Last Target
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Judul: Last Target Available scanlations: |
Yeah, by now I guess you all might have known me as an adorer-cum-collector of Mamahara Ellie's work. Previously, I made 'Last Target' as an example of Ellie's over-romanticized work. Well, the exact problem is perhaps the 'oversweetness' of the story. It's following the common pattern of girls' romantic short stories, even down to the characters and their relationship and how it develops. As for artwork, Ellie managed to maintain her charm, but even it could not help concealing the cliche-ness of the story much. I'm not familiar with Ikedo Yuko, but it feels like she's a new writer. She's lucky to have Ellie responsible for the artwork.
OK,
the story's like this: Two bodyguards from the Japan branch
of Royal Security Service are hired to protect Niresaki Wataru,
a young violinist who's been receiving threatening letters.
Wataru is a sweet, beautiful, innocent high school boy--you
can as well replace him with someone of the opposite sex and
the story will not alter much. The two bodyguards are:
1. Matsubara Hidemi, an elegant, attractive young man with
a charming smile. He always treats Wataru nicely and tenderly,
not unlike a big brother.
2. Kizu Shinji, a mysterious, cool if not cold man, who acts
rather harshly to Wataru. It makes Wataru think that Kizu
hates him, but time and again Kizu is very attentive and caring
to him, despite maintaining his cold overall appearance.
Get where it's going? Wataru becomes really close with Matsubara, who later confesses that he likes Wataru. Kizu is then accused of ill-intention towards Wataru and is taken away. And when the truth is (eventually) revealed, of course Wataru now knows whom he really loved....
No, it's not bad. It's just too simple. Far too simple. No surprises. You can guess where the story is heading from the beginning. But then the flow of the story is smooth. Ellie made the growth of love between Wataru and erm, the man he loved and vice versa, feel natural. The pace is well controlled although some might find it too slow. Last Target is worth reading for you who wants to read sweet, romantic story that can make you blush and imagine yourself in the same position as the main character... and not wanting your eyebrows knitting into one while reading the manga.
Reviewed by Tyas
