manga: Kekkaishi Vol 16

[meganbmoore]

I hated the arc with the predatory girl after Yoshimori. I do not read good shounen to have it invaded by bad shoujo. There’s plenty of time for Tokine to figure out that Yoshimori is growing up, and she can just do it without the help of obsessive girls who fall for and stalk anything that’s male and moving. At least I have my guard up for that when I’m reading shoujo.

I was hoping Tokine would find her way around the doorway guy’s place, but I guess they had to save him for the council. I really like Misao (who looks like a younger Rue) and hope she doesn’t just disappear. She was especially cute with Masamori. I thought the dragon arc was a hoot. Tokine may think Mama Sumimura is a lot like Yoshimori, but I think Masamori is the one who takes after her, based on this. It must be painful to be Yoshimori and have those two for relatives.

I’m curious to see what happens with the gates, but a bit concerned with how Masamori seems to be acting different.

Comments

[shediao.livejournal.com]

From what I've seen of Sumiko (and I've only seen as much as you, methinks), I wonder what she sees in Shuuji.

Tokine may think Mama Sumimura is a lot like Yoshimori, but I think Masamori is the one who takes after her, based on this.

All the cunning is already passed on to the first child and nothing is left for the younger siblings?

Sumiko and Masamori are mostly away from the house, but people just have to pop up at the Sumimura doorstep and bring up their names.

[musouka-manga.livejournal.com]

I really liked the girl that stalked liked Yoshimori, not just because it added a bit of oomph to get Tokine to begin to see him in a different light, but because it was also a rare instance of Yoshimori getting praise from a member of the opposite sex. Yoshimori is a good guy, and as much as I love Tokine, she can be a little too harsh on him. It was nice to see someone appreciate the qualities that would make him a good boyfriend.

Not only that, but I like that it was a two steps forward, one step back in how Yoshimori needs to grow up. I found his usage of Tokine's image to do his dirty work to be interesting in so many respects. I mean, he really could have used any cute girl and avoided the mess entirely, but using Tokine isn't just a sign that he likes her. It also shows that in some respects he really DOES still depend on her like the little kid he used to be, to take care of all the icky things he doesn't feel capable of handling on his own--even it's it's just a facsimile of her.

This was about both characters growing up a little, and also showing that the both have a lot further to go.

Aside from that, the basis for the plot was such a typical "Shounen Sunday romance complication" that I feel that I must protest calling it bad shoujo! If there's a couple in that mag (Sunday skews het, btw, unlike Jump), you better believe at some point, one of them is going to assume the other is interested in someone else, no matter how ludicrous it is.