The second volume of "Confidential Confessions" is finally out! Having happily read it, here's my review:

Confidential Confessions is a short-story manga series detail the lives of several girls. It's definitely more edgy and darker than most of the shoujo-manga out there--this is no Kare Kano. Instead, it goes over the more twisted things highschoolers are faced with these days, and never flinches away from the hard truth.

Volume 1 told two stories: The first, called "The Door," telling about two girls who plan to commit suicide together to escape from the bitterness of their unfullfilling lives. This deals with cutting, extreme bulling, sadism, prostitution and of course, suicide. The story winds along leaving you wondering if they'll ever get around to the eventual act. They plan and prepare, but can they do it? The end throws a curve ball, I'll tell you that; leaving you balanced uneasily between semi-sweet hope and horrid despair.

The second of the stories of volume 1 is called "Mistakes." The story of a girl whose life rapidly takes a turn for the worse when her father abandons the family, this one will have you praying for a happy ending. Eventually the heroine turns to prostitution. Just when things seem they can't get any worse, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. She meets a young guitarist who puts her up in his apartment for no cost and no favors. This is a tragedy though, and our herione has a tragic flaw befitting any Greek hero. She ends up arrested, but her love for the guitarist never fades and continues to give her hope even in her bleakest times. How does it end? It really depends on your definition of 'happy'. I think I'll go for the term 'wistful'.

And now there's a second volume. I must say, I was impressed. Sometimes mangas loose momentum on the second issue and don't do just to the first volume. Not so here! I liked volume 2 much better and was happy that the gritty tone was kept up. Volume 2 consists entirely of one story, though, and I felt that it took too long to get to the point in some parts. The second volume is about sexual harrassment and takes a hard look at gender stereotypes. The question that seems to be the basis is this: Do women deserve their lower status? The heroine struggles with her morals and her desire to be liked through the entire issue in a believable manner. The girl herself is captain of a prestigious tennis team who's coach is a total pervert. Again and again he degrades the girls and pushes it too far, but they're afraid to rebel and loose their tennis scholarships.

I loved it. After how volume 1 ended, I wasn't sure what desision the main character would make in this volume. It could have gone a number of ways, but I thought how this one ended was fitting and appriopriate after the ending of the previous two stories.