A teenager undergoes a drastic transformation to become the girlfriend of her socially awkward childhood friend.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Sanzo
Translation/Adaptation: Alexandra McCullough-Garcia
What They Say
When a beautiful girl asks her childhood friend out, his response is a shocker: ‘You’re too perfect.’ What’s a girl to do, except transform into a giant caterpillar and try, try again?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy sounds like the name of a superhero team or a comic duo. However, the characters of this seven-chapter, single volume manga are not heroic, and while there is some humor, the story is more melodrama than laughs.
”Bad Texter Boy” refers to Akane Kuchinashi, and it’s a misnomer because you only see him using his smartphone on the first page. He’s more accurately described as a borderline NEET (a shut-in). Although he attends school, he doesn’t have any confidence, is bad at interacting with others, and therefore keeps to himself.
However, Akane does have one friend: Suzume Kikuo, the girl next door. She’s beautiful, smart, and popular—the exact opposite of him. So Akane’s shocked when Suzume asks to be his girlfriend. Instead of being happy about it, he turns her down, saying that she’s too perfect and he’s too messed up for it to work. Unwilling to give up, Suzume decides to rectify the situation, not by changing Akane, but by turning herself into a giant caterpillar.
And there you have the humor in the story, with Akane freaking out at his transformed friend and Suzume struggling to do things in her new body. However, the story doesn’t devolve into a weird ”my girlfriend is a bug” comedy. Akane feels incredible guilt about the situation so he seeks out Yutaka Ouga, the schoolmate who told Suzume how she might change herself. However, when he finds Yutaka, she is strangely hostile toward him.
With the introduction of Yutaka, the focus shifts to the origins of Akane’s pathetic personality. In addition to self-reflection on Akane’s part, Yutaka inadvertently stumbles upon a major element of dysfunction in the Kuchinashi family. At the same time, Suzume’s personality starts to degrade. The narrative that results is less about a bizarre magical transformation and more about the lingering effects of the damage people inflict upon one another.
Although Yutaka claims to be happy with her ending, the book’s conclusion is better described as bittersweet. Despite its magical elements, Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy is not a fairy tale, and Suzume’s ultimate state and the burden Akane embraces at the end is a metaphor for the scars in their relationship.
Extras include embedded author’s afterword, 4-page bonus manga, and title page in color.
In Summary
The title makes it sound like a comedy, but it’s not. Despite the supernatural transformation of a character into a giant bug, this single-volume story is really a commentary on human relationships and the immense impact that invisible emotional hurts have on our lives.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: June 26th, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
