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Reviewed by Park Cooper Puri Puri apparently (I did a little research) is short (oookay...) for the title “Premature Priest.” Masato Kamioda (oh my goodness, a rare DrMaster title with a “what has gone before” section in the front!) is training to become a Catholic priest. Oops. You know how fascinating-and-sometimes-hilarious Japan seems to find Catholicism (the name of [Trigun’s] Nicholas P. Wolfwood comes to mind, with his portable confessional that he jams over your head)... Puri Puri (or Puri Purient as I enjoy calling it) is not all that funny, and it’s not all that lovable. Sexy? Yes, a bit. Fan service-y? Yes, very much so. Appropriate? No, not really. The most notable thing about this volume is the yuri girl who likes the shy artist girl—you can’t believe how overt and look-at-this her gayness is treated in the book—you could never have a character like her in American comics or OEM, even in a book suggested for 15-year-olds and up. But the unusual sighting of such a rare character is spoiled by the fact that she is, after all, a nun-in-training. Ouch. That’s gonna be quite an adulthood... I guess she’ll be turning to religion to be her guide about those feelings. I hope she’s successful instead of frustrated. The bride-of-Christ-to-be who decides, at Kamioda’s new church to which he’s assigned, to mess with him and tease him sexually... it doesn’t come across as all that naughty. Instead, I just hated her and felt sorry for him, because he’s not going to give in to temptation (if he decides to abandon the priesthood entirely and just live a secular life, there’s already another nun-in-training who has actual emotional feelings of romance for him who could join him in that-- it’s certainly not going to be this new little tramp), he’s just going to get in trouble thanks to her. If you’re going to have a harem manga, you can have it ANYWHERE! I can write you dozens! Masato inherits his grandfather’s lingerie company and must make a success of it or all his nubile female employees will be unemployed! Masato is the only young man on his spaceship who manages to make it through the boy-killing Space Plague while 200 light-years from civilization! Masato’s amazing good luck makes him the hottest new dealer in Vegas, and every showgirl is hoping his good luck will rub off on them! So to speak! WHY must you make a harem manga about hot young pre-priests and pre-nuns?!?!? Because SOME manga-ka think Catholicism is just the most neat-o crazy coo-koo wacky religion EVER, is my best guess. And, hey, it can be done well, but... I dunno, One-Pound Gospel this ain't. Sigh. The art is pretty and the fan-service is plentiful, but Puri Puri’s lack of a possible happy-AND-sexy exit strategy to this particular game of Humanity’s Oldest Pasttime just kills the salaciousness. C-. 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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