E to I

Masahiko is a young man about to start college. Following the death of his father a few months ago, life has been bleak for him as he has had to endure poverty, and above all, loneliness. All this changes when he gets invited to live with an estranged aunt at the Wakanae household. But the Wakanaes are not as they seem, in fact Yukari, the aunt, is a man, and Sora the uncle is a woman! And to make things worse, the gender of his sexy cousin Shion, who constantly teases him, is a mystery!

After I read Rash!, I had given up my faith in Tsukasa Hojo, and thought that his creative streak had run out. This manga showed me just how wrong I had been. F.Compo is a great ride, funny, touching, innovative, energetic, and with a very worthy message to boot. The manga has a small number of characters, each of whom gets treated to ample character development, as the author places them in situations of gender ambiguity unseen since Ranma 1/2. Yet, despite what one might think given the subject matter, little of the humor is actually sexual (City Hunter is much more raunchy than this!), and none of it is vulgar or offensive. Hojo considers his characters not as cross-dressers to be laughed at, but as real people who should not be judged by their sexual identities. (Interesting note: Sora and Yukari cross-dress, but they are actually heterosexuals, as each has a partner of the opposite sex!) The manga advocates tolerance above all, and by putting each of the characters in situations where this sexual identity becomes important, shows the pain that a hasty judgment might cause the person being judged.

Plot: 4 out of 5. There probably have been a lot of manga with cross-dressers and other sexual what-nots, but Hojo's decision to also focus on other aspects of the characters' lives raises this a notch above the others.

Art: 5 out of 5. Hojo's art is in top shape, and the actual mise-en-page is very effective as well.

Fun factor: 5 out of 5.

Cool factor:4 out of 5, one point for each of the lovable main characters.

Overall rating: 5 out of 5. A superb read, Hojo's best in my opinion.

Fushigi Yugi
by Yu Watase

Miaka Yuki and Yui Hongo, 15, are best friends. While they are studying at the library, they find a mysterious book, which sends them to ancient China. A handsome young man saves them from trouble, but they return to the library before anything else happens. That night, Miaka, in a bad mood because of family problems, goes back to the library and is transported to ancient China again, where she meets up with the young man Tamahome, and at the Imperial Palace, learns that she will have to become the priestess of the god Suzaku, and thus protect the country. Meanwhile, looking for her friend, Yui also enters the book, but her arrival is traumatic and she soon becomes the priestess of Seiryu, and Miaka's enemy.

Set deeply in the shojo manga style, Fushigi Yugi boasts beautiful, if all effeminate, characters with huge eyes, lots of romance, and backgrounds full of flowers. Yet, Yu Watase has injected a healthy dose of SD humor into what's essentially a serious plot, and this humor keeps the manga from becoming too dark. There are lots of shockingly violent scenes, nothing really explicit, but poignant suggestions of rape, broken bones and child abuse, so I guess this manga isn't really for kids. All the storytelling is very vivid, but one gets so incredibly sick of the Miaka and Tamahome mush, where they break up and then make up about a thousand times.... Apart from that, a great manga.

And of course, the most important reason why you should go out and read Fushigi Yugi: Nakago! The series' resident baddie is one of my favorite manga characters, he is so handsome and clever and cool! A bit cruel, tho'...

Plot: 4 out of 5. The basic premise is a bit cliche, but Miaka's story goes through a great deal of sometimes unexpected ups and downs.

Art: 5 out of 5, though you have to like the shojo style.

Fun factor: 4 out of 5, for the SD humor, which never fails to lighten the mood.

Cool factor: 6 out of 5, for Nakago!

Overall rating: 5 out of 5. What are you waiting for? Go read it!

Gunnm
by Yukito Kishiro

Dr. Ito is a cybertechnician who lives in Scrap Iron City, in the shadow of Zalem, a utopic town hanging in the sky (I wonder how they manage that?) One day, he finds the head of a beautiful female cyborg in the trash, whom he names Gally. Gally is amnesiac, but she is a great fighter, and apparently has human instincts as well, as she falls in love with a boy whose only dream is to live in Zalem.

Possibly one of the most violent manga I've read, with brains being splattered around and everything, Gunnm nevertheless manages to retain a certain poetry. This is no doubt due to Kishiro's delicate art, especially his pictures of Gally. It is hard to conceive that she is a killer cyborg when you see her pretty, doll-like face. But then with all that happens to her, Gally has every reason to go mad, sometimes. Filled with a thrilling excitement, especially during the motorball story arc, lots of ups and downs and mysteries about Gally's nature, and even a romantic streak, Gunnm has one of the best constructed storylines around in my opinion, though it's not a manga for the squeamish.

Plot: 5 out of 5

Art: 4 out of 5, but again, not for the squeamish.

Fun factor: Maybe 2 out of 5, for the motorball story, but nothing during the rest. Pretty gloomy atmosphere.

Cool factor: 2 out of 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5. A memorable read.

Harlem Beat
by Yuriko Nishiyama

Nate Lorres, 15, has been a loser all his life. Having tried his hand at many sports because he wanted to be cool, he always gave up after a few weeks. His newest passion is basketball, but there too, he's no good. Yet, when he learns that the present captain was like him, and that he trained very hard to become a star, he determines to do the same. That night, a childhood friend he hasn't seen in a long time, becomes very impressed with his determination, and initiates him into the world of street-basketball, but Nate has a long way to go before he can become the star he wants to be.

I don't know if it's just the way the manga is, or because of the English adaptation, but I really got the impression that the story was happening in the States. I've actually read only the first volume of this manga, and I haven't looked around the 'Net for any information on it, so this review might not be that useful, but I'll say that I loved the first volume. While there wasn't much to the plot, but then there rarely is, with sports manga, the art was nice and clean, and you can practically feel the excitement in the air when the author's writing about streetball. It makes you wanna go out and play!

Plot: 3 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Fun factor: 4 out of 5. Very exciting.

Cool factor: 5 out of 5, but I just happen to think streetball is the coolest thing.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5. But remember, this is only the first volume.

I'll
br Hiroyuki Asada

Akane Tachibana and Hitonari Hiiragi, students of two different middle schools, had exciting prospects where basketball was concerned, but they had decided to abandon the sport in high school for different reasons. However, when they met each other, something clicked, and the impulsive, rash but charismatic Tachibana swore that he wouldn't stop basketball until he could beat Hitonari, while the latter, amused by Tachibana's character, decided he didn't only have to play basketball to live up to his father's expectations, and that he could well do it just for the heck of it. So begins an interesting partnership...

And an interesting partnership it is indeed. It is funny and touching at the same time to see these two gruff boys trying to express their friendship through insults. I loved this manga, and I don't know why American editors haven't picked it up yet, as it just kicks ass! First of all, the art is good, if somewhat static, and the style reminds me a lot of Atsushi Kamijo in the manga "Sex". Yet where "I'll" really shines is in its characters; they are attractive, athletic and charismatic, and the author exposes different layers of their personalities in each volume, until they become touching in their own ways. The relationship between the two boys (no, nothing yaoi) is an interesting study in friendship. In fact, I thought that only the basketball bits weren't good, they lacked the dynamic and clear pictures of "Slam Dunk", and it was somehow hard to understand what was going on. Other than that, an excellent read.

Plot: 3 out of 5. There's a lack of overall intrigue, and plot threads left open are sometimes not picked up again.

Art: 4 out of 5. Good stuff, and it would have gotten the full five if I could understand what was going on during the basketball games.

Fun factor: 5 out of 5. Tachibana is great for laughs.

Cool factor: 5 out of 5. Whew! Practically all the guys in this manga radiate coolness!

Overall rating: 5 out of 5!