What I read in February: Digest Version, part 4 of 5

b Oresama Teacher 6: Hilariousness continues, and in the end of the volume, the truth is revealed!  It's sad, but our heroine is committed to setting things right with the power of her fists.  I don't like shallow, airheady protagonists in typical shojo romances, but apparently there is a level of denseness and straightforward stupidity in this comedy (I even hesitate to name it any kind of romance, including romantic comedy) that I just love.

b Pandora Hearts 7:  "To move forward is frightening!  To stop moving altogether is frightening, too!"  and "To know is the greatest joy!" Shivers.  Really, I suspect the more we know, the less we'll want to know.  Lots of stuff happens in this volume, but it never seems like enough.  I want the next volume immediately.  This will be one I will regret starting before it ended because these little revelations and plot intricacies might drive me crazy.

b Princess Knight 1-2 of 2: I had a ton of fun with this one.  Zany adventures, swashbuckling action, random character deaths, magic, a guest-appearance by Satan, and not a whole lot of deeply intellectual thinking about gender roles.  Trust me; if you go in expecting a fun and disjointed fantasy action adventure romance, you will probably enjoy the ride.  If you go in expecting a cogent look at issues of gender in modern (or modern at the time) culture, you will be irritated.  Also, there's pirates.

b Saturn Apartments 4: Saaaad!!!!!  Oh, man, subplots are developing, bad things are happening to good people, and the overall mood is still a sort of calm, do-your-best always but with rising doubts.  I love this series.  It's so different and so good.

b Strawberry Marshmallow 4: This series.  Oh, man.  Short and hilarious sitcom stuff.  Every time I read it, I want to watch the anime again.  It's just so goofy and ridiculous, and it makes me grin.

b Twin Spica 9: 9-11: Still sort of quietly awesome.  There was an incident of Sudden Unexpected Character Death that kind of floored me but also made me grateful that I waited to read that volume until I had the next one (not that I did it on purpose).  The aftermath was tough.  One volume to go, and then I can start reading it over again.