Henry Reader Review: KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE VOL 5
KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE
Written by: Spica Aoki
January 2022 marked the release of the fifth installment of the highly popular shojo manga, KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE! The story continues as Kuroe continues to balance high school life and the fact that if she feels too much emotion, she will turn into the 100 meter tall giant monster (daikaiju) HARUGON! Before I go into this, I forgot to mention in our review for volume 4, Spica Aoki stated that she has been using the soundtrack of GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) as inspiration when working on this series, which is neat since Harugon's design has some influences from the design of Godzilla 2000. This volume is jammed back with world lore as well as high school turmoil that adds some stakes to Spica Aoki's characters in a way that keeps this series from stalling. So lets get into it with the volume's start off with a startling flashback....
We have a flashback showing younger days for Kuroe's mom and her "uncle" as they were biology students admiring the fossil remains of the earth shattering discovery that is: A Giant Monster. This eventually leads to Kuroe's mom finding the eggs that would later become Kuroe and as we soon find out...Kuroe's younger sister. The stakes get high though when Kuroe's uncle tries to alert the authorities about it but surprisingly...Kuroe's mother might have some strong feelings about being a mother to monsters.
Back on the mainland however, Kuroe deals with the fact that someone saw her use her "beam weapon" due to frustrations she is having with her current relationship with Arata strained due to his rising popularity in the media and her own insecurities about their relationship. This eventually leads to the the classic "shojo misunderstanding" with another man...but I gotta admit....the introduction of Daichi Yoneyama, who despite appearances...is a 5th grader.
While this does tread familiar ground with Shojo in general to allow the introduction of an "another interest", due to Daichi's age it creates a new "friend" for Kuroe. To be honest though, I understand that we need to get to the misunderstanding situation that leads to the insecurities of Kuroe and Arata's relationship coming to a head...its kind of uncomfortable the relationship betwen Daichi and Kuroe. While it is just "we are friends" and it showcases the conflicting misunderstanding for Arata....I am not sure if Daichi is the best way to create that conflict. I was almost thinking he was another "daikaiju child" but him being an...attractive 5th grader def has some issues when it crosses the ocean to English readers. I get that this is more for comic effect but it seems to somewhat derail the story a bit to get the classic "Shojo Misunderstanding Emotional Break Up".
I do note though that once this scene starts and Arata and Kuroe talk about their situation and Kuroe considers that they need to break up...its a very good and well written scene. Again I feel like Daichi kind of detracts from the situation, but Spica Aoki shines in showing the ups and downs of a relationship between a popular prince and a lonely monster.
After their break up, we get a fantastic sequence of Kuroe's friends Tomosato and Rairi who do a fantastic job of telling Kuroe that even though she may have a "monsters heart", it's not a bad thing. For their friendship is powerful cause of Kuroe's kindness, understanding, and willingness to be close to them. This though shatters a bit when Kuroe misunderstands a situation with Arata with his famous actor co-star (who might know Kuroe is a daikaiju) have an intimate scene for their movie. Kuroe reacts poorly to it though is surprised she hasn't turned into a monster. That is quickly interrupted as Kuroe finally meets her little sister...a giant monster that looks like Harugon and a bat and the manga ends for a to be continued as we now know that vol six will lead Kaiju Girl Caramelise to have its first GIANT MONSTER FIGHT! I also love that we now get a call back to the first words of the manga...LOVE IS NOTHING BUT TERROR!
I also want to note that Spica Aoki adds a really cute short story about Kuroe and Arata's first video chat date and not to spoil anything, but its super cute.
I throughly enjoyed this volume to be honest and its pacing continues to be its strength. While I'm not the biggest fan of Daichi, I do understand his role of having Kuroe be surrounded by folks who enjoy that she is "monster like", Daichi's age gimmick seems to me miss a beat to an otherwise compelling volume.
ICFAMM GRADE:
Story: 5 out of 5
Human Characters: 4 out of 5
Creature Concept: 5 out of 5
Design and Execution: 5 out of 5
Enjoyment: 4.5 out of 5
Total: 23.5 out 5
SOLID A
Don't forget to follow Spica Aoki herself on Twitter at:
The latest Tweets from 蒼木スピカ😈6巻1月21日 (@nakiringo). 漫画を描いています。KADOKAWA /月刊コミックアライブ「乙女怪獣キャラメリゼ」連載中。 薔薇監獄の獣たち/デビ★ロック/SPREE★KILLER□ご連絡はnaki0458☆
And if you want to pick up the manga itself, Volume Five (as well as the previous volumes) are available at the YEN PRESS website:
She loves him. Kuroe definitely loves Minami…right? But Minami’s popularity, his insistence that they keep their relationship a secret, her
