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Thursday, 25 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | RIE TAKADA | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT / BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 192 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/02/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/26/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD | | |
A girl from a family of professional fighters who wants a normal life and a normal boyfriend ends up getting more than she can handle in this latest volume of the romantic comedy Punch!
Elle goes out on her first date with street fighter Kazuki. They’ve agreed to be pretend boyfriend and girlfriend so that Elle can get out of her family’s arranged marriage with arrogant professional fighter Ruo. Things get tense though when Ruo stops at nothing in order to get to Elle through Kazuki – by dating Kazuki’s blind younger sister! To make things even more complicated, Elle is beginning to notice that Kazuki doesn’t seem to be “pretending” about dating her. Could Kazuki’s feelings for her be real? And what will Ruo’s latest scheme do to this budding couple? The bell for the last round hasn’t rung yet in the duke-em out battle for Elle’s heart!
A lot of comedic misunderstandings with a touch of angst fill this latest volume. For a manga series that is only 3 volumes, the author does a grand job of not rushing the story. Even though quite a bit of progression between the characters occurs, it never comes across as forced or hurried. The manga is fun and punchy with the humor (pun intended) while staying strongly in the romantic arena. It’s interesting to see how the characters each change, particularly the main one, Elle. Her loathing of the family fighting business takes a turn in this volume as she begins to see things through Kazuki’s eyes.
Extras in the manga include some pin-up art work in black and white and a preview of volume 3.
IN SUMMARY:
Punch! is a well paced short manga series with lots of romantic fun, angsty antics, and appealing shojo art work. |
