In Ohsawa Yayoi’s Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline, we met Yagi-san, a “typical” unpopular girl with a surprising secret – she has a popular occult net show, in which she stars wearing a goat’s head. Yagi meets another net idol, super-cute Madeline and the two of them team up to do combined shows. They strike up a friendship that definitely has potential to become more.
In the sequel, Strange Babies, (ストレンジベイビーズ) Yagi and Mado-chan’s burgeoning relationship is stomped flat by Kokoto, a fan of “Yagi-sama.” Kokoto inserts herself in between Yagi and Mado-chan in order to capture Yagi’s affections. Yagi, having never had any friends, now finds herself surrounded by a harem. She’s blissfully happy…only, something is nagging at her. She’s not sure that Kokoto really sees her as a person, and she misses the time she used to spend alone with Mado-chan.
It all comes to a climax, when Kokoto invites herself to a recording session of Yagi-sama’s show. Madeline, completely cut off from Yagi, leaves. Yagi learns the source of Kokoto’s admiration – which is a nice story, but, it becomes obvious to her at last that Kokoto has no feelings for the girl behind the mask. Leaving Kokoto, Yagi runs to Mado-chan’s home and they reunite, tearfully admitting their feelings for each other.
We don’t even have to feel too bad for Kokoto, as her best friend and sidekick, Arisu, is well-placed to pick up the pieces.
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As overwrought and crazy as the premise appears, this wasn’t a bad story at all. Making Kokoto sympathetic was critical, or she would have been too annoying and hateful to have been an effective plot complication. Giving Arisu feelings for Koko-chan was more or less just padding her fall in our heads, so we don’t have to feel guilty that Yagi’s rejection will send her back into depression. The hardest thing about the story is Yagi’s cluelessness. It is, however, not hard to imagine that she is unable to see Mado-chan’s feelings for her, having lived so alone her whole life.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8
Character – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 1
Overall – 8
Strange Babies was a really weird series, but it worked. And it had a Baphomet, so it gets extra points. ^_^
The art looks pretty and it actually sounds really cute. I’ll have to pick this one up on my next Amazon JP splurge. :)
I thought that Yagi and Madeline became a couple at the end of the original one-shot. They even kiss in the last page (I’m checking right now and yes they kiss). So how come it seems they’re just friends at the beginning of this volume? It doesn’t make sense imo.
It’s probably just because it was a one-shot that then was expanded into a longer series. A hand wave we must accept. ^_^