The weeks and months trickle by, but romance is none the easier to navigate. Spring has arrived. The school year is almost up. And it's time for Mitsumi and her friends to prick and pry their way through Valentine's Day, mindful of a few errant contemplations on relational compatibility. SKIP AND LOAFER v6 is a low-key volume with a handful of deliciously meaningful chapters.
The book's biggest emotional lift comes early, with two episodes dedicated to viewing the eponymous February pseudo-holiday through the eyes of one Mika Egashira, the try-hard stylish girl. Mika's increasing emotional vulnerability is the manga's most visible character arc thus far. Valentine's Day, unsurprisingly, pushes the girl to the brink, due in no small part to a few snide comments from Tsukasa Mukai, Sousuke's childhood buddy. Tsukasa is trying to play both sides of the conversation (e.g., girls are catty and relationship-obsessed; girls should only pursue relationships that are mutually appealing), which leads two a few blow-up scenes in which Mika flashes her true colors: embarrassed teen, fierce socialite, ambitious young woman, resilient best friend.
SKIP AND LOAFER v6 tiptoes around the possibility of Mitsumi and Sousuke chatting awkwardly about sharing chocolates and whatnot, and that's probably for the best. Too many comedy-romance manga have done this before. And to the reader's benefit, several pages are offered to a secondary character: Kento Yamada, the excitable classmate who pines for a relationship just to have one.
Kento admits he doesn't "get" girls, and longs more for friendship than a relationship, per se. But his interaction with Mitsumi, who promptly puts the young man in his place, is a solid example of how this comic book invests its creative energy into observing how characters' growth ably feed off one another. Funnily enough, Kenta may be an idiot, but he's also sincere. He doesn't mind being "the loveable rascal," but has some trouble adapting to women who consistently endeavor to hold their own. It's an interesting, realistic dynamic. The boys in this comic book mumble and stutter and lose their train of thought; their confidence wavers on the wind, impulsive enough to be genuine, but lacking the ambition one might credit as purely pretentious.
Another lovely volume of another lovely manga. Honestly, if this volume only included the first two chapters, focusing on Mika's emotional hardiness, SKIP AND LOAFER v6 would have been worth the purchase. And yet, the manga's swiveling view of growing up and falling in love, and preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, from multiple characters at multiple life stages, is as rewarding as ever.