« Konomi Takeshi: Tenisu no ojisama 1 | Main | Yoshizumi Wataru: Ultra Maniac 2 »
November 01, 2004
Yoshizumi Wataru: Ultra Maniac vol. 1
Ayu is an ordinary junior high student who has never been interested in supernatural things. She is in love with Kaji-kun, the ace of the baseball team, and she acts cool and collected so he's going to think well of her. One day, she helps a new girl in her class, Nina, by finding a pocket computer Nina had lost. Nina is so happy about this that she decides to pay Ayu back -- by granting her wish with magic. Because Nina, it turns out, is an exchange student from Magical Kingdom.
I've read most of Yoshizumi-sensei's manga since Quartet Game, much of it real-time, but I have never been able to decide if I think she's a good manga artist or not. She has always drawn well and done entertainment well, and her manga are never directly bad in any way that you can name, but they lack the last bit of something (originality, eccentricity, spice, power) that make them good rather than just okay, in my opinion. So she's a manga artist I like to read, but can't really be bothered to buy.
Ultra Maniac, however, seems to be a rare hit. There isn't a reason a pro like Yoshizumi-sensei would miss out on grabbing hold of readers (even her works I hate, like Marmalade Boy, have thrilling first three episodes), but just when you think a pattern of "Nina tries to help Ayu / the magic goes wrong and Ayu gets in trouble" is established, she takes a screeching turn that made my hand grab out for volume two to read immediately. The end of volume one is fabulous! Yoshizumi-sensei sure does know how to construct a good plot.
Another plus in my opinion is the characters. The main reason I hated Marmalade Boy was that I disliked Miki and You, but Ayu and Nina are just my thing. I like both Ayu's external face, the cool girl, and her real self, the comical rationalist ("tukkomi"), and the gap between the two is natural and believable. Nina wouldn't be my type, being a bit too cute and too kiddy, but Ayu and Nina compliment each other. I like the heroes as well, especially Tsujiya-kun: at first he seems like your typical cool hero, but in reality he has quite a weird character.
I'm going to keep my eyes on this series.
Posted by Alicia at November 1, 2004 06:48 AM