Guru Guru Pon-Chan (Volumes 1-3) – by Satomi Ikezawa
Volumes #1-3 of #9 | Del Rey
Rating: ***** (It’s, erm… different. But, in a good way.)
Summary: A havoc-breaking yellow lab puppy named Ponta eats the Guru-Guru bone, which the Koizumi family’s grandfather invented with the hope that it would give any animal who licks it the power to talk. However, Ponta transforms into a little human girl instead. When she rushes out into the street and comes near getting run over by a car, she is saved by a popular, good-looking young man by the name of Mirai Iwaki, with whom she eventually falls in love. Using the Guru-Guru bone, Ponta enrolls in the same school as Mirai and tries to get him to love her, as well.
Some thoughts: Guru Guru Pon-chan is a manga with a premise so weird, that I had serious reservations about buying it despite my curiosity. But, when I had a chance to buy the entire series of nine (9) like-new volumes off someone on Mangatude for 50% off the cover price, I took it. It would prove to be either a great choice or a horrible mistake, I was sure.
My main worry was that something so bizarre as a female dog that turns into a human to be with the human boy she loves, while retaining all of her dog-like instincts and behaviors, was going to make for a creepy, unsettling read unless it was perfectly executed. And Guru Guru Pon-Chan isn’t always perfect, yet Satomi Ikezawa manages to make this a solid, entertaining series despite that fact.
Of course there’s the underlying issue of bestialism here– the subject is definitely heavy of the mind of Mirai Iwaki, the boy Ponta loves. Ponta is a dog after all, no matter how cute a girl she can change into. And her actions don’t let you forget it. She waves her arms wildly around when she’s happy much like a dog would wag a tail, catches frisbees, balls and even fish with her teeth, eats (in the beginning) without using any utensils, is loud, terrified of thunder and lightening, and doesn’t have any self control at all. She’s not just a dog, she’s a badly behaved, obnoxious (but well-meaning) dog. I’ve had a couple of dogs like her in the past, and her behavior is very accurate.
Still, you can’t help but root for her. She is funny, tireless and adorable.
I don’t see, however, how she and Mirai can have a happy ending, no matter how much they love each other. If Ponta’s human body ages in dog years as was already proven in the first volume, then she will live as long as a dog possibly can, and age much faster than Mirai will. I wonder what will happen…
What I liked best: As far as characters go, Ponta herself. Maybe because I was always so impatient with the dogs I had that were just like her, and I see them in her.
The art: It’s alright, nothing special, really. Ponta is cute both in her human form and dog form. The funnier, more gag-like drawings scattered all over the place –this is a comedy after all– are the best part, they really add to the story and make for a bouncy, dynamic pace.
What I liked the least: I felt that Ponta did too much pooping and barfing to my liking in the first chapter. Even if it was as little-girl Ponta, seeing her naked and pooping like a dog was creepy rather than cute. It made me laugh, though. I guess that was the point.
Also, Mirai is so forgettable-looking… I wish that physically he had been drawn a little more interesting.
Verdict: Worth reading, if only for the originality of the story. Personally, I like it enough to keep it on my bookshelf forever (for now– I have only read three volumes.) A word of advice, though– don’t take it too seriously, and don’t think too hard about the human-dating-a-dog issue. This is a comedy above all else, read it like a comedy and you’ll enjoy it.
See these books on LibraryThing: vol. #1, vol. #2, and vol. #3.
-Marina
