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| Azuki no Chi! by Nagato Kayo |
Title: あずきの地！
Author:ナガトカヨ
Website: Girlish Season
Volumes: 4 (ongoing, to end in volume 5) yes I translated as volume and not chapter, because when a chapter's over 400 pages it isn't a chapter anymore
Keywords: romantic comedy, friendship, yankee, heroine with a strong personality, dead family members, countryside, school life, bullying.
Amano Azuki lives in a village in the countryside where a big school has just been built. All the other students come from the city and there are mostly only eldery in her village. Azuki is part of a female motorbike gang founded by her grandmother and leaded by her elder sister. She takes pride in her gang's traditions so she dresses like a "yankee" even though she actually likes girly outfits very much. Because of her old school style she has difficulties fitting in her highschool. So when the Student Council President, Nogi, tells her she shouldn't dress like that she challenges him to get to know her village. One day as she was taking a stroll in secret wearing a frilly onepiece she comes upon Nogi...
Azuki no Chi! is a cute love story without necessarily being corny. There's plenty of drama and the gang parts aren't toned down (but since it's shôjo, the girls are nice to the old people, they clean un garbage, and so on...). Expect fights, bullying, rape attempts...but it's punctual enough not to make the manga's overall atmosphere tense. It's almost as if there are 2 stories : Azuki's and her sister Subaru's. Azuki's story is pretty lighthearted and innocent but Subaru's is harsher and more violent.
The text is typewritten so it's easy to read (but there aren't any furigana). Adding the pronunciation of the characters' name when they appear for the first time was a good idea. The language level is intermediate/ advanced beginner, a good JLPT N4 with a dictionary is more than enough. As the story takes place in the countryside some characters are made to sound like country bumpkins but it's still easily understandable.
Spoilers below
I'd have liked Makoto to be a girl. Or at least it'd have been better without the "we're friends but as soon as I find out you're a boy I start being all self-conscious" typical gender-bender plot. It was superfluous, Makoto and Subaru's relationship was interesting but Subaru's 180° was way too quick. She's pushing herself and in the end I was starting to wonder whether she really liked him or not.
The part on Azuki kind of ran out of steam with time. In volume 4 about a third of the pages featuring her are full of shôjo close-ups : "I don't know why but I'm smiling against the light and there are butterflies and flowers all around me because I'm a shôjo heroine". Some characters are useless. Like Eiji for example, he's killing the realism of the series and he doesn't bring anything more as a love rival compared to Shiina.
Putting aside the above criticisms, Azuki no Chi! is rather well put together. The fact that different stories are taking place at the same time doesn't let you get bored, there's always something going on. Although some parts of the plots are easy to see through, there's a great deal of twists and turns and original ideas. The target audience is teenagers -middle school/high school- and it's well adapted to them. It's good to see a heroine with a strong personality, proactive who doesn't let herself be walked over.
In a nutshell, Azuki no Chi! is a pleasant read, mainly targeted at teenagers but it's still enjoyable for young adults. The language level isn't too difficult although there aren't any furigana. But I think it's better for advanced beginners to try and read without furigana to force themselves to remember the kanji.
Putting aside the above criticisms, Azuki no Chi! is rather well put together. The fact that different stories are taking place at the same time doesn't let you get bored, there's always something going on. Although some parts of the plots are easy to see through, there's a great deal of twists and turns and original ideas. The target audience is teenagers -middle school/high school- and it's well adapted to them. It's good to see a heroine with a strong personality, proactive who doesn't let herself be walked over.
In a nutshell, Azuki no Chi! is a pleasant read, mainly targeted at teenagers but it's still enjoyable for young adults. The language level isn't too difficult although there aren't any furigana. But I think it's better for advanced beginners to try and read without furigana to force themselves to remember the kanji.
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