Tomo-chan is a Girl Volume 2 (Manga Review)

I totally crapped out on the headline for this! I couldn't even come up with something witty and that's because Tomo-chan is a Girl volume 2 (Seven Seas) is so exactly what you would expect after reading volume 1, that it almost seems silly to review it at all. That's not a criticism. It's a 4-koma comedy shoujo that has the same cute, light, tone as volume 1. If you liked volume 1, then just go ahead and buy volume 2.

The story centers on Tomo, a rough and tumble martial-arts ass-kicking high-school girl who is in love with her childhood friend Jun. Jun is also, maybe, but might not realize it exactly, in love with Tomo too. But they are both so dense as to have no idea how to tell the other nor show it in traditional ways. Tomo in particular struggles with presenting as typically feminine (of course, why should she bother to be something she isn't? Exploring that would have been a real boundary pusher, but more than we could probably expect from a simple 4-koma).

Volume 2 has Tomo and Jun go on a date where they just end up doing the things they both enjoy doing, such as the batting cages, even if it isn't very romantic. We also get to spend a lot of time with Carol and Misuzu. Both are wonderful comic foils, Misuzu as the straight one, and Carol as the pawn. Carol just makes me laugh as the stereotypically blond-haired, blue-eyed simpleton. She reminds me a bit of Olivia from Asobi Asobase but even more of a complete moron. I love how Carol and Misuzu interact. There is also a great scene where Carol gives Tomo her headband and how uncomfortable it makes both of them.

We also spend some time meeting Tomo's mother and father, a funny duo themselves and see Tomo destroy a gang leader only to cause Jun to have to take out the entire gang single-handedly so Tomo won't be bothered (even though she could certainly have handled it herself).

There's not much else to say really. The art is nothing special, the cover in particular is really really minimal (as you can see above with the thick - almost blown up - lines), but it's serviceable. If you like 4-koma and you like a silly tom-boy romance with funny side characters, then Tomo-chan is a Girl volume 2 will be for you. Given the consistency of the first two volumes, I won't be reviewing future volumes because there isn't much to write about. That's not a bad thing at all, it just isn't very deep so it doesn't lend itself to much discussion. This volume is a solid 7/10 for what it is, it's cute and funny, but nothing new or revelatory, just a light quick read.

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