Manga Review: Kigurumi Guardians, Volume 3, by Lily Hoshino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: December 2017

Volumes: 3 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lily Hoshino, the beloved artist behind Mawaru Penguindrum, offers her cute and twisted take on the magical girl genre. You probably never thought Sailor Moon needed more hot older guys in full-body mascot costumes, but Kigurumi Guardians will bring you around!

Hakka's second year of middle school was dull as it could be, until a suspicious cow mascot ("kigurumi") shows up in her room, holding a sign that reads, "My Name Is Ginger." But this isn't (just?) a stalker, it's a magical being that's come to convince Hakka (and her friends) to become Guardians, and save the world! Hakka is understandably confused, until she's suddenly attacked, and a beautiful young man leaps in to save her. Can this handsome knight and the weird kigurumi be... one and the same?

Review:

The beginning of this volume concludes Nobara's plot. The girls on her choir team don't like her, and then when they're used against her, Nobara has to face some realities. After that, we get to know Satsuki better. He has a rather lonely home life, which is helped with Fennel being there.

Aside from that, there was a fun chapter where they all go out shopping together, and we get to see their more casual dynamics. All of this leading up to the cliffhanger, as we're starting to learn that Hakka might be more powerful than she realizes.

I really like the dynamics of the characters. Each couple fits together really well, and I like how the kigurumi are there for their person how they need to be. I really like Satsuki and Fennel, in particular. I enjoy the humor, and the main plot is intriguing, though a little odd. My only wish were that the three main characters were older, because they really act like they should be in high school, and when I'm reminded of the age difference it bugs me. But it also bugs me that it doesn't feel like there should be such a huge gap.

That cliffhanger is rude, and it looks like it's going to be a long while for the next volume, still. I'm not sure why, though, if the authors sick or something, or if it's being discontinued? I hope not, because I really enjoy this series.

Manga Review: Kigurumi Guardians, Volume 1, by Lily Hoshino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: August 2017

Volumes: 3 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE CHOSEN ONE
Hakka Sasakura's life is about to turn upside-down. She comes home from a day of admiring her student body president to discover that a mysterious creature resembling a man in an animal suit has taken up residence her home. What's more, she has been chosen to work with this strange being to fight off invaders from another dimension and save the world...and she has to kiss him to do so?! Lily Hoshino, the beloved artist behind Mawaru Penguindrum, offers her cute and twisted take on the magical girl genre. You probably never thought Sailor Moon needed more hot older guys in full-body mascot costumes, but Kigurumi Guardians will bring you around!

Review:

I wasn't too sure what to expect with this volume, but I was surprised with how fun it was.

Sasakura is starting a new school, and she's surprised to arrive home one day and find a weird costumed person there. He can't speak and communicates with little white boards, and she doesn't know what to do with him. The next day, she finds out that her and two other classmates have been chosen to be guardians, and they have to kiss these creatures to release them to fight.

The people/creatures that they're fighting are a little odd, but I don't think we know much about them yet. It was a little farfetched of a story, but I think it works given the odd plot to begin with. It's cheesy, but done in a comedic way, and not too serious about it. Though there is something deeper going on, we only got a couple hints here.

Sasakura and her penguin-guy are cute, and already starting a fun dynamic. The other girl chosen is a prissy popular girl, and I think they'll form an odd friendship, which should be fun. Her boy partner is also quite adorable and sweet, and I like him. One part I really appreciate, though, is that the other student chosen is a boy, and his creature is also male. I don't think too much will be made of it, but they're cute, and I like how nonchalant the boy is about it. I also liked that it was pointed out that they're chosen as partners because they're supposed to be together, destined to like each other in one way or another.

This was a really fun volume, and I'm quite excited to get the next one.

Manga Review: Tokyo Mew Mew, Omnibus 3, by Reiko Yoshida and Mia Ikumi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics (Previously Tokyopop)

Release Date: 2012

Volumes: 7; 3 omnibus

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. a la Mode.

Goodreads Synopsis:

CAT-ASTROPHE!

Tokyo Mew Mew - the crime-fighting collection of girls imbued with the power of cat DNA  - face their greatest battle ever to save their beloved city of Tokyo. Arch-villian Deep Blue reveals a startling secret, and Ichigo and Masaya reveal their true feelings to each other. Will they survive long enough to celebrate their love? Find out in the thrilling conclusion to Tokyo Mew Mew! This omnibus edition contains volumes 5, 6, and 7 of Tokyo Mew Mew!

Includes special extras after the story!

FINAL VOLUME!

Review:

So. Um. This series was… yea.

I didn’t dislike it, for sure. But I also definitely didn’t love it. I wanted to, though, and thought I would like it more. Sadly, I didn’t.

I did like the story, and the character’s weren’t too bad. I wanted to read to the end, to see how it all wrapped up. The ending was a little cheesy, and seemed to work a little too well, but it was all right. The romance was actually all right, for the most part. I wanted to see how it all concluded.

I’ve watched about half of the anime at this point (it’s taken me, like, five plus years, but still), and I think it’s done better than the manga, though. The characters are given more time to develop, especially the minor-characters. It also seems less immature, and more cute magic-girl. So, better.

The writing here was immature and exaggerated. I’m not sure if the translations aren’t as good as Kodansha’s more recent series, but I think it might just be the author’s writing.

The characters are also hugely immature. Ichigo is immature and whiny and exaggerated. Ichigo freaks out over everything. She falls in love with Aoyama pretty much immediately, with no reason given, even after they start hanging out. There’s no real chemistry between them, at least to me. I think mostly, though, it was very one-dimensional. There wasn’t any real development or reasons or chemistry. It was very surface-level, all the way through the series.

There were hints of chemistry between Ichigo and Ryo, but that kind of fizzled by the end of the series. The other Mews were pretty much ignored for the entire series. They were given no development, very-little-to-no background, and seemed pretty much useless without Ichigo during the fighting. It was ridiculous, and a bit annoying. The fight scenes were hard to follow, too.

Honestly, I’m disappointed. I was expecting it to be a little immature and exaggerated, but not this much. I was expecting more development. I’m glad that I picked it up, and that I finished the series so I could finally see how it ends. I might go finish the anime now, though, since I know it has more development than this did. I do still want to pick up the Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode omnibus, as well. I read the first volume way back when and really enjoyed it.

I would probably recommend this to a middle-school and elementary age girly person. I think I would have liked it more at that age, in particular.

Manga Review: Phantom Thief Jeanne, Volume 1, by Arina Tanemura

Rating (Out of 5): ~4 (maybe 4.5)

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Volumes: 5 omnibus-ish; 7 single volumes.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

High school student Maron Kusakabe has a secret: she’s Phantom Thief Jeanne. She sneaks into private art collections to steal paintings in which demons reside. Jeanne’s task is to seal the demons before they can devour human hearts. So far she’s been able to evade the police on her midnight outings, but now another thief has come onto the scene—Phantom Sinbad—and he’s trying to take the paintings before she does!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Review:

I read this series back when it was first released by CMX, and really enjoyed it. It’s still, I think, my favorite of Tanemura’s series (possibly followed by Full Moon O Sagashite). I was excited upon hearing of the re-license, particularly because they were bigger editions with color pages. I still own my original edition, so I’m not sure if I’m going to buy each of the new ones, but I might. They’re just so pretty; it's going to be much too hard to resist, I think.

I haven’t read the series since back when I first bought it, so it was refreshing getting to re-read it. And it’s still just as good as back then, too, which makes me happy.

The artwork is clearly her earlier stuff, but it’s still really pretty, and really well done. And I’ve always liked the eccentricity of Tanemura’s art, the costumes and the backgrounds, the flowers. It’s just so nice to look at.

I love Jeanne; she’s a great heroine, stubborn, a little naïve, but good-hearted, and wanting to be loved. Chiaki is a very nice love interest. I like seeing his developing feelings for Jeanne, in particular. They have a bit of a forbidden romance going, both in denial but also working on different sides to right evil. I’d honestly forgotten how they met, and their forbidden romance thing. How they meet is adorable. And the forbidden romance is important, and there, but they’re really the only ones worried about it, and in denial of it. But it’s so obvious how things are going to work out on that end.

Jeanne sends notes to let the owner  of the artwork know when she’s going to “steal” the work of art (when she’s really getting rid of the demon and replacing it with a different, pure picture). Those scenes are a bit exaggerated and cheesy, but it’s kind of a quirky theme to the series. It goes with the humor. And mostly it just makes me feel nostalgic.

Jeanne and Chiaki both have fairy (or angel) companions, Finn and Access, respectively. I’m a rather big fan of both of them. They’re sweet, and also a little adorable (Access in particular), and help the two out a lot. 

Quite a bit happened in this volume, especially a lot in the ways of romance. Including a bit of a cliffhanger, or an anxious ending leading to more. It’s a definite enticement to pick up the next volume, that's for sure.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, and Erik Jansen from MediaLab PR. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 4, by Naoko Takeuchi

Rating (Out of 5): ~2.5-3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Publish Date: March, 2012

Volumes: 12 +2 short story collections

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf!

Goodreads Synopsis:

A new group calling themselves Black Moon is after Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Guardians, wielding a new power known only as the Malefic Black Crystal. Chibi-Usa may be the key to it all, but to find the answers and rescue her kidnapped friends, Usagi will have to journey through time to the 30th century and discover what fate has in store.
This new edition of Sailor Moon features:
- An entirely new, incredibly accurate translation
- Japanese-style, right-to-left reading
- New cover art never before seen in the U.S.
- The original Japanese character names
- Detailed translation notes

Review:

I really, really want to like this series. I mean, I liked it at the beginning. I was even a little impressed. But I’m really not enjoying it anymore, and will probably be giving it an indefinite break.

It took me forever to read this volume. I mean, I think I got it last year, even. And then when I told myself to finish it seriously, it still took me several weeks to do so. Because I was just not enjoying it.

The art is fine. I like some of the characters, like Tuxedo Mask and Sailor V, and maybe some of the other Sailors if I could get to know them better. The storyline is interesting, when it’s serious and we’re not moving from minor villain to minor villain for a three page kill.

But then the characters freak out and cry and get kidnapped over a villain, the villains have minions who they send out one by one, all confident and muahahaha, only for them to be killed within a couple pages of battle. The villains aren’t scary or intimidating or believable. They’re up to some evil thing, but I know the Sailors are going to save the day at the last second, even if they get kidnapped along the way. Maybe I’m not the right demographic, and I’ve moved beyond this at this point? I mean, I probably would have loved this when I was younger.

And don’t even get me started on Sailor Moon/Usagi (or do, because I’m going to talk about her, either way). She’s so whiny and selfish, always crying about something, and getting jealous over her kid in the future because Tuxedo Mask is paying attention to her. When the girl is a child, her own child, it’s not like her boyfriend is going to run off with her or something. She’s jealous and upset every time the girl is around, and it drove me crazy every time. 

I think I’m kind of done with this series. Maybe I’ll pick it up in the future, if I change my mind or want to give it another try or find it for a good price, or if I hear something really good about it. But for now, I’m taking a break.