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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane Demons like Rara are supposed to cause mischief in the mortal world and draw humans to darkness. They're not supposed to help mortals, and they're definitely not supposed to fall in love with them! But that's just what happens when Rara enters high school, where a hot guy named Retsu Aku calls her "Gaba Kawa"! While demons gain power by causing mischief, the opposite is also true--if Rara uses any of her powers to help mortals, she'll immediately lose that very power. If she loses enough power, she'll disappear! Poor Rara. What's a "Gaba Kawa" demon to do? What we have here is an extremely fluffy one-shot manga by Rie Takada. It's a fast read, and eminently predictable--taking a quick look at both the cover art and the back cover blurb should be enough to tell you exactly what happens, unless this is your very first shoujo manga ever. There's no new ground being broken here, and since it's only one volume long, there isn't a lot of time for either character development or any kind of serious exploration of the premise. As a light way to spend half an hour, though, Gaba Kawa holds up fairly well. The main character, Rara, is very cute and spunky (although horribly inept at being demonic; one wonders how any of the other demons imagined for a moment that she'd be able to wreak any kind of havoc on Earth). Her love interest, Retsu, realizes early on that there's something unusual about her, and their attempts to figure each other out provide most of the story's plot. As might be expected, the artwork aims to be cute, and it delivers. As with the story, there's nothing exceptional, and the designs are fairly standard, but the cute is undeniable. (I particularly like the cover art--Rara's bright-eyed determination looks especially good in color.) Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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