What I Read in September: Digest Version, Part 2 of 2

b La Esperanca 1-7:  Ah, book binge.  I originally read this series as it came out, and I must say it makes more sense when one can read it all at once.  On the one hand, you have a nice, cheerful boy who tries really hard to be good to make up for what he believes his no-good father did in the past.  He's equally pleasant to everyone, and his walls of nice are impenetrable until he meets a certain someone at their super-swanky private school.  On the other hand, you have a surly boy who's equally mean to everyone but especially mean to the first kid.  His walls have menacing iron spikes on them.  When they collide with each other, the walls eventually come crashing down.  I like this kind of story, where a self-proclaimed sinner and someone everyone considers a saint meet and throw sparks and help the other become more human.  There's a certain measure of realism here because they act a bit like actual teenage boys who don't quite know how to express themselves or deal with their pasts or their future potential.  They get bogged down in themselves and misunderstand others, and it can be kind of angsty, but I love the way that, in the end, things are moving forward again instead of endlessly swirling around the drain . . .

b Maid Sama 1, 2, 8: Oh, Maid-sama, you are so ridiculous and fun, and I am sooooooo disappointed I will never know how you end!  Who is the perverted space alien really?  Will he and Misaki ever start dating while keeping up their hilarious slightly-adversarial relationship?!

b Mardock Scramble 1:: Well, that's violent and shocking and confusing, but the little mouse weapon thing is definitely cute, and I'm curious to find out what on Earth is going on.  I might like the anime as long as it's not as violent as the manga, but I might have to try the novel if I don't want to throw up . . .

b My Girlfriend Is a Geek 4: Still dating.  Still geeky.  Still funny.  In this volume, the girl finally gets suspicious of all the boy's sneaking around to hid his job tutoring a cute little junior high kid from her rotten fangirl fantasies. 

b Oresama Teacher 1 Okay, I had fun with this one.  There are certain parallels to Love Attack! (another Tokyopop title we'll never learn the ending for), but I find some of these characters more endearing and more opaque.  There's this girl who sort of ended up the leader of a gang and then ends up getting kicked out of school and then transfers into the only school who'll take her only to reunited with her childhood friend/older crush who is pretty much nothing like she was re-imagining him.  He totally abuses his authority as a teacher to make her use her talent for violence to help out some of the oddballs in the school.

b Otomen 11: Still a great sitcom about a bunch of kids trying to live true to themselves in a world that pretty much just doesn't like that sort of thing.  The Valentines Day chocolates thing is kind of a hoot; I liked the unexpected ending of that one, even if I was the only one who didn't see it coming.

b Train*Train 2: Y'know, I kind of want a prairie dog.  I'm probably allergic . . .