Category: Manga Reviews

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Manga Reviews

Full Moon O Sagashite Volumes 1-4 by Arina Tanemura

This is a series that perhaps requires a larger than normal suspension of disbelief. For example, the reader must buy into the idea that teen suicides are turned into shinigami and assigned to a special Death Pediatrics Division. While they run around collecting souls, they deal with their romantic entanglements, while wearing fabulous outfits and occasionally manifesting as cute animal mascots. In Full Moon, the heroine is a 12-year-old terminal cancer case who gains the ability to transform into a 16-year-old idol singer. In the world of Full Moon, it is entirely probable that a pediatric oncologist is the former member of a famous boy band who still does music producing jobs on the side! There’s something delightfully loopy about Full Moon O Sagashite, and it is a very entertaining series simply because Arina Tanemura manages to pull of a funny and touching story about divine intervention in the life of a dying girl without making the story too sentimental to stomach.

Mitsuki is the heroine with a severe tumor in her throat. She’s an orphan, living with her strict grandmother. Her only dream is to sing and become famous enough that her long-lost friend Eichi will her of her where he is in America. Mitsuki is visited by shinigami or death spirits who take the form of a cat-boy named Takuto and a bunny girl named Meroko. They are on earth to stop Mitsuki from meeting someone who would prevent her death, but Takuto finds himself oddly drawn to Mitsuki and he helps her transform into a cancer-free 16-year-old so she can attend an audition. Mitsuki’s singing career as “Fullmoon” is launched. The thing that keeps Full Moon from being overly sweet is Mitsuki’s attitude towards her impending death. Wanting to sing to reach an old friend is a very romantic goal, but Mitsuki is almost bizarrely matter of fact in the way she refers to her upcoming demise. She’s not tearful or prone to emotion about it, but refers to death the way other people might talk about going to the grocery store the day after tomorrow. Mitsuki is passionate about her goal of becoming a singer, but the blase attitude that she demonstrates towards her terminal condition ensures that the manga remains intriguing.

As the plot develops over the first four volumes, Mitsuki starts seeing some progress towards her goal of becoming a singer. Meroko nurses her hapless love towards Takuto, while he seems to be falling in love with Mitsuki. The fact that Takuto and Meroko are the spirits of people who committed suicide adds an additional complication when they intervene in Mitsuki’s life, and events are derailed further when a rival shinigami named Jonathan shows up and tries to derail Takuto. Mitsuki’s doctor suddenly becomes her record producer and she sees an entirely new side of him. Takuto learns that Mitsuki’s love towards her lost Eichi might be less romantic and more pathological. Tanemura is always very good at juggling a variety of side plots. While Mitsuki is the focus, the characters’ concern over what might happent to Takuto if he doesn’t manage to collect Mitsuki’s soul is also explored, as is Meroko’s unrequited love and the mysterious past of Mitsuki’s doctor.

There’s plenty of humor in Full Moon as well and that also keeps the title from becoming overly sentimental. The shnigami have a habit of announcing themselves as if they are a bizarre comedy team, and Fullmoon’s manager is a drunk, which causes quite a few problems in business situations. Tanemura’s attention to detail is evident in the costume design and execution of all the characters. I enjoyed reading the first four volumes of this series very much, and I’m sort of kicking myself for not reading them earlier! I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

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Manga Reviews

Shojo Beat When It’s Short and Sweet

While the Shojo Beat imprint has plenty of longer series, for people wanting a quick fix of shojo goodness there’s always a two volume series. Single volumes, unless they are anthology or short story collections, often leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied as a reader. Two volume series give a story a bit more room to breathe, so I thought I’d talk a bit about my two favorite short Shojo Beat manga.

Flower in a Storm Volumes 1 and 2 by Shigeyoshi Takagi

Something that we don’t see too often in shojo manga is super powered heroines. I’m not talking about magical girls, with their accessories and transformations, I mean super powered in the sense that you wouldn’t be surprised to see the character show up at an open house for Xaviers School For Gifted Children. Riko starts out in this manga as the typical girl trying to lead a normal life in high school, but her plans are derailed because she has super-human athletic abilities and the unfortuante attentions of Ran Tachibana, an extraordinarily rich young man. This manga starts of quickly, as Riko’s school day is interrupted when Ran bursts in to propose marriage, accompanied by bodyguards and helicopters. Riko responds to this sudden protestation of love by leaping out a window, and Ran decides to make a bet with her. If Riko can evade him for 25 hours, he’ll stop chasing her. Flower in a Storm is filled with action and comedy scenes as Ran and Riko find themselves navigating their budding relationship while dodging assassins. Takagi’s art is dynamic and stylish. It is easy to believe that Ran is rich purely from the design of his sunglasses and suits. I’d love to see more series by Takagi translated over here.

Suger Princess: Skating to Win by Hisaya Nakajo Volumes 1 and 2

Nakajo is of course the author of the much longer series Hana Kimi. Shojo sports manga doesn’t often get translated over here, so I’m always curious to check it out, but I bought this manga as soon as it was released because I have Hana Kimi fangirl tendencies. Maya takes her younger brother to a skating rink and gets scouted by a coach due to her natural ability. Coach Todo wants to pair her with elite figure skater Shun, but Shun is determined to only skate singles and Maya doesn’t even know the basics yet. Shun’s a bit standoffish, and when Todo assigns him to coach Maya he’s even a bit harsh. But Maya sees figure skating as unique opportunity to learn how to excel at something and she throws herself into her practice. The obstacles the pair face along the way are very typical, there’s the threat that their skating rink might get shut down, and they have to deal with missing music when they perform in a competition. Even though the plotline isn’t very unique, Nakajo’s passion for figure skating is evident in the careful and realistic way she draws all of the skating action. This is a sweet story, even if it is a bit predictable. It is rated all ages, and would be a good manga choice for younger readers.

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Manga Reviews

Gentlemen’s Alliance + Volumes 1-4

While I was mainly inspired to host a Shojo Beat Manga Moveable feast because I wanted to spark some manga blogger discussion of one of my favorite manga publishing imprints, I have to confess that I was also selfishly motivated by a desire to work through some of my stacks of unread manga. I generally read my manga series volume by volume, without saving up several to enjoy reading all at once. I had so much fun reading large amounts of Real and Slam Dunk for the Inoue Manga Moveable Feast that I wanted an excuse to do it again for the Shojo Beat feast.

It just so happens that one of the titles I’ve stockpiled is Gentlemen’s Alliance +. I have the first eight volumes, but I’m not sure if I’m going to get through them all just because there’s so much I want to write about. I have a great deal of affection for Tanemura’s lone non-Shojo Beat title Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, due to the sheer amount of craziness packed into a series about a magical girl phantom thief reincarnation of Joan of Arc who goes up to heaven and hangs out with God. It is pretty hard to top that.

Gentlemen’s Alliance + is set in an elite school that is overburdened by the type of complicated class uniforms and political structure that one often sees in shojo manga. Haine, a former juvenile delinquent, attends Imperial Academy. She used to be the daughter of an elite family, but she was sold off for a somewhat inexpensive business debt and now spends her days cheerfully working at part-time jobs, hoping to get a glimpse of the President of the school council Shizumasa, who she has loved since she read a book he wrote as a young boy. The first volume introduces the cast of characters and describes the levels the students find themselves sorted into. Haine is of course a Bronze, while Shizumasa leads an entirely separate existence as the only Gold. Haine’s support system comes from her closest girlfriend the enigmatic Ushio and the Kusame, the younger brother in her adopted family. Shizumasa’s student council is made up of an eccentric bunch of students. There’s Maguri who has a somewhat violent image and poses as Shizumasa’s boyfriend in order to prevent Shizumasa from being ensnared by romantic entanglements while nursing his own secret love for Shizumasa! Maora is friendly to Haine, but he’s also the accountant, cross-dresser, and secretly in love with Maguri! Toya is a family retainer and Shizumasa’s trusted aide.

Of course, Haine doesn’t exist on the outskirts of school life for very long, and after letting out her violent yanki side in fighting an infestation of snakes at the school, she finds herself invited to serve on the student council as Shizumasa’s bodyguard. Ushio immediately joins the school council too, because she is going to go wherever Haine goes. While Haine might finally have the opportunity to get closer to Shizumasa, his difficult personality makes that almost impossible. He seems alternately sympathetic and hostile, leaving Haine feeling somewhat bewildered yet still determined to pursue her love.

One of the things I enjoy so much about Tanemura’s manga is the fact that the pretty art and peppy heroines lure the reader in, then she proceeds to explore some really dark themes while she juggles a plethora of screen tone and fancy hairstyles. Haine’s troubled past as a delinquent and her family history make her a much more interesting protagonist than the usual slightly sweet, not entirely bright shojo heroine. Shizumasa is dealing with struggles of his own, as he has an incredibly dramatic secret that prevents him from really getting close to anyone. There’s more complexity going on in Gentlemen’s Alliance + than the reader might expect, and that keeps this series from becoming too cloying. The darker moments are balanced out with funnier scenes, as when Shizumasa asks Haine if she has a fever and her response is that she’s been that way for several days because “I used my head…to think about a lot of difficult things…”

While Haine has plenty to worry about, she generally faces her challenges with an undiminished spirit. She’s elevated to the position of Shizumasa’s faux girlfriend in addition to bodyguard and has to deal with the sudden pressures of popularity. One of the nice things about this series is that Haine’s interactions are balanced between Shizumasa and the supporting cast. The other members of the student council are all well-portrayed and seeing how they relate to each other as well as the romantic leads of the series keeps things interesting. One of my favorite characters in the series has to be the mysterious Postman, who pops up in uniform at exactly the right moment to help Haine, makes a few comments, then quickly disappears.

After reading the first four volumes, I found myself throughly invested in the series and happy that I have the next four books stockpiled. Gentlemen’s Alliance + is a good example of commercial shojo at its best. The romantic foibles of a slightly ditzy heroine at an improbable high school isn’t a very unexpected situation to find in manga, but Tanemura does such a great job juggling comedy and soap opera as well as delivering some astoundingly pretty and detailed art. Gentlemen’s Alliance + is very consistent for what one would expect from a Tanemura series, and I enjoyed it very much even though it hasn’t yet hit the heights of insanity of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne.

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Manga Reviews

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden Volume 10

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden Volume 10 by Yuu Watase

I decided to start my week of blogging for the Shojo Beat manga moveable feast by looking at a title that I had anticipated for so long, when it actually showed up at my door I thought it might be a mirage! Volume 9 of this series was published way back in Sept of 2009, so that is certainly a long gap between volumes. I tend to look at Arata: The Legend with a little bit of side-eye just because of my resentment due to the Genbu Kaiden publication gap. In any case, I was very happy to get this volume and to see that volume 11 is listed as coming out in March, so there is less of a torturous wait as I continue to follow this series.

There’s a brief bit of story summary at the beginning of this volume, which was handy because I hadn’t gone back to reread the series. Watase starts the reader off in the middle of the action as Takiko continues her quest to save Bei-Ja as the Priestess of Genbu, aided by her Celestial Warriors. Takiko’s would-be lover Uruki decides that he’s going to save Takiko by taking her virginity, thus ensuring that she won’t be able to fulfill her duties as a Priestess. Hotcha! Unfortunately Takiko’s innate nobility, concerns for the people of Bei-Ja, sense of duty, and her secret knowledge that she has consumption cause her to turn down Uruki’s impassioned pleas. Resigned to the fact that they can’t be lovers, Uruki decides to support Takiko as best he can nonetheless.

While Takiko has managed to collect most of her Celestial Warriors, the holdouts are the twins Teg and Hagus. Teg’s odd destructive singing power has caused him to be imprisoned for use as a human ultimate weapon. Tagus won’t join Takiko’s band while his brother remains captive. Takiko and her companions set off across a frozen landscape to find Teg, harried by superstitious citizens and Takiko’s growing illness. I enjoy this series because Watase is able to balance so many story elements. There’s plenty of action and geopolitical intrigue as the Celestial Warriors try to round up their remaining members. There’s the always affecting romance between Takiko and Uruki, which is balanced out by all of the bonding moments and companionship with the rest of the Celestial Warriors. This volume also fills in a bit more detail about Uruki’s tortured past, which is always interesting. One of the things I always appreciate about Yuu Watase manga is her clarity of storytelling. Even though it had been years since I read the last volume, I was immediately swept up in the story again. I was able to appreciate the pacing of the action scenes and meeting the large cast of characters again. I’m so glad that there will be much less of a wait before the next volume! I hope that the release of this volume will encourage people to go back and check out the entire series. Watase’s blend of shonen action and shojo action make Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden extremely entertaining.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Manga Reviews

Apartments of Calle Feliz by EST EM on Jmanga.com

Apartments of Calle Feliz Vol. 1 by EST EM

It probably isn’t fair to EST EM, but I tend to think of her work as “yaoi for people who hate yaoi.” Yaoi just isn’t my thing as a genre, yet there are quite a few creators who have a large catalog of yaoi titles who I enjoy reading. Fumi Yoshinaga and EST EM seem like standouts as they have more of an indie sensibility, with a a focus on characterization and slice of life stories. I’m guessing that Natsume Ono would fit into this category of authors too, but her yaoi work hasn’t been licensed in the United States. I still have my EST EM titles from Deux stockpiled for a rainy day, but in the meantime I’m enjoying her e-book titles. Working Kentauros was gloriously off-the-wall, but Apartments of Calle Feliz provides a quieter, more meditative look at the lives and loves of a group of men who all live in the same apartment building. The core of the story centers around Luca, a writer who has just been kicked out of his apartment by his boyfriend. He finds the apartments of Calle Feliz and talks to the landlord, Javi. Javi says that his last apartment is already rented but says that Luca can be his roommate. Javi’s sudden offer of becoming roommates is mysterious in motivation and he declares “Because I think you’re pretty hot….is unfortunately not actually the reason.” Luca finds the economics of the situation compelling despite Javi’s eccentric behavior and he moves in, discovering that Javi is actually a well-known radio DJ in addition to being an apartment landlord. When Luca’s stuck for writing material, Javi tells him to write the stories of the residents of Calle Feliz.

Luca’s habits of writerly observation allow EST EM to provide quick snapshots of men in different situations. Dino and Salvatore are a committed couple, but their relationship is strained by Salvatore’s quirks – he’s a nudist and an agoraphobe who hasn’t stepped out of his apartment in three years. Noe has a relationship with twins, who want to know who he actually prefers. A puppet maker has a habit of rehabilitating people who’ve lost their voices. Eva lives in a noise-filled apartment and finds a connection with his deaf upstairs neighbor. All of these character vignettes are interspersed with the continuing story of Luca and Javi, as Luca begins to wonder what happened to Javi’s old roommate while they start becoming better companions for each other. EST EM’s art is always a treat, and she has certainly honed her talent for drawing attractive men. Unlike many other manga artists who cycle through a standard set of character designs, only varying hair and outfits, the reader can easily distinguish the differences between the large cast of people in this manga. While Apartments of Calle Feliz didn’t provide the humor and insanity of EST EM’s manga about salarymen centaurs, it offers a variety of enjoyable slice of life stories that should appeal to anyone who also enjoys the work of Fumi Yoshinaga and Natsume Ono.