Thoughts - Sailor Moon Crystal

Okay, I am cheating a bit with anime, but I wrote down these thoughts and I thought I would share them. I finished Sailor Moon Crystal. And it was ehhhhhh. I didn't dislike it as much as others on the internet seem to. I think it does end up showing what were the strong points of the original series though.

The art/animation is seriously lacking. I do think I'm a bit more indifferent than most of the fandom was about this. But as I've been watching a ton of anime lately, I can say it doesn't stand up to today's standards. And I think as a big anniversary event, everyone thought they would try and make it look awesome and it looks kind of blah. The old show may not be up to today's standards either but you can see they put a lot of effort into it for its time and what it was.

Characters is where I think Crystal really shows what the strong point in the original series was. Because in Crystal no one but Sailor Moon, Chibi-Usa, and maybe Mamoru get any real character development. The other girls get personalities but almost no screen time to show those personalities off. The original might have a lot of filler but it was used well to expand the characters and make you care about them. (I feel like even the live action Sailor Moon did a much better job with the other characters).

Story is hard for me to judge. I did start re-watching the original a while back but didn't get that far. So, I can't tell if the case is I've gotten older so the story just doesn't hold up as well for me or if Crystal was just that lacking. I do think it is a show that if it had a stronger team working on it, there could have been a much stronger final product.

I will say the one big improvement with this show is Chibi-Usa is actually tolerable and actually pretty likeable by the end. They manage to really tell her story in a way that better explains her back story. Which explains a lot of her behavior. Also in this case, less episodes mean less screen time for her to be obnoxious.

Scanlation Get: Pansy

I know it’s been a while, I have been busy (mostly playing Fallout: New Vegas…) but I’m going to try and get back on the wagon again. This time I bring you a title I just finished recently called Pansy by Mariko Okumura. It’s a historical fiction (though starts to drift a little into light fantasy by the end) shoujo title from the late 80s. Pansy is a feral girl, recently found in Africa, living in the wild being raised by chimpanzees. Mark Animal the young man, who found her, takes her back to his European-esque home country of Roland to study her. Pansy meets a slightly older boy than herself named Edo (who in one of the more obvious turns in the story is the prince of the country) who loves her free spirit. Upon hearing the Traumerei played memories of her past start to awaken. Quickly though events start to roll changing Pansy’s life even further. The story of Pansy quickly turns into one of high adventure and political intrigue.

At first it’s just something small as Mark’s fiancé being jealous of Pansy and having a local reporter take photos of the girl acting like a monkey. Soon she is embroiled in the affairs of the royal family as the throne is being usurped by Edo’s jealous cousin Wirald. Something is always happening to Pansy and new people are always coming in and sometimes old characters come back for a surprise. It is what really made this manga really enjoyable though was I never really knew what was going to happen next. So much crazy crap happens, but because Pansy just rolls with it all it just seems to work. She gets lost, becomes a maid, and might be from a noble family. Then when everything looks like it might work out just fine, BAM! everything she has is destroyed. Pansy ends up doing a little bit of everything and ends up in trouble a whole lot but she remains a strong lead through it all.

The writing is kind of odd, while there are story arcs and they have a somewhat normal structure the overall story isn’t so structured and it kind of rambles on into the series next event. Also while most of the story would be considered historical fiction towards the end the story introduces a country where the nobles worship Satan (at this point I gave a hardy WTF?). This apparently grants them some magic powers like staying young and seeing through a crystal ball like a security camera. It’s kind of odd but at that point so many other barmy things had happened I just kind of rolled with it. I also have to note that the scanalations of this series are from different language from the original Japanese. So, it is a translation of a translation and early on it really shows. In the first few chapters the wrong forum of various pronouns are used. Thankfully over the course of the scans the translation gets better.

The art is well done but pretty typical of 80s shoujo so looks a bit dated today. Thankfully, it’s a period piece so it isn’t as dated as some other titles of the time. The art is well drawn and a lot of the formal clothes have very nice details to them. These are drawing you can see that some care went into creating them. I’d also say the screen tone used in this title is very well done, not too much and done with care.

I got to say I enjoyed this title way more than I thought I would. I finished off all eleven volumes in just a couple of days. It was almost like playing Civilization expect instead of one more turn it was one more page just to see what crazy thing would happen next.

Scanlation Get: Glass Mask

Once again it is back to the 70's with my next pick Glass Mask by Suzue Miuchi. I kind of have a love hate relationship with shoujo. I want to love it, but I find much of the shoujo titles from today boring with flat uninteresting main characters. Honestly if the character's personality is picked from the stock of “I want a boyfriend” or “I want to be a bride” I don't want to read it. In fact it makes me want to punch it in the jeans. (Now, American romcoms I'd punch right in the kidneys.) I do love a lot of shoujo from the 70s or even the 80s, where female characters have big dreams and big goals. In Glass Mask our heroine Maya ends up with big dream of being the actress who plays the role of the goddess in the famous play the Crimson Goddess but before she can ever do so she must master thousands of roles.

I am recently re-reading this. I had read quite a few volumes but I can't remember where I left off. (I only stopped reading being the scanlator at the time got a C&D letter and took everything down. I was rather sad this was my first long term scanlation I had gotten into and I really loved it.) One of things I am enjoying is just how much I remember things. Like when Maya sat out in the rain purposely to get sick to play Beth better in Little Women. There have been titles I have read and really liked them at the time but when I go back to think about them I can't remember anything. Considering, I last read Glass Mask six years ago my memory for this is surprisingly good, which I think says something for the title. I am looking forward to rereading certain parts that I enjoyed the first time.

The main character Maya is played off as average and kind of dumb. Even her mother tells her she is useless. All Maya wants to do is watch dramas and plays. She will even go to some extreme measures to get tickets to see a play. She jumps into the Yokohama bay early on for one. It takes former Crimson Goddess actress Chigusa Tsukikage to see that even Maya has talent and with training she could aspire to be the Crimson Goddess herself. Maya then goes for a ride of a life as she trains but many things go awry often no fault of her own. Her rival wants the role of Crimson Goddess herself; the rival acting school with stop at nothing to close Tsukikage's school; and the chairman at Daito Entertainment will do anything to the rights to the Crimson Goddess play.

There is romance involved in the story but there is a lot of development even before it is seen and Maya always takes acting before she does boys. She is determined to see her dream and won't stop until she gets there.

The art is very 70s but well drawn. It relies more on strong line work then screen tone which is something I really like. (I feel to many shoujo titles insert random screen tone to fill up space.) The panel layouts are nothing amazing, but are clear and strong in conveying the story. Where it suffers the most is the clothes. They were fashionable for the time now they are really out dated. Apparently, as some point the mangaka went back and re-drew the older volumes but that seems like and exercise in futility to me. Clothes almost end up out dated (though I got to say Paradise Kiss holds up surprisingly well) unless they are the most generic clothes ever. I hate when manga and anime take the generic clothes route though, it has no personality. I'd rather watch or something out dated looking and feels like it has life rather then some lifeless and generic.

Rereading this title reminded me how much I love this title. If it ever came out in English I'd buy every volume. I like reading stories about girls and women who aspire to great heights and Glass Mask certainly fills that role.

Review: Aishiteruze Baby

This week’s title is about as far as one can get from last week’s Otaku no Musume-san and still have strong similarities. Aishiteruze Baby by Youko Maki is a shoujo manga about a high school student named Kippei. He likes to spend his time macking on girls and being a lay-about. He has never been serious about anything, even the girls whom he flirts and makes out with off and on. He comes home from school one day to discover a young girl he doesn’t know. His family convenes in a meeting and informs him that this girl is his cousin Yuzuyu. He has never meet her before but is now in charge of taking care of her. It’s an odd choice but no one else in the family wants to deal with this responsibility. They all feel a little put upon by this burden thrust upon them by Kippei’s Aunt who has mysteriously ran off.

Early on in the story is about Kippie adapting to having Yuzuyu in his life. When I first heard of the title I thought most of it would be about how he begrudgingly takes care of her and hates her for ruining his life. In fact this is not the case at all. He takes the whole situation quite well, perhaps charmed by Yuzuyu's sweet nature and cuteness. I felt this was a refreshing move. The early parts consist of learning how to dress Yuzuyu, make her bento, making sure to pick her up from pre-school, and such. Atop this there are a few minor story lines in the beginning but the main meat of the story is about Kippie balancing his life with Yuzuyu with the first girl he has ever taken seriously, Kokoro.

I had watched the anime before I read the manga and I can say they are not very different. There are a few minor things that were toned down from the manga. Like a knife becomes a bike chain in the anime. Yuzuyu's Mother is also far less sympathetic in the manga. Not that she is out right terrible but damn does she do some dumb stuff. I was hoping that the manga would go past the ending of the anime because I wanted more. I wanted to see the further adventures of these three characters as they grow up and together. The end almost feels like it just stops but when I think about it the stopping point makes sense. This story is really about Kippei's journey to being mature and at the point where it ends he has achieved that.

The art is about as typical shoujo as I can think, but in this case I rather like it. The panels are the less structured style that prevails in shoujo, but they are very full of large characters, and there are lots of actual backgrounds. It does depend a lot on vague screen tone backgrounds but they are handled very well and are are not distracting. The characters are very well drawn and have a much more substantial feeling to them then a lot of other shoujo titles. If you like shoujo style art then I can't imagine not liking the art in this series.

Over all I really enjoyed the story. It's a slice of life but it does have some serious dramatic moments in it and does raise a lot of questions about responsibility without being depressing about it. I also appreciated the fact I found the main female characters relatable in some way. I often find it hard to relate to the main characters of shoujo manga because more and more they tend to be boring doormats that have no interest in anything but in romantic relationships. I was happy to see that wasn't the case here. If you like shoujo or stories with really cute and moe characters Aishiteruze Baby is worth looking at.

Final Verdict: Yummy Lollipop

Scanlation Get: Oniisama e...

Now for something far less manly but equally 70's-tastic as my last few posts with the title Oniisama e... by Riyoko Ikeda. This author may sound vaguely family with some, as she was the creator of Rose of Versailles, which is her most famous title. (Apparently the anime version of Rose of Versailles still airs today in France). She has written a number of historical titles but Oniisama e... is not one of them. This title oozes with the 70's from every single page, in ways only a shoujo manga can also. Shoujo tends to have more fashionable looking clothes and as times change, often these clothing designs don't age so well. I can think of a few exceptions (Paradise Kiss being one of them) but this makes many of an older shoujo manga special...very, very special.

This is the story of Nanako a normal young girl who comes for a fairly well to do, but down to earth, family. She and her best friend Tomoko end up going to an elite all girls high school together. This school in true classic shoujo fashion is filled with beautiful but nasty evil bitches. (Thought your high school had malicious cliques? It's just peanuts compared to these girls and their spiteful backstabbing). What these girls are obsessed with in this school is the "Sorority". Only the schools top elite are asked to enter this club. Nanako mysteriously receives and invite to Sorority and in an “offer you can't refuse” situation she joins. This starts a roller coaster ride of melodrama as Nanako is sucked into this world that she doesn't fit into and doesn't necessarily like all that much.

This is the manga that has a huge check next to the trope of the lesbian all girls school. Nanako develops a serious crush on upperclassmen Rei Asaka nicked named "Saint-Just sama" in the school. Rie is a bit butch and is often seen smoking and skipping school. Rei has some serious emotional probables which are part of the fact because of the person she is infatuated with. Nanako also has girl who is infatuated with her named Mariko. A lonely girl with some serious issues because of her strange home life that clashes with the girls at school.

At this point in my mind the story is a bit of jumbled mess because I read the manga over a very long period of time and I had watched the anime first. I think this is one of the cases where the anime out does the manga. The anime from 1991 directed by Osamu Dezaki (he also directed the Rose of Versailles anime and many, many others...look him up) adapts and expands the story. You really get more of a feel for the characters and their motivations in the anime. It is almost like the manga is the abridged version, smashing everything together and speeding up the pacing. Also notable for the anime is the look has been updated and while it is still dated looking it is far less so as more generic clothes were chosen for the girls to adorn then in the manga.

I also can't get away without mentioning this series must have heavily influenced my favorite anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. Nanako is a girl pulled out of her depth into a world she can't even begin to understand. Much like Utena's experience with the student council. Her friend Tomoko is the normal girl of the story, much like Wakaba, who begins to feel left out as her friend flies into a society she can only dream of. I can even draw more comparisons with the anime, but this is a manga blog so I must digress. If you are a serious fan of Utena though, I highly suggest checking out either version of this title.

Now have said the art is dated, and it is, but that doesn't mean it isn't well drawn. The clothes and such are very “retro” and the art style is “classic” shoujo but it still looks very pretty. Everyone is drawn well, are fluid looking, and make great melodramatic faces when called for. The girls who are supposed to be boyish push a great androgynous line. The layout is very shoujo with less defined panels but the pages seem to be much more full then in a lot more modern titles. If one can get past the dated look it really is a great treat to look at.

Oniisama e... is worth taking a look at for so many reasons, if you liked Riyoko Ikeda other works; if you are a fan of Revolutionary Girl Utena and want to see some of its roots; if you wanted to read on of the classics; or want to read some shoujo that has some female characters with back bone (and are not boring doormats for men). I'm sure there are many others also. As it has been fully fan translated and it is only three volumes, just o do it.

Scanlation Get: Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou

Another quick one this week as March Madness holds a complete different but appropriate meaning for me. I'll do my best to continue to update weekly but things are a bit more hectic then I was planning them to be originally.

This week is another smut title. I want to say it's more tasteful then Akuma na Eros but it might not be for completely different reasons. The title is Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou plus its two sequel series Zoku - Kindan no Koi wo Shiyou and Kindan no Koi de Ikou by Tomu Ohmi (Midnight Secretary). Our leading lady Hisako is a fairly stereotypical character. She pretty much is the prototypal shy, demure, and fairly dependent on others type. There are a few elements of her that break the mold, she is an adult women in her late 20's (where often these titles are still about high school girls), she had a real hobby (jewelry crafting), and she isn't and office lady (she works in an antiques shop). While not very forceful she can be very firm with the rules and about lines not being crossed. What really makes this title different is the supernatural aspect of it, her boyfriend.

Hisako's boyfriend is Yato a wolfwere?! Yes, a wolfwere he is a wolf who turns into a man under the magical power of the moon and who has lived for over 300 years. He is fairly typical character for this type of role. Though he is a lot nicer then most male leads in smut manga though. In fact he seems a lot more like 'real' dude then a lot of the uber creeps some of the girls fall for in these titles. Though this is where some of the most questionable content comes in. Most of his time is spent in wolf form and when the moon starts to become full he can turn into a man. So the question of bestiality does come up in the manga often enough. Fortunately and thankfully, it never goes there.

Since they are a couple who already live together, most of the series conflict comes from outside sources. Many of the stories are about other men who want Hisako, her over protective brother, a wealthy man who wants Yato in his collection, or ghosts from Yato's past. It's a nice change of pace in this genre where all the conflict is about getting the couple together. Most of the chapters are self-contained stories but some do go on for a few chapters but there isn't a whole lot of continuity to remember. What is also interesting is that her hobby and place of work is often worked into the stories almost giving them a slice of life feel but are mixed in with stories of the supernatural. I really like the mash up of the various elements and they work together well.

The art is very shoujo, but for me on the better end. Screen tones are used much better then I would say in a lot of shoujo titles. There are still a lot of backgrounds of flowers that plague so many of these titles. The panels are loose in a more typical shoujo fashion but have good flow. The drawing in this series is fine. Though I don't think anyone would have Tomu Ohmi as there favorite artist.

Over all this is a fun fluff series. Best read a chapter or two at a time. The main characters are likable enough and I really enjoy their relationship. As a smut series it's pretty mild. There is some sex, and if I remember correctly all of it is consensual, which is a huge rarity in the genre. If you have ever been curious about these genre but didn't want rape and dickertry this is a good place to start.

Scanlation Get: Animal X - Aragami no Ichizoku

This week is a title I just discovered not to long ago myself, a title from 1990, called Animal X by Ami Sugimoto.  This series has three parts, the first part subtitled 'Aragami no Ichizoku'.  This part is four volumes long and is what I will be covering today.

When we first meet our main character Yuuji is pretty effeminate and pretty much a living doormat.  He's engaged to get married to a his childhood friend.  She has always been the one to take care of him, since he was to wimpy to do anything himself.  Of course he couldn't even ask her to marry him, it's an arranged marriage that they are both fine with.  He works in a science lab where he has been pressured into some strange experiments.  On top of all this some strange teen shows up in his room and wants to mate with him!

This kid is Minato who is not only on the run, he isn't even human.  He is from some dying race of beings known as the Dinosauroid.  He thinks Yuuji is not only of them but a  female one to boot (he can smell it. WTF?).  Head strong and brash he is on the run because he killed some yakuza while visiting the city to see where humans live.  He is also a major dick to Yuuji in the early parts of the manga (luckily this doesn't last to long). 

From here Minato kidnaps Yuuji to take him back to his people to mate with him.  A fate Yuuji is not very happy about but being a doormat he can't seem to stop it.  This doesn't last for long though as the two of them end up on the run as a huge conspiracy of events unfolds around them.  Scientists are after Yuuji and both the yakuza and another clan of dinosauroids are after Minato.  Much of the four volumes are them on the run.  Which is pretty exciting as these types of stories manage to keep tension pretty high though out.

What is interesting is as the story progresses so do our characters.  Yuuji starts to be less of a doormat and much more of a fighting participant in his destiny. Minato matures a lot and starts to be much less of a dick.  They form a fairly believable relationship while on the run.

I was also shocked as this was one of the only manga I have ever read where someone was raped and they are really upset about it.  I'm not joking, this isn't that common.  Most of the time characters just brush it off or even fall in love with the rapist!  (Really, Japan WTF?!)  So, I have to give Animal X points for that, it also ends up being rather important for the plot later.

The best comparison I can come up for this title is Banana Fish.  It is far more sci-fi but they both are pretty hard-boiled shoujo tales.  Both have mostly male casts, and where the main characters are run for a good portion of the story.   Also, the uh... gayness.  (Apparently a really bad ass shoujo title can't be shoujo unless there is an inordinate amount of gayness.)  If you are a dude and read Banana Fish because it is awesome, (that makes you awesome also) then this title really is no worse.

The art in this is also very nice.  It's still a bit 90's but it still holds up very well do to the fact it is very detailed and well crafted.  The art doesn't really look like typical shoujo.   The panels are very solid and well formed.  The characters are detailed and don't fall into the typical bishonen style.  Also the screen tone use is very well done, something I find lacking in a lot of shoujo titles.  The art style really seems like something that would run in the seinen anthology magazine Ikki then in Asuka CL DX.

Hmm, I think that is one of my final thoughts on this title.  If you like the stuff running in Ikki, good chance you would like Animal X also.  It is a well written alternative style manga that is not pretentious.  As I also stated before it holds a lot of similarities to Banana Fish. It is well worth checking out if you liked Banana Fish.

*Note: Most likely I won't be posting anything next week, as I am moving to another state this weekend.  Weeee!

Review: Central City

Oh! boy, another review of my 365 Days of Manga winnings. Today is Central City by Saya (Yes, just Saya. I wouldn't want my real name attached to this steaming pile of crap either). Of note, as far as I can tell this “volume” is a single chapter of a multi-chapter single volume manga. It seems only two chapters came out and the second one seems neigh impossible to get. Though, at a $7.95, I can see why no one bought it, and if they did, why they didn't bother purchasing the second volume. I know Viz had done something similar with Eagle but at least with that you were getting something good and not expensive toilet paper.

Here is what I can make out of the story in this drivel. In the future, there area bunch of organizations made up of nonsense acronyms, like F.E.B. Which stands for Federal Earth Bureau, but what the fuck does that even mean? That means nothing to me the reader! At least give it a relatable title. (Argh, brain starting to bleed!) Apparently F.E.B. is some super computer that runs the world except for Central City The reason this computer runs the world is never really explained. (Why bother with the world building when it is this half assed?) This “bureau” employs “Disposers” who make all sorts of information and people disappear. I'm glad that part is at least clear (but can they make unwanted pet hair go away?). I think the writer played a little to much Snatcher at some point because this seems like the vile regurgitation of a better if still unoriginal work. What I have told you no less is just back ground information given on the first page! Did I mention most of this manga is told though some terrible jackass-ery of exposition? Seriously, almost nothing happens.

Our main character is Kaede happens to be a S.A. Disposer. S.A. for Special A class, apparently the most “bad ass” kind of Disposer. I think Super Asshole would be better title though. He is in Central City with his friend Karen (who does fuck all expect tell us more exposition) to find his missing mentor. Not much happens except for Kaeda burning someone into blacken catfish for seeing his pretty boy face and going to a bar to talk to some people who might know where his missing mentor is. Another acronym shows up the S.S.S., (which I can't remember what it stood for and can't be bother to look up) who have it out for all F.E.B. Disposers.  They are on the trail of Kaede.  Since the twit burnt a bunch of people to a crisp. You think you would want to be on the down low in the one city in the world that doesn't like Disposers.  Really, that is all that happens except for more slip-sod background exposition. Honestly, I don't hate exposition. This though is so in your face and terrible, I think my brain started to seep out of my ears. Someone should have punched the author (a lot) and been like “What the fuck are you doing? Stop it with this shit!”

After the mess that is the plot there is the very drab art. It would be just passable in a normal shoujo romance manga. Central City seems to be an action Sci-fi title though. So, the art doesn't really work. The designs are lackluster and forgettable. The line work would is average at best. There is also a distinct lack of backgrounds. The real issue is with the paneling more precisely the content of the panels. The content doesn't flow very well in any of the action scenes. Manga is supposed to flow like a piece of cinema. If Central City was a movie it would be full of terrible jump cuts of impossible to tell action. I would have to say the art isn't as bad as the writing but it does more to hinder then help.

Over all this title left a foul taste with me (maybe I puked up my brains?). Unlike, Baron Gong Battle which was terrible but still fun to read, Central City was just boring and painful. There is absolutely nothing distinct or enjoyable in this. I honestly wouldn't be able to suggest this title to anyone.

Final Verdict: Negative Snowman

Scanlation Get: Akuma na Eros

There is a genre of manga that hasn't seen a whole lot of light in the U.S., with all the manga that is out there what could it be? It's smut aimed at girls (which has a few Japaneses terms but I never find solid information on just what is commonly used). This genre isn't just a few titles either, there are oodles of manga anthology magazines devoted to it. Cheese!, and Sho-comi are just a couple of these magazines. These titles often border the line between shoujo romance and pornography. The romance is often hot and heavy, far more adult then the everyday shoujo comic. Sex is often the main topic of the story, and it happens often. If you are squeamish these are probably not for you as they often contain "consensual rape". Yes, I know what I just wrote...we will just leave it there... I don't even what to say such a concept tells us about Japanese culture. (Though, I have heard from my romance novel reading friends that the concept may not be all that foreign). They in fact have a lot in common with romance novels. Just think of hot bishonen instead of Fabio. They also share a lot of the "darker" (a.k.a. creepy) themes often seen in yaoi.

I've read gobs of these titles. Many contain the same basic plot and structure. What I find interesting is some of the best art I have seen in shoujo manga are from these titles. Royal Seventeen and other titles by Kayono comes to mind. Today's title though is by Mayu Shinjou who is one of the most prolific writers in this genre. Her art much like Kaori Yuki has really evolved over the years. In her older titles the art is just adequate but her more modern titles it is top notch.

Today's title is Akuma na Eros by Mayu Shinjou. This was one of the first smut titles I read and it's still one of my favorites because in some ways it's just so well...insane. Our heroine Miu just happens to have a book of incantations. (Really? Why hell not. This also gets explained in the final volume but the answer is just as bat shit ludicrous). Miu wants "adult body" so she can get the guy she likes at school to notice her (now this sounds like an 80's movie). Of course things don't go as planed but what she gets instead is hot bishie Satan! Yes, I am not kidding Satan is a central character in this story! He grants her the wish of having the heart of the boy she likes because...well, she is a virgin! Satan then promptly anime tropes us as a returning student in Miu's school after a long absence due to sickness. He is also pretty much dicks around with Miu and mentally abuses her a bit, which makes her hot for him. (You know this is how it works in a manga, don't lie to yourself.) At some point Miu and Satan become a couple, but as a story goes on, plot has to get in the way. Which leads to a black sabbath being held and our couple traveling to hell its self. Where we discover the Lords of Hell are also hottie bishonen, and Satan has sex buddies!

The story is kind of rambling and predictable, in other ways it's kind bizarrely surprising. The most interesting part of it is the really Satan angle, it is not something I've seen all that often (or ever). Miu starts out as the normal weak willed girl that plagues so many titles, but she does become a bit stronger of a character by the end. Satan is holds pretty true to the male lead in these types titles, a bad guy with a heart of gold (at least for the girl). Since he is Satan though and not random street punk, like in a lot of the smut titles, it gives him a bit of an edge. Really this is a title that works only as a whole and is really more entertaining then it should be.

The art in it is fair, it's from 2001 and it shows. Art still has a very 90's anime look to it, and a lot of tone effects that was very common for the time period. Shinjou's art since then has really gone up by leaps and bounds, but by no means does is the art in Akuma na Eros bad. The lines are strong and there is a lot of detail it just never escapes beyond the 90's.

This strange title is worth a look at, it was a lot of fun to read. The story is predictable and absurd but that is part the title's charm. If you have ever been interested in the world of girl sumt manga or just like stories with angels and demons in it (who all happen to be hot), it is worth checking out.

Scanlation Get: Gokinjo Monogatari

So Paradise Kiss is one of my favorite manga of all time. I love the characters, the drama, and most of all the collaborative sense of creating something. What I didn’t know my first time reading it though, was the fact that Paradise Kiss is a spin-off of another manga called Gokinjo Monogatari (a.k.a. Neighborhood Story). Gokinjo Monogatari was one of Ai Yazawa’s earlier works, which features a much different art style then she uses today, but still has a lot of that same sense of fun, teen drama, and creation that permeate many of her other works.

The story is about Mikako (Miwako’s older sister in Paradise Kiss) a girl in high school who hopes to become a fashion designer one day. She and her neighbor Tsutomu have been friends since they were small children, until one day she realizes she might like him a bit more then she originaly thought. The problem being is he is already going out very popular girl at school, Mariko. It puts a strain on their friendship for a while until things get worked about between Mikako and Tsutomu and that where the story starts to pick up. We meet their group of friends, and see some of the normal shoujo devices, love triangles, family problems, drama, and high school. We also see a group of friends having a lot of good times along with the drama, and see a group of friends driven to be creative and work for what they want in life.

The art is very different then in Paradise Kiss but in no way is it of less quality. It has that distinct 90’s anime style to it, but it also has Yazawa’s stamp all over it. There are a lot of strong thick lines used giving it a more cartoonish style, but it is very well drawn. The outfits while not as perennial as the ones seen in Paradise Kiss are cute and adorable. While I may say the clothes are all not as timeless, much of it I could imagine teens today wearing. Which I think helps keep this manga fresh, as a lot of the time clothes can very much date a title.

This has a great cast of character and a great story, with a much more grounded look at the world then a lot of other shoujo manga has. It’s almost slice of life, but still has strong plot elements; it seems to be drifting along but with a goal in mind. If you have read Paradise Kiss or just like teen drama shoujo manga I highly recommend it. If you have read Paradise Kiss I highly suggest reading it again after Gokinjo Monogatari, as I noticed tons of new things that hint back to this story that were very amusing and cute.

Scanlation Get: Ludwig Revolution

Today's Scanlation Get! Is Ludwig Revolution by Kaori Yuki. You know the chick that did those other titles like Angel Sanctuary, Fairy Cube, and Godchild? She is back with Ludwig Revolution and in high style. This time perhaps with a less convoluted plot and more camp, but damn does everyone in Ludwig look good. In this title she ramps up fairy tales and fables element that she used in Godchild and puts it to some really good use. This time coming up with a mix of anime sensibilities art and story wise, classic tales, and gothic styling. Ludwig Revolution is also a black comedy at it's core, using some of the dark parts of Grimm's Fairy Tales that today we are not so familiar with and more modern issues with we deal with today.

The story is about a prince but not just any old prince, this prince is incredibly narcissistic, caustic, and vain. What Ludwig wants, he gets, and he wants to look hot. He has the habit of forcing his servant Wilhelm into all sorts of terrible situations, some times even at gun point. His hobbies include such wonderful things as collecting corpses of beautiful women. Ludwig's father the King has had enough of his attitude and hobbies and forces Ludwig out to go find a bride. Ludwig agrees only so he doesn't have to deal with his father anymore. From here Ludwig and Wilhelm go on an adventure where they run into many famous fairy tale characters. Kaori Yuki takes an interesting take on all of the characters giving them more personality then in the original tales. Some she strays a bit far, Hansel and Gretel are assassins for example, and Snow White is deviously dark but the end to her story much closer to the original tale then one might think.

The art in short is just beautiful. Chock full of detail on every page, stronger panel placement then the average shoujo titles, the flow of the story is very clear. The character design is very modern while featuring a classic look in clothes and setting. Her men are, if you know her works, unsurprisingly gorgeous. Even the women her works are very attractive and sexy. Which is something I find missing from a lot of shoujo where a lot of girls and women are very average, especially in stories where men are the main attraction.

If you like dark fairy tales and sometimes even darker comedy, or if you just love stories with wonderful art, I really recommend this title.