Manga Bookshelf

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Reviews

Fushigi Yûgi 1 by Yuu Watase: B+

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Book description:
Miaka Yuuki is an ordinary junior-high student who is suddenly whisked away into the world of a book, The Universe of the Four Gods. In a land reminiscent of ancient China, she becomes the priestess of the god Suzaku, and is charged with finding all seven of her Celestial-Warrior protectors, including dashing mercenary Tamahome and wannabe empress Nuriko. Only then can Miaka summon the power of the god Suzaku, find her true love, and get home safely.

Review:
Fushigi Yûgi was the first shoujo anime I ever saw, and the first with rampant bishounen and gender fun, etc. So, even though it has its flaws, I’m still fond of it. It’s been a while since I saw the series, so I decided to revisit it in manga form.

The art style surprised me. I’ve read a couple of Watase’s later things, and this earlier style is actually reminiscent of Rumiko Takahashi in spots. I prefer it to her later, more stylized approach. It’s more comical and the characters don’t look as similar.

Miaka is certainly just as stupid as I remembered, and has already done quite a few dumb things and fainted a few times for incredibly goofy reasons. Tamahome… doesn’t… love me?! *swoon* Three of her Celestial Warriors are introduced here, found essentially under her nose: Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko. I’m definitely reading more for these side characters, the latter two more so than Tamahome. He doesn’t really do much for me. I do like the story, and the manga seems to be a little clearer on certain elements of the logistics involved.

Fushigi Yûgi is a shoujo classic, but is also recommended if one simply wants a bit of fun fantasy.

Ouran High School Host Club 2 by Bisco Hatori: A-

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From the back cover:
The school-wide physical exam has thrown the members of the Host Club for a loop. How can the doctor not discover that Haruhi is a girl?! And once the female customers learn the truth, Haruhi can kiss her job goodbye. But then life at the club will be unbearably boring if she leaves! So the guys wrack their brains for a solution…

Review:
This volume corresponds with episodes 3 and 5-7 of the anime. I thought some bits of 7 might’ve been anime-only filler, buuuut turns out they weren’t. I didn’t like this volume quite as much as the first, because it felt like it was getting a little gimmicky. I don’t like manga where things like panda mecha or cages or alligators just randomly appear out of nowhere. The interesting characters and art that’s beautiful and cute in just the right proportion make me a little more forgiving in Ouran’s case, but I hope it doesn’t become a trend.

I continue to appreciate the moments where Tamaki succeeds in engineering happiness for someone the club has encountered, and especially enjoy seeing Haruhi being stunned by Tamaki’s brief flashes of perceptive kindness. “I like good deeds,” one of his thought bubbles declares, as he smilingly observes another success. I like Haruhi and Mori a lot, but at this point, Tamaki is my favorite character. I hope to see more insight and depth for him in the future.

Hikaru no Go 7 by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata: A

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From the back cover:
Hikaru is horrified to find that he’s losing all of his games at the insei school! The Young Lions Tournament is just three months away, and the insei who qualify will play against rookie pros, including Akira. Hikaru sees his chance to impress his rival, but can he turn his losing streak around in time?

Review:
It’s hard to articulate why I love this series so much, but I really do. The plot is not a new one in shounen manga, but the characters are so endearing, and the art so great, that it still feels fresh. Hikaru is your typical boy, thoughtless at times, but still with the occasional sweet moment when he is determined to do something good for Sai. And, of course, Sai could not be prettier and/or cuter. I particularly like when all that’s in his thought bubble is a little heart.

It’s also pretty unique how far we’ve progressed so far. A little over a year has passed since Hikaru started playing, several months are covered in this volume alone, and I think the story is somewhere over the halfway point of the anime series. With 16 volumes after this one, it makes me think there’s tons of story that wasn’t animated, and since I have remained unspoiled on it, it’s quite a lovely prospect.

In this volume, I liked that Sai is able to diagnose why Hikaru keeps losing, and actually do a bit of instructing that nudges Hikaru’s skill level up some. Plus, the stylized representations of their games as parrying swordplay was a pretty cool way of illustration his progression. The other insei are more interesting than his former clubmates back at his junior high, because they’re better skilled and less worshipful of his abilities, and with this volume, he’s just getting into playing against a couple of characters that I quite like.

Everyone needs to read a bit of shounen tournament-style manga every once in a while, to experience its awesome addictive power. Hikaru no Go would be an excellent choice.

Ouran High School Host Club 1 by Bisco Hatori: A+

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From the back cover:
One day, Haruhi, a scholarship student at exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the “Host Club,” a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, and it’s there that she discovers just how wealthy the members are and how different the rich are from everybody else…

Review:
I’d had the first few volumes of this series for a while, but after seeing how fabulous the anime is, I’ve finally been prompted to read them. I think I’m liking the characters even more since I can imagine mannerisms and voices and all that. Even though he’s such a dork, I totally love Tamaki. He is everything adorable about Ayame and Shigure rolled into a Yuki Eiri-ish package.

Haruhi is an interesting heroine, as well. A little reluctant initially to undertake host duties, she eventually takes to it naturally, with paying off her debt as the prime motivation. She is not as traumatized by her charade as other shoujo leads have been, and has some interesting quotes that illustrate her perspective. For example: “Can’t say that I fully appreciate the perceived differences between the sexes anyway” and “I kinda enjoy having the girls hassle over me. Guess I’m a little bent that way.”

I haven’t done any in-depth comparison to the anime, but things are pretty much the same in the manga. There’s the jealous customer of Tamaki’s, the girl who likes teacups, and the crazy Renge, who I don’t like very much. One interesting tidbit about Haruhi’s family is mentioned that hasn’t cropped up in the anime yet, but I shan’t say more in case they decide to mention it in the future. The best part, of course, is the characters, how they take Haruhi under their wing in their misguided detached-from-reality-rich-boys kind of way, and how they earnestly try to make their customers happy. Could not possibly be more highly recommended.

Please Save My Earth 16 by Saki Hiwatari: A

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From the back cover:
Mokuren’s perspective on the moon base tragedy is vastly different from Shion’s. Though she seems to be an ethereal goddess, she has her own insecurities and frustrations. She’s troubled by her lack of female friends and aggravated by men who are only interested in the rarity and celebrity of her Kiche, the mystical mark of their god, Sarjalim. When she learns of the opportunity to join the research team on the KK moon base, she eagerly applies for the position, over the protest of the Lim Lians. Her wish to join good-looking men on the team is fulfilled when she meets handsome Gyokuran and Shion—but will either one quench her desires?

Review:
Doesn’t that read like the description for the first volume of a series rather than the sixteenth? We continue with Mokuren flashbacks in this volume, up through the early days of the moon base. A couple of the scenes from volume nine, which were then presented from Shion’s perspective, are retold from Mokuren’s point of view. It’s interesting to see what she was really thinking at the time. The insights into her character that this volume provides really answered for me the question of why someone seemingly so angelic and perfect would be interested in someone as infuriating as Shion. There are some cute moments in this, too, where he is very goofy and/or embarrassed.

There isn’t a lot of plot advancement here, and only about three pages of the modern-day characters. Hajime (Alice’s brother) watches over her as she sleeps (I’ve totally forgotten why she is sleeping so much or if she’s sick) and briefly wakes before submerging into the moon dreams once more. I am happy to get to know the real Mokuren, but I hope that soon we’ll get back to the current tale and what’s going on with Rin. There are only five volumes left, after all!