The other day I came across a shojo manga that I really, really liked. The series title is Ultimate Venus and it's by Takako Shigematsu.
The story is basically about this girl named Yuzu, and after being recently orphaned, she is sent to live with her wealthy and quite glamorous grandmother. Like the stereotypical shojo manga heroine, Yuzu is constantly getting into trouble, only to be bailed out by her super loyal (and I should also mention bespectacled), bodyguard. Add to that, three prospective marriage mates that have been hand-picked by grandma, and the result is a lot of fun drama.
This manga contains the typical stuff that the typical shojo manga plot has (See post 5 Shojo Manga Clichés That I Will Avoid Like Last Week's Leftovers), but the way everything is presented is very entertaining. It's like, when a moviegoer sees a superhero movie, and they expect a story about how the hero becomes the hero, how the villian becomes the villain, and a lot of explosions, but yet it's still totally great. So in the same way, I waited excitedly for Yuzu to get lost in the woods, and although the bodyguard she's in love with acts a bit heartless sometimes, I love it. On top of the standard shojo devices, there are a couple of unexpected plot twists thrown in there, and I'm left craving the next chapter.
It's like junk food. Really. So I'm looking forwards to reading more of this one.
The story is basically about this girl named Yuzu, and after being recently orphaned, she is sent to live with her wealthy and quite glamorous grandmother. Like the stereotypical shojo manga heroine, Yuzu is constantly getting into trouble, only to be bailed out by her super loyal (and I should also mention bespectacled), bodyguard. Add to that, three prospective marriage mates that have been hand-picked by grandma, and the result is a lot of fun drama.
This manga contains the typical stuff that the typical shojo manga plot has (See post 5 Shojo Manga Clichés That I Will Avoid Like Last Week's Leftovers), but the way everything is presented is very entertaining. It's like, when a moviegoer sees a superhero movie, and they expect a story about how the hero becomes the hero, how the villian becomes the villain, and a lot of explosions, but yet it's still totally great. So in the same way, I waited excitedly for Yuzu to get lost in the woods, and although the bodyguard she's in love with acts a bit heartless sometimes, I love it. On top of the standard shojo devices, there are a couple of unexpected plot twists thrown in there, and I'm left craving the next chapter.
It's like junk food. Really. So I'm looking forwards to reading more of this one.
Sounds a bit like my experience with the American superhero comic Invincible. It really isn't anything completely original, but the cliches are presented in such a way that it's still totally enjoyable. It's like, if you pick it apart you'll find a lot of things that are very cliche, but when you look at the story as a whole it just very well put together.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out Ultimate Venus sometime. It sounds interesting, and the cover is very pretty.