Mad Love Chase 2
Posted: May 22, 2010 Filed under: Mad Love Chase Leave a comment »Kazusa Takashima – Tokyopop – 2009 – 5 volumes
I liked the first volume of this series well enough to continue, even though middle-of-the-road wacky comedies aren’t really my thing. It must be the demons that I like.
I still like it far more than I should, though. It would be very easy for this series to fall into a formula, with the three minions continually trying to get Kujou to strip to see if he’s got the royal emblem, but it does manage to avoid this rut. The chapters are relatively varied, too, for the type of series this is… though most take place at the school, and another at a summer festival.
Why do I like it so much, then? I think it has a lot to do with Taiki, simultaneous bad guy and best friend. He’s more of a friend to Kujou than a bad guy, and he really is a wonderful friend. He sticks up for Kujou pretty often, even when it interferes with his fellow demon’s investigations. He has to suspect Kujou… especially since he’s seen him transform back from a demon, but he doesn’t seem to be pushing the issue too hard, and actually does try to talk the others into laying off. He’s a great character, and I think his role in the story is what makes this so fun to read, especially when there’s nothing particularly interesting about the other characters.
And I do love demons. One of the short stories involves secretly slipping Kujou a drug to turn him back into a demon, and it works. Kujou makes for an awesome demon. Another chapter has Haga transform back into a cat and have a little run-in with Taiki, which is a nice, calm chapter in the middle of all the madness.
But the wacky gags aren’t really my thing, nor are the characters. I like it enough to keep reading… but it’s not really anything special.
