MANGA REVIEW | "She’s My Knight" - Volume One
Let’s be real: tomboys are the best. We’ve all known this since we first saw Sigourney Weaver walking around in her underwear in 1978’s Alien. In fact, series like Ouran High School Host Club, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, and Tomo-chan is a Girl! have all proven that no woman beats a tomboy. Saisou’s She’s My Knight continues on with that fact, with a rom-com that shows why a little androgyny makes for some good adorability.
She’s My Knight follows Haruma Ichinose, a high schooler blessed with good looks and charms. However, a rival has entered is foray: Yuki Mogami, a woman with princely manners and style. All of the women swoon over Yuki, a sight that fills Haruma with jealousy. That is, until Yuki checks him for a fever by touching foreheads. Now, no matter what he may try to think or say, Haruma has to deal with a big realization: he’s smitten by Yuki!
Haruma can deny it all he likes, but the fact keeps smacking him in the heart and feels. He tries his best to play cool, but every moment they touch, graze, or accidentally hold one another, Haruma can’t stop feeling warm and fuzzy for Yuki. With a little advice (and jabs) from his friend Miyoshi, Haruma sets out to ask Yuki out on a proper date to tell her how she feels. Alas, Yuki’s princely ways comes with a defect: she’s kind of an airhead to love and emotions.
Much of She’s My Knight goes the “when will they?”route that many shojo rom-coms traverse. Every time Haruma takes a step forward to make some progress, Yuki or some other force pushes said progress back to that space. From movie meetups and childhood friend invasions to class plays and even a bit shojo manga overdosing, the plan to woo Yuki goes up in smoke. They even get locked in a gym storage shed at school, where Haruma comforts Yuki when thunder & lightning strikes. (Seriously, what is it with tomboys and a fear of dark & stormy weather?!)
But despite showcasing a lot of tropes that are similar to other manga, Saisou’s narrative has enough sweetness and comedic elements to make it a good read. It’s already clear that Yuki may have some sort of attachment to Haruma, which will hopefully make a love confession go down easier when the time comes. (Perhaps her “dumbness” is just a protective wall to make sure her feelings don’t get hurt either.) Saisou’s art also helps to emphasize the sweetness and heart of the show, with there being a good mixture of shojo and seinen styles in the panels.
Nevertheless, it can be victim to some of those old tropes. Love confessions that transform into “best bud” declarations, shopping trips that reveal a tomboy’s femininity, and even jealous classmates kidnapping our main protagonist. However, with the latter, there’s a tint of originality when it’s revealed that both they and Harumi are legit siblings-in-arms when it comes to their feelings for Yuki. In that instance, a little credit should be given to Saisou for thinking a little bit outside the box.
There’s a balance between the same old song and a brand new melody in She’s My Knight. Fortunately, even some of the more familiar territory has enough humor and sweetness to keep on reading through. Saisou’s manga is yet another feather to place in every tomboy’s cap, as it once again proves why they’re the best kind of woman. Even when it suffers from that ole shojo manga syndrome, She’s My Knight finds a way to win the heart of its readers. They'll just have trouble admitting they’ve been swooned over by it.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Kodansha Manga.
