Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy
About the Mangaka
Sadly not a lot of info on Ohtaka Shinobu, Sumomomo was their first work, and are currently working on a series called Magi-Labyrinth of Magic.
About the Manga
I was about to sing the praises of this volume, and I probably still will. However after a colleague read it she raised certain points that have left me a little nervous.
Art wise, I like this series. Ohtaka mixes chibi’s and normal art really well. though I did find that at times the chibi’s were a bit OTT.
Character design wise I do have a number of personal gripes, one of the main ones being that Momoko resembles a boy to much at first. It’s not until she’s confirmed as a girl that it’s made apparent.
I also didn’t really like the character designs for some of the other characters, they were a little on the freaky side for me.
Ohtaka’s art does improve over the volume, and I have to admit that there was some large improvement by the end of the first volume, which gives me high hopes for the second volume.
Where this series really gets me though is the story. The story really grabbed my attention from the start. Martial art stories are a dime a dozen, but this one does have enough unique aspects in it to really carry the series.
On the one hand we have the relationship between Momoko and Koshi. Momoko desperately in love with Koshi, almost stalker like. Where as Koshi has no interest in her, as she symbolises everything he hates, martial arts and fighting.
Next we have the class president, Sanae and Iroha. Koshi is inclined to like Sanae, as she represents everything he desires and likes. We don’t really get much of her in this first volume, but the bits we do get set her up as a perfect love rival for Momoko.
Iroha is an assassin, sent to kill Koshi. Unfortunately Momoko gets in the way and she also start to fall in love with Koshi, and when she goes to finally kill him, events take an interesting twist.
The interactions between the characters in this volume is a bit rocky at first, but they do quickly become smooth as the characters settle into their place.
Yen Press do their usual great job with this release, and I have to admit the colour page at the front its freaking awesome!! The translation and editing are smooth and consistent, with a nice flow to them. Though I did find the editing a bit cramped at times, though I think that’s more from there not being a lot of room left for them to work with.
Overall I liked this volume, but I’m not sure if it’ll go on my Essential Read list, I’ll give it a few more volumes.
So, if I liked it so much and have high hopes for the next volume, why am I nervous about it?
It stems from two things, first as I said I gave this to a colleague and she came back saying that while she liked it, she didn’t like that Momoko was overly loli, and given the way the laws in the US and UK are being changed could cause trouble. (I got arrested not so long ago for reading a copy of Tokyopop’s Gothic Lolita on the train).
Normally, loli styled characters aren’t a huge thing, but since Momoko is constantly running around trying to get Koshi to have sex with her, and is several times drawn in highly provocative style, it made her a bit worried about it. While it’s not illegal, it could cause problems for people.
Where to Buy
June 17, 2009 @ 06:40.
Saw the anime it was good especially when it was emphasizing on the comedy but I couldn’t take the drama too seriously but still it was good.
You got arrested for manga ?! Just for reading safe material (does “Gothic Lolita” contain borderline explicit images ?).
This is indeed bad for when I decide to take manga with “supposedly” loli to read on the bus/train (still in my country there is no attention to that matter so I’m probably safe for now).