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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “When his school bus crashes, teenage karate star Rando is sent into a coma. A year later her wakes up to find that his disfigured face has been reconstructed in the image of the girl he has a crush on! Not knowing what Rando originally looked like, the mad plastic surgeon Dr. Manabe used a photo in Rando’s pocked as the model for his reconstructive surgery. Abandoned by his friends and parents, the all-new Rando is mistaken for his would-be girlfriend’s long-lost twin sister and adopted into her family. Can he put aside his feelings and be a good “big sister” to Rina . . . when he’s still a teenage boy from the waist down?” Oh yes, here comes gender-bending at its most shameless. One year after his “death,” Rando now looks like a girl and gets caught in a predicament which forces him to act like one. Despite how enthusiastically Dr. Manabe wants to perform a sex change for him, Rando would prefer to risk covering his skirt and padding his bra. The fact that Rando can’t escape his old testosteronerific tendencies makes an otherwise predictable series that much more fun to watch unfold. In fact, most of the personalities in Pretty Face are fun and vibrant. Since Rando will still dish out beatings when no one else is looking, his old karate gang still follows him around, this time due to his new identity’s combined beauty and brawn. Dr. Manabe couldn’t be more averse to Rando’s wishes to have his own façade reconstructed, going so far as to build Rando his own set of fake breasts. Though Rina isn’t as interesting, she always manages to put Rando in the most vulnerable and potentially jeopardizing situations possible. What holds Pretty Face back somewhat is the lack of beginning status quo. Rando is thrust into his inciting accident after only six pages, hardly enough to establish his initial character. Many of the volume’s episodes contrast Rando’s old habits and reputation with his new identity, but since the reader barely caught a glimpse of the old Rando, the contrast requires additional explanation each time. It’s not overly harmful to the flow of the narrative, but Kano is forced to constantly play catch-up for not including a necessary introductory chapter. With abundantly kinetic art to match the exaggerated characters, Pretty Face is a decidedly unique entry to Viz’s Shonen Jump Advanced line, but one of comparable quality. 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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