Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne


By day, Kusakabe Maron is an ordinary high school girl with more than her share of problems. But by night, she is Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, the reincarnation of Joan of Arc! Her mission: to hunt down demon-possessed paintings and exorcise the evil spirits! Too bad accomplishing this mission puts her into conflict with the authorities, who view her as a mysterious stranger vandalizing works of art. With only the help of angel-in-training Finn, she must survive high school during the day and battle evil by night!

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne is a manga by Arina Tanemura. It is 30 chapters long. This manga is very good. It has a unique plot, which becomes very surprising near the end. The art is very nice and the characters are lovable. A good ending. This has been made into an anime, but not released in English, I could see the action and romance being very popular though. I have yet to watch the anime, I am in the process of tracking it down, and will update here after I watch it.

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Time Stranger Kyoko


In the 30th Century, the Earth has united as one country, and Kyoko is the princess of this country. She has a younger twin sister, Ui, who has been asleep ever since she was born. Around her sixteenth birthday, Kyoko has to reveal herself to her people as their princess. She objects to this because she had been living among the people as a commoner and she doesn't want to be the princess anyway, but trouble faces her school, and to save her friends, Kyoko has to step forward and reveal her identity.

Although she is disappointed in this action, she has a new quest: to find a way to wake up her sister so she can be granted her freedom from ruling the Earth. She is chosen by a staff (its proper name is Time Scorpion Cane, but Kyoko calls it "Tsue-chon"... something along the lines of "Caney" ^_^;) to be Time Stranger Kyoko. When she manipulates "Tsue-chon", she can stop time, or go back in time, etc. If she finds her other eleven comrades with their eleven stones, they can all wake up Ui...
Time Stranger Kyoko is a 3 Volume manga by Arina Tanemura. The art is very nice, and very reminiscent of her other manga characters. The story is unique, and supernatural. There are plot twists and turns, and the story keeps the reader interested. There seems to be a sort of gap between volumes 2 and 3, where the story could have entailed more action. But, it runs smoothly enough.
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Tenshi Ja Nai


Tenshi Ja Nai, aka I'm No Angel, is a very good shojou manga by Takako Shigematsu, and is 40 chapters long. It has an interesting beginning scenario, which may be a little odd to get used to at first. But soon you will find yourself wrapped up in the story.
Hikaru Takabayashi wants nothing more than a normal life but when she enrolls at an elite all-girl's high school and gets roomed with the uber popular idol, Izumi Kido, normal is the last word that could describe her life. And if devoted fangirls wasn't bad enough, Hikaru accidently discovers that Izumi's a wolf in sheep's clothing -- or more appropriately, a guy in girl's clothing. Between getting dragged into escapades to keep his identity secret and dealing with the usual high school drama as it is, Hikaru experiences an exhausted but life-changing high school career.
The art is good, and the characters are very unique and well-rounded. The ending is very good, tying all loose ends and creating a 'happy ending'.
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