Last

Last, Volume 1 Cover

The Summary:

TAMAKOSHI Hiroyuki is an extremely prolific author, best known for his Boys Be series of stories, as well as the Gacha Gacha franchise, specializing in light love stories with a tendency to dress his female characters in short skirts and/or bikini tops. However, he has also made departures from this formula, and today's manga is one of those departures. Last: We are for the Future (ラスト～僕らは未来のために～), is rather unique in the annals of shounen love stories... it's like Groundhog Day, where the protagonist repeats a series of events over and over... only he repeats his entire life, starting at a pivotal moment during his high school class trip.

We follow Takada Kanta, a friendly popular student, who spends all of his time playing with his two best friends... one of which happens to be the girl he loves, while the other is his love rival. Normal so far... even a bit cliche. When his best friend tells Kanta that he wants to confess to their friend (her name's Hina... I'm skipping most of the names for brevity, you'll thank me later), Kanta, being the wishy-washy character that we've all come to expect in these types of stories, claims that he has no special feelings for Hina. Of course, that was a lie, and Kanta mopes for the rest of the night, thinking 'oh man, what-am-I-gonna-do', until he wanders over to Hina's hotel room (they're on a class trip, remember) and runs into her outside. She pulls him in for drinks and they get to talking... turns out Hina has a crush on him and one thing leads to another and they kiss right as the 3rd wheel comes into the room to confess his love. Kanta freaks out, still claiming that he doesn't like Hina in that way, leading to a terrible break in friendship ("then why did you kiss me?" and "How could you do that to Hina?"). The domino effect leads to a lowering in his status in school, his self esteem crumbles, and he's hit by a car as he's running after his last spare change.

First page of chapter 2

And that is half of chapter 1. Now, see, where it actually gets interesting is the fact that Hina isn't the main female lead. It's her roommate on the class trip, the cold and quiet loner of the class, Sudou Riko. After the car accident, the now adult (all-be-it, totally worthless) Kanta is thrown back to the moment before Hina kisses him. Realizing that he's reliving his life's greatest mistake, he pushes her away as the door flies open, and claims that he was outside of her room to meet up with Sudou. Why? Because... she's his girlfriend. She plays along with the gag, and the rest of the story revolves around their relationship and the mysteries of why Kanta is repeating his life.

Is it any good?

I really like this manga. It's a light shounen read with lovable and fun characters, actual measurable character growth, and a bit of a twist ending. And, thank the Manga Gods, the characters don't have one of those terrible 'revelations' that was obvious from the very beginning. For people who are just starting out with Japanese and want something that isn't too complex yet has a good amount of 'real' text to work through, this is a good one to pick up. 

I believe I mentioned it before, but this is a short one... I'm of the assumption that it was started with the intention of making it only 2 volumes, but if it was canceled the author did a good job of finishing it with no glaring cutoff points or missed opportunities. Actually, it's one of the best things I've read from him and I wish he'd stop making semi-hentai seinen stories about incest long enough to write another one like this.

Manga Facts:

• Published in Shounen Magazine Special starting in 2008 (technically, it was in 2007, but the magazines are dated 2 months off, so it started in the first 2008 issue).
• The author's official website was last updated on my 24th birthday (I'm 27, by the way).

Snoopy's Recommendation:

I say... read it. It's good. If you absolutely, positively HATE cleavage or the occasional sexy leg, then I suppose you can skip it. But it's so short, and so light that I can't see anyway disliking this manga. So I guess, I'll say that people who like love stories should read it. I'll even include people who mostly like shoujo stuff... it still works.

Lovely Uchikoshi-Kun!!

Lovely Uchikoshi-kun!! Volume 5 Cover

The Summary:
I was looking around my bookshelf for something to write about (as I'm not quite finished reading the manga that I was going to post about next) and I came across one that's been collecting dust for like 5 years, so I figured I'd wipe it off and expound its many virtues. 'Lovely Uchikoshi-kun!!' (ラブリー打越くん!!), by KUWAHARA Shinya is a classic seinen from the late 1990's (it was also recently republished a few years ago) that follows our hero, Uchikoshi, an errand boy for the Tennis Club as he gets beat up by the upperclassmen and made fun of by his classmates... that is, until Maki Shinobu finds him. Maki has been searching the world for the one who shares the blood of a fallen companion, and she finds that blood flowing through Uchikoshi. After murdering the upperclassmen that bully him, Maki makes it a point to let our young hero know that he belongs to her, and no one else, vowing to kill any woman who attempts to lay claim to him. This starts to get a little messy... and, you know, there are so many gray areas in the whole like/lust spectrum that eventually Maki just decides to kill every woman. You know, just in general. (Did I mention that Maki's a vampire?)

In order to protect the women around him, Uchikoshi finds sudden spurts of strength, speed, and inhuman cruelty... he fears this strength, knowing that he could hurt someone close to him in one of his fits of rage. This fear of himself is what has led him to take a subservient role in his club and school life.

And just in case anyone with a weak stomach or an aversion to boobs was thinking about reading this, it's both bloody and booby. The beginning more so than the rest, what with all of the decapitations and vampire dry humping, but it stays mature throughout the full six volumes.

So, this is worth reading why?

Every woman? At least leave the Swedes.

Lovely Uchikoshi-kun!! is actually quite fun. At the core, it's a comedy about a boy who has a weak personality and a lot of moral fiber that's surrounded by extremely strong female characters who do their best to protect him. Maki protects him by decapitating anyone who gets near him, and the other girls do it in a more subtle way, while avoiding Maki as much as possible. The concession here, and the reason some people may not like this manga, is the excessive tits and ass shots. They are absolutely everywhere... so yeah, keep that in mind.

Anyway, as for the manga, the art work is decent... some angles are a little odd, and you can see some of the inexperience in earlier volumes, but Kuwahara has a good style and gets his point across well. The pacing is fast, the humor is solid, and the characters, while odd as hell, have some good dialogue opportunities that do not go to waste. As far as the story elements go, it's not a secret that Uchikoshi has some sort of hidden potential having to do with his blood, as Maki has been hinting at it from the very beginning of chapter 1, but the reveal is still done well with less unnecessary hoopla than you'd expect in a manga from a young artist. It could be better, but it's good for what it is.

Manga Facts:

• Ran for 2 years starting in 1998 in Comic Uppers from Kodansha, lasting for 6 volumes.
• This is seinen and has lots of almost sex and nudity, as well as blood and gore. Viewer discretion is advised.

Snoopy's Recommendation:

I really enjoyed this... it's not the best manga I've read (by far), but it's fun and has no real flaws to speak of. The audience for this is decidedly male, it has a harem aspect to it, as well as a lot of nudity, but other than that, it's a vampire love story. If you have a thing for vampires, seinen love stories, or unique characters, then this is worth looking at.

Nozomi Witches

Nozomi Witches, Volume 2 Cover

The Summary:

The first manga on my list... for really no good reason... is Nozomi Witches (のぞみ♡ウィッチィズ), by an author I've read extensively, NOBE Toshio. Many fans will only be familiar with his more famous work, Monaco no Sorae, but I assure you that if you enjoy one of his works, you'll enjoy them all (he's currently publishing a sci-fi called 'Time Slipper' about a girl who travels in time (imagine that), and it's really quite sweet, aside from the homicides). Nozomi Witches begins as a love comedy focusing on the heroine, Egawa Nozomi, an actress who has returned to Japan from New Zealand for high school. She moves in next door to the main male lead, Shiba Ryotarou, who, despite his inherent perverted nature, believes that all pretty girls are two-faced witches, not to be trusted. Of course, this is shattered when he meets Nozomi, the perfect, brilliant, and endlessly talented foil to his lack of motivation. Initially the story revolves around the two of them as Ryotarou follows Nozomi into the Theater Club, where he discovers a talent for acting. Their everyday life, hilarious mishaps and mutual attraction is the crux of the story for the first 5 volumes (there isn't any third wheel to muck up the chemistry, which is refreshing). Then one day after finding his acting feet, Ryotarou is given the role of a boxer and is encouraged to join the Boxing Club in order to research the role, where he excels, eventually aiming to join the Seoul Olympics, and later, the world of professional boxing. Every once in a while, the characters return to acting for a side story, but after volume 6, most of that comes to an end. The characters continue on past the end of the series, and return for appearances in Monaco no Sorae, as well as Monaco no Sorae 2.

So, is it worth reading?

A random page from volume 21, translated.

The manga has a really good love comedy feel in the beginning... the author is every bit a match for Adachi's lighthearted storytelling and single panel humor (and you can clearly see that they both stem from the same influences, although they use them in different ways). In fact, Nozomi Witches was one of the top manga in Japan from the beginning through to about volume 8, when it started to veer drastically from love comedy into sports comedy. That said, as a boxing story, it actually holds up surprisingly well, not only does it pre-date the current boxing champion, Hajime no Ippo, but it does a better job of weaving personal plots into the main story without the use of excessive flashbacks or side stories... in that way, it's a superior sports manga. What it lacks is in details and believable advancements in strength and/or technique. All sports stories rely on exaggerated moves and workouts, but Nozomi suffers drastically from the 'I've made my main villain too strong, so my main character must win with nothing but perseverance' cliché that so many fighting manga are faced with, as well as an unrealistic growth rate for the main character (who has no trouble beating anyone he fights after just 2 months of training). In the end, while it lasts for 48 volumes, the author never settles into a good pace, the ending feels rushed (as 99% of endings do), and the final chapters fail to wrap up some of the smaller loose ends. Then again, the fact that Nobe's next manga, Monaco no Sorae, does in fact take place in the same world roughly a decade after the events of Nozomi Witches makes the rushed ending easier to swallow, and gives this series a better feeling of finality.

Manga Facts:

• Shares a world with many of Nobe's other works (not limited to just the sports stories).
• Ran for 10 years starting in 1986 (in Young Jump), for a total of 48 volumes.
• Produced an animated OVA of the same name (3 episodes) in 1992.
• This is a Seinen manga (has boobs, isn't afraid of fan service).

The birth of the Flashing Straight

Snoopy's Recommendation:

Volumes 1 through 5 are a great love comedy... one of the best, in my opinion. Volumes 6 and up are acceptable as a sports story but fall flat when it comes to technical points and the accurate portrayal of boxing. That doesn't in any way mean that it's not worth reading. If you like the beginning, then you should pick it up for no other reason than to see Nozomi and Ryotarou finally get together. For a long time, I had Nozomi Witches on my list of manga that I wanted to translate, and if you're looking for a sports manga that has more heart than grit, then this is a good one to flip through.