Love*Com 14 by Aya Nakahara: B-

September 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

lovecom14Tall Risa Koizumi and her short boyfriend, Atsushi Ôtani, have been dating for a while and have weathered various obstacles. Their latest opponent is Risa’s visiting grandpa, whose primary objection seems to be their difference in height. He feels so strongly about it that he hires a hostess to seduce Ôtani in order to sabotage their relationship. This leads to two chapters of extremely frustrating angst and misunderstanding, in which Ôtani believes the tale fed him by a buxom stranger over Risa’s insistence that her grandfather is responsible. Of course, after all is revealed and Ôtani bravely dashes off to rescue Risa from the clutches of some possibly dangerous men, Gramps has a change of heart.

For the most part, the events in this volume are annoying. Grandpa blows in like a foul breeze, causes a few chapters’ worth of havoc, then wafts out again. Everyone acts like a moron at least once. The follow-up chapter, in which Haruka, Grandpa’s pick for Risa’s suitor, has his heartbreak assuaged by his fangirls, is pointless.

And yet, for all of that, it’s hard to completely dislike this volume of Love*Com. Scattered throughout are some genuinely nice moments between the lead couple, like Ôtani’s adamant declaration that Risa’s the only one he loves or an evening scene in a playground after Risa has run away from home to protest her grandfather’s meddling ways. This series certainly isn’t perfect, but it’s easy to forgive its flaws when it manages to deliver when it really counts.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Love*Com 12-13 by Aya Nakahara: B

September 15, 2009 by 1 Comment

lovecom12I used to be very fond of Love*Com but after a disappointing eleventh volume, my ardor cooled and the volumes have been piling up. For most of these two volumes, I was happy again, but when Risa’s grandfather is introduced at the end of volume thirteen, it all goes rapidly downhill.

Volume twelve begins with the gang awaiting Ôtani’s exam results and Risa trying to decide which vocational school she wants to attend. After this is resolved nicely, it’s revealed that one of their friends, Suzuki, failed to get into the same college as his girlfriend and is now waffling on whether to give her up to a more muscled dude who might protect her in his absence. This plot involves a judo challenge, which would otherwise be very stupid, but somehow Suzuki is kind of appealing and I wound up not disliking this story, despite all the silliness. I think a lot of the appeal is that, while helping their friend, Risa and Ôtani work together well. Overall, I noticed a distinct lack of squabbling between the two of them in these two volumes, which is nice!

lovecom13Of course, our couple can’t remain stable and happy for long, so as soon as the Suzuki plot is resolved, Risa’s brother has to voice his objections to the relationship which stupidly causes the protagonists to wonder whether they belong together. And as soon as that’s resolved, Risa’s horndog grandfather, who is about as one-note and ridiculous as a character possibly could be, objects to Ôtani because of his height and sets about trying to break them up. At least Risa reacts hotly, and some nice discussions about trust result, but my intense dislike for grandpa means this arc can’t be over soon enough for me!

On the positive side, these two volumes contain quite a few amusing moments. I shan’t list them all here, but I will end with my new favorite absurd quote from an author’s sidebar.

Drain your salads thoroughly! This is my plea!

Review copy for volume thirteen provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Detroit Metal City 1 by Kiminori Wakasugi: C

September 12, 2009 by 4 Comments

dmc1From the back cover:
By all appearances, Soichi Negishi is a sweet, well-mannered boy who loves Swedish pop music, trendy boutiques, and all things fashionable. But at the same time he’s also Krauser II, front man for Detroit Metal City, an indie death metal band whose popularity increases by the day. Once the DMC makeup goes on and Soichi takes the stage, his natural talents as a death metal god can’t help but flourish. Is this the band he’s truly destined to be in?

Review:
I knew going in that there was a chance I wouldn’t like Detroit Metal City—the front cover describes it as “gleefully profane” and “wildly ridiculous,” after all—but there were also some aspects that suggested I might, like a sense of the absurd (Krauser II riding a tractor must be seen to be believed) and songs with titles like “Death Penis.” In the end, I struggled to finish the first volume and must conclude that this series is simply not for me.

This is the story of Soichi Negishi, who moved to Tokyo for college with the ambition of starting an indie pop band. Instead, he finds himself taking the stage as Krauser II, frontman for the death metal group, Detroit Metal City. While DMC has legions of screaming fans, no one is much interested in Soichi’s music except for a few old classmates from whom he hides his affiliation with DMC. Throughout the volume, he tries to find an outlet for his own musical sensibilities, but gets humiliated one too many times and seems to be on the verge of embracing his role as Krauser by the final pages.

Predictably, I did not enjoy the rampant profanity or crude characters like DMC’s boss and drummer, but I might’ve been able to overlook that if Soichi, in his normal, everyday guise, was actually a likable person. In fact, his “normal” mode is as much of a guise as Krauser is, since beneath the mild-mannered surface lurks a person capable of plotting revenge on DMC fan who accused him of groping her on the train by dressing as Krauser and planning to have lots and lots of sticky sex with her. I understand that that’s probably the point—the line between Soichi and Krauser is much more blurry than he’d care to admit—but I personally don’t enjoy stories in any medium where I can’t find anybody to like.

On the positive end of the spectrum, there are some funny moments (see above re: tractor) and some entertaining juxtapositions, like when Soichi’s classmate sings one of his old songs while a DMC tune plays in the background, or when an e-mail from Soichi’s mom asking “You eating enough, hon?” is superimposed over a gruesome video shoot in which Krauser chomps on some bats. My favorite line comes after Krauser, in full make-up, helps a rival band member get over his nerves by rehearsing in a bathroom. The other guy is all grateful, to which Krauser replies, “I am the devil. You shouldn’t get too attached.”

Ultimately, I didn’t hate Detroit Metal City, but I’m not planning to read more. I might, however, follow plot developments from afar to see whether anything interesting comes of Soichi’s decision to accept his death god fate.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Seinen Tagged With: ,

High School Debut 11 by Kazune Kawahara: B+

September 3, 2009 by 15 Comments

hsd11From the back cover:
Haruna becomes worried when she sees Yoh hanging out with an unattractive classmate. (Yoh does seem to have strange taste in women, after all…) She has good reason for feeling uneasy—it looks like this girl really does want to sabotage their relationship!

Review:
The main reason I love High School Debut is that it skewers some of the typical shojo clichés—the reappearance of an old girlfriend, for instance—by simply having its leads communicate with each other. Volume eleven, alas, is a disappointment in that regard.

It begins when Haruna spots Yoh smiling (a pretty rare occurrence) at his cram school classmate and finds this so painful that her heart is sick. Her mood is buoyed when Yoh asks her on a date, but he fails to show when said classmate, Miyabi, appears to collapse from heat stroke. Of course Yoh is not the type of guy who’d ignore someone in that plight, but he’s left his cell phone at home and can’t call Haruna, leaving her waiting for hours. Later, when he calls to explain what happened, Haruna is torn. She wouldn’t like Yoh if he weren’t the type of guy to be kind to someone in need, but insecurity and jealousy flare up again when she imagines him caring for Miyabi so attentively, and she hangs up on him. I actually love all of this bit, because I can utterly sympathize with Haruna’s reaction, how when you love someone you want to keep him all to yourself.

The part I don’t like comes in when Miyabi begins scheming and fiddles with Yoh’s phone so it blocks Haruna’s calls, sends a break up text, and redirects the contact for Haruna to point to her own phone. AND YOH BUYS IT! He talks to her a couple times and doesn’t realize she’s not Haruna! So, on top of the frustration of our main couple not being able to exert their excellent communication skills to resolve things, has apparently become unable to discern his girlfriend’s voice from that of a relative stranger. Granted, he begins to have his doubts pretty quickly, but it’s annoying all the same. Haruna’s annoying, too, since she evidently believes that Yoh is capable of breaking up with her over a text message, which he is not. At least the resolution to this is rather sweet.

The final chapter sees everyone back at school and Haruna trying to think of something special to do for Yoh’s birthday. Someone at work suggests an overnight trip, and she innocently runs with the idea, seeing it only as an opportunity to go somewhere new. Asami finally clues her in to the implications of an overnight trip and, instead of talking to Yoh about it, Haruna reads some of her brother’s magazines about guys and their attitudes towards sex, purchases some frilly lingerie, and tries to psych herself up to do it with Yoh so he won’t stop liking her. Argh! I dunno, I guess this cluelessness and searching for answers in dodgy print sources is perfectly in character for Haruna, but it’s never bugged me like this before. Perhaps it’s because it comes on the heels of the previous chapter.

In any case, despite the irksome elements in this volume, High School Debut has so much warmth and charm that my overall impression is not diminished. In fact, I’m sad there are only two volumes left!

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Boys Over Flowers 36 by Yoko Kamio: B

August 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment

boysoverflowers36After 36 dramatastic volumes, Boys Over Flowers has finally come to an end. It’s just too bad it didn’t happen sooner. The end of volume 31 would’ve been a good place, for example, with Tsukushi and Tsukasa finally realizing that their love is what’s most important in their lives. Instead, after Tsukasa recovers from a rather lame bout of amnesia, he announces that, due to his father’s sudden illness, he is taking off for New York after graduation and won’t be back for four years.

Although some very nice moments between the main couple result, like a night spent alone together and some endearingly misspelled skywriting, on the whole this volume is a disappointment on that front. With Tsukasa’s departure looming and Tsukushi forced to deal with her wacky family, they spend too much of this final volume apart for it to truly feel satisfying. Also, while I don’t really mind checking in on some of the secondary characters introduced throughout the series, I begrudge them the pages that could’ve been spent on the protagonists.

On the positive side, the volume provides some unexpectedly touching moments with Tsukushi and the rest of the F4, who are graduating, too. Instead of taking dates to the prom, they’ve decided that the last girl they want to dance with in high school is Tsukushi and we get a little farewell moment with each of them. Also, a bonus story about Akira, the least developed member of the F4, proves to be surprisingly entertaining.

Boys Over Flowers might end with a whimper rather than a bang, but don’t take that to mean that it isn’t ultimately well worth reading.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Boys Over Flowers 29-35 by Yoko Kamio: B

August 23, 2009 by 9 Comments

These seven volumes leading up to the conclusion of Boys Over Flowers, which now has the distinction of being the longest shoujo series I’ve read, feature some pretty drastic reversals of fortune. Through spontaneous trips to New York City, love confessions from unexpected sources, kidnappings, deserted islands, stabbings, and amnesia, Tsukushi and Tsukasa endure a whirlwind of on again, off again romance that can leave the reader rather dizzy.

Because it’s better simply to go with the shoujo flow than try to reconstruct a linear account of what happens, I’m going to forgo any attempt at a comprehensive summary and instead write a little bit about each volume individually.

Volume 29: B
boysoverflowers29Tsukasa is convinced that he can make his mother understand his feelings for Tsukushi. The two of them have a very sweet date, one of their first that’s uniformly happy, with visits to pet stores and attendance at a baseball game. Alas, this game is the scene for a record-breaking home run for an American player, and Tsukushi’s catch of the ball ends up televised in New York, where Tsukasa’s mother happens to see it. She yanks Tsukasa back to New York, and Tsukushi pluckily follows.

After a couple of dumb chapters wherein Tsukushi just happens to run into someone she knows, things pick up again when she finally gets to see Tsukuasa. He coldly tells Tsukushi to go home and that he’s staying in New York of his own volition. She is stunned, but then sweet Rui arrives to lend her his support.

Volume 30: B+
boysoverflowers30Rui reveals that he is in love with Tsukushi. Although they don’t really work as a couple—the one date they had in the past was pretty awkward—I still see why they’d be drawn together. There’s a certain aura that Rui exudes, a strong, wistful kind of pull, that produces romantic angst of such a wonderful quality that it quite literally makes my heart ache a little. Even better is that this time, Tsukushi’s feelings for Tsukasa don’t waver in the slightest.

On the annoying side of things, Tsukushi just accepts Tsukasa’s cold dismissal and is on the verge of returning to Japan, when Kaede turns up at the airport and gives her one wish (in return for helping save a business deal). Tsukushi wishes for Tsukasa to keep his promise to have a hot pot dinner with her. A few days later, Tsukasa returns to Japan to spend just one day with Tsukushi, and it’s wonderfully sad and they’re about to have a tearful goodbye when suddenly some thugs with tasers arrive and kidnap them.

Volume 31: B
boysoverflowers31Tsukushi and Tsukasa awake to find themselves on a ship set on auto-pilot. When they arrive at a deserted island, Tsukasa proves himself surprisingly reliable by catching some dinner and, as they explore their surroundings, he reveals why he sent her away in New York and Tsukushi finds the courage to declare that she never wants to be separated from him again. Predictably, it turns out that their friends were behind the kidnapping, but neither Tsukushi nor Tsukasa is mad, since Tsukushi feels the experience has taught her what’s really important to her and Tsukasa decides that he’s going to leave his family.

Alas, Tsukasa’s sudden disappearance has hit the news. There’s a media frenzy upon his return and, in the commotion, he ends up getting stabbed by a guy with a grudge against his family. “Why is it,” Tsukushi wonders, “that every time I’m about to grasp that hand it just slips through my fingers?”

Volume 32: B-
boysoverflowers32Tsukasa nearly dies from his injuries, but miraculously recovers, though he has amnesia as a result and can’t remember Tsukushi. This ailment is untimely since, in grudging gratitude for Tsukushi’s life-saving actions after Tsukasa’s attack, Kaede says she’ll consider her son dead for one year. Throughout the rest of the volume, Tsukasa continues to be unable to remember Tsukushi while a very annoying, supposedly innocent girl at the hospital begins spending a lot of time with him.

A new romantic rival this late in the game is irritating. It’s strange—previous volumes prove I can accept and be entertained by all kinds of ridiculous drama, but this arc is just incredibly frustrating. I do like that we get a glimpse of a softer side of Kaede, though, and hope that it’ll be followed up on in the future.

Volume 33: B-
boysoverflowers33The amnesia plot persists and Umi continues to hang around Tsukasa, prompting him to wonder if perhaps she is the person he’s forgotten and taking credit for making a bento lunch that he found nostalgic somehow. Kamio-sensei attempts to portray Umi as naive and oblivious rather than calculating, but it doesn’t really work for me and I still hate her unreservedly. Thankfully, Tsukasa begins to realize that being with her simply doesn’t feel right and eventually scares her away with his temper, still awful when not modulated by Tsukushi’s influence.

Tsukushi, meanwhile, has become convinced that the Tsukasa she loves no longer exists and decides to see him one last time to return the mementos of their relationship. The encounter angers her enough to bean him in the head with the baseball she caught on their date and viola, his memories return. I’m more relieved than anything else, though there are certainly some nice moments after their reunion. The volume ends with them heading out to enjoy the freedom granted by their one-year grace period, promising to think about what to do after that when the time comes.

Volume 34: B+
boysoverflowers34Now that Tsukushi and Tsukasa are back on the right path—though Tsukushi can’t quite believe that it’s not going to all fall apart again, given their track record—focus shifts back to the subplot involving Yuki and her feelings for Sojiro. After helping him to attain a bit of closure regarding the one girl he ever really loved, she’s been keeping her distance. When they reconnect at a dinner to celebrate Tsukasa’s recovery, he offers to do something for her to repay her actions, and she asks him to instruct at her school’s Tea Club, unaware that the Sara in the club is the very girl that Sojiro once loved.

Angst ensues, but it’s enjoyable. Yuki is a strong and likable character (whose increasingly mature outlook has been an inspiration for our heroine), Sojiro has some unexpected layers, and it’s nice to give the main couple a break sometimes and let others bear the brunt of the drama burden for a while.

Volume 35: B
boysoverflowers35The Yuki/Sojiro storyline plays out to its conclusion and it’s awesome. Less awesome, alas, are the developments with our main couple. They couldn’t possibly be allowed to enjoy the year of freedom they’ve been granted! Instead, Tsukasa’s father collapses and he decides to go off to New York after graduation and take the reins of the company, leaving he and Tsukushi only a few more days together.

Firstly, this is entirely out of the blue and runs contrary to what Tsukasa was just saying a few volumes ago, about how he’s going to leave the family and all that. Secondly, as his departure approaches, the story turns into a tour of memories, with random reappearances by side characters that I don’t really care about.

All in all, of these volumes, I loved the scenes between Tsukushi and Rui the most, followed by the resolution to the Yuki and Sojiro story. There are some really great moments with the main couple in there, but the amnesia plot and this latest announcement of Tsukasa’s kind of bum me out in that department. Instead of being excited at the prospect of what the final volume will bring, I’m now kind of wary.

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: ,

Summer Fun with Shonen Jump

August 18, 2009 by Leave a Comment

tegamibachiI reviewed four summer releases from VIZ’s Shonen Jump imprint for a post over at Comics Should Be Good.

On the agenda are:
Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee 1 by Hiroyuki Asada: B-
It’s very pretty and atmospheric, but some aspects of the story are rather cheesy. I will probably still check out volume two, though.

Gin Tama 13 by Hideaki Sorachi: D
I know some find this series amusing, but it would seem I’m not among them. Like… really really not among them.

Wāqwāq 1 by Ryu Fujisaki: C+
The plot’s convoluted and the art is muddled but I’ll be damned if I didn’t still kind of like it.

Naruto 45 by Masashi Kishimoto: C
Most of this didn’t make sense to me and what did make sense was very silly. Also, Sasuke is a total angstmuffin.

All in all, it was a fun experiment but I’ve kind of had my fill of shounen for the time being.

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Manga, Sci-Fi, Shounen Tagged With: , ,

Black Bird 1 by Kanoko Sakurakoji: B-

August 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

blackbird1Misao Harada has always been able to see spirits, but when she turns sixteen, things suddenly get a lot worse. Kyo Usui, her childhood friend and first love, returns after a ten-year absence just in time to inform her that she is “the bride of prophecy,” and that now that she is sixteen, all sorts of demons are going to want to drink her blood, eat her flesh, and/or marry (read: sleep with) her, all of which will confer some benefit to the demon, be it eternal youth or prosperity for his/her clan. Kyo is a demon himself—a tengu, as it turns out—and appoints himself Misao’s protector, fending off other demons while pressuring her to become his bride.

There are several very good reasons why I shouldn’t like Black Bird. In the first place, it’s another supernatural romance where the somewhat ditzy heroine is possessed of delicious-smelling blood that inspires the hottest guys around to fight over her. In the second, Misao’s childhood memories of Kyo have left her waiting for some guy to show up and protect her from the spirits who’re harrassing her. And thirdly, when Kyo does arrive to perform that function, he does things like fly up into the air with Misao (who is scared of heights) in his arms in order to encourage her to cling to him, saying, “You can’t live without me. I have to teach your body that.” Creepy! That’s just a step away from, “Why are you making me hurt you?” in my book.

And yet, I did like Black Bird, at least more than I’d expected to. Misao, though she’s weak in some ways, is adamant about not becoming Kyo’s bride—even though she’s attracted to him—because she believes he’s only interested in the prosperity that sleeping with her would grant his clan. These doubts also come into play for some fine drama later on when a tricky kitsune (fox demon) arrives and points out that it’s likely not a coincidence that Kyo was Misao were childhood friends, that Kyo must’ve been establishing that early relationship in order to foster a preference for him in Misao’s mind down the road. The notion that her precious memories might all be a sham leads Misao to push Kyo away, though of course he persists in protecting her anyway. It’s angsty, but good.

Sakurakoji’s artwork is attractive, and even though Misao and the rest of the cast boast rather humdrum character designs, Kyo really stands out, making it easy to see why Misao would be so captivated by him. Also, while I’m genuinely not one for smutty scenes, the ones in Black Bird rely more on suggestion than explicit detail, making them all the more sexy.

In the end, Black Bird really is nothing more than your standard wish-fulfillment fantasy. And I think I’m okay with that.

Black Bird is published in English by VIZ. The series is still ongoing in Japan, where eight volumes have been released so far.

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

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

Crimson Hero 11 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

August 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

crimson11The Crimson High girls’ volleyball team has made it to the third round of the Newcomers’ Tournament and is facing its first serious challenge. Things are going well and they win the first set, but when the opposing team intentionally wounds Crimson High’s star setter, there’s no one who can fill in. Instead, the Crimson High girls rearrange their strategy to protect their injured teammate and refuse to give up. Their spirit of camaraderie and teamwork inspires their rivals, who are, of course, actually sympathetic girls being led astray by an unaccountably obnoxious coach.

Okay, yes, I completely admit that Crimson Hero can be sappy at times. This whole volume seems calculated to make one verklempt, be it the way that the most inexperienced member of the team demonstrates her growth by scoring the winning point or how the girls from the other team come to regret the way they’ve abandoned their friendships in pursuit of the number one spot on the team. Transparent manipulation like this would usually annoy me, but it just works so well in a sports manga that I can forgive it.

There’s also a little progress on the romantic front. It seems that one of the boys who likes Nobara might still have feelings for his ex-girlfriend, but it’s really nothing to get excited about. I’m just here for the volleyball.

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

Filed Under: Manga, Shoujo Tagged With: , ,

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga: A

August 8, 2009 by 4 Comments

From the back cover:
In Edo Period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country’s men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun’s Inner Chamber…

Review:
After a mysterious illness wipes out most of the young men in Edo Period Japan, women step up to take over the roles traditionally filled by men, becoming laborers, merchants, heads of families, and even shogun. Over time, the illness grows less virulent, but remains a common threat, resulting in a population made up of four times as many females as males. Healthy men are prized—families use them as pawns to negotiate alliances, and it’s tough for the average woman to secure a husband, requiring her to visit a brothel if she wishes to have a child.

It’s into this world that Mizuno Yunoshin (name order left intact!) is born, the son of an impoverished family of the samurai class. He’s in love with his childhood friend, Nobu, but because she is of the merchant class, they are not considered a good marital match. Rather than assent to marry someone else, Mizuno instead goes into service in the Ōoku, the Inner Chambers of the shogun’s palace—where many men are kept either for the purpose of becoming concubine to the shogun or for serving those who have been deemed worthy for that honor—which will award his family enough money to perhaps attract a suitable husband for his sister. The majority of the volume focuses on Mizuno learning of the Inner Chambers’ elaborate customs as well as his unexpected rise in rank when he happens to catch the eye of the senior chamberlain.

If I had to pick one word to describe Ōoku, that word would be “intrigue.” In the noun sense of the word, Ōoku delivers abundantly, as jockeying for position within the Inner Chambers is the favorite past-time. There’s some fairly elaborate scheming going on that takes the plot in unexpected and interesting directions. And, of course, in the verb sense of the word, Ōoku intrigues readers by not being easily classified as a simple gender reversal tale.

Instead, it emphasizes the fluidity of the notion of gender, showing how males in a certain situation can exhibit traditionally feminine attributes while females can possess qualities that are generally regarded as masculine. The new shogun, Yoshimune, is an absolutely fascinating example. In this world, where women reign, Yoshimune’s intelligence and political savvy have flourished, and she is a very effective ruler, making unorthodox decisions and sidestepping the ploys of her underlings, all while frequently sating her robust sexual appetite. Her advisor, Hisamichi, is also wonderful, with a mild-mannered countenance that conceals the full extent of her cleverness. Towards the end of the volume, Yoshimune begins to question why it is that women in power are required to adopt manly names, so that it appears in historical records as though they have been men all along. I’m eager to see what will happen next!

Artistically, Yoshinaga’s distinctive style is deceptively simple; one might think that without elaborate designs to distinguish so many dark-haired, similarly garbed men, keeping them straight would be a problem, but it actually never is. Also, I’m particularly fond of the way Yoshimune is drawn; her haughty expressions manage to simultaneously capture her senses of humor and of self-importance. My one complaint here is that though Mizuno is often described by other characters as being handsome, he really doesn’t look it.

Published under the VIZ Signature line, Ōoku has the beautiful packaging generally afforded titles in that imprint, with French flaps, color pages, and a gorgeous vellum title page. Even the “You’re reading the wrong way!” page has been given a classy facelift. I applaud the adaptation for retaining the proper order of names, but am less enamored of the choice to render the dialogue in a very formal sort of English. I get that VIZ must’ve been trying to recreate the feel of the original, but it’s a bit distracting at first. Thankfully, I did get used to it eventually. It’d be a shame to let something so trivial mar one’s enjoyment of so excellent a work.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: Alternate History, Josei, Manga Tagged With: , ,
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