Paradise Kiss vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa

I've discovered Ai Yazawa's work through Nana. I picked it up when I saw the first volume in a shop and nobody knew anything about it yet, and quickly became my favourite new manga. Nana has been adapted into an anime series and into a film which was very popular in Japan.
So it was only natural that I would seek out Yazawa's earlier works. Paradise Kiss seems to be the most accessible (meaning that Gokinjo Monogatari, the manga which takes place before Paradise Kiss, is hard to get here).

So what is this story about? The main character is Yukari, a senior student who doesn't know what to do with her life yet. One day, walking in the streets, she's stopped by Arashi, a wild looking guy, with a taste for piercings, spiky hairs and torn clothes. Yukari is so scared by Arashi's appearances that she immediately thinks he wants to rape her or rob her or kill her, or possibly all of the above. But Arashi only wants to offer her a job in the atelier he works in. The atelier is the "Paradise Kiss", an ex bar, hidden away from the main streets, transformed into a studio by a group of fashion students. Initially Yukari feels insulted by them, and turns down their offer. She's too shocked by their alternative and queer looks, but she gradually changes her mind, when she realises how hard these young people work to make their dream come true.
A key-role for this change of attitude is George, a fascinating, charismatic figure who is the real talent of the group.
The rest of the team are Miwako - Arashi's girlfriend - and Isabella - a crossdresser who's a sort of motherly figure for the group.
Needless to say, Yukari will accept the offer, and will fall head over heels for George (although she tries to deny it for the whole book). I mean, how could she not?

(Click to see what I mean)

(oh and did I mention that he has blue eyes and blue hair?)

Anyway...

I was happy to see that a lot of the things that drew me into Nana are also found in Paradise Kiss. The style first of all. Yazawa must be one of the best character drawer ever. Her faces are simply beautiful, with smooth and clear lines.
Her attention to details and to fashion is astounding. This is even more prominent here, being a story which revolves around the fashion world. In this first volume Yukari doesn't wear much other than her school uniform, but the rest of the characters have already shown an incredible variety. Miwako has a different hair-style in every chapter, and even her everyday clothes are fabulous. George's flamboyant elegance is magnetic. And Isabella, she's just so sweet...she should totally have more space.


But this manga is not just about style. The story seems to be equally engaging, with the beginning of a passionate romance, the introduction of some elements of conflicts between three minor characters, that will be interesting to see developing, and of course the new adventure that our heroine Yukari has decided to embrace.
I really can't wait to read the next!

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Honey and Clover vol. 1 - Chica Umino

Reading this has made me realise how much I missed reading manga. From now on I won't make the same mistake and will stop snubbing English-translated manga. I've been missing the same selection we get in Italy of old and new manga, but I can see now that the choice here is not so bad after all :P
Honey and Clover is something I've discovered on the net. I've read many positive reviews and decided to buy from Book Depository despite knowing very little about it.
Three words: it was hilarious!

It's about a group of art students who live in the same building and dream all day of eating meat, because they can't afford to buy it.
There's Morita, who seems to be a girls magnet, although (or because) he's shabby and doesn't care what other people think.
Then there's thoughtful, sensitive and shy Takemoto, who seems to be the main character, although I would be tempted to say that there isn't really one. The story seems to focus slightly more on him, but only slightly.
The third guy is Mayama. He's a senior and seems to be the most serious of the three, but he's hiding a crush on an older woman (as far as I could tell).
The first day of school they meet Hagu, a tiny shy 18-year-old girl, who looks and act a lot younger, but is an extremely talented and well-regarded artist.
Immediately Morita and Takemoto fall in love with her, both in very different ways.

There's so much I liked about this first volume. The humour is exactly the kind that cracks me up. The funny faces, the exaggerations, the taking fun of itself. When Morita compares Hagu to a koropokkur I was in bits (although I had no idea what the hell a koropokkur was and had to look it up, not knowing that there's a very handy glossary at the end of the volume!). While Hagu's facial expressions are constantly priceless.
The style is kind of messy and the lines are not as polished like in other manga I'm used to (see Ai Yazawa's Nana and Paradise Kiss), but it didn't bother me at all. The story was just too funny.
My favourite characters for now are Morita and Hagu, but I'm looking forward to reading more and seeing how the rest of the characters develop.

And now click here to have a look at the scans of Honey and Clover I found! You can get an idea of what I'm talking about:)

I couldn't find any blog reviews, but maybe I'm just tired. Please let me know if you any!


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And now I'd like to talk a little about two awesome website called One manga and AnimeA
They have tons of scans of manga it's almost scary. I don't like reading on the computer, but this is great for having a peek at a manga, maybe reading few pages, and decide if you like it or not.
So, seeing as I mentioned a few manga in one of my previous posts, I'll give you the links to some of them, so you can have a look:)

Click to read the first pages of each manga (all these PG 15+ I'd say)
Oh and they are all read from right to left.
Nana
Video Girl Ai
Vagabond
Ghost in the shell
RG Veda

Not rated:
Nausicaa of the valley of the wind Yay!!! read it! it's my favourite movie (and manga) by Hayao Miyazaki.
Maison Ikkoku
Mars
Ranma

And many more. If I can think of more to recommend I'll post them in my next manga review:)

More Challenges

OK, I like joining challenges but then I don't like following them, feeling obliged to read certain books I decided to read months before. So what I'm going to do is, not choose the books! I'll join the challenges only if it's possible to pick the books along the way.
So far I've picked:

Dewey's Reading Challenge, in memory of Dewey.



We can pick 6 books for each year that Dewey blogged, or 5 books from any year. I've browsed her blog and there's so much to choose from! From my experience is more fun to choose books that I don't already own, and wouldn't have picked, if not for the review. It doesn't help tackling the pile, but it's more fun!
For now I've noticed a couple of books I might want to read, for example Spelldown by Karen Luddy, Misfits by James Howe, Dykes to watch out for and some others.

The second, and last for now, is the Manga Reading Challenge, hosted by Rhinoa.



I have no idea what I'm going to read and that's part of the fun of it. I was an avid manga reader in Italy. Here there isn't such a big selection, so I'll have to search for some good ones, and hope for the best.
As in my comments to Rhinoa's blog, I'd like to suggest a few manga that I've loved in the past, and some others that could be interesting too.

Anything by Rumiko Takahashi is great. She's funny and incredibly inventive. My favourite of hers is Maison Ikkoku. Set in a shared house full of quirky characters, is the story of awkward student Godai, who falls madly in love with the manager of the house, the lovely Kyoko. This manga is a lot about romance and humour and misunderstanding, but in dealing with all this, it shows japanese culture in a way I haven't encountered in any other manga.
There's also an anime of this series, like for most of Takahashi's works. She's one of the most famous mangaka, so if you don't know where to start, I think she's a good introduction.

Another author I've read as a teenager is Masakatsu Katsura, a sort of legend for any manga lover. He's the creator of Video Girl Ai. This manga was so popular in Italy that I remember going to a theatre representation of it! OK it wasn't very good, but it gives you the idea.
The drawings are gorgeous, and kind of erotic too, but not XXX! It's a very tender and romantic story, with elements of science fiction. It's essentially for young adults, although I think anyone should try it at least, because it's a classic.
It's about Yota, a young guy hopelessly in love with Moemi. When he realises that Moemi is in love with his best friend, Yota finds himself in a video store to rent a porn movie and console himself. He ends up taking a video starring a girl called Ai Amano. What Yota doesn't know is that the video is a special one. It contains a Video Girl especially created to cheer up the renter of it, by physically coming out of the video in human form. Unfortunately Yota's vcr is broken so when Ai jumps out of the screen she's not what she should be. First of all she's cranky. But most importantly, she starts feeling emotions towards Yota. Something a Video Girl should never do. If it sounds weird, it is! But it's also incredibly emotional and tender, and it deserves to be discovered.

Another favourite author of mine is Tsukasa Hojo. He's the author of City Hunter, but I'm not mad for it. As a child I loved the anime Cat's Eye, but as a manga, my favourite of his would be "Under the dapple shade". It's the poetic story of a girl who can talk to trees. It's really beautiful, both graphically and storywise. It's not on Amazon but it can be read on-line here. If you can bear to read on a screen, it's absolutely recommended. There's also tons of other manga to read on this website!

Other honorable mentions are: RG Veda by the Clamp. The artwork is fabulous. The story is interesting, but some of the morals of some characters, I think, are questionable, depending on what you make of them.
if you like fantasy comedy, try Those who hunt elves. I should actually look for it as well, cause the series was interrupted in Italy.
For sci-fi and action fans I'd choose Battle Angel Alita . Also Ghost in the shell (although I've only seen the anime), Eden, and obviously Akira (again, never read the manga, should probably pick it myself!)

Right now, I'm really into a manga called Nana. It's still in progress, and since Italy is publishing at the same time as Japan (plus the time for the translation) it's going really slow! I hope I can pick up the latest issue when I go home for Christmas :)
There's a lot of smoking going on but if you manage to bypass that it's kind of addictive. Darla has reviewed the first two issues on her blog. I love the relationship between the two Nanas ( I secretely have a little crush on punk Nana) and right now I'm waiting to see what will happen to their friendship. Ai Yazawa, couldn't you draw and write faster??

For more realistic manga try Mars by Fuyumi Soryo. It's oh so romantic.

Ok I'd better stop here, I'm getting carried away again. Please, if you've read any good manga, feel free to recommend it to me, I'm very open to try anything:)