Nisekoi: False Love, Volume 1

January 6, 2014
Komi’s English debut is his first serial work since 2008’s Double Arts. While specializing in one-shot romances aimed at boys, this title is Komi’s longest piece to date, bringing a delicate, airy art style—and complicated rom-com—to Weekly Shonen Jump. Raku Ichijo is your average high school student and mob heir chasing a dream: he wants to go straight, ask his crush out on a date, and find the long-ago girl who holds the key to his heart-shaped locket. On the eve of his confession to his longtime crush, shy and caring Onodera, he’s summoned by the family head and told to fake a relationship with the most egregious (and gorgeous) girl in school to avoid a turf war. Misunderstandings begin from there, whether with the comedic-relief chorus of overly devout bruisers on either side, Ichijo’s classmates, or Onodera. While Ichijo continues the search for the key-wielder and struggles with finding a safe space to confess his feelings for the girl he really likes, he learns to look outside himself and see the different kinds of caring that exist. The book is rated for teens, and will be a good, fun read for that age group; for adults, the plot is nothing new, and a bit heavy on the bickering—at least, in volume 1.

May 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Raku Ichijo is the teenage son of a Yakuza (Japanese gang) syndicate. He is a romantic who has no intentions of following in his father's footsteps. For over 10 years, he has carried a locked pendant around his neck, waiting for the girl who has the key. As children, the two promised they would find one another again and get married. The only problem? Raku forgot the girl's face and name. The romantic hero smashes into Kirisaki, a violent, loud new girl at his school. He is assigned to help her get acquainted, but they soon grow to hate each other. On the other hand, Raku has a best friend Onodera, a girl he wishes had the key to his lock. As if the boy's life wasn't angsty enough, his father decides to calm down a fight with a rival gang by asking his son to pretend to be in love with the rival leader's daughter for three years. The story flows well, but readers will wish that Raku and Onodera could simply tell each other how they feel. Told in a typical manga format, the wide-eyed teens get extremely dramatic and angry when things do not go their way. Still, kids will feel for the narrator and will find common ground with his desires to not be like his father, and to find his childhood sweetheart. As the first title ends with a cliff-hanger, only libraries willing to purchase the entire series should consider this one.-Sarah Knutson, American Canyon Middle School, CA

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