Pretty Face Vol. #02

By Robert Harris     November 20, 2007
Release Date: October 30, 2007



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Yasuhiro Kano
Translated by:Anita Sangupta
Adapted by:Anita Sangupta

What They Say
Rando struggles to be a good "big sister" to Rina as fate conspires to put him in one disastrous situation after another. When pants start coming off and half-naked women start crawling all over him for the thinnest of reasons, Rando must use all his karate wiles to avoid being exposed as a complete weirdo. Meanwhile, will the mad Dr. Manabe succeed in his plan to remove the last remnants of Rando's manhood... or will Rando remove Dr. Manabe's brains with his fist?

The Review
We last left Rando after he had won a trip to Okinawa for Rina and her friends. This, of course, leads to the requisite swimming and bathing scenes, the cornerstones of any romance comedy vacation. As is becoming the norm for Pretty Face, however, what is ordinarily a celebrated bounty of fanservice becomes an exercise in severe anguish for poor Rando. He gets no rest once he returns home, either. Whether he’s taking a part-time job to raise the money for his 50,000,000 yen operation, enduring Rina’s collection of deadly nursing techniques, or falling victim to Dr. Manabe’s Super Strong Adhesive yet again, Rando’s torment never ceases to amuse.

And ‘amuse’ may be an understatement, because Pretty Face is one of the funniest series released this year. The expressions are fantastic and the writing is fine, but the real winner is the relentless pacing. The action rarely lets up, and when something bad happens to Rando you know that the situation is quickly going to escalate to ludicrous levels before he makes it through by the skin of his teeth.

Rina’s friends, whom I previously labeled as “the very definition of ‘vanilla,’” get developed to a satisfying extent this go around. They transform from faceless interchangeable bodies to (often very strange) individuals whom you will remember, perhaps unintentionally. Even Rina gets her fair shake, and the reason she started liking Rando is finally revealed. It all adds up, and by the end of the book you will feel that you now actually know most of the cast.

Pretty Face succeeds completely, despite what conventional wisdom may say. The jokes are funny, the emotions are genuine, the characters are interesting, and even the story is surprisingly developed. The introduction of Rina’s cousin, who is the only person to suspect Rando, adds a great hook that may have you on the edge of your seat until December. If you appreciate romantic comedies, or just comedies in general, don’t let Pretty Face pass you by. Be warned, enjoying Rando’s pain this much may make you feel guilty.