Kedamono Damono 3
Posted: December 2, 2008 Filed under: Kedamono Damono 1 Comment »This is one of the rare series where I would say the collected graphic novel format works against it. I really like this series, I enjoy the plot and characters… but I think it works much better in the seasonal anthology it appears in, sandwiched between other series, because the same types of things happen in every chapter. I like these things, I love the formula, but it’s more obvious what’s going on when I read the chapters together in a graphic novel instead of individually over a period of a year mixed in with other things.
It’s a bit naughty, but it’s pretty obvious this is supposed to be for little girls, so other than implied peeking or nudity or touching, there’s not much worse than little kisses or hand-holding aside from the characters talking about/implying doing more every once in awhile. The way all the stories seem to work is that something will happen to destroy the confidence in either the boy character or girl character, and the two will be apart until they confirm their love again, then cute scenes will happen. The things that happen to drive them apart could have something to do with other people, a sudden realization of a shortcoming, or something silly one or the other of them said. It doesn’t really matter since the story winds up the same way every time. It’s still cute though, and it’s rare to see a series where the main couple is “together” instead of stammering and dancing around being boyfriend-girlfriend.
The one story that stood out a little was one where the girl transformed into a boy at night somehow. This is never explained, really, but the fact that she was even more… forward than girl Haruki was pretty cute. I would love to see the two inexplicably locked in this situation and have the plot advance, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. It’s a real shame.
For a little girls romantic comedy, this series is pretty good. I like it a lot despite its formulaic nature… a lot better than a regular school romance, actually. You could do far worse for a shoujo series, but I definitely wish there was a little more to the plot.
[...] of Gankutsuou and Alex Hoffman reads vol. 1 of Kieli. Connie checks out vol. 3 of Sand Chronicles, vol. 3 of Kedamono Damono, vol. 8 of Loveless, and vol. 6 of MPD-Psycho at Slightly Biased Manga. James Fleenor gives his [...]