My Oh My, Atami-kun! Volume 2 Review
Atami-kun, in his first year at high school, often spends time with the family of his senpai Adachi-san. The welcoming, laidback atmosphere in the household makes up for the absence of his father who’s often away from home for work. So when they let off summer fireworks, he’s invited too. But an encounter in the bookstore with the outward-going, over-friendly Kusumoto (from the class next door) leads to yet more encounters which Atami-kun finds exhausting. Why is Kusumoto so pushy? But then a chance meeting on the train shows Atami a different side to Kusumoto’s personality as he sees him being attentive and helpful to the elderly citizens they come across. Only then does Atami learn that Kusumoto is recovering from a broken shoulder and is on his way to the clinic for a check. Kusumoto’s relentless optimism might be too much for Atami to deal with but after they part ways, he reflects, He was kinda…incredible…
The school festival is coming up and Atami’s class have voted to make short videos. The class rep, Sunama-san, is in charge of organizing the project but when she asks Atami-kun to act in one of the videos, he turns her down. This results in disappointment from many of the others in class who were hoping to act alongside him and swiftly lose their enthusiasm for the project. However, he volunteers to help with painting the backdrops and Adachi’s family encourage him. And he gets to know Sunama-san a little better when they end up at the vending machine together and start chatting. “When it comes t’things ya can only enjoy at a certain age,” she reflects, “I figure it’s better t’go ahead an’ get the most out of ‘em.” But then she looks directly at him and says, “But I was so focused on that… I didn’t give any thought to respectin’ ya wishes.” This clears the air between them as he relaxes, realizing that she understands his reluctance to take a central role in the videos. Another conversation with third-year Urabe helps him to crystallize his feelings about the project so he’s able to go back to Sunama-san and offer his help (but still not on the acting side) which she gratefully accepts. And then it’s all systems go for the festival!
The pitch for Volume 1 of My Oh My, Atami-kun! was based on the idea that ‘Atami is so good-looking that all the girls want to date him’ but he’s not interested as he’s into guys. In this second volume, the problem crystallizes around the class festival project; it’s never overtly stated but shown from Atami’s classmates’ comments that they want to act alongside him in the videos. But Atami is still intensely wary of any kind of commitment to anything. So, more of the same…
The series won newcomer mangaka Asa Tanumi the 2023 Yofukashi Manga Award from Bungeishunjuu’s CREA magazine so, beneath its deceptively ordinary veneer, what’s going on? Everyone speaks in the Kansai dialect (effectively rendered into the US equivalent for us by translator Amanda Haley). But the mood is often so laid-back that those craving action will find themselves fruitlessly turning the pages, looking for something to happen. I liked the first volume a great deal but can’t help feeling that this second volume is not as successful as the first.
First of all, given the way the mangaka draws the characters, it still really isn’t that obvious to me that Atami is any different in looks to his fellow high schoolers. And this is also difficult, sometimes, in working out which boy is which (Tsuji and Adachi look quite similar). Underlying these snapshots of everyday life is the fact that Atami is gradually learning about himself from his encounters at school and outside of school. He’s now almost a part of Adachi-san’s lively family who’ve welcomed him unreservedly into their lives and that’s good as otherwise he’d be on his own for a lot of the time. Adachi’s mother is good at making him feel at home and when his father – tired out by work – does come home for a brief holiday at the New Year, they don’t communicate very much, talking about practical things like which work suit to get cleaned and buying garbage bags.
As school life goes on, Atami – and his male school friends – start wondering what it really means to be in love. This becomes the main focus in Chapter 14 where Kunijima-san (the second year student with the wild hair and glasses) shares some profound observations about love and he, Atami and Adachi carry on their discussion over fries and shakes at the local restaurant. Although at one stage, when Atami asks him directly, “Are you speaking from experience?” he lapses into silence, leaving the others to draw their own conclusions.
Amanda Haley’s translation works really well, especially given that the Kansai accents could prove a distraction but never dominate the dialogue. The two pages of translation notes are interesting and helpful. And the lettering by Elena Pizarro helps to convey the all-important conversations (which lie at the heart of this series). There’s a brief bonus story about Tsuji-kun and an illustrated afterword by the mangaka, reminding us to read Volume 3 (which will be out from Yen Press in September).
The second volume of My Oh My, Atami-kun! will not appeal to all readers but, taken in small doses, maybe a chapter at a time, it has some wise observations to make about life, growing up and finding out what makes other people tick.
Our review copy was provided by Yen Press.
