As in Volume1 and Volume 2, Ichiroh!, Volume 3
, follows the wacky daily life of a number of ronin - college-aged students who failed to get into university and are now studying at supplemental schools in a second or third bid to make it to upper education. And, as in Volumes 1 and 2, the trials and travails of Nanako, a serious-minded, hardworking student are meant to be hilarious.They might be, too, if you can overlook the basic premise that Nanako, a hard-working and serious-minded student somehow failed her attempts to get into university.
Also side-splittingly funny are meant to be the many references to how little money Nannko has and how careful she is with her money. Because poverty is always a laugh and a half.
Ichiroh is a 4-koma, with a reasonably formulaic set-up for the panels:
Panel 1: Somebody shouts or declaims. Often inexplicably.
Panel 2: Request for clarification or explanation
Panel 3: Set-up for...
Panel 4: Punchline, which is almost always delivered in bold, italic, large font.
Slide whistle, clown horn or trombone going bwah-~wah~waaahhh~ must be supplied by the reader.
Side characters are becoming more numerous now which, like Lucky Star, allows for more combinations of jokes. Mai-chan's fujyoshi leanings are kind of "uh-huh" for us, but when she has to come out to Nanako and Akane, it allows them to sort of develop as characters. Same when we learn that Shino's obsession with Nanako has actual made her less selfish, in an entirely selfish way.
I had noticed towards the end of Volume 2 that the entire series was giving off more of a harem vibe than it had begun with. This is not lessened in Volume 3. If anything, with the appearance of Kozue (another student at Nanako and Akane's school) this feeling is increased significantly. Kozue has no reason to want to be around Nanako, but always is. And the addition of yet another tsundere character was a bonus for those people who like tsundere characters. This series has, like, 5 of them at this point.
Overall, Ichiroh! remains an unmemorable, but nice enough for a few evenings' read, comic strip.
If you're living the poor student life, have a miko or maid fetish or just like cute 2-dimensional girls standing around shouting punchlines at each other, you'll probably enjoy Ichiroh!
Art - 7
Story - 6
Characters - 7
Yuri - 3
Loser FanBoy - 3
Overall - 7
Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a copy for today's review and for being able to make a go of 4-koma here in the west.