Review: Suzuka, Vols. 1 & 2
originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]
Suzuka, Vols. 1 & 2
Published by: Del Rey Books
Writer & Artist: Kouji Seo
208 (181) & 208 (180) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2004. US editions August and November 2006.
Translation & Adaptation: David Ury
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Cover Design: David Stevenson
Publisher’s Rating: M, ages 18+
Rating: 2 out of 5
##
Premise: Transfer student Yamato finds himself falling for Suzuka (she of the title), a beautiful high school track star.
Synopsis:
Random Manga Hero #987, who is burdened with living in a girls’ apartment complex via plot device #32, finds himself in the midst of a possible Love Triangle™ while pursuing the aloof but vulnerable Hot Manga Chick, ver. 4.5. …But it’s better than that.
Let me dial back the sarcasm and start over:
Yamato Akitsuka is moving to Tokyo to live with his Aunt Ayano and younger cousin Miho, while attending a prestigious high school. The twist here is that Aunt Ayano is the owner and manager of Asahiyu Heights, which is an all-girls apartment complex, built over a Spa and bath house. Yep. In lieu of rent, part of his job is cleaning the baths and acting as general handyman around the place. It’s hard work but there are a few side benefits.
His new next door neighbour is Suzuka Asuhina. By coincidence, he’s seen her before: while checking out the new school (it’s still about a week before classes start) he saw her practising the high jump. His thought then was that she was the coolest (and perhaps cutest) girl he’d ever seen.
Let’s round out our cast: Yasunobu Hattori is the only guy Yamato knows at the new school, since they’ve known each other since they were both in grade school; Yasunobu is a bit of a player, and has a knack for getting Yamato in trouble. Honoka Sakurai (whose family runs the local Sakurai Shrine) is a girl that Yamato has met before; though he barely remembers her, she has fond memories of–and a huge crush–on him. Also making frequent appearances are a couple of residents at Asahiyu Heights, local college students Megumi and Saotome.
Volume 1 covers Yamato moving in, meeting everyone, starting school, and having more opportunities to spend time alone with Suzuka than he really deserves, though there is as much friction as attraction between the two.
With introductions out of the way, Volume 2 has a bit more meat: Honoka is developing as another romantic interest for Yamato, if he ever realizes that she has a big honking crush, and the B-plot gets started when a routine fitness exam reveals that Yamato has a hidden talent as a crazy-fast short-distance sprinter. He’s as surprised as anyone, particularly when he gets scouted by the high school track team. The last chapter of the book covers Yamato and Suzuka’s first real date, and strands us with a bit of a cliff-hanger.
##
Review:
A few nuts-and-bolts to look at before I break down the story–
I like the covers: large artwork featuring a couple members of our female cast in poses that reflect their personality inside the books, and a unified look that makes these easy to spot on the shelf and that will likely hold true through the run of the series.
The art between the covers is pretty good, too. If Hayate (previously reviewed) is an example of the moë style Bob referenced in his last column, than this title might be representative of a more middle-of-the-road art style, which I occasionally disparage as manga-generic. This art is better than than average, though. I think a cinematic reference may be of some use here: Seo has a “moving camera” utilizing a variety of perspectives in renditions, and makes good use of close-ups and long shots, not just the standard two-shot (two characters in a medium shot, talking) that is the hallmark of newspaper comic strips and amateurish manga. Seo’s character design is also good; you may have seen these character types before, obviously, but he does a good job of differentiating the characters, and is also a fair hand at drawing them. It’s not an action intensive comic, so we have to look for different art examples as opposed to my usual benchmark, fight scenes, but there are some nice touches: a darkened room by candlelight during a storm and power outage, fireworks and a Disney-style electric lights parade after sunset at a local amusement park, and clothes–it’s nice to see kids who are wearing something other than the school’s uniform all the damn time. Yamato does get one action scene, where he busts down a locked door after Suzuka collapses in the Sauna.
That’s as apt a note as any to break on, and start talking about story: Yeah… Sauna… There’s that whole “It’s an apartment building! no, it’s a bath house & spa! aren’t I a clever writer?! It’s genius!” riff.
I don’t know if Kouji Seo is intentionally ripping off Love Hina, or if Ken Akamatsu is using Seo as a pen name. Well, there are differences, and Akamatsu has his hands full with Negima! (now in it’s 12th volume here in the states, and up to 16 and still running in Japan) so I guess this is just a matter of sincere imitation-slash-flattery.
Honestly, we could take this gimmick out of the setting and it wouldn’t matter much, though part of the set-up is to explain how Suzuka and Yamato end up living in adjacent apartments.
The spa-slash-girl’s-dorm set-up gets in the way of what is actually a sweet story running in the background–the growing attraction and the relationship developing between Suzuka and Yamato. This title might have had a lot of cross-over appeal with the female market if it weren’t for the over-the-top “comedy” that at least once a chapter throws tits in Yamato’s face (or vice versa). Well, that and the 18+ rating, which only amps the lewdness a notch or three.
I don’t know if this is a deal breaker for the manga fangirls or not. [Readers? Comments, please.] I like the characters, and I like how the relationship is building. It’s pacing is slow but steady (300 pages before the first date, remember?) but there are a lot of story points covered in the meantime so it seems, at least in my take on it, not really slow but more like a natural progression–two folks realizing what is growing between them. Another reader may just find it all annoying, and find themselves yelling at the characters in the book “OH just DO each other already! Sheesh!”
This split personality makes it a little hard to classify the story. It’s not a sports comic. It’s not a girl’s comic. It’s not a “harem” title like Love Hina, or a slice of life High School drama– there aren’t enough girls for a harem, and there is too much fan service for this to reasonably play like “real life” (not to mention the improbable set-up).
This comic may in fact be aimed at someone like me, an older comic fan who has an intellectual appreciation for character, story, and [*ahem*] fan service, regardless of genre… at least when all three are well done. We’re only two volumes in, so there is plenty of room for Seo to mess things up, but so far so good. Still, with the other weaknesses, I’m only giving Seo 2 marks out of 5, though I do plan to follow up with this series later.
