Mixed Vegetables 6
Posted: November 17, 2009 Filed under: Mixed Vegetables Leave a comment »Ayumi Komura – Viz – 2009 – 8 volumes
This volume was an improvement over the others I’ve read, which were mostly lukewarm. It started pretty dramatically, with Hana having to quit the sushi shop because of a failing test grade. I suspected nothing much would come of this, but it was still pretty nice to see the characters taking things so seriously after the wishy-washiness of the previous few volumes.
An assistant at Hana’s family bakery named Maezawa was a major player through most of the second half of this volume. I don’t remember him at all, and the story mentioned he’s been out of things, but he could have been introduced earlier and just been a faceless assistant, like the one at Hyuga. I also skipped over volume 5, so there may have been a big story there about his illness. Anyway, he serves as an agressive competitor for Hana’s feelings, and I have to admit, I liked him a lot. I liked him from the first page he appeared on, where he offered to show Hana his brand-new surgical scar several times. I have no idea where this scar is, but I like letting my imagination run wild. He’s also a major jerk, and both Hayato and Hana hate his guts, which doesn’t stop him. He’s smooth and agressively nice, and seems to be a master of the mind game. Admittedly, I don’t see where he’s going with things most of the time (aside from generally rocking the boat), but he’s still a good way to shake things up.
Also in this volume, a random and very serious marriage proposal. You never see that in shoujo manga. I liked it.
This still isn’t one of my favorite titles, but it seems like the story is getting better as the series continues. I’m still not fond of either of the main characters, and some of the things Hayato does are nonsensical and baffling. That, coupled with mostly unremarkable and short storylines, keep it firmly in the realm of mediocre shoujo, but it’s still pretty fun to read. There’s a couple volumes left, and I suspect it won’t have much of a definitive story wrap-up, but it’ll be nice to see things end.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
