Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya

Nodame Cantabile Vol. 25 by Tomoko Ninomiya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nodame Cantabile is a manga that could become a classic.
I read the whole story, 25 numbers, just rushing through every volume, fascinated by the setting and the characters.
The setting is a bit peculiar: the protagonists are students of a musical university. Classical music is what keeps all of them together. Nodame and Shiniki are the main protagonists and their love story starts and continue in a rather unpredictable manner, drown in small hilarious scenes that gives a realistic depth to them.
The characters are not drown in a very fancy way, despite that it is a modern style that is light and gives space to some little fashion touch. I think what is the most amazing part of the drawings is the details about the instruments, which are incredibly accurate and beautiful.
There are many characters that are presented in the story, but despite that one doesn't get too disoriented, on the other hand, it was nice to have some variation.
There were some chapters that had a bit slower pace than others, with a tiny tendency to be a bit too repetitive. Luckily, there were also many unexpected events that gave energy to the whole plot.
I really enjoyed reading Nodame Cantabile. It made me goes back on when I was studying at the conservatory and it made me realize how much I have missed playing the piano and how much beautiful the classical music can be. Not only, the passion and stubborness that characterizes all the characters made them admirable and inspired me.
Pity though that the last two volumes were focusing too much on the Opera and too little on Nodame and Shiniki. After all, after so many volumes, one would have expected a bit more classical ending, an official proposal, maybe a kid, or at least, the concert done together.
I would definitely recommend this manga, for the interesting story, but also for the humoristic side of it and for opening the doors to the world of the classical music, which is too often left just for a bunch of elite people.

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Claudine, by Riyoko Ikeda

クローディーヌ・・・! by Riyoko Ikeda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For how wonderful the drawings are, I think the main story of this volume, Claudine, is a bit too quickly defined. Too many events happened in a too short time and the role of some characters is unclear.
Unfortunately, I think that the story lacks originality and the right story telling for being interesting, but one surely get caught and remained fascinated by how beautiful the drawings are.
In the same style are the two other short stories that follow Claudine. They are connected to one of Ikeda's main manga, Orpheus. The story development is as always full quite tragic events, though differently from Claudine, I did enjoy them more.
I was also very surprised by the final touch given to the story, which with a little bit of humour makes up for all the gloomy and serious tone. I thought at first that was a bit ouf of place, considering the general mood in which the stories were set, but then I realized that it was an excellent way to break the desolation and lead the plot development to a lighter path.
For all the Ikeda's fans I think this is a nice way to admire her beautiful drawings and read, once again, about such desperate lovestories. However, I can easily understand that they would be considered average by an "average" reader and that he could be put off track by the main themes of such stories. In Claudine, as in Versailles no Bara, we have a girl who is struggling with her sexuality, but here it is obvious that she has no intention to be like a girl and on the other hand wants to be like her father.
In the short stories connected to Orpheus, we have the unhappy relationships where two brothers end up falling in love, without being aware of their kinship.
Though, this is nothing so out of line to read in Ikeda's stories (or in many shojo manga).

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Marine Blue no Kaze ni Dakarete, by Ai Yazawa

Marin Burū No Kaze Ni Dakarete n. 4 by Ai Yazawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is definitely far from the most known Ai Yazawa's works, especially for what concerns the plot quality.
It is clear that it is one of her earlier works, since the drawing is very different from what we are used to, said this though it doesn't mean that it is bad or unpleasant, on the other hand, it is still not close to the more traditional style and the character expressions are beautiful depicted.
Though, the characters are not that enjoyable according to me. The protagonist whines and flees from feelings and situations for 3/4 of the story, she is not showing any great quality and she definitely thinks too much - although, finally, she steps up and develop a little.
The male main characters are almost immaculate, they are shown as heroes, there are no big weaknesses in them. Even their rivary is too good to be true. It is also questionable to think, in my opinion, that these young teenagers are reasoning around their "problems" as adults and I think this makes the story lacking the freshness that it should be associated considering the title of it.
Moreover, I have noticed that the first two numbers were nicer than the last two, where the plot becomes pretty trivial and there is no big excitement around the events. I thought at the end the story, which started instead with the right food, was quite dull and boring. Luckily, it was just 4 books :-)


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Neon Genesis Evangelion & Fate/Stay Night

Neon Genesis Evangelion #24 by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I honestly do not understand the big fuzz around Evangelion.
It is surely a complex story, with clean drawings and an impressive setting, however, I find the plot lacking the proper bite that would have made me more interested and some passages are definitely too slow or too heavy.
The introspective part (considering also the characters' age) as well as the absurdity of the motives behind some of their decisions were too ridiculous in my eyes.
Possibly because I have never watched the anime, but just read the manga (which has been published quite slowly), but I have found hard to make a sense of all the story and some details have made me very confused.
I must confess I have not really got a proper grasp of the whole background or what has happened at times. I would have appreciated a linear plot, although I know it is quite common that in this sci-fi manga, the world elements as well as the history provide a usually interesting depth, despite being not always clarified properly.
Maybe watching the anime will make me reevaluate and understand better the world of Evangelion? I do not exclude giving it a chance, but as for the manga, I haven't been impressed.

Fate/Stay Night n. 20 by Datto Nishiwaki
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the few manga based on a videogame that I really fully enjoyed when reading it.
I enjoyed the drawing style, even during some of the combats (when I usually lose myself and do not understand what is happening) and I mainly enjoyed the plot and the setting.
The story is interesting and the fact that there is mentioned something happening 10 years in the past, doesn't leave the reader completely confused (also because there is a manga focusing on what had happened then!).
Despite the fact that the action take place with a quite intense pace, there are pauses which gives the possibility to enjoy some more comical moment as well as more reflective or romantic atmosphere.
I do not know how much is really taken from the videogame plot, but the story develops unvealing mysteries and parts of the background, in a very strategic way. I did get slightly confused with the role of some characters, but despite that the whole setting is built in a very intelligent matter.
The role of the heroes, the mechanices behind the Graal battle and how history and modern times are connected makes everything pleasant and intriguing so much that I could think of reading everything again, if I had the possibility, to spot new details and understand even better everything.
The characters are also far from being trivial (and they could easily be flat being taken out from a game) and, despite some minor over-reflective parentheses, they leave some a good memory behind them.

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Sakamichi no Apollon (Jammin' Apollon) by Yuki Kodama

Sakamichi No Apollon: 10 by Yuki Kodama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How this manga has developed during the 10 volumes has not always been having the same "quality". Some chapters have been very well written, while some others have been a bit boring and less intriguing.
I thought that the most interesting aspect of the story was the setting. It is the first time that I read something set during the 60s and, although the historical aspect is just brushed, both the drawing and the story per se' got a very nice patina thanks to such choice (or maybe the other way round).
The characters are another strong aspect of this work; they are not exactly trivial, they are very complex and what I believe emerges very clearly is how each of them (especially the three main protagonists) needs each other in order to develop or to be more complete.
Despite this, the favorite part of the story is the one involving Jun and Yurika, even though it is just a minor story which however plays an important role in order to get a proper start to the main plot.
If the definitive end of the story lacks some originality, there are some nice elements of surprise which were pleasant to find in a quite classical plot.


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Thermae Romae by Mari Yamazaki

Thermae Romae VI by Mari Yamazaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The idea behind this manga is just quite absurd, but when one read the six volumes, one can't complain about it. Infact, it is for that reason that the story and the characters are just funny and it is a pleasure to read something that could have become deadly boring if written in the wrong way.
Lucius Modestus is definitely too serious and too humble of his own good, but possibly for his devotion to Rome and its empire, he ends up having an incredible role in its development.
He ends up travelling both in time and space reaching modern Japan and discovering incredible things that could improve the experience in the thermae.
I think it makes sense that a Roman citizen who is interested in thermae would end up in a modern Japan where still there is a strong culture around bathing.
The comparison becomes also quite hilarious, although I think the real reaction of a Roman observing our life would be much stronger than Lucius'.
The first two volumes are a bit mechanic and could be described as a collection of short stories with the same pattern. Lucius is troubled, he ends up bathing, while bathing something happens for which he finds himself in Japan. He explores the environment there and he brings back to Rome some new ideas which would be considered revolutionary.
The last two - three volumes instead are difference since Lucius is stuck in Japan and we can see how his life is there and who he meets. The story becomes a bit more interesting and less ripetitive.
Still, everything is described in a very humoristic way, but pity enough there is a lack of explanation on certain events (why can Lucius travel time-space wise?) and there is no big character's development.
Surely, what strucked me the most were the drawings, the care for the details and the historical accuracy. It is an impressive work and it is also very pleasant to read the author's comments between a chapter and another.
Now, it is time to watch the two movies where Lucius is the protagonist!

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Tales of Symphonia, by Hitoshi Ichimura

Tales Of Symphonia: Extra Load by Hitoshi Ichimura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven't been playing the role playing game, neither the videogames. Without background, I find myself reading a fantasy manga which is drawn in a neat and classical style.
The story is pleasant enough but weak in few spots. Luckily, it doesn't become mechanic and losing the tempo in ripetitive details which would characterize the mission the characters are involved into. However, the rythm is not always constant and there are moments where the story is slightly aground.
What I enjoyed the least where the characters. No one of them turned out to be a revolutionary surprise and no one of them did develop in some unexpected manner.
But possibly, the fact that the setting is surely not Tolkien's word doesn't help the characters to acquire a needed depth.
The final chapter of the story could have been more conclusive. The "Extra load" volume could have been left unwritten, or if needed, it should have actually helped out in filling the missing story parts if written in a more considerate way: it seems the author didn't want to write it and was in hurry to get rid of it.


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Twinkle Stars by Natsuki Takaya

星は歌う 11 by Natsuki Takaya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first impression I got when reading Twinkle Stars (Il Canto delle Stelle, in italian) was not very positive.
I thought it was one of the usual school-set love story between incredibly unlucky characters, that casually do not have a normal family situation.
Well, those are for sure the premises of such story and one can't deny it. For being teenagers, these kids have gone through very heavy hardships.
On top of that, there is the "silly" passion for the stars, which doesn't seems to have any specific role in the story, than a tiny spark that connects some characters together. In reality, there is little said about that and there is not so much to say about it - it doesn't give so much input neither to the story nor to the characters, according to me.
But, finally, when the story was approaching the end, I saw its beauty: the characters per se and how they develop, learning to deal with issues and with relationships. It is also at that point that the main point of the whole story emerges, what is love, true love, and how to give happiness to somebody.
It turns out to be a very touching story, that made me believe again in the kind of love that one is dreaming about. The characters are very different from each other and they have clear weaknesses that are not hidden, but complete the portrait of each of them.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was the character of Se-Chan, that without any filter, behaves as she really wants and is giving a big touch of humour to the whole story/plot/scenes.
It was a pleasure to read this manga, although its slow start, also thanks to very expressive drawings.
A story for everyone that needs to see some great happy ending.

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Tiger Man, by Ikki Kajiwara

L'uomo tigre vol.15 by Ikki Kajiwara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tiger Man is one of the most classical serie I know.
The protagonist is an unlucky orphan. He decides to devote his life to the ones like him, by doing what he has been learning to do: wrestling.
His path is filled with episodes where he will show his true self and he will grow as a person, and as a hero. He will be surrounded by true friends, who he will try to abandon because he doesn't want to reveal his true identity. And his true identity will remain hidden until the very end.
It is surely not a realistic story (sometimes it is very much overdriven, as many mangas are), but its highlight are the high moral and the peculiar subject.
Wrestling is surely not the most popular sport, although it has been having quite some followers in some time period, but this manga manages to put the reality (with real wrestlers) and fantasy in a intricated pattern.
It could have been a very trivial manga: meeting at every episode "the evil of the day", however, although there are these less eventful episodes, the story is still told without resulting too boring or ripetitive.
The Italian edition is enriched with small articles about wrestling, the "real" Tiger Man and gives to the reader a deeper understanding.


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Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden, by Yuu Watase

Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 12 by Yuu Watase
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although strongly connected to Fushigi Yugi, Genbu Kaiden manages to be a perfectly stand-alone story where natural associations to the older story are seldom popping up.
In this case, I believe that this prequel exceeds not only the reader expectations (since it has been written after the "sequel") but also the sequel itself.
Finally, the author is getting better in telling such stories: in 12 volumes one can read what happens to the Genbu's priestess without getting involved into too much unnecessary finery and the action doesn't lag in time repeating itself into some strange loop.
The last two volumes could have possibly be compacted in one, skipping some extra drama steps that seemed to me too forced, though.
The strongest points that made this reading endearing are a couple:
1)the presence of a great heroine (sometimes though, too much of an heroine too little of a real human being). A strong female character, Takiko, who is determinated, gentle, loving and grows out of her initial troubles. Sometimes a martyr, though, but possibly this is a trait that makes her perfect to be Genbu's priestess, afterall.
2)the love relationship between the two main characters, Takiko and Rimdo/Uruki. It is very beautifully depicted and, although it develops possibly a bit too fast, it is not the only moving force that makes the action go, but, even though it is central, it surrounds the action more than driving it.
Certainly, I might have been changing the end, if I would have been the mangaka, but I can't deny it somehow fits the plot.

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Happy New Year!

In reality this should have been a "Merry Christmas" post, but Christmas flew in a butterfly flap and I have also not managed to create a proper post about Christmas' Eve dinner and Christmas lunch and... Well, hopefully they will soon come :-)

Laputa

Kiki's delivery service

Nausicaa 

During 2013, a big Alphonse Mucha's exhibition took place in Japan. I guess as tribute to him and as celebration of such an event, some Miyazaki's masterpiece has been "posterized" as a Mucha artwork.
You can read more about all the art in this article.
Thanks to Mattias' Christmas present, we have now three of them ready to take place in our house!

Fruits Basket, by Natsuki Takaya

Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition Volume 12 by Natsuki Takaya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Despite some imperfections, Fruits Basket deserves to be considered (by me) a masterpiece.
What could appear to be a trivial romantic scholastic comedy, turned out to be a very deep story, that touches many interesting levels. Or at least, I have interpreted the different themes in a specific way: the constant sensation of being imperfect and never appreciated by the parents, the fear of being alone and not being accepted and the courage required to connect with other people and on the other hand, also positive subjects as friendship, forgiveness, acceptance and growing up.
Possibly, the way I am describing doesn't make justice of the whole story as such, but all the characters are very interesting and unique and it is incredibly easy to think that it'd be great to find a "Toru" in your life.
The story mixes a lot of drammatic moments, with some that are incredibly hilarious to instead others that are just carrying the story on.
The tempo is always quite high and, despite the 12 volumes of this edition, it doesn't get neither boring nor repetitive.
There are though few confusing things: a little bit too many characters which sometimes are drawn very similarly to each other - hence it becomes quite hard to recognize one or the other; the insertion of the school commitee element, which is very confusing at the beginning and gets away quite a lot from the main plot: this introduces a bit too many elements that are possibly not fully related and makes things a bit too complicated (although it is clear that the whole part is used as an excuse to introduce a couple of characters), and definitely the finale, where something about Toru's mother's death is revealed, but it is nothing that I was considering worthy to write, at that point.
Finally, I think it is very nice to notice how beautiful the drawings in the final chapters are, a real evolution from the beginning, although some strips are a bit confusing in the whole story and they need to be read with extra attention.
In general, this is a manga that just needs to be read (indipendently from your gender) and that transmits a lot of feelings and emotions. It is very nice to see that also today it is possible to find great stories like this one.

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Koronde Pokkle, by Yumiko Igarashi

Koronde pokkle vol.3 by Yumiko Igarashi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Of course the most remarkable aspect of Koronde pokkle are the drawings. When you see Igarashi's name on something you know that you will get that granted.
But for how pleasant the drawings are, the story lacks some deepness and a hunch of realism.
We know that most of the shojo portrays young girls living experiences that more mature ones would instead live, but I think it would be enough for this specific manga to change the target from "junior high school" to "high school". I find it so absurd to see a girl around 11-12 planning to open a shop and achieving that by giving love suggestions to her classmates!
However, a dream is a dream and that is the main spark for which the characters are fighting and it is clear that without a goal in life, one can't get that far away.
As in all the most classical shojo, also the characters that were creating some obstacles, turn out to be good and finally find their own path, that happening in parallel with the main character finding happiness.

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Sakuragaki, by Yu Watase

Sakuragari: 3 by Yuu Watase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Initially, I thought that this was nothing extraordinary, but maybe because I didn't like the harsh parts of the story as well as I thought it was a bit too much to digest.
If in a way I didn't want to read this, on the other hand I couldn't let the manga in peace until I could find how the story would end.
There are so many relevant themes that are highlighted that one could drown into them considering also their weight and how bluntly they are exposed to the reader. However, the drawings - the classical Watase style, fresh and delicate, despite the story - and the characters constitute the key point in parallel with discovering all the truth behind the events.
The setting is also impressive, although one could claim it is not perfectly accurate, however it is clear that there is an historical effort and it is very interesting to see how the background is actually impacting characters and events.

I didn't expect this to bring up though yaoi elements, however, I would possibly consider this manga an exception if labelled so. I could think it is in some sense close to how some shojo manga are instead developing.

If it wouldn't be for the too much violence, I would have rated this higher, however, sometimes I think it was just exaggerated.

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Bunbetsu to Takan, by Hina Sakurada

Bunbetsu to Takan by Hina Sakurada
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From the title and the reviews I had read I was actually expecting something else, more in line with the italian title of the publication (Sense and Sensibility).
However, I found a typical modern manga, or better a collection of stories, where the main one has as characters very young teenagers who live more grown up experiences.
Although the themes (temptation, reason and logic, passion) are interesting I think the story could have been a bit less "superficial", as it has been put it feels that everything is just an adolescent whim.
The other stories are nothing extraordinary: I always think that such short stories have to be extraordinary or they will be too quick to bring anything relevant to the reader.
Despite this, I must admit that the drawings were very nice (even though I am usually not that fond of the modern shojo style) and one of the things I enjoyed the most was the emphasys that was put on the facial expressions.


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Body & Soul, by Erica Sakurazawa

Body & Soul, Tome 2 by Erica Sakurazawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is nice to read something that it is not the usual: meet-a-guy/impress him/have-a-lot-of-doubts/deal with it and all the hobstacles/happy-ending.
This is mainly about the development of the protagonist and, in my opinion, the highlighting of how "today" is and how it affects people, and especially women.
People do not find the cause of their problems: they just try to find patches that can temporarily making feel them better. But it doesn't work, the body and the soul will pay for all these mistakes.
And, in this manga, this is reflected in the wrong relationships carried on by the protagonist as well as how to deal with common health issues.
The manga is targetting mainly women, but I think it could be enjoyed by a younger reader and even a man, although I would think that he would find some things a bit silly and ridiculous.
The drawings are quite modern, they reminded me of "Kimi wa pet", but slightly less sophisticated and detailed.
I enjoyed both the story, as well as the "recommendations" (or suggestions) proposed at the beginning of each chapter, although there was a bit too much obsession towards "sweating" (!).
It was maybe very simplified that finally the protagonist, Miku, gets enlightened and find that all the things said to her were actually correct, but it shows also her way to find her indipendence from her fear to be alone.
The manga takes place in just two volumes and it is perfect, since it doesn't have the time to become too boring or too ripetitive.

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Lady! by Yoko Hanabusa

Lady Vol. 12 by Yoko Hanabusa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember watching this anime when I was small, but I saw just some episode there and then and I was never hooked by it (there were already too many cartoons with tragedies/sad stories/poor protagonists around!), also possibly due to a bad adaptation.
I decided though to buy the manga since I wanted to know how the story really was and I thought I'd like it, as I usually like "old" manga.
In fact, I was not disappointed by it, even though there is not an enormous (or unexpected) development of the characters.
The plot is surely nothing very revolutionary. There are big hints on how things will turn out and there are plenty of hobstacles that will be solved very elegantly by the "heroes" of the story.
As one might guess, certain characters from being very surly or spiteful will turn out nicer and nicer, reminding me of some of Candy Candy villains.
However, the drawings are very nice (or in line with my expectations) and the story is catchy enough to not becoming too boring or ripetitive, ending with a positive, but open finale without concluding it without falling into obviousness.
For the ones nostalgic as I, this is surely something that deserves attention!

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Fostine, by Chieko Hara

Fostine Vol. 4 by Chieko Hara
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What stroke me most of this story is surely the energy that the protagonist is constantly irradiating.
Folie is a gypsy, but since from the very beginning it is clear that she has something different and, in fact, her destiny will be to not follow the gypsy path for very long.
There are clear hints on how the main points of the plot will develop and that makes the story a bit trivial and lacking some good twist. But possibly, it is also like this since this is an extremely classical shojo manga.
The drawings are amazing and that is in perfect style with what we know Chieko Hara can do, but the lack of originality also in how the characters develop makes this manga less mordant then one could wish.
If it was not for the fact that it is a Chieko Hara's work, one could think that it is absolutely ok to not purchase it!

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Poe no Ichizoku, by Moto Hagio

Poe no Ichizoku 3 by Moto Hagio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading this manga, I was very confused. The story didn't seem to make too much sense except it was a story about vampires.
However, the more I read the more I got entangled in the story and the fact that it is narrated without respecting the chronological order of the facts gives another dimension to it (although, sometimes, it gets a bit hard to understand all the references and to remember all the characters).
Some of the stories are a bit cryptic and made me a bit puzzled because I didn't understand the role of it, althoug it is an obvious step in the more general story, which is unvealed mostly in the last two chapters.
The beauty of the drawings and the way the vampires are depicted are the key components of this manga, which is a precursor to so many vampire stories, and the fact that this is written by a Japanese makes it even more impressive.
I also enjoyed the historical references that are spread there and then and that helps the reader feeling the difference between a human and the immortal vampire.
In the Italian edition there were also some small paragraphs written by different people and, some of them, gave the opportunity to get a deeper understanding of the story.
I can easily recommend to read this manga, especially if one is fascinated by vampires, but it is not a prerequisite for enjoying it.

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Hime-Chan no Ribbon Colourful, by Shiho Komiyuno

Hime-Chan No Ribbon Colourful vol.4 by Shiho Komiyuno
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Making a remake of an incredible popular comic is surely a mission impossible. I really wonder where the idea for doing this, in this case, came from.
Not that this manga per se' is horrible, but making a comparison with the original is just natural.
Unfortunately, this remake lacks much of the charm that made Hime-Chan No Ribbon almost a masterpiece.
The story is set in "modern times" and the plot has slightly changed, but also the characters, although the main points are the same between the two stories.
The drawings are very modern and they are not too bad, but the characters result to be a bit too similar too each other. It is clear from how everything is placed in the pages that the story has a quite high tempo, thing that I didn't perceive in the original.
I must confess though that despite this I didn't mind reading the manga, but I didn't find it anyting special. If I try to disconnect from the comparison, I think the story is also quite entertaining, but I still think it lacks some verve that would make it at least a very pleasant one.
If you are much devoted to Hime-Chan no Ribbon it is possibly best to avoid reading this remake.

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