[*Whatever By The Books*]

Today, instead of an anime review, I bring you a manga kinda-preview. I’ve seen only four chapters so it’s really more of a preview than a review. Oh, you wanna see the chapters too? Hop on to JE Scanlations What, you want an anime too?! Geez, so demanding! Wait a month or so, it’s screening in January.

Characters: Characters can still be pretty 3D, despite the overall silliness of this manga. There are touching points, there are two-faced characters. (Not like Ami-chan, though.) There are also some random 2D bitches who sit around being jealous. We don’t care about those. XD It’s too early for any serious backstory, though.

Kanako reminds me a little of Gakuen Alice’s Mikan; maybe it’s the way she’s a survivor, and frank. But the similarities probably end there. For one, Kanako is tall. :D (Jk, that’s not a point.) I’d be very interested in seeing where Maria’s character is taken; why did he crossdress? What is his relationship with ChocoCoronet (read chap 4 to understand this reference)?

Art: Art is very nice. I like the mangaka’s style; it’s polished and pretty, and the characters are able to display a wide range of emotions. (Maria is always so cute~~) I’m a bit scared of her chibi, though, but not as scared as I was by the SD in Skip Beat anime. XD

Scanlation stuff: Editing difficulty: middling. Some sfx were a PitA to wipe (Necroseer knows this XD), but it’s still easier than GA, I reckon. Less text. Readable text. (Easy to translate!) But long chapter 4. Booooo.

Plot: Girl meets boy…in girls’ school? Girl falls in love with boy…boy threatens her oblivion if she reveals his identity. Hmm. Not quite your usual Mills and Boons, or schoolyard romance at that. While not quite Ryuuji and Taiga either (here there’s at least some tension from Kanako, and it’s not like they’re pursuing other people), I’m not sure whether the complications in this one are complex enough. Did that make sense? Doubtful. XDAh well. We’ll have to see how it goes.

In chapter one to four, Kanako has transferred into Ame no Kisaki high school (second year); just a year below her, Maria has recently graduated to high school as well. Kanako catches Maria undressed, and finds out his secret; Maria pulls strings to dorm in the same room as Kanako, ostensibly to ’supervise’ her (so she doesn’t reveal his secret). Meanwhile, Kanako’s association with village hottie (I mean, yuri fantasy) Ishima Ryuuken-sama gets the other girls in the school jealous…..Click on continue for a whole rant about Kanako’s Man Allergy.

One thing that’s bothering me is Kanako’s allergy to men. Yes, dear, we get your drift; you didn’t really have to mention her allergy twice in a chapter (4, by the way). She’d have to have undergone pretty extensive psychological conditioning for this to happen, if it were a la the plastic rose experiment. Yet in chapter 1 or so, she breaks out in hives despite not knowing Maria is a guy. (Maybe her subconscious knew..) So what gives?

This actually also reminds me of Pushing Daisies; except touching the female lead would have caused her to die, instead of give her hives. (And it was only that one guy whom she couldn’t touch, but yeah, she fell in love with him too. :P Of course! He’s the Sexy Main Character!) What did they do instead? Why, kiss through cling wrap, of course.

Do you think cling wrap would work for Kanako x Maria? XD

So my current theory is that maybe she’s either hypersensitive to something that’s ubiquitous (i.e. in air); and that a male’s touch causes stress, which can worsen allergic reactions (citation needed). Which doesn’t quite explain the localised thing, so maybe it’s something on the skin’s surface itself that activates proteins blah blah inflammation cascade.

Then again it’s like asking how people got abilities in Heroes. No one really knows, and why do I care anyway?! XD (Except I suppose the point there is pseudo-science, and…that probably isn’t the point in MariaHolic.)

So, what do you think of this manga? :) Looking forward to the anime next season?

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