Manga Review: Sunflower Volume Two

[Jason]

Title: Sunflower
Volume: 2
Mangaka: Hyouta Fujiyama
Originally Serialized in: (Frontier Works, Inc.)
Genre: Yaoi
Licensed by: Digital Manga Publishers - Juné
Price: $12.95/US

Ohno has a problem: he’s in love with his good friend, Imaizumi. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem at boys’ school, Kinsei High, where 90% of the students are gay, but Imaizumi is one of the 10% that isn’t. Should Ohno ruin a treasured friendship by confessing or will risking everything lead to happiness?

Fujiyama adds another element to her on-going series about Kinsei High with the second volume of Ohno and Imaizumi’s love story. The two Sunflower volumes aren’t the strongest of the series, which also includes Ordinary Crush, volumes 1-2 and Freefall Romance, but there is still something about Fujiyama’s writing and art which draws me in and makes me keep reading and collecting her books.

Ohno is a particularly interesting character. He doesn’t want to deny his feelings, but he also doesn’t want to lose Imaizumi’s friendship. By the same token, Imaizumi is torn between his concern about dating a guy and wanting to keep Ohno near him. A mix of other characters, especially the offbeat members of the student council and Ohno and Imaizumi’s fellow freshmen class members, keep things interesting by both interfering and helping.

Unfortunately, Fujiyama doesn’t seem to have put her full effort into this work. The two Sunflower volumes simply aren’t very memorable. I had to re-read the first volume twice to remember enough to be able to follow the events of volume two. Ohno and Imaizumi’s troubles aren’t really compelling enough to keep readers’ attention, even if they are sweet guys. Towards the end of their story, Fujiyama gets lazy and lets them slip into yaoi conventions. Imaizumi’s switch from never having any interest in men, to dating Ohno, is not completely believable, which I guess doesn’t matter in a series that isn’t particularly grounded in reality in the first place, but it does make for ordinary reading.


Fujiyama’s art is attractive, though she tends to fall into the trap of having characters who look too similar to one another. My favorite aspect of her characters is their lips. She draws them full and sensual and will often focus on the lips to give hints at the characters thoughts and feelings.

After the main story ends, there is a long bonus story featuring the romance between student council president, Fumiaki Kozue, and his assistant and sex partner, Leiji Sumiyoshi. The writing in this story is awkward and doesn’t flow the way it does in the main story, but Fujiyama does some nice tricks with panel and story layout. She overlaps Kozue and Sumiyoshi’s troubles and discussions with Ohno and Imaizumi’s growing physical relationship and the contrast and comparison between the two tales is interesting. This is the sign of a manga-ka who has a firm grasp of her craft and makes me like her work even more.

This is not a volume to pick up if you haven’t read the other Kinsei High stories, but for fans of Fujiyama’s work, this is a nice, if rather pedestrian, addition to her body of work. Even on a bad day Fujiyama’s work is worth reading.

Reviewer: Snow Wildsmith
Proofed and Edited By Lissa Pattillo