Yankee-kun to Megane-chan

I can sympathize with author Miki Yoshikawa's dilemma. She was a lowly 23 year-old assistant on "Fairy Tail" when she got a chance to write a one-shot in 2005. Yoshikawa knocked it out of the park, coming up with a creative, funny scenario involving two oddball, likable characters in Shinigawa, the "Yankee-kun" of the title, and Adachi, the "Megane-chan". The bespectacled heroine tries to convince the school delinquent, camping out in the bathroom, to go on a class field trip. After this initial success, Yoshikawa was offered her own series based on the one-shot in a popular magazine at only 24.And what do you know; the duo went on more funny adventures, and new, amusing characters were introduced to the cast. The manga was well-received and its sales were excellent. Eventually, however, she had run out of ideas for humorous adventures. And yet, every week, there was that brutal deadline for 20 fresh new pages. What to do? Canceling a popular series, especially the first hit for a young writer, was unthinkable. So she soldiered on. Storylines were repeated. New scenarios were nonsensical pap that led nowhere. In an effort to break up the monotony, many new characters, including underclassmen, were introduced as the main cast aged. They all invariably sucked, with each being an increasingly paler imitation of the main five introduced early in the series. But they weren't the only lousy ones. Instead of developing more personality and complexity, the central characters all became increasingly trite and one-note. For instance, Izumi by volume 14 was a bland, irrelevant character despite having been an amusing, colorful scene stealer when first introduced. I noticed this very clearly. A manga that I would look forward to and laugh at gradually became dull when its plot holes and non-existent motivations weren't making it annoying. And as it continued to degrade further, it became outright torture to complete a chapter. While many readers noticed this huge drop in quality beginning with volume 8 or so, many others continued to enjoy it. However, it all come to a head with the manga's conclusion, one so dire, lazy, and insultingly stupid that even the most ardent defenders of the series cried foul. Personally, I could almost feel the author's hatred of the characters and desire to be rid of them. Having them all die in a tragic mercury poisoning accident after eating at the same sushi restaurant would have been more merciful than their actual fates. If nothing else, the last 16 volumes of this manga indicate the flip side of any series attaining success. Namely, the unrelenting pressure to keep going. Yoshikawa should have never let it get to that point, but as a first-time writer, one can empathize with her plight. My advice? Read the first 7 volumes, enjoy them, and pretend that's where the series ended.

If you humor some aspects and forgo some minor inconsistencies, you'll most likely enjoy this manga. The art is top notch. Great when serious, adorable and funny when not. The idea is interesting, way more than the title suggests. This mangaka is more than competent when throwing twists or developing characters. However, they've invested so much of the story into developing interest in the female protagonist. A lovable character, with a seemingly dark background. The writer had laid out several hooks and cliff hangers early on in the story and even more intense ones near the end. Not one was used. So what potentially could've been thebiggest arc in the manga, was strangely abandoned in the last few chapters. As if nothing ever happened. This manga is a real page turner. It's been entertaining from beginning to... well, near the end. The ending was so unsatisfying, that I had to reconsider this manga as a whole. The mystery was not only left unsolved, it was ignored. I would give this manga an 8/10 all the way to the ~200th chapter. I'd give the last ~10 chapters a 3/10. And that's being generous. Definitely avoid it if you're in it for the ending.

This is my first review for anything. I'll make it short. Basically, if you want a good, satisfying ending, this isn't for you. Granted, it isn't that bad either. I got into this series without knowing anything about it, author and plot, and overall it was a very enjoyable read with a very slow paced romance(if any). There were many loose ends that were completely ignored but it wasn't a big deal until that ending. If you are going to read this manga, please note, you are going to read a series that throws away the suspension it built for 200 chapter on the lastfew chapters with a very 'makes no sense' ending.