MJ Review: Cherry Juice Volume One

[Jason]

Title: Cherry Juice
Volume: One
Mangaka: Haruka Fukushima
Originally Serialized in: Nakayoshi (Kodansha, Ltd.)
Genre: shoujo, romance, comedy
Licensed by: TOKYOPOP
Price: 9.99

Minami and Otome are finally getting used to being brother and sister, after five years of living together, when things are complicated by Minami’s friend Amane announcing that he wants to date Otome. Now Minami must deal with the fact that he might feel more for Otome than just brotherly love and Otome must decide where her feelings really lie.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I even saved it for the last of my stack o’stuff to review, but though it tries hard to be romantic and funny, Fukushima’s brother x sister love story only managed to annoy me. The idea behind the romance isn’t a bad one—Minami and Otome are stepsiblings, so a relationship between them wouldn’t technically be incest—but the humor seemed forced, limited to Otome or Minami freaking out about something minor and after awhile I just didn’t care about the characters.

Like other light shoujo romances, the angst is present, but not too overpowering, with lots of Minami glancing longingly at Otome when she isn’t looking, then insulting her when she gets too close, while Otome tries to sort out how Minami really feels about her and how she feels about him. The feelings of Amane, the third wheel, are never fully acknowledged, even though he is obviously aware that Minami is a rival for Otome’s affections. I found myself feeling sorry for him and wanting more of his dry, blunt way of speaking. Unfortunately I got hyperactive Otome, whose wide-eyed earnestness is almost indistinguishable from a host of other manga maidens. Minami is slightly more tolerable, especially when he tries to hide his true feelings by “hitting on” Amane, always good for a fangirl laugh. None of the other characters, whether friends or family, are developed enough to even acknowledge.

Fukushima’s art is fairly unremarkable, looking much like that of Wataru Yoshizumi (Ultra Maniac) and Arina Tanemura (Full Moon), with wide-eyes, open mouths, and very young-looking characters. However, she adds an element of sensuality to her characters which, while it fits with their ages (third year in middle school), seems slightly creepy given how young they look. Other than that, her overlapping panels are crowded with a lot of screen tones and shoujo flowers, which isn’t surprising given her audience, but which does occasionally make the action harder to follow.

Overall, this is an optional read for rabid shoujo fans that simply can’t get enough of young teens in meet-cute situations.

Reviewed by: Snow
Proofed by: The Mighty Highlord
Edited by: Firedog