About the Mangaka

Fujisawa Tohru is better known for his two more famous work, Great Teacher Onizuka. Which has been licensed and released and enjoyed outings as anime.

About the Manga

Sadly this series failed on so many levels and never grew into the awesome series it should have been, like it’s predecessor did. Though the reason Is made clear in volume three as to why.

After reading the first volume my hopes died a bit for the series. The changes I pointed out in my initial review really got to me. Sadly they only got worse over the series. Though I’m not so sure that this was Tohru’s fault. Part way through the third volume is page explaining that this is where the original magazine cancelled the series. What followed from that point was published in another magazine, and the final chapter being an introductory one in the main lead Asakura.

For me however, this series lacked the special flare that Rose Hip Zero had. Not to mention a certain character in this series seems to have changed sides to what he was on in the original, which doesn’t make any sense given his motivations.

For me, the appeal of the original series was a duo fighting against a terrorist organization. One of them a cop with a grudge, the other an ex-member of the group out to free her friends.

The way the initial story unfolded was mind blowing, and while the ending was a bit ‘meh’ it wasn’t to bed.

For some reason though Tohru decided to pretty much scrap everything from the original series and remake it. This wouldn’t be a bad thing, remakes can be excellent. However the frequent hints to the previous series make it impossible to separate.

There are also a number of flaws within the series itself that hinder the story; or rather cripple it.

Firstly, in the first series the enemy was the mercenary/terrorist group Alice. Tohru went to great pains establishing them as this huge evil organization that was impossible to get rid of. Even at the end of the series it wasn’t technically a win, since Alice left after completing the objectives they were after.

Unfortunately in this series Alice are reduced to nothing more than a bunch of thugs. Though powerful and organized, still nothing more than thugs. Tohru even changed how Alice came about. And while in a way the newer version made more sense, it also lacked the dark mystique of the original version.

I also felt that the introduction of Kuonji weakened Asakura’s role as the lead. She was no longer the ex terrorist out to free her friends. Everything about her in this series is weakened, and split with Kuonji. Though I understand why he wanted Kuonji in the story, as a way to provoke her awakening, I felt the way he did it was bad; and wasted so much promise.

Aiba is pretty useless throughout the series, though he’s only in it for a short while. He does have a few moments when he proves to be a good guy, though he still seems like a dork even then.

The way he brought Asakura to her senses was just the lamest I’ve seen in a while, and totally crap. The whole point of Kuonji is pointless, and would have been better introduced later on as a ‘rescued’ member of Alice. Her attachment to Asakura would be more than enough explanation as to why she left Alice and joined up with her.

However she’s introduced as being the same as Asakura, basically she was doing the same job in another prefecture. Introducing her like this weakened both of their unique stances, and really seems implausible. I’m realistically, what’s the chances of two members of a terrorist group going rogue, and ending up working for the police?

What really got to me is that Alice popped up a few times in this series, but were never built upon. In fact I wonder as to the point of having them there at all.

As the series progresses it becomes more and more ludicrous, with the initial feel of the Rose Hip series being destroyed. ANN claimed that Rose Hip Rose takes the age old cop and side kick routine, remakes it and makes it work. Sadly I disagree. Sure I would have said that for the Zero series, because it was true. However for the Rose series the cop presence is pretty useless. It’s not a case of Asakura and Kuonji solving the cases, but more a case of them running wild and blowing everything up.

The series moves from a dark mystery, to a failed comedy, including the stupid cop the girl beat up.

Art wise, it’s still a great series however, that I can not deny. I love Tohru’s art, and he excels at drawing girls. Especially girls and guns and fight scenes. He still suffers at times with the hand issue, but his attention to detail makes up for it.

Sadly his attention to detail seems to apply only to the girls, a few of the side characters, and the weapons. Most of the other characters have minor inconsistencies in their designs though out the series, which is very disappointing.

If you’re looking for a conclusion to the Rose Hip series, this is not it. Despite it being a sequel, it’s better to ignore that and to simply consider it as an alternative telling or reality. But even with that In mind it still lacks the oomph of the original.

Tokyopop did an okay job with this series, though for some reason they scrapped the colour pages after two volumes, which is damned annoying. Translation was average, with a few obviously westernized phrases slipping in. Though the use of honorific’s was annoying. Sometimes they were there other times they weren’t. Either use them consistently, or don’t!!

Like a lot of fans of the series I live in the hope that Tohru will someday return to the series and do a proper sequel to Rose Hip Zero, since it’s a series that not only could support a sequel, needs a sequel.

Overall this series fails to make the grade for my Essential Read list, in truth it barely avoids going on the Junk Pile.

Where to Buy

• Brits: Amazon.co.uk
• Yanks: Amazon.com
• Canadians: Amazon.ca