If you had stripped this book of all identifying marks and given it to me to read, I never would’ve guessed it was from the same creative team behind Rolling. It’s got solid characterization for one thing, and a plot that looks like it’ll actually go somewhere!
Both of the main characters are likable in their own way. Be-Ri is an animal-lover who’s raising money to protect some land from development. She’s obsessively frugal and has the awesome hobby of collecting junk to refurbish and sell online. Tsuyoshi is a coddled rich boy who has been sent to Korea by his grandfather as a way to curb his misbehavior. He comes across as bratty, but isn’t really all that bad. Any teen who is willing to heed the earnest advice of his mother earns points in my book.
Although Be-Ri and Tsuyoshi get off on the wrong foot, the potential for each to positively impact the other’s life is easy to spot. A couple other things I like about the story are the deftly handled love polygon forming between several of the characters and the way Tsuyoshi’s partial grasp of Korean is portrayed. His dialogue makes sense, but is imperfect, resulting in sentences like, “I also discomfort.”
To be sure, there are some rough spots, but the charm of the series remains intact despite the clunky expository dialogue and irrational grandpas. I look forward to seeing how the story will unfold.
Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.
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