Alice 19th, Vol. 1
by Yuu Watase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Alice 19th, is Yuu Watase’s answer to 9/11. It’s about using your words carefully for the result of peace. It’s the perfect-little fantasy series; a combination of the best bits from “Magic Knight Rayearth”, “Fushigi Yuugi”, “Sailor Moon Super S” plus, a few elements of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”.
Beauty Pop, Vol. 1
by Kiyoko Arai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is about a girl named Kiri, a skilled yet passive hairstylist who performs her magic on those who need it to bolster their feelings. She attends a high school with a group of boys, the sons of huge beauty product companies, who plan to take Japan by storm (after they graduate) as a huge beauty conglomerate. Until then, the boys have formed a “scissors project” club. Essentially they are a flashy all-beauty club which does make-overs on selected girls.
While Kiri is not ambitious, and tends to hide her personality and her skills, the boys are obnoxious and ambitious and she quickly gets pulled into competition with them, and later directly into their club. Though rather reluctantly.
It’s a romantic shoujo comedy which follows some of the usual pattern of reverse-harem manga (1 girl, lots of boys). I guess the easiest reference for most would to think of “Ouran High School Host Club”.
The heroine is confident/passive/kuudere. CHECK
The side characters types usually include:
1. The cool/megane. CHECK.
2. The happy/kawaii. CHECK.
3. The stoic/cool. CHECK.
4.The neurotic/okama. CHECK.
5. The sporty(competitive)/tsundere. CHECK.
ll questionable to me whether Kiri has stronger feelings towards Narumi than she does for her other friends.
The passive character of the heroine is a recurring theme in reverse-harem manga. And she is often paired with either the neurotic/cross-dressing character or the competitive/tsundere personality. Both of whose personalities are built out of a fear of getting close. They can stay close to the character that they love, but they’ve built a wall which makes it difficult for the two to get together.
In this story, Kiri is paired with Narumi who is the “hairstylist” in the scissors club. His personality: Tsundere. He can’t help but call her names, pick on here, and be competitive. But, in the end he cares for her. Unfortunately their relationship is rather strained throughout and there is little development in showing Kiri as more active, or Narumi as less abrasive. They end up together (it’s not a spoiler if it’s totally obvious, right?) but it’s dissatisfying.
I probably rate the story 3 out of 5. At 10 volumes it gets a bit labored. There are some interesting stories, and arcs. But, generally when the main character goes through little development the story gets tiring. I often stop reading at about book 3, and get back to the story around book 7. I don’t always want to read a story full through if the middle doesn’t lend itself to the development of plot or character.
The art style is both light, and solid. There is a clear style by this artist, but the story doesn’t get weighed down by the art. And the story is cute, if a bit predictable. I still think it’s a series worth reading, but I would say borrow it from your library before you decide to buy.
The Palette of 12 Secret Colors, Volume 1
by Nari Kusakawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a shoujo (for girls) story about Cello who lives on the tropical Island of Opal. Opal is known for its palettes, or people who have the magical ability to extract colour from objects and use the colour to paint other objects: like brocade, and precious jewels. Each palette is paired with a bird which are seen as the treasures of the Island. Cello, by sheer luck, has been given a chance to become a palette and is currently enrolled in the training school. She has been paired with the bird “Yoyo” [Do you get the joke? Cello, and Yoyo!] , but is unfortunately a bit of a screw-up and can’t seem to master the 12 secret colours. She is a frequent visitor and “friend” of the school doctor “Dr. Guell” who can remove any spilled colour from his students.
The art is typical of Nari Kusakawa work, somewhat simple with rigid pen/ink drawn lines and obnoxiously large eyes. Her art is easily distinguishable among the noise of shoujo manga. She’s refreshingly unique.
This story too, is very much something she would write. A slightly fantastic story with magical elements in a world that is easy to imagine, but hard to believe in. They always feel a bit like folk or fairy tales. The romance element, and character development take a back-seat to the fun and adventurous stories.
I’m usually a big advocate for heavy character-development stories. But in Kusakawa’s worlds her characters are already finished “baking”; they’re fully formed. They know who they are, they just need to play out the situations they are given as best as they can.
The characterization of the birds adds element that would have otherwise been lacking from a strictly plot-based story such as this. Dr. Guell’s bird Olga acts like a hauty girlfriend, and Cello’s bird Yoyo acts like her father. It adds that bit of needed warmth and humour.
Of the handful of Kusakawa’s stories I’ve read, I like this one the best. I think this is mainly due to the fact that the main character falls in love with a “somewhat” adult. Sometimes as an adult I get tired of emotionally angsty romance between pre-teens. This is a relatively angst free adventure about a girl who is a free spirited screw up — but she tries her best… and is rewarded with a happy life.
All-in-all a delightful and refreshing story that is worth reading…and then reading over again.
Girl Got Game, Vol. 10
by Shizuru Seino
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is a fun romantic comedy series in the same vein as Hana Kimi, (seriously if you liked this one, go read Hana Kimi. I think it’s far superior to this one). It’s a fun and short series. It seems like 10 volumes might be a lot, but if you ignore all of the omake at the end of each volume, you could probably condense the series to about 6 full volumes.
Generally I like this series. And because it is a quick read, I pick it up often. There are a few things that bug me about it. First, the title. Sometimes I have to question the judgment of English translation when they completely ruin a name like this. The original name is in English, and significantly less corny than “Girl Got Game”. Who made this decision? You should be ashamed of yourself!
Second, I hate the ending. The series goes from a fun romantic sports-comedy to weird fantasy-comedy (think One Piece) in the last chapter. It’s irritating because it completely changes the flow of the story and takes away that feeling of closure that would have come had they just ended it after Aizawa’s big basketball battle with her teammates. There was no reason to add-in characters which had not made an appearance before… and to turn them into super-hero basketball characters. It was weird. And annoying.
I always save all of the omake (after stories), which I always enjoy, to read after I’ve read through the main story. It helps takes away some of the sting that I get from this final volume. That being said, I still will read this series a dozen times more. It really is cute, and a lot of fun!
Club 9, Vol. 1
by Makoto Kobayashi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
You really can’t be in a bad mood after reading this series. Haruo Hattori is totally loveable as the cheerful, clumsy, naive “country” girl. The translators really had their hands full with this work — and did an amazing and believable job with her character. Love it! I just wish there was more in English. And seriously, has anyone actually been able to track down volume 4?
Zig*Zag, Volume 1
by Yuki Nakaji
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’ve also read the few volumes of Venus in Love which were published in English and must admit that this one is the stronger of the two stories. There’s something about Nakaji’s style (or is it the translator’s style) that I really like — unfortunately this is another series that was left unfinished thanks to a weak North American manga market.
Old Boy, Vol. 8
by Garon Tsuchiya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great finish. I know some people found it weak. But, it was just what I’d expect from a master of the Japanese psychological thriller. So good. So frustrating. And sometimes totally irritating. And so hard to put out of my mind after reading it. It’s been sitting on my bookshelves for a couple years now, I don’t know why it took me so long to actually read it. Definitely my best “new” read for the year so far!
Leo the African
by Amin Maalouf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was assigned this as reading for a university class… and truthfully of all the books, I was dreading this the most. But so far, of all the books, it’s the one I’ve enjoyed the most. It was a brilliantly written story based on the true-life adventures of Hasan Al-Wazzan. It seems even more remarkable coming off the previous assigned reading which I was looking forward to the most but may be one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Anyways, I liked this book so much that when I’m finished with my degree and am back to “reading for pleasure” I will definitely be picking this up again.
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Maybe it’s because I had to read this in a hurry (for an exam this week) but what can I say — it was tedious. It has always been on my “to read” shelf, and I’m glad to have read it (I’ve always been curious about the windmill scene) but book 1… *yawn* I literally fell asleep half-way into it. I do NOT fall asleep when I read! And personally I DO NOT have time to take naps before my exam! “Cervantes!!!” *shakes fist*
I just couldn’t get into the language, the episodic plot, and the ridiculous protagonist. There’s something about when characters don’t listen to “reason” that really gets under my skin, and I stop paying attention. I ended up skimming through the rest of the the first book (and found a summary online). I hope that’ll be enough to pass my exam. *crosses fingers*
I will admit though, that there were a few moments [in book 1] that made me chuckle. Particularly situations surrounding Sancho (Don Quixote’s squire). The best was when Don Quixote seeing a number of travelers including 2 cloaked friars, believing them to be kidnapping a Damsel in distress, intends to save her. Sancho says to himself, “this is going to be worse than the windmills”. Classic.
The second book was a significant improvement from the silliness of the first (or, maybe because I was well-rested when I read it): actual plot, intelligent conversation, and character development. I may try giving this another chance when I don’t have to read it in such a hurry. It may help to get through the first book knowing that the second book will hold my interest better.
Red River, Vol. 1
by Chie Shinohara
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The unlikely story of Yuri, a Japanese teenager pulled back in time to the 14th century BC by the Tawannana (empress) of the Hittite Empire. Stuck between wanting to return to her home in Japan, and staying to help the man she loves, Yuri becomes Ishtar the goddess of war and has the romantic adventure of a life-time.
This makes it into my top 10 manga (there may be more than 10 in the list, but… this is one of them). An absolute must read. It’s intensely romantic, terribly tragic, and perfectly satisfying. It’s easy to sympathize with the characters being both a well-developed story, and a well translated one. And, such fun when some famous characters from Ancient Anatolia & Egypt are thrown in the mix.
I’ve read it every year (at least once), and the only thing I regret is how much sleep I lose when I’m at it! I really should consider taking a week off of work to dedicate myself to this epic series. I just can’t stop reading when I get started!
manga hoarder 