Othello Vol. #04

By Mike Dungan     June 14, 2006
Release Date: June 15, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Satomi Ikezawa
Translated by:William Flanagan
Adapted by:

What They Say
Bright, cheery and the scariest woman alive. Too-shy Yaya is no match for the clever manipulations of the latest transfer student, Megumi Hino " Hino-chan " whose bright, optimistic exterior shields a perfect storm of selfishness, jealousy and sadism. Hino-chan has her tentacles in all aspects of Yaya's life, including her budding relationship with nice-guy Moriyama and a strange unspoken animosity with rakish, ex-rock star Shohei. Perhaps Yaya's aggressive ego Nana can cut Hino-chan down to size... especially when Yaya is pressured into signing a legally binding contract with her arch enemy!

The Review
Hino-chan is starting to put the pieces together between Yaya whom she walks over, and Nana who won't let her get away with it.

Packaging:
The cover is a dramatic backlit image of Nana in a dark coat and cap, with bright lights swirling behind her. The back cover has no image, just the volume synopsis printed white on black. The book, like most Del Rey titles, contains a list of honorifics in the front, and cultural and translation notes in the back.

Artwork:
Ikezawa's art is light and clean and competently drawn. Panel composition and pacing is easy to read. Backgrounds range from simple to non-existent. The art reproduction is good, with no problems I could see in the screen tones, and the more delicate linework coming through well. It's good, solid, middle of the road shojou artwork.

Text/SFX:
Sound effects are translated on the page with small, unobtrusive text either on or next to the sound effects. The translation and adaptation by William Flanagan reads very well, with very little unnecessarily hip dialogue to date it prematurely, yet it still sounds natural and appropriate to the age of the characters.

Contents: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The vicious Hino-chan has decided Nana is her enemy, and she decides to use the timid Yaya to help her find her. Meanwhile, Hino-chan is running what is little better than a prostitution ring via her father's company, getting girls to sign with her talent agency then sending them out as escorts to famous but sleazy celebrities out to score with high school girls. She's furious at how close Yaya is getting to Moriyama, so she cajoles her into signing up. Fortunately for Yaya, Nana is there to prevent her from being raped on her first "job."

Meanwhile, Shohei gives Nana a minidisc of music without lyrics to listen to, in an effort to get her to sing his songs. When Yaya finds the disc in her bag with no memory of how it got there, she begins to worry. More and more blackouts are happening, and it's frightening her. Moriyama does the best he can to help her, but Hino-chan has more and more tricks up her sleeve, from exposing Yaya's goth-loli secret life, to extorting money from Yaya, to finally putting two and two together about the relationship between Yaya and Nana.

Comments
The battle between Nana and Hino-chan reaches a head in this volume. Hino-chan is proving just how dirty she can be. While the scenes of Nana's near rape could be heavy-handed, Ikezawa gives it just the right touch of humor to emphasize that Nana was never in any real danger. With Nana beginning to suspect there's more going on than just a bad memory on her part, the two halves of her personality are set to collide. Othello has been an enjoyable read so far, and I'm looking forward to the rest.