Manga Review: Mad Love Chase, Volume 5, by Kazusa Takashima

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Publisher: Tokyopop

Release Date: 2011

Volumes: 5

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1.

Goodreads Synopsis:

It's all fun and games until someone gets arrested and charged with treason! Word finally leaks out to the Demon World that Prince Kaito is missing, and the king is forced to play his trump card! He summons Taiki and Co. back under penalty of death, charged with obstructing the search for the lost Prince. The three aren't about to take the situation lying down, but with demon forces invading the school, they may not have much of a choice... and Yamato is forced to make a decision between his freedom and his friends. Stay tuned for the heart-wrenching, pulse-pounding conclusion of Mad Love Chase!

What Will I Miss?:

• The possibility of development, character and plot-wise, I guess? Particularly for Kaga and Taiki.

Review:

This series was a bit disappointing, honestly, and sadly.

I thought it would be fun, interesting, maybe cute, exciting. Fun. Instead it was overly exaggerated, filler plot lines leading up to a climax and a disappointing ending.

I didn’t really care much for Yamato, as he was mostly portrayed as dumb and oblivious, which was mostly annoying. We got glimpses of him actually serious and thinking, but they were so small and insignificant. He actually stepped up a little at the end, and got his happy ending, which was nice, I guess. I did like Kaga a little, and Taiki, but there just wasn’t enough development to satisfy me or make me grow close to them. Not to mention the hinted romance that never happened.

It was mainly the exaggerated humor that bothered me and that I didn’t care for, which is pretty much what the whole series consisted of. And the stringing along of the plot with major holes, like how they were constantly going after Yamato with no reason to know it was him they were looking for, which also bothered me. And then for there to be all this hassle, only for it to be concluded to easily in the end. It made it hard for me to care too much, or enjoy the books. There were too many things hinted at, like the people after Yamato and the budding romance and character development for all of them but especially Taiki, that made it seem like a waste of time in the end when nothing came of it. When, instead, the series dragged on with Yamato being chased over and over again and very narrowly escaping being captured, in a 'humorous' way.

And then the art, which could be really pretty and well-done in certain parts, only made it bother me more how Yamato’s face was always drawn to stupidly. The ending was good for all of the characters, though, which was nice, I suppose. 

Mostly I’m disappointed, though, and glad that it’s over.