Manga Maniac Cafe

3.75 - 4 stars

Both Jun and Kai are flawed, flawed characters. Jun is trying to raise her son on her own, after being rejected by her tiger mother, who died shortly after. They never reconciled, leaving Jun wounded and defensive. Her mother was perfect and wise, and Jun obviously screwed up by listening to a smooth talker when she was 19 and ending up pregnant and abandoned by both the father AND her mother.

Kai saved Po, Jun's son, during a tsunami. A pro surfer, his leg was broken in several places during the disaster. Kai lives for surfing, and can't imagine life without it. However, the very proud man is having a great deal of difficulty admitting that he's now afraid of the water. He's been spending most of the year since the tsunami and his accident in a drunken haze, screwing around and sleeping with any tourist who crosses his path.

Jun and Kai have to learn to trust themselves and each other in this moving story about an athlete who just can't quit, and a single mother who just can't learn to trust.