Ichigo Jikan

Brief Storyline:
A girl (15 years old) goes to her new school and discovers that the dorm she was supposed to be staying in is under renovation and she has nowhere to stay. After some begging, the school admin gives her the key to an apartment, which she later discovers is where the Chairman (aged 16 yrs!) stays...

As some have already commented, the guy looks like he's around 20 and the girl looks pubescent. The story is quite basic shojo fare and I think if you have read enough shojo you would know what to expect to happen from page one onwards. The guy, despite his cold tsundere look, is actually pretty decent to her. She, on the other hand, is somewhat ditzy but still bearable. She is also supposed to be rather smart, where studies are concerned.

The storyline is a bit confusing at the end where new elements are added in a rush. There are some bits of other plot concerning the guy's competition as Chairman of the school.

Possible Spoiler
The mom is rather silly though IMHO. Actually, her words of encouragement for them to "get it on" were a bit of a put off to me. I mean, she was like meeting that guy for the first time and there was no guarantee he would take any responsibility.

Spoiler (highlight to read)

Also think it would have been nicer if she had actually been proposed to, rather than have the guy tell the whole world that they were getting married without even asking her first.

Storyline: C+
Art: B+
Recommended? Suspend disbelief and just enjoy the art and some sweet moments between the two.

I just thot the image was nice...;p

Still not sure if I'm going to read this yet, but saw the image and thought it looked interesting. I think it's the colors that I like.

If I don't read this I'll try to get my friend to write a review. :)

Update: Yikes, I never did get down to reading this although I believe the series is still with me! I think I need to get going on that.

Crown - originally written on 16 Jan, updated 12 May

Brief Storyline: An orphan girl is suddenly grabbed from her part time job by her long lost brother, Ren, who, with his good friend, Jake, has come to protect her. Apparently they are royalty and targets of a deadly plot to obtain the throne.

The guys are of course bishi (first things first eh? ;p) and I'm pretty sure those who loved Gakuen Heaven would have a field day with this one too (it being by the same artist). The drawing overall is good, although there are some unfilled in eyes and other parts in scenes here and there. In the action scenes, the backgrounds are drawn in rather more detail to help in understanding what is happening. The guys all look rather different so it is easy to tell them apart.

The author and the artist are different and of opposite sexes. Interesting. So, I'm not sure if that colors my judgement that it is not as girly girl as other shojo, besides the "hot guys" (quoted from the author's words) and silly shojo girl. The last few pages give a tiny bit of entertaining insight into this collaboration.

The girl is, as mentioned, somewhat silly, and a bit too sweet, naive and is more like a little pet or elementary school child than a high schooler. Some of her expressions are rather dramatic and cringeworthy. The guys hold much of the story with their skill and action as mercenary soldiers, in protecting the girl from danger but the girl also has a special natural "talent".

A bit bloodthirsty as quite a few people lose their lives. Not as innocent in this respect as most shojo. The two are really merciless. I suppose it is a life or death fight, but still, a more sanitized storyline would have them solve it another way I suppose, but then again, not everything can be sanitized.

The characters have chemistry and there are a few humourous moments in between killings. :) Ok, ok, it is after all a shojo so one isn't expecting fantastic violence or gore and I believe the creators were going after a comedic feel as well. Thus, there are some really cheesy moments played out and some strange scenes. There are also some OTT emotional moments that don't seem to quite gel with the merciless bloodthirsty atmosphere but probably help to make it more shojo than shonen.


Possible Spoiler
The relationship between the brother and sister is ambiguous, and from comments I've read it seems I'm not the only one to get the insinuations. Some feel it's an incest tease but a few predict that there may be a twist there although in volume two there is not much further indication/development of this, especially if you see the first few pages (the weird scene I was referring to).

The guys' relationship also have slight shonen ai overtones in some of the scenes, although I would say that it is rather minor (well, the artist does do this genre). The story is also starting to develop a slight very much reverse harem feeling at the end, with the two bodyguards already (Jake and Ren, her brother) and now another guy, Chrondrite Condor (interesting name yeah?) probably interested in Mahiro. At the end of volume two, there's another guy to join the harem!

I find Mahiro even more unbelievable when this cute little supposedly sweet silly girl sees her Jake and Ren killing people and things blowing up and she is completely unfazed. Nor is she fazed when she is almost killed. Strange.

An aside - the volume one in my hand is this yellow cover one. Is there really a blue colored cover?

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? Eye candy - quite a few cool bishies. Storyline is atypical and rather fast paced, action orientated, with bits of comedy and unexpected twists.

Licensed by Go!Comi

Latest booktore visit

Went to the bookstore to look for Ichigo Jikan (草莓时间) which I remember seeing before (now wondering if I saw wrongly as baka updates says there are zero volumes out?? But really thot I saw it cos I remember thinking the girl looks like a elementary schoolgirl...sidetracking) and ended up with Watashi no + Okusuri (baka updates link) (我的爱情魔药) because the cover was somewhat cuter than the rest of the limited stuff there. I didn't even know the Japanese title and had to google for it. Cos the Chinese title is just "My love potion". I was wondering where the other volumes are, but came to realise it's complete at one volume. I'll write a review once I complete it. Hopefully the impulse buy will prove to be interesting, but I should really stop buying on impulse!

Gakuen Ouji

I couldn't find the English cover online so had to settle for this one. I was surprised to see it in English and our local publisher has published four five volumes of it as well (in Chinese). Surprised cos some of the more popular titles didn't seem to be translated or were dropped whilst this one I'm wondering if it will appeal to that many people.

Just to say it is quite a strange manga that I really wouldn't recommend to those whose sensibilities are still intact. It's a rather brutal turn on the guy being the sex obsessed to the girl/s being the ones. It was amusing but it is rather exaggerated and can I guess, be distasteful for some, as despite it all I still think there is a bit of sexism and the girls are seen as having 1D personalities that only focus on that one thing. Also read comments of those who have ventured further than me and they weren't that good, including something about the guy not being very nice to the girl. I really need decent male protags. ;p (me and my happy endings...).

W-Juliet

Someone recommended me this series, saying it was similar to Tenshi Ja Nai, which I had reviewed earlier. Saw W-Juliet (links to good wiki) on and off at the bookstore and finally decided to try it.

So far, after going through a few volumes, I'm getting a bit bored and losing steam. Somehow, I enjoyed Tenshi Ja Nai more, perhaps because it was the first of this plot device that I read. One thing is that the girl is made a lot more boy-ish in this series, and this trait is actually played up (e.g. she has a girl admirer). However, I read that one way to0 long ago to make a better comparison at the moment.

The story itself is rather episodic, whereby they get into one predicament, solve it, rebond, and then wrap up, repeat, repeat repeat. The main background story itself doesn't seem to flow through the volumes.

There is also a bit of a reverse harem, despite that fact that the girl looks so boyish she attracts girls as well. I find this a bit strange. The guy is quite nice, sweet and decent to her.

There is also a sequel to this, which I understand can be read as a standalone (without reading the first series), and which may be better on the eyes, as the guy is now a guy (I mean, no longer disguised as a girl). I haven't read it yet but I saw some comments that that mentioned the girl is no longer pursuing any particular dreams (of acting, etc.) and seems to be just staying at home playing with the dog, whereas the guy is the one out and about having a great career. I guess it smacks a bit of sexism put that way. Actually, such a remark put me off a bit.

Overall, I think this is more for younger tween/teenage readers.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B-
Recommended? Ok, as long as you haven't read too many of this type of plot, and can stand the girl looking like a guy and then the boy looking like a girl.
Similar to: Tenshi Ja Nai

Merupuri

Finally bought Vol.1. Had vols 2-4 for a long long time (albeit in English, I never seem to be getting Vol 1 of anything). I prefer the English one, as it seems cleaner and the pictures clearer. Could be due to the fact that the Eng one is bigger. The Chinese words seem many more than English, though that could be my imagination? A bit of eye strain for some of the characters...

Some people didn't borrow this series of mine because there wasn't a vol.1. Ready for it now? Although I know some of my friends still won't borrow it cos they don't want to read it in Chinese.

Had a re-think on this since I bought the last (erm, rather first) volume and realised that it is rather shotacon don't you think?

It constantly reminds me of Bride of the Water God, which I've since abandoned (maybe until they release the entire series, I hear Vol. 3 will finally be out soon), cos it was way too slow. I've sorta stopped reading manhwa cos they seem to be too slow. Well, maybe with exception of Saver which was pretty action packed (but still slow in a sense).

Oh, super cheap thrills but realised the Chinese version had this little color pull out, nothing near poster size (smaller than A4 I think) of the main characters. Colors weren't that nice though.

Seduction more beautiful than love

Manhwa finished at 5 volumes, 2 volumes out in English, vol. 3 out on 4 November 2008. Decided to update this as I have been waiting for the third volume forever and was just wondering if my bookstore wasn't bringing it in. On Tokyopop's website, it is still at vol. 2. Guess there just wasn't demand for this.

Brief Summary: Pretty young teacher is harassed by handsome mysterious student who seems to have a crush on her, or is it something else?

Interesting title isn't it? The other alternative is "beautiful fascination better than love". I do find this a bit slow moving and up to volume 2 there isn't much development of the characters or plot. (Is it just me or are most manhwa rather? Just think Bride of the Water God and Goong/Palace).

I was a bit disappointed with the teacher's character, she didn't seem very mature, but perhaps it was that one bad incident that really brought it out. The guy is as usual a dark horse, dunno what is going on inside his mind at all and there are flashbacks to suggest that something horrible happened in his past (which we're sure to find out later). I think it might be related to the reason he's stalking/having a crush on the teacher. I think I do need a reason; or else it's just not meaningful. Read a comment that it gets creepy in book four, but I wouldn't know since book three is not even out in English yet. I'm just glad it doesn't seem to drag since it's complete at book five. Let's hope it settles all the issues nicely. Frankly the first chapters got me interested but after reading book 2 the interest faded. I'm right now not sure if I'm going to follow the rest.

The art seems quite typical of manhwa, not over cutesy (with long bodies) as is to be expected I guess, as the characters are not young, and also the topic is rather serious.

One of my friends told me she can't appreciate this and the storyline wasn't good, another told me that it was pretty good and the art wasn't bad. So, guess it's really up to the eye of the beholder.

My Rating:
Story: B- (too slow! a bit confusing with the guy's girl friend, etc. angst! I wonder if it's the translation or it's just not coming out in the art what's going on or is it just me?)
Art: B
Recommended? I am on the fence. I just don't know where all this is going. There doesn't seem to be much direction and so far don't really feel much for any of the characters. And, the publisher doesn't seem interested in it anymore so perhaps we'll not see the end of this series for a while (ever?).
Similar to: Somehow reminds me of Akahime Ranshin, but then again I know of only four titles (the other I won't mention since it's not worth mentioning) that involve this female teacher male student relationship as a storyline. The other one that I did find was one of the stories in a volume called Koi Moyou. That was a bit different but quite a rush too as it's only a oneshot.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Isn't this one of the most beautiful covers you've seen?



I'll eagerly await this in English but will look for it in Jap in Kino too (already got it, see post above :)).

Hmmm...maybe I like it for the backgrounds. ;p You know i'm a backgrounds person. The guy isn't bishi but the girl sure is cute (erm, hope it doesn't sound lolitacon). Somehow it reminds me of Otoyomegatari too.

More pictures and description here at another manga lover's blog.

Finished

Just finished VK Guilty and feeling...well, a bit disappointed. The ending seemed rushed although I wanted some action instead of draggy flashbacks. On who she finally chose, I did ask my friend earlier if it was ambiguous and she said no, but in the end I did feel it wasn't quite resolved and I also felt really really sad for the one that she left. The ending didn't seem like an ending but seemed open to a part 2 of sorts although perhaps on the other hand, one is supposed to imagine what comes next.

A lot of tormented souls (do vampires have souls?)...


A lot a lot of unanswered questions...



Spoilers ahead...Highlight to see.










- like how Kaname is not her real brother, that part was really fuzzy
- the whole association plus elder council collaboration thing was a bit weak on motives and objectives
- the reason Rido wanted just Yuuki's blood, couldn't it have been Kaname's? Another pureblood's? There seems to be some relationship there that isn't quite clearly spelt out.
- kept thinking why Zero didn't make his brother a vampire to save him

Reassessing this and thinking about it, it really is a very sad tragic story. The saddest parts are when the parents died, and Zero's twin died, and when Yuuki takes blood from Zero and realises he loves her when all that's going through his mind is her name.

Shojobeat

Wonder how many girls subscribe to shojobeat. The first time I bought it I didn't know what it was all about and was just curious. One thing I liked was that the drawings were so big (in comparison to the bound volumes) and they were also colored for better color contrast.

But, as a friend says, they are not cheap, and I feel it's pretty disjointed cos it's only one chapter of the manga per issue then it's another month. Of course, I guess if you're really crazy about the series they are carrying (like Vampire Knight), you could buy the issues, cut and bind into volumes. ;p But too much work, no? And I know some people can't bear to desecrate magazines/books (I know of one person who refused and actually cringed when I tore a magazine apart for a project. ;p). I read one person actually tearing it apart to wrap files or something.

Of course they are much cheaper if you live the States. Seems everything is. :( And how I am starting to love online shopping...(with free shipping only in the States...sob sob).

B.O.D.Y.

Came across this a few times but never started it, probably cos for some reason I got the idea that the girl would be rather ill treated by the guy. I have wondered where I got this perception, esp after I read it and it's rather different. I think it's actually from the synopsis at the back where it says, "will she finally wise up?" and "She could hire him to date her, but she'd rather win his heart" making it seem like an arduous journey to get him to like/pay attention to her. So it was rather a pleasant surprise that he's actually rather decent to her, though there are times when he teases and makes use of the fact that she is so naive and gullible.

Story: B+
Art: B
Recommended? I actually only like the art somewhat; the characters aren't really that bishie. There isn't much detail in it and it is just about fine to tell a story with. The story itself is also not spectacular, but it can be sweet. The guy is pretty decent and not violent, whiny, arrogant (well, not too much).

King of the Lamp, Tenshi Ja Nai and Ultimate Venus

King of the Lamp

Manga: Complete at one volume

Brief Summary: Five oneshots in one volume, with three on the same premise of a genie helping girls find love. The fourth and fifth ones have light supernatural themes building up to a romance.

Got this as I liked Ultimate Venus and I like the mangaka's drawings overall, for its clean and neat appeal. However, as mentioned below, once again the characters look exactly like her previous ones. For one of the stories, you would not be wrong to think the female protag was the one in Ultimate Venus and wonder if it was an extra/side story of sorts to that.

The first three are rather typical boy meets girl or vice versa and girl falls for him, tries to get his attention/affection. So fortunate there is a genie around the corner that is actually a womanising king that has been given the punishment of helping at least 1000 girls fulfil their love requests. Rather simple stories.

The fourth one seemed a bit different from any that I've read from her so far and it was the most interesting to me, although the ending was again predictable and came a bit too abruptly (mainly cos it's a oneshot I suppose so it couldn't be helped).

The fifth one, as I've also read on ANN, wasn't that good. I agree. It seemed a bit strange and fluffy. It was one of her earlier works.

This volume is a bit more "racy" (is that the word?) than the other series she's done (although nothing explicit). Think she was targetting a bit older readers (teens as opposed to tweens , although in this day and age...). I think I must add that a friend of mine who read this was a bit taken aback by it despite reading (and liking) Ultimate Venus. I would say it's not near smut but as mentioned, there are some intimate scenes. I must say that I wouldn't argue with my friend that we both hope it doesn't teach teenagers that it's a shame not to lose "it" and that sex equates to love, or that one needs to use sex to gain love from the man. Unfortunately, it might. And that's the worry.

My Rating:
Story: C
Art: B-

Recommended? An ok read, but nothing really out of the ordinary and each story is rather too short. A stronger linking background story (the part about the genie) would be have good for the first three stories. As it is the first three are rather disjointed and can be read in any order.

Tenshi Ja Nai

Manga: Completed at 8 Volumes.

Brief Summary: A guy pretends to be a girl and attends an all girl's school because he is in showbiz as a girl. A new student discovers his secret and...(you know where this is going)

This one is a break in the usual routine, being the opposite of the usual girl disguises as guy and gets into an all boys’ school (think Hana Kimi, Ouran High School Host Club and Girl Got Game). Instead, very strangely, it’s a boy that dresses and acts like a girl. Of course that provides the comedy and of course someone finds out early on. The whole premise thereafter becomes rather clichéd again but there are a few original twists and turns.

For one thing, I do appreciate that the girl is not so dotty, immature and ditzy as some others (really tired of the girl struggling with making chocolate for the boy – enough already, thankfully no such thing in this one). She usually has her head screwed on tight and doesn’t loose it to “love”. However, do feel she’s more like the guy in this series sometimes, as the guy is now a “girl”.

There is a bit of reverse harem as well, with at least three guys falling for the girl. There’s even a teacher-student element thrown in, together with blackmail and other side themes. There’s also a serious love rival with no big faults but I shall not give that away.

And then you must have the fangirls (I really wonder after reading all these whether Jap girls are really in any way like this - it’s really too exaggerated!). The guy, as a girl, also has a whole host of them. And fanboys too, obviously. So these cause the girl protagonist grief.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B-

Recommended? Interesting for the twist in concept, with many different other side stories thrown in. Not particularly wow, but readable.

Similar: All those others I mentioned above regarding the girl-boy disguises. Actually, it also reminds me of her new work, Ultimate Venus. The characters have you going deja vu!

Also someone mentioned Maria Holic was similar but there are more shojo ai overtones in that one (am not quite sure it is going to be "romance" boy girl style)

Ultimate Venus

Brief Summary: Orphaned girl gets adopted by super rich grandma.

The storyline is quite interesting, but still it is pretty much a Cinderella story where the poor girl realises she is actually a "princess" (I mean in the sense she is now super rich). There is some mystery behind the relationship between her mother and the grandmother that is still waiting to be hatched. There is also some ominous happenings when she's at school that is linked to her being the candidate to inheriting her grandma's companies (and thus wealth).

And then there are the bishi boys/men. There are two main contenders - the guy who is assigned to look after her bodyguard style and a classmate. Later there is another one but I won't give his role away. Their motivations are made a bit more clear in volumes 2 and 3, but the story is still quite slow going. Now after reading volume three, it's starting to develop into a reverse harem. :)

The girl follows the usual shojo school girl character somewhat - rather naive and ditzy, getting easily agitated. On the other hand, at least she's not too clumsy or stupid.

I must say that the characters look too similar to Tenshi Ja Nai, which was written by the same mangaka. Actually, in her extra story in vol 3, the characters look the same as the ones in the main story itself.

All in all, it sounds promising and hope the development gets better and not head down the hill of a routine shojo plot....even husband read it! ;p heeheh

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B, the characters look alike mostly, and the drawing is clean but the scenes and characters are not very elaborately drawn or detailed. There is just enough to make the panes look pretty mostly.
Recommended? Sounds interesting so far.

More info:
Bakaupdates

Maria Holic

Brief Summary: Girl enrolls in mission school looking for love...amongst the all female intake. She meets with rude crossdressing Maria and realises soon enough that she is a he.

All this while I was wondering why the female (erm, male) protag looked so familiar and after googling a bit have found out the mangaka, Minari Endo is the same as that for Dazzle/Hatenko Yugi. And just like Dazzle, it has also been made into an anime, although hopefully it won't turn out like the former, leaving the storyline hanging halfway with no further seasons (what were they thinking with that one?).

I don't know if this is actually supposed to be a shojo ai/yuri manga, as it's usually labelled "romance". However, so far the overtones have been quite strong. I'm not into that genre so I'm only sticking around to see what the mangaka's doing with the two protags and curious about the reason why the male protag has to cross dress.

However, having gone through some more of it, I'm not sure it's for me. The storyline is getting stranger and stranger and there are elements I just don't get. I will put it aside. I was hoping for something better than Dazzle, which I think I'll abandon too.

Coelacanth

Ongoing Manga

Brief Summary: A girl on her way home is saved from being caught in an explosion at her apartment complex when she is knocked down and injured by a boy in blood covered clothes riding a bike. This boy drops what looks like a toy fish scale, which the girl picks up and keeps. Ten years later, she meets a man who happens to have the toy fish, in which the scale fits perfectly. She is attracted to him but as he may have an association with the explosion that happened ten years ago, it may be a dangerous liaison as his intentions could be sinister...

The title of this series attracted me. Wouldn't you agree that it's not every day you get one named after a "living fossil" of sorts (very interesting deep sea fish)? :) Intrigued before starting the first page, but the mystery and ambiguous summary actually attracted me as well.

As with the mangaka's other stories, the emphasis is on the mystery (or rather mysteries as there is more than one happening at the same time), which makes it intriguing because it is not a typical shojo love-romance story (but neither is it an action packed dectective thriller). In the story, the girl is not particularly interested in acting as a P.I./detective but she wants to find out more about the boy who "saved" her in the past. So yeah, in a way, it veers towards romance, but there is a darker element as there is uncertainty about the boy's motives.

There are quite a few elements that one glued to the story, wanting to find out the whys that it poses, including why the girl seems to have some strange delusions. Characterisation is not that strong, but the girl seems independent and clear headed enough.

My Rating
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? Interesting and unique so far.

Boku Wa Kiss de Uso o Tsuku

Ongoing manga

Summary: A girl finds herself kissed one day whilst asleep in the library. When she wakes up, she realises that there are four boys in the library and she has to figure out who did it by herself as no one is telling.

This is the best promotion for going to the library as any I've come across (and will likely!). Apparently, being a bookworm (bordering on nerdy?) and well read can get you plenty of attention. For the protagonist here, she is swatting away four contenders! There's the delinquent cassanova looking type, there's the studious one, the shotacon and the sporty (kinda reminds me of Ouran)! Nearly every bishie school shojo type is present. And, so the story goes, after the girl falls asleep in the library, one of them kisses her and it's up to her to shift through all the lies and the boys' shennanigans to find out just which of them it is. Really, a schoolgirl's fantasy to have such a wonderful harem of bishies...now now, just to find out who the kisser was...

Frankly, very unreal silly shojo. There is no real reason given on why the boys like the girl so things are a bit unrealistic and unlikely. :) Husband exclaimed after I told him briefly of the plot, "That can make a story??!!". Oh well.

My Rating:
Story: C
Art: B
Recommended? Very simple story. Eyecandy.

Bokura wa Itsumo

Ongoing manga

Cute innocent shojo. Two bishi guys, two pretty girls, all childhood friends, though it's not what you think - they don't really pair up, at least not in the beginning, as they are either with different people or not with anyone at all. The characters are really cute (as mentioned) but they are a bit youngish/more juvenile looking. Till now I'm still not getting how old one is supposed to be in their middle school/high school (is it the same as the US system?).

The guys, if they didn't have different color hair, might have ended up looking like twins though. For the girls, it seems like the usual shojo device where you have the main character (Nori) a bit more ditzy than her friend (Saeka), though spunky and happy go lucky.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B+
Recommended? It's a cute story so far.
Similar to: Read someone mention it seems to be a better imitation of Marmalade Boy.
Also by author: Shuu 7

A. I. Revolution

Manga complete at 17 volumes, English at 5 volumes - release schedule at Go!Comi. I've recommended Vol. 5 to the library and have also bought it and the review of that particular volume is here.

Summary: A talented scientist has developed an android for fun and passes it to his daughter to teach it. Although she has respect for his work and understands robots, this new robot is something entirely different, being indistinguishable from humans.

I realise I do like Robot stories a lot. I have probably read nearly all of Isaac Asimov's Robot stories (a few times), and "I, Robot" at least twice. But actually, personally, I think the premise of an A.I. android that takes the place (I mean in terms of love, family, etc.) of humans is a bit morally disturbing. The ending of Absolute Boyfriend, another popular shojo robot manga, seems to point to this as well (though I haven't read it in entirety. Felt it wasn't for me after I knew the ending). Despite this, I was once again attracted to this robot series.

Overall, reminds me a bit of Pet Shop of Horrors, not for anything in the storyline at all, but in the format the story is laid out. It seems to be episodic in nature, with each chapter exploring a different angle/aspect of the science-human interaction, whether it be the androids or biotechnology, etc. It shows the different motivations of people with regards to technology and their feelings and thoughts towards the androids. e.g. some would like to dominate and order their robots but others feel that they are equal to them. For this, there are quite a few characters introduced and their relations to robots or technology.

Because of the above regarding the many different plotlines, the story tends to get a bit scattered and we're looking at a lot of different characters, such that the main story gets a bit lost. This is ok up to a certain extent but if you're like me, after a while you'd like to have some development with the main protags, especially the first ones that were introduced, Sui and Vermillion (also see my recent review of Vol. 5).


The art is a bit simplistic. Although I wasn't expecting anything in the likes of VK, the lack of intrinsic detail was probably the low point of this series. The girl is pretty enough most times but I can't really say the guys were bishi. And in some panels, their eyes were not even drawn in! The guys didn't have eye detail in any of the panels. Hey, the eyes are important! ;p OK, perhaps it's because it was written in 1993 and the style is rather different now. However, perhaps the storyline makes up for it. At least one other person has told me they like this better than some of the popular shojo titles as it probably seems to have some depth and meaning.

Can't find that many comments on this series. Have a feeling that it wasn't that popular somehow.

As for romance, if you're looking for it, this series may not satisfy, at least up to Vol. 5 where I am at.

More information (possible spoiler)
I think this topic is very complex, as I hinted above. It is almost as if making a real human being, and power like that is dangerous to say the least. In any case, one thing that struck me in this series was when Vermillon, one of the robots said that Sui, the human girl he lives with, means a lot to him but not exactly like a sister nor a lover - he has no 'label' for her.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: C
Recommended: The storyline is engaging so far and there are parts that may even be thought provoking. Overall, it is a good treatment of this subject matter and the parts of "love" (I put in quotations because perhaps it's not the exact word to describe what a robot has for another or a human?) is well thought out and not overly dramatic or unrealistic (as far as I've read). Of course, there is a lot of the usual expected shojo elements plus the usual plot devices and concerns of robot-human interactions we have seen elsewhere, like in Isaac Asimov's robot stories or in more recent robot stories (such as Chobits, which probably is different compared to this, probably as it was attracting the male audience with some slight fanservice, but I'm side tracking...) and shows. I'm curious and wondering where this will head and will probably keep looking out for future releases.

Penguin Revolution

Completed manga
by Tsukura Sakura

A simple sweet story about teens in showbiz, seems to be written for younger audiences (tweens?) The somewhat complex storyline twists on one hand but doesn't really delve enough into the characterization on the other hand. I wish there was more depth in the characters, especially Ayamori. Despite him being a protaganist and star in the story, he comes off as rather bland. The other male protagonist (starting to sound like a harem? Ya, come to think of it she does have these three bishis and at least two of them have shown interest in her, so perhaps...) isn't much better. The usual shojo devices and feel. Despite the bishi guys, for most of the story, the romance element isn't much there. The story/premise taken by itself is rather unbelievable so be ready to suspend disbelief completely.

My Rating
Story: C
Art: C+
Recommended? Just ok for a light read and innocent characters.

Also by author/artist: Makakushi No Kuni, Yoroshiku Master, Amai Kamiato, Birthday Presents, Shiro no Keiyaku, Tonari no Inuyama-kun

Absolute Witch and Ban Hon Sa

Brief Summary: In a land of magic in which all the powerful witches have disappeared for hundreds of years, four men find and raise an abandoned baby girl who happens mysteriously to be one. Her adventures follow...

Another Korean manhwa that may turn out to be quite long. That, to me, is the only drawback, as I'm not keen on stories that are too slow or convoluted (though I know not everyone is like me, as evidenced by the votes on the right :)).

The pace so far is quite good, and the characters are interesting and drawn very pretty. But I'm not quite a fan of the back and forth timeline either, although it is not as confusing as some. The heroine seems quite headstrong and smart, quick witted, and I hope she will develop even more in that direction.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B+
Recommended? So far so good. Interesting storyline.




Ban Hon Sa

Another one from the same author. Interesting and different. The description says "fairy tales" but some of it probably I would classify as horror and supernatural rather than fairy type of tale. Most of the supernatural creatures/spirits seem to come from Korean roots.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B+
Recommended? Was somehow draggy and disjoint at first, but seems to be getting better.