Ohikkoshi

Known for his excellent Blade of the Immortal samurai manga, Samura here applies his realistic art style to present-day, true-to-life tales. The title story is a romantic comedy starring college students: Tono is in love with the mature and independent Akagi, whose boyfriend just left for two years in Zambia; Tono's childhood friend Kobarukawa is now dating the leader of a Venom cover band, but she secretly loves Tono. Samura convincingly evokes college life; he peppers the story with snarky authorial asides, humorously breaks the fourth wall, and throws in an odd subplot about a half-Italian man who comes to Japan to kill his Japanese father. The second, more serious story concerns an 18-year-old female manga creator who, after her series is cancelled, enters first the "real world" and then a seedy underworld of gambling and organized crime. A short autobiographical vignette is also included. There's little nudity or sex (though many references to the latter)-but the book's overall tone makes it suitable for college age and above, for whom it's recommended.-S.R. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.