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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane I have a very up-and-down reading relationship with B.O.D.Y., although the ups are never all that high. (I gave vol. 3 a B- and noted in my vol. 4 blurb--no letter grades in my "what I'm reading" round-ups--that each volume seems to get a bit more palatable.) So why does vol. 5 get my lowest score for the series yet? Because almost the entire volume is one endless round of "oh, I can't possibly tell him the truth because OMG he'll hate me forever, so instead I'll complicate our lives immeasurably!", and while there are certainly other things that drive me crazy as a reader, this is very, very high on the list. I don't like the steady parade of icky guys who wander into Ryoko's life and mess with her, but I'd deal with it better if lying about it weren't almost always her immediate response. On the other hand, I'm actually starting to be fond of Ryunosuke, which I wasn't expecting to happen. He seems to have developed a "well...that's the way she is" response to Ryoko's habitual dishonesty, since he has sense enough to realize she's lying in a sincere-if-misguided effort to protect him/their relationship. (Dear heroine: your boyfriend is an ex-host. He can probably deal with some random guy kissing you without asking you, much as that sucks. He probably has the sense to not be angry at you, unless it's because you can't figure out that wandering off with creepy guys is possibly not the best idea.) This volume's list of things Ryoko gets manipulated into include: a second unwanted kiss; a clandestine meeting; and a cringe-inducingly awkward trip with Ryunosuke, icky guy of the week, and her friend Asuka, who's still oblivious to the fact that she's fallen for a pretty scummy guy. Distrust and chaos ensue. B.O.D.Y. is, at heart, a melodramatic soap opera, so none of this comes as a shock. It's had stronger moments as a series, but it's quite possible that later volumes will make me circle back to looking at it a little more kindly. Volume 5 of B.O.D.Y. includes a page of editor's notes and several bonus pages from the creator. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Think you could have written a better review of B.O.D.Y. v5? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
3 February 2010
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