Title: My Special One Vol. 9
Author: Momoko Koda
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 185
Genre: Shojo, Romance
Publication Date: March 4, 2025
The Story
Okay, this was probably one of the weirdest volumes of My Special One that I have read. It was bookended by dreams that Emiko had with the two chapters in the middle serving as a bit of backstory of how Kanato and Kouta met and Emiko recanting her first love.
We open with a dream that Emika had where she was in the play Cinderella, only she was known as Emiderella. Our main cast played the different parts, such as Kanato as the Prince and Sahoko as the Fairy Godmother. If you’re familiar with Cinderella, you’ll probably find some humor in this special twist on it! If you’ve never seen it, it still came off as a rather cute story.
Next up, as mentioned, was a backstory of how Kanato and Kouta met. We got to see Kouta as a young boy, and yes, he was still sickeningly sweet back then, too. He ended up ripping his pants, and despite Kanato treating him like a rival, he tried to warn him so Kouta wouldn’t embarrass himself. That was the catalyst that started their friendship and how they first started off as a pair.
Next, we saw Emika talk about what it was like falling in love for the first time and how that transitioned into her love for Kanato. Finally, we end up with another Emika dream, only this time, it plays out like a crossover with the My Teacher My Love manga series, also by Momoko Koda. I will be honest, I never read that series, so some of the stuff was lost on me, but I’m sure fans of both series will enjoy this little special event.
Characters
The big focus here was on Kanato and Kouta and how they came to know one another. Both starting out as idol hopefuls with completely different reasons (Kanato’s seemed more like a bribe from his mother more than anything), we saw how they came to begin as a pair all over a ripped pair of pants. We also learned that Kouta likes little teddy bears on his boxers! Kouta hasn’t changed one bit over the years. Even as a little kid, he still had eyes filled with stars and wanted to spread happiness all over the world through the power of Japanese Idol Groups! Kanato was still gloomy as ever, but he warmed up to Kouta, which has kind of been a theme for him with everyone else in this series.
Final Thoughts
As I said, this was a weird volume and not the type of volume I would have expected right before the final one. The Cinderella spoof was fun to read, and it was great seeing Kanato and Kouta’s backstory, but outside of that, it felt like a bit of a recap with Emika’s first love. Yes, it all started out different, but it all circled back to what we had just spent the last few volumes seeing play out. The crossover chapter was lost on me only because I didn’t read My Teacher My Love, but even though the winks and nudges strewn throughout the chapter were things I didn’t fully comprehend, I can appreciate seeing two manga titles come together for the sake of some entertainment.
What this means for the final volume, I couldn’t tell you. My Special One truly feels as if it were divided into two completely different series. I was hoping this volume would bring us back to Kouta x Sahako, but it didn’t. With just one volume left to go, I have no idea how this one is going to end. Maybe we just get a double date with both couples, and it’s “Happily Ever After” like a Disney fairy tale? Your guess is as good as mine at this point, but if it’s more filler like this volume was, sad to say, I’m going to be a bit disappointed.
Time will tell, I suppose. Whatever may come, let us embrace it and see where it takes us.
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
