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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | RIE TAKADA | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT/ BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 192 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 03/06/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 03/21/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
The final volume sees Kazuki and Elle finally together, but with his pursuit of boxing will it drive Elle away? All she’s wanted is a “normal” life away from the family business of this blood sport, but when she sees him try so hard that he collapses, she must make a choice: either stand by her man or leave. With her determination and heart, will it be enough to settle what she truly wants once and for all?
A light shojo romance with a bit of angst and a lot of comedy, we get to see the rigors and emotional antics Elle goes through to come to terms with her life and her love. Everything builds to Kazuki’s first professional match and Elle’s final choice to give readers a heartfelt and satisfactory conclusion to the all-too brief series.
The curious thing about this manga is that this final volume is broken up into two parts. The first is the final chapters of Elle’s story, which only takes up less than half the manga. The second holds two completely new one-shot stories. The first, “Anything Goes” involves a bad girl trying to bury her past and make it with the right kind of guy, but Arisa may have more on her plate than she thought when the handsome boy in the rock band who lives next door decides to steal her heart. The second story, “Hibari Telepathy” is a cute and comedic tale about a girl who gains the ability to read minds after she hits her head in a freak accident. It lets her read the mind of the boy she’s secretly loved forever. What will her new abilities tell her? No matter which story it is, they all end not with a bang, but with a warm heartfelt gift of sweet emotion and youthful hopes. The manga offers more than one sweet shojo tale, no more, no less.
IN SUMMARY:
Punch! ends with a warm TKO to the heart. It is a sweet shojo series for fans of the lighter side of romance. |
