 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KOUJI SEO | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 208 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | M | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 03/18/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 05/15/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
In volume seven, it’s Honoka’s birthday, and Yamato wants to find the perfect gift. Since Yamato is absolutely clueless about shopping for a girl, he recruits the reluctant Suzuka to help him. But Yamato’s plan unexpectedly backfires when Honoka catches a glimpse of Yamato and Suzuka shopping together. Now the jealous Honoka is convinced that Yamato still has feelings for Suzuka. Will Honoka forgive Yamato, or could this be the end of their tumultuous relationship? Suzuka is a mature work about relationships, and people, and all the misunderstandings and crazy things that happen when you mix those things together. It’s really quite entertaining – it’s like a slice of life, but with more conflict and angst than your regular serving. Not to say there aren’t some laughs in there too, because there certainly are! Suzuka gets an M rating mostly for the mature content related to sexuality and adult situations of that nature, but it isn’t done in any kind of exploitative way – it’s just mature subject matter meant for mature readers. It’s worth mentioning that Suzuka did so well as a manga that it is now also available as an anime on DVD from FUNimation Entertainment, so that is a good indication of how great this manga is – not just any manga gets turned into a television series. The art style of this series is hard to put a finger on exactly because it’s almost juxtaposition in how a reader may view it. The art is both fun and mature – it has a sense of being for a mature audience, but doesn’t skimp on being fun on a number of levels – I guess you could say the style is sort of sexy, but not in an exploitative manner. And perhaps that’s kind of hard to do in this day and age, but Suzuka certainly sits on the fence and looks good while doing it. The artist really takes advantage of the space he is given and fills up the entire page – you just can’t say enough good things about that and the difference it makes to a reader. The books in this series are also a larger than usual format, so the art is of course going to be larger in turn. The book is about half an inch wider and taller than most regular manga - and in this case bigger is most certainly better. Character designs are great, especially for the girls (go figure) – each one is quite different and you can see their attitudes and who they are being very well represented by the visuals. The extras include in-depth translation notes and a preview of the next volume of Suzuka. The translation notes are especially appreciated and always help to fill in the gaps of understanding when it comes to deciphering what the Japanese are trying to say with some of their different cultural references and whatnot.
IN SUMMARY:
Suzuka is an involving story of personal turmoil and strife backed by mature, enjoyable art, and a larger than usual print size to round off this very entertaining manga. It’s rated M for a reason, but those of us who are M will be glad there’s something M for us to read! |
