I started reading Bikke’s Ame Nochi Hare. I just set myself up for frustration. It’s ongoing at 7 volumes with only 3 complete volumes available. Of course it had to be good and kept my attention, so that I finished volumes 1-3 with in 2 days. Of course.
I can count on one hand the number of “gender bender” manga or anime I’ve enjoyed. I generally avoid them. It’s always been really difficult for me to buy into the circumstances the boy or girl has found themselves caught up in. It was only because it was Bikke’s work that I decided to give it a go. I like the way she handles suspense and she has such a way with the supernatural; easily slipping it into the everyday lives of normal people and not letting the awe of such elements over take the plot or character development. Just as if after a disaster, her characters take stock, adapt, and live on. And for the stories in which the supernatural element is already a naturally occurring phenomenon, the characters carry on with their lives, occasionally inconvenienced, but in no way disadvantaged. She also manages not to downplay it to the point that it becomes an afterthought, balancing it out so that the reader can easily accept it, but continues to recognize that it is something to always be considered.
Shinkuu Yuusetsu was the first title I read by Bikke and I enjoyed it a great deal, forgot about it, remembered it, search frantically for it, found it and enjoyed it just as much again. Senpai was good as well.
Having reached the third volume of Ame and appreciating Bikke’s handling of the gender bender sub-genre, I’m now interested in what she’s doing with Oukoku no Ko, but I’ll have to hold off on wishing for anything regarding that one because it’s ongoing as well. And although I’m not a fan of robot love (a few exceptions exist), I still want to see what she has to say in Jade; I’ll probably check that out soon.
Ame Nochi Hare is currently licensed by French publisher, Taifu Comics. Their selection makes me wish I’d taken French in high school along with my BFF instead of Spanish. At least then I’d have had a better chance of still comprehending it. Anyway, it’s an Enterbrain title, so there’s a chance that Yen Press might consider it since they’ve made nice with them in the past. I think I’ll recommend it to them.