Othello

Review Date: 2008 March 04 12:57

Reviewed by: Azure

Released by: Tanoshimi

Publishing Country: UK

Author: Satomi Ikezawa

Age Rating: 16+

Page Count: 176

ISBN-13: 978009950682

ISBN-10: 99506823

Summary

Shuko Moriyama’s super confident ex-girlfriend Shuko shows up out of the blue. Shuko obviously has feelings for Moriyama and Yaya stands in the way. This adds pressure on Moriyama to tell Yaya about her alternate personality Nana. The trouble is Nana has already warned him that if Yaya learns of her other side now it could break her.

Review

Volume’s six and seven cover the end of Othello, which has largely been a surprise. What started as a gimmicky and formulaic rom-com has matured, with the character’s growing and actually learning about themselves. The heroine Yaya is still painfully shy, but thanks to her alter-ego Nana’s efforts her life actually begins to move and her efforts dealing with those changes make her endearing. Nana herself also begins to mature as she becomes increasingly attached to life.

At the start of volume six the basic formula is there Nana and Yaya switch around at the most awkward time, Moriyama has to do damage control and there’s yet another self opinionated girl out to steal Moryiama. The difference this time is that while new girl Shuko does have a dominant personality and a clear agenda she also has a conscience. When Yaya gets picked on by a bunch of thugs, she gets out her phone so she can call the police a marked contrast to Nana’s previous opponents who would have actively tried to make the situation worse. This slightly altered dynamic paves the way for Yaya to discover her other personality, it’s this discovery that allows Othello to break free of it’s normal format shifting to Moriyama and his battle to help Yaya.

There’s some great imagery in both these volumes, as Yaya’s internal battle is contrasted with events in the real world. The facial expressions of Nana/yaya also do a great job of highlighting the switch between Nana and Yaya.

After reading Satomi Ikezawa’s previous manga Guro Guro Pon Chan, which fell a little flat it’s great to see such improvement in Othello. Whilst the plot at times can feel a little silly, by the end of the manga the characters themselves feel sincere so much so that whilst reading I felt myself rooting for them.
Whilst there are some weaker moments as a whole Othello is really enjoyable and at seven volumes doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

Rating: 8/10

Notes

Volume 7 ISBN:
ISBN-10: 0099510359
ISBN-13: 978-0099510352