Bitter Virgin - Manga Review

Most slice-of-life manga I've read is innocent and pleasant, full of quiet tales of a family life or just getting through school. Bitter Virgin is far from innocent, and it takes quite a few steps into the realm of unpleasant. Daisuke is bored of his life in a small town and spends most of his days flirting with whatever girl catches his eye at school. The only girl he'd never go for is Hinako, a sweet girl who never allows men to touch her. He's disgusted by her "cute, innocent" act as if she's some perfect virgin who doesn't ever want to have fun with boys. One day, Daisuke hides in a confessional to escape some of his adoring female friends and Hinako mistakes him for a priest. She confesses to him that she aborted a child and gave another up for adoption after she was sexually abused by her step father. In shock, Daisuke suddenly realizes that her personality isn't an act, but merely a girl living in fear. He becomes increasingly interested in Hinako as he begins to understand her better, but the girls he used to play around with aren't so happy that their boy toy has suddenly focused his attention on the most plain, docile and shy girl in class. Hinako has to deal with their bullying and lies while Daisuke tries to get close to her and heal the wounds on her heart, all while trying to figure out why he's interested in her in a way that he's never felt before.
There's plenty of manga out there that deals with pretty heavy topics, but Bitter Virgin is one of my favorites. It drew me in from the beginning with flawed characters and an unassuming plot. There are a few contrived instances like a runaway baby carriage and a serial rapist on the run, but for the most part the story stays in reality and lets the characters stumble through like real human beings. The return of Daisuke's now pregnant older sister later on is especially powerful, as Hinako struggles to understand why anyone would be happy to be pregnant. Bitter Virgin is a painful story that doesn't make any apologies. It's not entirely depressing, as there are many sweet moments and happy times, just like real life. But it deals with things such as rape, abortion, and even love in a very honest way without pretending to be anything grand.
Artwork is clean and exceedingly simple. Lines are solid and clean with simple tones and a sparing use of background. The wide-eyed characters aren't quite cartoony, but they don't fall into the realm of realistic, either. The driving force of the story is the characters, and scenes and settings rarely play into the equation with characters standing out from the background or against plain white most of the time. Character designs aren't stunning, but they differentiate from each other enough and are pleasant to look at. The storytelling moves at a fairly even pace, never bothering to rush the reader, but sometimes slowing down to express emotions more clearly. Emotions are usually drawn in a manner more subtle than the popular "emo face contortions," of late, which makes it easier to understand what the characters are feeling.

Bitter Virgin has drawn me into the story, but I honestly can't recommend it to many people. The subject is a heavy and somewhat uncomfortable topic, and anyone looking for a good time should probably stay away. It's also a decidedly mature story, although the maturity comes more from the nature of the topic rather than any attempt at pulling in more audience members by showing naked teenage girls.

Bitter Virgin is scanned by Solaris-SVU.
You can read it online here.

--Ou-bento