Review: LUPIN III

 It's time once more for Old-School Month here on the Manga Test Drive (even if it's a little later than usual), and we're starting with one of the most iconic manga to come out of the 1960s.

LUPIN III (Rupan Sansei), by Monkey Punch.  First published in 1967 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Lupin the Third is a legendary thief, always able to sneak his way into the most secure locations.  With his right-hand man Jigen at his side, Lupin travels the world while stealing treasure and the hearts of beautiful women, all the while evading the ever-vigilant Inspector Zenigata.

Review: RAVE MASTER

During Tokyopop's prime, they struggled to get their hands on big-name shonen manga titles.  They really only managed to do so twice.  One of those was Love Hina.  The other was this.

RAVE MASTER (Rave: The Groove Adventure), by Hiro Mashima.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Haru Glory has spent sixteen idyllic years on Garage Island alongside his sister.  Then he fishes a strange, snowman-like creature out of a pond, inadvertantly setting into motion the renewal of a battle between the forces of darkness and light, of Dark and Rave.  An ancient warrior stumbles into their village proclaiming that only Haru can wield the powers of the Rave, so now Haru must master his new weapon against the the forces of Demon Card while searching for the four remaining Rave Stones that can bring this battle to an end.

Review: RIZELMINE

Don't think we're ignoring shonen romance, as here's a wretched little one-shot example from the creator of D.N. Angel.

RIZELMINE (Rizerumain), by Yukiru Sugisaki.  First published in 2001 and first published in North America in 2005.

PLOT:

Tomonori Iwaki is having a very bad day.  It began when he learned that the teacher he's been crushing on is getting married.  It only got worse when he came home, only to find a tiny, obnoxious little girl named Rizel claiming to be his wife.  Rizel is a secret government experiment, a being who needs to learn about love to further her development, and her "dads" (who are totally not government spooks) easily bribe convince his parents to go along with it.  Rizel loves her new husband, but Tomonori wants nothing to do with her and his rejections come with explosive results.  Things only get more chaotic from there, as some of Tomonori's classmates, an American-made knockoff of Rizel, and a coma threaten to part the unwitting couple.

Review: MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: BLUE DESTINY

It's Mecha Month once more at the Manga Test Drive, and naturally I have to start with the franchise I know and like the best...even if this is not one of its best outings. 

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: BLUE DESTINY (Kidou Senshi Gundam Gaiden: THE BLUE DESTINY), based on the franchise created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yadate, written and illustrated by MIzuho Takayama.  First published in 1996 and first published in North America in 1999.

PLOT:

Yu Kajima is just one of the many Federation GM pilots fighting to repel the last remaining Zeon pilots in the closing weeks of the One Year War. His skills have brought him to the attention of Captain Alf Chamra, who believes that Yu is the perfect test pilot for his latest project: an experimental suit called The Blue Destiny, controlled by the equally experimental EXAM system.  Now Yu is being pursued by notorious Zeon ace pilot Nimbus Schatzen, all while experiencing strange visions of a mysterious young woman and piloting a mobile suit that struggles to distingush friend from foe in the heat of battle.

Review: THE GOOD WITCH OF THE WEST

 This year things will be especially witchy at The Manga Test Drive.  Witches can take all sorts of shapes in the world of manga, including as innocent shojo heroines.

THE GOOD WITCH OF THE WEST (Nishi no Yoki Majo), based on the novels by Noriko Ogiwara with art by Haruhiko Momokawa.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Firiel Dee is a gentle girl growing up in the countryside alongside her loving foster parents, her reclusive biological father, and his brilliant but terse apprentice Rune.  On her fifteenth birthday, Firiel is given a beautiful necklace with a blue stone, an heirloom from her late mother.  In truth, Firiel's late mother was a runaway princess and this jewel marks Firiel as a potential candidate to become the next queen.  No sooner does Firiel learn about this than her life is thrown into chaos.  Her foster family is murdered, her bio father has fled, Rune has been captured by a cult, and the only way for Firiel to make it right is to embrace her royal heritage.

Review: GAKUEN HEAVEN

 It's back-to-school time here at the Manga Test Drive, which in the manga world means attending anything but your ordinary Japanese high school.  That's certainly the case with our first review, a visual novel adaptation about a very special (and very gay) school.

GAKUEN HEAVEN, based on the visual novel by SPRAY with art by You Higuri.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Keita Itou is a lucky boy.  While he seemingly has no outstanding qualities, he has been accepted to the prestigious boys' school Bell Liberty Academy where every boy has a special talent or quality.  Once he gets there, he is welcomed by the very tall, handsome student body (and in particular by the student council president Niwa).  Soon enough Keita is swept up in a school scavenger hunt where the winner is granted whatever they want.  The competition is fierce, especially once a group of boys use this opportunity to get to Niwa by attacking Keita.

Merry Month of Manga: SMUGGLER

 And now we switch gears hard, going from a sensitive and accomplished coming-of-age drama to a messy seinen crime story.

SMUGGLER, by Shohei Manabe.  First published in 2000 and first published in North America in 2006.

                                               

PLOT:

Kinuta didn't meant to end up in the Yakuza.  He wanted to be an actor.  Then he got into some financial trouble, which led to him meeting the worst sorts of people and getting himself deeper in trouble.  Now he's stuck dumping bodies, bereft of any purpose in his life.  Things only get worse when a couple of Chinese assassins take out his boss.  His gang manage to capture one of the assassins, but Kinuta accidentally lets him escape.  Kinuta must take the assassin's place to hide his failure, but the longer the deception goes on the more he loses himself in the role.

Review: PRINCESS AI

 I know some might fuss over including this title here, considering its reputation and the fact that it was so closely tied to Tokyopop's controversial OEL initiative.  This one did run in a shojo magazine (even if its sequel and spinoffs are pure OEL), so it count for my purposes.  Plus, this year marks its 20th anniversary so now's as good a time to look back on it as any.

PRINCESS AI (Purinsesu Ai Monogatari), written by DJ Milky and Courtney Love, with character designs by Ai Yazawa and art by Misaho Kujiradou.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

A beautiful young woman from another world wakes up confused and alone in a Tokyo alleyway.  She can't remember anything clearly save for her name: Ai.  Fortunately for her, Ai meets up with Kent, a sensitive college student who takes her in.  She's also fortunate enough to possess the singing voice of an angel, and she soon becomes a sensation at the strip club where she works.  Alas, there are dark forces coming for Ai, be they greedy record executives or demons from Ai's original world who want her dead.

Review: GORGEOUS CARAT

 It's time to dig once more into my collection of BL manga and find a series that looked spectacular at first glance but lost some of its sheen as I read it.

GORGEOUS CARAT (Gojasu Karatto), by You Higuri.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

In belle époque Paris, the rumor mill is abuzz about the sad fate of the Rocheforts.  Once they were a wealthy aristocratic family, but now they have been reduced to selling off their family treasures one by one to survive.  The Rocheforts' heir Florian wants to sell the family's most precious jewel, a giant diamond known as the Flame of Mughal, but his mother refuses out of sheer pride.  Fate soon forces their hand by way a distant relative named Ray Balzac Courland, who is better known as the mysterious jewel thief Noir.

Ray offers the Rocheforts a choice: sell him the Flame of Mughal or sell him Florian to do with as he pleases.  Florian agrees to the latter, and soon finds himself swept up in Ray's many schemes.  He and Ray may have started as captive and captor, but more and more the two must work together to solve other crimes around them and live for another day.

Review: SHAOLIN SISTERS

 Our final review for the month is not just a celebration of sisterhood but also a return to a series I reviewed six years ago.

SHAOLIN SISTERS ( Fuun San Shimai Lin³ ), by Narumi Kakinouchi.  First published in 2000 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Julin's 15th birthday should have been a joyous day, but the White Lotus clan turned it into a tragedy.  Her master was killed by their garrote-wire wielding leader Bai Weng, while her friend Kio was lost in the wilderness.  The only way she can stop them and avenge her fallen friends is to seek out her father's other daughters, each of wielding powerful martial arts of their own along with mystical bells that match the one Julin was given.  All the while, they have to prevent the very secrets of Shaolin from falling into Bai Weng's clutches.

Review: ME & MY BROTHERS

There aren't as many manga out there about brothers as there are about sisters, but a series like this doesn't make the best case for why there shouldn't be more.

ME & MY BROTHERS (Onii-chan to Issho), by Hana Tokeino.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:

Sakura had been orphaned at an early age, and age 14 she was orphaned again when her beloved grandmother passed away. Shortly thereafter, her quiet home is invaded by four strange young men who immediately declare themselves to be her brothers.  They are in truth her former step-brothers, who were separated from her upon the death of her parents when Sakura was an infant.  Now they want to make up for lost time, but can Sakura deal with the challenges that come with having four very overprotective guardians?

Review: PSYCHIC ACADEMY

 I thought I was just getting another magic school variant with title.  Instead I ended up with one of the ripest, most ridiculous pieces of garbage I've reviewed on this site in a good long while.

PSYCHIC ACADEMY (Saikikku Akademi Ora Bansho), by Katsu Aki.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

Years ago, Ai Shiomi's older brother Aura saved the world with his incredible aura elemental powers.  In the years since, the Psychic Academy was formed to train other children with aura powers.  Ai is getting transferred there, although he maintains that he couldn't possibly be worthy of such a place.  The only bright spot is a chance for him to see his childhood friend Orina once again.

It turns out that Ai is more powerful than he thought.  This gains him an ally in the form of the gruff bunny-like creature Buu, but also serves to antagonize the fire-wielding top student/resident tsundere Mew.  He's going to need that power when his protective older brother/former Savior of the World becomes his homeroom teacher and a rivalry begins between Orina and Mew.

Review: CORRECTOR YUI

 Remember when the internet was still so much of a novelty that you could create an entire series about a magical girl fighting evil on the internet?

CORRECTOR YUI (Korekuta Yui), based on a character created by Kia Asamiya with story and art by Keiko Okamoto.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2002.

PLOT:

In the far-away year of 2020, the world is more connected than ever through computers.  One of the few people who isn't is Yui Kasuga, a schoolgirl and wanna-be mangaka who cannot seem to comprehend the first thing about computers.  Yet it is she who is chosen by Ir, one of eight sentient guardian programs to be their champion.  They were sent out by their creator to stop Grosser, a supercomputer who has gone rogue and seeks to take over the world.  It's up to Yui to become a digital magical girl to stop Grosser's minions, find the other guardian programs, and save both the real and virtual world!

Merry Month of Shojo Review #20: SHIRAHIME-SYO

 Let's wrap things up with a beautiful little oddity from CLAMP's library of works.

SHIRAHIME-SYO, by CLAMP.  First published in 1992 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

This short story collection tells the tale of four lost souls, seeking everything from revenge to reunions with lost loves.  All of them find themselves lost in the wildness of a snowy mountain, where they encounter strange animals and mystical forces they can only ascribe to the godly Snow Princess.

Merry Month of Shojo Review #18: CHERRY JUICE

It's weird to come across a shojo manga that feels so much like a shonen ecchi manga without actually being an shonen ecchi manga.

CHERRY JUICE (Cheri Jusu), by Haruka Fukushima.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:

Minami and Otome are seemingly as normal as step-siblings can be, even if Otome's best friends all envy her for having such a hot, popular step-brother.  Then Minami's best friend, Amane, confesses to Otome and kisses her.  Now he's not sure just what the nature of his feelings towards his step-sister are, and Otome is starting to feel equally confused.

Merry Month of Shojo Manga Review #9: CROSS

 Shojo manga loves to play with Christian imagery, but that doesn't always means it's tasteful about it.

CROSS (Juuji Kurosu), by Sunuko Amakawa.  First published in 1997 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

Tamara Amakusa is a holy exorcist working for the Catholic Church.  Wherever demonic forces are at work, he is there to fight back in the name of the Lord.  He faces his strangest battle yet when a strange girl stumbles into his church with mysterious powers and connections to a Satanic cult.

Merry Month of Shojo Review #4: KARAKURI ODETTE

 Sci-fi and shojo is a combination we don't see a lot of in English, and that's a real shame because this series demonstrates just what kind of potential it has.

KARAKURI ODETTE, by Julietta Suzuki  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2009.

PLOT:

Professor Yoshizawa created Odette to be his most advanced android yet, but he never could have anticipated the day Odette asked to go to school like human children do.  It's there that she begins to better understand the full range of human emotion as she tries to make friends and escape danger without revealing her robotic nature to the world.

Review: THE SECRET NOTES OF LADY KANAKO

Let's end this month with an unjustly overlooked shojo series from the dying days of Tokyopop.

THE SECRET NOTES OF LADY KANAKO (Warau Kanoko-sama), by Airiku Tsujita.  First published in 2007 and first published in North America in 2010.

PLOT:

Kanako lives for drama.  Her personal desire to track and observe all the secret relationships, passive-aggressive rivalries, and general misbehavior of her classmates verges upon an obsession.  In the name of objectivity, Kanako keeps her distance from her classmates.  Unfortunately, she finds herself caught up in her own drama, and her hatred of bullies overweighs her need for objective distance.  That's when Kanako uses her notes to dish out a bit of justice.

Review: THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE

 It's November, which means it's time once more for me to review some robot-centric manga.  While I may have exhausted all of the Evangelion and (most of the) Gundam manga out there in English, that doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of other notable mecha-related titles for me to talk about.

THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE (Tenkuu no Escaflowne), written by Shoji Kawamori and Hajime Yatate with art by Katsu Aki.  First published in 1994 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Hitomi wants nothing more than for her sempai Amano to notice her.  Alas, even with her skill for divination she can't find an answer to her romantic prayers (much less for the weird dreams she's been having).  During one of her divination attempts, Hitomi is whisked away to a fantastical world where medieval-style kingdoms are locked in a fierce war fought with giant mech suits.  

Hitomi ends up tagging along with the brusque Prince Vaan, who is seeking revenge for his destroyed kingdom and to rescue his mother from the villainous Dilandau.  Vaan discovers that Hitomi herself might be the key to unlocking the full potential of his own mech, and that the two will have to work together if either of them wishes to go home again.

Review: CHIBI VAMPIRE

 October is a time to face one's fears, and I think this October is a good time to face one of my own: my fear of lousy vampire manga.  I've come across far too many in my decade of manga blogging.  Can today's review hope to break that curse?

CHIBI VAMPIRE (Karin), by Yuna Kagesaki.  First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Karin Maaka is a little different from the rest of her family.  She's a cheerful girl who sleeps by night and attends work and school during the day.  That might not sound strange to you, but that's very strange when you come from a family of vampires like Karin does.

Honestly, aside from the fangs and a bit of discomfort every month, Karin is pretty much like any other girl (much to her family's despair).  Then Kenta Usui walks into her life and everything changes.  Her family's form of vampirism is triggered by strong human emotion, with each member triggered by one particular form.  In Karin's case it is unhappiness, and Usui has it in spades.  Her power causes her not to suck blood but spew it from her nose unless she can inject it into a human through biting.  Karin could solve her problem and allieviate her crush's troubles, but she's genuinely smitten with him and doesn't want to reveal her secret or turn him into a thrall.  What's a reverse vampire to do in a situation like this?