Title:  Tears of a Lamb Vol 1

Author:  Banri Hidaka

Publisher:  CMX

ISBN:  9781401215194

May Contain Spoilers

Tears of a Lamb was a very hard book for me to get into, though I really liked lead character, spunky Hasumi, and her uncooperative neighbor, Kanzaki.  Both quickly grow on you, but some of the plot elements are kind of hard to swallow.  Hasumi lost something very dear to her, and she thinks that it was lost in Kanzaki’s apartment, two tenants ago.  Her brother’s friend lived there, and Hasumi had a huge crush on him.  She lost something of his, and she’s desperate to get it back.  Ok, so far, so good.

Kanzaki is plagued by misfortune, too.  He is responsible for losing the last game in a basketball tournament in its final seconds when he misses a basket.  Curses!  Now he just wants to forget about the heart-wrenching incident, so he transferred to a new school, where nobody knows about him or his terrible aim.  I can buy into this, too.  Letting your team down in the most important game of the year has got to be to tough - not the end of the world, but still a pretty bitter pill to swallow.

So what didn’t I like?  Hasumi’s health issue, which doesn’t rear its ugly head until halfway through the book.  Instead of giving her believable problems to overcome, or causing the reader to feel a flood of sympathy for her, it comes across as unconvincing and very forced. An easy way to introduce her to Suwa, who is suffering from an ulcer, and both of them just happen to be admitted to the same hospital.  My manga-colored glasses must have been malfunctioning while I was reading this book, because I just couldn’t buy into particular plot device.

Though I was disappointed with the first volume, I will pick up the next.  The mystery of the ring, and Hasumi’s relationship with Suwa, has me intrigued.  Hasumi and Kanzaki make a lively couple, and their interaction was spirited and fun.  I also find Banri Hidaka’s art very appealing.  The illustrations are clean and fresh, and are packed with so much energy, they are hard to resist.  Hopefully my manga-colored glasses will be fully operational by the time I pick up volume 2.

Grade: C+

Rated for Teen