Catcher in the Rhyme (キャッチャー・イン・ザ・ライム) by Segawa Noboru is my new favorite thing ever.  ^_^

Takatsuji Satsuki suffers from that painful, paralyzing embarrassment that functions as a major plot complication in so many manga. She’s a lonely child, berated for not having skills no one has ever bothered teaching her. Unable to even manage a decent self-introduction, Satsuki is pretty sure she’ll be eating by herself forever.

While walking around campus looking at clubs she doesn’t have the bravery to join, she comes across Anzu and Ren, who are advertising for a “Rap Battle Club.” The prospect of rapping in public horrifies Satsuki, and although Ren and Anzu attempt to include her, she can’t…she just cannot…until she hears someone in her class unable to remember her name. And then another, and suddenly words pour out of Satsuki, many self-deprecating, some strikingly erudite, Satsuki ends with a loud, ringing pronouncement of her name, which is received with applause by the gathered students. Takatsuji Satsuki joins the Rap Battle Club. Or, it would be a club, if they had five members.

They are approached by another first year who wants to join, Harutsuki Utsugi. But first, she must let them know that she is a  transgender girl. The three girls respond with shock, then awe, and we see one painful panel as Utsugi can feel her hope slipping, then the three celebrate her joining…and she’s one of the club. It’s not that it’s never mentioned again, but when it is, there is a reason..because…

With four members, someone has to be a club president, so they have a short rap battle to see who wins. Ren takes on Anzu and wins, Satsuki beats Ren. Utsugi and Satsuki take on each other in a dozens that gets kind of rough. They both hurt each other a bit and although I personally thought Utsugi was better, she awards the win to Satsuki. Satsuki has now become the president of the Rap Battle Club.

The girls then turn their eyes towards getting a fifth and legitimizing member. When Anzu discovers Iroha Kaede on the roof, listening to some beats, we’ve found her. Break-dancing Iroha becomes our DJ and ta-da! we become an official club.

The rap rhymes are not brilliant, but I can follow most of the rhythm (which is indicated by font weight.). But, they are better than I could do, and fun and, as these are high school girls creating a rap culture for themselves by osmosis, it works just fine. Satsuki’s skill is to pull out complicated verbiage and rhyme it, but her stage presence has a long way to go. The school festival lays ahead of them now and that seems like a perfect goal for this manga.

I really like all the characters. For a Japanese manga, it manages a little diversity –  Satsuki is painfully shy, Ren is a tad vulgar, Anzu’s chubby, Utsugi’s a trans woman, and Kaede is a breakdancer, all things that put them on the outside of typical student life. It works well for a base to the plot and I’m a sucker for the sports-type competition manga when I like the characters. ^_^;

There’s no Yuri, yet, but I kind of think Satsuki and Utsugi would be cute together. 

Ratings:

Art – 6 Loads of funny faces and fonts
Story – 8 Give me that blood, sweat and tears 
Characters – 9 
Service – 2 Very little, surprisingly. Some lingering glances at Anzu’s chest
Yuri – .005 Headcanon for now.

Overall – 8

Right now, it’s a manga about youth and friendship and teamwork and rap. And it’s fun. You should read it.