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Jan 12, 2010
I picked this up off the shelf of my local bookstore. It looked cute, so I decided to give it a try. And boy, this has to be the biggest regret of my manga-reading life!
First off: The story- fairly original. I mean, a feminine boy and masculine girl switch bodies and see what the "other side" is like? I can get behind that! Unfortunately, that is brought down by the reinforcement of sexual stereotypes and disgusting character interactions.
Akira is a PIG! While she has an issue with Momoi looking at/ touching her body (And how can he not? He has to bathe sometime!), she has
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no issue with using his body in any way she deems fit- from touching/exploring to sleeping with girls! And then has the nerve to say that if Momoi dares touch her body inappropriately, then she'll be so ruined for marriage that she'll embarrass him in horrible horrible ways! And to top it off, one of the other main chracters acts like a soon-to-be rapist, cornering Momoi and getting as close as physically possible to rape (and again, the story reinforces insulting sexual stereotypes by making Momoi like it. Most girls would be completely and utterly disgusted, so I was not amused!)
And to top it off, the art was bad. Not only did the characters look indifferent under normal circumastances, with generic and somehat badly-done character designs, but for the most part they were ugly blocky bodies or chibi characters.
So if you find this in your local bookstore, pass by it and read Skip Beat! or ARIA instead. You'll be the better for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 19, 2009
I discovered this manga when looking for other works by Nakamura Yoshiki- I was first drawn in by her recent manga, Skip Beat!. It turned out she had written a manga directly before Skip Beat!, called Tokyo Crazy Paradise.
The story seems to cross over both shoujo and shounen lines, the shounen covered by the large amount of violence that occurs in this story and the"'I will protect/serve 'insert name of person or area here'" attitude that many, if not all of the characters hold. This aspect also hold up in the main storyline. The more typical shoujo aspects occur in the lead's focus on taking
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care (up to and including physically) of her family and love interest. The latter is central to her motivations for acting as she does, which gives this more of a shoujo lean. However, as mentioned before, the main storyline holds to more shounen aspects, such as becoming a bodyguard, being immensely proficient at a weapon, protecting the weak, and defeating any enemies that threaten the peace that her life has. Thankfully, unlike with many shounen mangas, the story isn't long enough to fall into the 'enemy of the week' territory. It is also rather innovative, with the lead heroine the one who does the protecting instead of vice-versa. Also, theworld that the mangaka paints is very different than the one most do, with bleak imaginings of the world falling into violence and depravity. The politics of this world are well thought-out, with much study on the Mafia and Yakuza apparent. And while the ending isn't the one that I may have hoped for, it is nonetheless realistic and fitting.
The art is quite shoujo, with large, sparkly eyes and 'pretty' boys. However, is is a little rough in some areas. If you have also read Skip Beat! then the similarity in character design is aparent, with Skip Beat! smoothing out some of the rougher edges in the art style. This also holds true for the charater's personalities themselves- you can see that Kyoko was based of Tokyo's main lead. But in and of themselves, the characters in Tokyo aren't bad- Tsukasa is overall a sweet girl with a few rough edges and the will to protect those that are precious to her at all costs. Her love interest at first appears to be an aloof pervert, but Tsukasa comes to understand that he... is an aloof pervert. While he does fall in love with Tsukasa, to protect his clan and life, he is willing to marry someone else. He is also a definate prototype for Ren of Skip Beat!. And in case I forget to mention, this is a bit of a reverse-harem. Not only is she surrounded by men (all her siblings are male, too!), several men do fall in love, both with her female form and when she's disguised as a man.
I did enjoy how different this was from most shoujo manga. It had action, action, romance, action, and a surprising amount of violence for the demographic it's aimed at- and I didn't mind a bit. Well, almost. It came too close to being too formulaic and violent for my tastes, but that's just a personal opinion. Overall, an eight. If you liked this, I do feel that you will like (or at least like comparing it with) her later work Skip Beat!. For female gender-hiding and reverse-harem, go for Ouran High School Host Club. And for incredible amounts of power, action, a little violence, and more reverse-harem, go for Dorothy of Oz. Enjoy!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 18, 2009
I saw this manga at the bookstore, and was intrigued enough by the cover to pick up a volume to give it a try. I must say, it wasn't money wasted... just not put to the amount of enjoyment that I wanted. Don't get me wrong, this manga is definately a ten- if you're around eight years old. That is precisely the age group that this manga was written for.
The plot is typical for a young girl's manga- a bright, bubbly girl as the lead, and two boys competing for her heart. Knowing that it was for young girls didn't make the plotline more palatable-
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I still winced when it became clear very early on who her 'prince' was. The lead's boys are stereotypical, cookie-cutter leads for their roles. One is the bright, friendly, most-loved son oif the family and the other is an angry, argumentative 'black sheep', if they can be called that at their ages. And the Lead Girl? She can cook, and she's nice. Not terribly original- these same concepts have been put to use elsewhere with better results.
Given the legnth of the manga, you don't really get more of their personality. Of course, you also have the standard mean classmates, clueless school administrators, and the lead girl always showing them the light with her cooking. I must say, all the dishes she makes look delishious, but it still doesn't say much when that's the most memorable part of the story.
Do NOT make this the end-all of your manga experience. Use it as a chance to leap into better and better series. If you're looking for good manga that's similar, try Shugo Chara! and Beauty Pop, or if you're a bit older, Chibi Vampire , Ouran High School Host Club, or even Ah! My Goddess. Those do the same story, but with a twist each time and are classics in their own right.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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