Ranked #1534

Kyou no Go no Ni (Manga)

Given that the story essentially revolves that time in life when you first become aware of this strange creature called "The Opposite Sex", Sakuraba has latched onto a topic that one can have a great deal of fun with - and in some cases he does - playing off the slightly more aware girls (they do say girls mature faster, after all) against the blissfully clueless boys. There are some genuinely funny moments too, such as Satou's explanation that men are into collarbones (which, as a friend described, is all a 5th grader really has to offer...) backfiring on him, and Chika's attempt at a stolen kiss turning into a head butt.

He also manages, in a few short pages per chapter, to convey the personality of each character, although we don't go into too much depth, except maybe for Chika, as the story unfolds. The artwork and character design is simple, but effective, especially when it comes to Satou's facial expressions when shocked, scared or trying to weasel his way out of a corner and he doesn't try to make the characters look overly moe. If anything, they look like 5th graders should.

However, for reasons known only to the mangaka, he's also made virtually all of the stories unnecessarily ecchi. The subject matter should be able to - and does, on occasion - offer enough laughs on its own, without having to resort to pantyshots, glimpses down blouses and so forth (and the scene in the storage shed is just nasty). Admittedly, none of the set-ups are intentional, and the laughs are supposed to lie in the characters' (usually Satou) reaction to, rather than the ecchiness itself, but it is a cheap shot at getting a guffaw and it wears thin very quickly.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Kyou no 5 no 2 is no more than a good idea, that fails miserably in execution, which is a surprise (or maybe not) coming from the same author of "Minami-ke." read more

Story: Well, there isn't much of a story plot. Similar to Minami-ke, and Azumanga Daioh, its just a series of short skits.

Art: Its not fantastic, but its not mediocre either. Its rather quite similar to a certain manga (hint minami-ke hint).

Character: Quite realistic. Childish, but the characters are 10 year olds.

Enjoyment: If you liked Minami-ke, your bound to enjoy this. (well, its the same author)

Overall: As of Sakuraba Coharu's works, I give it a 7.