Azumanga Daioh 2 by Kiyohiko Azuma: B-

August 31, 2008 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
The second hilarious volume of Azumanga Daioh takes Chiyo and the girls from end-of-first-year hijinks into the general silliness of their second year. Includes two special edition comic segments: “Osaka’s Half Day” and “A Day in the Life of Chiyo-chan!”

Review:
This volume was pretty much exactly the same as the first volume, except some of the cuteness factor wore off. The things I liked the first time (Sakaki, the kitties, the nonverbal storytelling, Chiyo-chan) were still the things I liked this time and the things I disliked (Tomo, Yukari-sensei, the pervy teacher) were still the things I disliked.

I was wondering whether I’d actually like this better if everyone annoying were excised and it was instead the “Sakaki and Chiyo are reasonable human beings and occasionally walk a friendly dog” show. I don’t think I’d tire of it, but I guess the other characters are necessary if only to prompt amusing reactions from my two favorites.

I find I haven’t much more to say, except that I hope Sakaki manages to befriend a kitty by the end of the series.

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Azumanga Daioh 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma: B

August 12, 2008 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
Miss Yukari is not your typical teacher; in fact, she acts more like an air-headed student! But this works well in keeping up with the odd group of girls that attend her class such as Chiyo, the precocious 10-year-old high-school girl; Sakaki, the tall and admirable (who also has an unusual problem with animals); Tomo, the ultimate spaz; Osaka, the girl from outer-space (actually from Osaka); and Yomi, the sensible bookworm. Add in a teacher with an honest and upfront addiction to high-school girls and a rival P.E. teacher and you have yourself some Azumanga!

Review:
There’s no real depth here. Each character is a type, helpfully itemized on the back cover blurb, and doesn’t deviate much from established parameters. The vast majority of the volume is written in 4-panel strips that progress chronologically from April through Christmas of the girls’ first year of high school. There’s a punchline of sorts at the end of each of these, and this sort of segmented storytelling doesn’t really lend itself to a whole lot of character development.

What there is is a bunch of cute stuff and a lot of nonverbal storytelling (which I really like). My favorite character right off the bat was Sakaki, initially because her cool and stoic exterior hides someone who’s sweet and shy, so already my favorite strips tended to feature her. Then she started having wordless encounters with super cute animals and that was about all it took for me to declare this series a keeper, whatever else I might not like about it.

Said whatever else turns out to be some of the other characters. Energetic Tomo never fails to annoy me and Yukari-sensei is positively crap for a teacher, though she pales in comparison to the pervy Kimura-sensei. Sometimes the art looks a bit weird, too. There are plenty of cute expressions, but every so often someone’s proportions go a bit wonky and they end up looking like bad fanart.

I enjoyed this first volume of Azumanga Daioh. It offered a pleasant respite from action and angst and I plan on reading the rest of the series.

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Princess Tutu 2 by Mizuo Shinonome et al.: B+

May 10, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Book description:
Ahiru’s transformation into Princess Tutu has fulfilled her life-long fantasy, but her charmed new life is not a ballerina’s fairytale. Jealousy rules her new magical kingdom, and an envious Princess Kraehe will continue to thwart Ahiru’s efforts to win her broken-hearted prince. Princess Tutu will have to toss her tiara aside and become a soldier to fight for the heart of the boy she loves.

Review:
The story, although still different from the anime, picks up somewhat in this volume. This version of the tale is simpler and might possibly make more sense than the anime version. It still didn’t seem very much like a fairy tale to me, though. I was happy that one of my favorite Fakir scenes from the anime was able to be incorporated, although his backstory was not. Yet again, he’s forced to say, “I thought I told you to _____.” He must’ve said it three times in the first volume.

My major quibble with this volume is the art. There are plenty of cute panels, especially the giant hamster and the blarghing cat-sensei, but I swear this artist has a problem with butts! A straight-on butt is fine, but when drawn from any other angle, they just look weird! A good example is the picture of Rue on page 11. Her right leg looks fairly normal, but it looks like her left leg’s just been sort of propped underneath her skirt or something. I don’t see how it could line up with where her waist is at its current angle. Tutu’s also got the Funky Butt Syndrome on page 29.

Most of the time the facial art is okay, but Princess Kraehe seems to fluctuate. On the cover, she looks like a drugged-up prostitute, and then on the title of chapter 7, like a man. It’s somewhat of a distraction from the story, but it isn’t catastrophic.

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Princess Tutu 1 by Mizuo Shinonome et al.: B

April 30, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Book description:
Ahiru loves ballet but is rather clumsy at it. She has a crush on Mytho, but he seems detached and emotionless. A magical pendant from the proprietress of a new shop in town transforms her into Princess Tutu, a graceful ballerina who dances “to guide your heart.” She realizes that Mytho’s heart has been shattered and that only she can help him find the pieces.

Review:
I’m labelling this as shoujo, because the anime was, but this ran in Champion RED Comics, which I know little about. It certainly isn’t one of the major shoujo magazines that I’m familiar with. The two volumes that make up the Princess Tutu manga were also written after the anime, with the series director (Jun-ichi Satoh) sharing credit for the story.

I have seen all of the Princess Tutu anime, and liked it very much. (The opening song is gorgeous and the first half of the series is truly excellent. Second half is still better than loads of other shows.) Therefore, I probably won’t be able to keep some of the impressions from the anime from influencing my perception of the manga.

The anime was definitely something special, a pure fairy tale, which the voice actress for Ahiru described as “a moving picture book.” I’m not entirely sure that someone just picking up the manga would get that same impression, as it reads like a fairly standard magical girl story. There are some pretty substantial differences from the anime, ones which make the story a little less distinctive, at least at the beginning. Towards the end, thankfully, more fairy tale elements are introduced, and I’m hopeful there’ll be more of that in volume 2.

Overall, I prefer the anime at this point, and would advise anyone interested in the story to simply watch it instead. The manga is short, however, with just one more volume, which I already have, so I’m definitely going to keep reading. Plus, I’m curious to see whether it will end the same as the anime, or have any additional information about the fates of the characters.

Random note about the cover image: Ouch, that looks uncomfortable.

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