Itazura na Kiss 1
January 7, 2010
Kaoru Tada – Digital Manga Publishing – 2009 – 23 volumes
DMP is publishing the series in omnibus format, complete in 12 volumes
This is another one of those series I heard about a long time ago, likely because of its legendary status and the sudden death of the mangaka (the series is unfinished due to the mangaka falling into a coma and dying after hitting her head in a move). DMP’s advertising campaign claims that this is the shoujo manga that set the standard for the genre afterwards, so of course I was going to read it. I mean, I love shoujo manga.
And yeah, I can believe that it set the standards. It is a completely charming read, but nothing about it deviates from what you would expect in a shoujo manga. Kotoko is a slightly ditzy girl who is bad at school, and she develops a crush on Naoki, the smartest boy at their school, and possibly in the country. The one surprise comes from the fact the series wastes no time with this, Kotoko is brutally rejected on the first page of the volume. After this, her house is destroyed in an earthquake, and she and her father have to move in with his old college friend. Surprise, surprise, it’s Naoki’s dad, and it makes for an awkward living situation. A love-hate relationship develops between them, with Naoki treating Kotoko rather poorly and Kotoko bumbling her way through shy encounters with him, getting angry when necessary. Chapters in this volume include events like studying for exams, exchanging Christmas presents, getting into college, competing in sports events, and other tame topics. Also, Naoki and Kotoko’s parents are trying to marry them off, which makes for many predictable embarrassing/comedic situations.
Despite the completely unsurprising story in the first volume, I liked the characters a lot. Their interactions at times reminded me a lot of Baby & Me, with its sweet, understated character relationships. It sounds really corny, but I like series like this where the characters seem to like each other for who they are, rather than because they are destined to be together or share sexual attraction (but don’t get me wrong, I like those too, but this type is a little more rare). I was also a little shocked by Naoki, who seems like a genuine asshole through most of the book, but occasionally deigns to do nice things for Kotoko, like help her study. He also inexplicably feeds her hopes of hooking up one day, which seems a cruel thing to do if he has no intentions. It’s probably okay though, since this is a shoujo manga and you know they will hook up anyway. Kotoko is ditzy, but as Naoki points out, she is sincere in everything she does, and her intentions are always good. Naoki also says that she’s a bright spot and an interesting wildcard in his otherwise boring life (because he’s so smart, you see, life bores him), which are all good things. Even the weird insistence the parents have in making Naoki and Kotoko hook up is charming rather than annoying, since it seems borne from a genuine wish to be a happy family. It also helps that Kotoko and Naoki’s mom get along really well, which was also an element you don’t frequently see in this type of story.
I feel a little bad talking about the series like this, because I am really excited to be reading it. I feel like we won’t get to the good stuff until next time though. This volume took care of all the expected events, and slightly more surprisingly, actually had a timeline that progressed and brought the characters very close to graduation. If the series is 23 volumes long, I have a feeling we’ll be following Naoki and Kotoko into college and adulthood, which should make for a fun read indeed. I also like the artwork, which is spare and looks like a weird cross between 80s shoujo and… something else. The character designs are sometimes slightly 80s, but the minimalism makes it feel less dated and makes it hard to guess the vintage, I think. Of course, I already knew how old it was, so it’s sort of hard for me to say for sure.
Basically, it’s cute and very charming, with good characters, but I’m waiting for the next volume to see if it breaks out of the standard mold just a little. If not, I’m sure I’ll just grow to like the characters more and stop caring.
January 7, 2010 at 1:54 pm
This review makes Itazura na Kiss sound like All’s Well That Ends Well in a tame high school setting. However, I strongly doubt that Itazura will glorify torture, and that is a very good thing.
January 7, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Well, you never can tell where it’ll go once it’s left high school, but I suspect you’re right. Part of me hopes that Kotoko somehow turns into Helena now, though.
January 21, 2010 at 4:23 pm
OMG. Itazura na Kiss is one of my FAVORITE shoujo manga, (I didn’t even know it was licensed, shame on me!) I’m so glad it’s being published in english. I’ll have to go look for in my bookstore.
I didn’t always like it. I read the first few chapters and stopped reading it because Naoki was such an asshole. But after hearing Daisuke Namikawa in the role (2008 anime) it really made sense to me.
The charm of Itazura (outside of being hilarious and having likeable characters), is Kotoko and Naoki’s relationship. I came to realize that Naoki is a complete jerk and acts like he hates her because he DOES hate her. He slowly falls in love with because of who she is, not because she’s pretty or smart or a doormat. He likes her because she’s fun and kind and loves him despite all of his personality problems.
Which is where most of the problems come from in their relationship. You slowly realize that his superiority complex has always put distance between him and other people and when it comes down to it, he doesn’t know how to deal with people outside of a professional manner. He’s socially and emotional stunted. So when he acts like a five year pulling braids and acts cold, it’s because he honestly doesn’t know any better. He’s never had the personal experience of actually having to get along with someone. Further pointed out by the fact that he had ONE friend who is barely ever in the series, while Kotoko has tons of them. And there’s his stupid male pride. But we all already knew about that.
And the one other thing I have to credit it for, is it’s scope. The manga isn’t about their relationship in high school. It’s about their relationship period. It follows them through high school, college, career training, and way past marriage. It show something that not many other shoujo manga do. Happily ever after in a relationship isn’t going down the isle in a white dress. It’s loving each other and working together to sort out problems long after you exchange rings. And really, how can you not love it for that?
January 23, 2010 at 1:54 am
Hmm, that’s interesting! I didn’t realize the story took it that far. I expected it to linger in high school for awhile and then cover a bit of adulthood before it stops. Heck, most shoujo manga don’t show or even imply a wedding, or cover it in one epilogue chapter. It’s a shame too, because all it would take to make a slightly more interesting one is just to go a bit further.
And I do love the way the characters seem to work together relationship-wise so far. Naoki did really seem to appreciate Kotoko just for her personality, and it is sweet that she forgives him his very negative attitude. In most other series, this is more like the heroine just ignoring such things and taking them because she has to, but Kotoko does seem to stand up to Naoki here, even if she doesn’t think it will help. I can also see what you mean by Naoki not having good people skills, though here it seems mostly to affect Kotoko since everyone else really… sucks up to him and he has no reason to put them down. I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops.
I’m glad you spelled all the good points out for me, because I was a little worried after reading that first volume. I had heard it was good, but I was a little worried it was good because it set all the formulas and followed them perfectly. I’m glad to see that the interesting dynamic between Kotoko and Naoki gets better and better and that the series is way more than just a high school romance. It definitely makes me look forward to volume 2 a lot more. Thanks so much!