manga: W Juliet
Jan. 16th, 2007 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreSo, having just finished the manga (*sniffle*...there won't be any more...) I thought I'd do a quick post on it.
The book is about Ito, a girl who, at the start of the series, looks, dresses and acts more like a boy than a girl(not to mention the fact that she's taller than almost any boy she knows, the exceptions being her twin older brothers, Ryuya and Yuto, and her sempai, Toki) and wants to be an actress. She's essentially the star of the drama club, until Makoto, a girl just as tall as Ito only much more feminine, transfers to her school and gets everyone's attention. The book jacket of the first volume made it sound like there'd be rivalry between the two, but there's nothing remotely along those lines in the book. Makoto is apparently rather quiet and shy, and supposedly has scars on her chest and back so she's allowed to change in private at school. Ito is essentially incapable of allowing anyone to NOT be her friend, so she instantly latches onto Makoto, who bemusedly follows her lead while attempting to recover from the sheer onslaught that is Ito.
One day, they get caught in the rain and Ito invites Makoto to her house to change. Her three brothers are being pests while Makoto is changing and want to know more about the cute girl Ito brought home, so Ito just goes in and slams the door in their faces, then gets something of a shock. Not only does Makoto not have any scars, but "she" is also missing other things most girls have, and the shy but pretty girl she shooed into her room was apparently a cute and currently shirtless guy. And she had 3 sister-complex-ridden brothers with martial arts training just outside the door, demanding to know what was going on.
Makoto also wants to be an actor, but his father(who he's never got along with) expects him to take over the family dojo, so they strike a deal. If Makoto can go all through highschool as a girl, without anyone guessing that he's a boy, then he can be an actor, but if anyone finds out he's not a girl, then he has to take over the dojo. Since Ito found out the truth via invasion of privacy *whistles* instead of flaws in Makoto's performance, she decides it doesn't count and decides to help him. Even though he successfully pulls off his role throughout the series, Makoto really isn't overly feminine, he just has excellent manners and three older sisters whose mannerisms he mimicks, one of whom, Akane, is a makeup artist and helps him with his disguise each day.
The first book I picked up on a whim, and was really only "ok and pretty fun and cute" but it was funny and had a lot of characters that were just flatout likable and endearing, so I got the next book, and each book was better than the last(which makes sense, as vol 1 was, I believe, Emura's first work outside of a few oneshots)
One of the best things about the series(aside from the sheer likability of basically everything in it and the often insane humor) is the fact that, the unavoidable crossdressing aside, most of the problems Ito and Makoto face are normal growing up problems-parents, growing up, graduating, being accepted, etc.-as opposed to bringing up all sorts of forced romantic problems and wallowing in things. Their relationship itself is very normal and healthy, and while there are other romantic pairings I'm more attached to, I'm not sure there are any I'm more sure can actually have a permenent, healthy life together( there are a few I'm equally or almost so sure of, but not more)
There are also a number of secondary romances, all just as endearing. My favorites are with Ito's twin brothers, Ryuya and Yuto. Ryuya is the oldest son and has the biggest sister complex, and is one day going to take over his own family's dojo, who hooks up with Chris(tina) a quite tiny Amercian(it should be noted that that the very tall Miura brothers, after a lifetime with their tall and tomboyish sister, all hook up with teeny tiny girls) who's idea of modern Japan is some sort of warped feudal era Japan, and refers to him as "Master", their father as "Shogun," Yuto as "Colonel," etc. Yuto is the calmest and sanest of the Miura family(maybe of the entire book...well, except maybe Nobuko, who makes Christina look tall and hooks up with the giant Toki...those 2 are my pet side OTP) but in the "silent and deadly like a snake and can and will destroy you in an instant's notice if provoked" way, who helps Makoto's sister, Akane, when she's in trouble at Ito and Makoto's request, then proceeds to spend a few volumes in hyper-protective an attentive OTP denial land(actually, every guy in the series except Makoto spends a fair bit of time there) before becoming 1/2 of the token sane couple.
Another good thing about it is that it's one of the few mangas where the manga PLANNED to end it and had an ending in mind, instead of starting it and continuing endlessly until she and/or the readers got tired of it(and actually, it lasted longer than she had planned, she just got caught up in all the supporting characters and their stories) I will, I think, be rereading this soon.
The book is about Ito, a girl who, at the start of the series, looks, dresses and acts more like a boy than a girl(not to mention the fact that she's taller than almost any boy she knows, the exceptions being her twin older brothers, Ryuya and Yuto, and her sempai, Toki) and wants to be an actress. She's essentially the star of the drama club, until Makoto, a girl just as tall as Ito only much more feminine, transfers to her school and gets everyone's attention. The book jacket of the first volume made it sound like there'd be rivalry between the two, but there's nothing remotely along those lines in the book. Makoto is apparently rather quiet and shy, and supposedly has scars on her chest and back so she's allowed to change in private at school. Ito is essentially incapable of allowing anyone to NOT be her friend, so she instantly latches onto Makoto, who bemusedly follows her lead while attempting to recover from the sheer onslaught that is Ito.
One day, they get caught in the rain and Ito invites Makoto to her house to change. Her three brothers are being pests while Makoto is changing and want to know more about the cute girl Ito brought home, so Ito just goes in and slams the door in their faces, then gets something of a shock. Not only does Makoto not have any scars, but "she" is also missing other things most girls have, and the shy but pretty girl she shooed into her room was apparently a cute and currently shirtless guy. And she had 3 sister-complex-ridden brothers with martial arts training just outside the door, demanding to know what was going on.
Makoto also wants to be an actor, but his father(who he's never got along with) expects him to take over the family dojo, so they strike a deal. If Makoto can go all through highschool as a girl, without anyone guessing that he's a boy, then he can be an actor, but if anyone finds out he's not a girl, then he has to take over the dojo. Since Ito found out the truth via invasion of privacy *whistles* instead of flaws in Makoto's performance, she decides it doesn't count and decides to help him. Even though he successfully pulls off his role throughout the series, Makoto really isn't overly feminine, he just has excellent manners and three older sisters whose mannerisms he mimicks, one of whom, Akane, is a makeup artist and helps him with his disguise each day.
The first book I picked up on a whim, and was really only "ok and pretty fun and cute" but it was funny and had a lot of characters that were just flatout likable and endearing, so I got the next book, and each book was better than the last(which makes sense, as vol 1 was, I believe, Emura's first work outside of a few oneshots)
One of the best things about the series(aside from the sheer likability of basically everything in it and the often insane humor) is the fact that, the unavoidable crossdressing aside, most of the problems Ito and Makoto face are normal growing up problems-parents, growing up, graduating, being accepted, etc.-as opposed to bringing up all sorts of forced romantic problems and wallowing in things. Their relationship itself is very normal and healthy, and while there are other romantic pairings I'm more attached to, I'm not sure there are any I'm more sure can actually have a permenent, healthy life together( there are a few I'm equally or almost so sure of, but not more)
There are also a number of secondary romances, all just as endearing. My favorites are with Ito's twin brothers, Ryuya and Yuto. Ryuya is the oldest son and has the biggest sister complex, and is one day going to take over his own family's dojo, who hooks up with Chris(tina) a quite tiny Amercian(it should be noted that that the very tall Miura brothers, after a lifetime with their tall and tomboyish sister, all hook up with teeny tiny girls) who's idea of modern Japan is some sort of warped feudal era Japan, and refers to him as "Master", their father as "Shogun," Yuto as "Colonel," etc. Yuto is the calmest and sanest of the Miura family(maybe of the entire book...well, except maybe Nobuko, who makes Christina look tall and hooks up with the giant Toki...those 2 are my pet side OTP) but in the "silent and deadly like a snake and can and will destroy you in an instant's notice if provoked" way, who helps Makoto's sister, Akane, when she's in trouble at Ito and Makoto's request, then proceeds to spend a few volumes in hyper-protective an attentive OTP denial land(actually, every guy in the series except Makoto spends a fair bit of time there) before becoming 1/2 of the token sane couple.
Another good thing about it is that it's one of the few mangas where the manga PLANNED to end it and had an ending in mind, instead of starting it and continuing endlessly until she and/or the readers got tired of it(and actually, it lasted longer than she had planned, she just got caught up in all the supporting characters and their stories) I will, I think, be rereading this soon.