Note: This review is full of spoilers. Will note where they start and end.
There might not be a manga out there where my emotions made a complete 180 like Shojo FIGHT! made me do. From the art to its cast of characters to it being about volleyball, it had some intrigue, but it felt like none of it really stuck. However, once it delved deeper into its main leads, this manga got so good it made the rest of its flaws unfortunate. Despite said flaws though, this is a gut-wrenching read that you can’t help but find out what’s next.
Neri Oishi languishes on the bench at Hakuunzan Private Academy Middle School for her volleyball team. She’s the one putting the balls away and cleaning the clothes, and it doesn’t look like she’ll get out of it. However, an incident involving one of her teammates forces Neri into the starting lineup for a practice game. Instead of showing any sort of nervousness of being in a real game, she competes well enough that even her team’s impressed…except she realizes she wanted to be on the bench for a reason. And after she accidentally manages to injure the star player, her future at Hakuunzan, or even playing volleyball, slowly becomes in doubt.
Shojo FIGHT!, which started serialization in 2005, definitely looks in some areas it’s from that time. The art itself is gonna take getting used to as well. It reminds me of an OEL, from its character designs to the backgrounds. Once you do get used to it, you then realize it’s pretty average in most areas. From one scene where Neri’s running away to maybe half of its dramatic moments, the art isn’t all too appealing.
There is a large cast of characters in this manga, and they all have something to do with volleyball. From Hakuunzan to Asahidani Middle School to a girl who’s drawing a comic about volleyball (though really, it’s all about Neri), they’re important to know. The problem is I just can’t find myself caring about what’s going on with the Asahidani boys volleyball team. It’s simply a case where the better story (or drama) involves the girls team. Maybe it could have done something like Dear Boys, where they at least are in the same school so the connection is closer, rather than having one or two friends that know Neri. Instead, it takes some convenient circumstances for the cast to meet.
All in all, the other thing that hurts Shojo FIGHT! is its major plot point picks up really after the practice match. It starts a bit slowly, attempting to show characters in different frames of mind, but this back and forth with characters, from family to teammates on the boys and girls side, sometimes isn’t that good. I get it, this person isn’t actually that talented at volleyball, gotcha. How much does this need to be said rather than shown before we get to the match is questionable.
But despite some of these issues, Shojo FIGHT! is a strong read. From the volleyball matches, which are drawn really well, to showcasing how the main cast of characters evolve, it’s really wonderful. In touching upon depression and the reality of losing someone you love and how that can affect you, Yoko Nihonbashi does little things that makes the hardships the characters go through all the more sad. I personally think the series handles this well. After all, it wants to be more than just showcasing how skilled Neri is and show her overcoming losing someone important to her.
*The spoilers start now*
At the start of Shojo FIGHT!, while Neri is shown to be kinda cheerful, she explains she doesn’t mind being on the bench. However, she did play volleyball, and she was apparently a monster. Chiyo, who happened to witness Neri’s skill personally, can’t understand what’s going through Neri’s mind. However, she does poke fun at her when she can, which ends after she tries to take Neri’s necklace away. Neri was not having it, and it was to the point where she fractured Chiyo’s hand. What kind of necklace is it? Well, it’s her dead sister’s.
And there’s the rub that doesn’t just drive Neri to be a benchwarmer — she doesn’t even want to make friends. It’s also not just losing her sister, Mari, in a car accident but losing her thanks to volleyball. And unfortunately for Neri, in using volleyball as an escape, her way of playing ultimately drove her teammates in elementary school mad. Mad enough to make Neri the only one to show up for a school meeting to join Hakuunzan? You bet. You take those moments, and you slowly understand why she chose to not make friends anymore.
Thing is, there are people that do want to be friends with her. Koyuki Kyogoku, for example, wants someone to confide in, and she really believed it was Neri. The problem however starts with their talent, and the gap in that area is big. As in, Koyuki isn’t that great. She gets the mountains of press coverage and is on the National team, but her own teammates question her talent. Slowly, she begins doubting her talent. However, she does feel Neri is someone to talk to. In the practice match however, the gap between the two is pretty big, and it basically ends in tragedy as, while both going for a ball, they end up colliding with each other.
In general though, Neri’s far more talented than the team she’s on. How did it get to a point where not even the coach could recognize that (aside from being a bad coach)? In any case, her relationship with Mari was strong, and now that it’s over, she’s not sure what to do. She basically at one point didn’t leave her room for days, and saw a video of her sister playing in her last volleyball game. Her family can only do so much. The friends she had who also knew Mari can only do so much. The only thing Neri thinks she has is volleyball. How she overcomes that, while also managing to show how everyone else was affected by Mari’s death, is what sold me on Shojo FIGHT!
*End of spoilers*
Shojo FIGHT! takes time getting where it needs to be, but once there it grabs you and doesn’t let go. The cast of characters finally start to mesh together. Heck, there are characters that I have yet to touch upon that are interesting, including the coach of a school that Neri didn’t want to be associated with. Though I don’t know about that one character doing his craft as a osteopathic physician; he might be too lewd. Or stubborn. Something! In any case, if you’re in need of a worthwhile read, you should check this one and Volume 2 out.
