Manga Review: Popcorn Romance by Tomoko Taniguchi
Ryouta and Zenta Yamazaki were orphaned a few years ago, but have stayed in Tokyo to finish high school and pursue their dream of being professional musicians. However Zenta, always a frail lad, is dying in the big city. He needs fresh air and honest work, so the boys decide to visit their grandfather’s farm in Hokkaido.
Grandpa Yamazaki is a little crotchety and doesn’t understand today’s youth with their long hair, weird clothing and heavy metal music. But he loves his grandsons and is thrilled to see them. He sure could use some help on the farm, and may have to sell out to the land developers who want to turn it into a golf course.
Ryouta likes farm life and is thinking of inheriting the farm, but frets because he had to leave school so suddenly he wasn’t able to get in contact with the girl he likes. What if she can’t handle a long distance relationship or being in a relationship with a farmer? Zenta is less keen on hard work and this is seriously derailing his career. His health? Well, lots of famous musicians die young.
But Shima Obata, Ryouta’s sweetie, comes up on a weekend to visit, and again and again, learning to love the country. And Zenta learns that the animals love his singing, plus he’s making friends. Maaybe taking over Grandpa’s farm wouldn’t be the worst thing?
This romantic story was inspired by Ms. Taniguchi’s own grandfather having to sell out his farm to be developed into a golf course–she was too young to do anything about it at the time. It’s an optimistic story; even the real estate developer turns out not to be such a bad fellow once thwarted, helping the brothers keep some musical career even though they’re farmers now.
The creator’s artstyle lends itself well to Zenta, a very pretty boy with a waiflike body; he enjoys being able to be mistaken for a girl. So his one gripe at the end is that the fresh air and exercise has caused him to have a growth spurt and put on muscles so that he can’t fit into tiny dresses well anymore. On the other hand, the sparse backgrounds don’t really sell the beauty of the scenery, an important part of the mood.
The volume is filled out with “The Magic of Love.” Yume has been told that a girl in love will become beautiful. A pretty sentiment, but she thinks it will never happen to her because she suffers from acne. No matter how clean she tries to keep her face, no matter what product she uses, the zits just won’t go away. She could never know love! (I know that feel, Yume.)
However, Kazu, a boy in Yume’s class, seems nice and he doesn’t seem to care about her skin condition. They become closer, but Yume thinks he’s just being friendly. After all, there’s this girl with stunningly clear skin she sees him with every so often.
In the end, the magic of love is about the attitude change that makes people more attractive when they’re in love, not about some hokey physical transformation. (Though less stress does clear Yume’s skin up a teensy.)
There’s also notes and fun drawings from Taniguchi as extras.
This is light, fluffy romance with only a tiny bit of drama for spice aimed at young teenage girls. As such, primarily recommended for shoujo romance fans looking for a short, sweet dessert between more angst-ridden high drama stories.
