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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Manga Review: Arisa, Volume 12, by Natsumi Ando



Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: January 2014
Volumes: 12
Spoilers?: No.
Volume: 1. 6. 11.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Tsubasa thinks that her pretty and popular twin sister, Arisa, has the perfect life. Everyone at school loves Arisa—unlike the hot-tempered Tsubasa, whose nickname is “the Demon Princess.” But when Arisa attempts suicide, Tsubasa learns that her seemingly perfect sister has been keeping some dark secrets. Now Tsubasa is going undercover at school—disguised as Arisa—in search of the truth. But will Arisa’s secrets shatter Tsubasa’s life, too?

Review:

I took a very long break from this series, but I have finally finished it. I really, really enjoyed Ando’s Kitchen Princess series, and really wanted to like this one, but it was just… a bit overdone and dramatic.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike this series. I enjoyed most of the characters, and the art is really pretty. I would have enjoyed a bit more romance for Tsubasa, but overall I really appreciated the sister aspect. That’s something that I think was really well done, and I liked that it was given the main focus. Overall, this story was about the two sisters, and how Tsubasa was there for her twin at all times, even when Arisa didn’t deserve it. The ending for them as sisters, too, worked, and made me happy for them.
The idea behind the King plot line I liked, and the reasons we were given for Arisa starting it, also worked. There was some depth given, or at least attempted. It was mostly the Midori part that didn’t work for me.
Midori went through some bad things, and that’s why he is the way he is—those things make sense to me. But how overdone his emotions for it all were, and then the way that it all turned around in the end to make him seem like a victim, just didn’t work for me. Having him be the victim in a moment of horror twisted around, just seemed like a cheap ploy to have people not hate him.
Arisa’s feelings for him didn’t work for me. The fact that no one actually ended up hurt in the end, didn’t work for me. In the end, the only parts I liked were the sisters relationship, and Tsubasa and her friends (from her original school). The rest of it was just cheesy and unrealistic. 
Overall, I’m a little disappointed with this series. I wanted more from it. But, still, I look forward to reading her next series to be released.

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