Rumiko Takahashi

Who wants a manga short story collection? With horror, magic realism and whimsy? I do, I do, I do!
Rumiko Takahashi creates her characters so effortlessly, and I love the drawing style.

Came the Mirror – a creepy story about a magic mirror that sucks out the darkness in people’s souls. This one felt too short and slightly half-baked, it seemed that there was more to say. I still enjoyed it, though.

Revenge Doll – be careful with magic dolls that people send you for no particular reason! show more Here is a pretty “standard” horror story, but it is set in a manga studio, and there is a nice twist at the end. Loved it!

The Star Has a Thousand Faces – a very silly story about a very silly actress, the cast and crew of a very silly drama, and a very silly series finale that almost (!) wasn’t filmed (and what a tragedy that would have been ;))). I had lost of fun, thumbs up.

Lovely Flower – an interesting take on a crazy stalker plot. There are pheromones. The story doesn’t go the way you’d expect and there is a plucky heroine ☺

With Cat – this is a cute teen romance with lots of misunderstandings. Also, you have cats cursing humans and possessing them. How delightful!

My Sweet Sunday – an autobiographical piece on becoming a manga artist, written in collaboration with Mitsuru Adachi. It’s nice enough, but it’s probably my least favourite story in this collection, There was a certain lack of whimsy. show less

Crazy and hilarious

I’ve been enjoying the anime series a lot, so I jumped at the chance to start reading the manga. Wait, am I starting yet another Rumiko Takahashi series? Have I counted how many… La la la la la…
Anyway, here is Akane. Her family proudly owns Tendo’s Martial Arts School of Indiscriminate Grappling. Akane is quite proficient. Here is Ranma. He comes from another martial arts school family. He is quite proficient too. (I am lying about the “quite proficient” part. show more They are ridiculously overpowered teens.)

Their dads decide that Akane and Ranma should get married. The happy couple is not happy. Oh, and Ranma has a tiny, tiny problem. After a mishap during a training session in China, he turns into a girl when splashed with cold water. Hot water will turn him back into a guy. How many ridiculous and over the top scenes can this premise create? Guess again.

Ranma and Akane are forced to cooperate. They still hate each other, though. They are very vocal about it. (They are adorable.)

Rumiko Takahashi’s sense of the comic is impeccable. Oh, how I chuckled! show less

Some random person: Why are you starting another Rumiko Takahashi series? Don’t you have two others you are also reading?
Me: Begone, you fiend.

How about a quirky fluffy slice-of-life romcom? Yes, please.

Godai needs to retake his university entrance exams, but his study environment is really bad. His building has way too many noisy tenants. Actually, scratch that – his building has too many crazy neighbours who have not heard of either tact of privacy. Godai is moving out, I tell you. show more ”That’s the third time this month.”
”I shall salve dear Godai’s psychic wounds. With song!” (I think dear Godai needs you to shut up, but what do I know?)

Oh, but here is the gorgeous new resident manager, Kyoko. Ooops.

Here we go then, with unrelenting shenanigans, stupid misunderstandings and a facepalm-worthy love triangle all over the place. Will Godai ever have a chance to say to Kyoko that he has a crush on her? Will he ever pass his university exams? Read to find out the answers to these very important questions.
Give me the next volume, please. show less

Clueless people are so clueless

I had a good time with this installment. Yet there were sad undercurrents and one scene that I wish I did not see.

Godai’s awesome grandma (who made the previous volume so much fun) went home. That chapter was hilarious!

What I found sad was seeing more of the Ichinose family: Mrs Ichinose is cool as an obnoxious neighbour; she is also a functioning alcoholic. Mr Ichinose is working so much that no one at Maison Ikkoku knows what he looks like. Their son show more saying that he cannot depend on his parents for anything broke my heart a bit.

How is it going for Kyoko and Godai, you ask? They are still unable to have an honest conversation with each other. Going around being clueless is a much more adult thing to do, right? I guess you can tell that I got very annoyed with both of them this time. Also, there was that one scene that aged extremely badly. Or rather, what Godai did isn’t ok in any century, but no one would put it into a manga today. I hope. However, in this volume Godai also broke a leg (twice, under ridiculous circumstances) and almost drowned (once). I’ll think of it as comeuppance.

Naturally, I want to know what happens next.

Quotes:

The neighbours are discussing whether asking Godai for a favour is a good idea:
”You sure he’s the best choice?”
”It’s fine. I knew he was a fool when I asked him.” show less