A colour page of cuteness starts off this mini-flashback.

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Cuteness aside, chapter 153 continues the Jet Black Wedding with Bukiko of the Ge’Hyoukai planning to send Medaka and the remaining two suitors to the moon in an attempt to keep Medaka and Zenkichi separated. In the meantime, Medaka shares more memories of her first meeting with Zenkichi and just why she has such faith that he’ll make it in time to rescue her. 

The mini-flashback which spans the first half of the chapter is an entertaining read. Starting off with a two-year old Medaka “kidnapping” Zenkichi is both cute and hilarious since her demands only result in unlimited playtime together with snacks provided. The expansion on their first meeting to further explain and develop their background history is a welcome addition to this chapter. The earnestness of their friendship is shown through their childish innocence and it’s easy to see now why they’ve been together for fourteen years through the promise that Zenkichi made to Medaka. The personal meaning for her to have someone willingly declare they’ll always be by her side no matter what, is tantamount to her absurd marriage proposal, since for the first time in her life, someone would be with her always. Because of that, it makes it nearly impossible to not root for these two characters to be together.

And together they are once again as in typical Medaka Box fashion, Nishio Isin throws a wrench into his previous hint at going to the moon. Out of the blue Zenkichi and the others hilariously bust up the incredibly expensive rocket—apparently costing one trillion seven hundred billion yen—and coming to Medaka’s rescue. It’s quite the explosive entrance for the 100th Student Council and only fitting for the person they are rescuing. Medaka’s response and reaction to the entrance continues the humorous tone of the chapter and it’s what I continue to love about this series. No matter how serious the series attempts to be at times, Medaka Box always takes a step back to reflect on the absurdity of its story and allow readers to just take it all in with a laugh. 

As a whole, chapter 153 of Medaka Box was a great read and probably my favourite chapter of the week from all the ongoing series that I normally read. Medaka and Zenkichi are my two current favourite leads in all of shounen manga and this chapter only helps their case, especially with the switch in story telling to a romance battle manga. The romance is being played up more and more, but not without sacrificing what has made this manga a hit with me. The job of balancing out all the elements of romance and shonen battle manga are handled extremely well by Nishio Isin and Akira Wakatsuki’s artwork is up to par—once again matching the tone of the series. Simply put, Medaka Box continues to be a great read.

GO Rating: 4/5

A declaration of love and war in this chapter.

[MangaReader]