Now that she’s in high school, Mugi is waiting for her prince to come. When she meets the aloof and blunt Kei, he couldn’t be farther from that ideal. Except he turns out to be a part-time knight, of sorts, and that secret is going to cause both of them trouble.
Sometimes basic, basic shojo can feel very boring; it takes a lot to do the greatest hits right and not have that lingering familiarity hover over it like the ghost of ‘this school doesn’t allow part-time jobs’ past.
While there is lots of same old same in this one, the little nuggets that shine through are, admittedly, pretty bright. Which makes it not a wholehearted recommend, but there’s definitely enough here for a good time.
You wouldn’t know that at the start, however. I do not mind romance manga that devolves into wild mugging, that’s part of the charm, but it has to look good. Mugi’s faces are some of the worst I’ve seen since My Love Mix-Up and add little to the events. Sakura’s Dedication this is not.
Practically everything good in this story comes when it ditches its attempts at comedy and goes right for the usual swoonery instead. The instant where Mugi bumps into Kei at his part-time job at a ‘knight cafe’ and they recognize one another is a real moment (not quite a capital M, but close).
Weirdly, the narrative alternates between being super fun and woefully derivative. The part-time job thing pays off, then Kei begins glaring at Mugi so she keeps his secret, then a classmate asks Mugi to meet him after class and the countdown is on before he reveals what he’s actually after. That part is especially boring because it’s dead obvious what’s about to happen.
Although Mugi’s friends are a bit whatever, I have to add here that Kei’s bros are a great laugh and they have the personality of the kind of clowns you expect teenage boys to be around one another. I loved their role in the story.
Then the pendulum swings back and Mugi tries to go to a mixer to find a guy. Of course, it is a tenet of the Shojo Manga Drinking Game (tm) that you can drink the second the mixer goes wrong. Which it will. As sure as the sun rises. And does so here.
This leads to precocious younger sister of the male lead, who’s actually kind of a hoot. Young kids in manga tend to be pretty funny and the result of her attempts to get Mugi’s Line ID are great.
And then, it’s back to the ‘oh, but he has a girlfriend, and definitely it’s not me misunderstanding everything, except it is’. Like I said, this oscillates so much it could pass for a desk fan.
We end with a really fun blackmail arc that looks to conclude next time, but lets Mugi actually stand up for herself and take charge of things rather than just wobbling all over the place.
Kei can be cold, but as far as prettyboys in shojo go, he’s definitely pulling off the look and it was fun to see the guy being the one with the glasses for a change. I feel we don’t get that as often.
And when he and Mugi are both in the zone, he’s downright charming and she’s… Mugi… but, I don’t dislike her when she isn’t mugging. She could just stand to have more of a personality. I mean, at least she isn’t passive, but I don’t think I could tell you a thing about her after this volume.
You could do worse and I would stick this into the same category as something like Last Game. It’s not here to be the wild upending of the genre, but it’s doing a pretty good job where it counts. It’s just a little too rote at times.
3 stars - I could see this going higher if it either shores up its comedy, focuses more on the romance aspects, or veers off from slavishly following some of the more tedious tropes. But for now, an acceptable start, just not an outstanding one.