Juné 2004 - Tokuma Shoten 2001
1 volume
Translation: Sachiko Sato
When I first started reading BL manga a few years ago Only the Ring Finger Knows (OTRFK) was one of the most popular titles around and a staple of western fujoshi favourite manga lists. Recently restocked by DMP after years out of print, I took the opportunity to revisit this classic fan favourite, one of DMP's earliest releases. After so many years the story still does not fail to tug at my heartstrings and make me go, "aw!" and is a title I'd recommend to any BL fan who missed the fuss the first time around.
Adapted from a popular series of light novels written by Kannagi Satoru, only the first novel was given the manga makeover, a source of grievance for some fans of the novels, however, the story reads perfectly well as a single-volume manga and I'm definitely an advocate of series that know to stop while they're ahead as opposed to those that drag on interminably. I've read the first two novels (also published by DMP in English) and found the writing rather weak; I personally much prefer the manga adaptation by Odagiri Hotaru, whose expressive artwork breathes life into scenes that were stilted and clunky in the novels.
The latest fad in Wataru's high school is for couples to wear paired rings. Wataru wears a ring only because he likes it and doesn't concern himself with the fad until a chance encounter leads to the discovery that he wears the same ring as the most popular boy in school, Kazuki. Suddenly all the girls are pestering Wataru to reveal where he bought his ring since they all want to wear a matching ring with Kazuki as well. For Wataru, this all comes as nothing but a pain, especially on learning that the handsome Kazuki is not all that he seems; kind to everyone else, Kazuki is oddly antagonistic towards Wataru. Wataru is at a loss to understand why Kazuki is cold only to him and is bewildered by his own feelings of hurt in response.
OTRFK is a light shounen-ai manga that adheres to many conventions of shoujo manga. The main characters are a stereotypical pairing of ordinary high-schooler x most popular boy in school and everything about the plot is so generic that it feels like a cobbling together of boilerplate shoujo scenes. It has all the trademarks of another run-of-the-mill manga and yet the superior storytelling lifts it above the humdrum and transforms it into a touching tale of pure and delicate teen romance. For all the hundreds of stories with similar plots, this is one of the few that succeeds.
It's hard to put a finger on exactly what sets this story apart and I can only say that it's down to good intuitive storytelling. In a straightforward romantic story of this sort what's most important is that the reader believes in the feelings of the characters, can identify with their emotions and empathise with them every step of the way, and this is what OTRFK achieves effortlessly. It's a combination of excellent pacing, the right choice of expression for the right moment, a good balance between romance, angst and comic relief, and knowing just when to linger on those important emotional turning point moments, that Odagiri employs to craft a slowly simmering story where the tension gradually increases as the depth of feelings grow. The characters' reactions are natural and appropriate, and never seem exaggerated nor melodramatic. Yes, they find themselves in some contrived situations occasionally but I never stop believing their reactions through them all. It's a wonderful portrayal of the purity, excitement and fragility of youthful first love, the bewilderment of unfamiliar feelings taking possession, and the fear of rejection and being hurt.
In the end, it just goes to show that it doesn't matter how contrived or generic a plot is, I wouldn't care if it was the most original plot in the history of fiction if it failed to move me; the real skill lies in the success of execution and OTRFK is a good example of this most basic of fundamentals.
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