Very! Very! Sweet (Vol. 03) – Ji-Sang Shin/Geo
Published by Yen Press

Very! Very! Sweet continues to be a charming shoujo story that takes cookie-cutter plots and manages to make them feel like something resembling unique. In this volume, Erica, Tsuyoshi’s friend from Japan, has firmly staked herself in Korea alongside him, focused as ever to get his attention. She’s passionate, determined and obnoxious, but isn’t that the classic role of the country-hopping old girlfriend?

And yet as the other characters have their charms, so to does she. Maybe not as much as the undeniably likeable lead character, Be-Rei, but even Erica has her amusing quirks; from hiding her fluent Korean, to being so infectiously energetic. But there’s more than a triangle created when Erica shows up. While she sees Be-Rei as a possible threat to her chances with Tsuyoshi, Be-Rei is preoccupied dealing with her childhood friend, Mi-Hyuk, who takes a moment of cuteness and turns it into Be-Rei’s first kiss. Alas that her feelings remain for an older man…

Who speaking of which, has his own troubles brewing silently in the background. In fact, this third volume had some great layering to it as the younger lead characters deal with their own fairly average teenage drama, while unbeknownst to them, the adults and siblings in their lives are facing some tough decisions regarding their own futures. On top of that there seems to be some secrets from Tsuyoshi’s grandfather that haven’t fully been revealed, meaning Very! Very! Sweet seems to have more up its sleeve than the entertaining dramatics of Be-Rei and co.

Overall I had fun reading this volume just as I have previous ones. Be-Rei’s spunky independence still feels fresh with her overzealous hobbies and straight-forward attitude, and Tsuyoshi’s disjointed Korean remains pretty cute. Even the art style maintains its same odd charm, even if the insane jaw lines still bug me to nearly no end. All in all though, it remains an entertaining read and that’s enough for me, so I’m more than happy to follow this vibrant cast of characters a while longer yet.

Review written March 19, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.