Hybrid Berry by Ayumi Komura

Its been really rainy here in California. It's like 2017 is trying to wash away 2016 with force.



Hybrid Berry by Ayumi Komura

Art and story (c) Ayumi Komura

Genre: Sports, Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes – 12 Chapters and one unrelated one-shot


            The art is a little amateur, but it is consistent, just a few of the movements are awkward. Its one of those manga where the eyes are ginormous, and it takes a few chapters to get used to it but that's not the only stylistic thing that takes time, though. The noses are also large and the faces have a sharp decrease at the chin with low set mouths. So they look rather alien, reminding me of a certain Franken Fran chapter.

Franken Fran (c) Katsuhisa Kigitsu

 The collars made me double-take though, cuz they make no sense whatsoever, they look normal proportioned from the back but from the front…

Serious, yes, serious-ly huge collar

If you can deal with such exaggerated shojo art style, which some people can't and I don't blame them, there's really not that much to complain about. The chibi figures are really cute, too.
           Kaname takes care of the flowerbeds at school, and it is quite a feat since she has to keep

catching and diverting the stray balls from the too-close baseball field during after school practice. She is also always arguing with the second baseman who can't predict the ball's movement but the truth is she actually likes him. To get closer, she decides to take up the offer from the teacher who's the founder of the club and join up. Only, he doesn't want her to be manager but to take the playing position from her crush! How can she get closer to him when they are rivals?
           This manga is silly and it comes to an abrupt end; the last chapter is crammed in and moves along far too quickly. I guess it wasn't going to get anymore chapters so the mangaka had to wrap everything up quickly. Making the end rather muddled as to what is exactly happening. Still, its fun to read especially as far as sports shojo go, and is cute. Kaname is great as the “ace” who doesn't know exactly how things work, much like the main character from Eyeshield 21, and has a rather normal personality. She doesn't cry

all the time and she gets mad and shouts instead of turning everything into drama tropes. The love interest isn't as fleshed out, though, and their love story's conclusion is part of the quick wrap-up unfortunately. The best character is actually the teacher in charge of the baseball club, he's obviously playing on her emotions in the beginning but he comes across very likeable, it doesn't hurt that he reminds me of my favorite cop from Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro either. As far as being a sports manga, there isn't a lot of technical explanations and lingo mixed in, I suppose most people in Japan are aware of baseball as they like it just as much as Americans do so it doesn't have to slow down to explain the game to you every three seconds (unlike Eyeshield 21). There's not really much to review, its just light and funny with baseball mixed in. Much better than the last baseball manga I read, for sure. Also, the name sounds like a Pokemon item.




3.5/5 Very likable but lacks the depth needed for a higher score.

Kaname, please don't put holes in the panel edges.