shogakukan

Fujoshi Reads

#06 – Touch by Adachi Mitsuru

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Touch by Adachi Mitsuru
Published by Shogakukan
Serialized in Shounen Sunday

Touch. I got into Touch one afternoon where there was nothing I could do but watch some free videos online. It was considered as the highest rated anime ever. It is so popular that it’s an institution. It is, as some have noted, a classic among all manga stories. According to my friend’s mother, it was so popular in Japan that TV stations looked for girls like Minami. Koushien became the most popular sports event over the summer. And the manga turned Adachi Mitsuru as the premier mangaka of the 80s. In short, it was the series of the decade.

Years later, a stale lunch, natsu anison, a visit to Manga Kissa 10, and a random curiosity caused me to grab the series from the shelf. So what was it in Touch that touched the hearts of many Japanese? Well… Koko de touch. lol. ^^;;

Fujoshi Reads

#03 – Tokyo Boys and Girls by Miki Aihara

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Tokyo Boys and Girls by Miki Aihara
Published by Shogakukan
Serialized in Betsucomi

It’s your first day in High School. You chose the school with the best school uniform so you could round up more boys. Everything looks great so far until a guy you can’t remember suddenly tells you that he’s going to get his revenge at you. And you try to remember all the things that you have done in your life, but you just can’t. What starts out as a beginning of a funny comedy, turns into a sappy high school romance. Miki Aihara takes the usual shoujo formula and expands it to a 5 volume teenage drama. God, if it took her four volumes to figure out what she has done to the guy, you wouldn’t wonder why the publishers considered pulling the plug.

Fujoshi Reads

#01 – Happy by Naoki Urasawa

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Happy by Naoki Urasawa
Published by: Shougakukan
Serialized in: Big Comic Spirits

If there’s something happy about Happy, it’s the fact that it’s not quite the happy tale that you expected. Miyuki Umino may look happy in this cover, however, the unfortunate turn of events in her life isn’t really something to rejoice about. You’ve got an idiot brother who owes 250 million yen to some yakuza loan sharks. You’ve got 2 brothers and a younger sister to feed. You barely have enough cash for a lavish meal hence you’ve got curry for three days again. Might I add that the loan sharks want to pimp you in some bath parlor? Swamped with bad luck, Miyuki tries to make ends meet by trying her chance with her dream, becoming a professional tennis player.

Still fresh from his Yawara escapade, Naoki Urasawa gives us a refreshing, slightly tragic, nonethless perservering heroine under Miyuki. He may have given up Judo, but on this end, it’s all about who becomes the princess of tennis! That may sound cheesy, but it really is the tale of two women who have different paths to victory. As Urasawa exposes these two women, he asks us, which one of them will be truly happy?

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