Full Moon, vol. 1-7 (END)

Full Moon wo Sagashite
Arina Tanemura
Viz (Shojo Beat), around 170 pp. per volume.

Do you want to get in touch with your shojo-loving manga side? Do you want to push away all those action and fight scenes for a bit of emotional drama? Do you want a character-driven story that will most likely touch your heart at one point in the story? Well look no further, Full Moon wo Sagashite will do all that for you!

Mitsuki Koyama, age 12 has one year until she dies of a throat tumor. With that in mind, she wants to become a pop star! Despite her grandmother's hatred of music and singing because of past incidents, Mitsuki is detirmend to become a popstar, find her lost love Eichi, and live her life to the fullest. But can she do that all in one year? Or will she die trying?

Volume 1 starts the tale off with a bang. After finding out Mitsuki has a year to live, she runs off to become a popstar. But she's pursued by a pair of shinigami under the name of Negi-ramen, who want to take her soul! But rather than do that, they sort of hang around her because she's the only one that can see them because every day is one closer to her death.

Volume 2 brings on a bit of the popstar fluff. Peforming, costumes, and just about everything else that showbiz has, Mitsuki goes through it. But there's also a darker side of showbiz, with lyrics being stolen, banter between contestants, and shady members of the audience...

Volume 3 kicks everything into high-gear by jumping into the story. There's so much explained in this volume that it will amaze you. We find out Eichi isn't waiting for Mitsuki in America, and he actually died in a plane crash. We learn that shinigami are what they are because in life they committed suicide. And now that Mitsuki knows the truth, is it really worth following her dreams any more that her love is gone forever?

Volume 4 feels like a bit of a letdown after the most impacting volume 3, but is good nevertheless. Mitsuki is a bit crushed after hearing Eichi is dead. But what happens when her feelings start to blossom for Takuto, one of the shinigami following her?

Volume 5 picks up on a better note, with Mitsuki climbing the charts under the idol name Full Moon. But fame has a price, as I'm sure almost every celebrity knows. Among the many gifts she receives, there's a threat for one of the next performances! Is it true? Should Mitsuki quit being an idol because of this threat?

Volume 6 brings on more of the drama we've been waiting for. Mitsuki is in dire need of an operation, but with that comes the loss of her voice. Will she have the operation? Or will she refuse it and end up dying sooner? And what happens when the shinigami become more of a threat to her? Her life is bound to end soon...

Volume 7 is the final volume. Mitsuki is trapped by Jonathan, one of the most powerful shinigami in their world. Another shinigami, Izumi, is able to help her but doing so would release his final memory that he may not want to remember. So Mitsuki and Takuto die together, but end up living again. So what happens three years later with no Eichi to be found? Is it time to move on into another relationship?

As mentioned before, this is really a character-driven story. Despite it revolving around wanting to become a popstar, that really fades from the story as it goes into later volumes. The story is fueled primarily by Mitsuki, who is so in love with Eichi and is heck-bent on finding him. But her aspirations to find him slowly fade, and she's more driven to think about dying because she'd be closer to him. In the end, she has to make a decision over if she should let her love for Eichi go and be with Takuto or not.

The characters are what make the story. Mitsuki is surprisingly emotional for a 12 year old (13 in later volumes) and has determination. Takuto and Meroko (Negi-Ramen) are rather nice shinigami, who would rather see her live instead of taking her soul. Izumi and Jonathan are the more diabolical pair of shinigami, always plotting ways to steal her soul and/or kill her.

The art is surprisingly good. It improves little over the seven volumes, but Arina has her own style. It's big eyes, long, wavy hair, and somewhat lanky-bodies. It beats your average shojo-style any day, though it may take a bit of time getting used to.

The quality is average. Viz seemed to do an average job with the first 6 volumes, but kicked it up a notch with the last volume translating lots of extras, such as thank-you letters to Arina for writing Full Moon and some bonus manga from her about her adventures in signing copies of Full Moon in Taiwan. I also commend them by translating a Full Moon dictionary that she wrote in the back of volume 7, which was sort of an explanation of characters, songs, and events in the series.

Art: 4
Characters: 4.5
Quality: 3.5
Story: 4.5

Total: Rounded to a 4, or a A-. I'd recommend this to teen girls looking for a good emotional drama with nice characters and a good story. It's bound to touch your heart and make you feel for the characters. The series will only cost $62.93 without tax, so it's not that much of an investment.

Pokemon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu

Pokemon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu
Toshihiro Ono
Viz Media,1999, 165 pp.

Ah, Pokemon. Good times, good times. Lots of this generation grew up playing the games (or at least watching the anime) but might not have read the manga that may or may not have influenced the franchise. Now that I'm reading it again (I got it out from the library back in the day), I feel the nostalgia coming back. Is it good? Or does this book fall flat like many adaptions? Read on to find out!

You all know the story. Ash wants to become a Pokemon trainer, but does not have the skills nor pokemon to become one. One fateful day, Ash discovers a Pikachu chewing electric wires in his house, so he captures it and it soon becomes his ticket to being a pokemon master. Follow Ash's adventures as he fights his rival Gary, captures more pokemon, earns badges, and climbs the ladder to the top of the Pokemon League.

Many things are the same as the anime, but some are different. Such as Ash's companions, Brock and Misty, don't pal along with him like they do in the anime. Ash's fights are very quick, and Pikachu just uses thundershock most of the time to wipe out the gym. And last but not least, things move along very quickly in the manga as opposed to the anime. The plot seems to flow not-so-smoothly because of the quick pacing, but because kids are the target audience for this one I can't complain too much.

The characters seem a bit shallow at first. Ash is close to the typical shounen hero archetype, being positive, determined, and easily charmed by women (heh). Misty is somewhat of a bishojo, but is picked on and bossed around by her older sisters. And Brock, well let's just say he isn't the ladies man that he wants to be. You might notice they look slightly different than their anime counterparts, and they act a bit differently too.

The artwork is a bit messy and aged.

The actual publication is flipped, so purists might not be enthused by that. But this was back in the day where lots of manga were flipped, so you shouldn't be to mad. Viz did some editing, especially Misty. She's wearing a bikini top in one panel and for the rest of the book she's wearing some black, very non-showy shirt. Why, Viz, why? Is it really so bad to show a 12 year old in a Bikini top? It's not like kids have never been to a beach or seen TV shows with girls wearing them...

This book is hard to find, but some libraries still have it. Be warned though, most of their copies are in bad condition because of the wear-and-tear of kids borrowing it. Mine is in such a crappy condition that the cover is partially ripped off and I had to fill out a notice that I didn't harm the book. ^^; So be warned.

Art: 2.5
Characters: 3
Quality: 3
Story: 2.5

Overall: 2.75. A D+ at best. I'd say if you want it and you're a teenager and/or an adult, look at it purely for the nostalgia value and don't expect much. It sort of falls flat for those looking for an in-depth read, but hey, if you're looking for that don't expect much from something that is from the juvenile manga section.

Beauty Pop, vol. 1

Beauty Pop volume 1
Kiyoko Arai
Viz (Shojo Beat), 194 pp.
Available here.

I honestly don't have much to say about this title. Maybe because this was an impulse buy, or maybe because I don't really care about looking "pretty" that much.

Kiri is a hair cutter. She works her magic on girls and makes them look "pretty". But she has rivals, the Scissors Project, with the 3 most popular makeover guys in it. They start a rivalry, compete to make girls prettier....blah blah blah...but wait. This isn't stupid, like you may think from reading the back cover. It's actually okay.

There's a few makeovers in this book, mainly middle school girls who want to be "pretty" to be with a boy. But the one that starts the rivalry between the S.P. and Kiri is Yorozyua, a.k.a "Fat-chan". She's so fat and ugly, and demands that the S.P. make her beautiful. She ends up as Kiri's contestant in the competition. The competition ends before the book ends, yet we don't get to see who wins.

Kiri is the exact opposite of what you'd expect to be a shojo heroine. She's unruly, frazzled, and a bit on the lazy side. The members of the S.P. are what you'd expect high-spirited rivals to be- high spirited, competitive, and with a bit of goofiness. Kiri's friend Taro wants to also become a hair cutter, but I couldn't tell if he was just overly flamboyant or if he was gay.

The art is your standard shojo fare, with big eyes, and a moderate amount of screentone balanced out with some white space. I must say that the art is very simple and clean in this manga, and tells the story well.

The actual publication is all right, it's standard Viz quality. It's got somewhat low-quality paper and has one or two translation notes scattered about.

Art: 3
Characters: 3.5
Quality: 3
Story: 3.5

Overall: 3.25 or a C. It's nothing really special but it's not a run-of-the-mill shojo either. I picked it up purely on impulse because Borders Express was having one of those "buy 4 books, get the 5th free" promotions and the shelves were almost bare. I guess it's aimed at younger teens and tweens, but I guess shojo fans of most ages would enjoy this breath of fresh air. Sorta.

Heaven's Will, vol. 1 (END)

Heaven's Will volume 1 (of one)
Satoru Takamiya
Viz (Shojo Beat), 193 pp. $8.99
Sudou Mikuzu has a very special talent--she can see ghosts. And because of this predisposition, she's become a magnet for all sorts of unwelcome monsters. Luckily for her she's just met Seto, a friendly, cross-dressing young exorcist. Sudou needs protection from all the creepy phantoms bugging her, and Seto needs to practice his exorcism skills. Consequently, the pair decides to team up and help each other. In return, Sudou promises to bake a cake every time a ghost gets zapped!

I admit this book has potential. Lots of it. For a oneshot, I would have thought this would have been turned into a series because it has so much potential. But because of being a oneshot, it seems to fall flat in the end.

Sudou is your average teen, except she can see ghosts, spirits, oni and the like. When she meets Seto, a crosdressing exorcist, a friendship is formed. He protects her while she draws spirits to him and bakes cakes. Along with their friend Kagari the vampire, they exorcise spirits!

I admit I thought this was going to be something like Ghost Whisperer or Twilight. But I was proven wrong. This has elements from them, but it is it's own story. It works out well for a oneshot. We also have a very interesting back story with Seto and how he wants to bring his sister back using his body because she died saving him.

The characters are great. They're very well designed, and have good personalities. Sudou is your average teen, but she's scared of most things, including ghosts, oni, boys, and pretty much everything she doesn't understand. Seto is a caring crossdresser who wants to bring his sister back to life by getting a "change", and Kagari is a stone-faced, monotone vampire. They're all very interesting and developed for a one-shot.

The art is great. It's very pretty and illustrates the tale well.

The publishing is good. It isn't nearly as good as Del Rey's or as bad as Tokyopop's. It's somewhere in the middle. There's a translation note here and there, but they aren't in the back. They're scattered around the book as footnotes.

Art: 4.5
Characters: 4.5
Quality: 3
Story: 3.5

Overall: 3.8. It really goes that extra mile by having a really interesting back story for Seto. I really think this could have turned into a series, because the ending isn't as satisfying as it could have been. B+.

Gaba Kawa, vol. 1 (END)

Gaba Kawa (Loosely translated to "So persistent it's cute)
Rie Takada
Viz, somewhere in the 160-180 pp. range.

Young demons Rara Yamabuki and Bibi Kurosawa come to the human world in order to do evil deeds and become full-fledged demons. Rivals in love, they search for the legendary demon, Hiroshi Akusawa, in order to win his heart though they don't even know what he looks like. While Rara is standing on the roof, classmate Retsu Aku mistakenly believes she's going to kill herself and grabs her, "flying" down with her to safety. With that, and hearing him called "Aku," Rara believes him to be Akusawa, but later learns he is just a normal human and that Akusawa isn't nearly as desirable in person. When she uses her power of flight to aid Retsu, which causes her to lose the power forever, Rara realizes she has fallen in love with him. From Wikipedia

This is your standard supernatural-romance shojo. It's light and fluffy with a bit of comedy, but leaves you feeling empty in the end. I guess you could compare it to cotton candy, but that is better than this.

Where to start? If the back cover (which I didn't post this time because it might spoil the book for you) doesn't explain exactly what happens in the book, nothing does. Even if you don't, the story is predictable. Rara was sent here to Earth to cause micheif and become a full demon, but ends up falling in love. That's common for a shojo story. It's not that great for a well-read shojo fan, because you've all seen it before.

We've got your standard shojo antics, such as crossdressing to get closer to the boy, attempting to protect the boy but failing in a cute way, and the love rival causing trouble for the main character. Nothing special here that you couldn't read in about 10 other different shojo manga.

And the less-than-stellar ending didn't help either. It came way too soon, with the story's overall feeling becoming a darker tone for the last chapter. Really, I thought this would have been a better series if the last chapter didn't screw up the pacing.

The characters aren't likeable. Maybe it's because Rara is stupidly-persistant for loving a boy that she hasn't spent five minutes of quality time with or that she's simply a bit annoying. Bibi is your standard shojo love rival, and Aku is your standard tall-dark-and-handsome bishie. There personalities aren't fleshed out enough, even though there's time to do that. Nothing special here either.

It was an okay publication from Viz, nothing special. The paper was average, and the translation was okay. The only complaint I had is maybe pricing it a bit lower than 8.99 because it's a oneshot. Maybe they could have put it at 7.99 like their Shonen Jump line.

The art wasn't special. Maybe it's because I didn't enjoy the art that much in Happy Hustle High, or maybe it's a different problem, but I didn't think the art was spectacular. There's also an over use of chibi that works well the first few times for comedy, but like boob jokes, chibi's become stale over time.

Art: 2
Characters: 1
Quality: 3
Story: 1

Overall: 1.75. I'm not sure if that's an F or a D-. Even though there's been mixed reviews of Gaba Kawa, I'm on the negative side. Not recommended. If you're looking for a decent oneshot with supernatural elements, romance, and well fleshed-out characters, check out Heaven's Will.

Don't even bother buying this. Many libraries in my area got this back in March of this year, so if you have the urge to check it out, search for it in the Library catalog.

Yume Kira Dream Shoppe, vol. 1 (END)

Yume Kira Dream Shoppe
By Aqua Mizuto
Viz (Shojo Beat), $8.99, about 185 pages.

"They say that any dream can come true in exchange for something dear to you."

And so starts the four short stories in the manga Yume Kira Dream Shoppe. They are all loosely connected by the two characters who run the dream shop, Rin (who's gender is never revealed) and Alpha, the stuffed rabbit. Throughout the four stories, they supply the clients, a.k.a the girls who want their wishes granted, with various items that will help them achieve their dream.

The first story is about a tree that wants to become human to talk to a boy who plays beautiful music. After an incident about not talking to strangers, tree-girl gets mad and walks off. A day later, she bursts into his hospital room and tells him how his music gives her strength.

I won't spoil the end of the story, but I'll just say it ends on a caring note. Actually, all of the stories in this manga end on a good note instead of a more realistic bad one. But that's a good thing, because this is a very light, soothing manga you could just chill out with. It's not serious, there's no fighting or other violent things in it, and you don't really have to follow a continuous plot. It's just four, short-and-sweet stories.

The second story is about Noa, a girl with no friends. The closest thing she has to a friend is Alpha, the black stuffed rabbit shown on the cover. She's very shy, and has only watched the one boy she likes, Yuki, never saying a word to him. She goes home and wonders what it would be like to have friends to talk to, and Alpha hears. He makes a deal with Rin so that he can be alive for a week and help Noa build up the courage to talk to Yuki.

The third story is abut the amnesic girl Miki, who wanders to the Dream Shoppe without even knowing her own name. Rin strikes up a deal with her, leding her an hourglass so she can relive the past. She ends up dating Renji, who made her a ring. Three months after they begin dating, Miki doubts that they will ever grow closer. She ends up getting mad at him, and walking right out in front of a car.

But we aren't shown that she gets hit by the car, just her walking in front of it. Well, it turns out a few non-existent panels later, Renji had jumped out and pushed her away from it. He's not bloody or anything, just a few scratches and bruises. They both end up in the hospital, but this time they are both alive with their memories back. How is this possible?

Rin had made Miki drop the ring, which made the car veer away from the couple. This way, they are both alive, and can live happily ever after, traveling the world together. Rin gets to keep the ring, though. That shouldn't really matter to Miki, because it saved her life, plus Renji could always make her another one.

We finish off the manga with the final story centering around yet another shy girl who has a crush on a model that comes to the school for three days. She wants to befriend him, but can't even utter "Good morning!" without a crowd of fangirls pushing her out of the way. What is Koyoru to do?

Well, go to the Dream Shoppe, of course! Rin gives her the nightmare candies, which will let her appear in anyone's dreams however she wants them to look. After this, she will inherit one of this traits in real life. Sounds good?

She ends up appearing in his dreams first as a roller girl who works at his favorite café, second as a model to talk with him backstage, and last as a girl with jet-black hair who just talks with him and expresses her affection. In the end, she ends up becoming a braver person and talking to him.

Just a quick note: I don't really see anything that makes this T-rated, I'd be fine giving this to someone 10 and up. The romances aren't bad, just at the most hugs, or a silhouette kiss. But those are in G-rated stuff and Disney movies, so I think we're fine. You don't see anyone getting hit by a car either, and there is no blood, guts, anything. Viz rated this for mild violence, but I think this is still fine for 10 and up.

This is a great manga. The stories don't feel rushed for a one-volume manga, and the characters do get to interact within the plus/minus 37-page stories. It's nice to see nice art like this also. It's quite shojo-style, but if you can get over that, you'll find out some nice, charming stories about girls, their dreams, and first loves.

Art: 5 (Nice, shojo, non-smudgy, and clean. )
Characters: 4 (Because we only have about 37 pages to meet and greet them.)
Quality: 4 (For Viz, this is very good. Nice cover, and it's a bit more sturdy then their other books.)
Story: I'll just give it a 4, because they're short stories, but they're heartwarming.
Overall: 4.25

I'd give it a B+. It's a bit more creative then other stories of this type, which are the be-careful-what-you-wish-for type. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for the shoppe stories, like xxxHOLiC or Nightmare Inspector. It's not very memorable for only one volume, but it is a nice read.

I've seen people bash this story looking for something dark and wicked, but if that's what you're looking for don't pick up something with lots of color on the cover or cute characters in it. This book is cute and heartwarming, and is supposed to make you happy on the inside.

Originally published @ http://xxxprincess-cosmos13.deviantart.com/journal/25958197/