And here we are with the sixth and final installment of the extremely controversial "Confidential Confessions" manga, brought to us by Tokyopop. Take a moment to breath people, because once you've read this book you'll realize that the series is, at long last, OVER! And once you finish this book, you will FINALLY be able to go back to reading cheerful stories where the good guys beat up the bad guys, and where true love triumphs over all. I've enjoyed most of this series... wait, that's the wrong word to use. Okay, I've liked... wait, that's wrong too. Hmm... well, whatever I was feeling, I can say that I can confidentially recommend most of the books in this series to people who are looking for something thought-provoking. It's a shame that this final book just leaves the series off on a sour note (even more so than other installments of the series). As the final book in the series, here's the list of what we've covered so far:

Sexual Harassment
Prostitution
Rape
Suicide
Drugs
Stalking

Hmm, I wonder what THIS volume is going to be about?! The first story in this book is entitled "Secret," but considering that the story is about a girl being stalked by her former boyfriend, I find the title to be a rather odd choice, but whatever rocks the author’s boat, I guess. Sorry, that came out wrong. Anyway, as I was saying, the story for "Secret" revolves around a teenage girl named Manami, who has recently broken up with her over-controlling boyfriend. At first, this is the best thing in the world Manami can do. She hates her boyfriend, she's moving on with her life, she now has a new (better) boyfriend, and her life is getting back on track... at least, she thinks it is. One day, her cell phone rings, and when she picks it up, no one answers. A prank call? The next day she gets more calls like this. The following day, her cell phone is ringing off the hook, and when she turns it off, her home phone starts ringing, and it won't stop. Whenever the phone is picked up, no one answers, but if she doesn't answer, then the phone just keeps ringing. Of course, Manami knows who the prank caller is, and she confronts him and asks him to stop what he's doing. Unfortunately, when he finds out she has a new boyfriend, he only ups his attack. Soon he's hacked into her school website and has replaced it with VERY inappropriate pictures of her, he's watching her in her room, and following her around while she's on a date! After awhile, Manami's friends convince her to go to the police, which at first seems to work (the lady gives her some pepper spray and a buzzer), but for some reason Manami can't give the lady the name of the stalker.

This is actually where the story, which originally started out very interesting and suspenseful, just dives headfirst into hell, and the story never quite gets back on its feet again. Shortly after this visit to the police, Manami's boyfriend threatens to kill her and her friends if they ever go back to the police, and when Manami goes back to the police, they basically tell her that this is nothing to worry about and to go home (*_*). Manami gets a new cell phone, but her boyfriend goes to her friend’s house and threatens to stalk her if she doesn't give him the phone number, and like the good friend she is, she does NOT go to the police, and instead options to give him the new number, knowing full well he may try to kill her (thanks a lot, pal)! Numerous attempts to kill Manami's friends do nothing to change their minds about going to the police, and talking to parents seems to escape almost everyone's mind here (geez, I wonder what these people would do if they were being threatened by a known killer). Finally, Masami has gotten herself in a situation that is very much out of hand, and once she actually starts to get some help from some adults (people who can actually DO something about the situation), Masami ends up going back to her ex-boyfriend because he threatens to kill himself, or that he's dying, or something. You'd think she'd be smart enough to learn that this guy can't be trusted, but she trusts him anyways. The story ends in a way that is a true slap in the face, with Manami claiming that she can never live a normal life until her ex-boyfriend is dead. The story doesn't so much end as it does stop.

And what's the message of this story? That if you are being stalked you are powerless to do anything about the stalker, and you'll forever be scarred by this turn of events, without ever leading a normal life again? Sorry, Reiko, but I beg to differ. While I have never been in this situation before (and may never be), and while I may not be able to ever relate with someone who's been stalked, I do know that with therapy and time, and support from family and friends (something this person doesn't have much of), you can eventually move on with your life. In fact, this has been your message in ALL of your "Confidential Confession" books so far, so why is this the only situation you picked to not have hope at the end of the story?! Is it because the situation is out of the characters’ hands? Do you feel like she can never be happy because she had no control over the situation? If the answer is yes, then I think you underestimate how much control Manami COULD have had with the situation! I'm not sure what the Japanese police is like, but I do know that in America, the police are FAR more cautious of these situations than you give credit for! If there is even a THREAT of a stalker, and if you know who the suspected stalker may be, then those police will be on top of the situation with an investigation and everything! I'd even like to think that if the Japanese police weren't that great in getting on top of the situation as they should have been, they would have taken the situation seriously if someone comes in with a KNIFE they claimed was in their bike from someone they suspected to be stalking them! Despite how useless the Japanese police apparently are, I would like to THINK that they would at least take THAT threat seriously, instead of brushing the girl off and telling her not to worry about it!!!

Even if this is the case, the fact that Manami had several chances to go to her parents is baffling. What's also baffling is that once the stalker starts threatening Manami's friends, why didn't THEY go to the police... or better yet, THEIR parents! For God's sake, THEIR lives are in danger, and they won't go to Manami's parents because Manami is afraid of letting her parents know that she's not a virgin anymore?! And why is it that when the adults actually start helping Manami with her situation, Manami thanks them by going back to her ex-boyfriend? You see, even though I can suspend some belief with her stories (book five pushed the common sense bar a little too much for me), this book contains some of the stupidest people I've ever read in a manga book (and that's saying something since this isn't even a comedy). If ever there was a time for God to laugh at his own creation, now would be the time. I have no problem with Reiko making her situations look grim and horrible because, well, that's the whole point of the series. However, here Reiko's not giving us a realistic look at a serious subject, she's purposely putting her character through hell just to hammer in the point that stalkers are bad. And so what? The first couple things this guy did proved that a stalker was bad, and showing how serious the situation is wasn't a bad idea, but if Reiko wants to help girls out with some information on what to do when they have a stalker situation, then she’d better make the cops and parents more useful than they were here.

Instead of showing us a realistic situation where the main character finds ways to take care of the stalker, Reiko just seems to delight in putting this character through hell, until she can (in her mind) never again live a normal life because of this experience. The person writing the dating tips in the back of the "Boys Be..." books would do very well to write some notes about how to take care of a stalker situation in the back of this book, because the story itself (like the police) is utterly worthless in sharing this information with everyone.

My goodness, I haven't even gotten to the second story in this book yet!

The second story in this volume is called "Shouts" (or maybe it's "Wish," as it's listed in the index page), and it's about a high school girl named Koari, who is being bullied at school. Because she is always being bullied (glue poured in her hair, ears being stapled) her grades are constantly slipping (although not by much, she IS number 2 in the country). The teachers are never around when Koari's being bullied, and her mom hates her because she's not number 1. One day, Koari decides she wants to kill herself, except on that day a new student transfers to school who is weaker than Koari, so the bullies take their eyes off her and start torturing the new girl. Koari’s so thrilled to be off the hook, that she too starts bullying the new student (in ways FAR worse than the way she was treated), and, and... you know what, screw it! To finish talking about this piece of trash would be a waste of my time and yours. With an unlikable character, stupid premise, and an ending so abrupt I'd swear Reiko's manager stopped her from finishing it, this second story is not worth the paper it's printed on.

I never did like the fourth book of "Confidential Confessions." I thought it was an absolute waste of time and a complete disappointment. And while that book is still the worst book in the series (it's the only book in the series to get an F from me), this one comes pretty darn close to being a complete failure, too. It started out interesting, but the first story just becomes insulting to the reader’s intelligence, and the second story is just so utterly worthless and horrible, that it's a shame to think that THIS is the way "Confidential Confessions" is ending! For the most part, I've thought that this series was worth checking out, and it has (for a year or so) been one of the only series to seriously tackle such hard topics in a realistic, moving, and convincing way. Yet this final book almost completely botches it all up. Please tell me this isn't the way the series is ending. I know the grade at the bottom of the page only speaks for this volume of "Confidential Confessions" and not the whole series, but still, I would love for the series to go out with more of a bang than what this book has to offer. So of all the book in the series, here's what the scorecard looks like:

Book 1 = A-
Book 2 = A-
Book 3 = A
Book 4 = F
Book 5 = B+

And now it is time for me to close this review with my grade for the final book of "Confidential Confessions." But before I leave, I would like to thank Reiko Momochi for writing these stories, and I would like to thank Tokyopop for having the courage to print them. When all is said and done, I do say that it was a very interesting journey. Very interesting indeed.