To start with, I'm a fan of Natsumizu Ritsu's works. Among my favorites are
Love Romance Sweet Kiss and for BL manga fans, I'm sure you're all familiar with her
K-Sensei series.
Good Morning by Natsumizu Ritsu
Release Date: Apr 25, 2012
Good Morning is the first of her English translated manga of which I own, and I like how it's got both the familiar elements in her other works and still have something new to offer, as reflected in two contrasting stories in this book.
The story:
Good Morning: Hayashi, having drank the previous night, woke up naked next to Shinohara the next day. Shinohara is a worker from a company he's collaborating with, who told Hayashi that he was really surprised with what happened the night before as Hayashi was amazingly drunk. Problem is, Hayashi couldn't remember a thing!
The Melon Bread War: Fujino, an ordinary office worker who is easily bullied by his manager to do more work because he couldn't say no, loves eating melon bread. Enter the popular Kuraki, who started the same time as Fujino but in a different department and excels in everything, even in looks, noticed that Fujino likes melon bread so much that he issued a challenge: if Fujino admits he likes the melon bread Kuraki brings to him, he wins. And so their love story started.
What I liked:
Hayashi, who is straight, struggled quite a lot, and seeing his internal struggle, confusion and conflicted mind reflected in the pages as he slowly notices every little cute thing about Shinohara is one of the sweetest parts of the story. He went to such great lengths such as telling a fellow worker to flash his chest to see if he'll feel anything! Shinohara surprised me a little, as he appeared to me as a cool, confident guy with an unfazed attitude in the onset of the story but he turns out to be this shy reserved person at times, who is more innocent than the rumors about him make him to be. Sensitive Shinohara, who was blushing so much when he confessed to Hayashi.
The characters really aren't what they seem at the start, and my views of both Hayashi (who was really uncool, jealous and possessive) and Shinohara (who's very kind and understanding) were completely different after I've finished reading their story.
I really liked The Melon Bread War compared to the first story. It's such a simple but sweet comical story about two people who were at the polar ends of the popularity spectrum, brought together because of something unexpected:
the quest to find the perfect kind of melon bread.
Finding out Kuraki's main motivation for the melon bread challenge gave me such a warm feeling and Fujino's obsession (which really doesn't have a special reason) with the bread is just so endearing. Their interaction (outside of the melon bread challenge) is also worth the read, as it shows how Kuraki's feelings isn't shallow or spontaneous, but that he's properly looking at Fujino, knowing what he's like, what he's capable of and recognizing his skills. Fujino is a bit slow on the uptake but he more than made up for it when he finally realized why there was even a melon bread challenge in the first place. His gradual transformation from a doormat to someone assertive is what made me like him more, showing other sides to his personality as the story progresses. Fujino's insecurities about his relationship with Kuraki, creating a misunderstanding between them, and finally having the courage to show their true feelings to each other wrapped the story up nicely. The Melon Bread War is definitely more than just about melon breads!
What I didn't like:
It must be because Hayashi was straight, but the way he keeps on insisting that Shinohara is gay and blaming every weird thing he was thinking of because of that got on my nerves a lot. I know he's struggling with his feelings but the fact that Shinohara IS gay is pretty known from the start, and it was well established that he has feelings for Hayashi even though Hayashi is straight.
(I obviously have no complaints about The Melon Bread War because Natsumizu Ritsu created such a good contrast and gave balance to both Kuraki and Fujino's characters.)
Overall:
Good Morning is a story filled with fluff and injected with a good amount of fun in the right moments. It's a pretty standard story, and you know that when Hayashi comes to terms with his feelings that the conflict will eventually be sorted out but I couldn't help but anticipate how it will still play out in the end. Natsumizu Ritsu has a knack from creating adorable characters which was really evident in the second story, The Melon Bread War and I just found myself enjoying while reading!
