SIT.  STAY.  GOOD GIRL…

GURU GURU PON CHAN is about Ponta, a Golden Labrador Retriever living with the loving Koizumi family.  Thanks to the Guru Guru bone created by Grandpa Koizumi, Ponta has the power to transform from a dog into a human female.  As such, she is drawn to Mirai, the ‘boy next door’ and over the last seven volumes, a great romantic attachment has developed.  Ah, but she is a dog, don’t forget.  She lives a dog’s life.  She experiences everything a dog does.  How can a relationship based on this survive?

Now you have a grasp of the plot in this award-winning manga published by Del Rey, and how, in this penultimate volume, things might be going for our star-crossed lovers.  This meditation on the nature of love is certainly memorable, if only for the peculiar premise on which it is based.  Readers who can suspend their disbelief can enjoy the story quite a bit, and in this volume, there is more than usual to draw on for amusement and reflection. 

The volume opens with a stand alone story where Ponta has a dream in which Mirai kisses the Guru Guru bone and transforms into a dog.  Ponta has fun with her new playmate until a burglar interrupts things and a confrontation results in Ponta having the magical bone ripped from her neck.  What is to happen if Mirai cannot change back?
Next is a story from when Ponta was four months old.  She gets loose and ends up in the company of a young girl.  Lost, with only each other for company, the two form a deep bond as the shadows lengthen across the fields and parks in which they play.  (One image of the two of them confronting these shadows is one of the most imaginative and evocative of many seen in this series.)  Eventually everything works out, but it is the process of going through the adventure that makes reading this little story so worthwhile.  This is followed by yet another flashback to the time before Ponta was even in the Koizumi household, and recounts her first meeting with Mirai through the shop window.  Only in this story, Mirain has another girlfriend, and she has a fear of dogs!  Finally, we return to the present, and find ourselves following Ponta and Mirai as they have yet another fun day outside.  Only a disaster is looming, as Ponta suddenly falls asleep several times resulting in one calamity after another.  What is wrong with her?  Is the Guru Guru bone having some negative side effects on her body?  How does this bode for the ending of the manga in Volume Nine?  
This is the best volume in the series so far.  The short stories, filling in details of Ponta’s early life, and the fanciful Mirai transformation piece are great little works in their own right.  The suspenseful conclusion and whopper of a teaser for Volume Nine will certainly have loyal readers clamoring for the final edition when it comes out at the end of July.  (Unlike other Del Rey publications, where the preview of the next volume is printed with original Japanese, this one is in English.)  In other details, Del Rey has once again supplied a great translation, and a useful glossary of terms.  The book is packaged nicely, and is easy to read.  Some elements of the subject matter may have more conservative readers who cannot suspend their disbelief (or perhaps astonishment) giving this story a skeptical glance, but the (16+) rating should give some clues about the appropriate age group for this manga.

IN SUMMARY:
The penultimate volume of this award-winning manga is alternately funny and poignant. GURU GURU PON CHAN will make for a freshly original read for readers looking for a love story that blends fantasy with the classic elements of shojo manga.