갑자기 날아든 의뢰는 아이돌 그룹 응원 부채 만들기!! 공을 들이면 들일수록 퇴짜를 먹는 란마루&고다는 악전고투?! 상점가 핼러윈 퍼레이드를 돕느라 고다와 루카 사이에 균열이?! 그리고 그것을 지켜보는 란마루의 심정은…?! 이벤트가 가득&인간관계도 더욱 두근두근거리는 제⑤권☆
Bisco Hatori is a Japanese manga artist. Bisco Hatori is a pseudonym; she states that the name has special meaning to her. She has worked for such magazines as LaLa. Her manga debut was A Moment of Romance in LaLa DX. Her first series was Millennium Snow. However, the comedy Ouran High School Host Club is her breakout hit.
Bisco Hatori of Ouran High School Host Club fame has a new series! Ranmaru is a super-pessimist who ruins everything, but hopes to change that in college. When he runs afoul of one of the many movie clubs while filming on campus, he encounters a mysterious drama group, the Art Squad! Forced out of his comfort zone in the most dramatic way possible, Ranmaru is finally able to use those artistic skills that make him feel so inferior back home. Along the way he comes to admire each member of his new family?!
Behind the Scenes!! vol 5 really stayed true to the higher standard established in vol 4! I was delighted with this turn of events... We see the crushes come out in force and we see Ranmaru finally step up as the protagonist. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Goda, but he's not the central character and that's a good thing. Ranmaru has a lot to deal with as he realizes what he wants to be doing with his life... all through Goda's example. I do think its cute that a girl made him come to these conclusions.
The plot is super fun as we focus on others in the Art Squad... Ruka gets her turn in the spotlight as a comment by Goda kills her heart's greatest wish... and she goes into over drive. We see these kinds of relationship moment in real life all the time and it seriously stirs out emotions even when we are a bystander like Ranmaru. I also ADORED the chapter with Maasa and how her inner fangirl came out for a friend... then Tomu stumbles up and adds his two cents, super cute!! Soh plays a big role in Behind the Scenes!! vol 5 when she supplies the art squad with a new job and Goda decides to team the group a lesson. I really loved how Ranmaru was effected by this story arc... he needs to become a star in his own life!!
The tension really started to work in Behind the Scenes!! vol 5 because Ranmaru was more worked up. He wasn't standing on the sidelines. He wanted something and it was powerful enough to stir him to want to succeed. Yes, its a girl but I think its also making him realize for himself that he wants to be more. Sometimes its the people in our life that helps us come to this conclusion...
My favorite art in Behind the Scenes!! vol 5 was certainly Maasa and Goda's rooms... and Ranmaru dressed as a knight. Ruka sure knows what she's doing when it comes to costumes... and Bisco Hatori shows us a side of Ranmaru that we didn't expect up to this point... but I want him to start owning who he is and become the person in that knight costume!!
Behind the Scenes!! vol 5 totally ups the ante for this series... Bisco Hatori captured me due to her characters in the art squad... I love their quirky personalities and quirks, but its Ranmaru and the growth he's going through here in college that is capturing my heart!!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tension ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art
This is a multi-volume series and there may be references to the plot of those volumes... SO READ WITH CARE! Here is my review of 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
______________________ You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my manga and graphic novel reviews in a special feature called Saturday Morning Cartoons...
Please like this review if you enjoyed it! *bow* *bow* It helps me out a ton!!
This volume was so good!!! I love seeing how Ranmaru tries to overcome his anxiety and insecurities. The characters’ development it’s really interesting too, can’t wait to see how thing go from here on!
Last book available in English, I do want to know about that Christmas mentioned at the end but I probably won’t remember to check back to see if the library ever gets more of he series. There was some good drama here as Ranmaru deals with his jealousy and recognizes he can do something about his feelings of inadequacy, Ruka crushed on Goda, Soh continued to reach out to Izumi, and Maasa (the extra) got a little time in the spot light. I really enjoy all the characters and want to see where their stories go, but I also feel like the books are a little too directionless and random, like they lack a cohesive plot that moves things forward. They can be enjoyed one scene at a time but they don’t give the reader a lot to anticipate or predict. Maybe I just don’t like how shoehorned in the steampunk stuff is, it’s particularly random and unnecessary in this volume, but I guess that gives the series some unique style.
This is the Halloween volume! So you can bet there’s a lot of simple Halloween costume ideas that I really, really wanna try.
And the romance continues to develop as we bring in angst and jealousy. But there’s some important lessons in it as well.
1. It’s better to teach someone to do it on their own instead of doing everything for them. 2. It’s better to be yourself and be happy than to be a miserable fake. 3. Skill isn’t something you’re born with. You earn it through practice, trial and error. (So stop complaining that you’re not good at drawing! Put in the time and effort and you’ll get better!)
Although I am still enjoying the series, there was something missing from this volume for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why it wasn’t as good.
Maybe I’m just getting tired of the gloomy “woe me” of the main character. The ending, however, gave me hope that there will be continued character development and growth for him.
Chapters 22 - 27: This volume was another great addition to the series. This volume involves the Art Squad helping someone make stuff to go to an idol event, prepare for a Halloween Event, & helping Soh's schools drama club make props for their final play. This volume also develops the characters and gives us more background information on some of them.
An improvement over the previous volume because characters are actually expressing more than one trait and those traits move the plot forward behind silly crafts (thought those are still happening), but it may be too little too late to salvage.
Ruka has a crush on Goda but he's too oblivious to notice. Maasa and Mineri bond over boys and Maasa does Mineri's nails. Maasa wishes for a boy that likes her but she already has one in Tomu.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.