Title: The V Sign!
Genre: Sports, Drama
Publisher: Kodansha (JP), Comic Terminal (JP)
Story/Artist: Shiro Jinbo, Akira Mochizuki
Serialized in: Shoujo Friend
Official Page
In reading Shiro Jinbo and Akira Mochizuki’s The V Sign!, my only possible thought as I finished Chapter 4 is how the heck did this get serialized in a magazine? It has the wonkiest premise ever, this art stretches from mostly average to what is that smile in what is supposed to be a serious scene, and it has everything to do with volleyball, a sport I don’t really follow. Well, I’m going to assume the premise was interesting enough for it to be checked out, and from there, trying to find out what motivates our protagonist Yumi Asaoka to actually play the game and how she and her team will do in the upcoming matches, plus a few nicely timed hi-jinks, wacky specials, and that classic style art, make it something really addicting and a manga you might want to check out.
Yumi hates volleyball — she hates it so much that she even kicked a volleyball, which is a no-no if you follow the sport. She hates the fact that volleyball ended up killing her sister, and has vowed never to play the sport again…until her old team begs her to play again. She begrudgingly accepts, but plans to sabotage their chances of winning the championship. The problem is she ends up playing to win — she can’t even lose on purpose! Her love of the game is still there, but after being challenged about the game by a man who later becomes her coach, Yumi decides to accept and help him win at the olympic games.
Immediately the first thing that stands out is…the art. It’s classic shoujo art, which means some ridiculous detail in some parts, an overuse of eye shots in another, and lots of sweating. Because this happens in The V Sign!, and in some cases, it works, and in others, it doesn’t work. Mainly because some supposedly dramatic scenes where rivals are born and attitudes need to be re-adjusted instead look kind of comedic and doesn’t give off the intended effect. And then there are some drawings that just don’t work at all. It really is a style to get used to if you want to have any fun with this manga.
The second thing that then stands out is the premise, which seems about as true and flimsy as I have implied. I mean, hating volleyball because your sister died playing volleyball? And someone dying in volleyball practice? Really? Well, let’s just say dying in practice does happen, for one reason or another. You can go search online and find stories like this from over the years, but it happens. So the idea that Yumi could hate volleyball after what happened to her sister is a possibility. Too bad it was obvious she still wanted to play volleyball, and thus, it now comes down to how she manages to get along with her coach and the players she has to work with.
After those two issues, this manga comes down to how much you’re willing to read about volleyball, the background of the characters in the manga, to what possible special moves everyone has (that’s right, there are special moves here — at least, in the head of Yumi there is). If you can do all that, The V Sign! is a lot of fun. It is actually almost hard to stop reading, it’s that solid of a work.
