insaneneko

In Dokusen kinshi!?, written by Kazumi Mai and illustrated by Miyagi Tohko, Mikura Shogo is not only Hino Rikiya's childhood friend, he is Rikiya's connection to the outside world. Rikiya is one of those tall, good-looking, smart, athletically gifted types (that populate manga in general). Normally he'd be really popular, but because of his utterly unsociable nature and expressionlessness, he instead scares people. Shogo doesn't think it's good for Rikiya to be so closed off to everyone; he wants everyone stop being afraid of Rikiya and see what a great person Rikiya is. At the same time, he likes being special to Rikiya. But despite Shogo's misgivings, they have a comfortable, solid friendship. Things start changing when a girl actually expresses interest in Rikiya...

My initial impression was that the story was a bit weak. Not horribly so, but certainly nothing special. What made me like it were primarily a) the art and b) the way Shogo can have a "conversation" with Rikiya without Rikiya saying a word. After rereading it, I did find a couple more points in its favor. It doesn't spend too much time bending over backwards to keep the characters in denial/clueless/angsting. The story is narrated in first person by Shogo, who is fairly engaging with a sweet personality, if not that original. And above all, I enjoyed reading how their relationship changes from solid, comfortable friendship to something else, and the confusion and uncertainty that comes from that. Did I mention the very pretty art? ^_~


( the summary )

( the pics )