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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “Rejected way too many times by good-looking (and unattainable) guys, shy Riiko Izawa goes online and signs up for a free trial of a mysterious Nightly Lover “figure.” The very next day, a cute naked guy is delivered to her door, and he wants to be her boyfriend! While out on a date with Night, Riiko meets Toshiki, a boy who looks like her first crush from elementary school. Even though she’s with Night, Toshiki seizes the opportunity to steal a kiss from Riiko . . .” I don’t usually do this, but I feel that I can’t adequately express my opinions about this volume without directly discussing its plot points. But then, new readers will likely opt to start with volume one rather than volume four, so consider this a tentative review of the series based on the questionable plot points of the fourth volume. See, I’m rather intrigued by the high concept of this series – essentially Chobits with the gender roles switched – but the execution is leaving me with a far different impression . . . Despite being paired up with her human-looking robot Night, Riiko is approached and seduced by a newcomer named Toshiki. He kisses her in his hotel room, and the next thing she knows, it’s the morning and she’s naked in bed with him, unaware of anything that transpired the night before. Whereas I expected the narrative to bring up the issue of date rape and the use of some kind of substance to knock her out, Riiko shrugs off the situation, wondering if Toshiki might be the better guy for her. Excuse? I know there’s a culture difference going on here, but rape is rape is rape. Granted, as the story pans out, not everything is what it seems, but Riiko’s passive reaction is still somewhat alarming. What’s worse is that throughout the course of the volume, three different guys make moves on her, and though she rebukes at least one of them after their lips touch hers, she still lets them in that close. I’ve read about passive protagonists before, but Riiko’s ridiculous. I really hope the rest of the series isn’t like this, because there’s a solid premise waiting to be explored with for more humor and logical consequences than is presented here. Comment on this review of Absolute Boyfriend v4 on the Manga Life Forums. |
7 May 2008
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