Manga Review: You Make My Head Spin

[Jason]

Title: You Make My Head Spin
Mangaka: Kazuhiko Mishima
Originally Serialized In: (Libre Publishing Co, Ltd./ Libre Shuppan)
Genre: Yaoi
Licensed by: Juné
Price: $12.95/US

There are two parts to this interesting collection—You Make My Head Spin and Sensei!—both of which are cute and lighthearted school romances anchored by Mishima’s distinctive art, but only the second part is truly memorable. Luckily, it is memorable enough to carry the book on its own and to make it a keeper for me.

You Make My Head Spin takes place in four parts and is about Shindou, a new student who transfers into a rough high school. There he meets Yousuke, a delinquent, who he falls for him right away. But Shindou’s “say what you’re thinking” demeanor may be too much for Yousuke, who finds that it strips away all his tough guy protests and leaves him open to feeling something he might not be ready for. The focus of these four stories is more comedy than romance and Mishima makes them work by going over the top on certain elements. In the first story Shindou, the good guy, is always shown with sparkles around him, whereas Yousuke has a perpetual scowl and overly squinted eyes. Mishima’s comedic timing is spot on and the stories are silly and fun, though they are brief enough as to be slightly hard to remember on just one or two readings.


The second half of the book, the two stories that make up Sensei!, is by contrast very sweet and light. There is some humor, but the focus is on the budding romance, so there is more plot and character development than in You Make My Head Spin. Sensei is always strict and humorless and Mimori and his classmates are sick of it. Then one day Mimori spots Sensei crying and realizes that he is a much more delicate soul than his students ever suspected. Now, Mimori will do anything to keep Sensei smiling. As a person who works in education in real life, I’ve always been slightly bothered by teacher/student romances in yaoi, unable to get my mind away from their illegality. Mishima handles that element nicely in these stories, however, touching on it for a dose of reality, but not belaboring the point. It makes the story more believable and even sweeter than it would have been without it.

Part of the magic of Mishima’s work lies in her art. Her way of drawing eyes is a thing of beauty. Thick, heavy lines outline detailed irises and pupils, all of which are capped off by expressive eyebrows. Many of her characters have fairly normal sized (for manga) eyes and even when she does large eyes, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that character is the uke. Strong jaws and muscular, inherently male bodies make her art even more appealing to the eye. Her page layouts are clear and neat, even when filled with art. This makes her pages easy to look at and highlights the attractiveness of the style. Juné has done a good job with translation, keeping the humor and the romance intact.

Readers who liked, but didn’t love Mishima’s The First Stage of Love (also from Juné), should look at this collection. It still isn’t as strong as Mishima could probably be if she focused an entire volume on one story, but it is a good read and even a good re-read. Sweet romance and cute comedy in one collection is always a nice mix and I enjoyed it a lot.

Reviewer: Snow Wildsmith
Proofed and Edited By Lissa Pattillo