Zombie-Loan 3

So here’s another one of those books that’s been laying around forever because I’ve been avoiding reading it.  This series is still just… very messy.  I probably shouldn’t review this one when I’m so tired and can’t properly gather my thoughts to find nice things to say, but this volume really did just lose me.  I was confused about most of what was going on.

Some of my confusion was because I was having trouble placing one of the characters that appeared prominently last volume because so much time had passed since I read it, which is my fault.  I remembered about 1/3 of the way through that he was Chika’s friend.  His role here kind of broke my heart, because even though I didn’t remember the character and he wasn’t really developed enough to carry that much emotional weight, I knew who and what he was supposed to be, especially to Chika, and the story surrounding him was actually quite good.

Well, thinking back on it, I guess most of the major details are pretty clear, so it’s probably not fair to say that it was “confusing.”  I did have a lot of trouble getting through it, though.  I think one of the problems is that the sense of place is really bad.  It’s hard to say this as a fan of shoujo manga, which are normally drawn with no backgrounds, but I had a hard time telling what was going on and where in several parts.  Part of this is the stylized art.  It can be pretty good, and there’s a lot of black used, which I like, but… the backgrounds and scenery are drawn in such a way that often it’s not clear if certain characters have moved, if they’re supposed to be in the same place together, etc.  The action suffers because of the stylized art too, and while it’s not difficult to get the gist of the fight scenes, following them panel-to-panel is difficult.

I also disliked its fanservicey humor.  As heavy as stuff gets here, I understand it’s pretty important to keep a light touch around too, but having the two female characters flirt together in the bath is not how you crack a funny joke, nor do you do so by having the two boys constantly picking comical fights with each other.  It’s a bit better in this volume than it was last time, but the way the boys express their hate for one another never feels quite right to me, either.  Maybe there’s more to their relationship to be revealed later, though.

I still like the basic plot, though!  More details of the payment system are introduced, as well as the pros and cons to working out your loan with the ferryman.  I love what’s going on, and I like a lot of things about the plot… I just don’t like the pieces that it’s made of.

I’ll probably get volume four within the next week or so and read it to see if reading the volumes back to back helps my understanding of it any better.  Perhaps it just employs a different style of visual vernacular that I have a hard time comprehending, and maybe following it up right away with another volume will reinforce the style and way the story’s told and help me appreciate it more.