In my reviews of  Otomo Megane’s previous books, Himitsu and Green, I focused on the problematic limitation of character types in his work. In Futari, this is somewhat less of an issue.

In the first half of the book, “Futari” (ふたり) we’re thrown into a conversation between a bunch of girls at lunchtime about rumors that two of the girls in another class are dating. What their friends don’t realize is that Kazumi and Motoko are a couple. Misa and Akari are also a couple, as are Mine and Aya. The 6 of them inhabit the same physical spaces and an encounter at the end of their story brings them all into the same emotional space, as well.

The second half of the book, “Sakura-iro Complex,” we watch a triangle consisting of  the least tough delinquent ever, “Yanki” Kisaragi, Student Council president Sanda and her friend, Saegusa.

The characters in the first half have little time to develop, but as a series of one-shots, it’s less hard to follow that some of the previous books. And pulling the first story together was more satisfying than leaving them all in a well. The second story is left unresolved, as it should be. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8  Same simple style, but it’s easier to tell who’s who
Story – 8 Credit for the first scenarios being beyond “Story A”
Characters – 6 No real time to develop and they are teens, so not much to develop
Yuri – 8
Service – 5

Overall – 8

While reading it, it wasn’t giving me warm fuzzies, but in retrospect it’s not bad.