My Heavenly Hockey Club: Volume 5

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Ai Morinaga Publisher Del Rey

The eyes are the window to the soul.

Yeah, that was really cheesy, and no, I have no clue whether or not it’s true. I’m just as clueless about people as everyone else. But I do know that Ai Morinaga has mastered the way to make me do a double-take, and apparently, it’s through the gorgeously illustrated eyes of Japanese comic book characters. The second I saw the cover of my latest assignment, My Heavenly Hockey Club, I couldn’t help but stare into the characters’ beautiful saucer-sized eyes, framed with flouncy eyelashes as big as butterfly wings. Needless to say, I was pretty intrigued. And that’s the element of Manga that keeps me coming back for more. Each turn of the page is a new opportunity to view a visual masterpiece (in comparison to my pathetic attempts to draw literally anything, including a circle).

So here, we meet the Grand Hockey Club. Hana, the only girl of the club, is constantly either eating or sleeping. She has somewhat less than an hourglass shape and fits right in with the boys, who all seem to enjoy that fact. One member in particular, Izumi, loves her participation most of all. He has an adorable crush on her, but also clearly enjoys the team as a whole.

I’m not sure if a lot of Mangas work like this, but this book has a separate story for each chapter, as opposed to one constant story that flows through every volume. At first, this turned me off. But once I finished the volume, I realized that this structure works very well for the storyline. Its light and funny characters—who, of course, get themselves stuck in wacky situations—highlight the team’s bubbly relationship, causing the series to read more like a cartoon you’d see on TV. Which is undeniably enjoyable, no matter who you are. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t like cartoons, because I promise you that I will find you and bother you relentlessly until you admit that you are wrong. WRONG.

…Anyway, the first story in this book places our team in Mt. Iwate, a snowy little village obsessed with the oh-so-tantalizing mystery of the abominable snowman. Hana’s childhood friend, Daisuke, has invited them, not realizing that her teammates were all boys. Jealousy follows on both sides (remember Izumi? He’s pretty wary of this guy). And jealousy in the name of romance is a very common theme in this book; whether it be that of Izumi, or Hana’s boy-crazy elementary school cousin, or the landlord of a beautiful farmer with an outstanding debt (these references will all make sense once you read the book, I promise). The resulting mishaps are funny, charming and devilishly cute. Each story—or episode, as my mind interprets them—was a genuine pleasure from beginning to end.

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in the world of this close-knit team. Morinaga does a great job of giving each character its own unique traits and funny accompanying dialogue. This series is a great way to bide a little bit of free time, as well. Go ahead and read one chapter—you’ll see that it doesn’t take long, because you seem to immediately fit right in with the team and become engrossed in what will happen next. Oh, the allure of the short cartoon. And don’t let the people who will inevitably make fun of you get into your head. These books are really entertaining, and you get to enrich your life with some of the coolest girls and most passionate boys ever. And until real people can step up to the plate like that, I’m perfectly content with ignoring the naysayers and spending my time with these athletic yet clumsy cuties, and their magnificent, crystal bug eyes.