 Shojo
Beat volume 1 #1
Viz Communications
(w) Various
(a) Various
BW w/ colour, 360 pgs w/ ads
$7.99 CAN / $5.99 US
Quality storytelling in large quantity of pages
by Chad Boudreau
In Japan, many manga first appear in serialized form. These stories don't appear
as single 32-page issues like our North American sequential stories. Manga is
serialized in thick magazines. These publications ship weekly, monthly or bi-monthly
and contain a number of stories, each from a different creator, each an episode
in a greater tale. There are a great number of these publications, the most
popular of which is Shonen Jump, a boys' manga publication in which
the likes of Yu-Gi-Oh, Hunter
x Hunter and Rourini
Kenshin are serialized. That publication has a North American equivalent
of the same name, published by Viz Communications. That magazine has proved
to be popular on our shores and so Viz wisely decided to create a shojo equivalent.
Shojo Beat is its name.
To headline its monthly magazine, Viz has selected series by two of the most
popular names in shojo: Ai Yazawa and Yuu Watase. Kicking off the first issue
is 100 pages of Yazawa's Nana, the reigning champ of shojo in Japan
right now, featuring twelve collected volumes with 22 million copies sold. This
first installment introduces us to Nana and her good friend, Jun, two trendy
young women just recently graduated from high school. Nana also has just had
her heart broken by her boyfriend, an older, married man whose job transferred
him to a new city. Personal reflection will eventually have Nana realize he
didn't love her as she loved him, a sad truth of growing up and an unfortunate
ongoing problem in many of Nana's relationships. As her and her friend move
to Tokyo to attend Art School, Nana swears off men, but then a handsome young
man arrives on the scene and an old flame reappears, complicating Nana's life
once again.
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Of the stories in Shojo Beat, Nana
is tops
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Manga-ka Ai Yazawa is no stranger to manga, and it shows. Nana is populated
with interesting, multi-dimensional characters, at the forefront of which is
emotionally troubled, naive, but well intentioned, Nana. I found her to be a
very sympathetic character, shaking my head at her blind naivete, and
secretly hoping she would find a caring partner. Yazawa's art is sexy and stylish,
featuring a fantastic array of character designs. Both the men and woman in
Nana are hip and stylish. Reading this manga is a lot like watching
a current television drama like The O.C where the girls are cute, the
guys are handsome and everyone wears clothes you'd like to own.
More than a hundred pages of Nana is a fantastic way to start a new
publication, but Shojo Beat still has a lot of quality shojo in line.
Next up is Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase, the creator of the widely
popular series Fushigi Yugi, Ceres: Celestial Legend, Alice
19th and Imadoki!.
Those first three series were shojo set in magical and fantastical settings
while Imadoki! was much more reality-based. Absolute Boyfriend
is a combination of the two-- set in the real world, but with elements of the
fantastic thrown in. Izawa is a high school girl frustrated with her own slowly
developing body and her lack of fortunes in the realms of romance. A chance
encounter with an eccentric young man gives her the opportunity to find the
boy of her dreams, but not in the way she had ever thought possible. She is
given access to an online store where it appears she can order herself a boyfriend.
Out of giddy curiosity she does so, only to have the purchase delivered to the
door the very next day. Shocked and yet intrigued, she unwraps the box to find
a very human looking and very naked young man. The robot / synthetic human companion
has been done before in manga, though primarily in manga marketed to boys and
men, but if anyone can bring fresh life to the premise by bringing it into shojo
it certainly is Yuu Watase.
Kaori Yuki's Godchild follows, and it is the strangest tale of the
bunch. It avoids genre classification-- a mix of Goth, fantasy, action, horror
and romance. Had this episode not ended with a promise of more story to come,
I would have thought Godchild was contained to this one issue of Shojo
Beat. It tells a complete story, but what I suspect is occurring here is
that we are being introduced to its main character, a young male detective in
the Victorian Era, through a stand alone adventure. I'm not familiar with any
of Yuki's other works, but I was really impressed by the art, which was surprisingly
dark for shojo.
Godchild is surprisingly dark and violent,
which isn't entirely unwelcome |
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Following with the historical theme set in Godchild, Kaze Hikaru
by Taeko Watanabe tells its story through the use of the legendary, fearless,
reckless and ultimately doomed Shinsengumi. This band of samurai formed to defend
the Shogunate in the city of Kyoto. Their story has been told countless times
through countless mediums, including this manga by Watanabe. In this historical
fiction, a young girl disguised as a boy joins the Shinsengumi to avenge the
death of her family. The art is capable though not my particular cup of tea.
Everyone is rounded and soft, smoothed faced and effeminate, which I found very
distracting and confusing. The story itself is ripe with comedy. No romance
is yet in sight, but it is definitely on the horizon.
Baby & Me is next. Created by Marimo Ragawa, this is the story
of a young boy forced to take care of his infant brother after the death of
his mother. This manga is the low point of Shojo Beat, a story that
sounds sweet, but grows tired fast. The writing is heavy on the sap and sweet.
The art is sparse, sketchy and mostly uninteresting.
Thankfully, Shojo Beat ends on a high note: Crimson Hero
by Mitsuba Takanashi. Sports manga is a popular genre of storytelling in Japan,
with titles like Prince of Tennis, Whistle, Rebound
and Eyeshield 21 at the forefront of shonen manga. Crimson Hero
is sports manga too, the shojo version. The game of choice is volleyball. Its
protagonist is lithe high schooler, Nobara, a tomboy with little interest in
anything else other than her sport of choice. She registered for a high school
based on the prowess of their volleyball team, but soon after arriving she learns
the girls' volleyball team was disbanded for lack of interest, and that it is
the boys' team that enjoys all the accolades. The story trucks along a
fine pace, introducing Nobara, her passion and her frustrating predicament.
The art features a lot of large panels, which is great considering Takanashi's
fine hand at character design and depicting the speed of a spiked volleyball.
Interspersed among the episodes of manga are interviews with the manga's creators
and information about the latest trends in Japan. At 360 pages, Shojo Beat
is packed with quality entertainment. Even though Baby & Me was
a real snoozer, there was still plenty to enjoy throughout the book. Foremost
were Nana and Absolute Boyfriend. I'd return to Shojo
Beat again if only to follow those two, though Godchild deserves
another look because it was so curiously different, and Crimson Hero
shows promise.
I don't usually speak to the price of a publication because it is the quality
of the comic that matters and not its cost, but at $7.99 (Canadian), Shojo
Beat is a worthwhile monthly purchase considering the quality of the majority
of the stories within and the sheer quantity of its pages. This kind of publication
might take some time to find its market in North America where we tend to buy
our comics in either thin single issues or thick collected editions, but those
that do check it out should find themselves thoroughly pleased.
4 of 5
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