My attempt at the 2009 100+ Reading Challenge starts here.
Fate has brought you to this sketchbook - a slice of life behind the eyes of a seventeen-year-old Filipina residing in sunny England.
Title: Suzunari (Volume 1)
Author: Shoko Iwami
Rating: 4/5
Book 8 of 100: (The 100+ Reading Challenge)
Kaede Takamura’s teenage life swerves to the brink of insanity when she comes face to face with her twin…or does she. Suzu is practically the mirror-image of Kaede – except for having cat ears and a tail and being far more well-endowed than Kaede thinks any teenager ought to be. But the Takamuras have no qualms about bringing this strange, happy-go-lucky catgirl into their home. With Suzu completely ignorant of the ways of modern society, it’s going to be a very long year for poor Kaede.
This is the first graphic novel I’ve set my hands on this year (well, technically, this isn’t true since I’ve been to Waterstones quite a few times and have skimmed through almost all of the manga titles. Lol. But Suzunari is the first one I’ve read from cover to cover). I think this first volume is really sweet and fun. It reminds me a lot of my sister who I miss so much :]
The story revolves around Kaede, a normal highschooler. Out of the blue comes a really funny and weird girl, Suzu, who looks exactly like her and is then given the title as her younger sister. Suzu is like a mutant (cat ears, anyone?) and she doesn’t know one bit about how to live life as a human being. She troubles Kaede by needing to be taught how to put on her knickers (uh, okay?), to be reminded not to go dozing off during lessons, and to conceal her cat ears. One thing she’s good at, however, is to annoy her sister through PDA. Lol ^_^ It’s cute, though :]
I was kinda confused about the part where Kaede’s parents simply allowed Suzu into their home without questioning her or anything. Oh well, this is manga we talk of anyway.
It is worth reading the jargon at the back of the book just to make the Japanese language less confusing - things such as moe and kotatsu puzzled me a bit. Overall, I think this is a very cute and light read which I recommend to anyone who reads shoujo. I found this at the library and I’m looking forward to the next volume.
