With dyed blond hair and a hostile resting face, Imamura is finally graduating from his high school as Again!! Vol 1 opens. He transferred to the high school three years previously but had neither made friends nor joined a club. Imamura has also made no plans for his future career or schooling after high school ends. After the graduation ceremony, Imamura is thinking about the Ouendan (pep) club that he could have joined but didn’t. When he tries to climb through a window into the old Ouendan club room, he is seen by Akira, who is meeting her boyfriend. When Akira sees Imamura, she runs in fear and trips down a staircase. Imamura also trips and lands on top of her, knocking them both out.

Imamura wakes up with his mother calling him to go to school. He realizes that it is three years earlier and he is reliving his entire high school career. He realizes that this is his chance to make better choices including joining the Ouendan. Akira’s tale is also told but in less detail. While berating Imamura for forcing her to fall down the stairs, she accidently joins the Ouendan too. The rest of the novel addresses typical high school rivalries and romances.

The cover artwork using pastels and watercolors is beautiful. The interior art uses cross hashing to make various shades of gray. However, the drawings appear somewhat muddled. There is nothing within the plot to mark it as original. The abrupt end of Again!! Vol 1 forces me to give this volume 3 stars. Hopefully, Vol 2 will have a more complete story.

Thanks to the publisher, Kodansha Comics, and NetGalley for an egalley.

'Again!!' by Mitsurou Kubo is a manga about school life. Usually these leave me uninterested, but this one had a unique twist.

It's Kinichiro's last day of school. He is an outcast who made it through school with no friends. He intends to graduate and get on with his life. Then a freak accident happens and he finds himself starting over as a freshman. This time, he knows what will happen. Will he do the same things or try to be more involved in the lives around him this time.

I really liked this story, and I especially liked the art. The story was unusual enough and even though I didn't know what Ouendan was, the story idea was so compelling that it pulled me along. I really liked this unusual high school story told in manga.

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

A solid sports manga that readers unfamiliar with manga tropes will be able to pick up and read. Although ouendan clubs may be a foreign concept for U.S. readers, Again has enough solid teen drama (jealousy, revenge, trying to fit in) that will keep US readers interested and wanting to learn more.

Apparently a previous edition of this book actually explained what the heck it was on about, with all this talk about an ouendan or something. Seeing as this is actually a tenth of the story (yeesh), and seeing as it can't be bothered with being reader friendly, you know what? I can't be bothered to read it. However wonderful and different the 'High School Drop Out on Groundhog Day but only for one time over' plot may be.

Again!! by Mitsuro Kubo (the creator of Yuri on Ice) - I've not read any manga before but this was quite cute! I liked that the English translation included footnotes explaining Japanese cultural references. This is the start of a loooong series but I'm not sure I'll carry on.

Again!! features the somewhat overused plot device of people going back in time in order to redo their life in high school. In this case, Imamura and Fujieda - each with a very different perspective on high school life - get into an accident and wind up three years in the past. Each has a chance to redo school life - but what will they do differently? The book does defy many conventions, whith Imamura acting more out of boredom at the thought of 3 more lonely years of high school and Fujieda following Imamura around seeing what he will do.

Story: Imamura always looked tough and as such, never had any friends in high school. He was practically invisible as far as the school went. Upon graduation, he ponders about how things came to this point and remembers the girl pep squad leader who stood out at the entrance ceremony. When he goes to investigate what happened to her and the pep squad, he runs into Fujieda; after a misunderstanding/accident that sends them both fatally down a set of stairs, they wake up 3 years in the past, this time at the entrance ceremony. Fujieda wants her old life back and Imamura can't stand the idea of three years of boring school again. So he decides to help that pep squad girl keep her club from disbanding. The problem is - the girl doesn't want his help!

For a book with two main characters, we don't see much of Fujieda; we don't even know her name until 3/4 of the way through the book. In fact, it is only after several chapters that we get to know her and her story. Thus far in volume 1, her story is weak and I am wondering why she was included at all.

The manga bucks several cliches in that Imamura doesn't really care much why he is in the past and decides to work with the pep squad girl because he's bored. This time, he will help her succeed and the club won't disband. Unfortunately, she is stubborn and hide bound and Imamura has a tough task cut out for him. The conflict in the story comes from the head of the cheerleaders - she wants the pep squad completely disbanded and isn't afraid to use her popularity and cheerleaders to destroy the club.

It's a shame that this has to include the nasty uptight cheerleader trope - the catty girl who uses dirty and underhanded tricks to get her way (including seducing boys to her bidding). And the pep squad girl is probably the most unlikable character I've seen in a manga in a long time. So it will be interesting to see if the author can keep this interesting or if we'll just get cat fights between the two girls, with Fujieda popping in occasionally to cackle over Imamura's failures. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I just love sports manga and Again!! is actually quite awesome, since it's about (male) cheering, Japanese ouendan. Imamura Kinichirou is graduating from high school and hasn't achieved anything, no friends, hobbies, nothing. He looks like a delinquent and everyone is scared of him and this leads to a minor incident that is falling the stairs with a girl face flat on the ground. They both end up jumping back in time to the first days of high school and they have to live it all again, but this time our Kin-chan decides to do it differently and thus begins his "career" in ouendan. The plot is very original and well constructed. The characters are interesting and multifaceted, which is actually quite rare. The series is twelve books long, so mid-length basically, and I think I want to see what happens, since not only is the sport rare and unique, but also how it's handled.

The art is very precise and looks more seinen than shounen, but it works well. I love Kin-chan's face and facial expressions and all in all the series looks very lively. There's also humor in the series and the rhythm and pace is awesome, so reading this was quite the pleasure. I'm happy this has been translated into English and out on the market, and I do hope it finds its readers, since Again!! works well. Thanks to other sports series we hopefully get more and these obscure ones are usually one of the greatest by far.

The story starts with a school student who is reluctantly ready to go to his graduation, wondering would things be different had he interacted more with his fellow mates or joined a club "ouendhan''. He has a horrible experience attending school and drags himself to graduation only to fall and go back in time to attend his school all over again. He is terrified yet determined to change the situation, since he has seen and been through all of this already. He is not scared of being a loner or losing friends as he has seen that part already.

It focuses on normal school drama, and has the mean cheerleader (reminded me of mean girls). Oh but i did learn a few Japanese terms like osu, senpai, kohai, the term 'kun' so that i found interesting (have not read any books by a Japanese author)

All in all not a bad read for the teenage group, i guess. However, i do not understand why was there another girl (Aki) in the story at all!! The author's idea to put another character with Imamura was somewhat vague.. The purpose wasn't clear. Although it did end abruptly, will have to read Volume 2 to find out the end. Sigh!! May be i will, may be i won't..

Does the name Mitsuro Kubo sound familiar? If you like anime it probably does. This week sees the English release of a high school sports manga from the creator of the anime Yuri on Ice.  Again!! Vol. 1 by Mitsuro Kubo is a high school slice of life sports manga that focuses on the characters and their interactions.

The story is about Kinichiro, a high school student with no friends and no ambitions. When a misunderstanding leads to the accidental death of both Kinichiro and Akira on their graduation day, they find themselves waking up to the first day of high school. Armed with a second chance, Kinichiro decides to change his high school experience. The first difference? Take the enigmatic captain of the ouedan club up on her offer to join up and save it from the quiet death it suffered the first time around.

Certain things might seem rather typical of a high school based sports anime at first glance. However, all of the common tropes have wonderful twists on them and are treated with much more care than usually seen. For example, the very common ‘girl runs away because she mistakes a generally kind male character for some kind of a pervert’ takes a dramatic turn when, in her panicked fleeing she falls down the stairs and dies. A bit over the top, perhaps, but this was completely unexpected and rather funny.

The main character is also not the only character who goes back in time, nor is he the only one to remember what happened. Akira also finds herself back in time. More than that, they actually talk about this. Kinichiro doesn’t automatically believe that he’s gone back in time, but instead believes everything is a dream. This fades as more time goes on, solidifying only after he talks with Akira.

For Akira, things don’t seem to be going quite as well as last time, let alone better, unlike Kinichiro. She doesn’t come across as mature as Kinichiro, and she certainly doesn’t think things through all the time. Just as she assumed Kinichiro was up to no good and frightened herself to the point of dying while fleeing, she assumes that she and her boyfriend will just pick up where things left off despite the boy dating someone else and not being so much as friends with her.

Just as we get a chapter from Kinichiro’s point of view outlining their last day of high school and ensuing time traveling, we get a chapter of the same for Akira. This was admittedly necessary. It added a second point of view and completely different outlook on the situation. However, it did slow the story down a little bit. Having scenes repeated was, again, necessary, but it did get a bit boring.

Kinichiro does act more mature than the majority of his classmates. While this is expected as he’s now a good three years older than the others, it isn’t something that is always depicted or depicted well in other, similarly themed, manga. Kinichiro also acts more mature than his younger self, making choices that are quite different from what occurred the first time around. He is less quick to anger and self-defense in the presence of teachers. An active effort is made by Kinichiro for a better high school experience. Yet, his personality doesn’t undergo a major change from the first to second chapters. He remains the same in many ways. Despite actively trying to portray a better image of himself and become more involved in school activities, he still remains shy. Kinichiro might agree to have lunch with other people and really enjoy the time he spends with them, but he doesn’t actively reach out himself.

Something that is touched upon in this manga is passion and the lack thereof. Kinichiro acted like an observer in his own life, never making the effort to join clubs or make friends, merely going to class and going home. Both teachers and students find this odd, strange, and further ostracise him. Everyone comments on how he doesn’t have friends and doesn’t try. The captain of the ouedan club is, in many ways, Kinichiro’s opposite. She cares about ouedan a lot. For that passion she is also ostracized, with no one joining her club. She is too intense. She cares too much. This, I find, is quite true to life. Don’t care enough and you’re liable to be ostracized. Show too much passion and those same individuals will also have a problem with it. Sometimes it feels as if you can’t win no matter what you do, and I think a lot of people can relate to this.

As much as this is a manga about sports, we don’t see too much of ouedan in this volume. This is also a story about the characters, their lives, their passions or lack thereof. The ouedan club is on the brink of destruction. Other clubs are out for its blood. Past actions no one talks about hang over the characters, though they are still shrouded in mystery.

The art can be a bit simplistic at time, but beautiful. Backgrounds aren’t always extremely detailed, sometimes with nothing but white space behind the characters. Yet, it does some rather interesting things. There are sections where the art breaks out of the cell, such as the ouedan flag reaching across the page. Images of Kinichiro, larger than the other cells, watching events unfold before him are quite telling. Not only does it highlight his passiveness and background seat in his own school life, but it also demonstrates how he’s watching everything occur for the second time, almost as if he’s watching a film.

At the end of the volume is a notes section. The majority of the notes are explanations of cultural terms that readers might be unfamiliar with. Most importantly, it gives a good overview of ouedan, something that many western readers probably won’t be that familiar with. Unlike most of the notes and translation explanations I’ve seen, this one includes the respective cell or cells of the manga along with the notes. Most often there is simply a page number included, forcing the reader to flip back and forth between the manga section and the notes section. Though it takes up more physical space, I really liked having the image present with the notes.

Despite having some issues with the early pacing of the manga, I did really enjoy Again!! Vol 1 by Mitsuro Kubo. If there was a second volume available I would have just kept reading. This is a good high school slice of life manga. It’s also shaping up to be a good sports manga that is very focused on the characters, one of the biggest pro’s for Kubo’s smash hit anime Yuri on Ice. I will definitely be reading more of this manga.

Thank you Netgally and Kodansha Comics for the e-arc

I picked this up partly because it was free, and partly because the story and art comes from one of the co-creators of Yuri on Ice, and while I enjoyed that show, I wasn't as obsessed with it as many others were, but it was this, compared with the semi-time travel aspect, that made me give this a chance.

Art

The art style was really clean. It managed to, which I don't see very often in manga, is make each character look very distinctive, instead of the same faces with different hairstyles. I was pretty impressed with the character designs as a whole.


Characters

This does a great job of introducing a lot of characters that could become more important in later volumes, as well as the three (as I see it) main characters. Everyone feels distinctive, and I didn't think anyone acted irrationally and the motivations of the characters didn't feel weak as a whole. I was endeared to the cast and willing to see where the author will take them in the future.

Most of the cast are woman, and while more male characters may become more important later on, this focuses on woman (other than the main character). However, despite this, it doesn't feel like his budding friendship with the girls is motivated with lust for romance, even if the other teens around him place a lot of importance of the relationships between men and woman. Which I liked.

One concern, is I'm worried about the common trope of "girl-hate" and jealously cropping up. It's not poignant, and truer motivations may become clear in the time, and I think there's potential in the series for some great female friendship- but I hope the antagonistic girls will become more fleshed one and humanized in later volumes.

I liked the duality of the two individuals set back in time, one being a typical "social-outcast" and the other being one who achieved the ideal high-school life. The second character mentioned here is not demonized for her positive highschool experience. The main guy is also the trope in manga of nice guy, scary face (like Ritsu from Ouran High School Host Club) which I actually like and find both sad and funny.

Plot

The basic set up of this is two teenagers (as mentioned above), on the day of graduation, fall down a flight of stairs and are sent three years into the past and back to the day of their entrance ceremony (don't worry too much on the how this is possible). One of which who was glad to leave highschool, and another who was sad to leave.

With this, the guy protagonist decides to change something, so that his three years won't be so boring, so joins the dying ouendan club, which had disbanded by the time he graduated. (I had no idea what this was before reading this, but it's kind of like male cheer-leading? This is a bad explanation but you can google videos on youtube).

One the whole, the plot is pretty weird, but endearing too. It reads like a slice-of-life manga with the extra spin of two of the main characters going back of time, and seeing how this knowledge changes what happens around them.

Overall

This is a fun manga with a lot of potential. The characters have room to grow, and the plot has enough going to keep me going. A weird twist of club-slice-of-life and time-travel. (maybe a little taste of Haruhi Suzumiya? But will less creep and stress on the supernatural?).

In the end, I'm interested to continue on and see where this could go.

Reliving your high school years is an Interesting concept. Trying to change how you did things in the first place. I a little slow to get into but I'm intrigued and optimistic.

I really enjoyed this manga and thought this concept was well thought out and designed. The progression of the story was done very well and i loved how the two main characters connected and the way that this forced connection came through over time. The mystery element and the role the cheerleaders play is something i really enjoyed and i want to read the next volume immediately. .

I have to recognize I have a soft spot for high school manga and for sport manga. So I started reading "Again!!" Vol.1 expecting to see your average run-of-the-mill high school story that I enjoy so much even if I have read it many times.

What I didn't expect was a time-travelling, high-school set crazy manga as this one where from page 1 I was hooked on the story and characters and where, even if everything that appears on its pages I have read before, it is presented in a fresh and engaging manner that I have to do a 'tip of the hat' to Mitsuro Kubo for her inventiveness.

Kinichiro is your average 'yanki' looking character from a manga. With the deep secret that he is actually shy instead of, you know, a rebel. He has gone through his three years of high school in solitude, and is now confronted with the graduation ceremony, the last of his days as a student there before going to his next phase in life. Walking around school, he wonders what if anything has left any lasting memories in him from all those three years and he remembers the 'cheering' girl that was at the entrance ceremony three years ago ('ouendan' meaning 'cheering' but instead of cheerleaders, more like shouting, and drums and uniforms, and normally, boys). It was the only time he remembers seeing her, so he decides to go and check if the 'cheering' club's room is still there. But the door is locked and, when he tries to get in, he is discovered by a girl. She runs away thinking he is trying to break and steal things and he follows her trying to tell her is all a misunderstanding. Both fall downstairs and when they wake up...

It is their first day of high school. And they have another chance to relive all those years and experiences.

What follows is a great introducing volume to the manga. The pace is great, the drawing style, pure manga, but nicely drawn and very expressive. It has lots of humor (visual and dialogues) and the characters are introduced and developed (in this first volume) in a great manner. We get to know why Kinichiro is how he is, and the same for Akira (the time travelling companion) and Yoshiko, the captain of the 'ouendan' (and other characters). And they are really easy to relate and very fun to be with. And if that was not enough, Kubo does a great job in turning upside down the topics and themes of high school manga; she plays smartly the time travelling (or is it just a dream?) card. I also said something about sports manga. Well, this manga is not about sports (even if it seems it will follow some of its quirks). This is about the cheering part of sports (or other events). And in centering in this aspect of Japanese high schools, Kubo offers a fresh and surprising look on your typical manga story, offering a glimpse to an aspect of Japanese youth that manga normally don't center on so much (especially the manga that are translated).

Just amazing.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this graphic novel.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Squee! I just needed to read this one. I have been planning to for a while, so imagine my delight when I spotted it on Netgalley. Manga! On Netgalley! OMG squee! And this one is by the co-author of YOI, a series that I absolutely adored to bits (Give me second season now please!).

This was just too much fun to read. We have our MC, Imamura, who is a loner. In the before (at the beginning of the book and in the flashbacks (or are they flashtocomes)) he is sporting long hair, an aura of come near me and I will throw you out of a window, and well, his years at HS weren't the best. But he gets a second chance when, after graduation, he gets curious about the ouendan club, or well, one specific girl who was the only girl and the captain and the only remaining girl in the club when Imamura joined the school. But he is spotted by another girl while doing some *cough* interesting break-in moves, and then during a chase they both fall off the stairs and time travel back to 3 years ago. Yep, instead of graduating, they are now back at the first day of their first year! :P

And so they can start their days in high school again. Imamura gets another chance at school, maybe he can make some friends, maybe he can make it a more fun time than the first time. I do hope so, that guy definitely deserves friends and a happy HS experience. I do get a bit tired of the trope of scary looking guys. OMG, the guy looks scary + bleaches his hair, how terrible. Give the dude a chance people, he is totally nice and friendly. He is just a bit awkward. I loved what he was trying to do for ouendan in this one. How he tried to figure out what was going on with it, why the members left, and how he could help out Usami (even though she doesn't want that).

Aki/Akira, I quite liked the girl. I had such a laugh when she woke up during that first morning and was shocked to see that her boobs got smaller. Poor thing. Her reaction to the fact she lost 3 years/has gone back 3 years was also hilarious, I think I would have done the same as she has. I did feel sorry for her and the fact that she and her boyfriend (well, he was her boyfriend in the present day parts) aren't a thing in this timeline yet. In fact, he doesn't know her. You could see the realisation hit her when he kept rejecting her/was spotted with a girl that should be his ex. I am quite curious what Aki will do in this one. Will she join ouendan? Or will she just go along with the path she followed in the present day (tennisclub it seems).

I am not too sure about Usami. I get that she is probably a sweet girl who just loves the ouendan a bit too much. But the way she is recruiting, the way she keeps shouting, the way she just does everything... well... I am sorry, but I didn't like her. I can imagine that no one is joining. Yes, this sounds rude, but given her attitude towards newbies and how she practically forces them to continue even if they are dying (yes, I get that this happened when you were in the club, but this is a new batch, you can't treat everyone the same).

The cheerleaders? Or well, one specific girl. I was so relieved at first that they seemed to be a good batch of cheerleaders. That we would finally break through the trope of bitchy and manipulative cheerleaders.. But no, of course not. Dear Lord, that captain is a bitch. She is like a cat, she likes to toy with everyone, and will manipulate those around her to do her bidding. And it seems this has been going on for quite some time. :| I hated what the girl did. Bah.

We still aren't sure if these two time travelled or that they are actually in a hospital. I guess as the story continues we will get hints to either of those. I am not sure which one I prefer. Both are tropes that happen in manga quite a few times, but they are tropes that I find interesting. Plus it brings so many fun and delightful questions with it. Like, if they are dreaming (hospital scenario), how can it be that they are both in the same dream? And if they did time travel, will they be able to get back or will they have to sit out all those years again (though then again, given that they know all the answers to the tests/questions, is quite fun)? I hope that the author will bring some more clues in the next volume.

The art is pretty great, I love the style. The characters look great, well, Usami just stands out, I am not too sure how to explain why. I also like the backgrounds.

All in all, I hope that these books also come out in paperback, as I want to add them to my collection (plus I still prefer physical copies). And I would recommend this book to everyone. Fun, drama, mystery, comedy.