I Reads You Book Review: THE HEIRESS AND THE CHAUFFEUR Volume 1

THE HEIRESS AND THE CHAUFFEUR, VOL. 1 (OF 2)
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[A version of this review first appeared on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Keiko Ishihara
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: pinkie-chan
LETTERS: Rina Mapa
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8645-8; paperback (May 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

The Heiress and the Chauffeur is a shojo manga from Keiko Ishihara (the creator of Strange Dragon).  The series is set in Japan's turn-of-the-century Taisho Era (1912 to 1926) and focuses on the close personal relationship between a young lady and her chauffeur, a relationship that is the subject of some scandal in local high society.

The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) introduces Sayaka Yoshimura, daughter of the Yoshimura Family.  When the young heiress has to be driven to and from her all-girls finishing school, the servant to do that is 22-years-old Shinobu Narutaki, the chauffeur to the Yoshimura Family.  When rumors swirl at the school that she is having a forbidden love affair with Narutaki, Sayaka scoffs at those rumors.

Still, Sayaka and Narutaki have been together for a long time.  Sayaka's mother died, and her father is often away on business.  For so long, he has been by her side when she needs someone.  When Narutaki breaks decorum, however, Sayaka may have to dismiss him.  Can she really do that?

[This volume includes a short story, “Lucas and the Bandit,” and a series bonus story, “The Promise from Four Years Ago.”]

As shojo manga go, The Heiress and the Chauffeur is rather ordinary.  Hey, it is just another love story about a teen girl who has become attached to the guy who has always been by her side.  It is quite familiar:  he's always been by my side, and he is like a brother to me, says the impressionable young heroine.

The Heiress and the Chauffeur Volume 1 sets itself apart by delving into the nature of social class and of societal expectations.  There are times in this series when it seems as if creator Keiko Ishihara does not understand the fact that the romance between her leads feels strongest when it is threatened.  It is so obvious that Sayaka and Narutaki are in love that it would be weird if they were not.  The conflict and especially the push and pull from outside forces against their relationship is what really drives this narrative.  I would like to see more of that melodrama than the lovey-dovey stuff.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: HONEY BLOOD: Tale 0

HONEY BLOOD TALE 0
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Miko Mitsuki
TRANSLATION: pinkie-chan
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7339-7; paperback (February 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Honey Blood is a vampire shojo manga created by Miko Mitsuki.  The series debuted in Japan's Sho-Comi magazine in 2009.  However, there was an earlier version of the Honey Blood that began in 2008 as a series of manga short stories.

Honey Blood focuses on Hinata Sorazono, a high school girl.  All her classmates at Sunshine Flower Girls' Academy are in love with the vampire romance novel, Until the Ends of the Earth, and the series of novels it spawned.  Hinata is surprised to discover that her new neighbor is Junya Tokinaga, the author of Until the End of the Earth.  Then, she also learns that Junya is actually a vampire and that with one simple kiss, he puts his fate and his life in Hinata's hands.

Honey Blood: Tale 0 is a stand-alone manga that collects the three Honey Blood one-shot manga stories that predate the Honey Blood ongoing manga.  The stories:  “My Boyfriend is a...?!,” “Until Dawn Comes,” and “Until the End of Time,” which were first published in 2008 and 2009, comprise the original version of the story that is Honey Blood.

“My Boyfriend is a...?!” finds 15-year-old Hinata Sorazono becoming curious about her new neighbor, Junya Tokinaga.  Hinata is shocked when she walks in on Junya biting the neck of Hanazuka, his book editor.  In “Until Dawn Comes,” Hinata wants to have a normal relationship with her vampire boyfriend, Junya, but can vampires be normal?  In “Until the End of Time,” a movie is being made from Junya's novel, “Night Love,” and Hinata finds herself caught in a rivalry between Junya and the movie's star, Mariya Satomi, a spoiled male model.

[This volume contains two bonus stories, “A Bouquet of Love for the Princess” and “First Love, Melting in the Night.”]

I read the first volume the Honey Blood manga.  I was intrigued by its central conceit:  when a vampire kisses his true love on the mouth, he can drink only her blood from that point forward.  I prefer edgy shojo vampire romance manga like Vampire Knight and Black Rose Alice.  Thus, I found Honey Blood a bit cutesy, although enjoyable to read.

For some reason, I enjoyed Honey Blood Tale 0 a little more than I did Honey Blood Volume 1.  These semi-primordial Honey Blood stories, however, are extra cutesy.  In fact, Miko Mitsuki's work here is immature compared to the later Honey Blood manga.  So I can't explain why I find this early manga endearing.  Perhaps, I wanted Vol. 1 to be more cutesy and frilly?  Fans of Honey Blood will also want Honey Blood Tale 0.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: HONEY BLOOD Volume 1

HONEY BLOOD, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Miko Mitsuki
TRANSLATION: pinkie-chan
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7337-3; paperback (October 2014); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

There is a new vampire shojo manga from VIZ Media.  Entitled Honey Blood, it is created by Miko Mitsuki.  The series follows a high school girl and the mysterious writer of vampire romance novels who might also have a taste for blood.

Honey Blood, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens as a female high school student becomes the latest victim in a string of attacks.  In fact, all the victims are young women, and all have suffered massive blood loss, although none of the attacks, as of yet, have been fatal.  The victim is from the same school as  Hinata Sorazono, and everyone is on edge.

Everyone seems to think that the attacker is a vampire, but Hinata refuses to believe that vampires exist.  She even refuses to read the popular vampire romance novel, Until the Ends of the Earth, that is so popular with her best friend and with fellow students.  However, she discovers that her new neighbor is the novel's author, Junya Tokinaga.  She reluctantly becomes interested in this author with an old-world air about him, but as the attacks on young women continue, Hinata begins to wonder if Junya is somehow involved.

The Honey Blood manga is no Vampire Knight.  Honey Blood has some novel ideas about vampires, but it is as much about innuendo and heavy panting and sighing as it is about vampires – if not more.  Vampire Knight is edgy, dark, brutal, and tragic.  Honey Blood is about a high school girl getting mixed up with an older man, who is conflicted about being chivalrous.

This is not supernatural puppy love, but Honey Blood is closer to Twilight than to any other vampire manga recently released in North America (such as the dark, morbid, and weird Black Rose Alice).  Right now, I am not really impressed with it, but I suspect that once adversarial characters are introduced (such as a rival vampire and a rival love interest), Honey Blood will be like hotter blood.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.