Mitogawa Wataru’s Manga “Chieri’s Love is 8 Meters” Volume 2

Good morning manga fans,

Today’s review will cover the second volume, consisting of 12 chapters and 184 pages, of Mitogawa Wataru’s manga “Chieri’s Love is 8 Meters,” ちえりの恋は8メートル in Japanese. For those unfamiliar, this is a romantic comedy focused on the budding relationship between two high schoolers, a boy named Kotaki Yumeji 小滝夢路 and a girl named Oomine Chieri 大嶺ちえり. A typical set-up for an adolescent love story with the only exception to its routine nature being the fact that Chieri became 8 meters (a bit over 26 feet) tall before she returned to her home town and reunited with Yumeji.

The first volume was released in early February of this year. Click here to read that review. The second volume was released on July 4th.

It’s important to remember that this series is published in Shōnen Jump+ the online version of Weekly Shōnen Jump, a publication aimed at young boys. That periodical does not permit mature content such as extreme violence, nudity, or sex. Shōnen Jump included undressed ladies and other explicit content in the past, particularly before the mid-1990s, but has become more restrictive over the last few decades. Although, the magazine has gone right up to the limit without actually crossing over and showing nipples or genitals. For instance, the following artwork published within the pages of a July 2017 issue left little to the imagination:

Contrast Shōnen Jump’s restrictions to the more permissible standards of Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior, a publication aimed at young men in which Hiroya Oku’s GIGANT was published. GIGANT’s content includes main character Papiko’s former lover physically abusing her, as well as naked breasts and sex scenes. Chieri’s Love is 8 Meters is not GIGANT. So, there were many titillating scenes, but no actual sex.

This series embodies the trope of the “lucky sukebe” ラッキースケベ or lucky pervert. That term refers to characters who inadvertently touch a girl’s breasts or see her underwear. Yumeji is a gentleman, not a pervert who would lift a girl’s skirt or peek under her shirt. Nonetheless, he has repeatedly been placed within Chieri’s cleavage and seen her butt.

Additionally, the bonus content at the end of the tankōbon was pure fan service. In that extra material Yumeji goes into a gym storage room looking for extra vests. However, at that exact same time that he was looking for the vests Chieri was using the storage room to change. Her changing curtain was inoperative hence the need to change somewhere else before physical education (P.E.). This resulted in Yumeji accidentally seeing Chieri’s bra and panties.

The mortified giant girl yelled “Close the door!” and yanked him inside, shoving him between her thighs. The duo then decided to skip P.E. to avoid the embarrassment of being seen leaving the room together. (Guess those extra vests weren’t needed after all.) While waiting in a tight space for an hour, Yumeji made his way up between her extremely large breasts until finally gaining freedom. If that’s not fan service then I don’t know what is.

However, hardcore fans may be disappointed that this series will never show nudity or sex. Best to keep in mind that this is published in an anthology aimed at young teenagers, not adults.

Personally, that does not bother me. Nonetheless, I do have a few critiques. For one, there was no conflict. There could have been a love triangle between Chieri, Yumeji, and a normal-sized girl, but there was no hint of even a potential romantic rival. Yumeji had no friends, female or male, besides Chieri. Chieri had two female friends, Hina and Tsukino, who cut her hair and teased her about Yumeji. However, Chieri had no other male acquaintances and never expressed interest in any other boys. So, the two of them eventually becoming a couple appears to be all but certain.

That’s not to say that Chieri did not get jealous. Yumeji showed interest in the large biceps of a muscular male teacher; the young boy expressed a desire to have a fit body like his ripped idol. Unwilling to share Yumeji’s attention, Chieri challenged the buff sensei to arm wrestle. (SIDE NOTE: “Sensei” in this context meaning “school teacher.” In English, sensei is most often used to refer to martial arts teachers, but in Japanese it has a much broader usage.)

Perhaps the most dramatic development in the entire volume was the introduction of a second giantess! Another 8-meter tall female student appeared in a single panel at the tail end of the book. (SPOILER ALERT: I read ahead to chapters which feature this new giantess and there still wasn’t actual conflict between the two of them.) Readers aren’t told how or why the ladies became enormous or how many other giantesses exist in this universe.

Moving on to the artwork, in general it was pretty good. There was an image of Chieri with “help” 助けて written over her eye which was a fun, non-diegetic touch. That happened when Chieri was begging Yumeji to assist with her studies. While the drawings were well done, I did find myself wondering about Chieri’s nose when viewed straight on.

There were numerous slice-of-life scenes which showcased how an incredibly tall person would interact with a human-sized world. For example, there was a cute bit showing Chieri’s enormous shoes dwarfing Yumeji’s and in a different chapter she carefully applied one of her extra-large bandages to his injured hand. As she did in Volume 1, Chieri also picked up and moved a car using nothing but her own two hands.

Overall, Chieri’s Love is 8 Meters is recommended to gentle giantess fans. This wasn’t an exciting series and at worst Volume 2 was a little boring, but for people wanting a low-stakes relaxing story it should fit the bill. It can be purchased in hard copy at sites such as Amazon Japan and read online at Shonen Jump+ To the best of my knowledge, there is no official English translation. Although, unofficial free translations are ridiculously easy to find online.

That’s it for today folks. Next week’s review will cover an anime. That anime includes an episode in which a certain policeman eats a special meat bun and becomes a giant! Until then, keep growing and reading manga.

This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.

All Rights Reserved.