Stories of first love are awkward and cute, and they make us feel better about our own failed romances.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Taro Shinonome and Enterbrain
Translation: Alexis Kirsche
Adaptation: Katherine Schilling
What They Say
When Kouichi meets Asuka, it’s love at first kick! Asuka is a soccer prodigy who needs help in her training to be the best. Jumping at the chance to hang out with this athletic beauty, Kouichi quickly volunteers. But he soon finds himself pushed to the limit both physically and emotionally. Can these two score in the game of love?
The Review:
Contents (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This second volume is a fresh start with completely different characters compared to the first book. The protagonist is Aihara, a guy trying to get off his high school campus without bumping into any more couples being lovey-dovey in public. Just when he finally thinks things are all clear, he gets nailed in the head by a soccer ball. Before he has a chance to get mad about it, the beautiful kicker shows up. Sakino is a bit of a tomboy, but super cute.
Sakino and Aihara start hanging out together under the guise of practicing soccer. It is instantly clear they like each other, but young love can be a tough thing to put out in the open. Instead, the two practice soccer and study for exams together. Sakino dreams of being a professional soccer player someday and that dedication only makes her more attractive to Aihara. This is all cute, but unfortunately, there isn’t any conflict to be seen. There is no love triangle, no overbearing parent, no one trying to keep Sakino off the boys soccer club, nothing at all in the way of conflict. This is just a love story where the characters get what they want without any sacrifice.
In Summary:
At this point, I’m not sure where this series is going. The love stories are nice but too short and with no real conflict. The other weakness is that there are almost no secondary characters. The characters don’t have any friends, just other kids around school. The major focus on Aihara and Sakino gives the story a somewhat empty feeling. This series actually reminds me of ‘Boys Be…’ incarnations, with short romantic stories about first love. So if you really enjoyed ‘Boys Be…’, then give this series a shot for its cute romantic stories. Otherwise, there are better romantic manga series out there.
Content Grade: D+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: TOKYOPOP
Release Date: September 29th, 2009
MSRP: $10.99
