Manga Review: That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 4, by Yoko Nogiri

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: March 2017

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volumes: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Komugi's not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn't expect a boy to come up to her and say, "Gee... you smell good, somehow!" That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he's a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Review:

Finally, we get some answers. We find out what happened when they were kids, what happened with Yu's mother. I like that Kuro, while he is the one who was wrong in the beginning, doesn't end on a bad note. He was mistaken, but he doesn't fight being wrong. Rin lets his feelings be pushed aside in the end. The plot between Komugi and Yu, the romance, ends rather nicely in my opinion.

This series was enjoyable, though I do think that it was a little under-developed. Plots and characters weren't as complex as they could have been. But I'm still happy with how it all wrapped up. I also liked the bonus chapter, as it showed us why Senri is the way he is, why he's so indifferent.

This was a very short, and enjoyable series.

Manga Review: That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 3, by Yoko Nogiri

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: January 2017

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Komugi's not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn't expect a boy to come up to her and say, "Gee... you smell good, somehow!" That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he's a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Review:

This volume was a bit better than the previous ones. I was feeling a little iffy, but now I want the next one.

Komugi has decided to move on from Yu, because she realizes ignoring it won't work. This makes Yu conflicted, because he's realizing his own feelings. Fushimi, on the other hand, is attempting to step in the way if he needs to. I think Fushimi and Komugi have an interesting relationship, an understanding of where they stand, mostly.

I like the reveal that we get in this volume, what Komugi figures out about her and Yu's past, and how it's intertwined. It leads to the cliffhanger, and we see how awful Yata might really be, unless we get a reason in the next volume. I'm intrigued to see where this goes next, how this wraps up.

Manga Review: That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 2, by Yoko Nogiri

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: November 2016

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Komugi's not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn't expect a boy to come up to her and say, "Gee... you smell good, somehow!" That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he's a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Review:

In this volume, mostly we see Komugi struggling with her feelings. She's trying to act normal, because that's what Yu wants. It's hard, though, to pretend she doesn't feel this way.

We meet a new character, the father figure in the animal family. Komugi also starts wondering about her family, and if there's something in her that makes her different.

Despite how Rin acts like a jerk to Komugi, we're seeing that his actions are opposite, because he's always around her. He shows up way too often, and even has Yu becoming suspicious and jealous. A clear triangle is forming there.

The author is trying to add some light psychological elements here, like how Komugi is wanting to help Yu, because of Yu's history with humans but his want to be near them. Then the possible deeper sense of Komugi being biologically special from other humans. But mostly, it just seems too underdeveloped at this point. The romance is going too quickly, as well, and doesn't feel like it's taking enough time to really form complexities.

I'm enjoying this series so far, but it's a little underwhelming, and there just doesn't seem to be enough there yet.

Manga Review: That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 1, by Yoko Nogiri

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: August 2016

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: Very Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Komugi’s not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn’t expect a boy to come up to her and say, “Gee…you smell good, somehow!” That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he’s a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Review:

I was hoping to like this series from the very beginning. And while I do think it will grow on me, I'm not entranced yet.

It's slow to start. We meet Komugi, and she's trying to keep a low profile after being bullied at her old school. And then she meets Yu, and he turns into a wolf in front of her. This leads her to meeting his other kin, some of whom are not quite so open to her presence.

While it's slow to really get a feel for the characters, and I'm not really attached to any of them, the story is actually a little rushed, or at least not developed very smoothly. I don't quite believe Komugi's change in character, it was too fast for me. I do like the cliffhanger, though, and the twist that it gives to the older style of shojo stories. I'm interested to see where that goes next.

I definitely see the Fruits Basket reference, of course, only they turn into animals when they want to. I'm not as attached so far as I would like to be, though.

Wishlist Thursday[172]: That Wolf-Boy is Mine! by Yoko Nogiri

That Wolf-Boy is Mine! 1 by Yoko Nogiri

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: August 16, 2016

Volumes: 4.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Komugi’s not sure what to expect when her family moves to the remote northern island of Hokkaido, and she starts at a new high school. But she certainly didn’t expect a boy to come up to her and say, “Gee…you smell good, somehow!” That boy is Yu Ogami, and Komugi finds herself strangely drawn to him. But when she sees him in an unguarded moment, she discovers he’s a werewolf! Now she has a choice to make: to keep his secret, or to ask for help and risk angering a wolf-boy?

Why?:

This sounds like my kind of book, so I’m really hoping that I love it. Kodansha’s shojo tends to be very hit or miss with me, so I hope this one’s good. It sounds really cute, plus they’re suggesting it to fans of Fruits Basket, so that sounds like a definite plus to me.

What’s on your list?