I Reads You Review: SKYBLUE SHORE, VOL. 1

Creator: Nanpei Yamada with Hope Donovan (English adaptation) and Kristy Harmon (translation)

Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 208 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-2005-1

Romance/Comedy; Rated “OT” for “Older Teen 16+”

When she was a small child, Tomo Sakurai was a frequent visitor to the beach. One day she made a friend of a young beachcomber who gave her an agate stone. Now a sweet high school girl, Tomo encounters an attractive young stranger whose keychain has the same stone she got from her lost childhood friend.

In Skyblue Shore, Vol. 1, Tomo is about to be the victim of a public transit molester when she is rescued by Riku Tanaka, a tall, dark-haired stranger who protects and befriends her. Tomo learns that Riku is the janitor at the school she attends, Akiya Tateishi High School, and he wears a keychain with a stone that is familiar to Tomo. Later, Tomo meets Tento Tanaka, Riku’s younger brother. The reclusive blond collects agate stones and other things he finds on the beach. Could they have met in the past?

TOKYOPOP describes Skyblue Shore as a romance and comedy, and while this shojo manga (comics for teen girls) has high school romance and teen comedy hijinks, Skyblue Shore is really a character drama. Skyblue Shore reminds me of Miki Aihara’s Honey Hunt, which is a shojo manga with gorgeous art and an emphasis on melodrama and intrigue.

Skyblue Shore creator Nanpei Yamada tells this story through pretty art and attractive characters with soft, child-like faces. Behind the prettiness, Nanpei weaves a complex story of dysfunctional families, in which divorce and parent-child discord add a pungent note to the heightened sweetness typical of shojo romantic comedy. However, I believe that because there is so much sweet shojo being published that shojo series, which mean to stand out, need something different, whether it is a tone or a hook to give it separation from the pack.

Yamada gives Skyblue Shore a different tone. The characters are familiar, but their complicated lives make the carefree teen life a luxury they cannot always afford. That is why this is the kind of shojo manga I want to keep reading.