Sugarholic 5

Gong GooGoo – Yen Press – 2010 – 5 volumes

And another end to another five-volume series. I had more love for this cute romance than I did for Breath. Maybe it was because I took too long a break between volume 4 and 5, but this ending was a little disappointing to me as well. Even though it was exactly what you would have expected and everything it should have been.

Maybe I didn’t like it because it came down, simply, to the fact that… well, as cute as this series was, and as much as I enjoyed it, it came down to two guys fighting over one girl. Jae-Gyu is the beloved of her estranged Whie-Hwan and her childhood friend Hee-Do. To be fair, it’s a little classier than this type of conflict usually is, but that really is all it boils down to.

Jae-Gyu’s reunion with Whie-Hwan was postponed because of Hee-Do showing up at an inopportune time (a habit both boys seem to have, showing up coincidentally in the same place in the big city of Seoul). Interestingly, the conflict then becomes one of whether or not Hee-Do will ever admit his feelings. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to think he has a chance or not, but he clearly doesn’t. Jae-Gyu only thinks of him as a friend, and I suppose the reason he’s put off his confession is precisely because he will certainly be rejected. The conflict between Jae-Gyu and Whie-Hwan then becomes one of whether or not they are good for each other. Jae-Gyu doesn’t want to go with Whie-Hwan as “baggage” if he decides to pursue his career in Thailand, and both want to grow into their own person. What a great message in a girls’ comic.

In the end, Hee-Do has more of a chance than I think, since Jae-Gyu is torn for her love of Whie-Hwan and the fact he needs to go to Thailand to do what he loves. Hee-Do is a sad character all around, since being his girlfriend would be tough due to his celebrity status (something else that was driven home here).

In the end, I didn’t favor either boy over the other, and surprisingly, the ending was rather un-ambiguous about who Jae-Gyu ended up with. The only thing I thought it was missing was a little background about what Jae-Gyu wanted to do with her life, what kept her in Seoul rather than go with Whie-Hwan to Thailand (or maybe it did, in an earlier volume, and I forgot… but she was working at a burger place here, so I don’t know). Being a romance comic, I suppose it’s not that important, and I still love that she didn’t get swept up and held her ground when offered the chance to go to a foreign country.

It’s still pretty great, even if the ending didn’t give me any new experiences. I loved the cute love story offered in the other four volumes, and who am I to hold it against a comic for giving us a stronger heroine than the norm? It’s definitely worth checking out for shoujo fans. Add it to your list, along with You’re So Cool.