S.O.S. (1 volume, 3 stories)
This is a collection of 3 short stories from Hinako Ashihara (Forbidden Dance). I enjoy short romance stories normally and that's why I picked it up (that and the pretty cover!), but the stories in this book left me with an ambiguous feeling. In the first story, which is a two-parter, three high schoolers run a dating agency and try to sort out their own relationship difficulties on the side. The first half features an unpleasant situation with a boy who is using the matchmaking service to force his dates into love hotels (successfully, it would seem). Despite a horrible situation in which both the latest girl they sent out on the date with him and one of the female members are both near-raped, the three matchmakers shrug it off as an anomoly, and do nothing to investigate the previous dates they set up with this jerk. The second half is a bit more interesting, reflecting what can happen in a culture where women are driven to find a man to marry or risk having no identity. The middle story is a very touching historical tale that bears no similarity to the stories it's sandwiched between, and that's a good thing. The final story is about a girl's devotion to a boyfriend who uses her as his errand girl and takes her completely for granted. Unlike the doormat heroines in longer manga, who put up with this garbage for volume after volume, she does see this for the problem it is. The conclusion is ambiguous and not at all tidy and neat (real life never is). The heroine appears to have learned a good lesson early on: to demand what she needs in a relationship. Whether or not she gets it in this particular one, there is hope that she'll keep trying as she grows up. [Viz]
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