Absolute Boyfriend - Yuu Watase

In this sequel, 16 year old Riiko Izawa finds herself still short of the cash she needs to pay for Night, the android boyfriend she accidentally ordered over the internet while thinking she was playing a game. The deal she has worked out whereby she takes him to school so that the manufacturer can collect data in order to improve their services isn't making her enough, and to complicate matters Night himself is rather naive when it comes to understanding just what the hormonal teens at the high school are really on about. For Riiko, this impacts her in more ways than one. Even her best friend has the hots for Riiko's new boyfriend, and along with other classmates form a fan club for him. Unfortunately things get out of hand and Riiko finds herself on the receiving end of some physical expressions of jealousy.

This sets up the love triangle that underpins the plot for the rest of the series, as neighbor Soshi comes to her aid. One thing leads to another and Riika discovers that Soshi is in love with her. He decides to do his best to help Riiko find her way, and Riiko is thrilled to be able to earn money working at the same place Soshi works part time at. Everything is not all roses, however, as Night all to quickly realises his failings and inability to have helped Riiko out and to have prevented or stop the attack. Coming to understand that if he is to be a real boyfriend, he has to step up, he himself finds a job, with unforseen consequences. Will Night and Riiko live happily ever after and pay off her debt, or is Soshi going to ride away into sunset with the girl?

Yuu Watase's gift for writing gentle coming of age type romances is well showcased here. The art is superb while the plot thickens and the characters gain even more depth. Riiko's own shyness and her innate sense of inadequacy propel the plot forward. Far from merely wringing her hands and having the male leads vie over her and rescue the distressed damsel, we get a far more satisfactory damsel who while she is indeed distressed, squares her jaw, lifts her chin, rolls her proverbial sleeves up, and just gets on with it. Recognising that a large part of coming of age is not just the getting of a boyfriend, but the continued development of self and the taking of personal responsibility, Watase gives us a cast that do just that and all without moralising or being overt about it.

It doesn't hurt that the characters are readily identifiable either. We all have known a Riiko, a girl who believes herself average and not worth a second glance compared to more "glamourous" girls in her peer group, the boy next door Soshi who hesitates to put himself forward, but when he does, goes that extra mile, and then there is Night. He may be an android, but he is the poster boy for the sweet and naive guy who is sweet, gorgeous and oblivious to it all. He is also the unobtainable dream: he worships his girlfriend, cooks for her, cleans for her... All together it makes for a lovely ensemble cast for a romantic fantasy, which of course, this is.

At around 200 pages, it's not too long a book for dipping into and with all the eyecandy depicted within the pages, is perfect for a bit of a light reading snack. The series does feature some mild nudity and sexual references, so it's not for younger teens or the very shy. It also is only available as a paperback edition, so be advised that you will have to buy a physical copy and not just purchase and download in your preferred e-reader platform. The RRP on the cover is currently £6.99 but there are so many copies out there that you can pick it from Amazon for as little as 60 p plus postage, so it's not going to exactly break the bank to collect this six volume series. It's well worth the shelf space.