Earlier this month, I wrote a review of “Story A” for Hooded Utilitarian. In many ways, Story A is like a music hall song. You know music hall songs – these are songs that you know – at least the chorus. When music hall was a common entertainment, popular songs were sing-a-longs, with songs like “A Bicycle Built for Two.” (By Blur. Because music hall music is timeless.) Don’t know the lyrics?   Performers would display the lyrics as they were sung, so *everyone* could join in.  My wife’s favorite music hall song is “Let’s All Go Down The Strand” (also by by Blur, because why not)  which is a very singable song. Try it, go ahead, you’ll have fun. Here’s the lyrics, so you can follow along. The Strand is a large street in London, like 5th Avenue in New York City, with a lot of stores and museums and Trafalgar Square. Popular place to go and “be seen.”

The point is – when you know what to expect, sometimes it’s more fun, because you can just relax.

In Tsubomi (つぼみ), Volume 10, we can just relax and sing the chorus, because we already know the story: There is a girl, she likes another girl, the girl likes her, the end. Like a good music hall song, there’s nothing unpleasant about repeating this refrain over and over because we enjoy it.

Sometimes, there’s even a new verse or two.

Ratings:

Overall – 9