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Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 1

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Behind the Scenes!!, Volume 1 by Bisco Hatori

I read several volumes of Ouran High School Host Club and the first couple volumes of Millenium Snow way back in the day, so I was looking forward to this new series. Behind the Scenes!! takes place in a film props and set department at an arts college.

Ranmaru Kurisu comes from a fishing village, where he has never fit in. His bad luck isn’t quite reaching Ataru Moroboshi, Ranmaru automatically assumes that everything is his fault and he seems to spend most of his time apologizing unnecessarily. One day, he accidentally finds himself on set during the filming of a zombie movie on campus, spoiling the shot. He gets a rapid-fire introduction to the Art Squad, a team of students who support all the film clubs on campus. Ryuji Goda is the leader, and he immediately tells Ranmaru to sit down and start folding paper cranes for movie props.

It turns out that Ranmaru is incredibly good at crafts, but he spends so much time putting himself down he isn’t very aware of his own abilities. One aspect of his character development that I thought was incredibly clever on Hatori’s part is that Ranmaru’s perspective allows him to both anticipate and recover from disasters when they happen, because he’s just constantly thinking of how things could go wrong. Ranmaru spots a crack in a skylight in the Art Club’s studio space, and when the window shattering results in a prop getting damaged, he’s able to forage for supplies and improvise some impressive fixes. Ryuji sees Ranmaru’s talent and proclaims him as the Art Clubs savior.

Stories featuring found families are always appealing to me. While in many ways Behind the Scenes!! is very different from Paradise Kiss, both series feature characters who were alone who get adopted by art students and end up being transformed by the power of art. Behind the Scenes!! has a large supporting cast aside from Ranmaru and Ryuji, and there wasn’t enough space in the first volume to go into depth about some of the characters, so a few of them only fixed in my mind as “girl who loves special effects horror manga” or “handsome bland dude who likes latte art”. I’m sure that the supporting characters will all get more stories as the manga develops, and I’m looking forward to finding out more. The dynamic between the art squad and the student directors is a bit antagonistic and seems to rely a bit on forced drama, but the dynamic of a team of people all with different talents coming together to create props and sets made this manga fun to read, even if it doesn’t yet approach the goofy ridiculousness of Ouran High School Host Club.

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The Manga Revue: Behind the Scenes!!

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It’s a snowy day here in Boston, giving me the perfect excuse to tunnel under a blanket and read a goofy, light-hearted story. My escapism of choice: Bisco Hatori’s latest series, Ouran University Host Club Behind the Scenes!!

BehindTheScenes-01Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 1
By Bisco Hatori
Rated T, for teens
VIZ Media, $9.99

Behind the Scenes!! embodies what’s good–and not so good–about Bisco Hatori’s storytelling.

In the plus column, Hatori has a knack for writing ensemble pieces in which the principal characters exhibit a genuine fondness for one another. The stars of her latest series are Shichikoku University’s Art Squad, a scrappy outfit that makes props for the Film Club–or, more accurately, clubs, as there are several students groups competing for the Art Squad’s services, each with their own aesthetic objectives. Ranmaru, the series’ protagonist, gets a crash course in film making when he stumbles into the middle of an Art Squad project: a low-budget horror flick. As penance for disrupting the shoot, Ranmaru joins the Art Squad and is quickly pressed into service painting props, folding paper cranes, and building a fake hot spring.

These scenes–in which Ranmaru and the gang tackle set-design challenges–are among the series’ most enjoyable. Not only do they give us a sneak peek at the movie-making process, they also show us how the club members’ friendly overtures embolden the timid, self-doubting Ranmaru to let go of his painful childhood and become part of a community. In one exchange, for example, Ranmaru tells a fellow squad member about a black-and-white film that made a powerful impression on him. Hatori cuts between scenes from this imaginary film and Ranmaru’s face, registering how powerfully Ranmaru identified with the film’s principal character, a toy robot who dreams of flying. The symbolism of the toy is hard to miss, but the directness and simplicity with which Hatori stages the moment leavens the breezy tone with a note of poignancy.

In the minus column, Hatori often strains for comic effect, overwhelming the reader with too many shots of characters mugging, shouting, and flapping their arms. The Art Squad’s interactions with various student directors give Hatori license to indulge this tendency; the auteurs’ snits and whims frequently force the Art Squad members to behave more like the Scooby Doo gang–or Hollywood fixers–than actual college students juggling coursework and extra-curriculars. (The Art Squad even has a goofy dog mascot.)

At the same time, however, these wannabe Spielbergs bring out the best in Hatori’s draftsmanship. Each one’s personality is firmly established in just a single panel: one looks like a refugee from Swingin’ London (or perhaps an Austin Powers film); another dresses like a Taisho-era author, swanning around campus in a yukata; and a third sports a shaggy mane, Buddy Holly glasses, and a female entourage. The efficiency with which Hatori introduces these characters, and the range of personalities they embody, demonstrate just how crisp and distinctive her artwork can be. That Hatori’s heroes are visually bland by comparison says less about her skills, I think, than it does her desire to make Ranmaru’s new “family” seem normal–well, as normal as anyone who specializes in making fake zombie guts can be.

The bottom line: Tentatively recommended. If Hatori can tone down her characters’ antic behavior, Behind the Scenes!! could be a winner.

Reviews: Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith post a fresh crop of Bookshelf Briefs. Also new at Manga Bookshelf: Sean tackles the first volume of orange (no, that’s not a typo), Anna N. reviews Takeshi Obata’s kiddie-thriller School Judgment, and Ash Brown weighs in on Hiroaki Samura’s stylish (and bloody) manga Die Wergelder. Further afield, translator Jocelyn Allen posts her annual doujinshi round-up.

Sara Dempster on The Angel of Elhamburg (No Flying No Tights)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Ani-Emo (The Fandom Post)
Michael Burns on vols. 7-8 of Barakamon (AniTAY)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 12 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Comics Worth Reading)
Adam Brunell on vol. 12 of Deadman Wonderland (ComicSpectrum)
SKJAM! on Dream Fossil (SKJAM! Reviews)
Josh Begley on vol. 2 of Emma (The Fandom Post)
Patrick Moore on vol. 1 of Honey So Sweet (Bentobyte)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken H. on Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (Sequential Ink)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 13 of Magi (The Fandom Post)
Megan R. on Millennium Prime Minister (The Manga Test Drive)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of My Little Monster (Anime News Network)
Exile on vol. 1 of My Monster Secret (AniTAY)
Jocelyn Allen on Night Worker (Brain vs. Book)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of Puella Magi Tart Magica (The Fandom Post)
Matt on vol. 5 of A Silent Voice (AniTAY)
Terry Hong on vol. 2 of Ultraman (Book Dragon)
Nick Creamer on vol. 2 of UQ Holder! (Anime News Network)
Frank Inglese on Uzumaki Naruto: Illustrations (Snap 30)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 3 of Yo-Kai Watch (Sequential Tart)

 

 

Black Rose Alice, Vol 6

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Black Rose Alice Volume 6 by Setona Mizushiro

I was disappointed when I realized a couple volumes in to this series that it was on hiatus in Japan. But by that time I was thoroughly won over by Mizushiro’s surreal and unique take on vampires and the tragic tone of the manga in general. It turns out that I shouldn’t have been worried too much, because while this volume doesn’t wrap up all the possible loose ends in the series, it does provide a satisfying conclusion.

Dimitri is away, and Alice and the twins are living in the house, dealing with the aftermath of Leo’s death. The twins’ backstory is told through flashbacks, and it is just as dark as one might expect from this series. Neither twin seemed like particularly great humans, but Kai’s actions are particularly despicable, making his current more winning personalty stand out in contrast to his past actions. There’s a moment of levity injected into the household when Dimitri returns home with a human woman who he once saved from a horrible assault, promising to make her his vampire bride. Now Akari is all grown up, and determined to experience the most cliched date possible with Dimitri by her side. This prompts feelings of jealousy in Alice, and an emotional confrontation.

As far as endings go, this volume concludes with one that is about as happy as it is possible to get, considering that everyone is doomed. Black Rose Alice is such a delightfully odd series, one that doesn’t turn aside from the darkness in human (or vampire) nature. It is a more mature, and quirky addition to the Shojo Beat family. I highly recommend it. This is one of those series that I’ll take down from the bookshelf and reread every few years.

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Yukarism, Vol 4

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Yukarism Volume 4 by Chika Shiomi

I’ve always liked manga by Chika Shiomi, and even though my favorite of her works is the older title Night of the Beasts, her art and storytelling skills have progressed greatly over the years. Yukarism’s final volume is a great way to wrap up the series, coming to a conclusion with a few nice plot twists that make it not at all like a standard supernatural shoujo manga.

As this series unfolded, we’ve seen the present day characters grow more and more affected by the past. Yukari is starting to show symptoms of illness that mirror the sickness of the courtesan Yumurasaki, while Mahoro is taking on the supernatural powers of Takamura. Edo bodyguard’s protectiveness is manifested in Satomi in the modern day. Not only are personality traits crossing over to the present day, as the volume progresses the past is physically manifesting in the present. While it seems like the present day trio is doomed to repeat the tragedy from the past, Shiomi manages to wrap things up in a much more satisfying and hopeful way.

I don’t want to give too much away of the resolution of the manga, but I thought it was very nice that the inevitable love triangle in most shouojo manga was sidestepped. Most of the problems of the past centered around the trio not communicating clearly with each other and making assumptions, and in the present day the high school students manage to work things out both in their own lives and for the spirits that possess them briefly. Even situations that seem very threatening get resolved, but not without enough of a struggle that the happy ending feels unearned.

Shiomi’s art is always clear and easy to follow, but the level of detail in the flashbacks to the Edo period, combined with the way the past is portrayed as bleeding into the present in this volume makes the illustrations stand out. In the hands of a lessor artist, the events could easily be a muddled mess, but both spirit possession and the physical struggles are portrayed with clear techniques that never confuse the reader. I honestly would have been happy if this series were stretched out over another volume or two, but by the end there is resolution for each character, both past and present. There’s a depth of emotion in this concluding volume that shows how Shiomi is able to be so precise in planning out her story, it never feels unearned. Yukarism is a series that I’m going to keep on the shelves for a long time, and I’m going to look forward to reading it again.

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Idol Dreams, Vol 1

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Idol Dreams Volume 1 by Arina Tanemura

I was curious to check out this manga, mostly due to the fact that it is a slightly older skewing shoujo title. Also, the premise, about a 31 year-old office lady going back in time to relive her youth seemed interesting.

The hapless office lady in question is Chikage Deguchi, who is bullied at work. She’s let her 20s pass her by while she’s stuck in a style rut, repressed, and unable to find a boyfriend. Her humiliation is complete when she goes to a high school reunion. She’s humiliated even more at a high school reunion. She manages to make incidental conversation with a classmate named Tokita who happens to be a pharmaceutical rep, but her encounter with her high school crush doesn’t go well at all. Chikage is depressed and determined to end her life, when Tokita rescues her and tells her all about an experimental medication that will allow her to replay her wasted teenage years.

Chikage clearly operates under different human subjects rules than most people in the pharmaceutical industry, as he supplies Chikage with pills that transform her into a 15 year old and then sends her on her way, with instructions to check in often so he can gather data. Of course, as soon as teenage Chikage steps foot on the street, she’s recruited to be a stand-in model opposite the most popular member of a boy band, and thus her career as a budding teen idol begins!

Teen idol Hibiki looks a lot like Chikage’s old crush from her high school days, and she finds herself getting swept up in the life of a teen idol. She’s determined to master the social skills that she didn’t pay attention to as a young teen. The situation of a 31 year old woman in a 15 year old’s body and a 15 year old boy being paired up has the potential for a great deal of creepiness. I wasn’t taking this romance very seriously though, because it is clear that Tokita has an unexpressed crush on Chikage, and he seems to be one of the few men her own age that she can actually talk to without becoming self-conscious. So, even though there might be a bit of a wacky love triangle developing (like the original Amethyst Princess of Gemworld with reverse aging) I’m fairly confident that the romantic resolution to this manga will be non-squicky. We’ll see what happens in the next volume though.

Tanemura is always at her best when drawing super cute people, and the contrast between older Chikage and young idol version Akari is pronounced. I enjoyed seeing the friendship develop between Akari and the other boy band members, but I thought that Chikage’s occasional encounters with Tokita were much more promising in terms of any romance developing. Overall, I thought that this was a promising start to a new series, with the potential for the romance plots to derail and become off-putting. I generally enjoy Tanemura’s manga, and a series set in the world of teen idols is the perfect excuse for her to break out all the stops with the flourishes and detailed costumes that she does so well.

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My Love Story!! Vol 6

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My Love Story Volume 6 by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko

It is nice to have a go-to manga series to read when one feels stressed out, and My Love Story!! never fails to make me happy.

This volume focuses more on the arrival of Takeo’s new sibling, and the reader gets the treat of seeing a little bit of his parents’ courtship. Takeo’s mom is portrayed as unflappingly capable in her younger years, and his dad exhibits the same ridiculous amount of enthusiasm that Takeo often channels. When something goes a little wrong with the pregnancy, Takeo starts exclaiming “I’ve got to be reliable!” as he tries to take care of everything for his family. He’s supported all the way by Suna and Yamato.

The old valentine’s day storyline has got to be one of the most overused cliches in shoujo manga, but My Love Story!! pulls off one of the most adorable examples of this storyline, as Takeo is so excited to be receiving “true love’s chocolate from his girlfriend, he finds himself striking random celebratory poses as he walks along and discusses his relationship with Suna. I was glad to see that there are hints Suna might actually become involved with a girl at last. He’s deliberately aloof, and shuns any girl who speaks badly of Takeo, so he hasn’t experienced romance yet either. I’m really looking forward to the next volume now, where more of the focus will be on him.

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QQ Sweeper Vol. 1

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QQ Sweeper Volume 1 by Kyousuke Motomi

I’m generally excited for any debut series in the Shojo Beat line, but I was particularly interested in reading the first volume of QQ Sweeper because I enjoyed Dengeki Daisy so much. Motomi’s slightly offbeat and cynical sense of humor makes her series stand out, and I was curious to see how the paranormal and cleaning would come together in this title.

Motomi does cranky heroes well, so I thought the male lead of the series was quite promising. Kyutaro Horikita is a member of the beautification committee at his school, and he’s introduced in the first chapter as a bit of a loner who is obsessed with cleaning. He comes across a girl sleeping in an abandoned room in his school. Fumi Nishioka is a new transfer student who is homeless, trying to hide evidence of how poor she is, and on a mission to become a real life Cinderella by snagging a rich guy. This doesn’t sound like the most flattering character description, but Motomi also is able to easily create sympathetic yet quirky heroines. Motomi’s slightly offbeat humor is on display in the first few panels, when Kyutaro seems to rely on threatening people with cucumbers a bit too much, and Fumi enters into a dangerous fugue state when she’s assessing the material possessions of a male student/mark.

I don’t even find shoujo cliches all that annoying when Motomi is executing them. In very quick order, Fumi finds herself interviewing for and getting a position as housekeeper for her school principal, who just happens to be Kyutaro’s older brother. Fumi quickly discovers that Kyutaro’s obsession with cleaning extends to cleansing the spiritual plane, and she also has the ability to help him. Motomi packs a great deal of plot and character development into this single volume, setting up the relationships between the characters, and establishing the background for the supernatural aspects of the manga. This is a very solid addition to the Shojo Beat lineup, and I’m very much looking forward to Motomi’s slightly twisted take on the supernatural romance genre in future volumes.

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So Cute it Hurts! Vol 3

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So Cute it Hurts! Volume 3 by Go Ikeyamada

This is an excessively silly series, but I’ve been enjoying it, mostly because of the amount of plot twists that get resolved in each volume, so more goofy subplots can promptly develop. Also, I feel like Shojo Beat should always be publishing at least one title where the heroine cross dresses just on principle.

I feel like in many shoujo series, the fraternal twins’ cross dressing antics would fuel plot lines for 4-5 volumes, but in So Cute it Hurts! their true identities were unmasked at the end of the second volume. Aoi, the delinquent boy with a crippling physical aversion to female contact is surprised when the boy he’s been hanging out with is unmasked as Mitsuru’s sister Megumu. At the same time, Mitsuru’s masquerade is uncovered by mean girl Azuza. Aoi deals with the psychological impact of being around a girl unknowingly, and Azuza blurts out a confession of her crush to Mitsuru instead of revealing his secret. Meanwhile, Mitsuru is struggling with his feelings for Shino, but doesn’t want to ruin their friendship by telling her that he’s actually a boy. Oh, the tangled storylines of cross dressing shoujo romance!

When the week-long switch ends after Megumu has taken Mitsuru’s tests for him, there’s still plenty of emotional fall-out as Megumu pines for Aoi, and he begins to come to terms with his own feelings. Aoi’s allergy to girls causes some hilarious reactions when he and Megumu get closer, although they have to stay a certain distance apart to avoid triggering him. Their budding romance is indeed ridiculously cute, and while this manga in no way approaches both the hilarity and emotional depth of My Love Story!!, it is still entertaining. Ikeyamada ratchets up all the emotional reactions of her characters for added hilarity. While this volume focused a bit more on Megumu, I can see how the next volume is going to be focusing more with the love triangle Mitsuru is in since the object of his affections does not even know him as a boy while Azuza continues to have a violent crush on him. So Cute it Hurts! continues to be a fun read for those who enjoy romance with broad comedy.

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The Manga Revue: Komomo Confiserie

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Apologies for missing last week’s deadline – the first week of the semester is always chaotic, and manga reviewing took a back seat to lesson prep. Now that school is underway again, however, the Manga Revue will run weekly on Fridays, as it did this summer.

komomo_confiserieKomomo Confiserie, Vol. 1
By Maki Minami
Rated T, for teens
VIZ Manga, $6.99 (digital)

Flip through The Big Book of Shojo Plotlines, and there – between “I’m Having an Affair with My Homeroom Teacher” and “I’m a Spazz Who’s Inexplicably Irresistible” – you’ll find another time-honored trope: “I Was Mean to My Childhood Friend, and Now He’s Hot!” Komomo Confiserie embodies this plot to a tee: its wealthy heroine, Komomo, was spoiled rotten as a child, with an army of servants at her disposal. It was her special delight to order fellow six-year-old Natsu to make her sweets–he was the pastry’s chef son, after all–and terrorize him when he didn’t comply. When Komomo turns fifteen, however, her family loses everything, forcing her to get a job and attend public school. Natsu–now a successful baker in his own right–makes a seemingly chivalrous offer of employment to Komomo, who’s too guileless to realize that she’s walking into a trap.

You can guess the rest: Natsu revels in his new-found position of power, directing Komomo to perform menial tasks and scolding her for lacking the common sense to sweep floors or boil water. The fact that he’s cute only adds salt to the wound; Komomo vacillates between plotting her escape and speculating that Natsu bullies her out of love.

Whatever pleasure might come from witnessing Komomo’s comeuppance is undermined by the author’s frequent capitulations to shojo formula. Though Natsu frequently declares that bullying Komomo is his privilege – and his alone – he routinely helps her out of jams, bakes her sweets, and behaves a lot like someone who’s harboring a crush on her. Komomo, for her part, behaves like such a twit that it’s hard to root for her; even when she has an epiphany about friendship or hard work, her insights are as shallow as the proverbial cake pan.

The series’ redeeming strength is the artwork. Though Maki Minami frequently resorts to pre-fab backgrounds and Photoshopped elements, she does a fine job of representing the emotional rush that a sugary treat can elicit in even the most jaded adult. Komomo’s food reveries are a swirl of flowers, tears, and lacy doilies that neatly suggest the mixture of joy and sadness she experiences whenever a macaroon or a petit-four stirs up childhood memories. Too bad the rest of the story isn’t as sharply observed.

The verdict: Saccharine plotting and unsympathetic leads spoil this confection.

Reviews: Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith post a fresh crop of Bookshelf Briefs, while Claire Napier kicks the tires on Ichigo Takano’s ReCollection and Kate O’Neil reminds us why a new installment of Kaze Hikaru is worth the wait. At Contemporary Japanese Literature, Kathryn Hermann posts a glowing review of Yurei: The Japanese Ghost, a collection of essays by manga scholar and translator Zack Davisson.

Erica Friedman on 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashidokei (Okazu)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Ajin: Demi-Human (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Alice in Murderland (Anime News Network)
Jordan Richards on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Colossal Edition (AiPT!)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 16 of Dorohedoro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jordan Richards on vol. 1 of Inuyashiki (AiPT!)
Justin Stroman on vol. 1 of Inuyashiki (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Megan R. on Here Is Greenwood (The Manga Test Drive)
Saeyoung Kim on K-On! High School (No Flying No Tights)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Love Stage!! (Sequential Tart)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Love Stage!! (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N. on vols. 1-2 of Maid-sama! (The Manga Report)
Ash Brown on Maria the Virgin Witch: Exhibition (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Master Keaton (Watch Play Read)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of My Neighbor Seki (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 5 of Mushishi (Experiments in Manga)
Al Sparrow on vol. 1 of Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary (ComicSpectrum)
Joseph Luster on One-Punch Man (Otaku USA)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 4 of Pokemon X.Y. (Sequential Tart)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 19-20 of Ranma 1/2 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matt on vol. 1 of Rose Guns Days: Season One (AniTAY)
Vernieda Vergara on The Science of Attack on Titan (Women Write About Comics)
Ken H. on vol. 2 of A Silent Voice (Sequential Ink)
Matt on vol. 3 of Sword Art Online Progressive (AniTAY)
Frank Inglese on vol. 7 of Terraformars (Snap30)
David Brooke on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (AiPT!)
Frank Inglese on vol. 6 of World Trigger (Snap30)

Maid-sama! Vols 1 and 2

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Maid-sama! Volumes 1 and 2 by Hiro Fujiwara

It has been some time since I’ve read this series. I think I read around 4 or 5 volumes or so of the Tokyopop release, so the new omnibus from Viz provided a good excuse to give the series a second try. I totally understand why Maid-sama! would be a strong title to re-release since it has an anime adaptation too. However, a tiny part of me will still hope in vain for some reissues of some of the other less commercial series that got cut off when Toykopop went under.

The maid in this title is Misaki Ayuzawa, a high achieving girl who has become president of a school that has only recently gone co-ed. She’s uncomfortable around boys and has made it her mission to clean up the school and abolish delinquent behaviors in order to protect the small female population. She’s super stern and has great physical prowess when it comes to beating up her fellow students. While she’s a perfect student at school, Misaki has to make ends meet by working as a waitress at a maid cafe as her part-time job. In the first few pages of the manga, Misaki’s secret is discovered by Takumi Usui, a popular and somewhat cynical boy who attends her school. He promptly decides to hold Misaki’s secret over her head and begins to pop up now and then whenever something might go wrong.

Misaki navigates issues with student-council relations, dealing with a rival school, and navigating random cross-dressing events at her part-time job. Aside from the relationship between Misaki and Usui, the manga is pretty entertaining, as Misaki’s outsize reactions to everything gradually begin to mellow out a bit as she begins to relate to all the students at her school as human beings, not just the girls. I had also totally forgotten about the idiot trio, a group of background characters that also discover Misaki’s secret identity as a maid and mostly function to gaze at her adoringly and act occasionally like a slapstick Greek chorus. Fujiwara’s art is clear and easy to follow, and very dynamic when Misaki is leaping into action to defend womanhood or juggling a ton of customers at her part-time job.

The part of this manga that bugs me and I think contributed to my decision to stop reading it before, is that Usui is utterly unappealing as a shoujo male lead to me. His general mode of interaction is to randomly show up, invade Misaki’s space, and make her feel confused and flustered. He also keeps forcing physical affection on Misaki when she’s not a willing participant, as some sort of power game. Also, Fujiwara goes to great length to demonstrate Misaki’s physical prowess when her being strong is funny or over the top, but Misaki suddenly becomes weak and incapable when it serves the purpose of the plot to have Usui rescue her from herself. He’s also constantly reminding Misaki that she’s a girl who needs help, and it only serves to make it appear like the main message of this manga is that a girl with strong type A tendencies needs a man to help her out. For folks who aren’t put off by this relationship dynamic, I do think that Maid-sama! is plenty entertaining. I just find series like Oresama Teacher or My Love Story! much more amusing if I’m looking for something fun to read in the shoujo comedy genre.

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Komomo Confiserie Vol 1

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Komomo Confiserie, Volume 1 by Maki Minami

So far, Maki Minami’s shoujo series haven’t totally connected with me as a reader. I didn’t care for Special A very much, and while I liked the first couple volumes of Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, I haven’t gone on to read the entire series. Maybe Komomo Confiserie will finally be the Minami series that I actually finish!

The series starts out with a flashback, as the incredibly spoiled and rich little girl Komomo picks on a young boy named Natsu. He’s the son of her family’s chef, and Komomo only likes the sweets that Natsu prepares for her. Komomo is ungracious and bossy, but she has an emotional connection to Natsu’s food, it serving as a substitute for companionship as she lives in a huge mansion abandoned by her parents. In just a few panels, this rich yet emotionally empty life is overturned, as Komomo’s father announces that he’s lost their fortune, and Komomo has to work to support herself with a part time job. Life as a rich heiress hasn’t prepared Komomo with the social graces or work ethic to be able to handle any type of employment and she keeps getting fired over and over again.

It wouldn’t be a shoujo manga if Natsu wasn’t about to return to Japan a triumphant celebrity from studying pastry abroad, determined to seek out his old “friend” to exact revenge, only to find that their positions have been reversed in an ironic twist of fate! Natsu has an exceedingly charming pastry shop to run, and he runs in to Komomo just as she is tossed out into the street from her latest misadventure in employment.

If Komomo was absolutely unrepentant and spoiled, this manga wouldn’t work very well, but what I enjoyed most about this series were the cracks in the facades for both Natsu and Komomo. Komomo gradually begins to realize how superficial her previous life was, when none of her old friends come to her aid. While Natsu initially appears to be slightly psychotic in his pursuit of revenge, he is actually moved a few times when seeing Komomo eat his food and try to adjust to her new life. Komomo’s rich girl attitudes come in handy when she’s faced with a new high school. Mean girl bullying just slides off of her, and she sails through unaffected. Komomo is gradually learning to be a real human being, and as her personality changes, Natsu begins to find her more and more adorable.

Minami is a solid shoujo artist, and I particularly appreciated her being able to dramatize facial expressions that are a bit off, for example when Natsu’s kindness is a facade for his evil plans. I’m hoping that Komomo will become more and more adept with dealing with the real world, changing the power dynamic between her and Natsu more in the next few volumes.

Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 5

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Kiss of the Rose Princess Volume 5 by Aya Shouto

I find myself enjoying this series more and more, mostly because with each new volume my suspension of disbelief grows, and I just kick back and enjoy the ridiculousness of this reverse harem fantasy manga. This volume did a good job balancing out which knights were featured, with a bit more attention given to Tenjo the White Rose Knight. As ever, Kaede the Red Rose Knight lurks around and smolders in a few panels for each chapter.

The first part of this volume picks up at an area that is fraught with terror in most shoujo manga – an amusement park. Meek classmate Mikage with her overwhelming crush on Kaede has been hiding an even worse secret. Even more fake Rose Knights appear, leading to an excess of flower avatar people everywhere! Anise powers up a bit, triggering an awakening in Tenjo the White Rose that allows him to deal with their enemies easily. This throws off the balance of power and changes the dynamics in the group a little bit.

The fake rose idols Rhodecia make a brief appearance again, and there’s an extended comedy bit when Anise, Kaede, and Seiran dress as servants in an attempt to infiltrate Tenjo’s mansion to check up on him. There are plenty of gags involving both maid costumes and the odd decorating habits of the rich. One of the things I enjoy about the series is the way it switches back and forth between more lighthearted scenes and hints of upcoming ominous events. Shouoto’s dramatic art has plenty of flourishes that suit the dramatic and silly situations the protagonists find themselves in. Even though evil fake roses keep popping up, the mystery around Anise’s diabolical father is still touched on briefly with each volume, hinting at larger issues Anise is going to confront eventually. With the Black Rose Mutsuki seeming to take center stage at the end of this volume and I’m assuming the start of the next, it looks like there’s going to be more grim vampirific backstory to look forward to.

Maid-sama!, Omnibus 1

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Maid-sama!, Omnibus 1Creator: Hiro Fujiwara
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421581309
Released: August 2015
Original release: 2006-2007

Maid-sama! is an eighteen-volume manga series created by Hiro Fujiwara. The series was initially licensed for English translation by Tokyopop, which released the first eight volumes of the manga between 2009 and 2011. More recently, Maid-sama! was rescued by Viz Media. The manga is being released under the Shojo Beat imprint in an omnibus edition, each English-language omnibus collecting two volumes of the series’ original Japanese release. The first Maid-sama! omnibus was published in 2015 and includes the first and second volumes of the manga published in 2006 and 2007 respectively. (The first volume also contains Fujiwara’s earlier short manga “A Transparent World.”) Maid-sama! was Fujiwara’s first major success as a mangaka. However, it wasn’t until Viz’s release of Maid-sama! that the series came to my attention when I noted the enthusiastic response of fans surrounding its return. I was therefore very happy to have the chance to read a review copy of the first omnibus in order to see what the excitement was all about.

Seika High School, previously an all-boys’ school, has only been co-ed for a couple of years. The student population is still largely male—the boys outnumbering the girls four to one—and Seika High still has a bad reputation. And so Misaki Ayuzawa has decided to take things into her own hands, becoming Seika’s first female student council president in order to clean up the school’s act, improve it standing, and create a more welcoming environment for young women. Misaki rules over Seika with an iron fist, though not everyone appreciates her strength and intelligence or the changes she’s making. Because of that, she’s particularly careful to keep the fact that she works part-time at a maid cafe a secret; she doesn’t want to ruin her image or risk losing what little authority she has. But then her classmate Takumi Usui discovers how she’s spending her time after school. Misaki has caught his attention and interest, perhaps even romantically, though understandably she’s not very happy about the awkward turn of events.

Maid-sama!, Omnibus 1, page 34I absolutely adore Misaki. She’s a smart, strong, motivated, hard-working, competent, capable, and highly accomplished individual. She’s not perfect though. Her drive to overachieve and handle everything by herself along with her reluctance to rely on the help of others means that she frequently overextends herself, wearing herself down. Misaki could stand to relax a little, but the believable combination of her strengths and weaknesses make her the most well-developed character in the series. While I love Misaki, I am significantly less enamored with Takumi. Sometimes he can be a great guy, but on occasion he can be an utter creep. His skills and talents match and even surpass those of Misaki, often in superbly ridiculous ways which are admittedly amusing, but he seems to frequently be emphasizing that she’s a girl as if that somehow makes her inferior. I want to see the Takumi who supports Misaki for who she is and who doesn’t feel the need to dominate her. Early on in Maid-sama! it seems this would be a possibility, but the more of the omnibus I read the less likely it appeared that the series would be going in that direction.

Although in part Maid-sama! is a romance, ultimately that particular plot line in the manga is the one that interests me the least. (If I actually liked Takumi more than I currently do, I would probably feel differently.) I enjoy the series most when it focuses on Misaki as she grows as a person. I like seeing her become less of a tyrant as the president as she learns to consider other people and their needs instead of completely overruling them without making an effort to hear their concerns. At first she is disliked by almost all of the students, but as time passes more and more of them, male and female alike, come to admire, trust, and appreciate her and where she is leading Seika High. Although there are certain things about Maid-sama! that bother me—most notably the distinct possibility of Takumi being idealized as a romantic lead—overall I did find the beginning of the series to be entertaining and a lot of fun. And since I do like Misaki so incredibly well, at this point I definitely plan on reading more of Maid-sama!.

Thank you to Viz Media for providing a copy of Maid-sama!, Omnibus 1 for review.

Spell of Desire Vol. 5

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Spell of Desire Volume 5 by Tomu Ohmi

It is the final volume of Spell of Desire! What’s happening in the conclusion of this paranormal romance series?

Throughout Spell of Desire Kaoruko has been heading towards a confrontation with her mother, the mysterious Witch Queen. She finds out that her mother sealed herself away as part of a spell to balance out the positive and negative energy that was building up in the world. The Witch Queen emerges, and Kaname confesses that he’s no longer able to serve as the Witch Queen’s knight due to his love for Kaoruko. The Witch Queen promptly wins an award for worst mother of the year when she announces that she’s going to curse her daughter’s boyfriend by taking all of his senses away, followed by taking his memories of Kaoruko away too. Kaname is blinded, and he slowly becomes more and more debilitated.

This curse presents quite the conundrum, and Kaoruko is determined to harness her power for once and for all in order to save Kaname. She’s been slowly inching towards claiming her power, so it was great to see her finally take charge and do something. She’s aided by an elderly black witch who shows up and indulges in a great deal of exposition as the volume wraps up.

Overall, I thought the pacing of this series was a bit off. I enjoyed the world building and character introductions in the first couple volumes a great deal, but the rest of the series felt like it was just marking time until the big witch battle happened in the final volume. Kaoruko’s rise to self-assurance and command of her power felt a bit rushed, but I still appreciate that by the end of the series she was making her own decisions and acting heroically in order to create her own happy ending. While Spell of Desire wasn’t the best example of paranormal romance, Ohmi’s clear visual storytelling made it easy to read.

I see that this manga hasn’t sold as well as Ohmi’s other series to be translated into English, Midnight Secretary. This is a bit of a shame, because I was hoping that Viz would bring out her earlier series Kindan no Koi de Ikou, since there is such a dearth of werewolf manga romance being translated into English. We have all the vampires we need, what about some werewolves for a change? I’d still recommend Spell of Desire and Midnight Secretary to romance manga fans, and I hope more of Ohmi’s work gets translated here.

The Manga Revue: The Demon Prince of Momochi House

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I’m hitting the road for a brief vacation this weekend, so this week’s column is more of a drive-by than a full-on review. On the menu: The Demon Prince of Momochi House, a supernatural rom-com that recently joined VIZ’s Shojo Beat line-up.

demon_princeThe Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 1
By Aya Shouoto
Rated T, for teen
VIZ Media, $9.99

The Demon Prince of Momochi House follows a tried-and-true shojo formula: a plucky girl inherits a house–or a school, temple, or dojo–that’s already inhabited by a posse of good-looking boys. The wrinkle is that Himari–said plucky girl–has inherited a haunted house that sits atop a portal between the demon and human worlds. Her arrival triggers a flurry of supernatural activity, as ayakashi descend on Momochi House to investigate its new resident. Protecting her is Aoi, a seemingly ordinary seventeen-year-old who transforms into a fox-eared demon whenever an unruly spirit appears, and Yukari and Ise, a pair of shikigamis whose human form screams “boy band!”

The plot is as road-tested as the premise. In every chapter (1) Aoi warns Himari not to explore Momochi House on her own (2) Himari ignores him and is promptly attacked by a demon and (3) Aoi then rescues Himari, causing her to blush, stammer, and wonder why she feels flustered when he’s around. Must be heartburn…

If the story barely deviates from the Kamisama Kiss playbook, the brisk pacing and cheerful banter between Himari and her tenants prevents the story from devolving into pure formula. So, too, do Aya Shouoto’s sensual character designs and smart-looking yokai, both of which suggest the influence of CLAMP’s xxxHolic or Gate 7. I’m not sure that snazzy artwork and a spunky heroine are enough to sustain my interest for ten or fifteen volumes, but I’d certainly pick up the next installment to see if the story moves in an unexpected direction.

Reviews: Megan R. takes Full Metal Panic: Overload! for a spin at The Manga Test Drive, while Sean Gaffney posts an early review of Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto. Over at Otaku USA, Sean O’Mara posts a generously illustrated essay on Hayao Miyazaki’s manga.

Sheena McNeil on vol. 15 of 07-Ghost (Sequential Tart)
Adam Capps on vol. 5 of Ajin: Demi-Human (Bento Byte)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 55 of Case Closed (Comic Book Bin)
Kaylee Barton on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (Bento Byte)
Matt on vol. 1 of Final Fantasy Type-0 Side Story: The Ice Reaper (AniTAY)
Amanda Vail on vols. 1-2 of Drug & Drop and Legal Drug (Women Write About Comics)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 6 of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (Sequential Tart)
Patti Martinson on Fragments of Horror (Sequential Tart)
Allen Kesinger on vol. 1 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (No Flying No Tights)
Majin Oni on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (majinoni6)*
Matt on vol. 2 of Kagerou Daze (AniTAY)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of My Hero Academia (Sequential Tart)
Majin Oni on vol. 1 of Prison School (majinoni6)*
Matt on vol. 1 of Prison School (AniTAY)
Kane Bugeja on vol. 5 of Seraph of the End (Snap30)
Sarah on vol. 2 of Servamp (Anime UK News)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Tiger & Bunny (WatchPlayRead)
Adam Capps on vol. 1 of Twin Star Exorcists (Bento Byte)
Majin Oni on vol. 1 of Twin Star Exorcists (majinoni6)*
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of Ultraman (Otaku USA)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 10 of Voice Over! Seiyu Academy (Sequential Tart)
Alberto Cadena on vol. 9 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Bento Byte)

* Denotes a video review.