Arina TanemuraCritiques

There were some good points in this series, and I really liked the art style, but the overall verdict was... meh. Weird relationship dynamics, a Mary Sue for an MC, random goofs and filler, and a huge scoop of deus ex machina to wrap everything up.

I don't know why I keep trying to finish mangas from years if not decades ago - I was probably better off with the childhood memories of this being good, than finding out the hard way that this series didn't age well at all. Oh well. I guess that's what happens when you've greatly outgrown the target audience...

Quick Review:

This is an epic, female lead fantasy that will be loved by readers if they enjoy books like Sailor Moon, Vampire Knight and Wedding Peach.

Girls kicking butt with an epic love story, what more can a girl want from a cute manga? Especially one with a Princess! The outfits are cool, the plot lines are cooler!

Three out of five stars.

This book was a fairly close adaptation to the Disney movie Frozen 2 and I am a big fan of manga artist Arina Tanemura so I was interested in checking this out and am glad I read it.½

84/3-Σύντομες αστυνομικές ιστορίες. Θα μπορούσα να διαβάσω άνετα άλλες εκατό

Well, okay, let’s just throw a child death in here. .__. But at least the grief is handled seriously. I still think Sayaka's death was entirely unnecessary.

Then, the story jumps into dumb paternity woes. Whatever it takes to get the main couple together I guess. *eye roll*

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I liked the dinner with Haru. He's pretty smooth. Now, Chikage's forced to make a decision: relive life as a 15-year-old or take control of her life at her rightful age.

Overall, this series has truly been mediocre, but I'm too close to the end to stop.

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This series is absurd and melodramatic in the way all Arina Tanemura series are, but it's also pretty entertaining and the art is pretty - so I still like it quite a bit! It feels at times like something heavily influenced by Sailor Moon but with more gag humor.

God, Aoba’s a bitch

What a gross, hot mess of an ending. I reserve the right to expound upon in it at a later time.

Having finished Sakura Hime, I got the hankering for more Arina Tanemura, so I turned to her three-volume series Time Stranger Kyoko. Like Sakura Hime, Kyoko is a shojo manga about a young woman who is a princess with unusual powers that must use them to save those close to her and reveal her own destiny. Unlike Sakura Hime, however, it lacks true depth and is crowded with characters who have yet to reveal their usefulness. But hey, at least it's fun!

You can read my complete review of TIME STRANGER KYOKO volume one here at my blog.

The middle volume of Tanemura's three-book shojo fantasy series Time Stranger Kyoko is all too aware that the end is near. It burns through plot at a ferocious speed, leading slower readers in its dust. Relationships are formed, hearts are broken, and suddenly this light and fluffy tale of a girl collecting stones has turned several shades more devious.

You can read my full review of TIME STRANGER KYOKO volume 2 at my blog.

This series continues to be an enjoyable three-star manga across the board, and volume six is no exception. The main problem I have with this volume is that the slow moments are excruciatingly so and it's not one of Tanemura's strengths. The best moments come during the exploration of Asagiri's past; now that was amazingly well-written and held a surprisingly dark story twist. I can't say I love Asagiri and Ukyo's romance - it's a bit too contrived and typical shoujo for my tastes. The last twist about Asagiri has me wanting to read the next volume quite a bit, which is something Sakura-Hime hasn't been doing lately so good on them. The short one-shot about the angels going to earth was very cute and extremely funny; I adored the pun-filled witch a lot.

Sakura Hime makes my heart hurt in so many ways, it should be punishable by law. Tanemura has created a cast of characters with conflicting relationships and she's bringing them together in some very explosive ways. As volume eleven opens, the Kohaku/Rurijo/Hayate love triangle is coming to an apex but Enju isn't far behind, still determined to bring Princess Sakura back to her side. That is, if Rurijo's sudden vengeance quest against the princess doesn't get her killed first.

You can read my complete review of SAKURA-HIME KADEN volume 11 at my blog: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/

Do yourself a favor, fellow Sakura Hime fans. Don't read the Viz Manga synopsis for this volume. Just don't! Because it gives away a lot of the plot twists within this final installment and quite frankly, that's rather rude. Go into it without knowing a single thing of what is to come and I promise you, Tanemura's last book of Sakura and Aoba's destiny-defying romance will certainly hit you right in the feelings box.

You can read my complete review of the SAKURA HIME series finale here, at my blog.

First off, despite the title of the book, a good 1/4th of the illustrations inside are not Full Moon; a good number of those are Time Stranger Kyoko related. Still, the illustrations that have been included in this collection are bloody gorgeous, as is the standard for Tanemura’s works. Even if you don’t like her stories, you have to admit her artwork is above the par for her field. Several of her color spreads literally took my breath away at first glimpse.

You can read the rest of my review of this artbook at Nagareboshi Reviews!

If volume nine of Arina Tanemura's latest manga Sakura Hime was a departure into the more shojo-style romantic sphere of the series, volume ten brings us crashing back into the conflicts that propel the manga forward. Sakura's ancestry and curse of immortality once again comes into play, as does Hayate and Rurijo, two supporting characters caught in the web of Enju's machinations. Tanemura is bringing the danger and the drama back to Sakura Hime and it creates one of the strongest volumes of the whole series.

You can read my complete review of SAKURA HIME volume 10 at my blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/

Even when it's ridiculous, this series never gets boring. The latest volume of Arina Tanemura's Sakura Hime runs the complete gamut of what has made this such a popular Shojo Beat title: love triangles! Silly misunderstandings! Swords! Magic! Tastefully covered nudity! Sparkly shiny pretty artwork! All that and a sudden plot twist at the end of the volume relating to everyone's favorite talking frog makes number nine a book to remember.

You can read the rest of my review of Sakura Hime volume nine over at my manga blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/

A decent enough volume, with a new character determined to shake up the whole scene, but one that is dominated by so much melodrama and romantic drama it's hard to connect it with the previous action-filled volume. The amusing qualities of Aoba's blunders and the antics of Princess Yuri keep this one from sliding into obscurity series-wise.

You can read the rest of my review at my anime/manga blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/

The first volume to get four stars; for the first time, it deserves it. The current story arc gets wrapped up spectacularly and for once the plot twists are genuinely entertaining and not utterly ridiculous. We see Sakura as the heroine this series needs and she justifies why she's the main protagonist. She's actually pretty badass when she swings Chizakura around. It's a first but I'm actually really looking forward to volume eight.

So the art is still as gorgeous and ever and the backstory involving the ninja was awesome - but other than that, nothing special is going on in this volume of Sakura Hime. I think it's time for me to accept that this Tanemura is different than the Tanemura who gave us treasures like Full Moon wo Sagoshite and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne; a good few of the plot elements in this story feel borrowed from other sources. Plus, it feels like Sakura's been sidelined from most of the action - and this is her series, for goodness' sake. The 4-koma featuring Tanemura and her assistants are pretty adorable, though; can we have more of those please?

More of a 3.5 than a 3, but not enough to round it up. It feels like Sakura Hime is finally finding is footing plotwise. It helps that we've dealt a huge character revelation that gives the series some serious depth, although some might see it as out of nowhere (and it pretty much was). Although one thing I'd ask is that we as readers see more of Sakura as this strong, independent, confident woman instead of other characters telling us she is. Also, less contrived romantic obstacles - but knowing Tanemura, those aren't disappearing any time soon.

I was going to give it four stars, but then the second half of it happened, which was so rushed and ill-tempered with cheap laughs that I had trouble enjoying it as much as the first half. Not a bad start to a new Tanemura series, and her art is as gorgeous as ever. Should be a good twist on the typical 'destined girl' shojo story.

Originally posted here at Anime Radius.

I've always been a moderate fan of Arina Tanemura's works - Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne was a pleasant romp while Full Moon o Sagoshite had me in tears with every volume. However, I approached the glossily covered Mistress Fortune with no small amount of trepidation; I've never known shoujo manga-ka like Tanemura to do well in the arena of one-shot manga. They either end up too short or without any focus and become a big mess by volume's end. Luckily, this particular manga does not fall into that trap. Which is not to say that Mistress Fortune has single-handedly overturned the genre of magical girls with superpowers in any big way, but it does make a lot of tired tropes enjoyable to read, which is a feat in itself in an era of Nanoha and Card Captor Sakura clones.

Amid Tanemura's typically gorgeous art, all decked out in shoujoesque tones and gradients without becoming overbearing, is a love story. A love story, of course, that happens to involve teenage psychics protecting the world from aliens (who actually seem pretty cute for the most part). Kisaki is a spirited enough protagonist, one who works hard and cares deeply about her partner while juggling her work and her school and her personal life. She also makes Mistress Fortune a blast to read; any other protagonist, anyone less cheerful and genki, would have absolutely killed the mood of the story. It also helps that the story itself has a lot of fun elements, like the odd little aliens and the inner workings of PSI, not to mention the entire California subplot which involves - well, I won't spoil you, but if you know who the editor of this particular manga is, you'll be doing a double take after the American PSI member is introduced. Go, Tanemura, go!

In general, Mistress Fortune is a lighthearted fun single volume of mahou shoujo manga; absolutely no risk in picking this one up. There's tons of romance and action and humor and magic between the covers; no reader will go disappointed. It's typical Tanemura - and that's no insult.

Hmm. I was confused. This was confusing.

I got the idea - the adopted high schooler is pretty much at the bottom on the social scale of her high school. The head student council dude is called The Emperor (?!) and she's in love with him.

The art was confusing to me. Lots of stuff going on in these pictures and I had trouble following it all. I had a hard time, too, as it jumped from scene to scene. Half the time I was confused as to who was talking and what they were doing.

Story line wasn't enough to keep me interested in the series. Maybe if I were younger? But I'd still be confused!

And - I also found the school doctor and his thing for Ushio - one of the students - a bit disturbing. I realize it's Japanese manga and it's not my culture but I thought I'd mention it.

This volume was a lot of fun and had several cute stories included. I loved all the characters involved throughout the 4 different stories included in this volume and would like to read more about some of them.

Volume Includes:
Short-Tempered Melancholic
This Love is Nonfiction
Rainy Afternoons are for Romantic Heroines
The Style of the Second Love