Entries for: September 2010

High School Debut, Volumes 9-13

September 20, 2010

With things wrapped up with Yoh's ex, and a bit of intimacy between our couple, High School Debut moves on to the requisite subplots of other guys being interested in Haruna, and Yoh's reactions. The biggest threat seems to come from Yoh's friend Asaoka, who has shown himself throughout the series to frequently joke around with a straight face, but those around him, including Yoh, wonder if he really is joking this time.  The two decide to settle it like men, during a sports festival, and Haruna is the clueless prize between them.  The pair also have to deal with new rivals for their attention, and learn to deal with their insecurities. As their time in high school draws near the end, both Haruna and Yoh's sister Asa have some growing up, while Yoh and Haruna have to deal with Yoh's entrance exams, deciding careers, and deciding if they will still have a relationship post graduation.

Having read the end of the series, I have more mixed feelings about it. After awhile, Haruna's over reactions to every little thing, and her complete naivety started to wear thin. I mean seriously, a 2nd year student in high school who doesn't realize the implications of a girl asking a guy to go on an overnight trip alone? The whole plot with Asaoka was a bit confusing and really left me feeling vaguely unfulfilled, perhaps in part to Kawahara's tended to draw him with an consistently bland facial expression.  As a whole, the series left me a bit dissatisfied. We never really learn much about either character's families beyond Yoh's sister, nor do they seem to face any major overarching obstacles to their relationship.

The biggest drama really was their getting together in the first place, but after the great twists with Haruna falling in love with Fumiya before falling for Yoh, Kawahara fell back on the usual clichéd shojo plot elements: jealous younger sibling, friend falling for his girl, and new people falling for the couple at the same time and causing doubts. The biggest issue with Haruna and Yoh, though, was Haruna's frantic nature and their seeming inability to just sit and communicate with each other.  In some ways, the relationship with Fumiya and Asa was more interesting because of Asa's selfish behavior and Fumiya's showing he could "be a man" when the situation called for it. I was glad that it was expanded on a bit more, though also disappointed because it was never really revealed when and where the interest between them developed, so it seemed to almost have been decided as a plot device to give Haruna some heart break and spur the main relationship.

On the whole, though, this wasn't a bad series and I'd certainly recommend it for reading from the library, at the least. It does have some great moments, but I can also tell that this is one of Kawahara's earliest works. Hopefully as she continues gaining experience, she'll be able to solidify some of the plot elements this one lacked, and feel more confident in sticking with her own unique ideas instead of just doing the same old same old.

Series rating: B

Sand Chronicles, Volumes 1-4

September 15, 2010

When Ann Uekusa is 12 years old, her mom divorces her dad and they had to her home town of Shimane. Born and raised in Tokyo, Ann struggles to deal with life in the rural town where everyone seems to know everyone else, but after meeting local boy Daigo, it becomes easier. He becomes her friend and comforter after her mom collapses from working to hard, and Ann's circle of friends grows when they befriend Fuji and Shika Tsukishima, who come from one of the town's wealthiest families. Unfortunately, that winter Ann's mother kills herself, and Daigo becomes the rock that holds her together. Skipping ahead to when she is 14, the couple is still together but when she's 15, Ann's father asks her to come live with her in Tokyo. She reluctantly agrees, so Ann and Daigo begin a long distance relationship and struggle to maintain their feelings.

Written by Hinako Ashihara, Sand Chronicles is one of most interesting "new" series I've read in awhile. The story doesn't follow the typical patterns one might expect from a "high school" romance, and four volumes in, I can honestly say I have no idea how it is going to end. The series spans ten volumes total, and thought it was released in Japan from 2003 through 2006, it is still in progress by Viz Media, which will publish the last volume in January 2011.  Thus far, I'm greatly enjoying the story, and I love Ashihara's unusual approaches to the work, such as starting when Ann was twelve and jumping forward a few years, as needed, rather than relying purely on "flash backs" to tell how they met, or starting when the foursome are already friends.  Ann is an interesting character, who projects a strong nature, yet is also very clearly still suffering the affects of her mother's suicide. The relationship between Ann and Daigo has a more realistic feel. Neither is perfect, and they sometimes hurt one another with clumsy words or saying things they don't really mean without thinking about it. Their friendship with Fuji and Shika add a great dimension, and as the characters age, what appears to be the greatest source of conflict for all of them. Feelings shift, situations change, and while one would go into the series presuming Daigo and Ann will be together, it isn't certain. The opening scenes of the series actually start with a grown up Ann talking with a young girl about her going to live in a foreign country with her husband.

Ashihara's art is enjoyable to look at, with very distinctive characters. While she doesn't do detailed backgrounds much, she is very good at drawing expressive characters and she doesn't shy away from using complex clothing patterns. I wasn't aware at first that she was the same author who penned Forbidden Dance , but I'm also not entirely surprised, as that was also a great series that packed at a lot of story in a four volume series without making it seem rushed.  Viz's release is, as always, well done with no glaring errors.  I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of this series, and highly recommend it to anyone wanting a deeper, more realistic romance with funny moments, but also heart aching ones, touching ones, and dramatic ones.

Rating: A+

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross (series)

September 10, 2010

Haine Otomiya is a seemingly cheerful high school girl attending Imperial Academy, a private school for the ridiculously wealthy and "aristocracy" who is love with the student council's emperor, Shizumasa Toga, whose story book she read long ago. Known for being a former yanki, Haine was sold to the Otomiya family by her own family, the Kamiya's. Either family name would give her the necessary clout to be on the student council, but for the most part she's considered a commoner and ignored until she catches Shizumasa's eye and he makes her his "platinum", a position considered a near guarantee for becoming his wife after graduation. As Haine adjusts to her new life and having to deal with jealous rivals, she finds her heart torn in two after learning that the Shizumasa at school is really Takanari, the older twin of Shizumasa who is too ill to attend school.  Worse, both are the "Shizumasa" of her memory, just from different times, and both want her for their own.

Written by the highly talented Arina Tanemura, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross (also written as The Gentlemen's Alliance +), exemplifies the amazing story telling I've come to expect from her. She really knows how to ramp up the drama and the angst in the complex relationships she crafts, while avoiding some common shojo cliches and having cookie cutter characters. While Haine is somewhat similar to some of her other heroines, in that she often tries to remain cheerful to hide her pain and loneliness, she also has her own unique attributes that keeps the story from being repetative. Neither Shizumasa nor Takanari are perfect, nor are either bad boys on the whole, with each driven by their own dark demons that sometimes cause them to hurt those they love.  The side characters are, as always, interesting in their own right, particularly Ushio who seems to hate men and is in love with Haine, yet sleeps with any boy who asks and deliberately betrays Haine to hurt her. There is also Maura, who deceives in a few ways, but for touching reasons. Tanemura also adds her usual fun twists that are not always expected throughout the story, and I think the ending is, on the whole, a satisfying one.

The series does, of course, also reflect one of Tanemura's greatest weakness: her seeming inability to draw unique looking characters. Haine is very visually similar to Mitsuki/Full Moon from Full Moon o Sagashite and Maron from Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne. Supposedly Tanemura does this at least somewhat intentionally so that her characters are hard to animate, but in an interview with About.com she seemed to deny that claim It certainly doesn't turn off fans, as the series was a best seller in both Japan and North America.

Spanning eleven volumes, the series originally ran in Ribon from August 2004 until June 2008. Its North American release was handled by Viz Media under its Shojo Beat line, and all of the volumes have been released so its a safe buy in that regard. There is a extra chapter/side story written after the series end, but it was not included with any of the English volumes.

Rating: A

Millennium Snow, Volumes 1-2

September 5, 2010

Chiyuki is a seventeen-year-old girl on the cusp of death by heart attack, whose is hoping to make it long enough to see one more first snow.  One night she meets Toya, a vampire who is constantly in a weakened state because he refuses to drink human blood. His familiar Yashimaru explains that Toya eats food to maintain himself, but it never lasts long, but Toya refuses to follow vampire tradition of finding a human partner to stay with him for the rest of his 1000 year life. The vampire drinks from the human as needed, and in exchange the human will live as long as the vampire. For someone about to die, Chiyuki thinks this sounds like a great idea and asks to become his partner, but he refuses though continues to meet and talk with her. Despite is seeming lack of interest in her, when she is about to die from another heart attack, he freezes time and gives her some of his blood which will heal her for awhile.  As their odd friendship grows, Chiyuki continues trying to convince him that he should make her his life partner, while Toya continues refusing while enduring her tricking him into attending high school with her.

Written by Bisco Hatori, of Ouran High School Host Club fame, the first two volumes of Millennium Snow show plenty of promise.  Toya is something of an anti-hero with his rather rude and snappy attitude towards Chiyuki, though it quickly becomes clear that it is more of a defense mechanism. He seems more to be afraid of letting mortals close because they die so quickly. Yashimaru is a fun sidekick, who clearly cares for his master despite the occasional abuse he suffers. Our heroine Chiyuki is enjoying her new found ability to live and be herself, much to the surprise of her schoolmates who thought she was demur and maybe a bit stiff. Halfway through the first volume, a rival for Chiyuki's affections appear in the form of Satsuki, a popular student who is soon revealed to actually be a werewolf who was raised by a kindly old woman and who is desperately trying to pretend he is "normal."  In the second volume, we start learning more about Chiyuki's family and past, which threatens to separate her from Toya for good.

Hatori does an excellent job of having her characters from Millennium Snow look distinctive. Though one can see her artistic skill in her character designs and background scenes, keep in mind it is her earliest series so it is not nearly as well done as Ouran, which is her latest series. As I'd expect from reading Ouran, it does get a little heavy on the comedy, but on the whole the story seems interesting and I'm curious to see how Chiyuki will finally convince Toya to do what he probably wants to, at least on some level. In that regard, I'd certainly recommend this series. Alas, I also must caution that, as of now, this is all there is of the story. Hatori put the series on "hiatus" after the success of Ouran to focus on that series, and as of now, there is no word as to whether she will really continue this series now that Ouran is about to wrap up.  Still, I'd give it a whirl, even if you just check it out from your local library. The first volume, in particular, has Hatori's first story, a touching and well done single chapter piece called A Romance of One Moment in which a girl finds herself growing attracted to the boy who has taken over her best friend's body, while her friend sleeps after a suicide attempt. It is a great love story well told in such a small package.

Rating: B+