Review: THE STORY OF SAIUNKOKU

So, last time we looked at a reverse harem that pretended at a strong lead and subversive humor but failed at both.  This time, we look at a reverse harem that works partially because of its strong lead and partially because it only looks like a reverse harem.

THE STORY OF SAIUNKOKU (Saiunkoku Monogatari), adapted from the light novel by Sai Yukino & art by Kairi Yuki.  First published in 2006, and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:
Saiunkoku is a far-off land, ruled by an emperor and guided by eight noble families.  Shurei Hong is the only daughter of one of these noble families, but you wouldn't know it to look at her.  Her father works as the court librarian at a mere pittance.  Her estate is broken down and barren, staffed by their only servant Seiran.  Shurei has to work various part time jobs just to support her family, but she can't hold the job she truly wants: civil servant.  So, when a royal advisor offers her 500 pieces of gold to serve as an imperial consort to turn the emperor into a proper leader, Shurei can't resist.

Once installed at court, Shurei discovers that the emperor, Ryuki, is not what he seems.  He has a reputation for shirking his duties and sleeping with men, but he is in truth smarter and craftier than he lets on, as well as haunted by past.  Can Shurei turn Ryuki into a worthy emperor, and can Ryuki resist Shurei's charms?

STORY:
Saiunkoku looks like yet another reverse harem on the surface, but it doesn't take much effort to discover that those trappings conceal a genuinely good story supported by a strong, independent lead. 

Shurei is by and large the best thing about this series.  She is clever, hardworking, and focused on her goals.  While she knows there is no possibility of a woman becoming a civil servant, she studies nonetheless and sees the consort position as not only a good way to make some money, but to get as close as possible to her dream.  Unlike the vast majority of shoujo heroines, she has no interest in romance.  Ryuki falls for her quickly, but while she does become fond of him she rejects all his advances. 

Of course, it's pretty easy to like Ryuki as well, as the reader learns along with Shurei that Ryuki isn't some dissolute bum, but instead an earnest puppy-dog of a young man, albeit one who has been scarred by the powermongering and abuse of his family along with the disappearance of his only sympathetic brother.  Most of all, you get a very palpable sense of his growing admiration of Shurei, as he grows under guidance and comes to respect both her intelligence and good heart.

This in turn leads into yet another subplot, where another well-bred bishonen and his follower observe the changes under Shurei.  For most of the volume, they serve mostly as a Greek chorus, but they too chose to align themselves to the emperor, setting into motion the ascent of Ryuki from a childish man to a respectable emperor.  Best of all, while they too respect and admire Shurei, their interest isn't romantic either.

This is what I meant when I said that Saiunkoku only appeared to look like a reverse harem.  There may be a bunch of pretty guys around, but they and the prospect of romance with them is not the main attraction here.  Instead, the attraction is Shurei, her story, and the subtle but important changes she instills in her land, one person at a time.

ART:
Saiunkoku's artwork is solid, if not remarkable.  The character designs are pretty average, and sadly this is yet another case where the artist can only draw one kind of bishonen face and has to keep dressing it up in different costumes and hair to fill out the cast.  Also, this series is adapted from a light novel series and it shows - this is a very talkative manga, and as such the pages tend to be full of a lot of' talking heads.  Panels tend to be small and the backgrounds are rather plain.  There's not much to say about the art otherwise, but I can only wish that it was as remarkable as the story.

PRESENTATION:
There are a few color pages in the front, along with a 4-koma omake from the artist in the back.

RATING:
The Story of Saiunkoku is an underrated gem.  Its average looking artwork and pandering premise conceal a solid story supported by a clever, interesting lead.

This series is published by Viz.  This series is complete in 9 volumes, and all are currently in print. 

You can purchase this volume and many more like it through RightStuf.com!

Review: LOVELY COMPLEX (LOVE*COM)

So, last time we looked at a thoroughly unpleasant romance.  So do we have any better examples of a classic shoujo romance?  Well, Love*Com is a good start.

LOVELY COMPLEX (LOVE*COM) (Rabu*Con), by Aya Nakahara.  First published in 2001, and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:
Risa Koizumi is a taller-than-average 15 year old girl, one who is blunt in speech and more fond of video games than schoolwork.  Atsushi Otani is a shorter-than-average boy from her class with a short temper and a talent for basketball.  Together, the two tend to piss one another off, and their banter has earned them the nickname of the "All Hanshin-Kyojin" duo (it's a manzai reference, just roll with it).  That summer the two of them are stuck in summer classes, and during that time they both develop crushes on fellow classmates.  Risa loves the cool, silent Suzuki, while Atsushi adores the shy, timid and adorable Chiharu.  Unfortunately, their efforts to get with them end up with Suzuki and Chiharu falling for one another instead.  Will Risa and Atsushi manage to save their love lives, or will they discover that they're better suited for one another?

STORY:
I was understandably wary about reading this one, considering that it seemed to be about a relationship based on belligerent sexual tension.  It's a trope that's common as hell, but there are few mangaka who can truly pull it off.  Far too many forget that the couple need to have something in common OTHER than arguments to forge some sort of connection, or that the two need some sort of positive qualities to make them endearing to the reader instead of having them wonder when the two will finally kill one another.  So you can only imagine my relief that Nakahara manages to dodge that pitfall and creates a couple that bickers but still actually have some proper romantic tension between them!

It's true that Risa and Otani tend to drive each other crazy with height jokes and neither of them are afraid to pummel one another when one needs a wake-up call, but everyone else around them knows the two have a lot in common.  They're both blunt, sarcastic, they have some shared geeky interests, and both are rather sensitive about their heights.  Their bond is fragile, even tentative, but there's definite and palpable romantic tension between the two, and Nakahara doses it out in just the right amount.  Their relationship is never too rushed, but neither does it drag on forever.  The only downside to these two is that they're so well-developed and thought out that the rest of cast pales in comparison, but truthfully I didn't mind all that much.  If your story's biggest fault is that your leads are too well-developed for the room, you don't have much room to complain.

ART:
The character designs are surprisingly realistic and expressive, and Nakahara puts a lot of care into the details - the way a shirt wrinkles when worn, the exact position of the fingers in a gesture, or the fine wisps of hair flying away from a hairdo.  This is often in stark contrast to the more extreme, cartoonish expressions or the fact that Nakahara draws blushes with a literal squiggle.  Backgrounds are rare and mundane - hope you like classrooms! - and instead are replaced with a lot of tones and effects.  Honestly, while the art's not bad I kind of wish Nakahara had put just as much care into the background details as she did with some of the more mundane stuff, as it would have taken it to another level.

PRESENTATION:
The only extra is a single page of translation notes.

RATING:

This is a solid, well-paced romance with two very dynamic leads, and for them alone this is worth a look.

This series is published by Viz.  This series is complete with 17 volumes, and all are currently in print.

You can purchase this volume and many more like it through RightStuf.com!

Review: MILLENNIUM SNOW

So, last time I look at Black Bird, a supernatural romance that is a shining example of how to make such things irritating and dull.  So that begs the question: is there a way that it can be done right?  Can a supernatural romance be done in an entertaining way?

MILLENNIUM SNOW (Sennen no Yuki), by Bisco Hatori.  First published in 2001, and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:
Chiyuki has a problem.  She was born with a weak heart, and her heart only gets weaker with every year.  Because of that, she's spent most of her childhood in the hospital, and every year she hopes to make it to the next snowfall.  One evening, she witnesses a boy falling off the hospital roof.

Below, Chiyuki finds a young man, complaining of filthy humans and the scent of blood.  This boy, Toya, is a vampire, although he doesn't quite fit the ideal.  Sure, he's vulnerable to things like garlic, but he can tolerate sunlight just fine and can survive on human food when blood is unavailable (which is good, because he actually has a major distaste for blood).  When he bites a victim, he doesn't turn them, but instead bestows extended life upon the victim and binds himself to the victim.  Chiyuki sees this as her salvation.  Toya sees this as a nightmare, being a bit of a sensitive, introspective boy.

Toya eventually yields to Chiyuki's request, and now the two must learn to get along as Chiyuki tries to bring Toya into the human world.  Things only get more complicated when they meet Satsuki, a handsome classmate with a hairy little secret.

STORY:
I know what you guys are thinking.  You see a story involving a human girl caught in a love triangle with a grumpy, handsome vampire and an equally handsome werewolf, one where the girl constantly begs the vampire to bite her.  You are likely getting Twilight flashbacks and recoiling at the thought of reading yet another story like that. 

Well, let me put your fears at rest - Millennium Snow is no Twilight clone.  It's far more lighthearted, it isn't asking us to accept the vampire as the ultimate romantic hero, and the werewolf is far more cheerful and far less prone to stalking.  The best part is that here, the girl has a perfectly good reason for wanting to be bitten - for her, it's literally a matter of life and death.

I really like the characters.  Chiyuki seems a bit bland at first, but after being bitten she becomes much more lively, and you get a real sense that this is the self she has always wanted to be.  She's relatively proactive as well - she's willing to give the men around her a piece of her mind and is not swayed solely by the bishies around her.  I really enjoyed Toya, and I suspect a lot of that is due to how he doesn't fit the mold of the typical manga vampire.  Most vampires in manga are beautiful, seductive creatures, and a few are just outright mad monsters.  Toya is neither of these, instead being high-strung and neurotic, qualities which in turn conceal the loathing he has for his condition and his fears of loneliness and rejection.  He's no Casanova - he's grumpy comic relief.  If anyone fits the role of beautiful seducer, you would have to look to Satsuki, whose cheerful, flirtatious nature conceals his own insecurities about his own identity as an orphan and as a werewolf.

This sounds like it could get a little too serious and dramatic for its own good, but thankfully Hatori never lets things get TOO serious.  This is aided by Yamimaru, a goofy little bat who serves at Toya's minion, emergency food supply courier, and giver of exposition.  He's useful enough at the beginning, but once the main plot gets going he disappears.

I should note there's also a short story afterwards, an early prize-winner from Hatori's early days.  It's about a couple of best friends, one of whom has a strange sort of split personality.  It's a solid little story with a bittersweet ending, and it's an nice little inclusion.

Millennium Snow is a novel little twist on supernatural shoujo romance, one that is strengthened by its well-rounded characters and its avoidance of the clichés of the genre.

ART:
Even by this point, Hatori had settled into her own distinct visual style.  While her character designs fall very much in line with much modern shoujo, being all long legs and angles, she draws them lightly, with fine, fairly detailed linework and enormous, shimmering, and expressive eyes.  In some ways, this really was a warm-up for her best known series, Ouran High School Host Club.  It's certainly true when it comes to the character designs: Toya looks like Kyouya without his glasses, and Satsuki is pretty much a double for Tamaki. 

One advantage this series has over later works like Ouran is that its panels are far less busy, since it's working with a smaller, less commentative cast.  Instead she uses that space for more close-ups.  This sounds claustrophobic, but she tends to leave the borders off the panels, which only enhances the lightness of her art.  Backgrounds are sparse, and tend to be filled with very plain washes of screentone or speed lines.  Hatori's art style might not be the most visually exciting, but it's delicate and eye-pleasing, and she finds a good balance between personal style and shoujo conventions.

PRESENTATION:
There are translation notes, as well as an omake under the title of "Egoist Club," where she shares some character profiles of the cast.

RATING:
It's a shame that Hatori abandoned this series for so long, because it's a pleasantly unmelodramatic take on vampire romance, and one that I would recommend to others.

This series is released by Viz.  The series is ongoing, having been recently restarted, with 3 volumes available.  2 volumes have been published, and both are in print.

You can purchase this volume and many more like it through RightStuf.com!