By Shoko Iwami
Yen Press, 120 pp.
Rating: 16+ (Older Teen)

I am unsure what sparked Yen Press’s desire to publish comics featuring the 4-koma format. Maybe it was the mind-blowing success of Azumanga Daioh or maybe it was just easier to obtain licenses. Either way, it seems like none of these titles (S.S. Astro, Sunshine Sketch) are sticking the way that Azumanga did.

So let’s spell out the basic plot: Suzunari! is the story of a middle school girl named Kaede Takamaru, who one day wakes up to find a rather busty, cat-eared version of herself in bed with her. Frazzled, she confronts her parents who claim they had another child (considering how similar the girls look, it’s plausible) and send the two off to school. There they encounter a wild cast of characters including their gambling teacher Etoh, moe fanatic Iinchou, and “cult classic” Natsumi. Thus begins the rather misguided adventures of Kaede and her “sister” Suzu as they try and live a normal life in Tokyo.

Suzunari!, sad to say, is not much more than a pale imitation of Azumanga Daioh with an added twist. The 4-koma strips are cute but the jokes fall flat. As Erin mentioned in her review of Sunshine Sketch, you never get a full laugh out of them, just a smile and a “that’s cute” flying through your head. The story was also a tad confusing at times. It positions itself quite clearly as a comedy, but opens with a beautifully drawn mystic scene in which we see God creating Suzu and offering her the chance to live as a human. At each of the chapter breaks, the story touches upon this more serious idea, giving us short, almost poetic lines that don’t fit the comedic overtones of the book. It flips and flops and flips and flops.

The characters grow old fast, stressing their qualities every chance they get. The mother and father of Kaede stood out the most. They are depicted as a couple that is still as in love when they first were married. Throughout the volume, they are constantly telling Suzu what affection is, what newlyweds do, and how to act with passion. It’s refreshing to see parents given a well-defined supporting role, but I wish the rest of the cast were more memorable.

The art is along the same lines as the characters: generic.

I think (and hope) that this is the end of what just happens to be a string of unfunny 4-koma licenses. A good series is one that is original, not one that recycles tired stereotypes in a realistic but incredibly vague setting.

Volume one of Suzunari! is available now.