Dear Mother and Father up in heaven…
Althrough my clumsiness and chronic bad luck caused you guys constant worry…
I managed to get i to Rikkyoin High School.
And, on my first day there…
…for some reason found myself chasing afer an elementary schoolgirl,
While riding atop a very peculiar robot.
Okay, as you can evidently tell just by the quote, which was taken off the first few pages of the book, this manga is by no means a serious read, instead it is something you would pick up on an afternoon where you have nothing else to do in order to get a laugh and read about how badly treated the four main characters of this series can get. The storyline is summarised on the back of the book as:
Chihiro has been cursed with bad luck all his life. But all that changes when he wins a mysterious lottery that earns him a spot at the prestigious Rikkyoin High School, a strange place where everything is decided by chance – even who gets appointed to the student council. Althrough Chihiro has drawn the winning ticket, this is no ordinary honor. Each day the student-council members must risk their lives to save the school from various forces of evil. Chihiro’s luck is about to be put to the test yet again, and one wrong move could mean death!
So yes, everything in this school is considered down to chance as done by regular lotteries, the first one being the determining factor of who becomes the President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary of the student council. Whilst this definitely may seem to be a big honor, the student council members are only temporary until the end of the year, by which if they succeed, they become fully fledged members. They essentially become slaves of the school, where they have to run various facilities and do the business work that would not usually be done by a student council to disarming bombs and rescuing their own members from a kidnapping attempt. The risk if they fail? Being expelled from the school.
Every chapter was a unique experience, some being more interesting than others however overall being an entertaining experience. It is a unique concept which I would consider the anti-Manabi Straight in which this time, they are forced to run the student council and must do crazy stunts in order to ensure their safety at the school. The story does try to attempt fanservice into the series, however it is a minor factor that seemed to escape my notice. There is also a backstory between three of the characters however that seems to be brushed aside most of the time and isnt really investigated in this volume, except for a few pages in which nothing is really explored.
In the main story, there are a number of main characters, however you could basically narrow down the number to five primary characters:
Chihiro – The president of the student council and protagonist of the story. Rather generic character who despite taking the lead role, will usually either require the assistance of the other members to do almost everything or will falter in making a decision.
Tokino – The vice-president of the student council and is the chirpy sidekick in this story. Still nothing special in terms of character personality but does play the role of childhood friend perfectly. Also seems to be the target of the most fanservice.
Koyuki – The treasurer of the student council and the youngest being an elementary student, having accidentally picked up the Kujibiki with the title on it. Is a crybaby and cannot handle most of the situations thrown at them the best, but does at least provides a few interesting chapters at the start and plays a major role in a few of the other chapters.
Renko – The secretary of the student council and most probably the best member out of the group. She is a genius and one of the few to survive the journey through elementary and senior. Has a boisterous personality however does realize the severity of the tasks set ahead of her and will at least play her part to make sure they are complete, only if to keep her position at the school.
Ritsuko – President of the official student council. A childhood friend of Chihiro and Tokino however has a much more badass personality in comparison to when they were children. Despite her personality in the council, she does have a softer side which is shown throughout the volume.
In regards to the artwork, overall it is really well done. Character designs are well detailed, with every character having a distinct appearance that matches their personality. Emotions are also well shown. I am also pleased to say that they had very little white backdrop, with every background having at least some form of minor detail added to them. However, as mentioned in the storyline, I do believe that they overdid it with the fanservice at points, which was not necessary and came off as forced. The quality did not degrade anytime during the volume.
There are numerous extras in this book which are worth a look at:
- The normal Del Ray Honorifics explained section.
- Introduction to the author and designer.
- Illustrations by other artists in between chapters.
- Chapter Introduction Artwork
- Chapter notes by Kio Shimoku
- Bonus Chapter: Kujibiki Genshiken
- Translation Notes spanning over 5 Pages
- Preview of Volume 2
- A single page of advertisments
In my opinion, this book isnt something which you would get for an epic storyline or anything like that, instead Kujibiki Unbalance is a book you would pick up if you wanted a decent School-Life manga that was filled with comedy and out-of-the-normal scenarios. I enjoyed it and will most probably pick up volume 2 at some point.
Overall Score
Storyline: 8
Characters: 8
Artwork: 9
Extras: 10
Personal Opinion: 8
Total Score: 8.5
