Please Go Home Miss Akutsu

Nerdy Oyama lives on his own, blissfully content with his own company. That is until Akutsu Riko, the school's notorious delinquent, decides to move in with him. With no explanation, she's at his house as soon as school is over, playing his games and reading his manga. Can Oyama evict his troublesome house guest? Does he even want to seeing how she's as hot as she is problematic. And even more importantly, why has she decided to make his life so difficult in the first place?

I admit I have a certain liking for this genre, with Nagatoro and I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School both being manga I keep up to date with. Baddest Girl has the advantage of being a fairly short run and therefore never draws out the premise too long, while Nagatoro takes baby-steps to bring the main couple together. I feel like Please Go Home Miss Akutsu is somewhere in the middle, given that even by the end of volume 1 we have some movement in the relationship. This certainly wins it a few points, as even the mighty Ranma 1/2 could get a little frustrating in the way it dealt with character relationships and constantlt resetting them.

As a male fantasy, there's certainly plenty here to attract the target audience. Akutsu-san is pretty easy-going with her wardrobe, not being overly bothered whether Oyama is getting an eyeful or not (though she takes the opportunity to "punish" him should the occasion arise). Oyama isn't so wet that he's off-putting either, being able to turn the tables on the odd occasion and cause some genuine distress to his unwanted guest. This gives a little credence to the idea that the two could find each other attractive, as it's rare that feisty girls will settle for total pushovers in any case.

Taichi Nagaoka's artwork is a highlight of the book, it has plenty of sharp lines, dynamic panels and real feel for direction, with plenty of interesting angles and action shots to give the pages some verve. The cheesecake is dished out on a pretty regular basis, though it's not so smutty that it's off-putting. It's hard to get behind a female lead that's a total slut, but when she knows the effect she can have (and how to manipulate her host) by being suggestive or flashing a bit of skin, it's entertaining to see Oyama go to pieces, at least initially.

The budding romance is a nice touch, especially Akutsu's completely shocked initial reaction to her own feelings, and how that changes the dynamic from the second volume. There's also the mystery as to why she's hanging out at Oyama's flat, which could be far more serious than the initial setup suggests. All in, the characters, setup and writing make this stand out enough from the "mean girl" manga trend to make it worthy of picking up, something I was initially sceptical over. I suppose finding the diamond in the rough is still universally appealing, and if you enjoy a bit of romance manga with a mature edge, then you'll probably want Miss Akutsu to stay over too.