Krystallina: Fumi’s family’s debts has forced her out of house and home while her father’s away working on a boat, but she manages to score a live-in housekeeping position to an author. But Fumi is surprised to find out the young man passed out in the hallway is, in fact, her new boss, Kibikino. But Kibikino is just as surprised to find out his new maid is a high schooler. He’s rather annoyed by this, but Fumi is just as irritated by his abrasive, brusque behavior.
But maybe he isn’t as bad as he seems…?
Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is the third work of Mika Yamamori’s to be licensed, and if you liked her Daytime Shooting Star manga, this one has a very similar vibe. But I know some people have their opinions on that ending, and I can’t help but wonder if this series is meant to appease some of those readers. Of course, we’re a long way from the final volume, so a lot could happen, but that was my initial impression.
Anyway, Kibikino and Fumi get off on the wrong foot with each other mostly because they made assumptions about the other, but Fumi doesn’t want to give up her job because she can save money while working there…and also because she has no where else to go. That causes Kibikino to adjust his attitude, which, of course, makes Fumi’s heart start to flutter. Her heart is also fluttering because of a new transfer student, Aioi, but not because of romantic interest. Aioi has beef with her from when they were young (really stupid beef, I want to say, but I’m assuming it’s going to be misguided beef), and he’s holding her precious store reward stamps hostage.
We’re already getting romantic drama in volume 1, and that’s because there is little story otherwise. The first few chapters have Fumi learning more about Kibikino the workaholic, he softens his stance around her, and then Aioi shows up. Nothing particularly exciting. Fumi has a best friend and Kibikino has his longtime editor, but they don’t have any other identifying quirks or personalities. The comedy isn’t anything to note as Fumi gets excited about saving money or doing housework to vent her frustrations. At the very least, Fumi isn’t as money-hungry as a lot of other manga protagonists, which goes a long way in making her likable and less like some parody of an altruistic Scrooge.
And as for the romance, Kibikino is clearly in his 20s while Fumi is in high school. It doesn’t help Aioi’s attitude with Fumi is very childish. So Fumi’s two potential suitors has one taking on a male guardianship role like a big brother or uncle while the other acts like he’s never left elementary school. I’m not too keen on either of them for Fumi to be honest, which is a problem in a love story.
As for the art, Fumi looks more mature on the cover than she does in the actual manga. Otherwise, the one thing that stood out to me is Yamamori seems to really loves screentones, especially for hair. I’m not talking about that being a character’s normal coloring, but anytime Fumi or whoever gazes off into the distance or makes an impression on someone, bam, patterned hair. I wish Yamamori could achieve her goals with auras and frames or added more style to Fumi’s and Kibikino’s hair to begin with. (Aioi’s hair is two-toned, likely dyed in-universe.)
Anyway, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is off to a slow start, and I’m not feeling the romantic chemistry. Perhaps as Fumi, Kibikino, and Aioi work to tackle their loneliness I’ll start to ship her with one of them, but right now in volume 1, the only ship I’m rooting for is the one Fumi’s dad is working on. That way, he could pay off his debts, come home, and allow Fumi to live her life without having to live with a stranger or be beholden to freebies she’s saved up for.
Krystallina’s rating: 2 out of 5
Helen: Completely unrelated to Mone Sorai’s Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide, or any kind of travel writing, Tsubaki-Chou Lonely Planet could be considered a guide to some typical shoujo manga tropes but not an intentional one. Tropes, stereotypes, clichés, etc. are a part of every story, there’s no need to reinvent every wheel every time after all, but each time one appeared here I’d be reminded of another manga with the same idea but better executed.
Fumi’s father has gambled away all of the family’s savings and belongings, leaving her without a place to live (but still enough to go to school it seems) which is how she takes the role of a live-in housekeeper for writer Akatsuki Kibikino (who was expecting a granny, not a teenaged girl). In my opinion this idea of gambling and losing it all, which is taken to such an extreme that it’s almost funny, worked better in Kamisama Kiss where yes, the story did play it like a bit of a joke while here I was left wondering about how Fumi’s father could even get to such a state of being in the first place (heck he’s even working on a tuna fishing boat to pay off his debts and that’s a trope I refuse to take seriously!).
Likewise, Kibikino’s position of being the inevitable love interest who acts like a jerk for the first volume just didn’t work well for me. I could buy it for Kyo in Fruits Basket, since he was a maladjusted teenager (Tohru was even a housekeeper in that series too!) or Subaru Mikazuki in My Roommate Is a Cat where it’s clear that he’s both introverted by nature but also still heavily grieving his parents. Granted, we’re only one volume into Tsubaki-Chou so there’s still plenty of time for Kibikino to have a tragic backstory to “justify” his abrasive personality that will bring him closer to the high-school aged Fumi (it’s not the first time Mika Yamamori has done an age-gap romance either) but the few moments of rough, gruff kindness that we’ve seen from him so far aren’t nearly enough to keep me interested in reading to see if he develops later. It might be enough for Fumi, she’s definitely more interested in Kibikino after reading some of his works, but it’s not enough for me!
Tsubaki-Chou Lonely Planet was just a flop for me. Everything it did I’ve seen another series do better and I doubt I’ll even remember much of it in six months time.
Helen’s rating: 1.5 out of 5