Guru Guru Pon-Chan (Volumes 4-9) – by Satomi Ikezawa
Volumes #4-9 of #9 | Del Rey
Rating: ***** (A nice series ruined by a senseless ending. Blagh.)
Some thoughts: I know that this is supposed to be a review of volumes #4 to #9, but I can’t help focusing on this manga’s ending. (Warning, SPOILERS ahead!)
There were so many better ways for this story to end. Mirai could have stayed with Gang’s owner, and Gang could have stayed with Ponta. I suppose that, this being a romantic comedy and all, a beautiful ending in which Ponta actually died, for real, would not have worked out well (Ponta technically dies near the end, even coming dangerously close to being cremated, only to come back to life with little to no explanation.)
A happy ending would have been great, had it been executed properly. Instead, the ending was ridiculous.
If you recall, I said in my review of the first three volumes in this series that I did not see how Ponta and Mirai could ever become a real couple and get married, since Ponta’s human form aged in dog years.
Well, that fact was completely and absolutely ignored. How absurd! It’s either a really stupid mistake (which I doubt) or the mangaka was too lazy to explain this properly. Or the manga got cancelled before she could. I can’t imagine why else would such a vital detail like this one would go ignored for no reason. But, it was. Mirai and Ponta marry, and presumably live happily ever after other than for the fact that Ponta still changes rather spontaneously into her dog form when she is startled, surprised or excited (erm, couldn’t that become, you know… a problem?) ..
So what happened to Ponta’s body having become like a roken (old dog) due to overuse of the guru-guru bone? Was that really cured by her going into a deep sleep (or being temporarily dead, whatever that was)? If it was, that’s a lame excuse.
What happens in 7-10 years, when Ponta becomes an elderly dog (and woman)? Didn’t think about that, huh, Mirai?
What I liked best: While I hated the ending, there were plenty of adorable and hilarious moments to be enjoyed all throughout this quirky series. It was very funny to watch Mirai dealing (or rather, being unable to deal) with Ponta while she was in heat. And, the chapters featuring Ponta as a baby were really cute.
Oh yeah, and kudos to Del Rey for all the extras, including preview pages of upcoming volumes. They also did an excellent job translating this series, leaving honorifics and even expressions like “wan-chan” (something like “doggie”) intact.
The art: Well, same as before. Decent, cute (especially Ponta as a dog) but nothing I haven’t seen before. Gang’s eyes creeped me out.
What I liked the least: The ending. So stupid, rushed, so many things that were not thought out properly. Also, I hated the times when someone would go, “This can’t be happening! This isn’t a manga!” or something to that effect. This exact same “joke” shows up four times. Alright, already. I get it! It wasn’t so bad when Grandpa Koizumi would retort, “But it is a manga.” In fact, that is exactly the excuse given for this lame ending. But guess what, Grandpa: just because it’s a manga it doesn’t mean it can get away with making no sense. You’ve been misinformed! 
Verdict: I don’t think a manga with such a careless ending deserves to win the Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo. It was a fairly enjoyable read overall, though. Still, when Ponta and Mirai finally did it, I just couldn’t get it out of my head, no matter how poetic and romantic it was meant to be: Dude, she’s a dog.
See these books on LibraryThing: vol. #4, vol. #5, vol. #6, vol. #7, vol. #8 and vol. #9.
-Marina
MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Translate this! 8:22 am on May 31, 2008 | # |
[...] of Division Chief Kosaku Shima for the Daily Yomiuri. (Via The Comics Reporter.) Marina Neira liked vols. 4-9 of Guru Guru Pon-Chan except for the ending, but she has no such reservations about vol. 15 of Dr. Slump. Lori Henderson [...]
cheska 2:04 pm on May 31, 2009 | # |
where did you read this?
Marina Neira 2:11 pm on May 31, 2009 | # |
I am not sure what you mean by “where”… I just read the books. Are you asking if I read them somewhere online? I didn’t.