Things are pretty hectic around here. To give you an idea of how bad it is, I forgot to read my weekly manga chapters for the past 2 weeks! Now that is real bad…especially considering how much I like manga.

Fortunately, I came across a reviewer that was more than happy to write for That’s Reviewed. He hails from a distant country, but mysteriously, is good at writing in English. He goes by the nickname Kidijs. Despite the letter ‘K’ in the front of both of our names (mine being pronounced like the letter ‘K’), he is not my alter ego…

I decided to have him come aboard, firstly to help me out while I’m doing my projects and secondly, to bring a variety of review types to the table. That’s Reviewed was supposed to be a collection of reviews about different topics and products, but so far I’ve only written about manga (cause I like them, alright?).

Kidijs first review should be popping up sometime tomorrow. I think his reviews will start showing up more steadily as time progresses.

There may not be any reviews for awhile…I’m busy doing some documents for projects and it’s bleeding into my free time. It’s all good because it is temporary; at least I think it is…

I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can start writing reviews again, but hopefully it won’t be too long.

You guys should watch the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson (the guy who voiced the father in Fallout 3…also the bad guy in Batman Returns). Pretty intense…though the ending was a bit, well, sudden.

Summary:

A year before the start of the story, a UFO crash lands into Tokyo Bay. The aliens that were in the UFO looked almost exactly like human beings. Beautiful, talented, and friendly, they were accepted by humans and called DearS. Unfortunately, there was more to these new friends than it would seem. A year after the crash, Japan, the DearS’ host country, was getting ready to integrate some of the DearS into their schools as part of a Home-Stay program. Takeya Ikuhara, a normal Japanese high school student, doesn’t really care about the whole ‘DearS phenomenon’ and just takes life as it comes. Even though his high school is one of those selected to host a DearS, he’s not that excited about it. However, as he is walking home, he saves a girl from getting run over by a truck. She happens to be a DearS who escaped and has no idea about Earth culture. She kisses Takeya and ‘imprints’ herself onto him. Takeya doesn’t know the significance of this act, but this DearS has just chosen him as her Master.

Review:

This story revolves around a stranded group of aliens called DearS. In particular, it focuses on a DearS named Ren and a Japanese high school student named Takeya Ikuhara. The premise is pretty simple, and I really don’t want to spoil it for you guys, but it may be necessary to give a more accurate overview of the story. If you don’t want to be spoiled, even if it is just a little, I would recommend skipping to the last paragraph of this review. I’ll try not to mention anything there, but I can’t promise.

So going into a little bit more detail about the story, basically the DearS train to be slaves. They are genetically created to want to serve Masters. However, they try to hide the fact that they are made to be slaves because humans tend to disdain slavery. They are also a proud race, and therefore, they train very hard to make good impressions on the humans that are hosting them. With that being said, Ren, an escaped ‘defective’ DearS, is a big issue. However, Ren shows them something that is radically different than what they are used to. A DearS choosing their own Master; also known as the Gift.

The story uses this premise to shape the relationship between Ren and Takeya, which ultimately impacts the DearS and the humans. Though the story could’ve dragged on in parts, or even gone in a bad direction, the story holds out nicely and ends up being an interesting read. There are some slight inconsistencies, but they seemed more like elements that weren’t thoroughly thought through until later in the series. The story doesn’t have a serious overtone, but isn’t overly lighthearted either. I’m not sure what type of story this is exactly, but it focuses mainly on relationships (primarily the main characters) and how the differences between the two species can affect these relationships. The story is pretty consistent and, as I stated before, it is an interesting read.

The series is rated for teenagers and up (13+). This is a pretty accurate rating because of the intensity of the situations (or lack of) and the mild ecchi-ness. These are pretty much stuff that a typical teenager may run into, well minus the whole alien thing.

I’m not sure what type of art this would fall under. I’m trying to think in terms of shounen and shoujo art style. It is elegant and wispy, but not to the extreme of a typical shoujo manga. It really is nice art; in fact, I almost wrote ‘gorgeous’ in there, but I wouldn’t go that far. It probably leans more towards an elegantly drawn shounen manga than a shoujo manga. Either way, it’s nice. The character design is pretty good, and it seems the author attempts to really give the characters nice clothes (or at least, interesting ones). The background art is not awesome in any definition of the word, but it does help tell the story. There is this one scene where a room was filled with stuffed animals and frills. That looked painful to draw, but it turned out great.

Overall, this story is pretty simple and won’t become a classic. Then again, I’ve read stuff that people consider classic, and it makes me want to look up the definition in the dictionary to make sure I’m using the same one as everyone else. Off topic: don’t mind me, I just finished reading a so called classic and it was painful! I’ll probably write about it in the near future. In any case, DearS is worth a read. It’s focused and gets the job done in a couple volumes. Also, it’s pretty relaxing to read because of the lack of crazy plots and subplots. The lack of overly painful relationships also makes this a relaxing read. If you can get it cheap or from the library in a complete set, it would be worth your time.

Chrono Crusade is a shounen manga series with action, adventure, fantasy, and a dash of sci-fi.

Summary:

It’s the Roaring 20’s in America, right after World War I and before the Second World War. An organization of Demon hunting priests and nuns called the Magdalan Order are busy dealing with Demons trying to come through the borders. Enter Rosette Christopher and her Demon partner, Chrono. Despite being a Demon himself, Chrono is faithful to his partner Rosette and together they hunt Demons who torment the human world. This relationship may be in part due to the contract made between Chrono and Rosette, but it probably is due to the emotional bond these two shares. Things start stirring and it feels like something big is about to happen. How strong is the bond between these two different beings?

Review:

Wow. I’ll save you from reading the rest of this review; this series was great! Going in, I wasn’t expecting it to be more than your average manga series. I’m glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The story centered around Rosette and Chrono as they made their way to find Rosette’s brother, Joshua. There was hardly any filler content in the story. Most of the events built the story up and lead to an intense crescendo. The pacing was very good as well. I had trouble putting the mangas down after the first few chapters. The narration may seem a little weird at first, and some of the way some of the flashbacks are portrayed as well. You may brush this off as typical inconsistency, until you hit the end. I don’t want to give it away by going in to detail, but it will be a pleasant surprise. Also, I’ve heard that the anime’s story line did not really follow the manga’s. So, if you’ve watched the anime, you may want to re-visit this series through the manga.

This series is rated for teens (13 and above), and for the most part, that is probably the correct rating. However, there is some nudity (non-frontal) and there are also some violent situations depicted in detail. Other than that, there isn’t much that would throw the given rating into question. The story may contain some disturbing elements, but it’s a stretch to say it’ll affect the reader. Also I’m not sure if this was clear from the summary or the rest of the review, but the series has a lot of supernatural and fantasy elements.

The art is pretty typical, which led to my earlier assumption of this series being an average manga series. The art style is probably close to the late 90’s to maybe around 2004-2006 styled art. That’s not saying it is bad, in fact it is pretty decent. The character and prop design are interesting, but not overly dramatic. The scenery art is pretty good and gets even better towards the end. Nothing earth-shattering, but still it is a good art style that flows with the storytelling and doesn’t detract from it.

As I stated at the beginning of this review, I liked it. I’m pretty picky about mangas and stuff, and that doesn’t even take into account the type of flow and consistency the story has. So with that being said, I think this is one of the most balanced mangas I’ve read in a long while. The balance of story, art, pacing, consistency, and even character design and interactions make this a great read.

Summary:

In the future, monsters, hybrids, and mutants take over as the dominant species and humans are on the verge of extinction. They don’t seem too worried about it though. Society has changed dramatically, leaving the catching of criminals to bounty hunters. Enters Natsuki Sasahara, a half-cat half human hybrid bounty hunter just taking life one step at a time. Natsuki is joined by an eclectic cast of friends whom she meets through interesting circumstances. Watch Natsuki and friends journey through life in a not-as-grim-as-it-sounds future.

Review:

In Hyper Police, the backdrop is nothing more than a stage for the characters in this story. The whole bounty hunter and humans living with monsters premise feels like it was supposed to be something more, but relegated to a lesser role. Really, this manga series is more about a group of friends whose lives you get to be a part of for awhile. It may be a bunch of weird, horny, and funny friends, but then again that’s what makes it so interesting. All in all, if you’re expecting a story that builds up to a crescendo and goes out with a bang, this isn’t for you. This is a story you enjoy without all the complications of plots and sub-plots. Usually I wouldn’t go for a story like this, but it worked out well.

Though the series has a recommended rating of older teens and above, there aren’t a lot of mature situations. There is nudity, but it isn’t gratuitous. Also, there are implied sexual encounters (mating season anyone?), but I don’t remember them being depicted. A manga series like Hyper Police that incorporates bounty hunting would usually have more gruesome violence. This series does depict fights and whatnot, but the gore is not excessive. I should probably mention that this manga is kind of ecchi, though it’s not too bad and (usually) doesn’t push it too far. I would still stick to the older teen rating, but keep in mind that some of the content falls within acceptable range. What is considered acceptable really depends on your personal tolerance level and preferences.

I must admit, the art is different than your run-of-the-mill manga. I would like to say it is more detailed, but that wouldn’t be entirely correct. There are some of situations where the details are a bit scant. I think there seems to be an added sense of depth in the artwork, but I’m not sure what really contributes to it. Though some of it is cartoony, it still has a bit of weight to it. It works out well, especially considering the type of atmosphere this world is set in.

The backdrop and art style makes you wonder if the artist/author wanted to take this into a certain direction. You would think this is a really serious, dark manga series, but it’s not. I’m not a fan of those random story type mangas or those with excessive comedy (especially when it’s done badly), but I think Hyper Police ended up giving me a good balance. No aspect went overboard, but it wasn’t an uninteresting read. Going through this manga series made me feel like I was hanging out with a group of friends and enjoying life with them. If you read as much manga as I do, this will be a welcomed break from the more complex stories that most mangas sport. It was a good read.

Ceres, Celestial Legend, also known by its Japanese name, Ayashi no Ceres is a shojo manga (or shoujo manga) that progresses through normalcy and tragedy, then ending in romance. This series is written and illustrated by Yuu Watase, who also wrote and illustrated Fushigi Yuugi.

Summary:

Aya Mikage lived a normal high school life with her twin brother Aki until the day of their 16^th birthday. When attending a family ritual for their birthday, a strange occurrence happens and Aya turns into Ceres, a Celestial Maiden. Ceres has vowed to destroy the Mikage family. The relatives turn on Aya/Ceres to kill her and stop the rampage, but Aya manages to slip away. Confused and conflicted, she determines to find out about Ceres, the Mikages, and how to save her twin brother.

Review:

At the start of the story, things look normal, but that changes pretty quick. The main character, Aya Mikage is thrown into chaos and confusion. The reader will definitely feel it as well. As the series progresses, you will find different bits come together to give the reader a general idea of what went on in the past and why events are shaping a certain way in the present. Unfortunately, towards the ending part of the series, the story starts displaying inconsistencies or forced connections to tie everything together. Though it did answer questions in the end, it wasn’t necessarily very satisfying. It seems they had to bend some of the connections introduced throughout the series in order to make things connect. I like keeping the continuity throughout a manga series, so this was sort of a downer for me. I’m not sure if the series started losing focus, but it seemed that the story started morphing into more of a love story than anything else. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it may not be what people sign up for when they start reading the story. It could be that the whole beginning half of the story was a stage for the romance in the later part of the series. Though the story is decent, the ending did leave a bad after taste when I put the final volume down. It almost seemed anticlimactic. Overall, the story had quite a few interesting points, but seemed to lose focus as it progressed.

The series description I saw, which I assumed was the official description, gave the impression that this was a romantic horror comedy. That’s not entirely accurate, but it’s not inaccurate either; let me explain a little more. Even though the description implies it has horror elements, it is a stretch to say it could qualify to be in the horror genre. There may be some elements that are a little disturbing, or other elements that are horrible, but I’m not sure if it really is enough to say it is part of the horror genre. The comedy is not overbearing, which for me is a plus. Most of the comedic situations were probably close to real life situations, but exaggerated a bit. As for the romance part, it isn’t one of those series where the main character could not settle on one person to love, so it wasn’t extremely painful to watch. Though the romantic part of the story got more attention towards the end, it wasn’t that bad. Be warned though, there are quite a few mature situations and subjects that are present, as well as some nudity and sex/sexual situations. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this series for just older teens and above, but I wouldn’t feel too comfortable telling anyone below the age of fourteen to read this.

The art is decent and seems to follow the typical shojo manga style. As mentioned, there is nudity, but it is not glaring. Most of the time, the important parts are covered. Even though there are sex scenes depicted in the story, it is not explicit or pornographic in nature. Surprisingly, it is used artfully to progress the story. The violence isn’t grotesque, but it does show digits and limbs being cut off quite frequently; there is also blood.

Overall, I thought it was an okay series. It had some interesting elements and tie ins. Plus it brought together mysteries from the past and situations in the present into a coherent story. The story flow did feel a bit unfocused or even rushed, but it wasn’t painful to read through. I must admit though, I was somewhat disappointed by the ending. Ceres, Celestial Legend / Ayashi no Ceres probably won’t be one of my favorite mangas, but it certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve read.