Category: Manga

Manga Review: Othello by Satomi Ikezawa

Othello, Volume 1Othello, Volume 1

by Satomi Ikezawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yaya is a meek dim-witted teenage girl who lets everyone push her around. Nana is a strong, brazen teenage girl who punishes evil-doers. They are complete opposites, yet they are the same person. Yaya has a split personality. Whenever Yaya is faced with a difficult situation Nana takes over. Nana knows everything about Yaya, but Yaya doesn’t know anything about Nana. In fact, she completely blanks whenever Nana is in control and becomes confused and scared when she doesn’t remember parts of her life, and when other people around her start accusing her of wild and crazy behavior.

This is a fun series! I like the idea that Nana is there as an outlet for Yaya’s emotions until Yaya can become strong enough to deal with them on her own. Apart from all of the split-personality craziness, this series reminds me a lot of Kimi Ni Todoke. The way the nice-guy (Moriyama-kun) takes care of the meek Yaya.

The other characters in the series often mention that Nana and Yaya look alike, but too different. And it is true. Satomi has managed to keep the essence of the characters the same, while also making them look like completely different characters.

It’s a fun quick read [I read the 7 volumes in about 3 hours]– I highly recommend you giving it a try.

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Manga Review: Sensual Phrase by Mayu Shinjo

Sensual Phrase, Vol. 1Sensual Phrase, Vol. 1

by Mayu Shinjo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So, as I said I would I read through Sensual Phrase (Kaikan Fure-zu) by Mayu Shinjo. The story of Sakuya, a visual kei rock band singer (with a distorted past) and Aine, a high school girl. Upon a chance meeting (Sakuya almost runs her over) Aine becomes the lyricist for Lucifer, Sakuya’s band — and their relationship quickly develops into a hot & heavy romance.

I like this series but some parts are certainly better than others. Some of the angsty feelings between this couple get annoying after a while. They’ve obviously said they trust and love each other, and then seconds later they will not trust each other. It’s like no matter how much they can say something, they don’t actually mean it — and that can get annoying.

There are parts which are really good. I love the little side-stories where Sakuya’s bandmates fall in love. I love the relationship their producer has with them. And I do appreciate that bad things actually happen to the characters. Sometimes stories about teenage angst is only emotional. This series gives you plenty of terrible situations that the characters have to overcome. Sometimes they’re more successful than others, but usually they’re entertaining.

The worst part of the series comes in book 18, the final volume. The short-story where Aine, and Sakuya return home from New York after 2 years. The artist is clearly different — it almost feels like a fan-made doujinshi. The characters have metamorphosized into being younger and cuter, which doesn’t suit their characters or where they’ve come from. They’ve been through too much garbage to be looking so cute by the end. I also think the bedroom scene moves it too closely to the “Ladies Comic” (i.e. pornographic) genre of manga. I didn’t think this was necessary, but whatever.

There are a few short stories by the original artists at the very end. They are highly enjoyable, and take away the awful saccharine taste that you get earlier in the volume.

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