Of Swords and Parasols

Haruna thinks that high school life is like a monkey mountain. The kids form groups, stay together, get into fights and break up, and then get back together. When her politician father gets sent to jail, Haruna transfers to a new school after having her classmates turn on her. At her new school, she decides she was right when Atsu, the class favorite, immediately hits on her, the girls turn on her, and Macharu, the class clown who everyone refers to as being like a baby monkey, instantly sets out to be her friend. Naturally, Haruna and Macharu are dating by the end of the first volume, and their relationship is the class’s favorite topic of conversation.

I was interested in this because I liked the idea of a jaded and cynical girl paired with a bouncy and cheerful guy determined to bring her out of her shell. Unfortunately, the end result is it largely comes across as Macharu being Haruna’s little brother. It doesn’t help that people mistake him as such, or that they regularly get referred to as master and pet by their friends. And, while not boring, the only thing to really make it stand out is Haruna’s looking at the world in terms of monkeys, which not a lot is done with. The characters are likable, the art is nice and the writing is just fine, there just isn’t much to grab me.