This manga was kindly provided for review by Yen Press

About the Mangaka

Have to admit, until now I’ve never heard of Okada Kazuto. He (or she lol) however seems to have been rather successful. Sundome is their second work, the first being Kyōkasho ni Nai!, which ran for eighteen volumes and had an anime OVA; which was licensed and released by Media Blasters. Sundome has proven equally as popular, having a live action movie adaptation released in late November 2007.

About the Manga

sundome_4

Time to push those boundaries even further, and end up feeling defiled :D

The main thing of note in this volume is that the covert actions are now overt and in your face.

To be honest I think that at times this volume crosses that boundary that manga shouldn’t cross. Yet at the same time I still found I had to keep reading.

Okada’s art is the same as always, the girls are all hot, well drawn and supper sexy, and the guys all look like they’re from some sixties hammer Horror movie. I think the series would have benefited a great deal if he’s drawn the guys a bit better as well.

As you’d expect, in this volume Aiba’s sexual misadventures reach new lows of depravity, and Sahana reaches a new level of torture.

Yet despite this the volume was still interesting, as we got to see more of Sahana’s personality, especially with regards to her past and how it’s effecting her in the now. The mystery man is also shown as a more prominent player, but still not much is being revealed as to who he is yet. This has me craving more, I’m really wanting to know what relationship he has with Sahana.

Aiba seems to be maturing in this volume as well, at least that’s how I’m choosing to look at it hehe. While he’s all the more under Sahana’s thumb, we’re also shown another side of him. This new aspect of his personality is really interesting, and I think given a chance it could really grow into something.

The relationship between Aiba and Sahana is rather disturbing, and yet also a bit touching. It’s fairly clear that she has feelings for him, though maybe not as strong as he does for her. It’s also very clear in this volume that the baggage from her past is what’s holding their relationship back.

What I’m wondering about is how this series is going to play out. Volume four (this one) is pretty much where that Japanese version is. It’s going to be almost seven months till the next volume is released, and that’s the last one that Yen has licensed. I wonder if this series really can be properly wrapped up in another volume.

I have to admit that Yen did a great job with this release. Gotta love Sundome’s covers, they’re simple and a little ecchi, the color inserts are nice and a little saucy.I have to wonder what those who work on the series think of them though :) Think I’ll stick that on my next Q&A with Yen Press.

Christine Schilling returns with the translation, and as usual I have no complaints. It flows great and smoothly. Tania and Abigail do a great job with the lettering, with no guttering issues in this volume. So they get a thumbs up from me :D

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