Otomen, Vol. 4 [Paperback]

Aya Kanno (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Otomen | Publication Date: November 3, 2009

Having Girly Hobbies Doesn't Make You Less Manly! R to L (Japanese Style). With Ryo's birthday around the corner, Asuka's all aflutter making preparations for the festivities. Best-laid plans tend to go awry, however...especially when Ryo already has plans with another man! Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things--sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. But in a world where boys are expected to act manly, Asuka must hide his beloved hobbies and play the part of a masculine jock instead. Ryo Miyakozuka, on the other hand, is a girl who can't sew or bake a cake to save her life. Asuka finds himself drawn to Ryo, but she likes only the manliest of men! Can Asuka ever show his true self to anyone, much less to the girl that he's falling for?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Aya Kanno was born in Tokyo, Japan. She is the creator of Soul Rescue, which has been published in the United States, and her latest work, Otomen, is currently being serialized in Japan's BetsuHana magazine. Blank Slate was originally published in BetsuHana magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421525372
• ISBN-13: 978-1421525372
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's more like a high 4, November 3, 2009

By 

F. Caldwell "mixedpaint" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Otomen, Vol. 4 (Paperback)

Okay, I give Otomen four stars automatically just because there's something about it that keeps me hooked. The art is consistently good. The characters are interesting and the situations are always funny. But book four of the series just didn't have enough extra "oomph" for me to bump it up to five stars. I guess by book four I was hoping there would be a little more character development. I'm fine with situational things but I guess I kind of missed the point of whatever Otomen 4 is supposed to be about. Whether that point is Asuka himself, his relationship with Ryo, or the whole cast of characters. Even still, I love Otomen and I'm already looking forward to book five coming out next year.
As the back of the book states, Ryo's birthday has come around and Asuka is all aflutter thinking of romantic options and birthday presents. Then he's all aflutter for another reason when he finds out that Ryo has plans with another man on her birthday. Oh dear. The first chapter also reintroduces Ryo's super hardcore manly man father. His interactions with Asuka were hilarious. Chapter one is probably my favorite out of the book.
The next chapter introduces another character, a tall, mysterious type, complete with hair in the eyes, named Kurokawa. Asuka finds a secret flower garden hidden on the school grounds. He suspects that Kurokawa might have something to do with and tries to befriend him. Of course, Kurokawa has an odd way of looking at Ryo that has Asuka feeling more than a little jealous too.
The last two chapters are an extended storyline. It's summer vacation and Asuka is dreaming of all the romantic couple things he and Ryo can do when they go to the beach. Unfortunately before he can invite Ryo to the beach Asuka gets an invitation from someone else. Yamato. Yes, it's Yamato and he's just as clueless as ever about Asuka's otomen side. Yamato begs Asuka and friends to come to the beach with him and help save his uncle's failing beach bar. When they get there they find out why the beach bar is failing. It's a ratty little shack with nothing buy yakisoba on the menu. Oh dear. Just after their arrival, Yamato's uncle is injured leaving Asuka and friends to run the place all by themselves. And because things weren't crazy enough for them already, Hajime Tonomine (Asuka's kendo rival and secret makeup/hair master) shows up at the beach. You knew he'd be there. He was on the cover. And naturally hijinks will ensue.
Otomen 4 is still a pretty good book, even if it doesn't quite earn that fifth star. There were a lot of great and funny moments, especially in the first chapter. A little bit more (of what I don't know) and it would have been perfect.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious as usual, November 4, 2009

By 

Delamaine "Formerly Belacane" (Seattle Eastside) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Otomen, Vol. 4 (Paperback)

I love this series and by this point I don't much care about the relationship between Asuka & Ryo. It's much funnier to read Asuka's interaction with other guys, especially since all his guy friends have some weird and Otomen-like quirk about them. We don't get to hear much about Love Chick in this volume, and it somewhat worries me that Juta isn't pushing them as much as he used to. It seems to be turning into more of a generic friends & low-key romance story. But there is a new male character who has a girly-level interest in flowers, and Asuka's kendo nemesis Tonomine reappears with his makeup box for some very funny competitions at the beach. Yamato, the girly-looking, short boy who idolizes Asuka, requests some help from Asuka, Juta and Ryo, which brings them to the beach.

Little things are drawn in the panels that really make me laugh. You may remember that Yamato has this fantasy-vision of his manly self with "narrow eyes" as he calls it, which are drawn sort of extremely. There is a point in the story where Asuka is doing something; Yamato can't see him, but is envisioning it - and he pictures Asuka with those extreme "manly" eyes. It just cracked me up. Lots of little things like that.

This issue seems like it's starting to ape Ouran High School Host Club. Ryo's just as clueless as Haruhi (although Ryo's character is less developed, so there is still nothing interesting about her), and now she's surrounded by a bunch of guys: Asuka, Juta (who is like the twins), Tonomine (like Kyoya), Yamato (like Hunny), and the new guy with the flowers who is like Mori. But I love Ouran so this is not that big a problem for me. I just wish there was more Asuka-Juta interaction. Maybe next time.