Title:  Metamo Kiss #1

Author:  Sora Omote

Publisher:  TOKYOPOP

ISBN:  9781598168273

May Contain Spoilers

Kohamaru has been living with his grandmother in the country.  When she dies, he has to move back to Tokyo to be with his family.  While waiting at the train station, the klutzy Kohamaru trips over a girl, kissing her!  That’s when he learns the weird truth about his family – members can switch bodies with their soul mates!  Now he’s stuck in Nanao’s body, and they don’t know how to change back!  Even worse, Nanao is head over heels for his obnoxious twin brother, Konatsu!  And why, which a kiss of his own, can Konatsu change them back to normal?

This was one wacky story!  As long as I didn’t stop and think about it, I enjoyed it.  But it’s another story where I just don’t understand the family dynamics.  Why was Kohamaru living with his grandmother instead of his parents?  Why didn’t they ever visit him?  After switching bodies with Nanao, he agrees to go on a date with her dream guy, Konatsu.  It turns out that Konatsu is his twin brother!  He doesn’t find out the nasty guy’s identity until he finally gets to his parents’ house.  It’s not like they were living in another country!  Unless there’s some freaky plot point later in the series, this just didn’t make any sense.

Kohamaru is a likeable enough guy.  He’s considerate, polite, and a bit of a pushover.  He’s the kind of guy that should be every girls’ dream guy!  Unfortunately, in the manga world, guys like him are considered too boring to be a chased after.  Instead, girls are drawn to jerks like Konatsu.  He’s your typical handsome, popular guy who has the whole school sighing every time he makes an appearance.  He ditches Nanao(played by Kohamaru!) on their first date, declaring that girls are boring.  He “forgets” to tell Nanao and Kohamaru that they must change bodies back before sundown, or they’ll never be able to switch back again!  What a nice guy!!  He also seems to have a personality disorder, switching from tolerably nice to downright menacing in the blink of an eye.  Is he upset because he doesn’t share the family’s curse?  Konatsu is “normal” and can’t switch bodies with anyone.

Nanao fell in love when she was a little girl.  On a trip to the countryside, she met a boy, watched fireworks with him, and created one of her happiest memories.  She’s sure that boy was Konatsu, and she’s decided to love him forever.  But he doesn’t seem to remember the fireworks they watched together so long ago.  But Kohamaru shares the memory!  She can’t be in love with the wrong guy, can she?  Even when given evidence that her memory might be faulty, Nanao still refuses to believe that the boy was any other than Konatsu.  Silly girl!  At least get the man of your dreams right!

Metamo Kiss’ frantic atmosphere is reflected in the art.  Kohamaru and Nanao  share exaggerated expressions as they gender-bend through the book.  Kohamaru is a little cutie, and shaggy haired Konatsu has nothing over him!  Nanao needs her eyes examined!  Or maybe her enormous pigtails are obscuring her vision?  The backgrounds were very plain, which emphasized the characters and their madcap interactions.  The illustrations were fun and made the book just zip by.

Metamo Kiss is an entertaining read, though the back story is a little incoherent.  This is a fluffy title, without much depth, just a lot of goofy situations and high energy characters. 

Grade:  B-

Rated for Teen 13+

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Posted in Comedy Manga Reviews Romance TOKYOPOP by Julie 3 Comments