OMG -- can Rumiko Takahashi’s manga get any more popular? First, Ranma 1/2 was flying off the rack, and now it’s Inu-Yasha. (As soon as I finish this, I have to buy us some more copies.)
We start with Kagome, a typically sweet and dutiful Japanese school girl. She lives with her family and her cat, Buyo, in an old shrine, and everything is pretty normal until she falls down a well.
At this point, it’s good to strike from your mind any thoughts of Lassie (“What is it, girl? Has Timmy fallen in the well?”) or even Alice (“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”) No, Inu-Yasha is a bit more exciting than that. For instance, Kagome doesn’t exactly fall down the Bone Eating Well -- she is suddenly grabbed and hauled in by a centipede demon. No Wonderland, this, but ancient, feudal Japan, where demons and monsters and all the old legends are alive and well.
Fighting for her life against Centipede Lady, Kagome encounters the title character, Inu-Yasha. Half-human, half-dog demon, Inu-Yasha had been bound to the Tree of Ages until Kagome breaks the spell (cast by his first love, the priestess Kikyou.) As it happens, both the Centipede Demon and Inu-Yasha want the same thing: the power-enhancing Jewel of Four Souls, aka the Shikon no Tama, so Inu-Yasha joins forces with Kagome and the demon is a goner. In the process, Kagome is discovered to be the reincarnation of Kikyou; the jewel is discovered, struggled over, and smashed into shards; and the plot is set for what will eventually turn out to be a 33+ volume manga series.
Love & betrayal, blood & battle, monsters & magic, weapons & people of power, plus not a few screamingly funny lines, Inu-Yasha is a great yarn. Rumiko Takahashi has won 3 Shogakukan Manga Awards and the Inkpot, which is really no wonder. Inu-Yasha is also out as a television program, and a series of video games.
So, if you’re ready to meet the bloodsucking demon flea and the human monk with the wind tunnel in his hand -- or watch Kagome immobilize Inu-Yasha with the secret word, “Sit!” (too funny...) as he brandishes the magic sword, the Iron Crushing Fang, give this series a try.
And hey -- if you’re already a fan, who’s your favorite character?
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
Friday, May 02, 2008
Monday, November 19, 2007
Peach Girl 1
Poor Peach Girl. As the first volume of Miwa Ueda’s shojo manga series begins, it looks like the book will be going out way more often than the girl. And, in fact, Peach Girl 1 is often out on loan, as reader after reader explores the turbulent world of Peach Girl’s school days.
Momo (“peach”) is our heroine. Blonde and tanned in a culture that values dark hair and pale skin, she is shy and uncomfortable around her classmates. And no wonder, since her appearance labels her as a “beach bunny” with questionable character and loose morals.
Momo loves Toji, but is afraid to tell him so. Sae, who pretends to be her only friend, is a rumor and gossip specialist who wants Toji for herself. And then there’s Kiley: handsome, older and dangerous. Here we go into a series of romantic cliff-hangers loaded with betrayal and misunderstanding -- the sort of thing that will sound a bit familiar to anyone who has ever struggled to fit in at a new school, learned the hard way that not all friends are true friends, or fallen in love.
There is wit amidst all the typical shojo melodrama. Momo, a swimmer and softball player (which accounts for the bleached hair and deep tan) slathers on the sunscreen to no avail. And in a subplot that has her coincidentally saving the lives of her love interests, Momo remarks “Why does my fate always take me to people who are drowning?” Why, indeed....
Ueda won the Kodansha Manga Award (Shojo) for Peach Girl, and no wonder. Her art is a compelling blend of realistic background scenes and fantastic, emotionally-charged character drawings.
The entire Peach Girl series is coming out on DVD, too.
If you like shojo, give this one a try -- and tell us what you think. I checked out a few collections of Peach Girl reviews, and I have to say that the reviewers either loved it or hated it. No one sat on the fence. Where do you sit?
Momo (“peach”) is our heroine. Blonde and tanned in a culture that values dark hair and pale skin, she is shy and uncomfortable around her classmates. And no wonder, since her appearance labels her as a “beach bunny” with questionable character and loose morals.
Momo loves Toji, but is afraid to tell him so. Sae, who pretends to be her only friend, is a rumor and gossip specialist who wants Toji for herself. And then there’s Kiley: handsome, older and dangerous. Here we go into a series of romantic cliff-hangers loaded with betrayal and misunderstanding -- the sort of thing that will sound a bit familiar to anyone who has ever struggled to fit in at a new school, learned the hard way that not all friends are true friends, or fallen in love.
There is wit amidst all the typical shojo melodrama. Momo, a swimmer and softball player (which accounts for the bleached hair and deep tan) slathers on the sunscreen to no avail. And in a subplot that has her coincidentally saving the lives of her love interests, Momo remarks “Why does my fate always take me to people who are drowning?” Why, indeed....
Ueda won the Kodansha Manga Award (Shojo) for Peach Girl, and no wonder. Her art is a compelling blend of realistic background scenes and fantastic, emotionally-charged character drawings.
The entire Peach Girl series is coming out on DVD, too.
If you like shojo, give this one a try -- and tell us what you think. I checked out a few collections of Peach Girl reviews, and I have to say that the reviewers either loved it or hated it. No one sat on the fence. Where do you sit?
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