Customer Reviews

Tramps Like Us, Vol. 14

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have already left a long winded review under Tramps Like Us Volume 13 (Tramps Like Us (Graphic Novels)) that expresses my opinion of the series overall, but this last volume deserves its own review.

Tramps Like Us (aka Kimi Wa Petto in Japan) is a romantic comedy in the best tradition. It can be funny, romantic and bittersweet.

This volume exhibits the best of those elements from Sumire's meeting with Momo's sisters to Hasumi's revelation about his relationship with Sumire to Rumi's budding romance with Theo to Momo's meeting of Sumire's grandfather and so on.

My favorite chapter of this volume is the one that deals with Sumire and her best friend, Yuri. Oftentimes in these stories, the relationships of the girlfriends are ignored in favor of the romance, but here, we get a lovely nod to the importance of keeping friends.

All in all, the volume is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful series.

For those of you not familiar with the different kinds of manga, a brief explanation. Josei is manga for women, the adult counterpart of shoujo. The themes are, unsurprisingly, ones that would be of more interest to a grown woman. Romantic relationships are often key, but there is also a focus on the workplace, family and sex.

I didn't expect to like this series as much as I did. The plot, of an older woman taking in a younger man as a pet, held little appeal. I have never been a fan of age gaps and the whole pet thing sounded super creeptastic. Still, the whole thing was done very tastefully.

The master-pet relationship was achieved without any sketchiness and the feelings grew slowly and naturally. One of the great things is that Yayoi Ogawa managed to make their relationship in the early volumes feel completely platonic and then had the relationship grow and change over time.

This is really a story about people's expectations. Sumire was looking for a guy that would fulfill her three qualifications: high intelligence, high salary and height. She finds that guy and then struggles with the fact that she still does not feel satisfied. She cannot be herself with him; nor is he entirely happy with her. What people think they want/need is not always what they really do need.

I thought it was fine. nothing too spectacular. but if you liked the rest of it, this is just fine. but didn't feel very final. there were better volumes though.