Monday, Monday… : Seven Days: Monday-Thursday by Rihito Takarai, Venio Tachibana

It is Monday morning before the first bell and the school is abuzz. Today is the day that popular freshman Touji Seryou will accept the request to date the first girl who asks him, even though she knows that come Friday, it will all be over. They don’t mind, as he is a thoughtful, kind boy who doesn’t put any moves on, but secretly of course, they all hope to be the one who maybe doesn’t get dumped, but know full well the odds and so when he courteously thanks them for their company and parts ways, are left without any hard feelings. Seryou is a member of the archery club, though he is infamous for skipping practice. Senior Yuzuru Shino is in the last half of his senior year, and with exams looming, has already retired from the archery club. But sat outside the school gate having a last minute break, he suddenly realises he is the first person to encounter Touji on this auspicious day. Deciding to tease his kouhai, he jokingly asks Touji out for the week and is astonished when Touji accepts. Making Touji show up for archery practice and just hanging out together, the boys are having a great time. But why does Touji always break up on a Friday, and why does Shino begin to feel regret at thought of it all ending? Is Touji going to end it as he has with all the others, or has he found something he has been looking for?

Covering the first four days of the week, this volume introduces us to the cast of characters and fills the reader in with a bit of the background relating to Touji’s famous one week dating routine. It is refreshingly different from most school boy romance tales, with some angst that is maturely handled, and filled with much of the same sweetness that made BL titles such as Only the Ring Finger so popular. Ending as it does on a Thursday, we get to see the boys begin their dating odyssey and personally assess their emotions towards the end of the week, but the fall out from this is left until the next volume, which begins on the Friday. The art and prose are well married together, making the story flow seamlessly and imparting the gentle sense of pathos of young love awakening. The almost waifish faces and mops of hair impart the youth of the characters, while the prose balances this with their tentative emotions, thoughts, along with their increasingly mature outlook on life.

It is a mature title, aimed at ages 16 and up, and while there are some sexually charged situations, it sits well within this age category bracket, not being explicit. This doesn’t lessen it as a read suitable for more mature readers however, as the story of two people searching for love, understanding, and acceptance is one that appeals across all age groups and the mature personalities of the young people involved make the setting superfluous bar the need for social acceptance within their peer group. Focusing as it does on the personal growth and interpersonal relationship development rather than mere sexual gratification, this makes an excellent introduction to persons new to the genre, as well as an emotionally satisfying read to the long time fan.

I’d like to thank Digital Manga for proving me with this review copy.

Rating:

Ghost Town: Roureville Volume 1- E. Hae

Having read and enjoyed E. Hae’s Not So Bad, so I decided to have a look over at her other Netcomics offering, Roureville. Rourevilee was an entirely different sort of tale, though still labelled as being a dramatic Boy’s Love title. The premise and setting are pretty interesting idea wise, neither being standard fare for the genre, with not only American characters, but a completely American setting.

Evan Pryce is a long tenured reporter with the New York Times, and after much hard work, has just published a Mafia expose piece that could well make him a contender for the Pulitzer Prize. Needless to say, the Mafia aren’t too thrilled with him, so he begins tog et death threats that require him to hole up for awhile. He decides to hide in plain sight, figuring that the Mob would never think to look for him at the actual newspaper offices. This makes problems for his editors and co-workers however, as the idea that the Mob might target their workplace with him there sets them all on edge, not to mention his hovering presence is distracting as he wanders about with nothing to do. Desperate to save the sanity of the staff as well as protect his star journalist, Pryce’s editor decides to to accept a tip from a phone in that normally would have gone on the crack pot list. The anonymous caller has rung in, saying there is a ghost that walks amongst the townspeople of Roureville.

Telling Pryce that he can find out where this place is, and ferret out the truth about the town’s ghost, it is obvious to all that he is simply sending Pryce away on a wild goose chase just to get him out of the office and wandering about the highways where it will be difficult for the Mafia to find him. Pryce is bored just hanging about, so agrees to go. Ten days later, he is wandering about the dusty field lined rural highway still asking for directions, when at last, he discovers a broken signpost to the place. Just as well, as he has run out of petrol and can’t go any further. Normally, seeing such a piece of Americana that practically screams banal normality would have sent him packing once he had a night’s sleep and a tank of petrol, but something about the place piques his interest. For starters, the way absolutely everyone is uneasy at his presence and seems to simply want to get him out of town without a moment’s delay. Secondly, his host. With no motel, a young man named Jayce offered him a room at his home. But what’s this? Jayce’s house looks abandoned, with a leaky roof, tattered curtains, and cobwebs everywhere! There is definitely something weird going on, and having tickled Evan’s snooping journalist’s nose, he decides to take a working vacation to find out just what it is. But is he prepared for the truth behind Roureville and more importantly, will the locals allow him to live to tell the tale?

Filled with a mixture of quirky characters and filled with suspense, it certainly is a page turner. It is both dramatic as well as darkly funny in places with character development being unveiled with each escapade. From the decidedly oddball cos-playing preacher, the antagonistic jack of all trades who never seems to get the required job done and his friendly, puppy-like apprentice, to the sweet but somewhat vague Jayce, the town definitely has its share of unique characters to provide fodder for the fictional novel Evan decides tow rite while puzzling out whatever the mystery about Roureville is. The build up of romance between Jayce and Evan is slow and sweet, starting with a mere remotely friendly host and his impromptu guest relationship and building up to more than mere camaraderie as time passes. Volume one ends on an appropriately suspenseful note as the mystery unfolds bit by bit, taking twists and turns that both confound and amuse.

Hae’s art is as raw and delicate as the emotions of the characters she depicts, and for someone who lives in Korea, her knowledge and attention to small town America’s traditional architecture is impressive. I had to smile as the houses and buildings could have waltzed out of an episode of Andy Griffith with no trouble at all. The juxtaposition of the quaintness of the town contrasts greatly with Evan Pryce’s modern urban sensibilities, adding a touch of wry humour to an otherwise dark story. The translation flows smoothly once more so that one is not suddenly jarred loose from the flow of the tale, and to be honest, it is altogether a fine piece that I would not mind having on my bookshelf.

The only reason I see NOT to buy as a print copy is simply because of the issue with the print run being incomplete: Netcomics released volume 3, the final volume, as a web only edition, so the collection would be left one volume short. Having said that, it is a cracking read well worth renting, and at 7 chapters, one can read this volume in its entirety for only $1.50 as the first chapter, as always, is free. You’ll find it at Netcomic’s own e-reading service here. Should Netcomics decide to finish releasing the series by putting volume three in print as a paperback, I’ll be amongst the first to pay up for all three.

heart4point5

Really Good, Actually: Not So Bad- E. Hae

Eunhee is at last living the life he worked so hard for. Finally having reached the height of his acting career, he has money, fame, women, and a nice place to live. What he doesn’t have is a special someone, but as he can’t stand sharing his personal space, especially his bed, with another person he simply deals with his loneliness by hanging out and bedding a sex friend and then returning to his own place. Things change though the day he meets Gain collapsed against his front door, badly beaten from a mugging. He takes the young man in, and before he knows it, this free spirited stray cat has moved into his house and crept into his bed. Eunhee is flabbergasted at the young man climbing into his bed to sleep, claiming the sofa is too cold, but strangely, he too is able to sleep with this person beside him. Soon, he finds himself looking forward to returning home to spend his time with Gain and begins to fear the day this free spirit decides to move on. Why is that, and what will happen to him should Gain suddenly disappear from his life?

I have to admit that while I enjoy a good BL title, I was a little worried about reading one that happened to be manwha. In the past I’ve read some truly great offerings, such as Let Dai, but further exploration of the manwha field often showed me great disappointments in the genre, such as the protagonist “rightly” choosing a girl over the man he actually loved for purely publicly held moral values, gay men suddenly realising they were mistaken and were actually straight after going to marriage interviews, and other such things that brought the whole purpose of reading a BL to a moot point (and one wonders why they penned such a beautiful romance only to destroy it preachingly). I went half expecting this to end up the same way. I must say, this title revived my faith in Korea’s BL market, as what I got was a sweet tale of gentle love where the main character indeed wrestles with the fact that the “one” who completes his life for him is male, but comes to understand that love knows no such distinctions. Even better, the cast of side characters hold more modern attitudes towards love, sex, and relationships, so the whole moralistic pariah issue doesn’t really come up.

Manwha creator E. Hae’s art is delicate, taking on aspects of the Japanese bishounen style yet maintaining trademarks generally found only with manwha, with even the “manly” men sporting beautifully detailed eyes with sweeping lashes seen on close up. Her panels are uncluttered, and well ordered, with anon confusing lay out that drew the eye naturally left to right which is a real bonus because as a manga reader, I often find myself trying to read non manga comics backwards out of habit. To be able to grab the eye and have such a reversal to normal reading order without thought is actually quite the gift so I heap my kudos on for the accomplishment. Likewise, her dialogue and thought prose are well conceived, and the translation flows smoothly without any odd phrasing or stilting. If one did not know better, one might assume it was originally penned in English, such is the translation quality.

Being manwha, there are of course a few different conventions to manga that fans of K-drama will be familiar with. That is, if things are going well, disaster must strike the protagonist in the most severe way possible and cause the most gut wrenching angst. Now, done right, it provides a great plot catalyst, but done wrong, one ends up with a ridiculous soap opera plot that leaves one staring in disbelief and perhaps resorting to derisive laughter. Luckily, Hae knows how far to travel down this road, and actually sticks to a statistically probable cause of conflict to propel her story forward in a meaningful fashion. Altogether, a highly entertaining story that finds itself on my to buy list for my bookshelf.

Available both as a paperback from major manga/manwha retailers such as Amazon and The Book Depository (non US buyers note BD has free shipping worldwide), as well as to rent online from Netcomics for $0.25 a chapter. The first chapter is always free, and the site is open to non US readers worldwide. Volume one has five chapters, so represents good value at only $1 , making it ideal as a complete read before you decide to buy if reading the free first sample chapter is not enough to make a decision. I’d like to thank Netcomics for providing me with my review copy.

Rating: heart5

Girls, Boys, Demons, Love, Betrayal: Hotaru Odagiri’s Uraboku, the Anime

So, when is a shoujo not quite a shoujo? Well, when its BL, more or less. In the case of Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru or Uraboku (English title: Betrayal Knows My Name), the line is definitely blurred. Admittedly the manga is serialised by Kodakawa’s shoujo magazine, Monthly Asuka, but fans of the genre will not be surprised at the BL overtones given that the author is Hotaru Odagiri (Only the Ring Finger Knows, Invisible Boy). The manga first came out in Japan in 2005, and currently stands at 7 volumes and is still ongoing. The manga has recently been licensed by Yen Press for English language distribution, and according to their Twitter chatter, we can expect volume one in January 2011. With it popular enough to continue in print for so long and nab itself a foreign licensing deal, it’s probably no surprise that Kodakawa’s animé producing arm recently released this as an animé, nor that said animé would find itself simulcast with English subtitles on Crunchyroll. Happily, the simulcast distribution included it NOT being region blocked for viewing not only in North America, but also for South America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Middle East, and Africa, so when this UK fan discovered it on her available animé list, she grabbed at it with both hands.

So what’s it about? The Giou Clan have long been guardians who kept demons at bay and protected Japan. They are born again and again, reincarnated with their memories in order to continue to do battle. Each have their own gifts, and typically are paired up with life partners as in order to fight as one, they must be joined body and soul, and trust each other implicitly. These pairs are known as Zweilts, and through the ages they have sworn their love to a woman of the clan known as Yuki. Yuki possesses the gift of spiritual and physical healing, and it is he that heals their wounds, even as it inflicts physical and mental pain upon herself. Yuki’s existence is much more than that, seemingly, as demons seek to kill her. Long ago, during one of Yuki’s incarnations, the demon king sent his most powerful general to kill Yuki, but things did not go according to plan. For Zess fell in love with Yuki, and swore to love her for all eternity, never to betray her being, and Yuki to cherish Zess for all eternity. Yuki died, and was born again, and again, with Zess waiting for his love, his eternal devotion never wavering. Then the current incarnation occurred, and Yuki was born again, but as a boy and one whose mother ran from the Giou and left him at an orphanage as an infant. Even worse, his memories are not intact, so he knows nothing f the Giou Clan, its mission, nor of his relationship with Zess. But something draws him to towards Zess nonetheless, and in his dreams, the female Yuki speaks…

To call this a BL story would be accurate, but to say it is MERELY a BL story would be a great disservice. First and foremost the story DOES revolve around the tie between Yuki and Zess aka Luka, but truthfully, this is only because the entire plot hinges upon Yuki’s role in the age long battle, and Zess’ position within it. The other characters get fairly equal screen time, and each episode actually does have us follow along as Yuki discovers ancient secrets and the current battle unfolds. It is a story filled with action packed magical battles that play out beautifully across the screen, as well as deep emotion, as strong willed characters struggle with their inner turmoil, acts of betrayal by those they loved and trusted, and the growing awareness of just what loving someone actually means. Fans of the gothic fantasy will love the intro, with it eerily beautiful sequence featuring a voice over by Zess/Luka as he swears his eternal devotion to the Yuki that was, as well as the settings of many of the battle scenes and the costumes of the demons.

Like Odagiri’s previous works, the emphasis is on self discovery and awakening, so don’t expect Yuki and Zess to suddenly lock lips and get it on. This is definitely on the shonen ai side of the yaoi market, softly entwined with the the gothic shoujo romance of the Yuki that was, enough so that this makes an excellent gateway title that will appeal to fans of shoujo, dark fantasy, and/or BL. The art within the animé reflects her artistic style well, with the long, lean bodies and elegantly beautiful male and female characters with their pointed chins and flowing locks. The animation is smooth; the colouring as rich and evocative as the plot. The voice over work is also top-notch, and fans who follow seiyuu will find some familiar names here as they have worked on projects such as Gakuen Heaven, Kuroshitshuji, House of Five Leaves, Bleach, and many other popular animé titles. Altogether, an exceptionally fine port from print edition to animé, and one I hope that sees a subtitles DVD release.

Currently at episode 19 out of 24, you can watch this over at Crunchyroll until 30 days after the last episode becomes available to the free subscriber group.

Rating: heart5

Kawaii Disappointment: Garden Sky – Yuko Kuwabara

I like cute. I like cute so much that when I read the plot synopsis, I just knew this was going to have elements of cuteness, but seeing that it is BL title, it made me a bit worried. Cute is so easily badly done in this genre, and not having read any of this mangaka’s previous works, I felt a bit of trepidation. As it turned out, my fears were well founded.

Don’t get me wrong, the art is cute and the men nice to look at, all very well executed. The panel work is nicely done, the translation feels smooth. So what’s my beef? The unfinished feel. We get a couple of one shots, unrelated to one another, and are literally left hanging as to to any sort of resolution to the story arc at all. The mangaka says she would LIKE to visit these characters again in future and even in the omake mentions something she would like to happen, but rather than being left open for a sequel, we are actually left with half of a short story in both instances, ending in an illogical place. They give the feeling that the mangaka ran out of steam and bundled them up and said..here is what I had so far, I’ll finish this later, and they somehow got shoved into a tanko.

Would I recommend buying this? Not at this time. IF the mangaka picks up the stories and provides some sort of logical continuation, and they get placed with these into an omnibus, then I would say, by all means. But I just don’t see the point of paying out for a BL tanko like this, especially with one that is so mild on the shonen ai scale that it barely scrapes into the BL sub-genre at all. In fact, a good bit of the first story revolves around the one guy being able to literally turn into a woman at will so that I was left scratching my head a bit. Why have this? Why not just have him dressed as one and fooling his mark, in turn fooling the eye of “husband to be”. The second story sadly shilly shallies about just as much; the idea is cute, the art nice to look at, but fails in execution. Go East begins an adventure, only to stop literally halfway. Having seen so many great titles come out lately under DMP’s various imprints, I can tell you I felt a mighty sense of disappointment in this.

So, a cute, light read that if you can borrow it, or later rent it at Emanga.com should they add it, would be a fine way to while away time otherwise spent doing absolutely nothing, but overall, at this point in the storylines, not worth paying out full price for unless the stories actually get ”finished”. I’d still like to thank Digital Manga, however, for providing me with this review copy.

Plot synopsis from the book :

When happy-go-lucky Shiro is suddenly murdered by a jealous lover, he finds himself summoned to heaven by the teeny-tiny (and totally bored) God Kami-Sama. The two soon hatch a plot to form a “family” featuring the beautiful ninja Kuro…but little do they know that Kuro has his own troubled past! Will these three lonely misfits find a way to overcome their differences and forge a lasting bond?

Rating:

Makoto Tateno Week Kicks Off

Tateno sensei

Looking at my review shelf, I see I have a LOT of Tateno yet to cover on it, and to share some of the greatness that is Makoto Tateno, I decided to do Makoto Madness Week. I have already reviewed Happy Boys 1 and 2, How to Capture a Martini, Yellow Omnibus 1 and Angelic Runes. This week, I shall take a look at Blue Sheep Reverie 1 and 2, Steal Moon, Hate to Love You, Ka Shin Fu, Yellow Omnibus 2, Yellow Episode 2 vol 1, Hero Heel vol 1, How to Control a Sidecar, and Yokan: Premonition vol 1.

Toyama City, birthplace of Makoto Tateno

But just who is Makoto Tateno? I decided to find out. Well, it is pretty obvious she is a mangaka, But what about the rest? A quick look on the web doesn’t seem to reveal much unless you look beyond the surface of the information. Tateno sensei was born on 23^rd of March in Toyama City. Toyama city is the capitol of Toyama Prefecture, which is located along the Sea of Japan on the island of Honshu. It is not an overly large city, but it is not a small one either as these things go, having a population that is quoted at 420,804 or 338.85 persons per square kilometre.

Toyama has been of strategic regional importance since ancient times as this feudal fortification demonstrates.

This is in itself interesting, given the settings she typically uses in her manga. Knowing these acts, and viewing pictures of the area she was born and raised in, explains much about the realistic feel of the locations encountered in her stories. They have a distinctly urban feel, but usually lack the urban upward and outward sprawl of say Tokyo or Osaka. This is unsurprising, as the very best writers write from what they know, weaving fact with illusion to tell a well crafted story.

Mickey and Kazyua was her first series.

In 1986, Tateno made her début with Japanese publisher Hakusensha with her shoujo one shot offering “ Yurarete Tamago Boys” followed by the series Mickey and Kazuya, which was serialised in the publisher’s Hana to Yume magazine. She continued working in the shoujo field under contract until striking out freelance on her own, with a strong desire to write BL. A look at the publication dates for her BL titles show that 2001 was her break out year in this genre, with Koyoi wa Kimi to Chi no Kiss o being picked up by publisher Shinshokan for their Dear+ magazine and now licensed to Doki Doki as the upcoming title A Bloody Kiss Tonight, scheduled for an early November street date. Also writing under the pen name of Shinjuku Tango for her doujinshi titles, she has remained a highly popular and prolific writer with over 90 titles and 30+ series under her belt.

Japanese cover for Bloody Kiss Tonight, her 2001 BL break out title now due out in early November 2010 under Digital Manga's Doki Doki imprint.

Most of here in the West are perhaps more familiar with her BL works, which have been licensed here in the West, though with Happy Boys, Angelic Runes, King of Cards, and Red Angel, we are beginning to see some of her shoujo works trickle out though they are not yet as popular with Western manga fans. While the genres may differ, the one thing they all have in common is not only Tateno’s lovely signature art, but her wit. Tateno’s dry wit is a subtle presence in all her works, lightening up heavier pieces without resorting to buffoonery or chibi panels. If the character is foolish in his decisions, she allows us to see this as part of his character and general actions, without pratfall type jokes to make it obvious. It is said that one is always heavily influenced by those whose works e most admire, so just who does she credit for this? In an interview with Graphic Novel Reporter, she cited tow major influences: Go Nagai, specifically with Cutie Honey which featured the first female protagonist in a shonen manga, and the legendary Osamu Tezuka, whose works are still finding their way into new licenses in the West ( MW, Black Jack, Swallowing the Earth). Fans of Tateno’s would do well to check these out, or else miss out on some truly fantastic classic manga that resonates with today.

Osamu Tezuka is named as one of her major manga influences. Read him and find out why.

As for the current debacle with scanlator sites, believe it or not, Graphic Novel Reporter asked her this at the 2009 Yaoi Con, which pre-dated the coming of Mangageddon:

How do you feel about fan translations of your stories being distributed via the Internet without the books having been officially licensed in America?
Buy books. Buy, buy, buy. [Smiles]
So there you have it. Makoto Tateno, her influences, some reviews past and forthcoming of her works, and her request to please buy, and not read or do scanlations. Just get yourself to a book retailer already, there is some good stuff to be read, again and again.

Bittersweet Dessert- Antique Bakery 4

Tachibana’s life just got even more complicated as a current wave of child abductions makes his childhood trauma rear its ugly head above the realm of his dreams. The children are all found murdered after having eaten high quality cakes, a facet that resonates with his own abduction experience, so much so that the now retired police detective who was in charge of his case is consulted. When the cake from the children’s stomachs is analysed, Tachibana and the guys find their shop the centre of police activity. Who is taking the children, and why feed them cake? Is it a new perpetrator with unwitting similarities, or is is the demon from Tachibana’s past making a reappearance? Tachibana is close to coming unravelled, with nightmare ridden sleep and visions of stolen and murdered children confronting his vision daily via the news.

If that is not enough of an ill wind, Kanda finds he is being sent to evening classes to learn French. He is quite put out about the academics he is being pushed into, but not for reasons one would expect. That is, until Ono gives him just the impetus he needs when the truth comes to his attention. Once Kanda goes, he finds his teacher is rather interesting. So interesting in fact, that he decides to go to France with her for a holiday, to experience her family’s small bakery. Is the little bird spreading his wings, or will he return to roost back at Antique? One thing is certain, and that is that change is afoot and life is moving ever forward for the four friends and co-workers.

Yoshinaga’s final instalment of the Antique bakery series is a psychologically driven piece, with inner turmoil and emotions playing a large part of the story arcs within. The humour is still there in part, with light deft touches here and there, but appropriately, the overall tone is more sombre. I quite liked how Yoshinaga sensei tied past plot threads in previous volumes into the current events without missing a beat. She also managed the feat of taking such a potentially disturbing plot line and not turn into gloating, in your face spectacle that demeans such events. And while the volume ends with our friends looking forward to the future with slightly troubled, yet hopeful, expressions, it does not leave us hanging, as a closure of sorts is reached so that they are literally able to move mentally and emotionally forward and not just drift along with life’s tides. It is a sentiment that one encounters again in Flower of Life, and also in Ichigenme, being a seeming trademark of Yoshinaga sensei’s. I was sad to leave the bakery behind, but hey, with hard copies available to sit on my bookshelf and the animé and live action versions available to watch, it is not like it is goodbye forever. Now if I can just find Yoshinaga’s Antique djs…

Rating:

I would like to thank Digital Manga for providing this review copy, and to point readers to more interesting reviews of Yoshinaga’s books that I have yet to read. Be sure to check out Manga Bookshelf’s coverage of Garden of Dreams and All My Darling Daughters as well as Experiments in Reading’s look at Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Volume 1 .

Additional Reading suggestions: If you like the gentle comedy and the setting found in Antique Bakery, you may also like Happy Boys and Café Kichijoji de, also from Digital Manga Publishing.

Slice of Life Pie- Yoshinagi Fumi’s Antique Bakery vol 3

Having thoroughly enjoyed the previous two volumes of Yoshinaga sensei’s Antique Bakery series, I was really looking forward to seeing what would happen next. Imagine my surprise when I opened this volume up, and instead of meeting the staff at the bakery, I was confronted with a busty female newscaster! Yes, things are about to get very busy for our boys as they get the attention of a pair of female TV reporters who do the “Bargains for Housewives Report”. Interviewing local shop owners, they happen across our favourite patisserie and encounter every girl’s dream: a shop ran by a group of hot guys who give great personal service! Unfortunately for Ono, one of the women is single, thinks his cake tastes sexy, and he discovers to his horror that his demonic charm apparently applies to women as well.

If that is not enough stress for our female phobic pastry chef, the surge in popularity from the news broadcast leads to an invitation for an event at a department store. All of the better patisseries are invited to showcase their wares in a set of miniature in-house shops for a food fair that is to be covered by the press. Having to work behind glass and with only the clumsy Chikage to help, Ono finds himself surrounded by ever more women, AND the men from the shops he worked at in the past ,who are not too happy to see him. That female newscaster is there covering the event too. Will Ono make it through without cracking? And what about Chikage? Can he not put the shop to shame without the support of the rest of the staff?

In the midst of this chaos, a mysterious blonde foreigner appears carrying roses for Ono,. It is Jean Baptiste, owner of a five star shop in Paris, and a former lover and teacher of Ono’s. He has come to reclaim Ono, and presents a very tempting wage offer as well as his body. Will Ono go? What will happen to the shop if he does, and the camaraderies that the staff have built around their working dynamic? Poor Ono is getting one shock to the system after another, and fate is not done playing tricks on him yet, as he discovers that his crush, Chikage, as a surprise in his past too. Just who is is the tall young girl who comes in, talks childishly, and sits on his lap? Ehh? She is really only how old? And she is…who’s daughter?!

Volume three certainly has stepped up on the laughs. There is a lot less painful angst this time around, and what there is has an unexpected levity to it. I particularly like the dry wit of Ono’s as he recalls his love affair with Jean Baptiste, likening it to a French film. This is very much Ono and Chikage’s volume, as we get to explore their characters past and present, inside and out, in much the same way as we did with Tachibana and Kanda in the first two volumes. It rounds things out nicely, with the additional side characters we meet carrying along the overall story arc without faltering.

As always, Yoshinaga’s art is interesting. She has a singular signature style that can take a bit of getting sued to, but it is far from ugly. What really arrests my is the way she does the eyes. Wonderfully expressive, and the way they are lidded and inset are truly unique. I dare say one could identify a drawing of hers if only the top half of a face, with eyes in full view, was shown. Her storytelling runs as smoothly as ever, with her plot threads weaving in and out as chaotically as real life but with definite cohesion. The result is a humourously wry slice of life manga that has one looking forward to the next instalment.

***I would like to thank Digital Manga Publishing for providing me with this review copy.***

Rating:

Reading suggestion: If you like Antique Bakery, you may also like Happy Boys, Makoto Tateno’s take on an all bishie ran cake and tea shop.

Alice Starts from Class 101

Every year the Mondonville Music Academy accepts only 100 new students as part of their intake. Competition is fierce to gain admission into this prestigious conservatory, so it is no surprise that the students number amongst the best in the entire country. 14 year old “Alice” Lang is a misfit and therefore a huge puzzle to the staff and students alike. Not only did the board accept him after a personal interview with performance, but they made him the 101^st student for this year’s intake. Their shock over this fact is not just because of the 101^st placement, but the ability he displays during class and practice. You see, he not only can’t read music, but he doesn’t know even basic chords. Nor how to play a scale. So how did he make the cut? The answer comes when Lang picks up his violin and plays a complicated piece from memory, flawlessly, and passionately. Not since the last 101^st student had they seen or heard its like. THAT child was a prodigy and grew up to be famous. Not only that, but the piece Lang plays is THAT man’s signature composition. Just who is this Alice the 101^st, and what secrets lay in his past that will unlock his future as he starts from the basics at Mondonville? Under the steely eyed gaze of his brusquely affectionate sempai Victor de Courteau and no nonsense tutelage of his aghast violin teacher Yannick Dalberto, he slowly begins to discover the pieces of his past that tie him to this future his dying grandfather pushed him towards. But does he have what it takes?

Printed under DMP’s Doki Doki imprint, this little piece of shoujo is a real crowd pleaser. It has the school setting so familiar to the genre, but with a nice twist that sets it apart thanks to emphasis on musical fundamentals and practice in the classroom and during private time, rather than relying on the school as a convenient back drop. The interplay between the characters revolves around not only their personalities, but their skill and passion as musicians, so actual repertoire and technique are shared, as well as discussion on musical instruments and famous makes. With the elegantly accurate drawings of Chigusa Kawai providing a visual feast, the three dimensional characters drawing us into the mystery that is Alice and his new world, this new series captures and holds the interest of the reader with ease.

This is just as well, as it is not without fault. Sadly, the fault here lies with the translation and editing. The prose itself flows faultlessly and without any odd stilting to shout out it’s non English origins. No, the fault lies entirely with how Alice’s name is rendered. The cover says his name is Alistair, and that fits, as his grandpa and others shorten it to Alice. It even fits given his last name, Lang. But the translator more than once calls him Aristide, which only with the Japanese pronunciation of “l” and its common confusion with “r” would render it shortened to “Aris” or “Alice”. So it is slightly confusing, and a bit of a disappointment that this was not caught out by proof-readers in the editing department before this went to press. Hopefully during reprints this will be remedied, and that the upcoming sequels won’t have this fault. It is only a minor irritation however, and one that I would urge fans of the shoujo genre to overlook just this once. While aimed at 16 and up, it was sophisticated enough to hold this adult women’s interest, but free enough of any personally objectionable material that I would allow my almost 9 year old daughter to read it.