MEN AT WORK Izumi, his friend Nakatsu and our crossdressing heroine Mizuki are hired to work at a beach chalet run by the family of weird school nurse Dr. Umeda! But when Kagurazaka--Izumi's high-jump rival--shows up with his two younger sisters in tow, the job gets personal! Kagurazaka's attractive sister Tamami has a crush on Izumi too, and she sees Izumi's classmate Mizuki as a way to find out about the object of her affections. And then someone realizes that Mizuki's actually a girl...
Hisaya Nakajo (中条比紗也) was a Japanese shōjo manga artist. She also used the names Peco Fujiya and Ryou Fumizuki for doujinshi with her circle, Daisanteikoku.
FINALLY a book that doesn't blame the girl when a guy tries to rape her. Sano saves Asahi from an assault and tells her never to blame herself for what happened. That it was the guy's fault for being unable to control himself and that it was in no way her fault at all. Halle-fricken-lujah.
The attempted assault was disturbing to read but she gets out of it before it escalates too far. I didn't like how he got off so easily but you could tell how disgusted everyone was regarding his reactions. The author even said she received fan letters saying that the rapist should die. YAS.
This not only gives the reader more time to see romance bloom between her and Sano, but it shows that Sano understands how big a deal this was. He doesn't blame her and he helps her through it.
A volume with difficult themes that shows how one should approach the issue. Especially because the woman isn't the one who "asks for it."
This is a difficult volume to rate or review, because it's also one difficult for me to read. I really dislike how one girl is totally stalking Sano, using arguments like her body, and there are also abusive scenes which are dreadful to read. On another side, Nakatsu is all in drama mode, adding some thoughtlessness, while Sano is very very cute. It's probably the volume I like the least in the series, but it's also one helping all the characters realize their feelings. And there's the cute scene at the beginning when Sano is reading!
Not a big fan of the trope, but maybe it's out of the way for the duration. There's also a combo of at least two tropes after that: . Other than those pieces of predictable drama, this is nice story with a soothing cadence to it, and some chuckles along the way, mostly at poor Nakatsu's expense. (Worst-kept secret ever, by the way! There's no way that half-a-dozen people would be this uniformly trustworthy about it. But, you know. Cozy manga and all.)
This was popular in its time, and I'll finish it eventually as I make my way through the backlog. It's fun! Still, it isn't something I think is worth tracking down on its own merits, twenty-plus years out from its release. There's nothing it's doing that I haven't seen done better elsewhere, from the art to the story.
This is my second read of this volume and, sadly, it wasn’t as good as the first time around. There were cute elements but I wish people were just honest with each other. There has to be some drive to the story, though and I guess Mizuki’s big secret works.
In this one it is summer and our trio is off to work at family inn of the school doctor.
The boarding school is closing for a few weeks to fix a couple of things and Mizuki and Sano need to go somewhere else. Thankfully they get a chance to go somewhere. To work, but at least they got a place to stay. I loved that Mizuki grabbed it with both hands, Sano followed her, and Nakatsu couldn’t let these two alone to be together. 😛
I really loved the setting in this one. Loved the inn/hotel and that it was close to the beach. Mizuki is such a hard worker!
I had a big laugh that Sano’s rival is there as well, along with his siblings. Including one girl who is really invested in Sano.. and who keeps asking for advice to Mizuki. Awkward!
We also have a guy I didn’t trust from the start. And on that note I wasn’t alone. Everyone knew that the guy was bad business, so I wasn’t too happy that Mizuki didn’t even notice and even got angry when people tried to warn her. Come on girl.
Either everyone knows at that school that Mizuki is a girl… or the boys outside of the school are a lot smarter. 😛 Everyone there knew she was a girl, even hitting on her when she was at the beach. Plus, this girl should really learn to lock her doors if she wants to keep her secret. She dodged one of the two people, but the other one now knows her secret. sighs You would think she would be a lot more careful.
Also trigger warning for sexual assault. Happy that Sano was there for her, that he protected her, talked to her, and comforted her. Didn’t give her the blame, and no one else does. Thank lord. I felt so heartbroken for Mizuki, this is really going to give her easy trust to everyone a hit.
I still wonder how long it will be before Sano tells the truth. He knows. He wants to start something with Mizuki. Because it is clear that this guy didn’t mind that his new roommate is a girl. He doesn’t mind that she went stalker to get in the school. I do hope it is soon.
3.5 stars rounded up ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 This installment featured a truly harrowing chapter that I hope will not get glossed over (or repeated). Despite a heavy focus on the comedic elements of the main story arc, it feels important to also acknowledge the dangers.
This continues to be a borrow rather than a buy for me, though YMMV.
Volume 3 is basically a rom-com training montage: more sports, more close calls, and more Nakatsu spiraling into “WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!” territory. Mizuki’s secret is hanging by a thread, yet every time you think the jig is up, fate (and slapstick) swoops in to save her. Four stars for maximum awkward tension and hilarious timing.
2009: um, most tests are not opennote/book! that always made me mad when reading that.
plus, round watermelons, seedless watermelons, and yellow watermelons are also grown in the u.s. you see the longer, seeded watermelons more often though.
I'm so glad I found this book. It was my first introduction to the cross dressing story line. It's a funny and happy love story with tons of keeping secrets in order to be near the one you love.
Of course Mizuki would have a bedazzled vagina all the male characters were after, despite most of them thinking she's male.
Ugh, how annoying.
To be fair, the fuckboi that tried stuff knew she was a girl at some point, but still WTF WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE AFTER THIS GIRL??? STAHP!
Thank god the doctor is gay or else he would've been after Mizuki too!
Also, fuck you Makita, you fucking rapist!
It pissed me off how stupidly clueless Mizuki was. Some creepy dude is after her and she feels scared, but when he starts acting nice w/ her and shit she forgets how uncomfortable he made her and thinks he's just being friendly. Like, dafuq?? NO! NEIN! HE OBVIOUSLY HAS ULTERIOR MOTIVES, BITCH!
Also, does Mizuki never fucking lock doors? First, she doesn't lock the bathroom door WHILE SHE'S BATHING (FOR THE SECOND FUCKING TIME!!!) and then she doesn't lock the door WHILE HER TITTIES BE OUT!
STUPID, STUPID GIRL! LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MIZUKI? WHY IS SHE SO STUPID?!
And once again, the whole "AMERICANS ARE SO TOUCHY AND KISS EACH OTHER ON THE MOUTH ALL THE TIME" is back. Ugh, why didn't the author take the care to properly research what so-called American customs are? And really, it just depends on the person. The authros claims just keep getting cringier and cringier.
Girl, no one that I know just goes around hugging people they barely know or kissing strangers right on the damn mouth. That's fucking weird.
Asrama 2 ditutup saat liburan musim panas untuk renovasi sistem pipa. Karena tak punya tempat untuk tinggal selama liburan, Mizuki akhirnya bekerja di penginapan musim panas milik kakak dr. Umeda. Sang kakak ternyata ibu dari Nanba-senpai. Izumi Sano dan Nakatsukasa ikut pergi juga untuk menjaga Mizuki.
Di penginapan itu, Makoto Kagurazaka dan dua adik perempuannya ternyata jadi pelanggan. Salah satunya adalah Tamami yang ngefans dengan Sano. Di penginapan itu mereka juga bertemu dengan Makita, pegawai playboy yang langsung tertarik pada Mizuki dan menganggapnya perempuan. Sano langsung tak menyukainya karena menyadari niat buruk Makita. Tapi Mizuki malah akrab dengan Makita karena keramahan si playboy. Mizuki akhirnya malah bertengkar dengan Sano.
Selama bekerja, Mizuki cemburu pada Tamami yang gencar pedekate dengan Sano. Ia tak sadar kalau Makita sampai minta tolong pada dua temannya untuk menyamar jadi preman yang mengganggu Mizuki di pantai. Karena ditolong, Mizuki makin akrab dengan Makita. Hingga suatu ketika mereka berdua diminta berbelanja untuk keperluan penginapan, Makita menghentikan mobil dan berniat memerkosa Mizuki!!!
Dalam volume ini lagi-lagi Mizuki ketahuan gender aslinya karena tertangkap ibu Nanba-senpai saat sedang ganti baju. Caranya kok gini terus, sih? Untuk ukuran komik shoujo, Hanakimi ini terlalu banyak adegan menjurus.
It was nice to get away from Osaka Gakuen, but this volume had a lot of characters I really hated! I had a real problem with Tamami's harrassment of Sano, and Makita... I generally hate rape scenes, and so that scene where Makita tries to rape Mizuki, and the lead up to it over the whole volume, was just awful. I liked that Sano told Mizuki to never blame herself for someone abusing her, and I know it was there to help Sano realise his feelings towards Mizuki, but I can't help feeling that it could have been done just as effectively without using rape as a plot device. Additionally, the past few volumes have been irking me a little bit because there is definitely a sub-message that homosexuality is weird... and it's really uncomfortable. I know it was written a long time ago, but I just can't help but feel a bit insulted by it, which is a shame because it takes away from Nakatsu being so funny (though he is not the only character to be homophobic).
Overall, there are some cute, funny bits in this volume, but most of it wasn't too great, and I'm now looking forward to them getting back to Osaka Gakuen.
Rereading this series for the nth time. Hana-Kimi is definitely my favorite series and this volume is one of my favorites. It does handle uncomfortable topics (tw: sexual harassment, rape), but does so in a sensitive manner without blaming the victim. This is also the volume where the mangaka is catching her stride with drawing the characters and the characters are really grappling with their emotions. There are some very cute scenes! While some of the characters REALLY grated me my first few reads, they have come to grow on me with time and lots of rereading. All in all, lots of emotions were elicited from this volume.
Rereading volume three, I was reminded of how much sexual harassment and assault there is in this. It was uncomfortable to read, but I think it was handled well. I didn't like the rival's younger sister. She's in eighth grade trying to act like a grown woman. It's weird. Obviously, I hate Makita. He got off too easy, and he will do it again. I already know Mizuki is oblivious and innocent and whatnot, but I don't think she's as bad as other shoujo female protagonists. I'm still enjoying my reread of this manga series. 4/5
I still really love this series, but this volume doesn't really sit well with me. It was made to seem like Makita trying to rape somebody would be okay, as long as it's a woman. Tamami's behavior was also really irritating. There's too much creepy and abusive stuff in this one for it to be as great as all the others. (Also, kissing someone when they're unconscious isn't alright.)
Miyuki had to be saved three times in this one. That’s a bit much and ridiculous. Honestly, Izumi should’ve been the one to twist his ankle and get a fever that last time instead of her since he was carrying her!! I mean come on.
Bet one so far! I loved the dramatics in this one. The trouble that Mizuki finds herself in was something I had been wondering about ever since the series started. I'm looking forward to the next installment!
Since Sano’s aware of Mizuki’s reason, why is she in that school and why is she dressing up as a guy. He’s protecting her, and keeping her secret. It would be so nice, if guy are all like that.