Nakamura is anxious and shy about talking to his high school crush, another boy named Hirose. The story isn't anything new, what with the school cultural festival, cross dressing for a school play, and a class trip thrown in to help cover your manga trope bingo card, but it is well done and easy to sink into. And I have the sequel on hand from the library for tomorrow. ( )

Ya lo había leído online pero por fin ya lo tengo en físico. Muy cuqui y muy mono todo :D ( )

Go For It, Nakamura! is comedy with gay high school romance elements. I want to emphasize, however, that it isn't a romance. If the series ever gets another volume (maybe it already has, just not in English?), I could see it becoming a romance, but this particular volume is not.

Nakamura is an awkward, introverted, and occasionally uncomfortably intense 16-year old. He adores his pet octopus, Icchan. He has no friends and practises conversations in his head all the time but has difficulty actually having them in real life. He also happens to be gay. He has an enormous crush on his popular and outgoing classmate, Hirose, and his goal is to 1) actually talk to him and 2) become friends with him.

I picked this up on a whim. Happily, this turned out to be a good decision. For the most part, I loved this volume.

I don't handle secondhand embarrassment well and found myself having to take breaks several times while reading this. Nakamura was painfully awkward in ways that, yes, were played for humor but were also often realistic enough that awkward and/or introverted readers could probably find something to relate to. One particular horrible moment Nakamura remembered exactly matched a horrible memory from my own middle school years. Seeing it on-page was a bit horrifying.

I rooted for Nakamura, but I also had issues with him. I disliked how completely focused he was on Hirose. He had zero friends, and yet when his efforts to talk to and impress Hirose led to him meeting and talking to Hirose's friends, he never once considered them to be potential friends. Instead, he viewed anyone who was even vaguely close to Hirose as rivals and possible sources of information about Hirose. He also didn't seem to realize that a lot of the things he was doing to try to get to know Hirose better were kind of creepy, like eavesdropping on Hirose's conversations to find out what sorts of things he liked.

Chapter 2 contained one of my least favorite moments, a single panel in which Nakamura had a sudden tentacle rape fantasy about Hirose. And Chapter 4 was a little weird, introducing a fujoshi artist who developed a crush on Nakamura. I'm still not sure whether she was aware that Nakamura liked Hirose, although I don't see how she could've missed it considering the nature of Nakamura's request.

Aside from those things, however, I really enjoyed this volume. The artwork was well-done and reminded me a lot of Rumiko Takahashi. And the humor usually worked for me, despite my secondhand embarrassment issues. It was focused on Nakamura's awkwardness and his efforts to accomplish something where his secret crush was concerned, but it didn't feel, to me, like Syundei was being overly cruel to Nakamura or making fun of him for being gay. (Be warned, however, that there are a couple instances of homophobia. At one point, for example, Nakamura's teacher laughed at the idea of two boys dating.)

The last couple chapters had some surprisingly serious moments, as Nakamura began to lose hope that he'd ever truly connect with Hirose and become his friend. He compared himself to his effortlessly cool teacher, who Hirose certainly idolized and, Nakamura feared, possibly had a crush on, and found himself focusing on all the ways he fell short.

The ending was sweet. I considered it reasonably satisfying, although some readers might not feel the same. Syundei gave Nakamura a bit of happiness but left plenty of room for the story to be continued. Although the romance fan in me might have liked something more, I think it would have felt rushed and weird - not to mention there'd still be the issue of Nakamura's potentially unhealthy level of focus on Hirose, and what that would mean for any sort of romantic relationship between them. One interesting thing: This may be the only work I've ever read where the closeted main character is still closeted by the end, but not unhappy.

Extras:

A couple full-color pages, character profiles for Nakamura and Hirose, and a 2-page comic-style afterword by the author. In the afterword, Syundei talks a little about each chapter's creation - I wonder if the "tentacle rape" panel would have made it in if Syundei had known the series was going to continue?

Rating Note:

I debated between 4.5 and 5 stars for this. I don't really know that it deserves 5 stars, considering its problems, but I've found myself going back and rereading parts of it several times since I finished it. I decided that's worth bumping my rating up.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Go For It, Nakamura! was a very adorable manga. It’s a cute slice-of-life boy’s love comedy story. The main character is Nakamura, a high schooler who fell instantly in love with the cute, outgoing boy in his class on the first day of school. Unfortunately, Nakamura doesn’t know Hirose, not really. His goal? Overcome his shyness and klutzy habits, introduce himself, and become Hirose’s friend. After that, well, maybe then he can confess his true feelings.

I really enjoyed this manga. Nakamura is shy and tends to stick by himself. He doesn’t really have any close friends, and has very little idea how to go about making friends with Hirose let alone confessing his true feelings. The volume is filled with comedic moments and mishaps as Nakamura struggles along. It’s fun, it’s funny, and certain situations Nakamura finds himself in can hit a bit close to home.

The chapters are quite short, especially towards the beginning of the manga. Each chapters is a short, self-contained story of Nakamura’s daily life and endeavoring to finally officially meet and become friends with Hirose. This keeps the pacing quick throughout the manga. The plot never becomes bogged down. Jokes and scenes aren’t lingered over for too long. It moves along at a fast clip.

Despite this having a distinct slice of life feel, the story still has forward momentum. Situations don’t remain static. Nakamura and Hirose do grow closer, though not in any of the myriad of ways Nakamura has concocted. We learn a great deal about the two main characters throughout the course of the volume. Certain side characters also get a good deal of characterization.

As for side characters, there are quite a number of them introduced throughout the course of the story. Classmates are met, proving commentary and an outside perspective to certain situations that arise. We see glimpses of both Nakamura and Hirose’s family. Many of these other characters are interesting in their own right. Their homeroom teacher was well fleshed out, and is a genuinely kind person who wants what’s best for his students. Another of my favorite side characters was the artistically inclined fujoshi in Nakamura’s class.

I really enjoyed the art style in Go For It, Nakamura. Nakamura has a certain early nineties aesthetic, especially haircut-wise. His character design has a certain flare similar to the art of Rumiko Takahashi, the mangaka of InuYasha and Ranma ½. While this touched my nostalgic little heart, I also appreciated a one page scene where Nakamura cuts his bangs himself using only a mirror and some everyday scissors, thus explaining his appearance.

Go For It Nakamura! is a wonderful manga. It’s funny. It has gags and misunderstandings. But it’s also very heartfelt. There are some surprisingly poignant moments in the latter half of the manga. The characters grow and change throughout the course of the volume. There is almost no fan service at all. Honestly, this probably one of my favorite high school based comedy series now. It’s right up there with one of my personal old favorites School Rumble. Honestly, it is that good.

I really enjoyed Go For It Nakamura! By Syundei. I highly recommend picking up this series even if you normally don’t read anything yaoi related. It’s a great example of a high school based comedy manga. If any of these are genres you normally enjoy, you should absolutely pick up this manga.

This review originally found on Looking Glass Reads. ( )