Masami Tsuda

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Kare Kano: His & Her Circumstances #5
Author: Masami Tsuda
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 6.1K

Synopsis:

Chapter 17: Miyazawa has a girls afternoon out with everyone and we get how show more some of the other girls met and what drew them together. They also start talking about their futures and Miyazawa realizes she has no plans for the future besides being the best at school. The chapter ends with Tsubasa revealing that her dad wants to re-marry and that she is running away to change his mind.

Chapte 18: Tsubasa tries to wheedle a way into staying at Miyazawa's place, but one of her other friends takes control and tells her to grow up and that her dad will be coming to deal with the situation after work. He shows up and begins relating what has led up to this moment. Tsubasa ends up staying at Miyazawa's house until things get better between Tsubasa and her dad. We are introduced to Kazuma, the son of the woman Tsubasa's dad wants to marry. He's the same age as Tsubasa and has his own reservations about the marriage.

Chapter 19: Tsubasa realizes she's been acting like a spoiled brat and goes home. She tells her dad she's ok with the re-marriage. They all get together to meet the son, for the first time. Things seem to be going well until Kazuma makes a comment about Tsubasa being in elementary school when she is actually older than him. She goes off the rails. The next day Tsubasa is being hit on by an old pervert and Kazuma comes to her rescue. They end up going to his house and have a real good bonding time. Tsubasa realizes that Kazuma comes home to an empty house every day just like her and that he understands her circumstances. She begins to realize how good having a family could be.

Chapter 20: Asaba comes to visit Miyazawa and her family while Arima is away. We get some of his backstory. Miyazawa is also starting to realize just how much she doesn't know about Arima and it makes her feel very insecure.

Chapter 21: Miyazawa and her family go to visit her grandfather. Her father remembers her mother at that age and says Miyazawa is growing up to look just like her. Miyazawa's father and maternal grandfather don't get along. We get the backstory for Miyazawa's father as he grew up without any parents and how he met Miyazawa's mom.

My Thoughts:

This was a good volume. I enjoyed the various storylines about all the different families. I suspect most of my enjoyment was because the teen romance angle was almost non-existent and this was more about family relationships.

That being said, I am done with the series. Just like I can no longer eat a family sized bag of 4 Cheese Doritos (I was so sad when they stopped making that kind) like I could in my 20's, I simply can't read about the emotional roller coaster that is the teen life. Just like the stick in the mud that I take my life's inspiration from, I am comfortably settled and don't want anything unsettling me :-)

I am thinking my next comic/manga/graphic novel read will probably either be some Asterix books or the Lodoss: Grey Witch trilogy manga.

★★★★☆ show less

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Kare Kano: His & Her Circumstances #3
Author: Masami Tsuda
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 192
Words: 6.1K

Synopsis:

Miyazawa takes her two younger sisters over to Arima's house and they go show more nuts planting sunflowers in the big yard. Asaba walks out of the house in just a bathrobe and starts needling Miyazawa. Once he sees what her little sisters are doing though, he starts helping them out. Miyazawa and Arima discuss the recent final exams and feel like their relationship has taken a toll on their grades. The next day at school the results are posted and both have dropped in the rankings. They are called to the main office and several of the teachers tell them to stop dating and concentrate on their schoolwork.

Miyazawa breaks out into her “home mode” attitude and tells the teachers they are wrong. When they begin to remonstrate, Arima steps in and says that they're grades will improve so there is no need to worry. Miyazawa realizes that her goals have shifted from wanting to be Number One to wanting to be a real genuine person and that Arima wants the same and is supportive of that goal. The chapter ends with Yukino's parents (Miyazawa) being called to a parent/teacher conference at her school.

Yukino relates how her parents reacted, which was for her dad to go all gung-ho in her defense, as he and Yukino's mom were married young. Both of her parents promise to bring weapons to the conference and “fight” for their daughter! At the conference both sets of guardians and the 2 students are there. The teacher outlines his worries and asks the guardians to step in and prevent the relationship from interfering with the students' academic life. Yukino's dad pretty much tells the teacher to stuff it (very politely) as their policy is to let their children choose their own path. Arima's Aunt and Uncle also say that Arima acting like a normal teenager is actually a comfort to them and they will not interfere. Yukino and Arima apologize to the teacher for their reactions to his statement and he admits he didn't handle things in the best way, so peace is achieved and both of the kids realize they do need to concentrate on their studies.

It is Make-Up day at school, so both Yukino and Arima have the day off. Yukino heads over to Arima's house and gets all flustered and girly when Arima tells her that his guardians won't be there. So when she arrives she's prepared for some sort of seduction. Only to find Asaba in the kitched cooking and acting like Arima's house maid. Asaba failed most of his classes but didn't realize today was Make-Up day, so they hustle him off to school, like parents of a not-particularly bright child. They end up in Arima's room....reading. Yukino pesters Arima until he pays attention to her and they share another kiss. Yukino feels very grown up and Arima lets her know how much self-control he exerts when around her.

The girls of Yukino's class are discussing her and Arima and another girl starts talking about how fake Yukino is and casting doubt into the minds of the other girls about whether Yukino is actually so good. She says that Yukino has captured Arima's heart through false pretenses and causes the girls to turn against Yukino. Tsukino (the new character) begins a campaign of smear tactics and little by little turns the class against Yukino. Tsukino was head of her class in middle grade and resents that Yukino has eclipsed her. Yukino admits to herself that it bothers her but vows to keep on going and let the chips fall where they may.

My Thoughts:

Reading this, I was struck by how much I actually agreed with the teacher about the relationship between Yukino and Arima. Now, I completely disagreed about how he handled things, ie, calling them into the office and forbidding them from seeing each other, but I wonder/suspect if that is more a cultural thing. Tell an American he can't do something and chances are he'll just tell you to go to Tartarus as he's an Independent Entity. With the Japanese being much more Group Oriented, the behavior of the teacher makes more sense. I would have talked to the parents alone and gotten their input first and foremost. But yep, I agreed with him that putting a highschool relationship before your grades is a big no-no.

I had to laugh when Yukino went over to Arima's and they ended up reading together. Mrs B and I do that all the time and thankfully, we're both content in that. I think a big part of that though is that we're mature, married and a lot more confident about the other person then when we had first gotten married. So I totally understood Yukino's reaction to it.

The introduction of Tsukino as a character and her “snake in the grass” approach is definitely very high school drama'y. Her campaign to turn the girls against Yukino, which works and happens in like 2 days, is sad in how much truth it contains about how easily kid's minds are manipulated. I don't remember what happens, so I have no idea whether she'll end up like Asaba (starting out as an enemy and turning into a friend) or if she stays a nemesis. My goodness though, makes me glad I'm not a girl.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting but I think my one volume per month rule is helping in that regards. Not sure I could handle more than that and not burn out. My emotions, while not burning so bright, are steady. After the turbulence of my own teen and 20something years, I welcome that steadiness. I guess I am liking this series because it is helping me see how I have changed over the years and that just fascinates me!

★★★☆½ show less

It's hard to believe that Tsuda has only written two ongoing series because her manga are so polished both in terms of art and narrative.

This story is very different from Kare Kano in some ways but when examined closely it's clear that Tsuda is addressing some of the same themes, if in a lighter way: love between opposites, jealousy, the difference between the inner self and the one shown to the world...

Nanoha is not a particularly good student or athlete but no one can dislike her. She is show more simply good and nice to everyone. Almost. Nanoha can't stand the beautiful, intelligent and princely (read egotistical) Hazuki. And there is a little monster in her that causes her to be incredibly mean and rude to him. She can't help it. She tries to avoid him but eventually that fails and she tells him exactly what she thinks of him.

Hazuki's world view is shattered. He reevaluates his life and his behaviour. Though he is outraged at first, he comes to believe that Nanoha has done him a favour and has helped him improve himself. Stripped of his narcicism, Hazuki is a very nice guy. He tries, despite her resistance, to befriend Nanoha and eventually falls in love with her.

Though nothing much happens in this two volume series, it is incredibly charming. The character's over the top reactions are amusing but at the same time these characters are very real, unique and endearing with realistic faults that they struggle to overcome. Hazuki and Nanoha are not simply the leads that we are told are great, that all the other characters love or are jealous of; I grew fond of them too, watching them grow.

One of the narrative techniques she uses, showing the same scenes from the perspective of each of the leads, is wonderfully executed. The misunderstandings between them are revealed by this format and drive a lot of the humour. But it is not over used. In fact it is used less and less as they come to understand each other.

Though the second volume was a bit weaker than the first, the series as a whole is surprisingly fun and heartwarming. It'ss bound to bring a smile to your face. show less

It's hard to believe that Tsuda has only written two ongoing series because her manga are so polished both in terms of art and narrative.

This story is very different from Kare Kano in some ways but when examined closely it's clear that Tsuda is addressing some of the same themes, if in a lighter way: love between opposites, jealousy, the difference between the inner self and the one shown to the world...

Nanoha is not a particularly good student or athlete but no one can dislike her. She is show more simply good and nice to everyone. Almost. Nanoha can't stand the beautiful, intelligent and princely (read egotistical) Hazuki. And there is a little monster in her that causes her to be incredibly mean and rude to him. She can't help it. She tries to avoid him but eventually that fails and she tells him exactly what she thinks of him.

Hazuki's world view is shattered. He reevaluates his life and his behaviour. Though he is outraged at first, he comes to believe that Nanoha has done him a favour and has helped him improve himself. Stripped of his narcicism, Hazuki is a very nice guy. He tries, despite her resistance, to befriend Nanoha and eventually falls in love with her.

Though nothing much happens in this two volume series, it is incredibly charming. The character's over the top reactions are amusing but at the same time these characters are very real, unique and endearing with realistic faults that they struggle to overcome. Hazuki and Nanoha are not simply the leads that we are told are great, that all the other characters love or are jealous of; I grew fond of them too, watching them grow.

One of the narrative techniques she uses, showing the same scenes from the perspective of each of the leads, is wonderfully executed. The misunderstandings between them are revealed by this format and drive a lot of the humour. But it is not over used. In fact it is used less and less as they come to understand each other.

Though the second volume was a bit weaker than the first, the series as a whole is surprisingly fun and heartwarming. It'ss bound to bring a smile to your face. show less