When volume two left off, Tsuyoshi’s girlfriend from Japan, Erica, had made the trip to Korea to see him. In this volume, it’s made clear that the relocation is permanent and she enrolls in the school that he and Be-Ri attend. She proceeds to be incredibly irritating for the duration of the volume.
While I dislike Erica extremely, she is at least useful in prompting some cool moments from the two leads. For instance, it’s very satisfying when Be-Ri criticizes her for not caring about anything but Tsuyoshi, saying, “It’s sad that you think the most fun thing in life is a guy. Personally, I think it’s disgusting.” Similarly pleasing is the scene where Tsuyoshi calmly informs her that coming to Korea is “a life-changing decision” for him and that he’d like her to stay out of the picture.
On the negative side, it seemed that Be-Ri is more crude and profane in this volume than she has been before, though it never really approaches the point of tastelessness. And even I had to giggle at the discovery that the precious ceramic item treasured by Tsuyoshi’s family as an heirloom of their Korean ancestry is actually a chamber pot.
When a series can be consistently entertaining despite the intrusion of an unlikable character, I’d say that makes it a keeper.
Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.
Leave a Reply