Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The Gentleman's Alliance Volume 1 Manga Review

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: Written and drawn by Arina Tanemura, Gentleman's Alliance follows 15-year old Haine Otomiya as she starts high school at the exclusive Imperial Academy. Haine has been in love with Shizumasa Togu since she read the fairy tale he wrote as a child. However, he is now the Emperor (top student) at the Academy, and almost impossible to see if you aren't a Silver (second tier student) or on the student council. Haine is only a bronze, and rumor has it the Emperor already has a lover...a man.

I wasn't sure whether to love or hate Gentleman's Alliance when, in one of the earliest scenes in Volume 1, the school's delinquents released snakes into the assembly room (I am terrified of snakes). Fortunately, the snakes didn't look remotely real, and Haine captures all of them (apparently she can do so easily because she was born in the year of the snake). So, I kept reading and enjoyed the rest of volume 1.

Haine was a yanki in middle school, but has since reformed. However, she ends up getting pretty violent a couple of times in the first volume (especially after she becomes the Emperor's bodyguard) and knocks around some of the pretty boy delinquents (who are not what they seem). The only drawback is the series is I keep feeling like I've seen these characters in other manga and anime (Haine reminds me a lot of Tohru's mom in Fruits Basket).

That being said, overall it's a fun book, and I'll definitely be checking volume 2 out to see if the series develops more.

1 comment:

Lapa said...

TOP PORTUGUESE UNIVERSAL WRITER: CRISTOVAO DE AGUIAR.

He has, also, translated into Portuguese the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

He has been awarded several prizes.

Don't forget the name of this great author, you'll be hearing of him soon.

Thank you for spending time in Universal Culture.

Thanks for visiting.