Piece

Piece is an on-going serial in the Betsucomi, created by Ashihara Hinako, the same creator of wonderful pieces like Sunadokei and SOS. Almost all of her piece tries to be close to reality as possible. Like SOS, Piece is a mystery that would make you just want to keep on reading to solve the puzzle.

Piece is all about a deceased classmate who doesn't appear to be just what they thought of her back in High School. Origuchi Haruka is a plain and snobbish girl, or that's what Suga Mizuho and her classmates have thought of her. It wasn't a surprised that when they attended her wake at 19 years old (just a year or two after graduating HS), they couldn't really remember her.  So it was a surprised to Suga Mizuho when she learned that Origuchi had told her mother that she had been best friends with her.

When Origuchi's mother, upon thinking that Mizuho was her daughter's best friend, tried to ask a favor, Mizuho refuses. She's not someone who tries to meddle into other people's affair. She always kept her guard up and not get too much close to anyone else. So when something happened to Mizuho that made her decide to change herself and try to get to know about Origuchi, she offered Origuchi's mother her help. She was very much surprised when Origuchi's mother asked her to find her daughter's ex-boyfriend who had gotten her daughter pregnant in the past. Thus started the investigation as to who Origuchi Haruka really is.




Origuchi Haruka is really not someone they thought of back in HS. Some thought of her as plain and ugly. But her mother told Mizuho that Haruka is a very cheerful child and, apparently a good imitator of a famous comedian. Mizuho learned that Haruka is not really that snobbish. She learned that Haruka is someone who is nice and someone who had wanted to be close with all of her classmates.

In the book (there are currently 6 volumes released by Betsucomi Flower Comics), someone also have mistaken her as someone having an affair with one of her teachers. And then there is someone who had liked her back in HS who, thinking that she already has a boyfriend, thought that he had no chance with her.

Ashihara-sensei developed her characters very well. Suga Mizuho used to be reserved and would not get involved too deeply into anyone's affair. When her boyfriend broke up with her because he thought that she didn't really love him as it was hard for him to get close to her, Mizuho decided to changed herself and this is when she decided to get to know Origuchi Haruka. She didn't really think of Haruka as a snobbish person but then, she really doesn't know much about her. During her investigation, she had found out that, even if she can understand her friends and other people, she hadn't really been able to get to know and be close to any of her HS friends.

Then there's Narumi Hikaru who is friendly to everyone and a playboy back in HS. But he was the only one Mizuho couldn't understand, even if he could understand Mizuho very well. He was the only one who have talked with Origuchi. Just what is his relations with Origuchi?

The first volume starts off with Suga Mizuho learning about Origuchi's early demise. At 19 years old, Origuchi Haruka died of breast cancer. This is also the volume where Mizuho started her investigation on Origuchi's ex-boyfriend. It lead her to Yanai Takashi-sempai, whom she discovered had liked Origuchi. The first volume, as with the other volumes, dwells into the past between Mizuho and Narumi.

The second volume is about further inquiry into Origuchi's past. This time, Yanai-sempai and the popular girl in Mizuho's grade, Setouchi Madoka, joined her. I like this volume because the story developed so much. Besides continuing with the main story of trying to learn about Origuchi's past, it also dwells into the lives of Mizuho's other classmate, mostly about Madoka.

This volume tells the story of when Setouchi was stalked by a classmate. Madoka told Mizuho that her stalker might have something to do with who was bullying Origuchi back in HS since the bullying and her stalker's memo that she had received started at the same time. One of Madoka's stalker's memo mention about punishing Origuchi for being immoral. Besides that, volume 02 also contains this cute story between Madoka and Yanai-sempai's friend, Koike (the one who was told that Madoka is out of his league back in chapter two).

Then there is the story of why the stalker thought Origuchi is being adulterous. He had accused Origuchi because she was the only one who would defend a teacher who everyone somewhat hated and because he saw her entered his faculty office. The part where they, Mizuho, Madoka and Yanai, pursued this case was pretty funny. Mostly because I thought Yanai's reactions was pretty hilarious. He was really in denial that Origuchi would be someone adulterous.

"Yanai-sempai! We're going to sensei's house. Oi!"

"No! I won't accept Origuchi's adultery! I won't go!" He's being childish here (he's even crying) and on their way to sensei's house, he was dragging behind.

"Sempai! Hurry up!"

Lol!


He glared at the teacher when they confronted him. Then there was his reaction when he learned that the boyfriend that he had heard from Origuchi (the one who was talking to her on her cellphone back in chapter two). It was funny when he learned that it was really different from what he was expecting.


Volume three... is mostly about Narumi's and Mizuho's past. Mizuho learned a bit about Narumi's personal life as they seemed to have developed some kind of relationship but it's not really a relationship since Narumi is still playing around with other girls. It shows how Narumi was with other girls and with other people. Mizuho also remembers her childhood and her discovery of her father's affair with another woman. Maybe that's why she couldn't seem to loosen her guard around people, even with people she's supposed to be close with (like her boyfriend).

I only have 3 volumes so that's all I could say about it. I am interested in, at least, summarizing this starting from chapter 3. But before that, I have to translate Shoufu Mari... and before that, finish chapter 9 of Red for JShoujo.^^;

So till then...