is in full swing, but the revelry comes to an end when Yamada must find a way to help a friend in need. In the process of doing so, he discovers more about the witches—including the fact that Yamada is not the only boy with powers at Suzaku High. This new power-user may be the key to resolving everything, but may also lead to the loss of someone dear to Yamada. And faced with such a dilemma, Yamada is forced to admit something he’s been hiding from all his friends…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Yamada-kun is always a super enjoyable comic. Behind its pervy exterior and seemingly stupid concept of witches that kiss people and various powers happen, it actually has a good story. It’s always centered around Yamada, who finds himself in the middle of things he would probably rather not deal with, but knows he must out of his sense of duty. Yamada is a really good dude.
To say that the manga is sort of about looking beyond the proverbial cover of the book would be fairly accurate. Yamada is first seem as a delinquent, but behind that is a guy with a big heart who’s always looking to help people. There’s always something more, even if sometimes it turns out that the more is just that Miyamura has a sister complex.
What’s behind these particular volumes is the conclusion of Maria Sarushima and reveal of Noa Takigawa, the fourth and fifth witches revealed. First is Sarushima, where Yamada proves himself to be a bigger idiot than he has in the previous volumes, but also shows a side of Shiraishi that hasn’t really been shown up until this point. She’s against pulling Tsubaki’s strings for the sake of not burning down the old school building. But why? The only signs point to her liking someone else, or not liking anyone at all. But as horny as Yamada-kun is, everyone likes someone.
Noa puts the breaks on anything the Supernatural Studies Club wanted to do though. She wants to cause mayhem in the school with her band of troublemakers, but she has her own reasons for doing so. She, like Yamada, has a big heart under her cold exterior. She wants her three friends to be able to live their normal life again.
But, uh, they’re trying to get witches expelled to do that, which is a little…yeah. Yamada, on the side of good rather than the side of ends-justify-the-means, stands with his morals against the evil mastermind of Noa. He, uh, wants to help her accomplish her goals, but not in the same way. Yamada is a good dude.
Maybe a little too good, though. Between Noa’s unique witch power (and Yamada’s usage of it on her) and his resolution of her problem, she’s fallen for him. Whether this is genuine or not is yet to be seen, but it certainly seems to get Yamada riled up a little.
In Summary:
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is really good. I’ve been reading the simulpub (or at least I was when it was still running), and I forgot how strong these early volumes actually were. I read all three of these straight, basically, and the time flew by. It’s deceptive! It’s not that the later volumes are bad…they’re just not as good as these are. But I still love Yamada-kun as a whole and I’m glad to be finally back on the train.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: November 17, 2015; January 19, 2016; March 22, 2016
MSRP: $10.99 each
