Welcome to the February edition of On the Shojo Beat! Jen’s got two reviews in this month’s column—the first is the second and final volume of Kyousuke Motomi’s Beast Master and the second is for the debut volume of Yun Kouga’s josei series Crown of Love. Michelle rounds things out with a look at the ninth volume of Vampire Knight, in which chaos reigns. Enjoy!
By Kyousuke Motomi
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
Leo’s eighteenth birthday is quickly approaching and with it come new dangers and obstacles. After Leo is hit by a car (!), Toki fills Yuiko in on the unusual boy’s past. Basically, Leo stands to inherit the equivalent of $130 million when he turns eighteen. Other members of his late mother’s family are not pleased about this and have spent years trying to track down Leo and kill him. Hence Leo’s unusual upbringing and lack of social skills—he’s been kept safe from these bloodthirsty relatives.
Having failed in their attempt at killing Leo, the relatives then decide to kidnap Yuiko and try to use her to lure Leo out. Leo comes to her rescue, performing admirably despite his broken ribs, only to be attacked verbally once Yuiko gets him calmed down. The beast inside Yuiko isn’t the same as Leo’s. He’s a fighter. He knows how to survive. She’s a creature of confidence and words, and is just as impressive as her friend.
The rest of Beast Master ties up the romance between Leo and Yuiko, bringing a sweet ending to a thoroughly enjoyable story. The remaining 80 pages of the volume are taken up with a short story about a girl, a boy, a cactus, and the ghost of a middle aged woman.
Volume two of Beast Master is available now.
–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar
By Yun Kouga
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
At first it sounds like the setup for another story to throw on the cliché pile. In a chance encounter, aloof high school heartthrob Hisayoshi Tajima bumps into teen idol Rima Fujio on the train while on a school trip. Rima’s beauty strikes Hisayoshi in a way that no other girl has gotten to him before, leading to his immersion in all things Rima. It’s a setup that could turn into another dull entertainment story. Instead, Crown of Love is something darker and more realistic that pokes at the nature of obsession and how far a person will go to get what he wants.
Though he barely meets her, Hisayoshi is quickly fixated on Rima. He’s the son of a male opera singer, a student at a prestigious school known for strong drama and music programs, and has never shown any interest in popular culture before. It all changes because of Rima. He buys her music, watches her on TV programs, and even attends live tapings when he can. He strikes up a friendship with a ten-year-old boy named Shingo Tachibana, a fellow fan of Rima’s, who seems to have a knack for getting near the idol.
Rima, of course, doesn’t really even know that Hisayoshi exists at first. He’s just some good-looking boy that helped her get away from some annoying fans on a train. She’s more focused on the fact that the man who discovered her, Ikeshiba-san, is with her on the train. He was her original manager and she grew attached to him, though she’s now represented by a woman called Hara-san. He doesn’t seem to have time for her anymore.
His inattention grows when Hisayoshi catches his eye during this first meeting. A graduate of Hisayoshi’s school, Ikeshiba talks to one of the teachers to get information on him. He’s a born manipulator, twisting Hisayoshi to his will when he asks if the boy wants to be an idol—if he’s an idol, after all, he could be closer to Rima. Hisayoshi agrees even though he’s an introvert and doesn’t really care about being an idol. He can be closer to Rima. It’s worth it.
The storytelling here is incredible. While it’s darker than I expected and makes me feel vaguely uncomfortable, I can’t help but be invested in these characters. Putting Shingo and his boyish enthusiasm aside, I think Rima is the most sympathetic character. She’s been so manipulated and deprived of affection in her life that there’s something brittle about her, as if she can never quite trust anyone, deep down. Hisayoshi, too, is sympathetic. Yes, he’s falling prey to a growing obsession with this girl. He knows it. He muses on it in his internal monologues, wondering if this one-sided affection could even be called love, though this self-knowledge does not lead to self-restraint. Teenagers are never the best at decisionmaking, and when being egged on by a perpetually smiling adult with some shadowy agenda of his own? Hisayoshi—and possibly Rima—seem to be rushing headlong into disaster.
Volume one of Crown of Love is available now.
–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar
By Matsuri Hino
VIZ, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
After the revelations in volume eight, the world of Vampire Knight goes—please pardon my indelicacy, but this is really the only way to put it—batshit crazy.
Pureblood vampire Rido Kuran (our villain) completes his resurrection and summons his followers to him. Said followers feel no compunction about snacking on the day class students of Cross Academy, so the noble vampires of the night class must protect them. Kaname challenges the vampire senate, Zero gains thorny super powers along with some self-control, Yuki squares off against Rido, and the Hunters Association arrives to exterminate the night class, but is held off by Headmaster Cross and his hunter pal, Toga.
This synopsis might make it seem as if the volume is action-packed, but “incoherent” is actually closer to the truth. I honestly have no idea why half of this stuff is going on. Perhaps it’s because it’s been three months since I read volume eight, but that just goes to show how little of this series is actually memorable beyond its main characters and its prettiness. Zero’s evolution is genuinely interesting, though, and makes for some cool moments near the end of the volume.
The art of this series is usually its best asset, but Hino’s style is far more suited for depicting pretty, angsty vampires than scenes of battle. Many times, I was left puzzled by what was happening—“‘Shunk?!’ What just went ‘Shunk?!’”—and kept confusing Rido and Toga, since they both have wavy shoulder-length black hair and an unruly forelock.
I am left to conclude that Vampire Knight is like a morsel of dark chocolate: its bittersweet taste lingers on your tongue while you’re consuming it, but its impact doesn’t last much beyond that moment.
Volume nine of Vampire Knight is available now.
–Reviewed by Michelle Smith
Review copies provided by the publisher.
Recent Comments