ARISA By Ando Natsumi

                                                          Konnichiwa~

 Today I’ll be reviewing the shoujo manga ARISA by Ando Natsumi. The manga is 12 volumes in total, though it’s only been scanlated to volume 11. But the scanlation group doesn't take long to put out new chapters. Anyway, the heroine of this mystery story is the bold, brash, and tomboyish Tsubasa whose often mistaken for a delinquent because of bleached blonde hair, though in reality she did it because she thought it was cute. Her parents divorced when she was rather young and was separated from her twin sister Arisa, who went to live with their mom while Tsubasa stayed with their father. They communicate through letters and one day, Arisa invites her sister to come sleep over. Things seem to be going well, until Tsubasa witnesses Arisa’s sudden suicide attempt. She is shocked, having formed this idea that her gentle sister led a joyful and peaceful school life. She wants to know what drove her sister’s desire to end her own life, but since she’s in a coma, Tsubasa decides to take her place at school and find out for herself. She soon discovers that on Friday, during free period, Arisa’s class send their wishes to a mysterious figure known as KING.  The mighty KING will grant one wish a week and often uses violence to grant it. Also, if someone angers the KING, the class will make sure to erase their existence; ignoring them, throwing garbage on their desks, and eventually driving them out of school. Tsubasa becomes determined to stop the KING and find out who is, hoping that this will save Arisa since he may be the reason of her attempted suicide. She soon partner ups with one of Arisa’s classmates, Akira Manabe, who also wants to stop the KING and their violent, unjust methods.

The KING manipulates the class, is able to use others as a chess piece to get what it wants, them easily tosses them aside. And the psychological effects they have on the class is frightening.

The story overall doesn't have much romance, but there is some here and there. The mystery and action itself is entertaining. Even when you know who the KING is, its difficult to understand their motives, goal, and plan. And though Tsubasa isn't the smartest, she makes progress following her instincts and is brave enough to face the cruel KING, is determined enough to protect others. Sure sometimes she does fall into the KING’s trap, but she always manages to make up for it, to learn her lesson so that it doesn't happen again. So I recommend reading this manga and supporting Tsubasa battle to protect her sister and her class from the cunning and twisted KING. 

~Nadeshiko-chan

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki

~Konbanwa~

Oz Vessaliu

On this fine November day I'm going to be reviewing one of my favorite shounen manga/animes: Pandora Hearts. I loved the anime and immediately started reading the manga, which is currently ongoing. Anyway, let’s start with the general plot:

The series begins with the day of 15-year old Oz Vessaliu’s coming-of-age ceremony. He spends most of the day running around with his younger sister Ada and his faithful servant Gilbert before finally preparing himself for the party. But the ceremony is interrupted by group known as the Baskervilles and their Chains (creatures who were humans at some point but were transformed by the Abyss) they’ve made contracts with. As the guest runaway, they condemn him for the sin he knows nothing about. When he attempts to ask, they tell him “your sin, is you very existence!” before throwing him into the Abyss, his eternal prison. There, while running away from Chains and looking for an exit, he meets Alice, the notorious B-Rabbit. She tells him that she isn’t like the other chains; she woke up in the Abyss knowing she was once human and her name is Alice. She explains that she wants to search for her lost memories and knows of a way for both of them to get out: Oz must make a contract with her, unleashing her sealed powers and allowing her to break out of there. Though Oz is hesitant, he eventually decides to trust her and they make a contract. Oz and Alice wake up in the house of Break and Sharon Rainsworth and their partner Raven Nightwing. All 3 of them are part of strange organization known as Pandora, whose only goal is to better understand the Abyss and the Will of the Abyss that controls it.  They explain to Oz that coming out of the Abyss is complicated and it’s rare to come back to the same time in which you entered. Basically, 10 years have passed since the coming-of-age ceremony. Oz sets out to help Alice find her memories and understand the sin he was condemned of, unraveling a complex mystery centered around the Tragedy of Sablier.

There are lots of questions and confusion in the beginning, but the author does a great job of slowly giving you the answers, having you piece the puzzle together before he shows you the remaining pieces to complete it.

Alice in the Abyss

The characters and their relationships are also quite interesting. Oz having a very friendly, adventurous, and happy-go-lucky attitude most of time, but being sneaky and manupliative when he needs to be. He protects the people he loves and doesn’t want to burden them. Then there’s our heroine Alice who is blunt, pugnacious, and somewhat of a glutton. But as Oz says “she’s kind-hearted and easily cries”. Alice in the beginning is often insecure because she can’t remember any of her memories as a human, but as time goes on she doesn’t seem to mind as much, accepting that she doesn’t remember, but is happy being with Oz and their friends. In case you can’t tell, Oz and Alice have a very good relationship, both caring about each other and wanting to protect the other. Though it hasn’t be said, its implied they like each other, heavily on Alice’s part whose upset whenever Oz neglects her or spends time with other girls, even upset when he spends time with his sister Ada. Anyway, the third main character is Gilbert(Raven) Nightray, Oz’s faithful servant  and  best friend (Technically this is a spoiler, but if you would’ve figured it out as soon as you saw him). He’s the most serious of the trio, though childishly fights with Alice over trivial matters (He’s also adorably afraid of cats). Him and Oz have known each other for years and have a heartwarming friendship, both of the caring deeply for the other. Gilbert’s past is also shrouded in secrets, being connected to Alice’s lost memories…

Gilbert Nightray

Now for the art: it’s absolutely beautiful! Its one of my favorite manga art, being so elegant, especially the clothing! The art starts out a bit rough in the beginning, but Jun Mochizuki gets better and better as the story goes. Mochizuki-sama can really show fear, sadness, and happiness and he’s fighting scenes are rather easy to follow, something I’ve always had trouble with when reading manga. Overall, I think it’s a great anime and manga. The anime follows the manga, but ends around volume 8 before wrapping up. It doesn’t make up its own ending or answer all the questions, but it’s a pretty nice ending. If you want answers, read the amazing manga and watch the mystery slowly unveil.

-Nadeshiko-chan