The Kouka Kageki Musical Drama Academy is a high school for talented dancers and singers who will go on to star in one of the Kouka all-female musical repertory troupes: Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. Like Takarazuka, the roles are split into parts for Otokoyaku, actresses that play male parts, and Musumeyaku, actresses that play female parts.

Narada Ai is a typical girl…not. Not even remotely. Actually, she’s an ex-pop idol with a super-group who has retired after a scandal.

Watanabe Sarasa is a country bumpkin with a dream.

These girls are about to meet in the unreal-est of unreal circumstances ever in Kageki Shoujo (かげきしょうじょ) by Saiki Kumiko.

Naracchi, as Ai was known as an idol, is hoping to shake off her past, in which she reacted very badly to her male fans, in this all-girl environment. Ai’s not completely dysfunctional when it comes to men – there are two male teachers at the school who appear to be her only friends.

Sarasa is hugely tall and a good singer, but a bad everything else-er. She aspires to the role of “Oscar-sama.” She’s good natured, loud and very doofus-y, so when she tells everyone that she has a boyfriend, the resulting scramble to violate her privacy is understandable. Only her reluctant roommate Ai figures out who the boyfriend might just be and she’s not telling.

There are, of course, rivals. Star ballet dancers and singers who don’t approve of Ai and Sarasa in *their* elite class. And there are scheming upperclassmen who try to bully and berate them in traditional hazing, only to be met with disinterest by Ai and a defeating adorable baby seal-like quality on Sarasa’s part.

By book’s end, of course we’re rooting for them to be the class’s Top Star team and shut everyone up, but we – well, I, at least – want the story to take its time. I really like Sarasa and want Ai to heal whatever’s broken inside her and THEN for the pair to become the class’s Top Stars. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9 Practiced shoujo stylings in a Young Jump comic
Character – 9
Story – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Not “Yuri” in any way, but for those of us who like Takarazuka, this is too cute to miss.

Perhaps it was inevitable, perhaps not. Up until now, this series has been a lighthearted, goofy look at kids in school, with little to no service, but this time the cover and color front page of Morita-san ha Mukuchi, Volume 7 (森田さんは無口) are a bit…. Oh well, it was a good run.

Once past the offending art, Volume 7 continues on as it always has, with lighthearted, goofy gag comics about kids at school, their relationships with each other, their families and their daily life.

The cutest set of gags comes early on, as Mayu’s friends are taking about her while she’s out of the room. They are being effusive in their praise of their silent friend. She can hear them from outside and becomes too embarrassed to enter the room. Class rep Yamamoto finds here there, blushing outside the door and instantly surmises the situation. She listens in, to find the conversation has moved on and she is now being praised. She takes a seat next to Mayu outside the door. ^_^

Thankfully, the stalker chick is played down into one tired gag about not being able to see without eyeglasses.

A big chunk of the book is given over to the stuff that is going on inside Mayu’s head while she’s trying to decide what to say. Each potential comment or answer is represented by a little Mayu in her head with a sign. Overwhelmed at each turn of conversation by the noise and lack of consensus in her brain, Mayu misses her chance to speak.

The end pages remind us that it would be all to easy too see Mayu as someone alone, locked in her own head, except that she’s actually surrounded by friends who love her for who she is. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1
Service – 3

Overall – 8

Some of the jokes are played out now. And the service is a bad sign. If it were me, I’d wrap this series up with the next volume.

I have an extra copy of this volume to give away!  Contiguous 48 USA states only this time. Let me know your name and where you are in the USA in the comments. I’ll pick a winner on Saturday in the YNN report.

In Volume 1, we met Chika who, after a bitter break up with her girlfriend, tries to commit suicide by car. To her surprise, the driver will not aid and abet her. Mistaking Chika for a boy, Antonio sees her reflexes and thinks she’d be a good candidate to become a matador. When he realizes that she is a girl, she refuses to back down from the challenge,

In Volume 2, Chika decides that she does want to embrace bullfighting – in order to die a fittingly dramatic death. She will die, she tells Antonio, in the ring, in front of Maria her ex. We get her backstory as she communes with the first bull she faces in practice.

In Volume 3 of est em’s Golondrina, having practiced for some time, and having killed 10 bulls now, Chika is deemed fit to debut. She meets Antonio’s team of picadors and, finally steps into the stadium as a matador. Chika is surprised to find that she is not the only female on the card.

Chika’s debut is a complete failure. She is unable to kill the bull gracefully and is not booed, but knows she has embarrassed herself. Worse, the other woman was magnificent and politely suggests that if Chika is not up to the task, she get the hell out of the way.

At which point, I was reminded, and I must remind you – Chika is 15 years old. Oh, right. Well, that changes everything, really. We are inclined to be more generous now. She is taken by one of the picadors to see real Flamenco dancing, and asked to really watch the footwork. Chika returns to her practice with renewed vigor and is given a second change to debut.

During her second “debut” it begins to rain, hard. People start leaving the stands in droves, but when they see that she is still in the arena, doing magnificent footwork, they return to their seats and shout their encouragement. As the final blow comes, she is rewarded with cheers from the audience, and the bull’s ears. She’s carried out on the shoulders of her team to raucous applause.

Elsewhere, young Matador Vincente watching this triumph, is even more intrigued by Chika than before (we met him in Volume 2.) He asks her out, they talk. He kisses her, but her only response is, “Ah, so yeah, I guess I really am only attracted to women.” Vincente is about to give up on himself, when Chika embraces him kindly, as mother might.

I have no idea what Volume 4 will bring us. I can dream that Chika and the other female matador will get together, but it’s just a dream. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 3 Some light nudity

Overall – 8

In the meantime, Golondina continues to be a very decent sports manga, with the requisite blood, guts and tears of all sports manga ever. ^_^