By Kaori Yanagida
NETCOMICS, 125 pp.
Rating: 16+

This collection of three stories starts off with a pair of high school lovers, Shun and Keiko, who decide to engage in a long-distance relationship. Keiko starts to suspect Shun of cheating when he starts to talk about the mysterious Kiku and totally changes his style and taste. She “accidentally” cheats herself after her evidence against Shun accumulates, but an ugly confrontation happens when Keiko finds out Shun went out on a date with Kiku instead of her. The second story features a different couple, Narumi and Yuuki. Narumi’s first sex partner had… exotic tastes in sex, and it left her unable to enjoy sex with a regular partner. Narumi sees potential in Yuuki, a transfer student from an all boy’s school who has never had a girlfriend. She figures she can teach him her tastes as “normal” sex, just like her old boyfriend did for her. And in the last story, a guy who has gone his entire life without a date finds himself with three in one day.

Let me just be up-front and say that this volume had won me over in the first few pages with the line, “Since we only get to do it once a month, trying to get a month’s worth in one night usually leaves us doing it hardcore all night.” The volume isn’t nearly as smutty as that line and the plot descriptions would have you believe, though. I don’t think two people are ever actually shown in the act of having sex, but it’s portrayed as a fun activity everyone likes to engage in rather than the serious business you might encounter elsewhere. It’s mostly a light comedy with an occasional serious moment, usually the pivotal one at the end of the story. The comedy isn’t so much in blatant jokes as it is in quirky characters, which also makes for a fun read. Also, this is probably the only manga I’ve ever seen use the term “cougar,” which earns it a few extra bonus points.

The characters aren’t really deep or anything, but their individual personalities come through pretty well in each story. In the first story, Keiko keeps her doubts about Shun’s fidelity to herself and is mortified when the mounting suspicions lead to her own encounter. Shun, despite his weakness, is quite devoted to Keiko, and the two of them always seem happy together, doubts or no. In the second story, Narumi is constantly fretting about her tastes, but she also genuinely likes Yuuki and the story does a good job of showing that she’s not just looking to make him her sex partner. The boy in the last story… well, he’s just sad.

The series has a pretty contemporary look to the art; I don’t think it’s very old. It’s pretty typical shojo fare, with fairly unremarkable character designs and standard backgrounds, linework, tone patterns, et cetera. The ridiculous outfits that Shun gets in the first story are pretty funny, though.

I wouldn’t say this collection breaks any new ground, or is a must read by any means, but it is a fun volume of stories. The humor and unusual characters and situations are pretty refreshing, and I think older shojo/josei fans would do well to check it out.

3H Before Kiss is available online at NETCOMICS.com.