Super Morning Star Volume 4 Review
In Volume 3, the turbulent relationship between recent graduate Kyosuke Honda and Ryo Kaido, sentai star actor, which began in high school, seemed to have foundered when Honda walked out. After some very painful and frank exchanges, both young men realized that neither of them wanted to break up – it was just that they were both under a great deal of stress. Honda, who was especially conflicted, seems to have matured and mellowed, thanks to Kaido’s influence. However, Volume 4 opens with them in different countries and chatting via Zoom: Honda still in Japan and Kaido in Los Angeles where he’s auditioning for a big role in an upcoming movie. Having landed the part, Kaido arrives at the airport, ready to fly home – when who should appear but Honda?! Honda whisks him away on a whirlwind trip to a secluded romantic location where they propose to each other and hold their own impromptu wedding ceremony. They’ve both bought rings!
Once back home, they go on a trip to a hot springs resort with their old schoolfriends Fujita and Kawasaki (the main characters in the mangaka’s spin-off Okosama Box, not currently available in English). And then, it’s time to meet the parents. All the usual anxieties arise: will they meet with approval or will their respective families disapprove of their relationship?
To be honest, Super Morning Star really didn’t need another volume from a plot point of view. Volume 4 is very sweet – and sexy – but it’s very much the cherry on the cake because all the angst, the drama and character development took place in the first three volumes, culminating in the realistic (and emotionally bruising) depiction of the break-up and the homophobic bullying Kaido was enduring at the studio from some of the other performers. If you have come to know and like these characters, then you’ll be more than content to follow them pursuing their ‘happy ever after’ – but if you were expecting to see more actual plot development, then you’ll be disappointed. However, because Kara Aomiya’s drawing style is very ‘unique’, Volume 4 brings something a little different to Kodansha’s Boys’ Love collection. Her art is still sometimes a little rough and ready but always very expressive, especially when it comes to reaction faces: Kaido is, as in earlier volumes, strikingly cute when blushing in spite of his tough guy exterior. This volume comes shrink-wrapped and is rated Mature 18+ and with reason; the sex scenes are explicit but consensual and feel honest and earned, especially after all the heartache in the earlier volumes.
The chapter in which Honda and Kaido meet the families is well done, too, with Honda’s parents being surprisingly frank and accepting – it’s only Kaido’s feisty grandpa who insists on having a judo showdown with poor Honda at the family dojo. Is Honda ready to take on the energetic old man?
The translation is again by Andria McKnight and works well, combined with EK Weaver’s lettering, to convey all the feels – some of them unexpectedly loud and confrontational, as in the case of Kaido’s grandpa! The Kodansha trade paperback edition is again a good showcase for the art and benefits from a colour illustration at the start. There’s also a two-page illustrated afterword by the mangaka, outlining the history of the manga. This is the final volume in the series – but perhaps (as I wondered in the review for Volume 3) Kodansha will now bring us the side story, Okosama Box, having introduced the two main characters in this series.
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
