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Amefurashi: The Rain Goddess, Vol. 2

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By Atsushi Suzumi
Del Rey, 240 pp.
Rating: T (13+)

At the end of volume one, Sora, Gimmy, Mil, and Mel set off on a quest to retrieve the core of Sora’s tree. Volume two opens with this quest well underway, though Mil and Mel are mysteriously absent and Gimmy’s guardian is with the group instead. The volume starts strong as Sora and Gimmy face off with two other Amefurashi in order to prove Sora’s claim to the title. Sora learns the value of letting herself get to know humans and Gimmy learns to show Sora that he cares, all over the backdrop of a standard adventure as they head toward a final battle with the power-hungry Amefurashi, Ciel.

Sora and Gimmy’s adventure begins well, but what comes as a surprise as the volume nears its end is that this is, apparently, the final volume of the series. One can’t help but wonder if this was a surprise to the mangaka as well, since the beginning of the volume is paced as though it is the start of something truly epic. The final battle arrives abruptly, tying up loose ends in startling (and not quite graceful) haste. The result is rather jarring and even disappointing as things wrap up just as the story was finally finding its groove. The series’ ending is not entirely unsatisfying but there is a sense that much has been left untold, and it’s rather sad to wave goodbye to the story’s young characters before they’ve really had time to grow.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Though this volume shows great promise in the beginning, easily surpassing the strength of the first, a rush to conclusion in its final chapters keeps it from truly building on that promise.

Tsubasa: Those with Wings 3 by Natsuki Takaya: B-

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tsubasawings3After a disappointing start and lackluster middle, Natsuki Takaya finally delivers a mostly satisfying conclusion in this, the final volume of Tsubasa: Those with Wings.

We begin with Kotobuki and friends (sans Raimon, who is prohibited from leaving the country by a bomb in his brain) in Japan, where they conveniently meet the Tsubasa’s creator and learn the secrets of its origin. After several tedious chapters featuring characters sitting around and talking, the plot picks up when Raimon is captured by the army. Kotobuki wants to rescue him but lacks confidence so Rikuro, a mysterious boy who has helped her on a few occasions, shows up and replays Raimon’s past for her so that she can see how much she has helped him already. Painful backstories are Takaya-sensei’s forte, and Raimon’s proves to be unexpectedly touching.

From there, the story morphs into an enjoyable sci-fi action tale, with Kotobuki making her way through a sprawling military complex to rescue her love and ultimately facing off against the big villain (who, of course, has angst of his own). Along the way, she lends encouragement to allies and enemies alike, showing a profound resemblance to Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. Indeed, this quote about Kotobuki could easy apply to Tohru, as well:

She isn’t supposed to have the time to be worrying about anyone else right now. Still… her foolishness somehow always winds up becoming much-needed support for someone else.

Coming back to the same themes and character types might, in some creators’ hands, feel like uninspired regurgitation, but with Takaya it feels more like someone playing with and fine-tuning ideas. If nothing else, Tsubasa: Those with Wings is interesting as a milestone on the way to a greater work.

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

Itazura Na Kiss, Vol. 1

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Seventeen-year-old Kotoko Aihara is a ditz, the kind of girl who gets easily flustered by math problems, blurts whatever she’s thinking, and burns every dish she attempts to make, be it a kettle of boiling water or beef bourguignon. Though Kotoko’s poor academic performance consigns her Class F — the so-called “dropout league” at her high school — she has her eye on Naoki Irie, the star of Class A. Rumored to be an off-the-chart genius — some peg his IQ at 180, others at 200 — Naoki is an outstanding student whose good looks and natural athletic ability make him an object of universal admiration. Kotoko finally screws up the courage to confess her feelings to him, only to be curtly dismissed; Naoki “doesn’t like stupid girls.” Furious, Kotoko resolves to forget Naoki.

This being a shojo manga, however, author Kaoru Tada contrives an only-in-the-pages-of-Margaret scenario to bring her reluctant lovebirds together: an earthquake. When a tremor flattens Kotoko’s house, she and her father don’t go to a shelter or a hotel. No, they take up residence at… the Iries! (Kotoko and Naoki’s fathers are lifelong friends, having attended the same high school thirty years prior.) Though Mr. and Mrs. Irie warmly embrace Kotoko, Naoki balks at her presence, forbidding her to acknowledge him at school or tell her friends where she’s staying. Making matters worse are Naoki’s younger brother Yuuki, a fiercely intelligent third grader who shares Naoki’s contempt for Kotoko, and Naoki’s mother, a cheerful busybody who tries engineering a relationship between Kotoko and her son; their intrusions into Kotoko’s life are a constant reminder of just how awkward her situation really is.

Tada’s set-up is credulity-straining — to say the least! — but she populates her story with so many fabulous supporting players it’s easy to forgive the absurd plot twists. Yuuki is my favorite character, a pint-sized terror who’s equal parts Stewie Griffin and Harriet the Spy, filling a notebook with detailed (and unflattering) descriptions of Kotoko’s daily routine. When Kotoko discovers his “observation diary,” a hilarious battle royale ensues, as she tries to persuade Yuuki that she is, in fact, smart, kind, and attractive. Kotoko’s Class F pals are another welcome source of comic relief. Though her friends are strictly one-note characters — a wiseacre, a wiseguy who carries a torch for Kotoko — they function as a kind of salty Greek chorus, alternately rooting for Kotoko and ruing her impulsive behavior.

Even Tada’s lead couple are more appealing than they initially seem. Kotoko, for example, turns out to be spunkier and smarter than one might have guessed from the opening pages, tapping into a hidden reserve of cunning when she discovers an incriminating photo of Naoki. Naoki, for his part, demonstrates a capacity for chivalrous behavior, even though he remains appalled by Kotoko’s… well, stupidity. (Spoiler alert: She doesn’t become a Nobel laureate overnight.)

Tada’s artwork is serviceable, with simple layouts and minimal attention to background detail, save for the occasional patch of screentone. Though crude, her sketchy character designs prove surprisingly effective, neatly encapsulating each cast member’s personality in just a few simple shapes and lines: Naoki’s hauteur by his sharp nose and rooster-like shock of hair, Kotoko’s naivete by her round, girlish face. The characters’ rough, unfinished look readily lends itself to the kind of facial and bodily deformations so characteristic of the shojo rom-com; I’ll take Tada’s unpolished yet soulful cartooning over the super-slick stylings of Arina Tanemura any day.

Reading Itazura Na Kiss, it’s easy to see why the series proved so influential. Tada makes opposites-attract comedy seem effortless — just throw your leads under the same roof and presto! hilarity and romance ensue. What Tada did better than many of her admirers, however, is make the comedy count for something more than just a few laughs; her characters’ pratfalls and humiliations serve as catalysts for self-reflection and growth, making it seem plausible that Naoki and Kotoko might be right for one another… some day. (I never rule out the possibility of a deus ex-mangaka bringing them together before then, however.) Highly recommended.

ITAZURA NA KISS, VOL. 1 • BY KAORU TADA • DMP • 342 pp. • RATING: TEEN (13+)

Butterflies, Flowers, Volume 1

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Butterflies, Flowers, Vol. 1
By Yuki Yoshihara
Published by Viz Media

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Choko Kuze’s once-wealthy family fell into financial ruin when she was seven years old, forcing them to trade in their heavily-staffed country estate for a family-run noodle shop. Now a grown woman seeking her first job, Choko is cornered into signing on with the only firm to show any interest, which is unfortunately the same company whose interviewer asked her such wildly inappropriate questions as, “Are you a virgin?” Things are no better once she begins work, as the outrageous interviewer takes her under his tyrannical wing , choosing to personally train her for his department rather than allowing her to learn alongside the company’s other new hires. Confused by his attention and unwarranted familiarity, Choko tries her best, even while her coworkers rant about her behind her back. Finally, then, a slip of the tongue reveals that Choko’s new boss is actually the son of her family’s former chauffeur (once known to her as “Cha-chan”) who had cared for her a child and promised they would one day be reunited.

Though this revelation clears up a lot of questions for Choko, it actually makes her life much more complex. She’s grateful to reconnect with the boy she so loved as a child but his adult self is unfamiliar and fraught with contradiction. Furthermore, their relationship both in and outside of work is a confusing mess, with “Cha-chan” (more appropriately known as Masayuki) vaulting back and forth from controlling boss to obedient servant multiple times a day, leaving Choko constantly flustered over where she really stands. To complicate matters further, she also finds herself falling for Masayuki, whose perception of her as a helpless innocent he must protect (he still addresses her by the childhood name, “Milady”) prevents him from seeing her as an adult, let alone a candidate for romance. Help arrives in the (unexpected) form of Masayuki’s cross-dressing best friend, Suou, who sees Choko as someone uniquely worthy of his friend’s affection, but can anyone truly overcome such complicated mutual history?

This series’ premise may first appear to be shojo all over–shojo of the worst kind, even, with its controlling male love interest winning over the passive heroine with occasional crumbs of condescending kindness. Fortunately, there is a solid thread of adult humor and understanding running through the entire volume that makes its content both more complex and more palatable, exposing the series’ true brilliance. The result is a smart, funny, romantic comedy that takes some real shots at both soap-opera romance and Japanese office politics without ever taking itself too seriously.

Though Choko is undeniably drawn to Masayuki, she recognizes the maddening contradiction in her own feelings, something most every adult woman has faced at some point in her life. “I don’t want him to treat me like a child, but I want him to stay close and indulge me. I want him to call me ‘Milady,’ but I want him to see me as a woman,” she laments as she realizes she’s fallen in love. Meanwhile, Masayuki is just as confused as she is, torn ungracefully between the desire to control Choko and the world around her and the desire to be controlled by her. With both gender and class dynamics (some specific to modern Japanese society, others more universal) being constantly turned on their heads and back again over the course of this volume, the characters’ mutual confusion becomes both surprisingly sympathetic and genuinely humorous as the story progresses.

Speaking of humor, it’s important to be clear here that this manga is really quite funny, often in unexpected moments. For instance, when Choko finds herself in terrifying position of being expected to “entertain” a visiting client in the most horrifying sense possible, Masayuki arrives to save the day by gravely offering himself up as her replacement. The volume is filled with over-the-top behavior played with utter sincerity, rendering all of it twice as funny as it would be if it was delivered with a wink and a smile. Take this deadpan exchange for instance:

Choko: And please stop calling me “Milady.”
Masayuki: Then how about “Milady-Poo”?

The series’ art is a highlight as well–fresh, sharp, and stylized as needed. The use of popular shojo imagery, such as flowers and stormy backgrounds, helps accent the romantic melodrama while the overall cleanliness keeps everything in perspective. Like the story itself, Yoshihara’s art operates on multiple levels, maintaining its aura of smart humor while also providing the seeds of real substance. What this manga will ultimately turn out to be is anyone’s guess but whatever game is being played, both the story and its artwork are playing along perfectly.

With the second volume of Butterflies, Flowers not due out until March, it’s difficult not to feel impatient. Though the series’ first volume is charming to be sure, there is a sense that its true colors have not yet been spotted. Despite the story’s obvious commitment to humor at this stage in the game, there’s enough romantic substance bubbling underneath to suggest the possibility of a deeper direction. Though most of the characters in Choko’s life are painted with a hilariously broad brush, that each of them has more to offer seems quite clear. Time will tell how much of this we’ll see as the story continues.

In the meantime, there’s plenty to enjoy as-is. Butterflies, Flowers is truly delightful.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

I.N.V.U., Vol. 5

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I.N.V.U., Vol. 5 | By Kim Kang Won | Published by TOKYOPOP | Rated T (13+) – After the unfortunate ramen incident involving Rea’s “borrowed” designer dress, things come to a head for her at home when Youngjun unknowingly outs her as an aspiring model to her family. Rejected by her father for her ambitions, she loses her home but unexpectedly gains an opportunity in the fashion business. Meanwhile, Sey is finally warming up to Siho (though not quickly enough to satisfy him) and Jae Eun’s crush on pastry chef Simon may not be a lost cause after all! This volume’s heavy drama, however, comes when a well-meaning neighbor shares one of Hali’s magazine spreads with Hali’s mother, forcing her to temporarily face the reality of her son’s death. This reality check sends her into a fit of violence against Hali, sending Hali straight into the arms of her teacher and reluctant suitor, Hajun.

I.N.V.U. is unapologetically soapy and certainly over-the-top, but this volume strikes an unusually nice balance between soap opera drama and real inspiration by putting Rea in the spotlight and giving her a genuinely realistic job in the fashion business—something that could easily lead her towards a satisfying career. Though the drama with Hali and Hajun is given more page time, it is Rea’s fortune that drives this volume, lending it some real (and unexpected) sparkle. It helps, too, that even the endless Hali/Hajun angst is forced to actually move forward, thanks to some serious manipulation on the part of Hajun’s conniving fiancée. That Hajun reacts to these manipulative moves with more maturity than he’s shown in the previous four volumes combined is a real bonus as well. Fans of boys’ love will appreciate Jae Eun’s subplot in this volume, too, as Simon makes a special request for future versions of his donginji boyfriend.

Five volumes in (and after a second multi-year break) I.N.V.U. seems to finally be hitting its stride. Here’s hoping the pace will pick up for publication as well!

The Antique Gift Shop, Volume 9

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Guest Review: The Antique Gift Shop, Vol. 9
By Lee Eun
Published by Yen Press

Review by Megan M.

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Bun-Nyuh, who still hates the supernatural world and tries to pretend it isn’t a part of her life, thinks to finally free herself from it by closing her shop and dumping the remainder of her grandmother’s antiques, all touched by the supernatural, in the river. This, of course, does not have the desired effect. Before we can get to that, however, we must first wrap up Lee Eun’s skewed version of “The Little Mermaid,” which began in the previous volume and features a rather self-centered mermaid convinced that the fairy tale got things completely wrong and that she must rescue her prince from life with his obese girlfriend (who is a former ballerina).

I confess that I ended up not caring much for the mermaid plotline, at least partly because I couldn’t follow much of it. I’m not sure who pulled who from the river, who found who in the river, or, for that matter, if anyone even lived. I also have no idea if the prince grew a spine, the mermaid finally thought about someone besides herself, or if the ballerina regained her self esteem. All three, I think, were meant to reflect various parts of Bun-Nyuh’s personality, but the conclusion of that arc was too confusing for it to really work for me.

In contrast, the return to Bun-Nyuh’s story is the series at its best, with the creepy atmosphere combined with Bun-Nyuh’s zany temper and insistence on barging ahead with whatever she wants to do. Having deprived herself of both Mr. Yang’s protection and the presumed protection of her grandmother’s antiques, Bun-Nyuh is now at the mercy of the force they’ve been protecting her from the entire series. Instead of a threatening villain or scary monster, however, what she encounters is a strange young man who claims to be a childhood friend she doesn’t remember, revealing many things about her half-remembered nightmares and recollections throughout the series.

Lee Eun’s characters always look a little unfinished to me, their faces often seeming to have only the barest of features (an odd criticism of manhwa art, I know) and the bodies just short of elongated. This, however, is very well suited to the spooky atmosphere she creates and her depiction of the supernatural elements is often stunning. In this volume, the scenes in which Bun-Nyuh seeks to avoid being alone in the rain and the scenes where she imagines Mr. Yang is with her (Or maybe he was–I never trust those things unless he actually confirms them) are particularly effective.

This is not a particularly well known manhwa, not really fitting the mold for what seems to create licensing hits, but it is one of my favorites, and I’ll be sad to see it go when it wraps up in the next volume. Hopefully Yen, or another studio, will license another of Lee Eun’s works soon.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Black Bird 2 by Kanoko Sakurakoji: B-

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blackbird2Misao is the bride of demon prophecy, and marrying her will bring her childhood friend Kyo, leader of the Tengu clan, prosperity. Misao is drawn to Kyo, but she resists this arrangement because she can’t be sure whether Kyo actually loves her for herself or because of the benefits she could bring him.

The answer to this question arrives in the form of Kyo’s eight vassals, a group of young men who’ve got intimate knowledge of Kyo’s past, his real feelings for Misao, and how hard he worked to become clan leader so that he could have the right to claim her as his bride. The original heir, Kyo’s older brother Sojo, also makes an appearance and nearly ravishes Misao, but not before allowing her a glimpse of her forgotten childhood memories.

The backstories of the characters are fleshed out nicely in this volume, and I’m pleased with the rate at which information is doled out to the reader. One confusing point, though, is that Kyo is shown in flashbacks and the testimony of the vassals to be a kind, nurturing guy, but his present-day treatment of Misao runs contrary to this assessment. Sure, he comes to her rescue as needed, but he also says things like, “Shall I shut your mouth for you?” and punishes her for being a flirtatious drunk. Worse is Misao’s reaction: she accepts his use of force as his way of communicating and finds that it makes his gentle moments that much more meaningful. That’s seriously disturbing!

Ultimately, I do enjoy this series but its creepy moments ensure I feel rather guilty doing so.

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

Oh! My Brother, Volume 1

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Oh! My Brother
By Ken Saito
Published by CMX

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Ordinary high school student Masago has always lived in the shadow of her charismatic older brother, Shiro. Things change suddenly, however, when Shiro dies saving Masago from being hit by an oncoming truck. Grief-stricken and unable to accept that Shiro died in her place, Masago is unable pull herself together even to attend his funeral service, but Shiro’s best friend Yasaka soon gets quite a shock when Masago turns up on his doorstep claiming to be possessed by her late brother’s spirit. Though they first speculate that Shiro’s unfinished business is the upcoming school festival he worked hard to put together, it eventually becomes clear that his true mission is to help his little sister live a full life (as long as that doesn’t include romance with Yasaka). Though Masago claims to be happy with the arrangement and in no hurry for her brother to leave, how long can she truly be content letting him live on her body?

Though Oh! My Brother‘s concept sounds like a lot of fun, its execution is uneven at best, mainly due to the lack of time taken with character development, especially of the story’s supporting characters. The relationship between Masago and Shiro is certainly intriguing enough to be a fine candidate for a body/gender-switch scenario (and I think I may be the only reviewer to date not creeped out by Shiro’s sister complex) and the artist does well giving them individual traits and mannerisms when one or the other of them is in control of the same body. What’s tragically underdeveloped at this point is other people’s relationships with Masago and Shiro and how those relationships are impacted by Shiro’s death, particularly in the case of Yasaka, who is the only person aware of Shiro’s remaining presence in his sister’s body. Everything after Shiro’s death moves so quickly, it’s difficult to believe most of it and though there are some strong moments (Shiro’s explanation of his circumstances to Yasaka, for example) they aren’t given enough weight to effectively drive the story.

With its playful concept and strong artwork, Oh! My Brother has potential, but it will have to come a long way in its second volume to see any of it through.

Rasetsu, Vol. 3

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By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

The volume begins with a mission to the home of Rasetu’s mother who is being haunted by a malevolent spirit of which she is blissfully unaware. Fortunately, Rasetsu easily sidesteps an attempt by the spirit to intimidate her by dredging up fears from her own mind, and as a bonus, Rasetsu finally finds out the truth behind the name she’s always blamed her father for (whether she’s ready to believe it or not). The volume’s second mission involves an old acquaintance of Yako’s, Dai Tendo, who is the little brother to Yurara‘s Mei (the boyfriend of the girl whose guardian spirit was Yako’s first love). His appearance brings back a wealth of sad (and not sad) memories for Yako and awakens some real jealousy in Rasetsu. This volume’s real treat, however, is a final side-story telling the tale of Aoi’s arrival to the agency and the development of his close relationship with its owner.

Fans of Yurara may be happy to see more of Yako’s story coming to the fore here, but the way his past with Yurara’s guardian spirit is brought up so blatantly again just after the previous volume has a bit of a gimmicky feel to it, or at best resembles flogging a dead horse. If Rasetsu is going to come into its own as a spin-off series, it’s going to need to rely on the here and now to keep readers interested. Though Yako’s past is surely sad and definitely a draw for fans of the previous series, perhaps this time would be better spent developing Rasetsu‘s original characters so that they have some chance of rising to that level. There are a few compelling moments in this volume, particularly some new hints at Kuryu’s true agenda, but overall the volume is only saved by the charming side-story at its end.

Though it may provoke protests from fans of the original series, the real key to making Rasetsu work is going to be letting it evolve a life of its own. Let’s hope this happens soon.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

NANA, Vol. 19

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By Ai Yazawa
Viz, 194 pp.
Rating: Mature

The bit of future story at the beginning of this volume reveals a stunning amount of information about upcoming events and it’s not hard to see how things begin to derail as the volume continues. As Hachi focuses on getting Nana and Ren back together with the magic of Valentine’s Day chocolates, Reira abandons all her defenses in pursuit of her long-held love. Meanwhile, Ren is falling further into darkness all on his own. Shin is released on probation, but it’s a bittersweet moment at best as Nana lets out all her own anger and frustration out on him. Though Shin and Nana reach an inspiring agreement by the end, there’s a pervading sense that it’s all too late to change anything significant in their futures.

Fans of Hachi will have a lot of difficulty with this volume but since that is due only to Ai Yazawa’s incredibly insightful writing, it’s hard to complain even with the sensation of a rusty knife twisting in one’s gut. Also, even though it is an incredibly painful volume when viewed from Hachi’s point of view, there is also a sense of impending freedom if one can shake off the accompanying humiliation enough to get there. “No matter where Takumi went, even if he completely forgot about me when he was gone,” she says in one of the volume’s between-chapter narrations, “I thought I had to make a sanctuary for him to return to when he got tired. That’s the only way I could win.” It’s one of the saddest narrations in the series so far, and that’s saying quite a lot.

Yazawa is brilliant in this volume, capturing the feelings of each of these damaged characters as though they were all her. Even Yuri shows unexpected depths in this volume, as she’s finally face-to-face with a real break in her career which would upset the plans she’s made with Nobu. As painful a destination as everyone seems to be imminently headed for, this story remains so poignant and so real, it’s impossible to leave the road.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Angel Diary, Volume 10

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Guest Review: Angel Diary, Vol 10
By Kara and Lee YunHee
Published by Yen Press

Review by Megan M.

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This volume concludes the conflict between Dong-Young, Bi-Wal, and Bi-Wal’s brother Ryung (who would be the King of Hell were it not for his white hair). I have read all the licensed series from this manhwaga team (the others being Demon Diary and Legend>) and Angel Diary is my favorite of the three, but I haven’t enjoyed the most recent volumes as much as I did the previous. I signed up for the story of the crossdressing Princess of Heaven who is hiding out on Earth to escape marriage to the King of Hell, her mysterious admirer, and all the otherworldly shenanigans that surround them. Recently, it’s been delivering less on that and more on “he’s not really an evil villain, he just does bad things due to an angsty past!” Unfortunately “he’s only bad because of his angst” characters tend to not work for me.

This volume seems to bring an end to that, however, returning the focus to the series’ more interesting characters. Namely Dong-Young, Bi-Wal, their friends, and Queen Hong. This volume has some real highlights, particularly Dong-Young’s rather ill-timed explanation of her relationship with Bi-Wal, and her rather limited idea of what a relationship between brothers should be like. I was annoyed, though, at the regular reminders that she isn’t very smart. Still, I like my love confessions in fiction to occur in the middle of battle and I’m glad that the series is letting her rescue both Bi-Wal and Doh-Hyun in battle. Bi-Wal also finally seems to be returning to his old outgoing and clever self, hopefully putting aside his more recent “silent, angsty, and inscrutable” act. Hopefully, the next volume will have more of the charm of earlier volumes, and will fully return the focus to the story’s principal characters.

Kara’s art, I suspect, leans a bit too close to the standard “cute” shoujo style, but I’ve always been fond of it, big eyes, pointy chins and all. Their (Kara is actually a team of two artists) lines tend to be clean, their character designs distinctive, and the layouts are easy to follow. It is, I think, very well suited to what is essentially a very fluffy approach to an epic, mythic romance.

Angel Diary may not be for everyone. It’s very lighthearted for a story about star-crossed love between the Princess of Heaven and the King of Hell, and rarely focuses on romance as much as one would expect for the setup. It also avoids falling into the territory of being a light comedy, and the seemingly conventional takes on genderbending mask rather unconventional roots. It’s always been right up my alley.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Honey Hunt 3 by Miki Aihara: B+

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honeyhunt3After being deserted by her celebrity parents, Yura Onozuka decides to best her mother at her own game: acting. After bombing several auditions, she’s landed the lead role in a commercial with a TV series tie-in and, after struggling through the first table read, manages to go back in and nail it thanks to the efforts of her friends Q-ta and Haruka Minamitani, a pair of fraternal twin pop stars, who both help by either encouraging her or smoothing things over with her less-than-impressed costars.

Yura has developed a crush on Q-ta and doesn’t realize that Haruka, one of those “kind on the inside, surly on the outside” types, has feelings for her. When he gets the idea that seeing him in concert will make her fall for him, he promises to answer all her questions about Q-ta if she’ll come to his shows. She does go, and is enthralled by his performance, but her mind’s still on Q-ta, forcing Haruka to finally make his intentions clear.

Honey Hunt is briskly paced and lighthearted, with Yura attracting near-instant notice in her career and in romance alike. It’s also completely engaging—the Minamitani boys are both genuinely sweet and Yura herself, though given to bouts of insecurity, is sensible and sympathetic. One thing I particularly like is that she always thanks those who’ve done nice things for her; too many shojo heroines get all embarrassed and feisty in similar circumstances.

If you’re in the mood for frothy fun, Honey Hunt would surely fit the bill. Too bad there’s a five-month wait for volume four!

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

Honey Hunt 1-2 by Miki Aihara: B+

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honeyhunt1It’s not easy being the daughter of famous parents, as Yura Onozuka well knows. Her mother’s a sought-after actress and her father a renowned composer, and people are always expecting Yura to have that special celebrity air. She walks a tightrope at school, trying to appear neither aloof nor smug, and the only person who really sees her for herself is her childhood friend, Shin. She dreams of leaving her parents behind, but they beat her to the punch, as she learns when her mother comes home one day and spontaneously announces that she’s divorcing Yura’s father and selling the family home, and that he’s having a baby with his girlfriend. Yura thinks to turn to Shin, only to catch him in her mother’s arms. The betrayal is too much and she ends up declaring on live TV that both her parents can go to hell.

Determined to beat her mother at something, she accepts an offer from her father’s manager, Keiichi, to represent her and starts staying with him while going out on auditions and bombing terribly. Along the way, she meets a pair of twin brother pop stars, Q-ta and Haruka, and advice from Q-ta gives her the confidence she needs to intrigue the director of a commercial enough to finally get a callback. It’s not until Yura’s cast as the main character that she learns that a TV series is part of the deal and that, though he pledged to keep her parentage a secret, Keiichi broke that promise pretty much immediately, since it’s his job to make her popular. Most of the second volume involves Yura coming to terms with this reality and also trying to work out how to intentionally access the “switch” in her that flips and allows her to become a character.

honeyhunt2Superficially, Honey Hunt has some similarities to Skip Beat!. Both Yura and Kyoko have been betrayed by male childhood friends they had feelings for, both have cruel mothers, and both seek to achieve fame as a means of revenge. In execution, though, it’s really a lot different. For one thing, with two fairly sweet male rockers hanging around and offering encouragement, the potential for and emphasis on romance is much stronger. Also, Yura is much calmer than Kyoko is. In fact, one of the best things I like about her is that she’s refreshingly normal. She has bouts of insecurity, true, and sometimes her refusal to believe that people could like her for herself gets a little tiresome, but on the whole she’s smart, interesting, sympathetic, and free of over-the-top smackworthy behavior. If Yura were a real person, I’d be happy to know her.

Miki Aihara’s art is generally good. Her interior backgrounds are lovely, and she’s a master of the profile angle. Sometimes, though, the three-quarter view seems to give her a bit of trouble; either that, or the characters’ eyes are supposed to look kind of misshapen and weird at those moments. In any case, I like Yura’s character design a lot, I like how the twins will occasionally look very much alike when taken unawares, and I like how Yura’s confidence when really getting into a role is portrayed.

It’s kind of unusual for me to like a shoujo heroine this much; I’ve been feeling lately that I’ve been rather down on them, so it’s nice to be able to really like one for a change! While the story interests me, it’s really for Yura that I’ll continue reading.

Honey Hunt is published in English by VIZ and three volumes have been released so far. The series is up to five volumes in Japan and is still ongoing.

Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom, Vol. 8

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By Kazunari Kakei
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: T + (Older Teens)

As the battle with Fall continues, Nora’s body has been put under the control of Fall’s ally, Deuce, whom Fall later kills without a moment’s hesitation when she is overcome by the combined efforts of Nora and Kazuma, an action which shocks Nora to his core. When Fall uses his power to transport their battle into the human world, Nora’s determination not to let any more of his friends die lends him enormous power, but in the end it is his relationship with Kazuma that gives him the power he needs to fight against Fall’s efforts to absorb his power.

After two volumes of action, revelation, and fairly significant character development, this volume, which consists mainly of action without all that much of the other two, is a bit of a letdown. Granted, there are some new developments for Fall, especially in terms of his relationship with the former Cerberus, Deigree, but Nora’s big declaration, “I’ll win ’cause I’ve got something worth fighting for!!!” seems anticlimactic now that his awareness of the importance of friends is a couple of volumes old. The relationship between Nora and Kazuma is still the most compelling thing about the series and there are definitely advancements made here, but they are a bit lost in the din of battle.

What would have been a pretty exciting volume earlier on in the series fails to quite live up to the new heights reached in the last two volumes, but the conclusion to this storyline is still quite satisfying in the end. Whether Kakai can continue to build on the series’ new strength from this point forward remains to be seen.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Pandora Hearts, Volume 1

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Pandora Hearts, Volume 1
By Jun Mochizuki
Published by Yen Press

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Oz Vessalius, aged fifteen, is a carefree young aristocrat with an absent father whom he has emotionally replaced with his kind, attentive uncle. On the morning of his coming-of-age ceremony, he goofs around with his little sister, Ada, and teases his young servant, Gilbert, who is mortified to hear that Oz wishes him to be part of the ceremony, not as a servant but as a friend. The day is filled with oddities, such as the discovery of a hidden grave on the mansion property where Oz’s family ceremonies are held, accompanied by strange visions of an angry girl in a surreal, lonely place, and Oz’s sense of uneasiness begins to grow.

As his ceremony finally gets underway, Oz is shocked to find himself surrounded by cloaked figures ready to cast him into The Abyss, a place he has heard of only in stories as a terrifying prison where the world’s worst sinners are locked away forever. Though the proceedings are disrupted by the appearance of the girl in Oz’s earlier vision (whose dual appearance as an enormous black rabbit has earned her the nickname “B-Rabbit”), the cloaked crowd ultimately has its way and, branded with a sin he knows nothing about, Oz is thrown into The Abyss.

Once there, he finds himself battling “chains” (creatures of The Abyss who are anxious to eat him), though again he encounters the girl from his vision who introduces herself as Alice. Alice is also a chain, she tells him, and as Oz struggles for his life, she lures him into a contract that would allow them both to escape The Abyss. Upon their escape, they are greeted by three members of an organization called Pandora, who use Oz’s devotion to Alice (and Alice’s desire to recover her lost memories) as a tool to convince them to join in on their quest to discover the motives of the Baskervilles–the group who sent Oz to The Abyss in the first place.

That’s a lot of plot to spell out in a single review, though it really only scratches the surface of this whirlwind shonen fantasy. Impressively, though the story races along at an exceptionally fast pace, it is very easy to follow and its characters immediately take shape, evoking both sympathy and great interest from the beginning. Both Oz, whose carefree attitude hides significant intelligence and compassion, and Alice, whose aggressive, fearsome persona seems crafted to protect the psyche of a very damaged young girl, are immediately compelling. Even the three from Pandora–Sharon, whose youthful appearance seems a bit suspect, Break, whose attachment to a possibly supernatural doll-like creature (Emily) he keeps on his shoulder paints him as pretty much off his rocker, and Raven, a tall, dark, sullen man who seems unusually protective of Oz–are already distinctive and fairly enthralling, thanks to Jun Mochizuki’s clear writing and artistic skill.

Mochozuki’s art is central to the atmosphere of this manga, with its detailed character designs and settings. Much inspiration is taken from John Tennial’s vision of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, with the addition of Mochizuki’s own style which excels particularly in the story’s creepiest moments, such as Oz’s adventure in The Abyss. Mochizuki also has a tendency towards generously-sized coats and shirtsleeves that hang over the characters’ hands, which might suggest typical moe infantilizing if not for the fact that it is applied to male characters as often as (or more than) female characters. It is the costuming in particular that shapes Break’s character, for instance, rendering him strangely endearing instead of just terrifyingly crazy. These observations are not meant to belittle the writing at all, of course. In fact, it is the combination of both that creates these distinctive characters so quickly and with apparent effortlessness. The story’s actions sequences are unusually coherent and easy to follow, with a very dramatic use of contrast and paneling, matching its surreal setting beautifully.

As with any story as elaborately set up as this one, the real question at the end of a strong first volume is whether or not the author can effectively follow through with what’s been put into play. The series has offered more questions than answers at this point, relying mainly on the strength of its characters to hold the reader’s attention through the din. That said, there is enough promise in this fun, mysterious fantasy to ease all doubts for the moment and simply anticipate. Fast-paced, enigmatic, and attractive to the eye, Pandora Hearts is easy to recommend.

Review copy provided by the publisher.