Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens Volume 1

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By Eri Takenashi. Released in Japan by Ichijinsha, serialization ongoing (but on hiatus) in the magazine Comic REX. Released in North America by Bandai.

I will admit, I did not get this manga for the plot or characters, so in that respect it’s my own damn fault. I got it because I’d heard of its reputation. This is, among fandom here in the West, the first modern series that made people think “Wow, Japanese otaku are insane.” (Note that this behavior has been quite consistent in the past, but the media coverage for the Kannagi incident was such that it was like seeing it again for the first time.) To be brief, the main character in the Kannagi manga/anime noted that she had a boyfriend before she met the hero, and fans freaked out, declaring that she was “second-hand goods” and a “slut”. Leaving aside the sheer sexism of this, it was the over the top silliness that made it newsworthy, with the fans burning their manga in protest. (However, given these fans, I suspect they only burned one of the 3 copies they bought.) There was quite a furor in Japan, and in fact the author went on leave due to health reasons and has not returned.

So I wanted to get it to see if there was anything to make a fuss over, or if this is a classic case of making something out of nothing. Sadly, it turns out to be the latter here, as judging by Volume 1, at least, Kannagi is a very predictable title, a sort of Oh My Goddess for the moe crowd. The basic premise is that our “ordinary yet likeable” boy, Jin, has recently carved a statue of a goddess from the remains of a sacred tree that was cut down as they’re consolidating shrines in the area. It’s part of a school project, but complications ensue when a teenage girl breaks out of his statue and turns out to be the deity of the tree, Nagi. She’s a little upset about the tree being gone, as you can imagine, and with Jin’s help starts going around getting rid of the “impurities” that have risen up as a result.

I mentioned that it’s similar to Oh My Goddess, which is true, but there’s also a great deal of the visual novel/datesim quality to all of this. The color page in the front of the manga, in fact, is done up exactly as a datesim (except you actually see Jin’s face, instead of a blank where you can put your own), as he sees Nagi and his childhood friend Tsugumi posing cutely at him. The actual plot, thankfully, is less romance oriented so far. We see Jin’s school, which Nagi quickly transfers into, and meet the members of the Art Club he’s in, who don’t really get much to do this first volume except be goofy minor characters.

Honestly, very little happens at all. There’s a bit of plot in the final chapter, where we meet a rival goddess who is also gathering believers and purifying, and there seems to be an underlying threat of Nagi fading away if she is forgotten (which, ironically, may become true in the REAL world if the manga never restarts in Japan). But overall, this feels so insubstantial that it’s like reading nothing at all. Like many harem protagonists, Jin is not allowed to have any interesting personality traits. Nagi pinwheels back and forth between haughty, cute, and peaceful, so much so that it’s actually lampshaded, as she pretends to have a multiple personality for a while.

I understand that things get more interesting later on, but based on the first volume of this series, I can’t see it appealing to a casual reader. As for fans of harem datesim-type manga, Kannagi should satisfy your desires.

Manga the week of 6/22

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The big news this week is that a few Tokyopop titles seem to be straggling in… my guess is that they were already printed and there’s no point in not letting them get released to earn a little more cash for Stu’s vanity projects. So we have the final volume of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory to add to TP’s ‘completed’ category. There’s also new volumes of Deadman Wonderland and Fate/Stay Night, which will remain incomplete, as well as the shoujo Happy Cafe, likewise. And the seinen Maids and Service comedy Maid Shokun gets Vol. 1 of 4 coming out this month, but that’s all you get.

In other weird news, Midtown Comics has decided to catch up on Vertical’s releases by getting about 10 of them in at once. The last 2 volumes of Seven Billion Needles, 3 volumes of Twin Spica, Chi’s Sweet Home 5, and the 2-volume split of Apollo’s Song. All very worthy of purchase if you haven’t already. Also, Apollo’s Song ran in Shonen King, a now-defunct Shonen Gahosha magazine that is where the Young King OURS magazine got its King from.

Now for normal releases. Dark Horse has the final volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse, which tried to ramp up the Shinji/Kaworu ambiguous love, but apparently also had some good Asuka stuff as well. Seven Seas is releasing a new omnibus of Venus Versus Virus, so those of you who weren’t bored out of your skulls by the mindlessness can pick it up and see what all the fuss wasn’t about.

Viz has a new Afterschool Charisma, which more hot clone action. There’s Vol. 15 of 20th Century Boys, which must be on its 3rd end of days by now. And Viz debuts the re-release of Tenjo Tenge in handy two-volume omnibuses, now uncensored for whiny otaku who never bought it when CMX put it out. (Note: the same ones will not buy it now for some other invented reason.)

Kodansha has the first volume of the Phoenix Wright tie-in manga, this time a genuine serialized manga story rather than a doujinshi collection. It ran in Kodansha’s Monthly Young Magazine, which targets college-age men.

And Yen has a pile of stuff. The 9th volume of Bamboo Blade has the entire cast being AWESOME, I have it on good authority. Even Dan-kun fans will get to see him do things here. Higurashi has Shion continue her roaring rampage of revenge in the 3rd volume of the Eye-Opening Arc. Soul Eater gives us more pop art. Sunshine Sketch gives us more 4-koma sweetness and sort-of-yuri. Sasameke drags to a close with its second omnibus, which can’t possibly be as bad as the first was. We get a 2nd volume of Tales of the Waning Moon only 21 months after the first volume (it comes out just as slowly in Japan). And a new debut, The Betrayal Knows my Name from Kadokawa’s shoujo oddity collection Asuka.

That’s a whole lot of stuff. What are you getting?

One Piece Volume 57

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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.

Given that this is one of those One Piece volumes where the whole thing is one giant melee fight, I think it’s time to return to the bulleted list of observations.

– Just as Garp revealed Luffy’s parentage and then reminded himself it’s a secret, so Luffy here shows he already knew the identity of Ace’s dad, and just hadn’t said anything. Naturally, he’s the only one to treat it so casually.
– Ace’s flashback is awesome, only serving to show us the bond that the Whitebeard pirates have with each other. I was reminded of the anime Straw Hat Pirates song ‘Family!’, which applies just as well here. Also, Ace fought Jinbei for 5 days? Badass.
– The second chapter of the volume manages to introduce so many new characters that it can be confusing (likely deliberately so on Oda’s part, who’s just throwing in various badasses to remind you that it’s not just the Straw Hats who get all the cool shit). Marco is the only one you need to remember.
– So sad to see Oars, Jr. here, but if you’re going to go out, what a way to go. The flashback scenes with Ace just made it all the more poignant. Also, Oars, Jr. reminds you how much Oda loves to connect every tiny detail in One Piece to every other tiny little detail.
– While we’ve had Aokiji (somewhat goofy yet apparently conflicted about duty deep down) and Kizaru (mostly goofy, and less conflicted), Akainu is not goofy at all, and merely terrifying. His first few scenes here, and the use of his magma powers, showcase his badassery. The scene where he slaughters a Marine Captain trying to run away, who notes he has a family, showcases his evil. This man is one of the biggest villains in One Piece, Marine or no, and we’ll be coming back to him soon.
– Donflamingo may be an insane lunatic, but he does get the best and most accurate monologue in the volume. History is indeed written by the winners.
– The entrance of Luffy & company to the battle, on the other hand, was pure fun.
– I love the cast reactions to seeing Luffy, scattered over three pages, and taking in even the minor characters like Jango and Tashigi. Naturally, it ends with Akainu, merely seeing Luffy as a new thing to kill.
– And Luffy and Whitebeard meeting is everything I hoped for – it’s wonderful to see then standing side by side to save Ace.
– So Luffy’s parentage is no longer secret. Well, given Garp’s big mouth, it may not have been as secret as folks thought. But now the whole world knows.
– Buggy being manipulated by Whitebeard = priceless, but not as priceless as Buggy vs. Mihawk. I’ll say it again, when he’s not actually THINKING, but merely reacting, Buggy can be as badass as anyone. The running gag of his crew’s reaction gets better with each new confrontation. Also I love his manipulation of the media there at the end. He’d make a great politician.
– Likewise, I was highly amused by Hancock vs. Smoker, where we see her show some real rage. As well as, of course, her undying love for Luffy. Poor Hancock, that’s going nowhere fast…
– Luffy is not merely running on pure instinct here, which is good. I loved the bit where we think we see him launch an attack against Mihawk, then realize as he gets his hand chopped off that it was just Luffy thinking in his head.
– The fate of Kuma is both sad and somewhat horrific, even if we don’t quite know all the details yet.
– And then there’s that cliffhanger, as Whitebeard is betrayed. I can’t believe we have to wait for October to resolve this. (Yes, having ‘caught up’, Viz is now falling behind again, with 3 volumes a year to Japan’s four.)

To sum up, it’s a great volume of One Piece, showing the battle to save Ace is one that will change the fate of the entire series. You should be reading this.