Tramps Like Us 8

It’s been almost three years since I read the last volume of this series, which is something that it really doesn’t deserve.  It’s fantastic, and I can tell you I remembered the last page of volume 7 really, REALLY well over these three years.  I actually had no problems getting back into things.  It’s got a small cast of characters, I remembered everyone’s names, and I remembered everything that was going on, which is sort of unheard of for me.

This series works really well simply because the characters are fantastic.  Picking it back up after so long made me realize this even more, because even after three years, I still remembered how Sumire felt about Hasumi, I still remember Momo’s feelings toward Sumire and how his current situation was affecting his life, and I still appreciate Momo and Sumire’s bizarre and sweet relationship.  The situations that milk these things for all their worth are really all I ask in a shoujo/josei manga.

We get a few really fanservice-y chapters here.  One chapter is about Sumire losing a bet with Momo and having to be his pet for a day.  She resists, because she’s Sumire and she’s sort of a stick in the mud, but then she… relents, and acts more pet-like.  Sort of.  It also makes her realize a bit what position she puts Momo in, but I don’t know if anything will come of that.

The series is fond of showing you situations that run parallel to a larger theme, and sometimes the parallel is immediately obvious, sometimes a little less so.  There were two in this volume, one was explicitly pointed out and the other was heavily, HEAVILY implied (read: it might as well have been pointed out.  it also worked on several levels).  One was a favorite of mine, about an older woman who walked her dog where Momo exercised and talked about how she wouldn’t have anything to live for if she didn’t have her dog to take care of.  The woman reminds Momo a lot of Sumire.  The other situation involves a man Sumire works with and a girl he sleeps with but doesn’t want to date.  Sumire thinks that you should make it clear and not take advantage of people like that… but of course she’s got Momo.  At the end of the chapter, a former one-shot character is re-introduced (I don’t remember her, but she’s not a recurring character or even a minor character, so I don’t think she counts for what I said about remembering everyone earlier) and… well, it looks like she might be hanging around with Hasumi.

The relationship between Sumire and Hasumi is surprisingly healthy, which is unusual since a series like this usually has a weak relationship that eventually crumbles and the protagonist turns to the real love interest (Momo, in this case) in the end.  Hasumi is never down and out, and the two clearly love each other.  I’m still very curious how that will work out for everybody.