manga: Yurara, vol 1
Jul. 21st, 2007 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmoore
Yurara is the third title by Chika Shiomi(Night of the Beasts, Canon) to be licensed in the US. It's about a girl named Yurara, a shy, meek girl who sees spirits and can feel their emotions, but can't interact with or do anything about them. At her new school, she gets placed between Mei, and overly affectionate goofball and Yako, and cold and serious student, in her new class. Almost immediately, she learns that both boys can also see spirits, and that Mei can use spiritual flames to fight them, and Yako can bind them and create barriers with water. Apparently, meeting them allows her guardian spirit, a more forceful version of herself, to awaken, allowing her to communicate with the ghosts and help them move on.
Of Shiomi's three books that have been licensed, Yurara is, in both art and story, the most conventional. On the one had, just based on this, I'll take it over most of the high school manga out there, fantasy/paranormal or otherwise. On the other, after the urban hunt of Canon and dark mythology of Night of the Beasts, something so close to "normal" shojo felt like a bit of a let down(yet is likely closer to what most on my flist would like, anyway, as I tend to sometimes have odd tastes, so I guess it's ok.) In comparison, it, and its characters, kinda of start to blend in with the rest(plus, as compared to Canon and Aria, Yurara is kind of a doormat, guardian spirit or not-not that I didn't like her, I did, just that those two are very strong and very kickbutt.)
If I hadn't read Shiomi's other books, I'd probably be praising this book left and right-as compared to other shojo, it is pretty unique and it has an interesting story, and it's not just "magical girl and cute protectors," it just didn't quite live up to the expectations Canon and Night of the Beasts set for me. (incidentally, at 6 volumes, Night of the Beasts is Shiomi's longest series of the three...nice to know some mangaka regularly keep it short and sweet instead of making their books last for all eternity.)