|
|
(Larger Image)
|
Alichino: v. 2 (Alichino)
by Kouyu Shurei
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Tokyopop Press Inc (2005-10-01)
ISBN: 1595324798
EAN: 9781595324795
Dewy Decimal #: 741.5952
Paperback: 164 pages
Condition: New
|
Customer Reviews
|
Soulless
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-07-16
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Exquisite art and beautiful androgynous men can only take a manga series so far. Unfortunately, that's most of what the second volume of "Alichino" has going for it. Kouyu Shurei crafts an intriguing world and some flowerings of a story, but nothing feels thicker than the paper it's printed on.
Tsugiri is struggling with the knowledge of his past -- and his destiny -- when his guardian Enju is suddenly kidnapped by a mysterious woman, Matsurika. She threatens to pick off his friends one by one, unless he goes to meet the strange Lord Roshiki -- and of course, Tsugiri is determined to bring his closest friend back.
But on their travels, they run into a strange city, a damsel attacked by alichino, and a mysterious alichino who rules over both of them. When Tsugiri tries to save the girl from Lord Yui, the alichino reveals a side of this strange race that he never knew before. But can it prepare him to deal with the strange Lord Roshiki, and his impish servant?
As still pictures, it's hard to imagine manga art more beautiful than this -- elaborate costumes, swords, landscapes, and swirling drawings during the less concrete moments. It's all very gothic in flavour, full of dark ornate visuals and beautiful skinny people in medieval clothing -- not to mention Yui's beautiful nighttime cityscapes.
Unfortunately, it's all beauty and little substance. The story is brief and rather thin, with a rather contrived cliffhanger at the end, and characters who seem to be all angst and nothing more. Ryoko exists mainly as an enigma, and Tsugiri's mood flips aimlessly from rage to whininess to random resentment -- a truly boring hero. Only Lord Yui and the puckish Matsurika are of any interest, and neither appears for very long.
And beautiful as the art is, it begins to get a little monotonous -- all the characters have masklike faces that never move even when they're screaming their heads off. The men are all dainty, feminine and long-haired, while all the women are dressed in Lolita styles except for Matsurika. In fact, that seems to be all Myobi is in this volume to do -- model little-girl dresses.
The second volume of "Alichino" is all glamour and beauty, but without a soul. While Shurei cooks up something of a storyline, it's too frail to follow.
|
|
|
|
|