Genre: Romance Comedy
Rating: Teen
Price: $8.99

Otani wins tickets to the Umibozu concert and asks Risa to go with him.  Could this be the answer to her dreams--their first date?!  But as fate would have it, Otani gets sick the day before the concert.  Concerned (about her friend and the date), Risa visits his sick bed and gets her first kiss!  Or does she?  Was it an accident?  Does Otani even remember it?

There are three things you should never do in a relationship with a girl, friend or somthing more; Don't lead her on, don't send mixed signals, and never ever make her cry.  Otani manages to do all three, multiple times.  Otani suffers from a common male ailment; thick headed-ness.   Even though he knows about Risa's feelings for him, he can't bring himself to either accept or admit he might share them.  He ends up trampling on Risa's feelings by acting as he always has rather than thinking that he might be hurting Risa.

For Risa's part, we see her struggling to understand why Otani can't/won't return her feelings.  I don't know if it was just me, but some of these scenes had me in tears with her, even after a second reading.  Finally, she proclaims that she has given up on him, and becomes enamoured with the new homeroom co-teacher Kunumi Maitake, or Mighty.  He looks and acts like a character in a video game she plays.  Might sees the troubles between Risa and Otani, and tries to help, though not directly.

This volume is filled with a lot of drama and introspection, but it's not over the top.  We see Risa constantly trying to figure Otani out, and second guessing him.  Otani reacts in a way you would expect a boy to when confronted by feelings he isn't prepared for.  It's obvious Otani never thought of Risa as anything but his friend, and it's difficult for him to see her as something more.  It takes a real threat to that friendship, and some verbal smacking from friends, to get him to realize what's at stake.

Overall, this was a good read, with some cathargic emotional release.  Nakahara's art style takes some getting used to, as character's facial expressions can get very cartoony, but they do get their intended meaning across.  This is a good series for both boys and girls as both can learn something about the other.

8.5