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Reviewed by James Hanrahan Surrounded by seven giant magical pillars, the town of Sakurashin is defended from supernatural menaces by her honor, Mayor Hime Yarizakura, a 16-year-old girl with supernatural strength and resilience. Backed up by her lacrosse stick and her teenaged team of (mostly) magical civil servants from Sakurashin’s Hizumi Life Counseling Office. Her team consists of: busty, bespectacled Kotoha Isone who uses magic words; a telepathic, cat-eared, good natured demon-girl named Ao, and, finally, Akiina Hizumi, a brave, clever guy who has his own hereditary magic abilities (but is mostly a plucky young determined fellow). In this volume, however, they do not fight anybody. All that hype you might have read elsewhere on Teh InterWeb about how Yozakura Quartet is a rock'em sock'em super hero team adventure book doesn't really happen here. Yeah, sorry. On the positive side, I'd like to say though that if you've already decided to collect this series, then there is some really great backstory in here, and a lot of information about why there are so many magical beings and demons in Sakurashin Town in the first place. There is character motivation and one good world-building part this time around. The character pieces really buld on what has come before-- if you have the patience. In this volume. we learn a little more about Mayor Hime's family, and meet her little cousin and little sister, learn how the demon's power-dampening shackles work, who created the shackles, why Hime uses a lacrosse stick, who Hime's own boss is, and why Akina is even associated with demons and magic users if he's such an ordinary guy. Despite there being so much new info this time, I wish there had been a better mix between the action-y bad-guy fighting of the first volume and the quiet character pieces in this one. It feels too much like the author didn’t have this planned very well. This volume, we are also introduced to a whole new group of friendly magical users and demons and two adorable little Asian-style vampiric kindergaterners. For the otaku out there who go in for girls in cosplay, you get three new cosplay types-- One is a sexy nurse, and one is dressed as a sexy nun that serves the welfare of the demon/magic community's health and spiritual needs, respectively. The third is the assistant of Hime's boss, the magical District Mayor who oversees the mayors of smaller cities in his district. This assistant is always in cheongsams and maid outfits. I'd like to repeat from my Volume One review that in the first volume, the author pretty much admitted that some pandering is going to be done... I also have a problem with introducing no less than eight new supporting characters and spotlighting them while ignoring the primary cast. I know many manga have a tendency to throw a cast of twenty or more people at you and expect you to remember them all, but I've never really liked that. I'm really hoping this all pays off later on, story-wise. Like last time, the art is cute and clean and sharp, if a bit sparse on backgrounds. I give this... oh, let's say a "C", because it veers so far away from the style of the first volume, and so sharply. Think you could have written a better review of Yozakura Quartet v2? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
12 March 2010 10 March 2010
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