Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Michelle Smith

Boys Over Flowers 21 by Yoko Kamio: B+

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boysoverflowers21From the back cover:
Tsukasa’s mother, Kaede, is back! Can Tsukushi really stay in the home of the woman with whom she is at war?! Kaede takes a new and vicious tack in her obsession to tear Tsukushi away from her upperclass son. If Tsukushi can’t be bribed, then maybe Kaede can destroy the lives of Tsukushi’s friends! Tsukushi is forced to take extreme measures—but which course will she choose?!

Review:
Kaede’s return has everyone in turmoil. Tama, the elderly maid who has been instructing Tsukushi in her duties, manages to keep Kaede from kicking Tsukushi out of the mansion, but Kaede simply turns to other means at her disposal and pulls strings to threaten the jobs of the fathers of Tsukushi’s two closest friends. Ultimately, Tsukushi agrees to stop associating with the Doumyouji family in exchange for their jobs being reinstated.

At first, I found this volume to be kind of frustrating, despite some nice moments. The scene in which Tsukushi attempts to hide from Kaede under a table is painfully dumb, for example, and Tsukushi’s decision to give up Tsukasa seemed like just another way to extend the drama for a few more volumes. But then that last page!

That last page made me cry! I shan’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that this volume contains a couple of very important actions and realizations on Tsukushi’s part, and the impact is enough that I immediately forget all the silly business and enjoy reading the last half dozen pages several times over.

Black Cat 1-2 by Kentaro Yabuki: B+

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blackcat11 Black Cat is the story of Train Heartnet, who used to work as an assassin for a powerful organization called Chronos. After an encounter with a female bounty hunter (a.k.a. sweeper) named Saya (whom we only glimpse near the end of volume two), his outlook changed and he gave up that life. Now it’s two years later and Train has become a sweeper himself, collecting bounties on criminals with his partner, Sven. Train’s motto is “more money, more danger… more fun!” and his pursuit of the latter two usually means the duo doesn’t get much of the former.

Though the idea of the “protagonist who used to be a killer but has now become more kind” is not new to shounen manga, it’s employed a little differently in Black Cat. While many such heroes have made it their pledge never to kill again, Train has no problem with offing the criminal element, though he’s scrupulous about not harming innocents. This allows for the potential of a deadly showdown with his former partner, Creed, who was responsible for Saya’s death and upon whom Train has sworn to exact revenge.

After going after a few minor targets, Train and Sven are approached with a proposition by Rinslet, a notorious female thief. She’s been hired to steal some research data from a criminal bigwig, and wants Train and Sven to help make her job easier by capturing the bigwig first. They get the reward; she gets the loot; everybody’s happy. Of course, things don’t exactly go as planned, since the bigwig invokes Creed’s name and makes Train go rather nuts. Ultimately, Train and Creed confront each other, inflicting enough wounds to prove they are well matched as opponents but living to fight another day.

These first two volumes skillfully introduce Train’s past, his current circumstances, and the lingering threat of Creed and his band of revolutionaries (who seek to overthrow Chronos and want Train to join them) without inundating the reader with information. One of the best things about this series is the nebulous notion of “pacing,” which to me means that when I read it, it feels like I am watching a television show, with a variety of perspectives and camera angles and a natural flow to scenes and conversations. The story is also structured similarly, with the introduction of a villain who then retreats into the background for a bit while the protagonists get on with the daily grind of their occupation, calling, and/or duty.

My favorite aspect of the series, however, is the strength of the partnership between Train and Sven. It’s clear that these two trust each other professionally, but it goes deeper than that, as exemplified by Train’s reaction when Sven gets wounded during an attempt to apprehend a target. Their relationship actually reminds me some of Ban and Ginji in GetBackers, with the energetic but extremely powerful guy using the nickname –chan to refer to his more cerebral partner who possesses some sort of eye-related power (though this is only a hint so far in Sven’s case). That’s a pretty superficial comparison, but the overall affectionate feel is pretty similar.

Thankfully, the similarities between Black Cat and GetBackers do not extend to the art. Yabuki’s illustrations are clean and easy on the eyes, with a minimum of screentone and quite a lot of speed lines. Even without looking at the cover, one could probably tell that this series ran in Shonen Jump. Speaking of the cover, that’s the one area where Yabuki’s art becomes unattractive. Rinslet in particular looks much, much better in the interior art. One artistic element that does puzzle me is Train’s coat. What exactly are those brown things?! They look like miniature life boats but I have a sneaking suspicion they’re meant to be cat nipples.

Bizarre sartorial choices aside, what it all boils down to is that Black Cat is a lot of fun. The well structured story and the camaraderie between the leads elevates it beyond typical shounen fare and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the rest of it plays out.

This review was originally published at Comics Should Be Good.

Monkey High! 6 by Shouko Akira: B+

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monkeyhigh6Volume six of Monkey High! builds on issues between reserved Haruna and her cheerful boyfriend, Macharu, that began to develop in the previous volume. Macharu, in his optimism, keeps trying to help bring about reconciliation between Haruna and her distant politician father while the mere thought of her family woes is sufficient to ruin any fun Haruna might be having. Macharu’s friend Atsu, who also has feelings for Haruna, tries to take advantage of the situation to convince her that he’s a better choice, but in the end Haruna decides that it’s time to stop running from her family problems and face them head-on.

I’m always appreciative when the issues a couple faces come completely from who they are as people. Haruna and Macharu have had very different upbringings, and it’s clear that Macharu’s warm and loving environment has rendered him incapable of imagining the coldness with which Haruna’s father treats her until he sees it for himself. I also really like how clear the beautiful Haruna is about her devotion to the goofy Macharu and how she’s neither flustered nor tempted by Atsu’s attempts to woo her.

On the downside, the old shojo cliché of “Oops, I tripped and got to first and/or second base with you!” is employed not once but twice in this volume. In each case, it serves to get Macharu and Haruna thinking about the physical aspect of their relationship, which is good, but it’s too bad that couldn’t have been accomplished in a more original way.

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

The Brimstone Wedding by Barbara Vine: B+

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brimstoneFrom the back cover:
“It’s crazy thinking I can tell her,” says Genevieve Warner, thirty-two years old, thirteen years into a loveless marriage, and recently swept into her first passionate love affair. “She’s so old. She’ll have forgotten what sex is.”

But Stella Newland, the gracious, dignified, dying woman that Genevieve cares for in an English nursing home, has not forgotten. She knows all about love: its promises, its betrayals, its sometimes deadly consequences. She learned her lessons thirty years ago in a country house she owned, and owns still. When Genevieve confides in Stella, the old woman reciprocates by giving Genevieve the key to the now forlorn house, and by telling this young woman who will be her last friend, in the few minutes a day her failing strength allows, the story of her own erotic entanglement in adultery and worse, much worse.

Review:
Genevieve Warner, employed as a “carer” at a nursing home, feels a special affection for her charge, Stella, an elegant elderly woman who, unlike the other residents, seems firmly grounded in the present. As Stella’s condition worsens, however, she begins to confide in Genevieve about her adulterous affair of 20+ years ago and the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of film star, Gilda Brent. Parts of the tale parallel what Genevieve herself is going through as she is engaged in an affair of her own.

The Brimstone Wedding possesses a puzzling duality of attributes, in that it’s rather predictable at times yet still unforgettable. Most of the revelations in Stella’s story are easy to see coming, and one is often left merely waiting for the details to be revealed to Genevieve. Even so, the tale from the past is intriguing and the characters in the present so vivid that it’s hard to fault the story too much for going where one expects it to go. In fact, it’s done in such a way that I wonder whether Vine even intended for these revelations to be big twists at all.

The tone is different from other works by Vine (a.k.a. Ruth Rendell) that I’ve read recently. Mostly this is due to Genevieve, who has spent her life in rural Norfolk and has been raised to believe in all sorts of folksy superstitions, giving her a rather unique outlook. She’s also not weak and annoying like the heroine of The Keys to the Street, for which I am grateful. All in all, I enjoyed the book, and will certainly be reading more by this author in future.

The Brimstone Wedding was another recommendation from Margaret.

Fairy Tail 6 by Hiro Mashima: B

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From the back cover:
Hotshot Natsu and his cool rival Gray are fighting to stop a calamity demon from being revived by Gray’s fellow disciple Lyon and Zalty, a master of lost magic. But while they try to defeat the bad guys, the magical ice binding the demon keeps melting. Then a grudge between Fairy Tail and a rival guild turns to all-out war!

Review:
In the Author’s Note at the end of the volume, Mashima says that he doesn’t do much planning ahead with his story. I think that shows with the way the Deliora arc plays out. There are a couple of switcheroos that, while they very well may have been intended from the beginning, make me suspect a last-minute easy out. Also, Lucy’s sudden escalation in importance at the end of the volume comes out of nowhere.

That’s not to say the result isn’t entertaining, though. The battles between Gray and Natsu and their opponents are pretty fun, with some new ice techniques from Gray and a new kind of magic—the ability to control time as it relates to objects—for Natsu’s opponent. Shounen staples like having faith in one’s companions, preventing one’s rival/ally from completing a noble self-sacrifice, forgiving the enemies’ sins due to mitigating angst, and delayed-reaction spurting wounds abound.

Though it’s disappointing that our heroes face virtually no punishment whatsoever (aside from some very creepy spanking the Master administers to Lucy) for undertaking an S-class quest (played up as an offense worthy of expulsion), the story picks up a bit once they return home to find that Fairy Tail headquarters has been virtually destroyed by a rival guild called Phantom Lord. Throughout the volume, less prominent members of Fairy Tail had been introduced on the chapter splash pages, and just as I’d been thinking I’d like to see some of these folks get to do something cool they’re given an opportunity to do so in a rather awesome brawl when Fairy Tail pays the rival guild a retaliatory visit.

Even though Lucy’s capture at the end of the volume is not the most original shounen plot device, some of the Phantom Lord opponents look interesting, so I’m looking forward to what’s to come.

Boys Over Flowers 20 by Yoko Kamio: B+

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boysoverflowers20From the back cover:
Tsukushi has agreed to be Tsukasa’s girlfriend! But there’s a hitch—she’ll go out with him for only two months to see if she can truly love him. Tsukasa is off to a bad start when he ends up smacking the womanizing new boyfriend of Tsukushi’s friend, Yuki, at the end of a double date, making Tsukushi furious. Then Sojiro of the F4 helps Yuki by exacting a little revenge on her playboy boyfriend and the two wind up on a date together. Tsukushi is worried to death about Sojiro taking advantage of her good friend. The question is… who is using whom?

Review:
I had a really hard time grading this one.

The case for a B: There are some frustrating moments in this volume. Tsukushi doesn’t believe Tsukasa had a good reason for hitting Yuki’s sleazy boyfriend and lectures him about resorting to violence, only to do exactly the same when she encounters the guy herself. She does, at least, recognize that she was in the wrong. Also, her preoccupation with Yuki’s plight later on prevents her from noticing Tsukasa’s adorable awkwardness after an important development in their relationship, and in general, several promising moments fail to pay off as satisfactorily as one might wish.

The case for a B+: Enduring all of the frustrating moments makes the sweet ones all the better for being so hard-earned. I love how Tsukasa drops everything to help Tsukushi look for Yuki and how Tsukushi actively reaches out to hug him for the first time when he doubts their chances of succeeding as a couple. Later, when the two of them have been manipulated by Sojiro and Yuki to tail them on a romantic pseudo-date, there’s more good stuff, with Tsukushi earnestly asking Tsukasa to stay with her and saying, “I don’t know what I’ll do if you go.” Of course, Tsukasa is totally won over by her cuteness. Also, Tsukasa demonstrates how much he has changed by saying to Yuki, “And Yuki… find yourself someone better than this.” Tsukasa, actually kind of caring about Tsukushi’s commoner friend? Now, that’s progress!

In the end, the impact of the good scenes outweighs my frustrations, and I come down on the side of the B+. I have this feeling, though, that this sort of balance is going to be the norm until they finally, finally genuinely get together.

Boys Over Flowers 19 by Yoko Kamio: B+

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boysoverflowers19From the back cover:
When Tsukushi is left homeless, she has no choice but to become a maid in the mansion of her on-and-off boyfriend, Tsukasa. Not only that, but she becomes his own personal maid! Her duties include the dreaded task of waking him up in the morning, a job normally left to three people. Then Tsukasa orders her to come to his room unseen at midnight, causing Tsukushi to panic. Will this pull them closer together or push them further apart?!

Review:
This volume gets off to somewhat of a slow start, with Tsukushi freaking out about being Tsukasa’s personal servant, convinced that he’s going to use the position to take advantage of her. Of course, this doesn’t happen, and they end up having a midnight stargazing date instead that culminates with a pretty straightforward conversation about the state of their feelings. The final outcome is that they begin dating on a trial basis to allow Tsukushi two months to figure out if she loves Tsukasa or not.

It was a little odd seeing Tsukasa being so patient at the beginning of the volume, and I’m not sure where that came from. The experience with breaking things off with Shigeru? Knowing that Tsukushi had defied his mother and believing that it was for his sake? I’m not sure, but when he returns to his canankerous ways later in the volume, it was almost a relief.

The last few chapters, after they’re officially a couple, really are the best. Tsukushi and Tsukasa double-date with Yuki and her new boyfriend and Tsukasa does an admirable job at keeping his temper in check even though the boyfriend is a real git. It’s great! Also, I like seeing Tsukushi talking to Yuki and Tsukasa talking to his friends about the relationship. I always like it when both members of a couple have some support from their friends.

In short, I think this two month trial dating period is going to be awesome.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: A-

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kindredFrom the back cover:
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.

Review:
This is the third book that I’ve read by Butler, and like the others it tells a gripping story about a strong black woman protecting herself amidst dangerous circumstances.

The crux of the book hinges on the relationship between Dana and her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin. When she first travels back in time, Rufus is about five years old and Dana takes advantage of his age to encourage him to form enlightened opinions about the treatment of black people. In any other book, she would’ve succeeded in cultivating Rufus into a kind-hearted abolitionist. It’s far more intriguing, then, that Rufus instead turns into such a complicated man. He can be loving and generous, but his love is an extremely possessive variety, and he’s often blaming others for making him hurt them. It would’ve been so much easier if they’d just complied, you see. Dana finds herself forgiving him for his various misdeeds, and their relationship goes into some uncomfortable but wonderfully unpredictable places.

Secondarily, Dana gets to know the other slaves on the Weylin plantation, most of whom are subjected to sorrows and degradations at the hands of their white masters. Dana is initially disdainful of their acceptance of this life of slavery, but gradually learns—through bitter experience—just how difficult it is to break free. She herself must constantly be on guard for her own personal liberty and towards the end of one of her later stays, finds herself acquiescing to the whims of white folks with alarming ease.

About the one complaint I could make about Kindred is that it gets a little repetitive, with the countless trips to Rufus’ time and back to 1976, especially toward the end when only a few months have elapsed between visits. Also, and this is specific to the unabridged audiobook read by Kim Staunton, the fact that the voice used for Rufus doesn’t substantively alter between childhood and adulthood really takes one out of the story. He would’ve come across as far more menacing if he had sounded properly like a man.

This book was recommended by Margaret, who said, “I think it will be a book that stays with me for a long time.” I concur.

Gakuen Alice 7 by Tachibana Higuchi: B

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gakuen7For the most part, Gakuen Alice is a fairly episodic series about the adventures of spunky ten-year-old Mikan as she acclimates to attending a mysterious school whose students all have special powers known as Alices. Beginning in volume six, however, its first multi-volume arc, involving an organization that’s opposed to the Alice Academy and is responsible for infecting Mikan’s best friend, Hotaru, with a virus, gets underway. In volume seven, Mikan and friends are pursuing the organization responsible through a forest beset with dangerous traps.

The strong point of Gakuen Alice is the way it mixes darker revelations about the nature of the Academy and the uses to which it puts certain students with warmer scenes of Mikan and her friends. In this volume, this balance is somewhat thrust aside due to the “we’re journeying along a spooky trail, watch out for that laser beam” action that’s going on, but occasional nice moments shine through, mostly involving the sweet romantic triangle going on between Mikan, gentle animal-loving Luca, and Luca’s best friend Natsume. Natsume’s one of those tortured, self-denying characters who, rather than seek his own happiness, instead nudges Luca and Mikan together, because Luca being happy “is enough.” In other words, just the kind to win a shoujo fan’s heart.

While all of the journeying gets a little tiresome, the cliffhanger ending suggests that we might soon get some facts about Mikan’s mysterious origins, which would certainly be nice after all of the cryptic hinting that’s been going on. I’m looking forward to it.

Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Gakuen Alice 6 by Tachibana Higuchi: B+

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gakuen6From the back cover:
A series of mysterious incidents in which Alices lose their powers strikes close to home when Prez’s abilities suddenly disappear! As if that isn’t bad enough, an encounter with “Z,” the Anti-Academy organization (who might be behind the missing Alices), leaves Hotaru sorely wounded. A cure may lie outside the school, but how will Mikan and her friends get past campus security?

Review:
Well, this is certainly an action-packed volume and more Potter-like than ever, involving several instances of students defying rules and taking matters into their own hands (and sometimes making things worse).

We’re probably supposed to admire the plucky bravery that makes Mikan declare she’s going to fight Z and help Hotaru, but seriously, how?! Still, I liked the reasons that made both Luca and Natsume decide to help her. Too, I like learning more about Hotaru—turns out she’s the kind of seemingly detached person who secretly relies a lot on the steady happiness of those around her, a personality with which I can completely identify.

While the plot to thwart the invaders and save Hotaru is the main focus, there are a lot of other questions and tidbits floating around, too. Things like Natsume overhearing some faculty talking about Mikan and also shirking an assignment from headquarters in order to help her, some mysterious girl who once lived with Luca and Natsume, Hotaru resolving to investigate the Academy’s treatment of Mikan, some possible recognition of the invaders from Z, and the fact that one of them may’ve recognized Mikan… At times, it can actually get to be rather too much, and part of why I’ve ennumerated all those things here is to help me keep track of them and see whether they’re adequately resolved in the future.

So far, this series has been pretty episodic, though there’ve always been some continuing threads woven throughout. Are we finally coming to the start of something more epic, or will this all be resolved tidily in a volume or so and we’ll be back to watching Luca frolic with woodland creatures?

Gakuen Alice 5 by Tachibana Higuchi: B+

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gakuen5From the back cover:
The Alice Festival is coming to a close, but the surprises and fun aren’t over for Mikan and her friends yet! Things get a little crazy for Narumi’s musical when an accident takes out some of the performers and Mikan has to step in as the star of the show. But what will happen when she and Luca have to kiss on stage?! And as if that’s not enough, as soon as the kids are back in class, it’s time for exams, and Mikan is in for some bad news when the scores come back!

Review:
I wonder how it is that this series is able to use common manga clichés without annoying me. First there was the genuinely entertaining school festival, and now there’s the tried and true “school play wherein the princess is played by a boy in drag” bit. I think it’s because Higuchi-sensei is able to use each scenario to both show the uniqueness of the school and bring about some nice moments for the characters. The play is totally goofy, for example, but Natsume ends up being kind to a super-cute little kid as well as thwarting a smooch between Mikan and Luca, so how could I not like that?

I also like that one’s expectations are subverted. Like, of course whenever a group works really hard like Mikan’s Special class did on their festival attraction, they’ll get the big medal at the end! Except they don’t, though they do get recognition of a sort. And, of course, when our plucky heroine buckles down to study for her exams (cue studying montage!) so that she can earn a visit to her grandpa, she’s going to win! Except Mikan gets the lowest grade in the class.

In addition to this, some of the mystery has returned with this volume, with some more details about Mikan’s parentage coming to light and more notice of her presence, and affect on Natsume, by the headmasters, which is definitely not a good thing. So far, at least, I get the impression that Higuchi knows where she’s going with this story, which is always something I appreciate.

Gakuen Alice 4 by Tachibana Higuchi: B+

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gakuen4From the back cover:
Mikan’s daring rescue of Natsume earned her an upgrade to One-Star rank, with all attendant privileges. And just in time, too. For the School Festival is about to begin, and the Special Ability class is using every last trick they’ve got to create an exciting—and surprising—attraction!

Review:
There’s not as much darkness in this volume, and though I’m a fan of that aspect of the story, it’s nice to have a fun interlude like this one.

One of the things I really like about this series is how it’ll go into detail about things that could be boring, like specifics of Alice power capacities or ranking systems, but make them interesting (and not seem like afterthoughts). The same thing happens regarding the Special Ability class’ attraction for the school festival—there are actually a few chapters about the RPG they create and its rules and it’s still a lot of fun to read about.

Natsume and Mikan are thrust into each other’s company again in this volume and, though he’s a jerk to her, it seems like he might fancy her some. Their relationship reminds me of Hayama and Sana from Kodocha in some respects. In its initial setup, Kodocha features a cheerful, pig-tailed girl in conflict with the surly ringleader of class miscreants. She gets to know him (and his sorrows) better and no longer hates him, but he still avails himself of opportunities to cop a feel.

I’ve not talked about the art in this series much. At first, I thought it was too cluttered with too much screentone, but now it’s either balanced out or I’ve gotten used to it. There are occasional pages where the use of tone is excessive, including a weird tone for the hair of blond characters, but on the whole I haven’t any particular complaints.

Also, I continue to love Luca. I hope we’ll eventually find out why he’s ranked a Triple, since he says that he “didn’t get it because of [his] talent” like Hotaru. Is it merely the school’s way of thanking him for keeping Natsume reasonably content? That wouldn’t surprise me.

Gakuen Alice 3 by Tachibana Higuchi: B+

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gakuen3From the back cover:
The school cultural festival is approaching, and the special guest is Reo, a former Alice student turned Hollywood superstar! But Reo is involved in some awfully shady dealings, and when his plans suddenly start to involve Natsume, it’s up to Mikan and Sumire to save the day!

Review:
I never thought I’d be giving a B+ to something featuring a school festival and a kidnapping perpetrated by a bishounen idol, but there you go. I guess I’m just a sucker for the combination of ominous facts about the Academy and warm, fuzzy friendship scenes between its students that this volume offers.

It helps that Higuchi uses these silly scaffoldings to reveal more about Natsume’s situation at the school. Being classified as a “dangerous” ability-type means that he’s prohibited from participating in the festival, and even as Mikan is orchestrating something that the “special” type can do to show the other students that they aren’t rejects, she’s aware of Natsume’s exclusion. Later, after she and snobby classmate Sumire have gotten themselves kidnapped while trying to save him, she overhears the kidnappers talking about Natsume’s tragic background and the real reason the dangerous class exists: to do the Academy’s dirty work.

My favorite chapter, though, is mostly fluffy. Mean Professor Snape Jinno denies Mikan a visit to Hogsmeade Central Town, an area on the Alice Academy grounds full of shops owned by Alice artisans, but manages to wrangle permission and then puts on a street performance to earn enough money to buy some candy. Put like that, it’s lame, but when she gives the leftovers of her candy to Narumi-sensei to give to her grandfather when he sees him, it means that she’s decided to trust him (despite the warnings from other students that no adult is trustworthy) when he says he’s going to contact her grandfather and let him know that Mikan is okay.

As we learn more about the Academy, Narumi-sensei’s urgings for Mikan to make friends, and how these friends will be her strongest allies at the school, take on a new meaning. We get a nice contrast between scenes where Mikan and Sumire finally seem to have become friends and scenes where Natsume is being urged to do his “duty,” suggesting that this band of kids might be called upon at some point to mount a rebellion. Interesting stuff, indeed!

Gakuen Alice 2 by Tachibana Higuchi: B

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gakuen2From the back cover:
Young Mikan is the newest student at the mysterious and prestigious Alice Academy, where the most talented and powerful students in the country are united, but for what purpose…?

Mikan is officially admitted into Alice Academy, but things still aren’t exactly going smoothly. Natsume still bullies her, her class ranking couldn’t be lower, some of the teachers are outright hostile, and she has been forbidden to contact anyone outside of the school! Will she be able to find true friends at the academy?

Review:
Quite a lot happens in this volume and nearly all of it is interesting. Aside from getting more information about the organization of the school—including the importance of star rankings and ability-type classes (which are totally like Hogwarts’ Houses, by the way)—there are more indications that the adults at the Alice Academy are not to be trusted and that for Mikan to come there of her own free will might’ve been a huge mistake, particularly since she’s being watched because of the Alice of Nullification that she possesses.

Mikan is also improving in the likability department. She still has her annoying moments, but she’s at least trying to be more mature. Hotaru helps, too, chastising Mikan when she’s whining about not being able to see her grandfather and reminding her that everyone else there is enduring the same sort of isolation from their families.

My favorite characters are Natsume and Luca at this point, even though the former is almost always behaving violently. I love Luca because he’s conflicted between loyalty to his friend and his attraction to the more upbeat world-view that Mikan offers. Natsume is appealing because he’s been denied any chance at real camaraderie by being labelled “special” and “dangerous” by the school. What’s more, while everyone’s relaxing after a game of dodgeball that Mikan organized, Natsume is tapped by a professor to go out on an “urgent mission,” further denying him any of the simple joys of childhood.

So, yes, it’s getting better and darker, too. Definitely don’t stop with volume one if you’re interested in this series.

Gakuen Alice 1 by Tachibana Higuchi: B-

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gakuen1From the back cover:
Young Mikan runs away to Tokyo following her best friend, Hotaru, who has been enrolled in an exclusive, secretive private school for geniuses. But it turns out that Alice Acdemy is a lot more than meets the eye. Whether it’s Hotaru’s gift for inventing gadgets, the cranky Natsume’s firecasting ability, or Professor Narumi’s control of human pheromones, everyone at the school has some sort of special talent. But what ability, if any, does Mikan possess? Mikan is going to have to rely on her courage and spunk if she’s going to stay in school, or even stay alive!

Review:
I watched a little bit of the Gakuen Alice anime several years ago, so was familiar with the general premise as well as the events that take place in this volume. I’m not sure why I didn’t go farther with the anime, but I think I might’ve had difficulty with some hurdles that also present themselves in the manga: unlikable characters and too many gags.

Our main character, Mikan, is spazzy and selfish. I might’ve liked her more to start with if Higuchi had resisted the temptation to draw many outlandish reaction gags as Mikan learns more about the Alice Academy and its peculiar occupants. In the second half of the book, while traversing a dangerous patch of woods on campus, Hotaru finally tells Mikan that she needs to stop behaving so childishly. Probably I was supposed to sympathize with the heroine there, but really all I could think was, “Thank you, Hotaru!” Thankfully, Mikan does get more tolerable around that point, as well.

Hotaru has some problems with likability at first, too. We are told that she agreed to go to Alice Academy in exchange for money that she then used to keep the school where she met Mikan financially afloat. She also was cold to Mikan on her last day in an attempt to cause Mikan to forget about her rather than nurture sad memories. That’s well and good, but the problem is that we are told these things and not shown them. It’s not until the second half of the volume that Hotaru actually exhibits some real warmth towards Mikan, even deigning to smile a little when Mikan’s Alice is finally revealed. So far, though, she does seem friendlier in the manga version.

Something that I didn’t pick up on very much in the anime is the hint of something more sinister going on at the school. Natsume is being caused agony by something, though whether it’s the dangerous nature of his powers or something else is not yet revealed, and both he and his friend Luca seem to sport mysterious scars. This is definitely the most intriguing aspect of the story right now.

Gakuen Alice is published in English by TOKYOPOP and seven volumes have been released so far. The series is still ongoing in Japan and eighteen collected volumes have been released as of March 2009.