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.

Kamikaze Girls - Manga/Movie

Overall Rating: A++
Synopsis: A story about a Lolita and a Yanki who become friends despite both of them thinking the other is weird. Hilarity ensues.

Ok, this is a little complicated, but bear with me. Kamikaze Girls started out as a book by Novala Takemoto titled Shimotsuma Monogatari, which was translated to the English title Kamikaze Girls for the movie adaptation. The Manga is a series of stories set in the same world as the movie, adapting some of it for manga, adding some new stories, and even some new characters.

I haven't read the novel, but the movie is amazing. I can sum it up with the following equation: Rococo Lolita + Bikergirl Headbutts = Everything Good About Japan! A more detailed description might be "Kamikaze Girls centers around two students, Momoko Ryugasaki and Ichigo "Ichiko" Shirayuri, who are from completely different backgrounds: one is a Lolita girl, the other a Yankī," but who cares about details?

After you watch the movie, pick up the manga. It's not as brilliant and fun as the movie, but it definitely captures some of the things I love about the film, and develops the characters. If you like fun manga with cute girls in it, then check out Kamikaze Girls. If you don't, then there is something wrong with you.