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Title:  Papillon Vol 3

Author: Miwa Ueda

Publisher: Del Rey

ISBN:  9780345508072

May Contain Spoilers

This title can be so irritating!  It shares so many traits with Peach Girl, and the same plot devices annoyed me in that series.  Papillon is Peach Girl with twins.  I can’t argue that there is some entertainment to be found here, but the same tired plot is a little disappointing.

Hana discovers that her twin, Ageha, is in love with Ichijiku.  Not content after stealing Ageha’s first love, Ryusei, Hana has now set her sights on the sexy guidance counselor.  The conniving beauty just can’t stand to see her sister happy.  Will Ichijiku fall in to her cunning trap?

I think the thing that bothered me the most about this volume of Papillon is how easily Ichijiku fell for Hana’s tricks.  I mean, they weren’t even that clever!  She impersonates Ageha, and then acts like a complete and utter bitch.  Oh, wait, that is how Hana normally acts, so there wasn’t any acting involved.  Ichijiku doesn’t know what hit him, and now all he wants to do is break up with Ageha.  I thought this guy was so good at reading between the lines and figuring out the true nature of the people he meets?  Nope, he’s as much of a fool as Ryusei, and he takes Hana’s bait, hook, line, and sinker.

I would enjoy Papillon a lot more if I hadn’t already read almost the same story with Peach Girl.   It is irritating that the male characters in her series are so gullible and dense, and they fall for every ruse presented to them.  Ichijiku knows that Ageha has an identical twin sister, and he knows that she is nothing like the brazen, demanding wench he was forced to spend an evening with.  How could he have been dumb enough to believe that it was Ageha? Ryusei is pretty much cut from the same mold; he believes everything that Hana tells him, even when he should know better.  The plot developments are of the wash and rinse variety.  Ageha and Ichijiku are in seventh heaven, Hana interferes, Ageha and Ichijiku are on the verge of breaking up before they discover that Hana is just up to her old tricks.  And because Ichijiku is such a babe magnet, Ageha has to deal with other girls trying to horn in on her boyfriend.

If you haven’t already read Peach Girl, odds are you will find Papillon an entertaining read.  If you have already read Miwa Ueda’s other series, you will find many, many similarities between the works.  I find that Papillon is a worthwhile read, but it feels a little stale compared to Peach Girl.

Grade: B-