B.O.D.Y: Volume 1
Story and Art by Ao Mimori
Published by Shoujo Beat, imprint of Viz Media.
ISBN10: 1421518023
ISBN13: 9781421518022
Review by Linda Yau
Ryoko Sakura is a fanciful naive 16 year old, who’s friends criticize her for having a crush on Ryunosuke Fuji, a silent guy who sits next to her in class. She imagines him to be a studious gentleman. Yet, nothing prepares her for the reality of Ryunosuke actually working in a host club, where women pay men for their entertainment. Her fantasies shatter, now Ryoko would have to face Ryunoskue’s sudden interest in her.
I picked up this book because I have rarely seen host clubs being mentioned in manga, so I imagine that the premises is interesting like Ouran High School Host Club, I wasn’t really impressed. I found Ryoko and Ryunosuke being very shallow characters. There is the concept of a guy having a crush on Ryunosuke, but it wasn’t explored as in depth in this volume.
As a standard the first volume can either draw readers into continuing the series. I could only imagine the teenage angst that is to come in the remaining volumes of this series. There are 15 volumes in total as this story has already ended in Japan, currently though there are three books translated into English.There is some possibility, but if the series continues on this same vain such as how the first volume proves, then that makes this series a disappointment all together.