Shoubu wa toki no ... un daro? story by Takaguchi Satosumi, art by Fujisaki Ichiya

number of volumes: 5 (complete)
comic line: Asuka CL DX
publishing house: Kadokawa Shoten
size: B6

Major Characters:

The Story

Hokuto and Yuri are friends in high school. The first thing to note is that Hokuto is terribly short compared to Yuri: 170 cm vs 185 cm (That's 5'7'' and 6'1'', roughly). That, and Yuri likes to tease 'Hoku-chan' with a deadpan face.

Yuri is on the bastketball team (club?), and meets his other teammates and the 3rd year captain, Kyuu. Yuri also meets a pair of 2nd years with severe diva issues: Isa and Nana. They play a game of 2 vs 1 with Yuri, who whips their butts, and report back to Kyuu.

Apparently, the basketball team stinks and they don't have a manager because Isa and Nana have been harassing them. Kyuu wants to get Natsume as the manager, because a previous encounter with Natsume showed that Natsume has sharp eyes.

So, Yuri goes to talk to Hokuto, who is playing video games at home. Hokuto is apparently playing one of those basketball team games, and has created a player called "Yuri-chan." (ha hah). Yuri drags him out to shoot baskets, and somehow uses this to convince Natsume to become the basketball team manager.

Hokuto talks to Kyuu, and reveals that he is actually a good sportsman, but has a problem. Not sure what it is, but he can't play for long period of time, and so he decides that he will be the manager. Isa and Nana aren't pleased because Hokuto is a boy, but Kyuu tells them to stop complaining.

And so, it starts.

The whole story is about the basketball team and their evolution in becoming a better team, while Hokuto finds himself with help from Yuri and other basketball players that come on the scene.

Commentary

I'm really not very clear on the whole story; the things I get are the little jokes, mostly about how short Hokuto is. Yuri is constantly banging his head on Hokuto's doorway, people refer to him as 'chibi', even the girl that has a crush on him is taller than Hokuto! It's a bit amusing, especially if you subscribe to the height rule of yaoi comics.

Hokuto strikes me as a bit wishy-washy and ineffectual. Then again, he's only 15-ish. He's not a weak and weepy person, but he agonizes over things a lot. I guess when you're in high school, everything is a big deal.

Now, I like Yuri. I think he's pretty funny, especially since he's so deadpan and doesn't seem to do it on purpose. Like, not responding to his name, but saying, "yes?" when someone says "ouji-sama" (prince). He's more solid than Hokuto and more grounded in what he thinks. Then again, to some that just might make him uninteresting.

Isa and Nana are pretty annoying and rude, constantly picking on Hokuto and Yuri unless some rival basketball players are there. Initially, they try to coerce Hokuto into leaving his post as manager by cornering him in the locker room and .... licking him. No, I'm not kidding. Death by licking. Or rather, molestation. Anyways, Isa and Nana keep trying to get Hokuto to quit. Luckily for him, he has proctectors by the names of Yuri and Mario.

This comic isn't really yaoi-ish to me. It's so ... basketball-ish. Let-me-find-myself-ish. There's the team, the gifted player, the diva-players, the bad-boy player that won't go to practice (Isozaki Mario), the rival players that commit blatant fouls, etc. If it weren't for the occasional kiss and lick, I would definately think this was a sports comic.

The art is rather soft, as opposed to the comics with heavy, firm lines. It's not rough, but it's not solid either. It's pleasant to look at, and I'm fond of it. However, they do that pupil-less look, which is a bit disconcerting.

All in all, a rather cute story, if fluffy.