Alice in the Country of Hearts, vols. 1-3

Art by Soumei Hoshino and Story by Quinrose

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline:  Where being in love and wanting to kill the person makes perfect sense.

Alice is resting in her garden with her sister when she is taken by a man with rabbit ears to Wonderland.  She arrives at the clock tower which is at the center of Wonderland’s three feuding territories.  They are the Mad Hatter’s mafia based out of his mansion, the Queen’s castle surrounded a garden maze and the amusement park run by Mary Gowland.  The conflict seems to be mostly between the Queen and the Mad Hatter but none of them really like each other or the clock tower’s master who is traditionally neutral.  Alice is forced into this world, with her unique status of an outsider that making her interact with others to return home.  She learns that a difference between her and Wonderland’s is that she had a heart while everyone else has a clock.  This difference and what it means along with everyone loving her continually surprises Alice as she gradually forgets about escaping Wonderland.

In many manga it seems that every male character that sticks around for more than a couple of panels falls in love with the female lead character.  Here, they take that and make it a plot point!  Everyone in Wonderland is supposed to love Alice, it is part of being an outsider.  But because the Wonderland natives are already fighting this just gives them one more reason to it to continue and get even worse.  The characters reflect their roots from the source material which means they can be very odd making into them both charming and disturbing at turns.  Alice’s shuttling between factions can feel a bit repetitive but every time Alice visits someone the question is whether or not this will be the time the character will stop being charming and become deranged.

Alice in the Country of Hearts, vol. 1, vol. 2 and vol. 3 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Songs to Make You Smile

By Natsuki Takaya

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: When do shojo songs not make you smile? 

Songs to Make You Smile is an anthology volume by Natsuki Takaya, creator of Fruits Basket.  This collection is mostly of one-off stories of young love, though there is a Tsubasa: Those With Wings story included that uses its characters to tell a twisted Snow White tale.  The story that gives its name to the anthology is a high school romance between an unemotional singer whose emotional songs touch the heart of a girl whose own heart has been lost due to bullying.  Next, Chisato feels emotionally cut-off from her recently deceased father but through the actions of her new stepmother she reconnects with him.  Inagaki is a world class violinist who other students often deride for riding on his famous parents’ coattails, but a viola player can hear his true original music playing through.  Finally, a young man given to knitting and other less than manly arts is given the courage to declare his love through the actions of his grade school cousin.

One of the worst parts of any anthology is that often they hide one or more clunkers that just are not very good but rely on the rest of the anthology to get readers.  None of the stories here are that, surprising since it was originally published before Takaya's far better known Fruits Basket, meaning that they were made when she was still gaining experience.  There are several different artistic styles she in the book showing that growth, with the one with the Chisato character looking the oldest but none feeling dated.  There does seem to be reliance on standard storytelling elements but while none of the stories feel original neither do they feel particularly cliche-ridden.  The only story that particularly stands out is the Tsubasa: Those With Wings side story, mostly because it is such a cheerfully abusive tale that manages to avoid being cruel.

Songs to Make You Smile is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Stolen Hearts, vol. 1

By Miku Sakamoto
Published in the US by CMX Manga

 

Slugline: Despite years of reading manga, I am still not sure what the difference is between a kimono and a yukata.

Koguma is the stereotypical big tough guy that exists in every teen manga, so when Shinobu spills something on his package she fears the worst especially when she learns it contained an antique kimono.  Shinobu agrees to work with Koguma to pay for the damages, but rather than doing hooligan-related activity she expected she instead learns that she will be joining him in working at his grandmother's kimono shop.  Given the chance to see him outside of the school where all anyone can see is his looming size Shinobu sees that he is more and they enter into a relationship.  But they both have a lot of work left to do in their relationship and get their schoolmates to see past both Koguma's reputation and the odd appearance they present when together from their height differences

This is a fairly light and fluffy school romance manga, mostly because the relationship is in the honeymoon period where everything the other one does is cute and perfect.  This manga feels more like an all ages title due to the combination of a somewhat educational storyline about the kinds and a how-to of wearing kimonos, and in that Shinobu's focus seems to be getting others to see past Koguma intimidating appearance rather than their own romance.  Koguma is a softy, an emotional blank that happens to look big and tough who is anything but.  His grandmother as a background character who is obsessed with money, seems to be more interesting than him.  Despite the weak romance element, there is still something about the manga that keeps readers' interest despite the face the elements and characters individually do not.

Stolen Hearts, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Bloody Kiss, vol. 1

By Kazuko Furumiya
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: They promise the next volume is better?

Kiyo has always fough against others impressions of her family, so when her grandmother wills her decrepit mansion to Kiyo she can only see that selling it would make the law degree she needs to clear her family's name possible. The problem is that two vampires are already squatting at the property having been invited to live there by Kiyo's grandmother and want to stay despite Kiyo's plans. To make things even more complicated one of the vampires, Kurobashi. wants Kiyo to be his 'bride,' his sole source of human blood which will strengthen him supernaturally. Kiyo initially refuses, but when (evil) lawyers try to forcibly sell the mansion out from under her, she reluctantly agrees to giver her blood to him, permanently linking them together. Since she is now his 'bride' he uses his new supernatural abilities to help her at work and school.

The back cover blurb extols that the end of the second volume is great. Well, the question is why bother to buy the first volume if they feel that they need to talk about the second on it? This is only a two volume series, and maybe TokyoPop wanted people to know they could have a complete story in just two volumes that has a great ending, but if that was the intent it was not communicated clearly. This is another poor but hardworking girl stuck between two supernatural guys story, but the second guy, Kurobashi's servant, just too thinly sketched out so the sense of a competition over her is not clear. As it is, that better be one heck of twist/surprise in the next volume because at the moment it just feels like every other shoujo/vampire story.



Bloody Kiss, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Four-Eyed Prince, vol. 1

By Wataru Mizukami
Published in the US by Del Rey


Slugline: Cruel to be kind... No, it's just cruel

Sachiko is attracted to one of the princes of her school, Akihiko. Part of her attraction is due to his stylish glasses while the rest is from his kindness to her when her father died, but when she approaches him she is rebuffed. Later that daySachiko has to move in with her mother, meeting her for the first time but making her day a complete nightmare Akihiko is her mother's stepson (no blood relation of course) and that they will be living together. Akihiko tries to ditch her, but she discovers that he works as bartender to get extra money, but protects his identity by going by a different name and without wearing his glasses. Since girls seem to want him irrespective of name or appearance, he has a poor opinion of them and of love in general. That makes him the target ofSachiko's desperate romantic assaults for the rest of the volume, while which he claims to be softening his positions but his actions would drive away all but the most lovelorn teen girl. Which, fortunately for him and the story, Sachiko is.

This is another entry in the "What do they think a relationship is?" sweepstakes. Akihiko pulls a stunt halfway through the volume, to 'help' another couple, that shows how little respect and empathy he has for Sachiko. Everything after that scene basically made me wonder why Sachiko was sticking around despite the offers of a full mountain spa vacation. While Akihiko is not a 'bad boy' in the traditional sense, Sachiko reacts as if he is, as she tries to 'change him.' That is something that only works in cookie cutter made romance novels.



Four-Eyed Prince, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

A Tale of an Unknown Country, vol. 1

By Natsuna Kawase
Published in the US by CMX Manga


Slugline: Yet another Princess disguised as a maid romance

Rosemarie is the princess of a small and poor country whose brother has arranged her marriage to a neighboring prince. Prince Reynol rules over a wealthy and technologically advanced country and a marriage with him would be a benefit for Rosemarie's country but she has heard many rumors about him, few of them good. Rosemarie disguises herself as a maid to work atReynol's castle in order to learn the truth about him and despite him knowing that she is really the princess, they still managed to get to know each other and decide to go forward with the betrothal. But there are always new challenges as he returns her favor and visits Rosemarie at her own castle.

Most of the book is a lightweight romance until Rosemarie's brother turns into a control freak and reveals that most of the couple's troubles are the result of his own machinations. He is testing the couple to make sure that their love is strong, or something similar is the justification he is using to justify himself. If a parent tried to manipulate their kids this way, there would be no sympathy from the readers but somehow here it is supposed to be acceptable. Any relationship would be hard-pressed to survive similar revelations because t he couple would be continually questioning whether their feeling are real or manipulated. This is another example how the storytelling and art are fine, but the concepts that lay underneath the surface, that help drive the story, are of concern.



A Tale of an Unknown Country, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Tail of the Moon, Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u)

Story and Art by Rinko Ueda
Published in the US by Viz


Slugline: They only way to keep the peace is through treachery and assassination

Kaguya, who was discovered wounded and without her memory in a bamboo field, works as a servant at a brothel during the Japanese Warring States period. All of the ladies there are interested in the playboy warriorHansou, though when he sees Kaguya he decides that he needs to meet her. At first she is flattered by the attention until she learns that he visits all of the red light district's ladies. Honsou insists he feels differently for her but as they get more intimate he realizes that the scars from her wounds are identical to ones he gave to an assassin. This jogs her memory, enough to remember that she is a ninja trying to keep the peace through carefully aimed violence. Despite their roles on opposite sides of the Warring States,Kaguya (now using her real name Sara) and Honsou keep their relationship alive in the face of her missions to marry and spy on other members of Honsou's family.

As a prequel, this volume helps explain the background and relationships of several of the supporting characters of the main Tail of the Moon series. The art style is appears to be a touch out of date, which helps create the illusion that this story predates the main series. While sometimes the logic of the characters seems spurious, especially when they try to justify how despite being on opposite sides their objectives remain the same, the story still does not read all that badly. This is one of those stories where you don't really need to justify everything, just go along with the characters' emotions and feelings. If this was a continuing story, it's structure would be more of a problem, but as a standalone or a side story, it works.



Tail of the Moon, Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Rasetsu, vol. 1

Story and Art by Chika Shiomi
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Sluglines: Love and Roses must always have thorns

Rasetsu is the lead exorcist of an agency that casts out spirits and other supernatural menaces despite her young age. Part of the reason that she is so talented is that an early age she was marked by a rose tattoo as the possession of the spirit to be claimed by it on her 20th birthday. The only way for her to escape her fate is to fulfill a very specific set of conditions that she has little confidence in herself in fulfulling. Despite her competence, she does not look it, so when Yako Hoshino, a character from Chika Shiomi's earlier work Yurara needs the help of an exorcist he is reluctant to hire her agency. Rasetsu steamrolls over his protests and when she realizes that he has his own ability, she arranges for Yako to lose his current job and be hired to work for her agency so that she can have someone halfway competent to help her. What Rasetsu doesn't realize that she bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love, a relationship thatforms the core of Yurara.

This is a sequel to the Yurara manga but so far only Yako has appeared in Rasetsu in more than background role. The focus in far more on Rasetsu, a new character, than Yako. She is an interesting mix of competent and carefree, doomed and light hearted. She is reticent to discuss her need to find true love to escape the spirit which makes the plot stronger, as it is believable that her experience makes her wary of any kind of love even if it would be her salvation. Yurara has not been reviewed so there is no way to really compare this title to it's prequel, but the mere fact that this is not another high school shojo gives it a leg up. While it has been certainly been implied that Rasetsu and Yuko will be getting together because of Rasetsu's fate and her resemblance to Yuko lost love, the plot does not feel like it is predetermined or just an exercise of filling in the blanks, which is partly why it is so well rated.



Rasetsu, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

KimiKiss, vol. 1

Art by Taro Shinonome with Story by Enterbrain, Inc
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: Why bother having doubt or suspense in a shoujo manga?

Kouchi begins the second semester wanting to have a girlfriend and start kissing. So far he has not had much luck but his childhood friend Mao takes him under her wing teaching him how to be the perfect boyfriend. While learning how to date Kouchi realizes that he wants to turn Mao's 'practice' dates into something more real.

KimiKiss is based on a popular virtual novel/dating sim (for a definition check this wikipedia entry.) Virtual novels often give you a selection of different several girls to date. It appears that this manga series will have each volume focus on a different female character from the virtual novel, with how each girl ends up with the boy. Mao, the girl from this volume, is one of the childhood friend that becomes the girlfriend archetype. All she needs to do is show up, makes herself available and be friendly, and before page 100 they are liplocking away. Kouchi is a blank slate with only a few details brushed in, with many of his character bits coming from Mao's revelations about herself. There are no real challenges or other challengers for Mao to overcome before starting a relationship with Kouchi beyond that he is a boy and they sometimes need to have things spelled out for them. The art is nice in fan servicey way, not that many panty shots and the like, but Mao's, umm, assets still get to ignore gravity.



KimiKiss, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ballad of a Shinigami, vol. 1

By Asuka Izumi and Original Story by K-She Hasegawa
Published in the US by CMX Manga


Slugline: Featuring a death that never shows up

Momo is a shinigami, a reaper like spirit born from a suicide who takes on the the appearance of a young girl wearing white. Despite her supernatural connection to death she is not especially dangerous or even girl-like, but she does carry messages or other hints from the dead to the living. The living often need the help in order to deal with their own pasts and quite frankly to get the girl/boy.

White symbolizes death in many eastern cultures, so the fact that Momo is wears white is not as reassuring as one would first think when she is introduced. But it seems like that it is not very important who or what Momo looks like as long as she gets to say her one line per story that forces the potential couples to change and survive the fate that would otherwise lay in store for them. Momo barely more involved in the stories than the old Cryptkeeper character that once introduced horror stories, and in that sense the supposed main character does not feel very necessary to the stories. This is more like an anthology of tortured teen romance than actual supernatural stories or even a single continuing story, and while the individual stories are done well, there is nothing holding them together and making the title as a whole interesting enough to rise above average.



Ballad of a Shinigami, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Gravitation Collection, vols. 1 & 2

By Maki Murakami
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: Is love without meaning still love?

Shuichi wants to avoid school as much as possible and sing his songs but his life insists on throwing complications his way. After meeting Eiri and being insulted for his lack of song-making ability, Shuichi falls in love with the older man, despite the apparent disinterest. Shuichi's best friend wants to leave the band out of the desire to get a real life and stop disappointing his parents. Eiri has his own complicated life, with a sister who tries to manipulate him through Shuichi and a younger brother that is everything that their father wanted, never mind the betrothal that Eiri has been dodging. Through it all, Shuichi works harder to become a professional musician and keep Eiri's attention.

Is it too much to ask for romances, even the shonen-ai variety, to have some actual romancing going on? Shuichi sees Eiri and falls in love immediately and Eiri does little to return or even deserve it in this collection of the first two volumes. Yes, Gravitation is considered a classic of the genre, and quite frankly everything around Shuichi and Eiri's pairing is done well, but the actual relationship of the two is pretty unrealistic even by the loose standards of the genre. If you just skip a few pages, there is a half decent rock and roll story in here, but the romance at its center just seems unreal and more than a little creepy.

The sequel for this series, Gravitation EX, has been reviewed on Prospero's Manga here. Frankly, it sounds that it takes the silly aspects of this series and pushes further to be really funny.



Gravitation Collection, vols. 1 & 2 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Orange Planet, vol. 1

By Haruka Fukushima
Published in the US by Del Rey


Slugline: One of each shojo cliche

Rui has boy problems that many girls in junior high would love to have. There is the neighbor boy who has long liked her, the school's hottest boy who is returning her interest and a playboy student teacher that has invited himself to live in Rui's apartment. Rui is pushed and pulled between the boys and the young man through humorous and embarrassing situations. But Rui's childhood memory of a boy who comforted her after the death of her parents continues to haunt her.

Gah. This has all of the annoying shojo cliches concerning potential boyfriends wrapped together into a single manga. Childhood loves, lack of parents or any adult supervision and college students being friendly with junior high girls does not improve the final result. I like the fact that Rui is human enough to try weasel the answers for an exam from her live-in teacher, but other than that she acts like one of the saints that only exist in manga, setting completely unrealistic expectations of behavior for girls. Technically, the work is fine and the story holds together (such as it is) but it just jams together too many of the shojo cliches to put up with.



Orange Planet, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Honey Hunt, vol. 1

Story and Art by Miki Aihara
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Slugline: Parental abandonment issues galore!

Yura would seem to have a pretty good life since both of her parents rich and famous. But her parents treat her as an afterthought and at best treat her with a sense of benign neglect. Things finally come to a head when Yura's father's affair is discovered and her parent's divorce. At the same time, Yura discovers that her best friend Shin has been sleeping with her mom every since he went off to college. Lost, Yura goes off on her parents in front of the paparazzi. Her diatribe attracts the attention of one of her parent's agents, who offers Yura a chance to stand on her own two feet away from her parents and her old life. With that opportunity Yura begins a career in acting so to be independent and be able to get her parents to recognize her.

I disliked Hot Gimmick! (well, the novel version of it) a previous work by this creator. While I am not sure how much I buy into Yura having a special gift into acting, Yura's struggle for recognition from her parents is powerful and one I suspect many manga readers can emphasize. Having your family not only not understand who you are and what you do, but also being not even sure if it is worth trying to understand what you do is one of the universal adolescent anguishes. Unlike many stories where the parents are out of touch in order to give the main characters a free arena of action, the emotionally missing parents here are what drives Yura. While Yura herself is a little passive, but helps represents someone who has kept her head down most of her life and is only now learning how to do otherwise. The breaking of her old habits are more likely to be a gradual process than a sudden one, making this title feel very real.



Honey Hunt, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Venus Capriccio, vol. 1

By Mai Nishikata
Published in the US by CMX Manga


Slugline: A boy prettier than any girl and a girl who is as rude as any boy.

Takami and Akira have been friends ever since Takami's mom signed her up for piano lessons in an attempt to combat Takami's tomboy nature. While she never gained Akira's skill at the piano, Takami did enjoy Akira's friendship. But Akira is determined for Takami to see him as more than a little 'sister'. By the end of the first chapter, he has managed to do so, but he has a lot of work left to do in order to get Takami to see him as boyfriend material.

On the face of it, this seems a lot like many other shoujo titles. To a certain extent it is, but the execution of it elevates the title together. Takami is a tomboy, but not so strongly that her feminization seems like a betrayal of the character and while Akira is a talented pianist he still has deficiencies that reflects his human nature. Takami does not immediately fall in love with Akira upon realizing he is a boy, but is open to the possibility as Akira starts working on her. Sure everyone is too pretty and seems unaware of it, but that is just fact of shoujo. Still these are characters I can mostly believe in (while Akira is a little too nice and understanding but does not yet verge on sainthood.)



Venus Capriccio, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Anima

Story, Art and Letters by Dany & Dany
Published by Yaoi Press


Slugline: A setting that has nothing to do with the story

Patrick Owens is a burned out political reporter that has seen nothing but the worst of humanity with his one weakness being an appreciation for the ballet star Danya. Of course, Dany has secrets of his own as an illegally modified android masquerading as a human. But despite Patrick's own despair and Danya's secrets they are drawn to each other. Danya's 'teacher,' the former ballet star Nikolaj is using Danya to act out his dreams of greatness, becomes the main obstacle between the two lovers. To resolve this conflict will cost both Danya and Patrick part of their own sense of belonging.

I am a big fan of steampunk, which is why I pulled this out volume out of the review stack. Imagine my disappointment as I read it to find that there was a very few steampunk aspects. What little advanced technology that was in story was not especially steampunk inspired, and the clothing seemed to be draw more from French fashions than Victorian. Patrick's occupation as a reporter did not figure much into the plot, and Nikolaj's connections to the mafia and corrupt politicians remained in the background. Whole swathes of the setting could have been changed without affecting the story. I usually prefer the characters and the setting/environment to interact more, so that the characters are part of the world rather than existing apart of it. Separate from that, the back cover text is especially important with Anima since it is shrinkwrapped, but it gives an impression of a far more nuanced and dark story that what the title really is. But for yaoi fans, the title delivers on its promises, barely avoiding being pornography but showing everything else.



Anima is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Maid Sama!, vol. 1

By Hiro Fujiwara
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: Anger and daddy issues go together is the taste great, less filling of storytelling

Misaki has dad issues, and using the toughness she had cultivated after her dad abandoned her to help keep the male dominated school body in line at her school in her role of president.. But every character in manga has a secret and hers is that to make some money she works at a maid cafe, where she has to be polite and call visitors master. This does not come easily to her but Misaki manages to keep the two parts of her life separate until Takumi, the bored and thus sexy head male student at her school discovers it. Rather than take advantage of her over it, Takumi uses it as a reason to get close to the one girl in school that is not intrigued by his natural charm, thus making Misaki the only one that interests him at all.

The intersection of the maid and high school settings gives some slightly new twists to many of the same situation that fill out all shoujo . Sometimes that is all it takes to bring a little bit of freshness to staid situations. It is also nice to see for once that the missing/abandoned parent issue being used for more than just a rationale to keep cast size manageable and for explaining why high school students can stay out for all hours. Having a missing or otherwise uninvolved parent seems to be a staple of anime/manga but it rarely seems like it drives any of the characters in a meaningful way, unlike in many types of American fiction. Here at least her father's abandonment has shaped and changed Misaki in ways that matter and if her father ever returns you have some juicy storytelling potential there.



Maid Sama!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Ai Yori Aoshi, vols. 1-3 collected

By Kou Fumizuki
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: True Blue Boredom

Kaoru has left his abusive family behind to go to college, but a childhood friend appears one day. Aoi remembers when they were betrothed to each other, and has spent her life getting ready for that, and just because Kaoru is no longer the heir to his family fortune is no reason to change plans now. Kaoru does like Aoi, and they manage to come to arrangement that allows them to get to know each other better at the cost of keeping their relationship a secret. Of course, that means that Kaoru's friends at the college have to get involved and complicate things.

Thank goodness this was a collected edition, because the first volume went by in a blink. I have learned to appreciate, even sometimes treasure the fact that a manga story can take its time to unfold, but in this case it means that in the 2nd and 3rd volumes that are still hitting all of the shojo cliche story/settings, such as the amusement park, hot springs and school festival chapters. The characters are really earnest and all, but all I could think while reading it was boring, boring, boring. Seen it all before, over and over. There is all of this storytelling potential about Kaoru and Aoi's families, and it is not even touched upon in the first three volumes of the series. Maybe creators need to fill the first few volumes of series with these cliche scenes in order to get in the time to explore the characters and get a handle on them before heading into more individualized stories, but that just means that we end up reviewing a lot of similar first volumes of shojo titles. Is there anything bad here? No, not really, but it is very run of the mill. If you have read more than a dozen shojo titles, you can skip this volume without missing much.



Ai Yori Aoshi, vols. 1-3 collected is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Magic Touch, vol. 1

Story and Art by Izumi Tsubaki
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Slugline: A happy beginning to a massage shojo

Chiaki is a shy high school student who only comes into her own when she is working with her school's massage club. Her sister always get her into trouble and her mother always takes her sister's side, soChiaki find massage an activity and place where she can help people in a concrete way without having to worry about being undercut. There is a popular male student named Yosuke whose back is so tense that Chiaki just wants to sink her hands into it, but Yosuke demands that she has to be his girlfriend first. Yosuke has confused Chiaki with her sister, who destroyd and dumped Yosuke's brother but he learns that Chiaki is very different from his expectations.

Every time that I think I have found a premise for a manga that will never work, it still manages to surprise me in a pleasant way. Let's face it, high school romance set among the massage tables just calls out for a snarky commentary. While there is still a lot to snark about, the story does manage to work. It is not very thrilling mind you, using many of the same old shojo cliches that we have seen before. Look, a character that can cook so well that everyone talks about it and a romance filled trip to the beach! But considering the topic, I expected this story to be a dog, or fall into every cliche out there, and it manages to avoid the worst excesses and be somewhat believable. And since this blog is at least in the hundreds of shojo series reviewed, yes, sometimes that is all that is necessary to be pleasant surprise.



Magic Touch, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Heaven's Will, vol. 1

Story and Art by Satoru Takamiya
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Slugline: Shoujo and the supernatural clash. Cuteness wins!

Sudou is a kanki, a person with the ability to see ghosts and other spirits called oni which she has been trying to avoid all of her life. Well, unholy creatures and boys, whom she just does not understand. While trying to lose pursuing oni a local haunted house Sudou runs into Seto, a crossdressing male dressed as a goth girl and who is an exorcist willing to help her with oni if in return Sodou cooks him/her a cake a day and flushes out more oni. Seto has a sidekick vampire wolf named Kagari that helps them out but is so gruff that he often surprises Sudou. During the course of the first exorcism (which takes up most of the first volume) Seto reveals that is not his/her true name but the name of his dead twin sister. Seto's sister was an exorcist with Seto using his sister's magical fan (which contains her spirit) to perform his exorcisms. The reason for all these complications, including Seto's cross-dressing, is because Seto hopes to make himself enough of a girl to allow his sister to reemerge and take over his body, displacing his spirit but allowing his sister to live again. Despite Seto's guilt-filled rationalization that this is to make up for his sister dying while defending him, Sudou is horrified and is left trying to think of ways to convince Seto to live.

As a Viz Shojo Beat title, this is far more a shoujo than a supernatural thriller, especially with all the talk of feelings rather than planning on how to confront the supernatural. The result is while the characters are well developed the story itself is less so, with the supernatural's rules unclear. In a way, even the art reflects shojo priorities, with Seto's cute goth girl outfits fully realized while the scenes that involve the supernatural sometimes seem unclear and suffer from poor panel construction. I am not a big shojo person, so it would not be a surprise for me to say that I think that perhaps the shoujo aspects should have minimized. But I think that they spent too much of their dramatic energy will on this first case, explaining both of Seto and Kagari's issues in detail together rather than spreading it over several different cases, allowing the supernatural and the shoujo aspects of the title to play off each other rather than existing almost separately. If you are not going to use the supernatural aspects to help inform and explain the characters and the overall story, why bother having those aspects at all?



Heaven's Will, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Otomen, vol. 1

Story and Art by Aya Kanno
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Slugline: What every kendo champion needs for his bokken is a knitted wrap

Asuka is a kendo champion and is among the most admired male students at his high school but he has a secret. Despite his manly abilities, he finds himself attracted to girly things such as cute stuffed animals, sewing and shojo manga. When he finally falls in love with a girl, at first sight of course since that is how it happens in shojo manga, he finds it ever harder to maintain appearances. Worse yet, one of the worst girly men in the school, Juta seems to know all of his secrets. The truth is Juta is secretly a mangaka of a popular shojo series Love Chick that all of the girls and Asuka like. The reason that Asuka can relate to the series is that Juta is basing characters and the storyline on Asuka himself, and in order to give himself more material Juta encourages Asuka to get closer to Ryo, the girl of his dreams. But Ryo has misinterpreted Asuka's love confession to mean that she, Asuka and Juta are all good friends while Juta just wants things between Ryo and Asuka to move forward so he can steal material for his manga. Asuka is left torn between his own uncertain nature and his friends' differing motivations.

This has a very good inversion of the shojo roles. Ryo is a cipher and clueless while Asuka's emotions and confusions are laid bare to the reader. Juta has an interesting, distanting connection with the other characters. He wants their relationship to progress, but not to progress so fast that his manga moves too quickly, nor does he necessarily want Ryo and Asuka to be happy together, because that is the kiss of death in dramatic storytelling. By commenting on the relationship and complaining how inconvenient it can be to try to translate into manga form, Juta can diffuse the normal criticisms of shojo manga of being unrealistic by acknowledging them and moving on. I have not been very forgiving with Aya Kanno's previous titles (seen here), but here she has finally found her stride and a voice, and I hope she continues in this vein.



Otomen, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand