Honey Hunt 3
Posted: September 24, 2009 Filed under: Honey Hunt 4 Comments »Miki Aihara – Viz – 2009 – 5+ volumes
So we finally get presented with the eternal shoujo manga question in this volume: which of the two hot celebrity twins fawning all over plain-girl Yura will win in the end? What will happen to her acting career? Will she ever defeat her mother, the famous celebrity, in a battle of acting talent? Do the boys only love her because they want to get close to her famous musician father?
On one hand, the meat of the plot, the fact that the hot twin celebrities are going to fight over doormat Yura, is so ridiculous that I’d like to think it’s some sort of parody. It’s unfortunately dead serious, but the sad thing is that I like it anyway. It’s addictive. I mean, what happens when Yura goes to see Haruka at one of his concerts and Q-Ta calls in the middle? Who do you choose? The deadbeat away in London who hasn’t bothered to call or message you in forever, or the cool dude that gives you a kiss and says he likes you right at home? I mean, it’s like taking all the dignity that some shoujo manga pretend to have and stripping it away, and then realizing you like it anyway even though you would never, ever admit it to anyone you really knew.
It’s the very definition of a guilty pleasure, I suppose. I can’t stop myself. I like it way less than Hot Gimmick, but I don’t think I will ever be able to stop reading it.
Let’s see… character development… we’ve gotten some hints about the growth in Yura’s acting, though her tricks and talent are still much less impressive than Kyoko’s in Skip Beat. Mainly, she realizes she has a crush on Q-Ta, and most of the book is spent trying to get tickets to Haruka’s concert so that he’ll tell her more about Q-Ta. Except by coming to the concert, Haruka thinks that he will be so cool that she’ll fall in love with him instead. Yes, that is seriously the plot. Take what you will from it, but I couldn’t put it down. And that’s one of Miki Aihara’s special superpowers.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
[...] (The Hooded Utilitarian) Diana Dang on vols. 1 and 2 of Gyo (Stop, Drop, and Read!) Connie on vol. 3 of Honey Hunt (Slightly Biased Manga) Sadie Mattox on Ikigami (Extremely Graphic) Connie on vol. 4 of Inukami [...]
I too am addicted to the teen angst this series has to offer and despite Yura’s insecurities I find her x10 more tolerable than the doormat that was Hot Gimmick’s heroine. Fingers crossed for hoping she hooks up with the twin that’s in the boy band :P
It’s true, I should have mentioned that Yura is far more tolerable than Hatsumi ever was. She’s got a bit of Hatsumi in her since she tends to be so influenced by everyone around her, but she at least stands up for herself every once and awhile and has some measure of self-preservation skills when it comes to knowing people and situations she should avoid.
I don’t know, I’m a bigger fan of the other twin, though I’m not entirely convinced he’s not just trying to meet her father. The one in the boy band is becoming more and more likable, though. :p
Honestly, I really liked Honey Hunt. Q-ta was interesting because there when he seems like a really nice guy who genuinely cares about Yura, and other times when he seems like a manipulative bastard and you find your self wishing he’d just choke on his own shit and die. And then there’s Haruka. True, Haruka is starting to look more sympathetic, but I can’t shake off the feeling that he’s using her to piss off Q-ta. Oddly, the nicest male character in the series is Yura’s room mate. Sadly, he’s gay.