B-Shock

Nakano’s B-Shock, on the other hand, is an entirely different proposition. It’s on the whole more outlandish, more ridiculous, a high concept series. It’s about two engineering students who, thanks to their mad professor, get bombs stuck to their wrists that don’t allow them to be more than 10m apart. In essence, it’s a series where two unlikely people are forced to be together at all times. It’s also a romantic comedy.

Part of the fun of the series is seeing the realistic response to the situation. The characters begin to ask themselves: what happens if I have to use the restroom? How do I keep a job like this? Things gets even more funny/interesting when the distance gets reduced to 1m. The scenes where the characters have to constantly stick together (this means pretending to be boyfriend/girlfriend in public because otherwise why are they holding on to each other) have an absurd, but iron-clad sense of logic to them. It makes sense to tie a rope between you – what would happen if one of you fell out of bed and one of you got separated?

When the series has that laser focus on the particulars of their situation and the growing affection between the characters, it excels. But I keep getting reminded of the long stretch in volume 2, where the lead characters have to deal with a pesky ghost, and I can’t help but feel that it’s wasted time. It’s space that is being taken away from the most interesting relationship/dynamic.

copied/pasted from my blog: www.thenextthingblog.wordpress.com

B-shock is a romantic comedy manga about 2 college students, who meet a nutty Professor, and are suddenly forced to be extremely close to one another or else the watches on their wrist, courtesy of the Professor, will blow up, if they exceed the maximum amount of distance from each other.

As a comedy manga, it's good. Every day, due to their situation, they have to go through unique and funny situations. They have to go to the bathroom with one another, make the most ridiculous excuses as to why they can't be separated, and try to avoid scenarios that will keep them apart.

Sometimes, they see the professor and try to exact revenge or fix this little issue of theirs. Unfortunately for them, it never goes their way.

In short, their lives are a living hell, but for us readers, it's a funny ride.

As for their romantic aspect of the manga.... it's awful, just awful. Before she likes the main character, the main female lead has a crush on two other guys. One of whom, she was completely infatuated with. I wouldn't have a problem with all of this, if they showed some scenes that would convince me that she would love the main character the most. However, that did not happen. The main female lead's feelings do not feel genuine at all. It's like she's with the main character out of convenience and just because she couldn't get the other 2 guys, which also means he's really the only option left. I don't know about you, but I did not feel any satisfaction.

On a much more positive, I thought the art was good. The backgrounds as well as the character designs are quite nice. Also, the reactions really help with the comedy.

Last, but not least, we have the characters. Arata, our main protagonist as well as the main male lead, while nice, started off a bit too perverted for my taste. Fortunately, he goes through much needed character development. He knows how to stand up for himself and make good decisions. After the development, his perverted thoughts just make him seem like any ordinary boy. He has them, but they don't make you want to punch him. By the end, he's a likable and relatable guy. Anyone would be jealous, if they saw their crush staring at some other dude.

Hatsune is our main female lead. I didn't like her very much, but I didn't hate her. She was naive and a goody two shoes. I especially didn't like her when it came to the romance, you just couldn't help, but feel bad for Arata. On the bright side, she did genuinely care for Arata as a friend. She really was genuinely nice; she just sucked when it came to romance.

Basically, Arata is great & Hatsune is alright to the point where you're not going to drop the manga, but you certainly aren't going to continue reading it for her.

If you want a comedy manga, then this is a pretty good option. If you want a satisfying romance though, then there are way way way better choices out there. The romance portion will most likely piss you off more than it will satisfy you.

B-Shock is a surprisingly funny -and silly- romantic comedy. Arata is your regular college student who as many of his classmates admires Hatsune, a beautiful girl who is also a student in his university. Things take a strange turn when a lunatic scientist decides that Arata and Hatsune are perfect subjects for his new experiment: B-Shock, a sort of watch that forces them to be apart only for a few cm or risk to blow in pieces.

Of course, the path for Arata and Hatsune, who hadn't really met before, is quite difficult. They are forced to share a place to live and be together all the time. The author creates many hilarious situations for them, starting from how to go to the bathroom to the hardships of finding a job that allows them to be together all the time. The character development is one of the strong points here. Both characters are very immature in their own way, and they're so different that they have a hard time learning to respect and care for each other.

I'd recommend this manga to anyone who want a lighthearted and funny read, with nice art and interesting characters.

You're not getting more than an average romantic comedy with this one. The plot is fairly straightforward and predictable and the characters pretty one-dimensional. Also, the artwork isn't horrible, but it isn't great either; strictly average at best.

Even with all this though, when all was said and done I still had fun with it. The simpleness of everything really means you can cruise through this without overloading your brain, and although the end comes quick, it's still fairly satisfying and gives a decent close to the series.

When I first looked up B-Shock It said it had a rushed/axed ending. I was skeptical because most rushed ending tend to bomb the ending.

The story is focus on 2 people placed in an unorthodox predicament and force to live together. The Character focus is placed on both side however, being seinen, it is primarily focus on the male of the story. Normally you would think it would be very pervy or "borderline H". It's surprisingly not. It's simply a comedy of how two people who would not normally give each other the time of day realize they have feeling for each other.

Story - Different and new age
Art - Funny and serious when it needed to be
Character - Main focus on the guy which should label him as a "good guy"
Enjoyment - Very Enjoyable
Overall - one of the best stories out there as far as love comedies are concerned.

Always remember to, "Never Judge A Book By It's Cover" cause you just might find a very enjoyable read. =3