Manga-ka: Ai Morinaga
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: March 2009

Synopsis: “Senbongi is acting cold while Akira seems to be getting along with Shiina with no intentions of switching back. Akira gives Momoi the OK to go out with a guy, rubbing in the fact that she has no feelings toward him. Fed up with it all, Momoi agrees to go out with Senbongi and discovers that, to his surprise, he actually kind of likes it!”

I still love this series to death. It’s funny, the characters are all endearing (even scary Grandpa), the artwork is great and did I mention it was funny? But, unfortunately, this volume was a bit of a let down for me.

The same elements of humour and cute fluffy scenes intermittent of each other were still present, but there was just something lacking. I found I didn’t laugh as much as I had in previous volumes and I wasn’t exactly clawing at release lists for a date of number five either.

The plot does seem to be wearing itself out a bit, mostly because it’s become pretty darn obvious to both readers and himself that Akira is better suited to living the life of a girl than he was living the life of a young man. Meanwhile Momoi, still in the body of Akira, continues to enjoy the life of a man as she has from the moment the exchange took place. The two barely even interact anymore as they each become more focused on themselves in their new bodies than what the other is doing to their original one.

The greatest focus of this book is between Senbongi and Akira. Fully knowing that the once-harsh Momoi is now actually Akira inhabitating her body, Senbongi is only more attracted to the new, shyer version. Akira himself is finding it hard to deny he may in fact have feelings for his best friend and next thing you know, they’re officially dating! Poor Senbongi though, as Akira’s efforts to be a girlfriend (or a decent human being to Senbongi for that matter) are falling a little short. And crazy old Grandapa is still crazy (and naked again?!).

But though for whatever reason this volume didn’t wow me as previous ones have, I still can’t deny its charms. There’re still laughs to be had and some corners I can’t wait to see around, and if those weren’t enough, the artwork is always worth staring at because it’s just so darn fun and pretty. While I’m not ravenously awaiting the next volume, I’ll certainly still be excited when it gets here.

Review written March 11th by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased in-store from Chapters

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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.