Magic Patissiere Kosaki-chan!! (2016)
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Volume 4
Author/Artist: Taishi Tsutsui
Original Story: Naoshi Yomi
Publisher: Jump Comics Plus
Synopsis:
Onodera makes cookies to give to Raku for Valentine's, but can she muster the courage to give them to him?
Story/Characters:
It's Valentine's Day and if Onodera's natural timidness wasn't obstacle enough, we have Haru continuing to misunderstand the situation and see Kosaki-chan as a romantic rival of her sister. Next we have brief vignettes from each of the three partners as reports to the Magic Kingdom. Most notable is the first appearance of Honderson's human form. After that, we have Dr. Maiko deploy a magic cedar tree whose pollen makes people's clothes explode when they sneeze. We then move into the final arc of the story, where Queen Kyouko is abdicating the throne, which nullifies the magical girl contracts. However, when Dr. Maiko attacks the Magic Kingdom directly, the girls make a deal to be able to use their powers one last time. However, things go awry when Raku, who accidentally wandered into the Magic Kingdom after stumbling upon the portal in Maiko-sensei's office, reveals Kosaki-chan's identity. Onodera gets turned into a snail, so with Rurlin's help, Raku takes Onodera to the castle in a bid to get Queen Kyouko to break the curse while everyone else is busy fending off Dr. Maiko's minions. As Rurlin and Maiko duke it out, we learn about Maiko's backstory (tying in his crush on Kyouko-sensei from the original series and that conversation between Onodera and Maiko-sensei from back in Chapter 18). When Maiko is defeated, all the black mana within him coalesces into the final boss. We need all hands on deck to beat this thing, which means we need Kosaki-chan back in action. We learn that the curse on Onodera can be broken if Raku sacrifices all his memories of Kosaki-chan. When that's done, the girls get upgraded to Magical Princess Mode, which are so skimpy that them having to get naked for their ultimate final attack isn't that much of a change. The day is saved, but the final cost is that the connection between the human world and the Magic Kingdom must be severed. Teary farewells are exchanged and then we have the epilogue. I realize I've been spoiling pretty much everything thus far, so I'll at least leave my comments on the last chapter vague, only saying that things get tied up nicely.
Art:
For good or ill, depending on your tastes, the fanservice ratio gets bumped up quite a bit for the final road. I swear you can't go two pages without some clothing damage. The final Ultimate Whip Buster is like the finale of Kill La Kill. Setting talk of fanservice aside, the final battle is suitably dynamic and the big emotional moments are nicely rendered, reminding me of Tsutsui would later do with Bokuben.
Other:
We get a bonus chapter about Onodera and Raku sharing their first kiss and a thank you from Komi with an illustration of Raku and Onodera. The golden ending right there, let me tell ya.
Conclusion:
Although this series was never meant to be particularly deep, there are some good emotional payoffs in the end, making for a pretty satisfying experience overall. Unless you're positively allergic to fanservice, this is definitely worth a read.
Rating:
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