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This week’s Manga Minis column looks at three series: Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross, (Viz), a shojo drama from the prolific Arina Tanemura; Kujibiki Unbalance, (Del Rey), a meta-manga that originated in the pages of Genshinken; and Maid in Heaven (Aurora/Deux), a sexy comedy about a young man whose employer insists he wear a frilly maid’s uniform.

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross, Vol. 7

By Arina Tanemura
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: 16+

Boatloads of teenage angst! Overly complicated relationship dynamics! Too much screentone! Yes, Arina Tanemura’s longest series to date is a cloying mess of girl comic. The protagonist—a cheerful doormat by the name of Haine—spends much of the volume embroiled in the horns of moral dilemma as she is forced to choose between the (are you ready?) identical twin boys who are both in love with her. Throw in some obligatory school-trip scenarios and the falling-down-the-cliff romantic catharsis and you’ve got a recipe for one of the most depressingly trite shojo productions to ever reach our shores. It’s the manga take on the sugary cocktail: invitingly drinkable, sickeningly sweet and guaranteed to leave you dismayed and aghast the next morning.

The art, while demonstrating a sound grasp of frilly dresses, wings and ribbons remains mired in the familiar Tanemura problem: too much screentone and stuff going on. The panels are almost claustrophobia-inducing, with polygons and flowers slathered all over anything that moves (and most everything that doesn’t, too). The subjects may be pretty to look at, but Tanemura could stand to strip away several veils of tone and beef up the white space count throughout. She does, however, have shojo staples, and isn’t afraid to bust out plenty of wistful, longing stares, tears and blowing flower petals. Readers who imbibe angsty romances in large quantities will be enraptured; the slightly more jaded, however, will be left laughing at the unmistakably cheesy nature of the whole thing.

Reviewed by Chloe Ferguson

Kujibiki Unbalance, Vol. 1

By Kio Shimoku & Koume Keito
Del Rey, 210 pp.
Rating: Older Teen 16+

If you’re a fan of Genshinken, you know that the principle characters loved a fictional series called Kujibiki Unbalance. Genshinken creator Kio Shimoku later adapted the Kujibiki concept into its own series, now brought to the US by Del Rey.

The book opens with Chihiro Enomoto, a very unlucky boy, entering a new school where everything is decided by drawing a piece of paper called a Kuji. Chihiro’s luck quickly changes as he is picked for presidental candidate and must fulfill tasks to please the current student council. The book is filled with Busty Heroines, Intensive Action and quite a bit of fanservice. It’s largely a book for Genshiken fans, but it is nice to see that Shimoku and Koume Keito didn’t do a half-assed job. The artwork is fairly good, giving all the characters the uniqueness that they deserve. The story is paced well also, never dwelling too long on the task at hand, all while mixing the action and slower moments well. The story, however, is very flat and the characters, while unique, have no depth; they just quietly play out their roles without any real justification. On the whole, Kujibiki Unbalance is a nicely put together piece without the substance to make it the real-world hit that it was in Genshiken.

–Reviewed by Sam Kusek

Maid in Heaven

By Hisami Shimada
Aurora/Deux, 178 pp.
Rating: Mature (18+)

When Midori’s grandmother falls ill, he volunteers to take over her job as a maid. Much to his surprise, his employer, Asagi, turns out to be a darkly handsome young man with an odd fetish: he insists that Midori wear a French maid’s uniform as a condition of employment. Midori’s initial indignation at Asagi quickly gives way to infatuation as he discovers a compassionate streak beneath his employer’s demanding, sadistic façade. Before these two can make sweet love to one another, however, they have a few hurdles to clear, not the least of which is an overzealous butler who takes offense at Midori’s ineptitude. (Not only is Midori a dim bulb, he’s also a klutz, breaking dishes and destroying curtains at a rate that would get most servants canned.)

Maid in Heaven’s overall tone is comedic, abounding in slapstick moments and scenes of interrupted coitus. Though her characters aren’t particularly memorable or, frankly, convincing—how many eighteen year olds run major international corporations?—Hisami Shimada earns points for developing Midori and Asagi beyond their basic uke/seme roles, and for depicting their relationship as consensual. Most of the story is drawn in a cute, shojo-esque style, complete with deformations and sparkly screentones, making the graphic sex scenes feel rather incongruous. Most fujoshi will find Shimada’s tale of master-servant romance too tame for their tastes, though new yaoi fans may find it a good introduction to explicit fare.

–Reviewed by Katherine Daceyen’