Color me surprised here but this girl just seems too perfect, huh?
In a nutshell, Medaka Box is a manga written by Nisio Isin with artwork by Akatsuki Akira. The author is known for his other famous works such as the Monogatari series that features exclusive dialogues that invites entertainment to readers and manga fans alike. Did Medaka Box achieve entertainment? Well, in some ways yes but in other ways a bit of no. But what it did achieve however is interest and maybe after reading this review, it will spark some interest in you too.
The manga takes place at a school life setting at a location known as the Hakoniwa Academy. It all seems pretty normal with the daily activities and school life themes. In fact, one can hardly tell that there is abnormality at all. However, you might want to change your mind once you meet Kurokami Medaka. As stated before, she is not your normal typical girl. In fact, she is a woman to be both feared and respected. The way she behaves in the manga often puts her on the edge of a superhuman with her achievements and actions. Luckily though, she seems to be using herself to help others which led to the formation of the Student Council. The club's goals features a little tool known as the 'Suggestion Box'. Literally, it's a box that accepts any suggestion from students at the academy. Whether it'd be problems related with parents, school, relationships, or just life in general, Medaka is willing to go about the end of the world to help those in need. Why? Well, I guess it's the root of her personality that makes her dominant and a person who is just willing to help others out of kindness. In fact, every time Medaka helps others, she would rewards herself with a pot of flowers. One day, Medaka hopes that a garden of these flowers will emerge in the academy and truly show her ways of kindness.
The club isn't just run by herself though. If that was the case, she'd be dead tired about now. Luckily, the other members of the club each holds his or her own position to help Medaka with her goal. Among these members includes Medaka's childhood friend Hitoyoshi Zenkichi who reluctantly joined. He is seen as someone who is more aloof and the type who tends to keep to himself. Additionally, there's Kouki Akune who seems to be infatuated with Medaka. His violent past as well as tough personality has given him the title the 'Prince of Judo' and is considered the oldest member of the club. Last but not least is Mogana Kikaijima who plays the role of the school treasurer. Her past is also seemed to be not one of the happiest but her own will as well as obsession with money keeps her going. She eventually joined the club and becomes the treasurer. There you have it, the club. Four members all with different styles and backgrounds formed together with one single purpose: to help out others.
Oh but that's a lot easier said than done.
The problem is that there are people who goes against kindness and lives more on selfishness to fuel their own decisions that results in consequences. For example, there's a group of individuals in the series who tries to operate a secret plan for their own purposes. They ignore the fact that there are consequences while making the claim that it's for the “common good” of the people. The truth is that such a plan will result in collateral damage and only people like Medaka with a heart of gold are able to stop them from their ambitions.
At any rate, the series follows its format of a seemingly chapter-by-chapter daily activities in the beginning. Later on though, the series immediately takes off with full throttle action in the form of battle shounen. Yes, folks, this is considered a battle shounen rather than the typical shoujo or a slice of life story. It takes that genre and often makes exaggerations of it through extended dialogue (curtosey of the author Nisio Isin) and action sequences. Of course, it always tries to poke fun with word play and the action itself here and there. The manga in fact is divided into 9 different story arcs with each of them featuring a different way of presenting the series.
The action in the series itself is balanced but occasionally have problems in being a bit cliched. Additionally, Medaka is somewhat bit of being too overpowered and displays her overwhelming power constantly. This is especially true in the beginning chapters where everything she seems to make everything she does so simple. However, there is a lot of action later on and most of it is presented with a way that a battle shounen should be. Luckily, there are a lot of characters in the series (with more making debuts each and every arc). Some of these characters makes returns and brings interest while making his or her own spotlights for themselves. Examples such as Najimi Ajimu, Youka Naze, Misogi Kumagawa, and Hansode Shiranui make strong impressions in the manga and sometimes or not, outshines Medaka herself. There are also characters who have their own uniqueness that defines them who they are. In essence, there are many characters in this series and each and every one of them plays a type of role to progress the various arcs of the manga.
The arcs themselves aren't meant to be taken too serious though. It's more like one of those excuses where the manga over-exaggerates itself with the comedy and gags. In fact, there are many gags in the this manga such as the dramatic tones, the egos of some of the characters, the catchy poses, and speech mannerisms of some characters. In a way, Medaka Box is one of those manga where if you decide to read it, read it like you're having fun rather than analyzing the battles themselves.
Despite all the fun I had while reading this manga, I did ran into some problems with the pacing as well as the overall conclusion. I guess it's like reading a book and once you get to a certain point, you ask yourself if this is what the author wanted to happen. Among other factors, I find the artwork of the manga to be a bit generic, even for a battle shounen. The way the characters are dressed shows that they are students but more than just your every day kid with his or her head stuck in the books. Rather, most of the characters seemed to dress in an unique fashion but hardly shows anything besides that besides some of the more prominent characters. Medaka also seems to lack any sort of true emphasis behind her character despite being a title character. Throughout the manga though, I did find that her relationship with some of the other members, in particular her childhood friend Zenkichi Hitoyoshi to be more detailed. However, the rest of the club members' relationship with Medaka seems to minimized and sometimes frustrates me.
Overall, this manga is a battle shounen that can be enjoyed at various levels. In many ways, its dialogues and humor will definitely spark some interest. Give it some time though as the first few chapters may seem normal but the later arcs will shift quickly to abnormal. Once that catches your interest, Medaka Box can be a fun read. In every story, every setting, every book or novel, there's always something that stands out. For Medaka Box, it's the fun that never ends with Medaka-chan and her friends.
