Idol Dreams, Vol. 1

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By Arina Tanemura. Released in Japan as “31 Ai Dream” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Melody. Released in North America by Viz.

There are bits of humor sprinkled throughout the first volume, but in my opinion the funniest part of Idol Dreams comes in the author’s notes afterwards, where Tanemura talks about how she landed this assignment. She’s no longer exclusive to Shueisha, so lots of companies wanted her, and Hakusensha asking her for a magical-girl manga for adults. This intrigued Tanemura, who signed up right away with Melody, Hakusensha’s hybrid josei/shoujo title. And then the editor urged her to get rid of all of the things she’s gotten so used to when working at Ribon – flowery SFX, lots of wacky gags, extensive drawings of clothing – to the point where the editor supposedly said “get rid of everything that makes it a Tanemura series”. I’m with the editor, though – Idol Dreams feels refreshing and new in a way a lot of her recent Ribon work did not.

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When I first read the description of the series, I had assumed it was some sort of “Peggy Sue” story, where the heroine would go back in time and try to do her life over again better this time. It’s actually a different genre altogether – as the editor said, it’s a magical-girl story for adults, and will be very familiar to those who recall early series such as Tezuka’s Marvelous Melno or Creamy Mami, which featured little girls taking age pills that magically made them into adult idol singers. Indeed, Tanemura fans may recall Full Moon, which also had a premise like this. In Idol Dreams, though, the lead character, as seen on the cover, is a 31-year-old office worker who’s on the verge of losing it – she’s basically staked everything on a happy high school reunion, only to have everything fall apart when the fact that she’s still a virgin is screamed out loud by a classmate.

It’s startling to see Chikage, after this and a couple of other humiliations, actually trying to kill herself by drowning in the local river. But ultimately it leads to a different kind of fantasy, as another high school friend (who has a crush on her that he still can’t quite blurt out – and a girlfriend, which makes it harder still) has some magical – sorry, unproven scientific – age regressing pills that will make her body like a 15-year-old for a few hours. What are the odds that she would be scouted immediately as a replacement for an idol? Or bond with the troubled young genius singer of a boy band? Or find herself in a forbidden romance (which she really should know better about, we’ll see how future volumes develop yet another of the popular ‘age-difference’ relationships)?

So here we have a magical girl heroine who doesn’t go home and do homework after her battles, but goes out and gets drunk instead. Despite what Tanemura and her editor said, this isn’t totally far off from her usual titles, but it’s taken in a slightly new direction and has that fresh feel to it. I look forward to seeing where she takes us.

One Piece, Vol. 76

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

Let’s get the bad out of the way right off the bat: Rebecca has not remotely lived up to the hopes I had for her as a character. The reunion with her father, with all the overtones of “you should never have been a fighter, I’m so sorry you had to be strong and not a princess that needs protecting” left a bad taste in my mouth, and I’ve given up on it being subverted at this point. Unfortunately, this is not a sentiment that’s unique to One Piece, as we’ve seen it in countless manga and anime before this. I had hoped Oda might avoid it, but no, there it is. Luckily, it’s a low point in an otherwise excellent volume, so let’s talk about the rest of it.

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I have occasionally wondered if I praise Usopp too much, but then I wander on to forums and see more people talk about how useless he is, and so therefore I think no, there is not enough praise. Because he’s hella awesome here, taking out Sugar AGAIN with the help of a truly weird power from a minor character and what I believe is actual haki, which we haven’t heard much about since right after the timeskip. We’d seen Coby use it before, but it’s still awesome to see that a power that is basically “I am enforcing my will on reality” can be used not just by the brute force heroes but by support folks like Usopp.

Speaking of which, Robin and Usopp both have small speeches in this volume where they talk about their devotion to Luffy, and it’s worth noting how much of being a pirate captain in One Piece is creating a cult of personality around yourself. Luffy doesn’t do this deliberately, of course, but those who follow him know that he is the one, they one they can dedicate everything they have to protect and serve. It’s even given a parody over the last few volumes with Bartolomeo, whose idolization of the entire Straw Hat crew is a takeoff of the typical fanboy. It’s worth noting that Robin does not denigrate this love the way others have, though (and that she calls him rooster, I love that she still tends to give nicknames to everyone), as she’s a convert as well.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Law (finally out of the seastone cuffs) are ready to face off against Doflamingo, which means that we get two things that One Piece is most famous for – chaotic final battles with lots of punching, and flashbacks to explain a character’s tragic past, this time Law’s. Sure, we also get a bit of Doflamingo’s, which has a bit of a ‘fallen angel’ vibe to it, but Law, with his tragic white lead poisoning and massacre of his entire homeland (hmmm, seems familiar… Doflamingo even points this out, saying complete genocide is a standard World Government tactic) is the one we’re meant to feel bad for. This story leads us to the cliffhanger for this volume, and I suspect will take up the majority of the next. When it finishes, will we be finishing the Dressrosa arc? Don’t hold your breath. But keep reading One Piece anyway.

Golden Time, Vol. 1

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Umechazuke. Released in Japan by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

I’ve talked before about how difficult it can be to introduce an unlikable character early in a series and have their character growth be a part of it, mostly as fandom takes first impressions and encases them in amber forever. This is doubly true if the character is female, and quadrupley true (is this a word?) if it also happens to be a comedy romance, with harem overtones. Golden Time is starting off in a bit of a pickle, though, as its heroine, Kaga, is introduced to us as an obsessed stalker who’s also rich and beautiful, and rubs every single reader the wrong way. Luckily, we have our hero, Tada, who is determined to show that she has hidden depths, even if he can’t quite make them out. And, wonder of wonders, he is not the doormat that most of these series frequently use as male heroes, so as the volume goes on and we learn more about the two of them the good qualities of the series come to life.

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That cover, to be honest, really doesn’t help, and panders to a fanbase that is more Monster Musume than Toradora. Oh yes, this is by the creator of Toradora, based on her light novels, which she started after finishing her other series. Toradora also featured an unusual lead male hero, and Golden Time’s Tada has a very good reason for sometimes acting out of character – he has amnesia of most of his life before the last year, and can’t recall what his character actually is. This is presented in the midst of a truly ridiculous chapter involving a religious cult who have kidnapped several students to indoctrinate them, so it’s no surprise that Kaga does not particularly believe him. As for Kaga, her backstory is more normal, being a lonely rich girl who has no idea how to do affection, so overdoes it to the point where it becomes terrifying.

Most of this volume just involved Tada, Kaga, and Kaga’s unfortunate crush Yanigasawa, who is thoroughly sick of her and horrified that she followed him to college (the fact that this is set in college – and indeed in the law program – is highly unusual for a harem comedy, and I hope more is done with it in future volumes). There’s another girl who gets cameos at the start and end, who I suspect will take on the position of chief rival/alternate heroine choice, but this is mostly a two-hander, relying on the two leads. They bond right away, and Tada is falling for Kaga while also clearly seeing her flaws – he just doesn’t really care, and also her flaws don’t impact *him*, as she’s in love with someone else.

I think fans of Takemiya’s other works will enjoy this, and fans of romantic comedies should give it a try, but be aware this is one of those series where you may need 2-3 volumes to star liking the heroine, and if you’re the sort who rolls out the word ‘psycho’ whenever it suits you, take my advice and don’t get involved.