Papillon Vol. 2

Rating T+ Genre manga Author Miwa Ueda Publisher Del Rey

My opinion of Papillon 2 thus far has been a positive one. It’s your typical shojo manga with brooding teens and difficult love triangles but sets others apart with its own uniqueness and underlying lesson.

Volume 2 starts with the newly re-vamped wallflower Ageha witnessing a kiss between her longtime love interest Ryusei and her twin sister Hana. Understandably crushed, Ageha turns her attention to her sick grandmother in the hospital. She also continues to receive advice from guidance counselor Hayato, who is attempting to help Ageha come out of her shell and gain some confidence. Ageha begins to be more and more comfortable with herself and due to even more extensive work with Hayato, starts to develop feelings for him instead. Ageha sums up the courage to ask Hayato to start a relationship and as you might be able to guess, his answer is cut off at the end.

Volume 2 is very different in terms of plot than the first volume. While the first of the series focused heavily on the sibling rivalry between Ageha and her popular sister, volume 2 is based on Ageha’s character development and family relationship. Her mother is introduced and the reader learns why Ageha was raised by her grandmother rather than her parents. Their shaky relationship is mended with guidance from Hayato. My assumption is this is what aides in the transfer of Ageha’s romantic feelings.

Author Miwa Ueda took the plot of Papillon seriously. In the back of the book is an excerpt from the author thanking a psychological counselor for their input on the rocky parent-child relationship between Ageha and her mother, and spoke with a former school guidance counselor on experience and proper treatment.

Papillon is the kind of story that is filed under ‘guilty pleasure’ for me. I’m way out of the 18 and under demographic and yet I can’t help but love it. It appeals to younger readers but doesn’t undermine them. It deals with issues in a positive way and is smartly written. There’s a preview for volume 3, but the text is in Japanese, so I had to gather what I could from the illustrations. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys an intelligently written love story.