By Christina Plaka
Tokyopop, 196 pp.
Rating: 13+

Just because you think Oasis sounds like an inferior version of the Beatles doesn’t mean they aren’t okay in and of themselves, right? Similarly, Yonen Buzz: Plastic Chew plays a tune we’ve all heard before: Young musicians dealing with youth-related angst while trying to make it as rock stars, with elements of male harem and screwball romance tossed in for good measure. It’s not the most innovative hybrid ever conceived; luckily, the main characters are all likeable and the artwork is nice, making the whole enterprise enjoyable in a disposable pop song kind of way.

The volume kicks off shortly after the lead singer of Plastic Chew has walked out on the band, which hits guitarist Jun Imai especially hard (the loss of anyone in his life reminds him of his parents’ tragic deaths). Luckily, the drummer and bassist bring in someone new to take over: a talented, free-spirited female guitarist and singer named Sayuri who would seem a perfect match for Jun, both on-stage and off. The pair even has a meet-cute where they harmonize together on the same track, resulting in what we can only imagine is a “New Pornographers”-type synergy that instantly nets the young lady the gig.

Since this is a screwball romance, there are plot contrivances that bring the couple together. For example, after Sayuri joins Plastic Chew, it is determined she must live with the band. Why? As the drummer puts it, “In order for Plastic Chew to sound like professionals, we, the band members, have to learn to live together in harmony. Otherwise, every problem will carry over to our music!” Of course, it also provides convenient opportunities to stoke their mutual sexual tension: Jun gets to see Sayuri in her pajamas, and Sayuri, who has issues of her own, leaps into Jun’s bed following a nightmare.

You might think the combination of raging teenage hormones and lack of parental supervision could lead to trouble. Luckily, the characters of Yonen Buzz exist in the kind of universe where, if anything, girls are more likely to objectify the opposite gender, and all boys want is a hand to hold. Certainly, Jun seems like the archetypal sensitive dreamboat: good-looking, artistic, and the kind of guy any girl can feel safe around. He never tries anything untoward, even when he and Sayuri are having their bed-sharing incident, and later acts as if the worst thing imaginable is a forced kiss with the attractive leader of a rival all-girl band.

Through it all, one can sense the various notes of the protagonists’ courtship blending together in a familiar, but not altogether displeasing way: instant attraction underlying musical chemistry; friendship gradually evolving into something more; wondering if the other feels the same way; a major argument that threatens to splinter the couple, and subsequently, the band; and reconciliation. There’s even a “Battle of the Bands” competition at the end of the volume, with a record deal hanging in the balance. If the whole affair seems a bit too removed from reality at times – even with four of them sharing an apartment, how is it possible no one has a job? – it helps to remember Yonen Buzz is, above all, about the idea that music, like a lot of artistic endeavors, is capable of bringing people together, and how joyous it can be meeting others with the same passion as your own.

Yonen Buzz: Plastic Chew is available now.