I have this friend who is absolutely nuts for Kobayashi's What's Michael?, a comic about cats that he swears to me is one of the funniest books he reads. The thing is, I don't much like cats. But cute girls? I'm all over that, and so Club 9 seemed like a better way for me to introduce myself to the works of Makoto Kobayashi. And now, Club 9 was so much fun that I'm probably going to wind up reading the damn cat comic as well. Club 9 is billed as a slice-of-life, fish out of water comedy, and that pretty well describes it. It's goofy and silly, sexy and sweet, and it reminds me more than anything of the early days of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise.
It was only recently that I came across the notion that a rural, country girl accent in manga was translated as a sort of southern accent. It makes sense, since it automatically gets the idea across, although it did take some getting used to seeing these characters throwing around "y'all" and things of that nature. However, that affected method of speech is a big part of the charm of the lead character, Haruo Hattori, a simple girl from a small town who moves to Tokyo to go to school and find herself working as a hostess at the exotic Club 9.
The accent isn't the only thing, though. Hattori is one of the cutest, kindest and klutziest characters you're likely to find in comics. In one hilarious sequence, she rides her bike into a ditch while trying to warn an older woman to watch out for a ledge. In another, nervous about her new job, she lights a man's mustache instead of his cigarette. And it's clear where her somewhat wacky nature comes from with the occasional interlude that shows her mother's reaction to turning forty, which includes dancing around singing "Like A Virgin" and using her husband's head affectionately as a bongo.
Club 9 is undeniably sweet and friendly, even as Hattori moves from the friendly confines of her small town and into the big city of Tokyo. Though there's certainly an undercurrent of sexual tension in the book, as depicted in the occasional nudity and in the simply gorgeous female forms that Kobayashi draws, not to mention the central premise that includes Hattori's promise to remain a virgin, it all comes off as more innocent than tawdry. Even Aki, her sexpot of a roommate, has motherly tendencies toward Hattori, and some of my favorite sequences in the book show off Aki's sex appeal as she walks onto the campus, or tries to share the secret of "Ba-Boom" with Hattori and Fuyumi.
In this first volume, it's not easy to see where the story of Club 9 is going. Is it a story about the transformation of a simple girl into a sophisticated woman? Or the story of how someone can grow up while still staying true to their real nature? Is it a story of the differences between city life and country life, or the similarities? Is it about being true to your childhood love or learning to grow beyond them? So many possibilities, and with the fun style and terrific artwork of Kobayashi, I can't wait to see them explored.
