Title: Elfen Lied

Author & Artist: Lynn Okamoto

Chapters: 1 – 107 (Complete)

Summary

Diclonius are a mutant species with a human type body, but are distinguished by their two horns (which look like rabbit ears) and their “vector” ability, transparent telekinetic arms that manipulate and cut objects within their reach. Lucy is the main diclonius character who was rejected by humans as a child and takes her murderous vengeance upon them. But her double personality and relationship with Kohta, a teenage boy with repressed traumatic memories, eases the murderous rage. Though these two things don’t stop the vengeance completely. The diclonius researchers want Lucy for their purposes and are willing to use any means to get her.

The Good

Fight Scenes

The action and fighting is pretty good. If you force yourself to keep reading, it’s probably because of the action. It is easily the highlight of the manga with regards to artwork. But there is another highlight in the manga that doesn’t have to do with the artwork.

The Main Character

Lucy is quite a unique character. I especially like her drive to kill, which separates her from other characters I have read. She doesn’t care for morals or justice, she only cares about herself which is fine considering her harsh treatment as a child. She is made out to be a villain, but a sympathetic one who the reader wants to see win. Sadly, she is the only character I cared for throughout the manga.

The Bad

Everyone Else

Lucy is the unique and most interesting character of the manga, but everyone else isn’t. Kohta, Yuka, and the diclonius Nana are just some of the most annoying characters in the manga. Nana can’t get over her papa complex, showing that she never really grows throughout the manga. Yuka never gets over Kohta and his love for Lucy, which leads her into self loathing mode pretty much all the freakin’ time! And then there is Kohta. Not only is he the most wimpish character in the manga, he is the least interesting character that had the best setup to be something more.

His repressed memories are of him on a train with his sister and father. Both family members die in a murderous fashion by Lucy’s hands, leaving Kohta the only survivor on the train. But the manga does not use this memory as a setup to sympathize with Kohta. It’s used to sympathize with Lucy, and it works very well to its advantage. What’s funny is when he remembers the incident, to tries to say to Lucy that he’ll get revenge on their behalf. No, his sorry ass can’t do shit. That sudden urge to get revenge doesn’t change his character growth at all (damn wimp). So in the long run, Kohta is just a wimpy character who can’t do anything but be Lucy’s main conflicting love interest. That is all.

The Artwork

I won’t say the artwork was terrible, since I don’t usually mind it much, but here it was very obvious that it wasn’t the right type of style that fit an action/mature manga. It looked like the manga was trying to mixing some type of shoujo style artwork (an “okay” type of artwork) into a seinen manga. The problem is it just doesn’t work. If you don’t believe me just look at the cover of the manga. Does that look like a manga with murder, dismemberment, and boobs? Boobs maybe, but not the other two. Speaking of boobs…

Excess “Fanservice”

Now I defined “fanservice” as a part of a manga that is made to please the fans, but the common use of the word has come to be know as panty and nude shots. This is what’s used in the manga and it doesn’t add anything to it. There is a point where the nudity, underpants shots, and girl on girl action are pretty much all the manga has to offer. Really, just look at all the good things I said about the manga. It doesn’t have much going for it except Lucy, not Nyu (Lucy’s second personality) groping Yuka’s boobs.

The Ending

The ending…sucked. Instead of having an ending that ties things up, it made more confusion than sense.

Mayu is cleaning a beach in memory of her lover Bando, a douchbag solider that wanted to kill Lucy but “died” by her hands. Once she is done cleaning, Bando somehow magically comes back to life and greets her. She hugs him which means he is alive, but there isn’t an explanation of how. Nor is there an explanation of how Anna or that other guy (sorry, don’t know his name) survived, though it would have been better if they weren’t added in the last chapter. They were side characters after all. And then there is how Kohta and the others survived Lucy’s third personality’s rage. Illusions of consciousness of Lucy and Nyu saved them from being killed…WHAT THE HELL! Just how the hell do you explain that bullshit! Illusions saved me from being killed. You know what? SCREW IT ALL, I’m done with this crap!

Overall

Elfen Lied had potential, but gave it all up on panties, boobs, and useless characters that didn’t drive the manga anywhere. The artwork didn’t help it at all. But it wasn’t a complete waste of time. I did like Lucy’s character and the interesting power. I’ll go easy on it. I give it a 2 out of 5. YES I WENT EASY ON IT!

Rating:**~~~ (2/5)

Title: The One

Author & Artist: Nicky Lee

Chapters: 1-59 (Ongoing)

Summary:

The ordinary life Lele Cane has experienced for seventeen years is about to end. After looking at a photo of the popular American model Angus Lanson, she begins to see modeling as an art form. From that one photo, she decides to take a chance and go into modeling. Since her parents were models as well (until they died in a plane crash), her chances may not be so slim. But soon she learns modeling is more than taking pictures and looking pretty. Even so, she is determined to reach the dream her mother and father couldn’t.

The Good

Artwork

I’m not used to seeing manhua artwork, but that shouldn’t stop me from reviewing the comic. The photo shoots are the main highlight when it comes to the artwork. They are the most well detailed, which they should be seeing as this is a modeling story. The photos hold the most dramatic part of the manhua.

Story Concept

I like underdog stories. I enjoy seeing the main character overcome incredible odds and achieving a level of greatness. The concept behind this story is similar. A young girl trying her hand to become one of the best models in the industry. That is a big goal to achieve, even though Next Top Model makes it look so freakin’ easy.

Side Story

There is a side story involving two supporting characters that has gotten my interest. They are probably the only reason I’m still reading the series.

The Bad

Pacing

The manhua’s pacing is uneven (I couldn’t think of another word for it). It’s not that I didn’t understand what was going on, actually the beginning felt that way, but certain things about the manhua didn’t “sink in” when they should have. For example, Lele’s grandmother. Even though she played an important role in Lele’s life, she didn’t feel important. She just seem like another character added as a stepping stone for Lele.

Artwork

I know I said I liked the artwork in the good section, but I also dislike it. Since this manhua is a comedy, you would expect the artwork to contain cartoony elements to it. Well, you’d be right. The problem with this is that it overshadows everything. Even though the photos of the models are quite good, it doesn’t “sink in” very long. But the cartoony elements are almost everywhere in the manhua. The artwork here is a double-edged sword.

Lele

I dislike the fact that Lele falls into the female archetype seen in manga female characters, but that isn’t my only problem with her.

******Spoiler Alert*******

Her development is too damn confusing. First she is a naive, innocent girl looking to break in modeling. Then when grandma dies, she is a cool hearted (not cold, cool) woman who never complains about the hardship of model. It seems like she has grown from the death of a loved one. But once she goes to New York, she reverts back to naive, innocent girl. You see, she went from girl to woman to girl again. WHAT THE HELL!

I’m not tempted to read anymore chapters mainly because the bad outweigh the good. I do want to see the development with the side story, but that is probably it. Whether Lele gets her Prince Charming, I don’t care. I’d rather hear others opinion on The One.

Title: Catstreet

Artist & Author: Yoko Kamio

Chapters: 1-35 (completed)

Summary:

Cat Street is a story about a child star Keito who lost her voice on stage staring into the faces of the audience’s. She locked herself in her room for years never once going back to school, outside her room, or her house. When one day she decided to walk around her neighborhood to get out of her house, unexpectedly she ran into an old fan who recognized her as the child star who lost her voice. Who is this mysterious boy who remembers her from the past? Why did Keito lose her voice on stage? Was she that great of a child actor to be noticed many years later?

The Good

Pictures and story: Cat Street is a well drawn manga, you can really understand the precise bodily form of the characters  (what I mean is the shape of the bodies of every character).  The background is brilliant, like any other manga it’s well designed.   You can tell what is actually the background and not be confuzzled trying to figure it out.

How Well Drawn: By looking at the cover of the manga I thought the drawing was lacking a little (from my point of view).  As I read a couple pages I started to become enthralled with the well drawn pictures while the story progressed. I wanted to find out what exactly happened to this great child star actress that would make her so traumatized.  She couldn’t even leave her own room for years after it happened.  Taking just a simple walk around the block made her want to see  more of the world.

Dialogue: After reading just a bit of dialogue, I saw how the main character, Keito, was an optimist and a great actress that can handle any and every role given to her. At some points in the manga, you begin to wonder what exactly is going on.  You kind of lose what they are saying, until you get pulled back to the present by the drama.

The Bad

Pictures and Story: I have nothing to say about the drawings.   If you want to say something about them, please tell me what you think. The story in my opinion kind of seemed a bit emptied after a while, especially when the main character loses her love interest.

How Well Drawn: overall there’s nothing really bad about the pictures.

Dialogue: At some points I started to think that the dialogue was a bit empty and unimportant.

Overall

I thought it was an ok drama manga with the people acting terrible or acceptable in it [Jules & Windy confused].   Read it and find out what I mean.  It’s great for beginners in the drama manga department.  I rate this a three out of five

Rating:***~~ (3/5)

Title: Dear School Gang Leader

Author & Artist: Fujikata Mayu

Chapters: 1-10 (Ongoing)

Summary:

Due to family problems, Hirayama Hayaka transfers from a private high school to a public high school. But, as she enters her new school, she finds out that there are 850 boys enrolled, and she is the only girl around (no pressure there). She also finds out that gangsters still exist in this era (she has been living under a rock). When she begins school, a fight erupts between her classmate Katou Yuuni and some gangsters. And so begins Hayaka’s eventful life in public high school…

Special Note: I, Jules, apologize for Windy’s lazy rehashing summary.

The Good

Pictures:

I love this manga because it’s my kind of genre.  Comedic.  There were also some other good points that I would like to point out.  The artwork really reminded me of a similar manga I had read a while back.  It took five minutes before I realized that it looked similar to Fruits Basket. As I read on I realized that it wasn’t the exact same, but I gave it some credit.

Story:

The title and summary really had me intrigued from the get-go.  I would have to say that the plot is very interesting.  I don’t want to give any of the story away, but it is sort of like Fruits Basket in that there are a bunch of boys who revolve around this one girl.  She’s got nothing good going on for her in the beginning until she makes friends with the boys.  The flow of the manga was like a regular manga.  Your eyes was pulled to the right frames at the right times.  The dialogue was freaking hilarious.  “They’re gangsters so why do they still go to school on time?”  Hehehe.  If you don’t get it yet, you will.  When you read the first chapter of the manga you really get a sense of the background story.  You pretty much understand what she gets when she comes to school.  It just has that kind of rep.

Characters:

At the beginning it does explain some of the one of main characters background.  Hayaka’s family life is troubled and it makes her move to a different home with a different school.  The personality for Katou is really different.  He’s like a person who’s rough, but somehow you get some motherly kindness out of him.  It’s so. . . refreshing.  I do like how the characters change.  Realizing that the boys are girl crazy (there’s only one girl), I saw that they probably weren’t going to become different people.  But, the main characters Hayaka and Katou change the way they feel.  For Hayaka it’s the way she feels about the school.  Katou is the way he feels about Hayaka.

The Bad

Pictures:

The proportions were so off in this comic.  It looked like the artist had either been blind when he learned how to draw or this manga was done in the dark.  Either way they were awful.  I was disappointed in this manga because of how it looked.  I mean it didn’t have a touch of realism in it.  It looked like something I could have drawn (I am improving though).

Story:

Since this manga is not yet completed I expected to read some more of this.  But it seems to have ended at only chapter ten.  When I say that I mean that I haven’t seen a new chapter in two months.  It’s very vexing when you actually really like the manga, but you don’t get to read all of it. <_>

Characters:

I really did not like how long you had to wait to find out about Katou’s background.  He’s everywhere in the manga and you are kept in the dark for six chapters.  And there’s only ten.  When it comes to personality I have seen the one in Hayaka in almost every manga with a girl heroine.  She can’t do anything and she’s nervous around guys.  I want to see a strong girl for once.

The General

This is a pretty good manga for anyone not just those beginning to read it.  I’m really into it and I’ve been reading this kind of stuff for a while.  For the author I would like to say well done.  I rate this a four…out of five.

Rating:****~ (4/5)

Character Names:

Main: Hirayama Hayaka

Katou Yuuni

Side: Wata Seshun

Ebihararei Ichiro

Maeda Mirai

Title: 13

Author & Artist: Hideaki Sorachi

Chapter: 1 (One-Shot)

Summary:

Young Mondo Fujieda is in love with his classmate Izayo Gorugo. But instead of getting close to her, he ends up humiliating her. To Mondo’s surprise, Izayo vows to kill him. And this is after Izayo’s bizarre presentation about her entire family being assassins. She moves away, but Mondo makes some changes out of preparation. Years later, he is the king of delinquents who goes by the name “Thirteen.” Izayo makes an appearance as a new transfer student to his school. She has come back to seek vengeance. Will Mondo be able to survive an assassin’s wrath?

The Good

Characters

The way the characters interact with each other is fun to watch. Watching Mondo become a big shot and Izayo using his status to get him in trouble is very entertaining. It helps that the characters are likable, especially Izayo. You want to see Izayo kick Mondo around, but you want Mondo to do something about it.

Artwork

The artwork is perfect for this type of manga. It’s a blend of cartoony fun and finely illustrated moments. You can see Mondo’s nervousness through his facial expressions. You can see Izayo’s perfect attacks through her graphic motions. Everything about the art is a perfect fit for the story.

Quite Funny

Action is always good with comedy, as long as it’s done right. Here, it’s done right. Izayo’s attacks create odd trouble for Mondo, which are too funny. Of course if you put yourself in his shoes, not so funny.

Nice Reference

It’s not exactly great, but there is a videogame metaphor used in the manga. I was surprised it worked well.

Short

It’s about 37 pages. Pretty short for all you lazies.

The Bad

No More?

Even though it’s a one-shot, it felt like it could continue. The relationship between the two main characters isn’t resolved, clearly, though that seemed to be the intention.

Change In Perspective

There are times in the manga that the character speaking changes. The problem with this was the confusion it created at times. It was puzzling to read about Izayo talk of her assassin family while thinking Mondo was the speaker. As minor as it was, it took me out for those moments.

Lots of Words

There are times when the word count on the pages look daunting. A lot of words on one page can keep someone from reading the manga. So if you don’t like to read, this isn’t for you (lazy ass!).

Overall

I liked 13 a lot. For a one-shot, it was very good even though I would have wished to see more. Grade wise, the good overweighed the bad (I was having a hard time finding something bad to say about the manga). And with that, I give 13 a 4 out of 5.

Rating:****~ (4/5)

Title: FLCL (Furi Curi or Fooly Cooly)

Author & Artist: Ueda Hajime

Chapters: 1-15 (Complete)

Summary

Naota has a lot going on for a boy in 6th grade. His older brother goes to play baseball in America while leaving his ex-girlfriend Mamimi behind. Mamimi’s mixed signals towards Naota leaves him confused on what to do with her. Everything changes when a mysterious woman runs Naota over with her Vespa. The woman then hits him on the head with her guitar causing a horn to grow out of his forehead. She says her name is Haruko, but the kids at school know her by a different title. Life for Naota just starts to get weirder from then on.

The Good

The Artwork

Don’t get the wrong idea. The artwork is unique, but nothing too fancy. It does look like a kid drew the artwork, but that is what makes it unique. Like White Clouds, the art works with the storyline. Confusing, blotchy, and somehow cool. May be a pain to others, but for those who can endure it just read.

Characters

The characters were the main highlights to the manga. From Naota’s cynical remarks to Haruko’s crazy antics, each character possess a specialness that adds to the fun of FLCL.

The Bad

May Have To Watch Anime First

The story, if you really can call it that, is confusing and takes awhile to understand. The best way to comprehend the story is to watch the anime first. But even then, I can’t guarantee you’ll fully understand the story.

Comparing with the Anime

I am not sure which came first, but the anime may dissuade potential readers. There is an obvious difference in both the anime and the manga. The story and character interaction is somewhat changed in both mediums. Ninamoro is more likable and Naota’s father and grandfather’s personality differs in the manga than the anime. The most obvious change would have to be the artwork. I can see why people would be reluctant to read the manga version when the art isn’t as clean cut as the anime.

Overall

I like FLCL mainly for its crazy antics and lack of story explanation. I would not recommend this for beginners though. As great as the characters are, the style and storytelling is the dividing factor to its greatness. Only read if you liked the anime and don’t mind artwork. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Rating: ****~ (4/5)

Title: Beast Master

Author & Artist:  Motomi Kyousuke

Chapters: 1-9 (completed)

Summary:

Kabozuka Yuiko, is in love with animals…but they aren’t so into her. No matter how hard she tries to get them to love her, they hate her even more! (sucks for her:P) And as it turns out, the only beastly-like animal that she can get to love her is a boy! A boy who is immensely great with any animal that crosses his path. This boy’s name is Aoi Reo, but is known (at least to me) as ‘Beast Master’. He even has fangs!  Holy poo! It’s so cool! Oh and you get to see a couple of mini stories in the middle and ending, (it has nothing to do with the actual story but I still think is crutial to the understandings of what is going on in the story and real life). Still really cute little stories!

The Good:

Drawings- The Drawings were nuthin’ short of C-U-T-E! When it comes to serious attitudes of the story the pictures come out great! Defining the serious moments.

Development- The story came along great. Interestingly predictable, and yet somewhat unexpected at times. The story progressed on with a femi-touch with a smidge of violence.

Dialogue- it’s surprisingly done well. No empty questions. They’re all pretty much answered!

The Bad:

Drawings- At some point in the manga the proportions become a little iffy along with their faces.

Development- The story is interrupted by mini storys (which is also cute) but the story goes on.

Dialogue- The main character swears only once (on the internet) and  it’s the “F” bomb! Otherwise I got no problem!

Overall- I love the story and the plot line of the story and for beginers I think it would be a great starter manga if you’re a beginer you’ll love it as soon as you read the first chapter and start wondering when this ‘beast master’ will come into play. It’s sooooo exciting and if I love it (a hard core manga reader like me) then I most certainly know that you will fall in love with it also. I give this a five…out of five.

Rating:***** (5/5)

Title: KouKou Debut

Author & Artist: Kawahara Kazune

Chapters: 1-52 (completed)

Note from Jules: Moepeep is younger than Windy and I. So if you heavily disagree with her review, please keep her age in mind.

Summary:
This is a story about a girl named Haruna Nagashima. In middle school she loved playing softball (while she practically looks like a guy). After practice she would read Shoujo manga. This started a reaction that made her… want a boyfriend in high school! This is when she meets the fabulous and attractive Yoh Komiyama! Thinking to make her high school life better she enlists his help in making herself more attractive in order to get a boyfriend.

Hair:
Well, to me the hair on the character Mami, well actually almost all the hair make them all look like boys. If they didn’t tell us names and genders it’s almost too hard to figure out what they are. Other than that I’d like to say that the hair was pretty good.

Eyes:
The eyes were very well drawn. But, once again I have to point out that they are not that different when it comes to telling the gender.  When you read anime you will notice, hopefully, that when eyes are drawn for boys instead of a circular kind of eye (aka girl eyes), it’s more of a square. But, some of the girls, *cough* Mami-chan *cough* have the same rectangular look of an eye that a boy has. It’s really bothersome to me and sometimes I think that this manga is designed to make the girls look like boys.

Clothes:
In my opinion, I think the clothes that the main character, Haruna, wore were a little strange. She was supposedly picking them from fashion magazines and what-not, but what magazines was she looking at? Ones for crazy eccentric people? As for the other characters, the clothes that Kawahara (the author/artist) illustrated for them was very good.

Face:
In KouKou Debut the shape of the faces were drawn around the same all across the board. Boys and girls alike share the same face shape. Still adding more to the difficulty of telling who’s who and what’s what. You would think that they would learn to make it look different, but hey it’s a fun guessing game right? At least the shape of the face looks better than the usual egg-shaped head that seems to be coming more popular.

Emotions:
The emotions were a very big part in this comic as in any comic. I mean if they weren’t we’d just be looking at a lot of boring pictures. When they cry instead of squiggly lines for tears they used huge crocodile tears. And when they’re mad their eyes go blank and their whole body turns white with bold black outlines. Just to show you how very pissed they are. When they are surprised their bodies turns white (well technically it’s all in black and white…) like when they’re mad, but their hair stands up instead.

*Spoiler* *-*
Who ends up with Who?:
Of course Haruna and Yoh eventually end up together. Usually in most comics the two main characters always get together… Well, at least sometimes… Unlike Vampire Knight. -_-

Overall:
Overall I’d recommend this to girl beginners, because I can’t see a guy picking this off a shelf. For girls it’s a nice simple manga that makes them want to read more mangas. I give this manga four point five stars out of five!

Ratings:****½ (4.5/5)

Characters:
Haruna Nagashima
Yoh Komiyama
Asami Komiyama
Fumiya Tamura
Yui  Asaoka
Mami Takahashi