Natsume’s Book of Friends 1 by Yuki Midorikawa: B+

January 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

natsume'sbook1Takashi Natsume has been able to see yokai ever since he was little, an oddity that resulted in the boy being shuffled from one relative to the next after the death of his parents. Lately, though, the yokai are getting more insistent, mistaking Natsume for his grandmother, Reiko, and pestering him relentlessly. After an encounter with a yokai residing in a ceramic cat, Natsume learns that his grandmother bound many yokai to her by capturing their names in a Book of Friends—which he has inherited—and vows to return their names to them. The cat, hereafter referred to as Nyanko-sensei, agrees to help with the stipulation that should Natsume get eaten by an angry and powerful yokai, possession of the book will fall to him, enabling him to rule over his brethren.

The first volume consists of four stand-alone chapters in which Natsume returns some names, gets to know a diminishing dew god and his one remaining worshiper, fields a request from some yokai to get rid of a meddlesome human, and helps the spirit of a swallow catch a glimpse of a man who was kind to her and cured her of bitter feelings towards humanity. The tales are each entertaining, though it’s the last, referred to in the Afterward as “The Swallow Underwater,” that is my favorite. It’s both moving and lovely and admirably showcases the true potential of this series.

On the surface, Natsume’s Book of Friends may appear to be simply an episodic series of stories about yokai, but it works on several additional levels as well. Because of his experiences in the past, Natsume has been regarded as strange and never made any close friendships. And yet, we see through the course of this first volume that he’s partly to blame for this. He gets so wrapped up in his supernatural endeavors that he fails to see the friendly overtures some of his classmates are making towards him. It’s only when he gets the chance to meet another person who can see spirits that he takes any initiative to get to know a human and, after that point, spends a bit of time with his other classmates, as well.

His feelings towards yokai evolve throughout the book, too. As he interacts with them, he begins to recognize that many are lonely, just like he is. Gradually, his feelings towards them change from dislike to “I don’t mind lending a hand” to, finally, risking danger to himself in order to give the swallow spirit the best possible gift he could. His outlook on a childhood interaction with a yokai also undergoes a metamorphosis; what he once saw as a betrayal he can now view as an act of kindness. Natsume isn’t a very expressive character, but he is extremely kind. Though his trusting nature might come to cost him later—even Nyanko-sensei is occasionally tempted to eat him—his ability to have faith in and sympathize with yokai makes him extremely sympathetic in return.

Midorikawa’s sketchy art matches the tone of the story well. It reminds me a little bit of Chica Umino, actually, though much calmer. Natsume and his classmates have pretty average character designs, but a lot of creativity shows in the designs for the yokai, from the tiny, Noh-masked dew god to the powerful spirit forced to dwell inside a tubby ceramic cat to all sorts of one-eyed, animal-faced creatures in between.

In the end, Natsume’s Book of Friends is a very unique title among the Shojo Beat line. I’m extremely eager to see where the story will go from here.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo, Supernatural Tagged With: ,

Monkey High! 8 by Shouko Akira: B

January 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

monkeyhigh8Beginning with volume seven, the age rating of Monkey High! was changed from Teen to Older Teen to reflect the leads’ growing interest in consummating their relationship. They finally achieve their goal in the first chapter of this final volume, but thereafter are kept busy with studying for exams and preparing for their final school festival.

An irksome last-minute rival pops up in the form of Gotoda, Haruna’s father’s secretary and his choice for her fiancé. Because her father, recuperating from an illness, and Gotoda are working from home constantly, Haruna accepts Macharu’s offer to stay with him for a while. Gotoda’s a scheming sort, though, and Haruna unfortunately allows herself to be swayed by his assertion that one day she’ll be a burden to Macharu. Happily, by the end of the volume she has found the confidence to believe that if such a time ever comes, they’ll work through it together.

The things that’ve been kind of annoying about Monkey High! all along are still annoying at the end: the reliance on shojo clichés and the occasionally intrusive antics of the supporting cast. Against the zany backdrop of a maid and butler café, for example, Haruna and her father have an important conversation. It’s a big moment, but is hampered by the shenanigans going on around it.

Still, despite its faults, the conclusion of this series made me sniffly and, really, isn’t that the best possible outcome for a Shojo Beat title?

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Monkey High! 7 by Shouko Akira: B

January 17, 2010 by 3 Comments

monkeyhigh7From the back cover:
Different classes, college preparations, and a disapproving father all make it hard for Macharu and Haruna to be together. So when they win tickets for an overnight stay at a resort, it seems like a great chance for them to take their relationship to the next level…

Review:
Although I liked this volume of Monkey High! somewhat less than the others, it certainly has its share of positives. Macharu and Haruna, sent by their class to fetch a wedding gift for their teacher, spontaneously enter a raffle and win tickets to “Mouse World,” including an overnight stay at a resort hotel. Haruna is anxious and Macharu, who frankly admits he wants to have sex with her but is not the least bit pushy about it, realizes that the situation is troubling her and so gives the tickets to the teacher. This moment of genuine sweetness works to quell Haruna’s doubts and, when the trip won’t fit in with the newlyweds’ itinerary, it’s Haruna who now advocates going.

The resulting date is wonderfully awkward. Both are so concerned with making it a special day that every time something goes wrong, it’s a crushing blow. It’s a bit painful to read, but it’s a situation with which most people can likely sympathize. I also like how a couple chapters later, when Macharu suddenly gets gung ho about working to get into college, it’s Haruna who feels that she’s being left behind even though she’s the one with better academic prospects. She has several goals that she’s been pursuing independent of Macharu, but it’s only now that she realizes he’s going to be experiencing things without her, as well.

On the negative side… the whole resort plotline reminds me of something I just read in High School Debut and of course the two leads are interrupted (by the collapse of Haruna’s father) before they can consummate their relationship. It’s not that I’m all pro-teen sex or anything, but because they don’t go through with it, we’ll probably be in for more angst about whether they should. At least the interruption puts Macharu in contact with Haruna’s dad, who says nasty things about his lack of prospects and inspires all that hard work that has Haruna fretting.

Also, it feels like the whole volume centers on the question of closeness for the couple. How close are we? Are we less close now? It feels like we’re more close now. Oh, wait, now we’re less close again. Now we’ve had a poignant conversation and we’re close again. I still like the characters a lot, and these moments provide opportunities for Haruna to show her vulnerable side and Macharu his more mature side, but it does get a bit repetitive.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Adolf 1: A Tale of the Twentieth Century by Osamu Tezuka: A

January 15, 2010 by 4 Comments

adolf1From the back cover:
On the eve of World War II, the destinies of three men named “Adolf”—including the infamous dictator of Germany’s Third Reich—became inexorably intertwined…

Review:
I had already requested Adolf via interlibrary loan when Connie posted her excellent review of the series at Manga Recon. You can see what she has to say about it here.

In this later work, serialized between 1983 and 1985, Tezuka masterfully intertwines the stories of three men (though two are technically boys) named Adolf. The story begins in the summer of 1936, when Japanese journalist Sohei Toge is in Berlin covering the Olympics. His brother, Isao, is enrolled at the university there and when a suspenseful competition keeps Sohei from making it to a prearranged meeting with his brother, he arrives a couple of hours late to find his Isao’s body in a tree with what seems to be plaster dust under his nails, a clue that reminds Toge of the murder of a geisha he reported on back in Japan. Some policemen promptly show up and carry the body off, but when Toge makes his own way to the precinct they claimed to be from, nobody knows anything about the incident.

Thus begins Toge’s quest to find out what happened, aided by some initials Isao left behind on a scrap of paper, anonymous phone calls, and a woman named Rita who claims she was in love with Isao until he became obsessed with some radical groups on campus. In a riveting sequence, Toge is captured by Nazis just as he locates his brother’s body in a shallow grave and is tortured because, it is revealed later, Isao didn’t have what they were looking for and they believe he managed to pass it on to his brother. Toge’s story comes to a pause in 1936 after he brutally beats and, it is implied, rapes Rita after discovering her true allegiances. Probably we are supposed to excuse this because of all of his anger, fear, and frustration, but it (and the aftermath) is really quite horrible.

Next, the setting shifts to Japan where we encounter two boys named Adolf living in the city of Kobe. Adolf Kaufmann is the son of a German father and Japanese mother. His dad is a staunch Nazi supporter and forbids his son from befriending Adolf Kamil, a Jewish boy whose family runs a bakery. Kauffman can’t understand why it isn’t okay to play with Adolf, since he’s German too, and some poignant moments ensue when people attempt to essentially destroy his innocence with their views of Jews as an inferior race. Kamil’s parents aren’t keen on his friendship with Kaufmann, either. The boys’ story intertwines with that of Toge because Kaufmann’s dad is involved both with the murder of the geisha as well as the search for the information Isao was supposedly in possession of, and when, in 1938, the boys stumble upon this revolutionary bit of information, the fallout isn’t pleasant and ultimately results in Kaufmann being reluctantly shipped off to Germany to attend a school for Hitler youth.

As Connie attested in her review, Adolf is quite amazing. Tezuka’s storytelling is supremely skilled, combining passages of narration with an economical and cinematic visual flow that sweeps one along quite effortlessly. There are no awkward moments, nothing unnecessary, and though one might wish for a little more time spent on, say, the anguish of Adolf Kaufmann’s mother as her world falls apart, the fact remains that she is but a small part of this epic tale. In this grim world, only the children are truly innocent, but one wonders how long that will last; although the boys plan to reunite and remain friends, Kaufmann will undoubtedly be changed by his experiences in Germany while the security of Kamil’s parents in Kobe might be in peril.

By reading only the first volume, I feel I’ve just barely scratched the surface on what will surely develop to be an incredible series. Some awful things occur here, and some awful things are set in motion, and yet reading Adolf ultimately is a pleasurable experience simply because it is so very well done. Rest assured that, even before I finished this volume, my ILL request for volume two was submitted.

Filed Under: Historical Fiction, Manga, Seinen Tagged With: ,

Cheeky Angel 1-10 by Hiroyuki Nishimori: B

January 8, 2010 by 1 Comment

cheekyangel1These first ten volumes of Cheeky Angel have been sitting around my house gathering dust for several years. There’s nothing like agreeing to a manga trade, however, to inspire one to finally read something before it’s gone. I’m glad I did because I ended up enjoying them a good bit.

When rambunctious nine-year-old Megumi Amatsuka and his female pal Miki defend a mysterious wizard from some other kids, Megumi receives a magic book as a reward. From the book emerges a genie and Megumi promptly wishes to be the manliest of men. Instead, the genie turns him into the womanliest of women and tries to extort ten years of Megumi’s life to undo the change. An irate Megumi hurls the book into the river and has been a girl ever since. All records and memories of Megumi ever having been a boy were altered; only Miki remembers the way things used to be.

The story picks up again six years later when Megumi and Miki, steered by the counsel of a psychic, enroll at the neighborhood high school that will theoretically lead them to the book so that the transformation can be undone. Megumi (played in my brain by Summer Glau) has grown outwardly very feminine, but still possesses some masculine attitudes, namely a certain degree of rash fearlessness. Throughout the first few volumes, her looks attract a motley crew of admirers: Genzo the former thug, Ichiro the average guy, Hitomoji the wannabe samurai, and Yasuda the geeky pervert. Although the guys really would prefer for Meg to remain a girl, they nonetheless lend their assistance to her efforts to become a guy again.

cheekyangel4I haven’t read many series that were originally published in Shonen Sunday, but Cheeky Angel does share common attributes with two that I have read—Case Closed and Inuyasha. In all three series, there is a larger plot that is touched on from time to time, but most of the story is made up of the episodic adventures (with a dash of comedy) of a likable ensemble of characters. In these ten volumes, Megumi encounters the genie twice more (on the first occasion it places a curse on her and on the second it informs her that the magic will eventually wear off of its own accord), and it’s definitely interesting each time, but more time is spent on foiling the murderous plans of some yakuza, preventing Miki from going through with an arranged marriage, et cetera. Just as no one believes anything fruitful will come of Inuyasha’s encounters with Naraku until the very end, there’s no real chance Megumi will suddenly become a boy again in the middle of this 20-volume series.

Sometimes I’m not a fan of episodic storylines, but Cheeky Angel pulls it off because Nishimori-sensei never loses sight of the most important aspect of the story: Megumi’s struggle to choose between accepting her current femininity and finding a way to return to what she once was. Even during the whole yakuza encounter, this dilemma is at the forefront of Meg’s mind and keeps the series focused even while silliness occasionally ensues. Because of her beauty, guys are continually showing their worst sides around her—coming off as horndogs, chiefly—which makes her question whether she really wants to be one, but then at other times her friends will come through for her in a big way and earn her admiration, reinforcing her “it’s cool to be a guy” belief while simultaneously inspiring some confusing semi-romantic feelings.

cheekyangel7While Megumi’s internal indecision is probably the most compelling aspect of the series, her relationships with the other characters are also rewarding. Miki is a very interesting character in her own right, the voice of reason who wants Megumi to stay a girl, but yet questions her own reasons for doing so. Although Miki claims she never thought of the male Megumi in a romantic light, there are hints from time to time that the two of them might’ve had something if Megumi had stayed a guy. Megumi’s effect on her male friends is also nice to see: Genzo makes obvious progress in thinking things through more clearly and restraining his impulses to glomp Meg, and Ichiro surprises himself by displaying courage in some dangerous situations. I also like how their perception of Meg changes from lust object to valued and respected friend, with the possible exception of terminally pervy Yasuda.

On the negative side, the biggest problem Cheeky Angel has is its repetitiveness. I cannot begin to tell you how many times Megumi encounters a couple of lecherous thugs while out in public and kicks them into submission: it happens many, many, many times. And while I completely get that her feelings for Genzo, the forerunner for her affections, would vacillate, depending on how accepting she’s feeling of her feminine side, the cycle of progress followed by backsliding (usually prompted by him doing something moronic) does get a little frustrating. In addition, some of the episodic plots are pretty lame and Meg’s family—a dad who wants to see his own daughter naked and a mother who encourages Meg to let him indulge his curiosity—is profoundly creepy. Thank goodness they appear so rarely.

cheekyangel10Artistically, Nishimori is to be commended on a few points. Yes, at first, his characters do occasionally appear to be vaguely cross-eyed, but he also employs a variety of character designs (except for the thugs) that all look Asian. Also of note: there is no fanservice at all in this series! For a manga about a hot chick who might possibly have feelings for her pretty friend, one might reasonably expect there to be something, but there never is. Megumi and Miki generally wear their school uniforms, but on casual outings are dressed either conservatively or in baggy clothing. VIZ’s production doesn’t earn as much praise, however, as there are several terms that could’ve used liner notes and a smattering of occasions where dialogue appears in the incorrect bubble.

Ultimately, Cheeky Angel is a shounen ensemble comedy with a good deal to offer. I read these ten volumes pretty much back-to-back and I could’ve gone on reading more if I’d actually owned them.

Filed Under: Gender Hijinks, Manga, Shounen Tagged With:

not simple by Natsume Ono: A

December 25, 2009 by 7 Comments

notsimpleFrom the back cover:
A story within a story,
A book within a book,
A tale about the search for family,
For an emotional home.

Ian, a young man with a fractured family history, travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister. His story unfolds backwards through the framing narrative of Jim, a reporter driven to capture Ian’s experiences in a novel: not simple.

Review:
I normally reserve my comments about a comic’s art for somewhere near the end of my review, but since the fact that Natsume Ono’s style deviates from the manga norm is glaringly obvious, I thought I’d address it first. Her art is spare and kind of squiggly, true, and yet it’s absolutely perfect, adding to rather than detracting from the narrative. I honestly cannot imagine this heartbreaking story being illustrated in any other way; to pair it with pretty art would be too wrong for words, so don’t let the lack of same be a deterrent.

If you, like me, have ever thought, “Why don’t more stories have sad endings?” then not simple is the manga for you. That’s not even a spoiler, really, since the structure of the story reveals the fate of Ian, the hapless protagonist, practically immediately. The book begins with a conversation between Jim, a writer, and Ian, in which Jim announces, “You’re going to be my next novel.” From there, a prologue depicts the end of Ian’s story, in which he is a drifter looking to keep a rendezvous with a woman he met years earlier, before shifting back in time to chronologically cover his life from childhood until the moment he leaves for the meeting.

The hardships and misfortunes of Ian’s existence are beyond many, and just when you think it couldn’t get worse, it does. Growing up in Australia as the child of a drunken mother and absentee father, he’s extremely close to his sister, Kylie. When Kylie is sent to prison for robbery—her means for funding a new life with Ian by her side—he’s left alone at home, and after his parents divorce, ends up living in London with his mother. Upon her release, Kylie finds him there and they have the briefest of brief reunions before she sends him back to Melbourne to be with his dad and promises that they’ll meet again once he achieves his dream.

Years pass. Ian has always loved running, and his dream is to break a certain runner’s record. He and Jim originally met when Jim was assigned to interview him, and they reconnect when Ian’s peculiarly jubilant response to placing fourth in a race attracts the notice of Jim’s editor. Ian, having achieved his goal, now feels free to seek out his sister. His search is long and disappointing, hindered by a series of terribly unlucky near-misses and a set of relatives that don’t care much about Kylie or Ian, let alone helping them achieve a reunion.

If this sounds like just about the most depressing story around, that isn’t far off the mark. And yet, it never strays into implausible territory. Ian is a likable guy—a strangely pure and innocent person who is, simultaneously, somewhat of an enigma—but the stresses of his life begin to take their toll and the final time he shows up at Jim’s place, after an absence of two years, the change is palpable. For years, he’s been matter-of-fact about the horrible things that have happened to him, but finally is so worn down that he’s become haggard and yearns only for the warm personal relationships that have been denied him. Jim’s an interesting observer, as well, ignoring his own family about as strenuously as Ian searches for his. If there’s anything I could complain about with not simple, it’s that we don’t learn more about Jim’s particular circumstances.

Depressing or not, not simple is masterfully told and completely unforgettable. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be this: haunting.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Seinen Tagged With: , ,

High School Debut 13 by Kazune Kawahara: A-

December 19, 2009 by 1 Comment

VIZ sent this (the series finale!) over a month early! What a great Christmas present!

hsd13From the back cover:
Yoh faces a difficult choice: should he go to university all the way in Tokyo or stay near Haruna? Haruna wants to support Yoh’s decision no matter what, but will her high school romance end with his graduation?

Review:
Is it considered bad form to write a review consisting entirely of hearts and sniffles? That’s what the adorable concluding volume of High School Debut tempts me to do.

On the surface, it’s really not much different than an average volume of the series. We begin with Haruna realizing that asking Yoh not to go away to the college of his choice was a selfish act, and zealously trying to convince him that she’s really okay with a long-distance relationship. A chapter in which their friends try to cheer them up by arranging for a ski trip is followed by one in which Haruna meets Yoh’s mom (spazzery ensues, as one might expect) and finally the chapter in which Yoh graduates and heads off to Tokyo.

Grafted onto this framework, however, are some very touching moments between the main couple. It’s easy for Yoh to see that Haruna is putting up a brave front for his benefit, and there’s a really nice moment where he just hugs her and says, “That’s enough,” at which point she promptly breaks into tears. Because he’s worried that she’s going to continue to hide her feelings from him, he next goes around to all of his friends and hers and asks them to take care of Haruna and let him know if she appears to be sad. Aww.

One of the strengths of High School Debut has always been that it doesn’t neglect the feelings of the male half of the relationship, and Yoh’s own sadness, worry, and insecurity about the upcoming separation are given equal consideration. One of my favorite scenes occurs as Yoh and Haruna are on the bus on the way back from the ski trip. He reveals that his vision of the future involves an oblivious Haruna being hoodwinked into dating some other guy. Haruna, meanwhile, spews a detailed, pages-long happy fantasy about how her first visit to Tokyo will play out, leaving Yoh hilariously overwhelmed.

The final chapter is sweet indeed. I shan’t spoil it, except to say that Haruna is Haruna right to the very end. I’m sad to see this series end, but I’m glad that it has done so before it ran out of steam. I’m sure it’s one I’ll often turn to for a comfort reread in days to come.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Beast Master 1 by Kyousuke Motomi: B+

December 18, 2009 by 4 Comments

beastmaster1From the back cover:
Leo Aoi looks like a crazy animal with wild eyes—and no one at his new high school will go near him! He does seem to have a special connection with animals, though, which intrigues overzealous animal lover Yuiko Kubozuka. In reality, Leo isn’t as frightening as he appears, but Yuiko finds out that he goes berserk whenever he sees blood! Will Yuiko be able to get through to Leo during these violent fits? Or will Leo’s ferocious side eventually devour her?

Review:
I initially didn’t expect much from Beast Master but, like other reviewers before me, I found it to be surprisingly adorable.

It’s the story of an enthusiastic animal lover named Yuiko Kubozuka whose attempts to hug and squeeze various furry friends all end in disaster. One rainy day, after her attentions have driven her pet cat up a tree, a bloodstained boy with wild eyes rescues the kitty then runs off. As always happens in shoujo manga, the boy, named Leo Aoi, turns up as a transfer student in her class the next day. The other students are all frightened of him, save Yuiko, and when some thugs arrive to seek retribution for a fight in which Leo thrashed several of their compatriots, it’s Yuiko who explains his circumstances and, with her natural ability to get along with anyone, handily converts the main thug, referred to simply as “Boss,” into a recurring ally and resource. She’s less successful in deflecting the violent intentions of another gang, though, and Leo ends up going into a berserker mode and nearly biting a classmate until Yuiko soothes him.

What follows from there is a series of chapters in which Yuiko is threatened and Leo’s bloodlust is triggered. Simultaneously, she uses her social skills to introduce him to others and show that he’s not really a bad guy, despite what his appearance may indicate. What makes this different than other series in which “heroine requires rescue” is a common theme is that sometimes Yuiko is able to take down the suspicious person herself, even if that person is actually Leo’s guardian, Toki. Sometimes, unfortunately, she’s a liiiiitle stupid, like when she decides that she’s capable of calming a violent stray dog despite much evidence to the contrary and a sincere warning from Leo. I found this lapse in reasoning especially disappointing, because up until then Yuiko had seemed competent and quick-thinking.

Leo himself is completely endearing, much more like a kitten than a wild beast and transparently overjoyed to have met a kind person who isn’t afraid of him. His plight actually reminds me a lot of Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke: he looks frightening until he smiles, at which point he’s utterly transformed. In fact, Leo in chibi mode bears a striking resemblance to Sawako in the same state; is this a case of long-lost manga siblings?! My very favorite moment in the volume comes in a rooftop scene when Leo, wanting to cheer up a depressed Yuiko, puts his arms around her so that birds will land on her like she’s always wanted. It’s very, very sweet.

Overall, Beast Master is adorable and, though it employs a few shoujo clichés, unique. It’s not quite a romance yet, but I have no doubt that the second and final volume will take care of that!

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Crimson Hero 12 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

December 17, 2009 by 3 Comments

crimsonhero12From the back cover:
With one of their ace players injured, Nobara and the Crimson Field girls must fight harder than ever. Their challenge is the Newcomers’ Tournament, and their performance in this venue will determine just how far the team can go. But Nobara’s distracted when she learns that one of her not-so-secret admirers seeks to crush Yushin and destroy the boys’ team!

Review:
The girls’ team has done fairly well in the Newcomers’ Tournament, but losing Tomo to injury means they’ve got to hurriedly train a stand-in just to have the minimum number of members required to play. Meanwhile, when Nobara is injured during one of those “locked in the gym storage room” scenes followed by a “creepy stalker tries to corrupt me but I’m protected by my virtuous true love” rescue, this puts them at enough of a disadvantage that they end up finishing in 13th place, though they’re not entirely out of the running as far as their dream of reaching the Spring Tournament goes.

Despite the fact that the finals round of a tournament is underway, most of the volume actually centers on the love triangle of the series. Haibuki’s solicitude after Nobara’s incident with the stalkery guy makes her feel even more guilty for not telling him about her proto-relationship with Yushin, and she begins to think it wouldn’t be so bad if he knew. Yushin decides to handle things himself and, after the boys win their tournament and Haibuki both compliments Yushin on his captainship and the team on their general awesomeness, Yushin judges that the time is right.

I’ve never really liked Haibuki much, but the way he reacts to this news makes me want to smack him. I mean, nobody would react well to finding out they’ve been duped for months, but he plays the role of the wounded party to the hilt, moving out of the dorm in a huff and considering an offer to transfer to another school. I would’ve been more sympathetic, perhaps, if Takanashi-sensei hadn’t depicted him so woodenly during crucial scenes; an opportunity to really make us feel the horrible pain of betrayal was squandered there. Still, even had she done a better job, I still would’ve ended up hating him for immediately ringing up Tomo, whom he knows still has feelings for him. Don’t mess with her heart, you ass! I could get behind the storytelling decision to transition Haibuki into more of a villainous role, but I have a feeling we’re supposed to believe his actions are the result of profound heartbreak and not simply self-pity.

Crimson Hero may not be the best Shojo Beat has to offer, but I do still like it enough to want to follow the story, even if I can’t really get invested in the romantic plotline. I think I’d like it more if it were simply about Nobara and Yushin trying to strike a balance between loving each other and simultaneously pursuing their goals of volleyball greatness. If I’m lucky, Haibuki really will transfer out and leave the two of them alone, but I don’t think that’s very likely.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Butterflies, Flowers 1 by Yuki Yoshihara: B+

December 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

butterfliesflowers1The Kuze family used to be rich, with a retinue of servants ready to cater to their every whim. The daughter of the family, Choko, grew up experiencing the tender care of the chauffeur’s son, whom she called Cha-chan. Alas, after her father’s investments all tanked in an economic downturn, the family was forced to dismiss their household staff and open a soba restaurant.

Thirteen years have passed since then and Choko, now twenty, has just been hired at a new job. Almost immediately, she’s handpicked to join the administrative department by its manager, Masayuki Domoto, who seems to delight in harassing her constantly. It’s only when a disgruntled, knife-wielding man conveniently arrives to threaten her life that Domoto slips and calls her “Milady,” thus revealing the truth: he is Cha-chan. Happily, Choko catches on right away and no tiresome cluelessness ensues.

From then on, Domoto switches between his two personalities—the stern taskmaster and the devoted servant—causing Choko to refer to him as “scary and indulgent.” He picks Choko up for work each morning, but treats her shabbily while she’s there, yet is always around to protect her, whether it’s from the lecherous advances of a drunken client or the massive New Year’s Eve crowds at the family restaurant. It doesn’t take her long to fall for him, and though she tells him so, he doesn’t understand her feelings at all. By the end of the volume, Choko has embraced more of a master role in order to help Domoto see her as an independent woman and not the little girl he helped to raise.

Technically, Butterflies, Flowers is josei, but so far, it doesn’t feel much different from other romantic comedy titles in the Shojo Beat line. It’s a tad racier, with references to sex and some profanity, but one could find that in shojo properties without much effort. I’m sure many will read and enjoy it without being aware of any distinction concerning its origins.

Choko is an okay character: your typical cheerful, clumsy, hardworking type. Because of her sheltered upbringing, she sometimes comes across as incompetent and experiences chibified shock quite often. I like her the best when she switches into aristocratic mode and takes charge of the situation, be it bullying Domoto into seeing a doctor when he falls ill or deciding that even if he can’t grasp that her feelings for him are real, she’s going to keep on demanding his affection until he catches on. Domoto himself is an extremely difficult character to figure out—which one is the real him?—but some of the nicest moments occur when he’s flustered by Choko and shows his more vulnerable side.

Overall, this series is a lot of fun, though definitely lighter fare than I’d been expecting. Still, I like the characters and, even more, I’m intrigued by the new power dynamic emerging in the final few pages. I’ll definitely be back for volume two!

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Josei, Manga Tagged With: ,
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