I decided to try experimenting with having a recurring feature on the blog, weee!  Since I read a crap ton of manga every year, I thought it might be fun to highlight various manga series I’ve read each Monday.  My basic plan is to talk about what I liked, or maybe disliked, about the series.  As most posts will probably cover the entire series (or at least multiple volumes), I will probably touch on spoilers, but I’ll attempt to avoid any major spoilers, especially about the ending and major plot twists and the like.  Each post will include the first volume cover and a link to it on Amazon, if available.  Finally, while it’s called Manga Mondays, I will also be including Japanese Light Novels in the mix 🙂  

Starting off our new feature is the Tramps Like Us, originally titled Kimi Wa Pet in Japan, by Yayoi Ogawa.  Tramps Like Us one of the few josei series I’ve read, as my tastes tend to skew towards shōjo series.  Though part of this may also be that josei just doesn’t seem to be as popular for licensing in English, at least in the US, as shōjo or shōnen works are.  Originally released in Japan from 2000 to 2005, Tramps Like Us spans 14 volumes and was released by by the now defunct Tokyopop.

You know Tramps Like Us is going to be a different kind of story, when essentially starts off with career woman Sumire finding a young man sleeping in a box outside of her apartment while on her way home after getting dumped by her boyfriend.  She takes him inside and jokingly offers to allow him to stay in he will agree to be her “pet”.  When he agrees, she names him Momo after her childhood dog.  And so begins the odd relationship between Sumire and her pet human boy.

Sumire is a smart woman, who is often subjected to a lot of snide remarks because of her intelligence, her tough no-nonsense attitude, and her height.  Even her boyfriend dumped her because she makes more money than he does and she’s smarter than him.  At least that’s the face she shows to the world.  And yet with Momo, she shows that she’s vulnerable, sensitive, and seriously overstressed.

Likewise Momo seems like a slightly silly, youthful boy who is content to live as a pet but he’s extremely bright and observant, especially when it comes to Sumire.  He’s also a very talented dancer despite being considered “too short” to be considered a “valid” or proper ballet dancer. 

The relationship between Sumire and Momo is the central issue of the series, and what makes it so awesome.  When I read the initial premise, my first thought was to wonder kind of guy is willing to live as a pet and there’s no sex involved?  And while I acknowledge the premise is silly, it works for this story and it works for the characters.  You realize before the end of the first volume that Sumire really needs someone like Momo in her life, and that this perhaps he needs someone like her to take care of.

I also like how Momo’s more carefree yet tender nature is juxtaposed against Sumire’s first love, Hasumi, who becomes a competing love interest throughout story.  Unlike Momo, Hasumi meets the “typical” requirements for a “good match” in Japan: he’s taller than Sumire, makes more money, and is at least her equal in terms of intelligence.  

Likewise the way Sumire acts with the two of them is so realistic in terms of the way we women can act when it comes to men.  With Momo she’s comfortable and able to just be herself, even crying in front of him, and action she would never do in front of anybody else.  While with Hasumi, she’s always stuck in “acting” mode and evaluating her every thought and action to make sure it’s what she thinks he wants; as Chris Rock would say he was dating “her representative”.  Even with her coworkers, she shows another side of herself, another acting job if you will, and another one is completely different from how she acts that home with Momo.

For his part, Momo is also acting, except in his case he acts with Sumire as well, at least initially, hiding his seriousness with dance and his more manly side to be the perfect “pet”, someone she can lean on and trust.  As the story moves on, he slowly lets her see more of his fuller self, easing her into realizing he is far more than just some silly boy who she (wrongly) thinks is incapable of taking of himself.

The art in Tramps Like Us is also different from the art typically seen in the sorts of series I usually read.  While it does have some elements that I would expect, such as the large eyes on women, there something about the art that feels just a little more mature.  The character designs match their personalities and overall nature very well.  Sumire is tall and slender and beautiful, yet she has large eyes and her face has a slight air of vulnerability.  Momo has a carefree hairstyle and youthful face yet his eyes have the aged someone who has been through tough experiences.   Hasumi looks tall and confident and yet he still has a bit of a boyish air about him that matches his own uncertainties that he tries to keep hidden.

All in all, I love the way the relationships are interwoven as the series progresses and how none of the characters are perfect; they are simply humans who sometimes make mistakes and hurt one another sometimes carelessly but rarely deliberately.  It moves along at a nice even pace, delivering some emotional punches with a splash of humor to even them out.  Some parts of the story are undoubtedly predictable, it still manages to throw out a few surprises along the way.

Tramps Like Us is out of print but easily findable at affordable prices on Amazon.