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| Boku to Uchûjin by NOBEL Chapter 1 page 2 |
Title: 僕と宇宙人
Author: NOBEL
Website: Lazy Nobel
Chapters: 13 (ongoing)
Keywords: aliens, romantic comedy, school life, cultural differences, language barrier, ojô-sama, BL, smart but arrogant male lead
Related media: a BL spin-off with 2 of the side characters
Yamamoto Manabu is a 3rd year middle schooler. Last year he was the Student Council President and ever since he has been crushing on the ex-Vice President, Shiratori Mizuho. When they end up in the same class, he looks forward to be Class Representatives with her. But then comes in the transfer student Sola Luli* who becomes Class Rep in Mizuho's stead. She comes from the Palopilu Planet, doesn't speak one word of Japanese and for some reason is very attached to Manabu...
*I chose not to respect the Hepburn transcription because I thought that l was "softer" than r and I could afford to since Palopilians aren't Japanese anyway.
(And that's when you're wondering why there is BL written in the keywords. It's just two side characters and it's pretty light, more shônen-ai than yaoi.)
Boku to Uchûjin is a 4-koma style romantic comedy. Contrary to the majority of school comedies, this one takes place in a middle school and not in a high school. I don't know if it has an impact on the story but I find the general ambiance of the work rather innocent in a good way (careful, innocent doesn't mean Care Bears, there are sad and depressing moments too). This innocent side is refreshing and original compared to other more famous works such as Hori-san to Miyamura-kun (see the complete review) where it tends to get over-melodramatic. Boku to Uchûjin is a comedy and even when things get serious, it doesn't pile on the pathos.
There are many side characters which can sometimes make the story a bit confused but it quickly gets back to the first circle of main characters (Manabu, Mizuho, Luli, Momoko and the Student Council). I liked it that, even though it's a romantic comedy, it deals with other themas like for example family relationships. However that too could become a weak point by dividing the story into arcs (it's okay in action mangas but not really in comedies or love stories).
As a Westerner learning Japanese, what first attracted me to Boku to Uchûjin is the metaphor of the foreigner. Aliens are, in the end, just foreigners that come from a bit further and pushing that distance to the maximum allows the author to shade a new light on the issue of cultural differences. Luli is a caricature of the gaijin: she doesn't speak Japanese and she has some weird customs like trying to bite Manabu's hands (notice the parallel with the kiss on the cheeks or on the hand as a form of greetings in the West). Describing the way characters who don't understand each other's language become friends and/or lovers is a challenge the author, Nobel, takes on pretty well.
The text is typewritten and since it's a 4-koma format, the pages are quite big and easy to read. As for the Japanese level, I'd say it's around intermediate level. The grammar as well as the kanjis fall into the JLPT N3. What's good with 4-koma is that there isn't too much text, since there isn't much space either.
To sum it up, Boku to Uchûjin is a good romantic comedy with a touch of originality. The characters are balls of cuteness and overall the story is pretty refreshing. It's a good read, making you in a good mood while being easy to understand for non-native speakers. The update rate is also amazing with about 2 pages per day which is probably one of its strongest point.
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