Title: いちご１００％ (Strawberry 100%) Vol. 10
Artist/Author: 河下水希 (Mizuki Kawashita)
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 191pp., w/furigana
Original Serialization: Weekly Shonen JUMP Vol 47, '03 - Vol 3, '04
First Printing: 5/5/04
Rating: 3/4

That's strange, apparently, they used the chapters from vol. 4 and 5 of the magazine in the previous volume, so the chapters are arranged a little differently. Hmm.

I don't know about this volume. I really like Yui, but she's out of the picture so we have a replacement, Chinami. She's very much like Yui in many ways, but nothing beats the original. The story was kinda ho-hum this time too. Rather than just focusing on one relationship, all the girls had their moments.

No bonuses, not even a color page.

81. WONDERFUL TONIGHT: At the nurse's office at their old high school, Junpei almost lets his urges get the best of him, but he gets interrupted by Tsukasa's cell phone. Her parents found out that she lied about where she was and want her home immediately. Before they leave, Junpei gives her a birthday present.

82. 文化祭パニック！！ (Panic at the Cultural Festival): At the school festival, both Aya and Satsuki get kidnapped by rival clubs before their movie, Chelsea's (sp?) Angels featuring those two and Tsukasa is to be presented. Junpei has a run-in with a girl who is being pursued by another guy. She hugs Junpei claims that he's her boyfriend so Junpei can pay the guy back.

83. 第４の天使 (The Fourth Angel): The girl, 端本ちなみ (Chinami Hashimoto) owes about $2000 to her ex-boyfriend. Junpei offers to help pay it back, much to the surprise of Chinami. He tells her that he's doing it for the ex-boyfriend so that he can finally dump her. To make sure Junpei is good on his promise, she decides to stick with him until he pays. Meanwhile, Satsuki and Aya are made to promote other clubs so they're not available when the movie is about to start. Since the crowd came to see the girls, they start getting more rowdy. Junpei has Chinami be the fourth Chelsea's Angel and she becomes a hit among the audience.

84. ちなみFEVER (Chinami Fever): Despite the popularity of their club, they didn't get first place and only got about $1000 in prize money. Junpei had hoped to get first prize as that would have been enough to pay Chinami's debt, but he has to deal with only half that. The ex doesn't take the money and lives with the loss. However, when he sees Chinami flirting with the guys, he goes on a rage and causes property damage. As such, Chinami is made to pay to fix it. She gets a job at Junpei's work place and as they're working, Tsukasa catches him and Chinami in an awkward situation and storms off.

85. 急・転・直・下 (A Sudden Turn): With Satsuki and Chinami taking up most of Junpei's attention, Aya has been feeling a little left out. She meets Junpei atop the roof in the same manner as they first met (she falls on him, revealing her strawberrypatterned underwear). They have some quality time together until they get interrupted by Chinami. Later, Junpei learns that Tsukasa is also going on a school trip at the same time he is. They're going in the same direction, but might not meet each other along the way.

86. 湯けむりの向こう側へ (Beyond the Cloud of Steam): Although Chinami is in another class, she manages to sneak on train with Junpei's class to Kyoto (with the help of Rikiya and Hiroshi, Junpei's buddies). At the lodge, it's revealed to the other guys that she's on the trip, but not to Junpei. When he does find out, she grabs her, but gets caught by a teacher chaperone who thinks he's molesting one of his students. He hides in the bath where Satsuki just happens to be bathing since the girl's bath was locked. After he's inside, his door gets locked

87. 恋愛交差点 (The Intersection of Love): Satsuki tries to make her moves on him, but steps on a piece of soap and gets herself conked out. Being locked in, he bangs on the door for some help. Fortunately Chinami has snuck out to take a bath and finds him and the naked and unconscious Satsuki. The next day as they're visiting the temples, Aya and Junpei almost kiss. And as luck would have it, Tsukasa happens to be in the same place at the same time.

88. ただ君に会いたい (I Still Want to See You): Junpei sees her witness what he's about to do and tries to talk to her, but she runs off. Later, with Yui's help, he manages to get in contact with her and resolve some things. She tells him that she would have really loved to be able to go on a school trip with him.

89. 抱いてアンダーワールド (Embracing Underworld): The next day, Tsukasa sneaks out from her group to spend some time with Junpei. At the shrine, one of Tsukasa's teachers comes so they have to hide under the building.

The blinds didn't like to stay closed especially with my ceiling fan on. so now instead of me, my neighbors get to see my silhouette.

Title: A.I.が止まらない (Love Won't Stop) Vol. 3
Artist/Author: 赤松健 (Ken Akamatsu)
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 224pp., w/furigana
Volume: 3/8
Original Serialization: Weekly Shonen Magazine Vol 36, '94 - Vol 40, '94, Monthly Magazine Special 11/94-1/95
First Printing: 1/17/00
Rating: 3/4

Ken Akamatsu introduces a pre-cursor to Love Hina in this volume with the main character making a promise to another. Overall, the story seems to be a little more interesting. I didn't have the urge to put down the book while I was reading it (unlike the last two). Still pretty typical romantic comedy stuff, though.

This re-release version has a color page (same as cover), interview with Ken Akamatsu, some sketches for the original art, and a few character intros between chapters with new art.

17. サーティ危険一髪 (Thirty in Slight Danger): Twenty has been participating in a pyramid scheme. When Hitoshi tells her that it's illegal, she goes through the computer to try and catch the perpetrator but ends up in trouble so Thirty goes after her. The girl's travels in cyberspace are monitored by a computer genius boy who is working with two cronies in the scheme. After going through some traps, she finds Twenty.

18. デス・トラップ (Death Trap): After finding Twenty, she is accosted by PETER4, the same virus that terrorized her at the end of volume 1. After some fighting, she and Twenty come out victorious. They emerge out of the computer into the room with the two cronies and get them apprehended. Meanwhile, genius boy makes an escape, but not before witnessing the girls materialize out of the computer.

19. 狙われたA・I (Targeted A.I.): Computer boy manipulates police files to release his two partners in crime on the condition that they help him capture Thirty. The two guys manage to get Thirty in a room before she realizes what's wrong. She tries to escape through the computer in the room, but that's a trap which gets her programmed compressed onto a floppy. Hitoshi traces down where Thirty disappeared and meets the boy, codename Billy G, the creator of the virus. When Thirty comes out of the computer again, she has been reprogrammed to dislike Hitoshi.

20. 蘇れA・Iの記憶 (Resurrected Memory): Billy G has apparently extracted the software module that allows the girls to come into the real world. He summons a fire breathing dragon program to attack Hitoshi. Twenty decides to delete the monster and Thirty, but Hitoshi grabs Thirty and gives her a kiss which brings back her memory. The dragon goes berserk and burns the room down. Hitoshi and Thirty thinks that the software module has been destroyed, but no self-respecting computer programmer would do without a backup.

21. 突撃取材にご用心 (Caution With the News Flash): 宮原貴子 (Takako Miyahara) from the school newspaper has witnessed Thirty emerging from the computer, so she wants to investigate and see what she really is for her news scoop. She follows them to his house, but bumps into a underwear thief who's been in the area. She accidentally takes a picture of him. The next day, she pretends to be in love with Hitoshi (sends a love letter) to try and sucker him in into talking. She manages to get mingled with that pervert again, who this time demands that roll of film. Hitoshi and the girls come to the rescue and while Takako is still suspicious, she stops following them around and releases a news scoop on the underwear robber.

22. パピーのいる日常 (Life With Puppy): Thirty and Hitoshi find a lost puppy and they take him in. The puppy has a collar though, so eventually they would have to return him. When they do so, Thirty is reluctant to and feels like she's malfunctioning, but Hitoshi assures her that letting go is part of being a human.

23. 聖なる夜に２人は・・・・ (The Couple on a Sacred Night): It's Christmas Eve and Twenty wants Thirty and Hitoshi to spend a romantic night together. She primes Thirty by showing her some adult videos and then proceeds to make arrangements so that Thirty and Hitoshi can spend the night in an expensive hotel (with her monitoring the situation, of course). Unfortunately, the night doesn't turn out as Twenty expects.

24. 吹雪の夜に山小屋で (At the Mountain Hut in a Blizzard): 神戸紀久子 (Kikuko Koube) is Hitoshi's cousin whose parents are in charge of a ski resort. There's also a little tension between her and Thirty as Kikuko has a crush on his cousin (as a child, he promised Kikuko that they'd get married and she still remembers). Kikuko and Hitoshi get lost in the hills and end up in a mountain hut for a while before getting saved by Thirty. Kikuko realizes that Thirty is more appropriate for Hitoshi and wishes them well.