Boys Over Flowers 36
Posted: May 12, 2009 Filed under: Boys Over Flowers 1 Comment »Having only read the last two volumes of this, I probably didn’t enjoy the ending as much as I should have. But the fact that the ending was immensely enjoyable and exactly what I want out of every shoujo series I read probably says something about Boys Over Flowers in general.
Actually, I may have gotten more out of the ending than the average dedicated fan, because a lot of the book consisted of flashbacks and the characters reflecting on earlier events in the series. I imagine this to be kind of boring for someone who has read all 36 volumes (especially given the fact a lot of stuff was left open and the pages could have been better spent on other things), but it was all new to me, and I enjoyed the sentimental reflections quite a bit.
I was a little surprised when the volume opened with some… er, alone time between Tsukasa and Makino. It doesn’t really go where I thought it was going (and was honestly kind of lame), but that made me like it a little more for being the very picture of a chaste girls’ comic.
Aside from the flashbacks about Makino’s time at Eitoku Academy, the plot consists of a random point of contention about whether Makino will be able to go to Eitoku her senior year, and then the final event is the Eitoku prom. I was kind of shocked when I realized this was the only manga I’d ever read with a prom in it, but really, what a fantastic way to end the series. The dance partners and tension at the event were exactly right.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more of a solid resolution to the series, but perhaps the aftermath I was looking for will be in the bonus volume coming out at the end of summer. I’ll probably pick it up. Then go back and start from the beginning of the series, because I like shoujo romance, dammit, and I’m pretty sure this serves as a template for most of what I’m reading now. I’m a sucker for the classics.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
[...] 20th Century Boys (Kuriousity) Connie on vol. 11 of Banana Fish (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on vol. 36 of Boys Over Flowers (Slightly Biased Manga) Ed Sizemore on vols. 4-6 of Fairy Tail (Comics Worth Reading) Julie on vol. [...]