Name: Bad Boys, Happy Home, Vol. 1
ISBN: 9781974723409

SHOOWA

Sometimes all it takes is a good fistfight to find true love! Akamatsu has problems at home, while Seven doesn’t even have a home. When these two strangers meet, fighting soothes their troubled souls, opening up room for something more. Life sucks, and high school bad boy Akamatsu needs an outlet for his pent-up frustrations. Seven, a homeless guy living in a nearby park, is just the outlet Akamatsu needs. Soon, he finds himself heading to the park every day just to pick a fight, even though he never wins. So when Seven ends up kicked out of his favorite sleeping spot, Akamatsu decides there’s only one possible solution to retain his fighting partner…invite Seven home to live with him!

Bad Boys, Happy Home, Vol. 1

Belle Ellrich

I found this manga volume while browsing through the bookshelves on my break at work, and it intrigued me enough to want to purchase it and take it home to read. While I thought this book was okay, I don’t think it’ll be reaching anywhere near my loved-books or even my favorites lists.

Characters –
Seven’s character was fairly interesting. I liked how the authors didn’t unfold his history or past all at the start, and I really liked how he alluded to having more secrets than he’s confessed to Akamatsu. I liked his design, and how he claimed to look like most other young men in Japanese shopping areas (which I found to be quite funny), and I also loved how non-judgemental and open he was with Akamatsu about certain topics.

With Akamatsu, I had a bit of a tougher time getting a grasp on his character. He always wants to fight Seven, and while the reason for that comes out, the authors portrayed him in that annoying-teenage guy way that you’ve seen just a tad bit too much. I do like how it came about that part of his past is the reason for his behavior and assumptions toward people.

Setting –
With this volume, we are consistently given scenes involving Akamatsu’s apartment or the playground that Seven was sleeping in. I liked that the authors gave us these familiar places to explore every time the story shifted back to them, and I loved how they were depicted.

Art –
I adored the art style that Okujima gave us. The infinite detail and honest evident talent was clearly printed onto these pages of the book, and I have nothing but high praise for his styling.

Plot –
While I liked how the story started out and ended, it got a bit choppy midway through. I loved how the characters pushed the plot forward, and I adored how well their relationship developed as the story went on, but I couldn’t help but feel that there was something missing outside of all of that. I don’t know if maybe it was the repetitiveness of Akamatsu’s fight demands, but I felt like there was room for something more.

Overall –
Altogether, I liked this book. While I definitely feel like it could’ve been a bit better, it was an okay start to this (possible) series, and I hope to read more from both authors in the future. For that, I rate this manga 3.25 stars overall.

Bad Boys, Happy Home, Vol. 1

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