H E Nby OKU Hiroya
13 volumes total Reviewed by Evol Siren Although it ran in a shounen magazine, Oku Hiroya's Hen, meaning "strange or peculiar", is about a high school student named Suzuki Ichirou and his incessant pursuit of his effeminate but very male classmate Satou Yuki. The first three books of Hen are a series of short, unrelated portrayals of people finding themselves in "hen" or gender bending predicaments. Suzuki and Yuki's story doesn't actually begin until volume four.
Suzuki-kun is your classic off-beat loner: although he's somewhat popular among the girls,
he's unusually tall, sports a strange Elvis Presley-like hairdo, and chooses to associate with
neither the hoodlums nor the goody-goodies of his neighborhood. He rides a motorcycle to school
and can hold his own in a fight - in fact he's known around for his fighting skills.
Suzuki's target turns out to be Yuki, a harmless looking student from a rival school. He's short
and has strikingly feminine features (even is name sounds a bit girlie), but like most boys his
age, he yearns to excel in sports and has a crush on the most sought after girl on campus. As a shounen-ai story Hen isn't very convincing nor does it have much substance. Suzuki falls in love with Yuki not because of his character or personality, but because he looks like a girl. We can conclude from this that if Yuki was more masculine in appearance, Suzuki would have nothing to do with him. On the whole it is a typical shounen story after all - there isn't really much of a plot, most characters (except for Suzuki) are more or less forgettable, and we see more naked women than we see progress between Suzki and Yuki. Oku did say in an interview that he mainly chose to do a shounen-ai story because he wanted more female readers, and it seems he didn't really intend Hen to be a serious romance. Still, Hen has several good points. I found Oku's art style very distinct and unique. His characters (especially the guys ^_^) are definitely eye pleasing with their long legs and pretty doe-like eyes. The story does succeed at being a romantic comedy - there are extremely funny gags, sweet scenes, and tender moments. Without a doubt Suzuki is Hen's gem . He's the story's most likeable character, and you can't help but cheer him on. If anything, Hen is worth reading just to see how Suzuki deals with his hits and misses in the struggle to steal Yuki's heart. |
But despite his tough exterior, he's extremely sensitive and has good intentions.
One day out of boredom, he gets his palm read and is told, "Today you'll have a fatal encounter
that will change your whole life." Earlier on, he had crossed paths with a boy whose friend accidentally knocked soda all over
his sandwich. After the palm reading, he runs into that boy again and again, and each time the
boy does something to unintentionally irritate him. Suzuki decides to teach the kid a violent
lesson but finds himself unable to punch such a cute, girlish face. Before the cops show up,
our hero vows that he'll eventually get even.
The day Suzuki turns up at his school looking for him, Yuki runs out of class to escape, but of
course, his pursuer catches up with him just the same. As fate would have it, Suzuki once again
can't bring himself to hurt the cute little Yuki and instead asks him to be his "girlfriend".
Unfortunately he gets violently rejected, and thus starts Suzuki's quest to win Yuki's affection.