Jonathan L. Switzer
Jun 28, 2004, 07:45 am
<a href="http://robotechcomics.50megs.com/_blog/CheekyAngel1.jpg"><img src="http://robotechcomics.50megs.com/_blog/CheekyAngel1_t.jpg" align=left alt="Cheeky Angel Vol. 1"></a>Reviewer: Jonathan L. Switzer, captainjls@animejanai.com
Quick Rating: Great!
Gender bending comedy with a swift kick to the groin and a fist to the face!
Story and Art: Hiroyuki Nishimori
When I first started into the anime and manga hobby about ten years ago, one of the few series that everyone was supposed to have seen was Ranma 1/2, Rumiko Takahashi's gender bending martial arts love comedy. The key premise to the series was that when Ranma Saotome got splashed with cold water, he turned into a girl; hot water would turn him back. Not a good situation to find one's self in, but at least a handy tea kettle could always get Ranma out of an uncomfortable situation in a pinch. Megumi Amatsuka, the title character of Cheeky Angel, is suffering from a similar dilemma, but one far far worse.
At the age of nine, Megumi saved a funny old man dressed as a wizard from some ruffians. He demanded a reward for his efforts, and recieved a strange magic book, in which lived a funny little genie. Being a violent youth, a delinquent in the making, Megumi wished for the genie to make him the manliest of men. But the genie was a trickster and turned Megumi into the womanliest of women, and to reverse it he demanded ten years of Megumi's life. So Megumi, still being a brash and unthinking violent sort, tossed the book into the river.
Six years pass. In form, Megumi has lived up to the genie's intentions--she's the most beautiful girl in school, and all the guys ever seem to talk about is how much they want her. But in spirit, Megumi is still a brash guy, direct and to the point, always game for a fight, and still yearning to be that manliest of men. This is problematic, now that she's in high school, when the differences between women and men grow ever more pronounced, and raging hormones become the key driving force in young men's minds. Megumi finds the guys' drooling devotion to her disgusting, but wonders and worries about what she'd be acting like if she'd had a chance to grow up male.
Making matters even more frustrating is that chief among her worshippers is one Genzo Soga, a spiky-haired delinquent, unmatched in a fight--up until Megumi gets done with him. Twice beaten by her, he finds himself fiercely attracted to her, and it's screwing with his head big time. Genzo is largely played for laughs, but he also acts as a twisted mirror for Megumi--in some ways, he's what she could have been had chance not interfered in her life.
The fact that Cheeky Angel takes time to consider the ramifications of its premise is but one reason it's one of my favorite comedy series out there. The fact that it's just relentlessly silly and even more relentlessly violent is another; the over-the-top ridiculous ways Megumi's classmates try to get close to her, Genzo's persistent hovering in particular, and Megumi's often violent responses to both the general and specific threats to her masculine identity keep coming at a rapid-fire rate, and every time with a new twist or wrinkle that keeps the material consistently fresh. One minute Megumi decides to try to stop being ladylike at all to try and hold off her would-be suitors; the next she decides to milk her femininity for all it's worth to get them to stand aside. Through it all, her friend Miki--the only person who remembers the boy Megumi once was--tries to get her to tone it all down, to live as a demure young lady and stop with all the fighting. Of course, the words fall on deaf ears; if they didn't, it wouldn't be anywhere near as fun.
Nishimori's art is crude, especially in the first few chapters, but the cartoony style works well for the material. It's at its most effective when he's super deforming his cast for reaction shots and the like; the goofy-looking, friendly cute Genzo we start seeing more and more towards the end of the volume is a particular favorite of mine, so much so that when Banpresto made a plush version of him in Japan to tie in with the animated version of this series I just had to snap it up. Way on the other end of the spectrum, Nishimori has no trouble convincing us, despite his unconventional character design style, that Megumi is the prettiest girl in the school; when she's settled down, such as on chapter title pages and cover art, she really does come off as a refined beauty. My only real complaint about the art is that the screentone Nishimori uses for the female uniforms is an eyesore that looks like TV static; I've also never been a big fan of obvious Photoshop graytones of the sort that appear on the first few pages and a few of the chapter title pages. I don't think the art will be everyone's cup of tea, but I far prefer something this distinctive, even if it is a bit rough, to a lot of the blah stuff I've seen coming out of Japan lately.
Cheeky Angel scores lots of points in my book for its solid character-driven comedy, its introspective moments regarding its gender-bending gimmick, and the fact that it lampoons so sharply the perverted mindset that so many of its peers pander towards. It's smart, it's funny, and it doesn't resort to tired panty-revealing and breast-grabbing gags for its humor. Definitely my most favorite comedy manga in recent years. Really, really good stuff.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg
Quick Rating: Great!
Gender bending comedy with a swift kick to the groin and a fist to the face!
Story and Art: Hiroyuki Nishimori
When I first started into the anime and manga hobby about ten years ago, one of the few series that everyone was supposed to have seen was Ranma 1/2, Rumiko Takahashi's gender bending martial arts love comedy. The key premise to the series was that when Ranma Saotome got splashed with cold water, he turned into a girl; hot water would turn him back. Not a good situation to find one's self in, but at least a handy tea kettle could always get Ranma out of an uncomfortable situation in a pinch. Megumi Amatsuka, the title character of Cheeky Angel, is suffering from a similar dilemma, but one far far worse.
At the age of nine, Megumi saved a funny old man dressed as a wizard from some ruffians. He demanded a reward for his efforts, and recieved a strange magic book, in which lived a funny little genie. Being a violent youth, a delinquent in the making, Megumi wished for the genie to make him the manliest of men. But the genie was a trickster and turned Megumi into the womanliest of women, and to reverse it he demanded ten years of Megumi's life. So Megumi, still being a brash and unthinking violent sort, tossed the book into the river.
Six years pass. In form, Megumi has lived up to the genie's intentions--she's the most beautiful girl in school, and all the guys ever seem to talk about is how much they want her. But in spirit, Megumi is still a brash guy, direct and to the point, always game for a fight, and still yearning to be that manliest of men. This is problematic, now that she's in high school, when the differences between women and men grow ever more pronounced, and raging hormones become the key driving force in young men's minds. Megumi finds the guys' drooling devotion to her disgusting, but wonders and worries about what she'd be acting like if she'd had a chance to grow up male.
Making matters even more frustrating is that chief among her worshippers is one Genzo Soga, a spiky-haired delinquent, unmatched in a fight--up until Megumi gets done with him. Twice beaten by her, he finds himself fiercely attracted to her, and it's screwing with his head big time. Genzo is largely played for laughs, but he also acts as a twisted mirror for Megumi--in some ways, he's what she could have been had chance not interfered in her life.
The fact that Cheeky Angel takes time to consider the ramifications of its premise is but one reason it's one of my favorite comedy series out there. The fact that it's just relentlessly silly and even more relentlessly violent is another; the over-the-top ridiculous ways Megumi's classmates try to get close to her, Genzo's persistent hovering in particular, and Megumi's often violent responses to both the general and specific threats to her masculine identity keep coming at a rapid-fire rate, and every time with a new twist or wrinkle that keeps the material consistently fresh. One minute Megumi decides to try to stop being ladylike at all to try and hold off her would-be suitors; the next she decides to milk her femininity for all it's worth to get them to stand aside. Through it all, her friend Miki--the only person who remembers the boy Megumi once was--tries to get her to tone it all down, to live as a demure young lady and stop with all the fighting. Of course, the words fall on deaf ears; if they didn't, it wouldn't be anywhere near as fun.
Nishimori's art is crude, especially in the first few chapters, but the cartoony style works well for the material. It's at its most effective when he's super deforming his cast for reaction shots and the like; the goofy-looking, friendly cute Genzo we start seeing more and more towards the end of the volume is a particular favorite of mine, so much so that when Banpresto made a plush version of him in Japan to tie in with the animated version of this series I just had to snap it up. Way on the other end of the spectrum, Nishimori has no trouble convincing us, despite his unconventional character design style, that Megumi is the prettiest girl in the school; when she's settled down, such as on chapter title pages and cover art, she really does come off as a refined beauty. My only real complaint about the art is that the screentone Nishimori uses for the female uniforms is an eyesore that looks like TV static; I've also never been a big fan of obvious Photoshop graytones of the sort that appear on the first few pages and a few of the chapter title pages. I don't think the art will be everyone's cup of tea, but I far prefer something this distinctive, even if it is a bit rough, to a lot of the blah stuff I've seen coming out of Japan lately.
Cheeky Angel scores lots of points in my book for its solid character-driven comedy, its introspective moments regarding its gender-bending gimmick, and the fact that it lampoons so sharply the perverted mindset that so many of its peers pander towards. It's smart, it's funny, and it doesn't resort to tired panty-revealing and breast-grabbing gags for its humor. Definitely my most favorite comedy manga in recent years. Really, really good stuff.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vizfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/viznone.jpg