Puri Puri Volume 2 by Chiaki Taro
Sep 13, 2007
Puri Puri Volume 2 by Chiaki Taro, published by DrMaster, Originally published in Japan in 2005 by Akita, Translated by Daniel Sullivan and Asako Otomo,$9.95, Ages 15+
When Kamioda transferred to the St. Sophia school, he assumed that the faculty and the principal knew he was doing so in order to become a priest. Imagine Kamioda's surprise when he finds out his adopted father neglected to tell the principal about his goal. The principal tells him that the priest track was deleted from the school curriculum once it became an all girl school. Besides, St. Sophia is moving more and more towards becoming a regular private secular school. In fact, the principal has been sent to accelerate this process. He thinks that that the conservative nature of St. Sophia is actually holding back the intellectual growth of its students. He does agree to reinstitute the priest course track for Kamioda though. The usual length of study is three years, but Kamioda only has two! He must join all the Monastic Order Clubs and participate in them enough to where the president of each club will give him a stamp in a booklet. The first two clubs he joins are the Choir Club and the Exorcist Club. He's quite shocked to find out that the Choir Club is actually a rock band led by the cute Ririsu Mamiya who enlists his aid to seduce her crush, a male teacher! The Exorcist Club has only two members, counting Kamioda. The other is Ayumi Soma, who only did her first exorcism last volume. She and Kamioda are sent to exorcise a ghost with a pit stop at a hot springs resort.
This second volume actually improved on the first volume. I guess what I like about it is its irreverent take on Western religion. When the principal says he's going to reform the school and allow more self-expression, his nun assistant is the first one to take off her habit and split the side of her dress to show more leg! An my god, Kamioda, a PRIEST? The guy has absolutely no control over his desires or his attraction to girls. In fact, we never see any religious instruction whatsoever in these first two volumes. If you didn't know it was a divinity school, you would never realize it, except for a few nuns here and there. Most of the characters are ones you see in any high school comedy manga. The one thing that sets this title on a higher level is the gorgeous art. Without that, all the fan service and titillation would mean nothing. The girls are sexy. The writing very witty and fast. Very funny.
My Grade: A