(Note: Kairi is called “Kiley” in Peach Girl, not “Kylie” like the footnote in NEXT says. I’m glad Kodansha Comics went with the standardized “Kairi”, but no doubt it will look awkward after keeping TOKYOPOP’s translation for their digital release of Peach Girl.)
If you were part of the Sailor Moon generation in America, there’s a good chance you came across Peach Girl, a 18-volume series starring Momo, her frenemy Sae, Momo’s crush Toji, and school flirt Kairi.
Well, author Ueda has decided to dive back into the world of Peach Girl with Peach Girl NEXT. This is not the first time she has done so; Sae starred in the three-volume sequel/spin-off Peach Girl: Sae’s Story. Now, however, the attention is back on Momo.
One of my biggest concerns with Peach Girl NEXT was that it would reopen doors that should have remained shut. After all, both Toji and Kairi are with Momo on the cover, and the last thing I wanted to see was her waffling after all these years. Plus, when the first chapter opens with Kairi ogling a girl and Momo longing to be married after 10 years of dating…I thought one of my childhood manga could be ruined.
Well, fortunately, it looks like Momo and Kairi’s relationship is going to be fine. The bad news is that whatever growth Sae showed toward the end of Peach Girl and Sae’s Story is out the window. I always thought that Sae would follow Momo to Antarctica if need be to mess with her, but dang, she’s going beyond setting off sprinkler systems and keying cars. (And yes, new fans, that’s considered good behavior for Sae.) Let’s recap her behavior in this volume:
- Builds an identical house
- Gets Toji to be her roommate
- Constantly spies on her neighbors
- Encourages Kairi’s coworker to pursue him and spike his drink
- Impersonates a nurse
I don’t mind her meddling in Momo’s life, as there’s no way this could be Peach Girl without her antics. But considering she was instrumental to the ending of Peach Girl, she seems downright angry here, especially when you take Sae’s Story into consideration. Since Kodansha Comics didn’t rescue it, is Ueda retconning it? Not that I really liked how that series explained away Sae’s behavior, but whatever happened to Kanji? And how long has it been since the couple has seen Sae anyway? The manga leaves a lot of questions with answers that don’t seem consistent with its predecessors.
Even though Kairi and Momo both recognize these situations have Sae’s fingerprints all them, it’s still hard for them to avoid every trap. Fortunately, Toji is there to provide some assistance. If you didn’t sympathize with Toji in Peach Girl, you will now as we learn why he agreed to become Sae’s roommate. Considering Momo and Kairi’s relationship would be relatively stable and healthy without Sae, who is reverting to her old ways, it’s really Toji’s story I’m interested in. One of the reasons I love Peach Girl is that I would have been satisfied no matter which guy Momo chose in the end, but I still wanted the other to find their own happiness. I would like to see Momo and Kairi start a family and even see the lessons Sae learned actually stick, but I’m hoping Peach Girl NEXT will finally give Toji fans a reason to smile after all these years.
Speaking of time, it’s been well over a decade since readers have seen these characters, but man, if you didn’t know, it looks like Ueda just finished Peach Girl yesterday. The art is a big nostalgia trip, and even the cover shows off the same sense of fashion Momo had in splash pages and other artwork. The only disappointing thing is that Paper Sae has yet to make her return, although the manga keeps the other humor like Momo’s wall-breaking strength and Kairi’s perverted face.
For fans of Peach Girl who thrived on hating Sae, this first volume of Peach Girl NEXT is a return to form. But Ueda had better give a good explanation for the return of Sae’s antics, and this time around, fans are not going to buy an excuse like childhood illness.