'Rainbow! Volume 1' is an absolutely adorable, cute, beautiful, girly, and simultaneously dark, harrowing and scary serialised webtoon by Tapas, now out in paperback, published by Graphix.
It is true to life in a way that is tragic, and in another way that shows how real life should be. It's simple yet effective as a character piece and a coming-of-age piece.It is all about seventeen-year-old Boo Meadows, a shy high schooler and part-time café worker with low self-esteem, who often escapes into fantasy and imagination to deal with her hard, intense, traumatic life in taking care of her unemployed, alcoholic and drug addict mother. She wants to be like an innocent child, who daydreams about being a magical girl, being like Kiki with her red bow and purple dress and flying bicycle, being amongst fantasy creatures, and overall being in a world where she wears cute outfits and is competent at everything she does and helps people, no problem.
But sadly, that's not the real world. And she has to grow up fast.
The reality she is made to live in consists of having no friends at school, and being the adult when her dangerously irresponsible and selfish mother refuses to be. She shuts people out because of how difficult, fragile and teetering-on-the-edge her life is; much like how her emotions and psyche are.
But Boo's life turns upside down the moment she meets Mimi, a new student at school. Mimi seems cool, confident, funny, open, friendly, understanding, spontaneous, and not afraid to stand up for herself and others. Boo finds herself becoming obsessed with the girl, for reasons she can't explain. Mimi is like everything she wishes she could be, and yet, gradually, as the two get to know each other more and more, they see they have more in common than first impressions, surface level appearances - the masks behind the troubled life and mind - reveal.
Boo and Mimi become fast friends, blossoming buds, and in a combination of dire life circumstances, verging on a nervous breakdown, and fate (?), they end up doing things together they otherwise would never have imagined...
It's a messed up real world, after all, full of complicated people.
It's scary how much I relate to Boo. I too recurrently feel lonely, and I like to escape into fantasy, imaginings and daydreams in order to deal with how dreadful and painful real life is, and with my depression and anxiety. A lot of her problems were me when I was younger.
Boo doesn't fantasise as much as I expected - as in, there aren't many fantasy sequences - and she never fights monsters as a magical girl, like the blurb says. The blurb lies about a lot of things, in fact, and is a bit confused on what 'Rainbow!' is actually about.
But anyway, Boo Meadows is a socially awkward and insecure human who loves fantasy, anime, magical girls, dresses, bows, pink and girly things, and helping people (at the expense of taking care of herself, tragically), so I relate to her. I think lots of young people will relate to her.
She's lovely, and deserves all the love in the world, and you will (I hope) want to give her a hug by the end of the book.
There is misery in her life - who can blame her for her childlike personality and escapism inside her head? - but also great hope.
No teenager - no child - should go through what she does. It's not normal and it shouldn't be normal. And some "adults" are not meant to be parents.
Oh, can I take the time to mention that Boo has the best boss ever? Seriously, all bosses should aspire to be like Clarice the café owner. She's so nice, helpful and understanding, and is always looking out for Boo, and willing to give her chances to prove and improve herself - insists on it, even - while also not taking anyone's crap. Clarice is an adult who's like a best friend, and your kindest, most favourite teacher - the best kind of adult! Firm yet flexible and caring for her employees' health and well being, that's Clarice.
Representation and inclusion: Boo is fat, possibly on the autism spectrum, though I'm not sure (it could just be anxiety), and both she and Mimi are definitely on the LBGTQ+ spectrum. Their romance is slow-building, with a sweet innocence to it, where they talk and listen to each other like human beings, which I appreciate. They can be read as just friends at this point. Boo has pink hair and Mimi has green hair, if that counts as part of the queer rep. Mimi is POC, as is a side character, Milo, Boo's fellow employee at Clarice's Café, who is also definitely queer.
'Rainbow! Volume 1' is, of course, not perfect. There is the aforementioned lack of actual magical girls seen on-page, as well as the lack of fantasy creatures and anime references (though it could be a sign of needed restraint?), and as the first volume of a continuing serialised webcomic, it is unfinished. That ending is so abrupt and sudden, like WTF? But it does leave me wanting more. I can't wait for the second volume to come out next year. Coming from me, who mostly doesn't bother with sequels, that should tell you something about how special this comic is.
So, 'Rainbow! Volume 1', sweet thing: If you like 'Steven Universe', 'Heartstopper', magical girls, and cute comics with a dark, real life edge they don't shy away from, then check it out. The colour palette is bold and gorgeous - the cutest! - and it is just my taste and style.
It's about the simple, beautiful, bright things in life. The life outside of your own head. Appreciate them while you can.
Final Score: 4.5/5
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