meganbmoore: (xxxholic)
meganbmoore ([personal profile] meganbmoore) wrote2007-12-07 05:41 pm
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Zombie Loan Vol 1

 Hrm.  So I...honestly have no idea what I think of this one.  Essentially, we have a ditzy, clutzy, doormat heroine named Michiru who, if she doesn't wear glasses, can see collar-like rings around the necks of people who are fated to die soon.  The closer to black the rings are, the closerthey are to death. Two of her classmates-Shito Tachibana, cold, elegant, well-mannered and  quiet, and Chika Akatsuki, loud, rough and penny-pinching-survived an accident six months ago, making them legends around school.  They also both have solid black rings.  When Michiru tries to warn them, she learns that they actually died in the accident, but made a deal to come back as long as they pay off the debt racked up in doing so by killing zombies.  They're also able to manifest weapons-Shito a gun and Chika a sword-to fight zombies, but were given the wrong hands when they were brought back, sothey have to switch hands when they fight.  Why they have the wrong hands and can't just permanently get the right hands back isn't really fully explained, and neither is the deal...I'm filling in the holes with my recollections of what I've read in one or two f-list posts.  When the boys realize Michiru's sight can tell whether or not a person is a zombie, the forcibly recruit her to their side, and when she dies, they add to their own debt to bring her back, because they can work off the added debt with her faster than they could work off the existing one without her, putting her firmly in their debt until their own is paid off.  My overall thought of the plot is that it's like Yurara, but not as good(because Chika Shiomi is my shojo manga goddess.)

There are a lot of fun elements-the fighting, of course. The ferryman the boys owe their "lives" to, and his assistant, Yuuta, are a blast.  For that matter, the boys themselves and the (seemingly onesided) rivalry are great.  But it's also rather thrown together and things aren't always explained that should be.  While you can fill in the holes, the holes are a little too big for the mangaka to get away with without comment.  Then there's Michiru.  Now, normally, I seem to have a lot less problem with females than others do, but I think it also means I hold things against them more whan I would otherwise(see: Ai Yori Aoshi.)  As I mentioned before, the girl is a complete doormat.  I will, however, let that slide as she supposedly has a Revolution at the end and won't be like that any more.  I'll only hold it against her if it continues.  However, she spends the entire book gasping and stuttering and squeaking and stammering and blushing and screaming and freaking out, to the point where I actually kinda hoped she stayed dead so she wouldn't be doing that stuff any more.  She may get better, but I spent most of the first volume wishing she'd just go away so the book could focus on the funn, butt-kicking zombie boys(who don't like to be called zombies.)  Still, despite the flaws, it was fun enough to at least get the second volume when it comes out.

Now, book aside...this mangaka's name...Peach-Pit?  Seriously?  That's Oh! Great levels of "I'm sure it sounds cooler if you live in Japan."  Though, while not a mangaka but a character, Rod the Vampire Lord will always be my favorite.
the_rck: (Default)

[personal profile] the_rck 2007-12-08 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
I know very little about Peach-Pit, not even if we're talking about a him, a her or a them. I picked up DearS at the library because I like the anime based on Peach-Pit's Rozen Maiden. I haven't read the manga version of Rozen Maiden (the library doesn't have it), so I can't say whether that's as good as the anime.

That's sort of tangled up. I recommend the anime of Rozen Maiden, have no opinion on the manga of it yet and am dubious (very) about DearS.

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2007-12-08 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
I know squat about Rozen Maiden or DearS(includign what they're about) but I was sent the first disc of DearS in RightStuf's catalogue a while back...haven't watched it yet, though.
the_rck: (Default)

[personal profile] the_rck 2007-12-08 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
DearS and Rozen Maiden are both part of that genre that has an attractive female (human, alien, android, magical construct, etc.) move in with a boy and disrupt his life. Apart from that, they're quite different.

The DearS manga has a lot of sexual situations and creepiness, including a teacher who routinely strips in front of her class. The aliens, the DearS of the title, want to be slaves but are mostly too smart to admit it publicly. The alien who moves in with the hero is one who's been labeled defective. She's not very smart, and she can't understand why he won't have sex with her.

Rozen Maiden (at least the anime) doesn't have much in the way of sex. The female moving in is an animate doll who accepts the boy in question as her servant. Other dolls show up. They're involved in some sort of competition for a mystical prize, but they can only compete as long as they have a bond with a human. The boy in question is recovering from a nervous breakdown. At the start of things, he won't even leave his room. That changes as the story continues. The anime is very pretty.

[identity profile] calixa.livejournal.com 2007-12-08 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
I think she was probably less annoying in the anime version? She didn't bother me there :P

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2007-12-08 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
maybe.

or maybe sdhe gets better, and the anime version is based on the better stage.