“The Greatest Story Ever Told” – The Manga Bible (manga) – 7/10 Flowers

"Great men are not always wise" ~The Bible

Genre: Christian/Drama/Action/Romance

Review Status: Complete (1 Volume/ 1 Volume)

Licensed: Yes, this manga is licensed in the US

Art: Very sketch-like, with harsh lines and angular figures. Pictures tend to be undetailed. Backgrounds are plain. In some places it comes off as harsh and dramatic, in others somewhat lazy.

Summary: The creation of the earth... The rise and fall of God's chosen people... The mysterious stranger who brought about a new world order... And the ultimate showdown between the forces of good and evil... This is the greatest story ever told... as you've never seen it before. (back of the cover)

Review: For any Christian who enjoys anime and manga, one of the best things that can happen is The Manga Bible- something to meld the two things that they love. This does a nice job of condensing the Bible into easy to understand stories, though some seem to be disconnected to what happened before, and gets to the important stories that most Christians consider to be at the core of their faith. This traverses the history from the Old Testament (Adam and Eve, Sodom and Gomorrah, David and Goliath, the wars over Jerusalem) and gets to the New Testament about 2/3 way through the volume.

Some of the stories might be a bit too condensed for readers, which the mangaka solved by helpfully giving the book, chapter and verse of the story or the backstory that was glossed over.

The stories were also told decently well. I appreciated that most were told with time-period appropriateness, except for a few disconcerting moments where they decided to put the story to modern images. This could backfire- on a personal note, with family that has both vets and victims of World War II, I didn’t appreciate a Fat Boy being thrown into the story. It seemed to be both disproportionate to what was being told, and disrespectful to what happened then.

There is also a question of accuracy. While most of it was accurate to what is in the Bible (a few liberties with language aside to make it relevant to the modern reader), there were some instances of Christian legend and lore being illustrated that are most definitely not. The most egregious of this was the story of 2,000 baby boys under the age of 2 being slaughtered in Jerusalem. There is no support for this either in historical records or within the Bible. This could be found to be offensive to some readers.

As something to entertain, the Manga Bible does decently well. The action is good and often, there’s deception, war, and revenge. It can drag in a few places, and the pacing occasionally seems off. As something to supplement faith or be used to illustrate it, it also does decently well. It manages to be both easy to understand and highlights the important events.

Overall, this would be a neat gift to a believer who was into anime and manga.

Recommended: Maybe. As a rental from the library, yes. For ownership? It would depend on the person. For any age you wouldn’t mind seeing the bloodier bits of Biblical history, rather than just being told it. This does keep in mind that the stories, like that of David and Goliath, weren’t exactly bloodless as children’s versions are wont to have you believe. You have some partial nudity (men can go shirtless, Adam and Eve are unclothed but either shown in shadow or behind bushes). Rare Barbie-doll nudity. There is very little language.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Manga Messiah (manga)
Shelter of Wings (manga)

“Break Out Of The Shell” – Ghost in the Shell (manga) – 8/10 Flowers

Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ~C.P. Snow

Genre: Sci-fi/Action /Psychological

Review Status: Complete (1 Volume/1 Volume)

Licensed: Yes, this manga is licensed in the US

Art: Very 90’s, with big hair. More mature hairstyles for the time, since this does feature adults and not children or teens. The clothing also shows it, with big pants and shoulder pads. The cars are also pretty throwback. The characters have slightly more cartoonish designs than what some may be used to in comparison to the anime. The edition I got my hands on was flipped so it read right-to-left.

Summary: Deep into the 21st Century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg super-agent Major Makoto Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including “ghost hackers,” capable of exploiting the human/machine interface by re-programming human minds to become puppets to carry out their criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside-down and inside-out.

Review: The future is an amazing place. Humans can get cybernetic upgrades, machines can take over complicated jobs that humans have trouble with. It can be hard to tell the two apart- except for one thing: The “Ghost” that marks out humans from non-humans. Call it what you will- Ghost, Soul, Spirit, they are all different names for the same thing. This manga explores the crimes that can be committed when there might be a little too much mechanizing going on with people. They can be hacked into, manipulated, even have their souls erased from their bodies and replace with someone else’s. The ultimate goal of Section Nine is to stop it, while minding international and national politics.

The politics can get a little complicated, but when aren’t they? There are heads of corporations and nations behind the worst of it, and sometimes you only get hints of who may really be behind things. The bad guys aren’t always punished. The victims can’t always be fixed or recompensed. It doesn’t take an idealistic look at the world.

For the most part, the stories are stand-alone, until the last three chapters. Those revolve around the “Puppeteer”, a cyber-criminal of immense skill. However, all may not be what they appear with this being. It is really a sentient being? Was it a person in the first place? Is it all a hoax on those who would come into contact with it?

The characters you might be familiar with from the movies and tv series are so very different here. The characters all feel more like people- they have more fleshed-out personalities. The Major in one chapter is in a relationship- a touchy-feely, loving one. Batou is even more of a joker, and Section Nine’s leader is a little more hot-headed and forceful than he ever was. With more stories covered, more detail given, this really shines as showing the personalities and quirks of people that make up Section Nine.

The one thing that I must note is that while this was made in the 90’s and is a bit dated in terms of clothes and hair, it is still solid-sci-fi. Bad sci-fi goes against what is known when it is written. Good sci-fi can last for years in terms of what’s scientific probable or possible. The science and technology that is shown within, and in one place detailed a bit, isn’t too far off from what’s being explored at the moment or is similar to technologies that we have. It makes for a pretty impressive read.

Overall, this was a fun ride into the world of cyber-criminals and future technology.

Recommended: 16+. I don’t recall a single f-bomb being dropped, and swearing is at a rate of less than one per chapter. Most of these are the d-word and h-word, but once ‘son-of-a-b*’ is used. There is one very brief, vague reference to drugs being used by one of the main characters. There are only two instances of what could really be called ‘gore’, one panel where a man is blown up and another two where you see a young man being shot (you see half his face gone, but not in CSI detail). For the rest, you see blood spatter, some injuries, and the bodies that are shown destroyed are those of robots. Human gore/death tends to be off-page. The worst the nudity gets is in one chapter where a robot, fresh off the line, escapes. As it was meant to replace someone’s actual body, it is nude, but the reader only sees it from the waist-up. The rest of the time, it’s no worse than Baywatch, or Seven-of-Nine’s bodysuit (Star Trek). Barbie-doll nudity when dealing with the “Puppeteer”.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Ghost in the Shell (movies, several series)
Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (manga)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface (manga)
Appleseed (anime or manga)
Pluto (manga)
Akira (manga)
Serial Experiments Lain (anime)
Real Drive (anime)
Kaiba (anime)
Time of Eve (anime)

“What Are Magical Girls Made Of?” – Puella Magi Madoka Magica (anime) – 10/10 Flowers

Love is more than a noun -- it is a verb; it is more than a feeling -- it is caring, sharing, helping, sacrificing. ~William Arthur Ward

Genre: Mahou Shoujo/Drama/Action/Psychological

Review Status: Complete (12 Episodes/12 Episodes)

Licensed: As of the beginning of July 2011, this anime is indeed licensed in the US.

Art/Animation: While the animation may not always be the smoothest, it is consistently good. The colors are bright, the style is distinctive, and the art can get downright trippy at times. This was created with a variety of different styles- you have fairly normal, recognizable designs for the ‘normal world’, but the Witches and their worlds (and occasionally some flashbacks) are more roughly-drawn, like crayons and paper puppets, or cut-outs over static patterned backgrounds. This in no way detracts from it- it brings the contrast between them into focus, and can also be downright disturbing in some parts.

Dub Vs. Sub: There is no dub for this.

Summary: Beloved family, good friends, laughter and tears - these things make up the ordinary life of Kaname Madoka, a second year student of Mitakihara City Middle School. One night, Madoka dreams of a mysterious dark haired girl struggling against a terrible evil; the next morning she discovers that the girl, Akemi Homura, has transferred into her class. This encounter will lead to an incident which will alter Madoka's fate forever. (MAL.net)

Review: Nothing in this world comes without a price. It’s an integral truth for us, and in the world of magical girls. Yet, in magical girl shows, everything is totally fine when they make a contract- they get to sing or play games, use their magic for whatever, maybe only having to fight an occasional monster to do so. It seems almost disproportionate. Why should a young girl be given immense magical powers for essentially no reason? Madoka takes that question and runs with it. How is it possible? Why is it possible?

And what if it wasn’t?

There’s magic, time travel, aliens, all used skillfully to bring us this what-if of the mahou shoujo world. And off of it makes sense in the grand scheme of the genre. By that same token, the things that we are familiar with are twisted and subverted, sometimes in the most horrific of ways. This is an anime that doesn’t go for gore for a cheap thrill, no- this goes for the psyche. It’s amazing as the most innocuous or happy statement can, under the right circumstances, become a most horrific one.

It’s great to see how this plays with symbolism. The double-scythe pendulum is perhaps the most obvious one. You have themes echoed throughout the story, from mere side characters that don’t know what perils our heroines are facing: “You can’t have everything you want”. Not everything is as it seems- sometimes it takes two revelations to figure out what type of person (or being) someone is. All in all, if you’re looking for an anime that will make you think and keep you guessing, this is it.

What makes it great is how it works so well with the plot and characters. The plot is typical of Mahou Shoujo, and yet made into epic proportions. Madoka is faced with saving the world. Most of the story is taken up with her indecision of whether to go through with it, unable to decide what she really desires in turn for agreeing to become one. Of course, that’s part of the subversion. How many magical girl shows have you seen where the heroine doesn’t take the opportunity eagerly? But save it she must, and her decision is a bittersweet one. The how is both saddening, and yet brilliant.

Madoka really would be rather shallow if it weren’t for the characters within it, though. Madoka seems like most magical girls- she loves others with all her heart, and wants the best for them. However, she doesn’t make decisions rashly, as is shown in her actions throughout the series. Her friends are fully fleshed-out figures, all of them people who want nothing more than the happiness of the people they love, and yet make mistakes along the way or fail to do so regardless. They have all been hurt in some way, but continue to fight. They never truly lose hope for the world. It is through the trials and their tribulations that you see Madoka grow as a character. She watches, but takes everything in and learns from it, making a decision that is more than any mahout shoujo show before her has dared go.

Overall, this was a brilliant take on the genre, and definitely something every fan (and even non-fans) should watch.

Recommended: 13+. The nudity is never more than your standard magical-girl nudity, and most episodes only shows up in the opening sequence. The language level is low, with a bare minimum of cursing, the worst of it being the word for illegitimate child being used once or twice. There are perhaps two instances of swearing besides that. The worst of the violence is when you see one person’s head being bitten off- this is NOT shown in graphic detail, you merely see the outline of it happening, and it is brief. Besides that, you have blood spatter, some cuts, and see girls’ dead bodies which are left intact. Most violent stories are told with what looks like animated puppets, and the violence is merely implied, though you see the aftermath (but as it’s shown symbolically with those puppets, it isn’t as bad as one would think). Some of the worst violence happens to Kyuubei, who is shot full of holes (no blood or gore), shot so he explodes (again, no blood or gore). During one brief scene, two adults are drinking in a bar.

For those who have religious sensibilities, think of Madoka as a Christ-figure.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Princess Tutu (anime)
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)
Mai-Hime (anime or manga)
Revolutionary Girl Utena (anime)
Bokurano (anime or manga)
Serial Experiments Lain (anime)

"Country Boys" - Popcorn Romance (manga) - 6/10 Flowers

Summer Lovin', Happened So Fast! ~Grease

Genre: Slice-of-Life/Shoujo

Review Status: Complete (1 Volume/1 Volume)

Licensed: Yes, this manga is licensed in the UShttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Art: It’s so very 90’s- super-big eyes, dated styles for the hair and clothing, and overall doesn’t seem that clean or sleek.

Summary: A pair of metalhead brothers were psyched. They made their onstage debut when disaster struck… one of them collapsed. So to recuperate they decided to rest at their grandfather’s farm in the country… but now the farm might be turned into a golf course… what are they going to do… and what’s to become of the love they left behind in the city?

Review: When I opened this up, I could tell how old the manga was by the look of the art. Once I got past that and was able to focus on the story, I discovered a sweet, short little romance. The premise is believable- a boy with a genetic disorder, that could potentially kill him, needs to go to the countryside to recuperate. His brother comes with, leaving his girlfriend that he loves behind in the city.

They’re immediately put to work, harvesting potatoes, dealing with a few fans that live in town… and discover that they really enjoy the countryside, with its beautiful views and unspoiled wilderness, and try to find a way to keep the golf course from being made.

It’s the execution that sometimes is downright silly. Zenta has a talent for singing the wild beasts to him (a reference is made to this being like Sleeping Beauty). He’s thoughtless and has a tendency for forgetting his medicine. Overall, though, even though it’s incredibly idealistic, it’s not a bad story. The only things that I really had a problem with were some very regional and historical references- for instance, one of the women in the forest is freaked out by Zenta and thinks that a Russian soldier is roaming around. This would require some knowledge of history to really realize why it is funny.

I think that I preferred the bonus one-shot that was included in the manga, ‘The Magic of Love’. It dealt with something that you rarely see in manga or anime- a girl who’s self-confidence is wrecked by her bad acne. What was really nice was how the guy who liked her was able to look past her acne and see the sweet girl that was underneath. With more modern-looking art, and dealing with a very common subject and problem with teens, I really thought it was a great little story.

Overall, it was a nice, short read, but not something I would ever buy.

Recommended: 5+. No language, no nudity, the only thing that might be an issue is one of the brothers is very girly (and I mean, looks really girly and has a penchant for girl’s clothing). This is played for laughs, since he doesn’t like people thinking that he’s a girl… although even though he’s pretty manly when he’s all grown-up, he does wish that he could pull off a wedding dress like his brother’s bride does. At one point, just to have some fun, he does dress up in a dress to sing to the animals. One of the weasels is hit by a car, though there is no blood or gore, and the animal does live.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Yotsuba (manga)
Train Manga: A Shoujo Manga (manga)
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (manga)
Baby & Me (manga)
Aishiteruze Baby (anime and manga)

"Fight For Home" - iDOLM@STER: Xenoglossia (anime) - 3/10 Flowers

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. ~Muhammad Ali

Genre: Mecha/Action/Romance/Sci-Fi

Review Status: Complete (26 Episodes/26 Episodes)

Licensed: No, this anime is not licensed in the US

Art/Animation: Decent. It’s slightly better-than-average. The CG blends in decently well, too. But the art is very typical, cookie-cutter designs.

Dub Vs. Sub: There is no dub for this anime.

Summary: 107 years ago the moon shattered, the earth has flooded, and giant robots called iDOLs (Made in Japan!) are used to save the earth from stray meteorites. Highly trained pilots are needed to pilot them, and so periodically they search for new candidates. Who else is suited to pilot them better than cute teenage girls?

Review: *Sigh*

*Bigger sigh* Okay, having been a fan of anime and various review sites for a long time I knew the perils of randomly downloading anime. Did I listen? Consider this show my slap on the hand. My way of looking at it? This could have been worse.

Haruka Amami wants to be an idol, so she goes to the local tryouts and – SURPRISE! She’s recruited by an agency to be their newest idol. Little does she know that the agency is a front for another agency that controls the Idols (the mecha, not the girls) and uses them to save the world. (And just out of curiosity, why does Japan always control all the big machines? Couldn’t they crash-land in, say, Australia? Or Costa Rica? Canada?! Nooo….). In any case, she moves to the big city and must learn to pilot an Idol while becoming one herself. (P.S.- The robots can only be piloted by females. Echoes of Mai Otome?)

Probably my favorite character in this series was Haruka’s best friend Yayoi, a rising idol herself, who dressed up as a penguin (Haruka’s favorite animal) to greet her when she arrived in the city. That was sweet. However, wearing the penguin suit for nearly the entire series did become rather tiring. My second-favorite was one of Haruka’s mentors who kicked butt in a skintight suit. The rest of the characters were a rather bland bunch, with average personalities and standard character designs. Not that the bad guys were much better, though. Of course, my favorite butt-kicking character just happened to have an evil twin *gasp*. Then there was the mandatory evil little girl who was really just a spoiled brat. My one joy was that she walked around with a permanent swirly, which I deemed divine justice for having her in the show in the first place.

With decent animation, somewhat well-blended CG, indifferent OP and ED themes, and a well-worn storyline, I would give the first half of the series a dubious three stars.

Then around episode 17 or 18, things started getting really weird. It was like they had a checklist of ‘things to put in to disturb and/or annoy viewers’! The mentor not only had an evil twin, but was an android and had an affair with her ‘creator’ and father-figure. Android insertion? Check. Creepy incestuous theme? Check. Angsty Sasuke-like betrayal of Haruka’s best IdolMaster friend? Double check! Yet another betrayal of a best friend? If you haven’t got the idea by now, you never will.

As this is also a mecha show, I should say something about that. The robots themselves are decently designed- I mean, there are only so many variations on the same basics that you can make. They also have consciousnesses. They choose their pilots, they reject their pilots, there’s angst between the pilots and the robots, robots feel rejected… And by the end of it all, Haruka and her Idol, Imber, have a disturbing semi-romance going. Don’t ask.

Overall, the ending did make me shed a tear, it was because I realized what a monumental waste of time this was.

Recommended: Not in this lifetime! 16+, though. The first thing you notice in the first episode is you get a good upskirt view of Haruka. This does also have some disturbing themes. There is a massacre of a base, and you do see the guns firing. Some of the people killed are young teens. There are some shoujo-ai themes going on, but these are never taken beyond extreme hero worship and obsession with raising their opinion. There is also some implied incest-while the androids aren’t really blood related to their creator, he nonetheless raises them from child-forms, and this later turns into a sexual relationship with at least one of them. You never see anything beyond them kissing, though. Skimpy and/or tight outfits abound, and in one scene, the little girl is shown to be controlling things from a bathtub. This gets very racy, since at one point she stands up- the most you see is her legs. It’s not the innocent bathing vibes you get from Totoro, it’s much creepier.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Bokurano (anime and manga)
Macross Frontier (anime)
Eureka 7 (manga and anime)
Cowboy Bebop (anime)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (anime)

"Dancing In The Sun" - Rideback (anime) - 8/10 Flowers

I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can't be helped. ~Frederick Perls

Genre: Sci-fi/Mecha/Action

Review Status: Complete (12 Episodes/12 Episodes)

Licensed: Yes, this anime is licensed in the US.

Art/Animation: Thirteen episode runs usually don't get the budget that they probably should, but Madhouse did it again! With some astounding CG (though it can seem somewhat out-of-place occasionally), and smooth, wonderfully done animation, several scenes in this rival the best- definitely worth spending the time to see!

Dub Vs. Sub: There is no dub.

Summary: Ogata Rin, an aspiring ballerina, is injured and unable to dance any longer. She joins the Rideback club to try and remake her life, but falls into the crossfire between the GGP and the rebels, and must find a way to survive as those around her are also pulled into the conflict.

Review: Aw, man, what do I say about this one?

I don't really know. Um... Characters! That's always a good place to start. Well, first off the designs were a bit off-putting- until I got used to them. With elongated faces and rather gangly bodies, it wasn't the standard design. But, like with Romeo x Juliet, once I had watched partway into the first episode I got accustomed to them. Now I can't imagine the characters looking any other way. As for the characters themselves, the only one you get to know really well is the protagonist, Ogata Rin, and how she came to be riding the Ridebacks. It was a bit of a shame, though. The series was only 13 episodes, but it could have- should have- run for a few more. Crunching a 10-volume manga into a 12-episode anime rarely works out well.

Music-wise, I want the ED song badly. I want it so badly I can almost taste it. The rest of it, while nothing spectacular, is still quality work. There is no time at which it fails to properly convey the mood, and at the important scenes it becomes ear candy. Soft piano is the name of the game, with a bit of techno-rock thrown in. A bit of a mixed bag, but nice all the same. The sore spot for me? The opening. The first episode didn't have subtitles, so I ASSUMED they were speaking, for the most, part, in another language. And I enjoyed it. Nope! It was just really, really bad Engrish. I cringed and plugged my ears after I saw the lyrics. You might, too.

The story itself is tight. There is no filler. Rin joins the Rideback club, saves a friend, is mistaken for a terrorist... Yeah. As much as I hate to say this, there should have been a few more episodes. I would have liked for the story to go more into the friendships developing in the Rideback club- it seems like everybody becomes friends really fast (though that can happen in times of trouble)- and some more info on what's happening between the GGP and Japan. They tried to make it clear, they really did, but I still did not get the finer points of things- like why the GGP was in Japan in the first place.

Of course, those things really aren’t what the show is about in the end- it’s about Rin and her mother, her struggle with her mother’s memory, and breaking away from those expectations and disappointments to become her own person- essentially what the last episode is saying. It does seem to come out from the background at the last second, but nevertheless is uplifting to see.

Overall, this is one I would highly recommend to anybody- this is one that, had it been less crunched for time, would have been a classic. Still is, in my opinion, if only for the first 11 episodes.

Recommended: 13+. There really is very little objectionable content here- perhaps a glimpse of undies as Rin flies into the sky on her Rideback (once), and later in the series, a dear friend is implied to not only be injured, but killed by the GGP. None of it is shown.

Other titles you might enjoy:
Macross Frontier (anime)
Rainbow (anime and manga)
Planetes (manga and anime)
Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge (manga)
King of Thorn (manga)

“Bad Girl In Town” – Serenity (manga) – 3/10 Flowers

You can tell the size of your God by looking at the size of your worry list. The longer your list, the smaller your God. ~Author Unknown

Genre: Comedy/Christian/Romance/Slice-of-Life

Review Status: Incomplete (5 Volumes/10 Volumes)

Licensed: This is not only licensed in America, it’s an OEL.

Art: Doujin-quality. Obviously heavy on the computer graphics and colorization. More like American comics than manga, honestly. Plus, the artists have no fashion sense and have her run around in the most ridiculous/ugly outfits they can think of to try and emphasize how ‘counter-culture’ she is. At least, I’m hoping that’s the case.

Summary: Her name is Serenity Harper and she’s one obnoxious little bundle of attitude, anger, and animosity. Can the care and concern of Derek, Kimberly, and the rest of the Prayer Club break through Serenity’s tough shell- and prove to her that true love does exist? (from the back cover of the first volume)

Review: Having seen this manga being reviewed on a blog I semi-follow, I decided to pick it up. I had read this many years ago and recalled being less than impressed. Were my reactions justified?

As you can see from my score, yes. The plots in the volumes are disjointed from the beginning. It jumps from one scene/plot/idea to another with little to no breathing room. When it does that, it really doesn’t give the stories that are there the time or thought that they need. Some don’t need half a volume, no, but others really need some fleshing-out. Still more, such as the story of the abandoned baby, seemed entirely out-of-place. While they were supposed to show her growing/becoming more mature (I think), it really should have been put later in the manga- if it went in there at all. The fourth/fifth volumes are where the author finally settles down and manages to devote an entire volume to a singular plotline, ones that finally flowed well with each other. Since that is about halfway through the series, I was less than impressed.

But what is a plot without characters? What’s funny, is that for all her shortcomings, Serenity is the one character you can sympathize with the most. She swears, drinks, does drugs, has had premarital sex… and yet is depicted as someone who just has problems that need to be overcome, just like anyone else. More of a product of a mix of things, rather than just being bad through-and-through. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the characters. The Christians come off far worse. They outright tell her she’s going to be their ‘pet project’. Who wouldn’t be flattered by that? It’s not like they’re saying they’re going to be her friends, and yet really don’t care about her friendship or anything. They’re obnoxious, blackmailing her into going to Prayer Club. Thankfully, they do get better as the story goes on, but they still remain rather flat characters due to not getting any development. Even so, I couldn’t get that first volume’s impression out of my mind, and that colored a lot of their actions.

The rest of the school confuses me. A lot. I’m very sure this is supposed to be a smaller town in America, yet the kids in Prayer Club are the only Christian kids around- not exactly an accurate picture of small-town America, where it’s not being Christian that will make you an outcast. Serenity shouldn’t have any issues finding friends outside of Prayer Club, even with her drug use, as a lot of those Christians in small-town America are, indeed, also doing drugs. But again, it’s something that gets her cast out or ignored by the rest of the student population.

The worst bit is how everyone who isn’t Christian is depicted. They’re all rough, crude, mean, somewhat psychotic people. My issue is that they don’t get better- even Serenity’s mom, who goes through a revelation in the third or fourth volume that she hasn’t been a good mom. My major issue with this is that I know people who aren’t Christian. I have friends who aren’t Christian. I have family that isn’t Christian. I was not Christian for most of my life. These depictions anger and frustrate me on a level that I cannot properly convey with the English language. And yet, there are Christians out there who will read this, who know people who aren’t Christian and yet will completely accept these depictions without question, because of how common it is in Christian literature. They will not question it- they will accept it as truth even though logically they know it’s not. Well, I’m not taking it! I’m saying here and now if that you mindlessly accept these stereotypes, then you SHAME me!

To top off this little joyride, the issues that are presented are shallow, and perhaps the biggest reason why I don’t think this would move anyone over the age of 10. Her biggest issue is how to pray. She is a thinking, rebellious teenager- praying is the smallest issue they have! There is no struggle with how a good God can allow evil to be in this world. Why anyone should believe that a guy came back from the dead. The ideas behind the Trinity, even! None of it comes into play. Even with that shallow, silly question, there is no struggle when her prayers are not answered. Serenity continues to pray and talk to God. She’s Christian by the third volume, whether or not she admits it or realizes it. Any denial is merely pretense to drag the story out longer.

Her own personal struggles are just as meaningless, and resolved with the snap of the author’s fingers. This girl has a drug issue- and yet, we never see her doing them, going through withdrawal, and when she’s offered some after a few weeks of going without? Able to turn it down without a problem. Swearing is solved just as easily by the second volume. It’s merely been days, yet she is able to break or change the habit she’s probably had for years. I’m calling it out on being completely unrealistic. All her little struggles and issues are fixed with the same ease.

This manga isn’t without its own little theological issues, though. One of my berserk buttons was hit in the first volume when the pastor says that New Age beliefs were Christian values, watered-down without any higher moral authority. This isn’t true in the least, though going into that is complicated and wouldn’t answer everyone’s questions, I’m sure. Another thing that bothered me a lot was the sidebar into divorce and how it messes up kids. Obviously, Serenity is supposed to be the poster child for this, but I’m very sure that I know children from broken homes that have fewer issues than I do. And then there was the issue with speaking about religion on school ground. Buzz Dixon, our author, shows exactly how familiar he is with this law (not at all), by making it against the rules to even say you’re Christian or be asked a person question by the students about Christianity.

This isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its moments. It does. Some of the humor does hit, some of the situations are vaguely amusing. But the outdated slang, the unfunny humor, and the numerous other issues I have described made this a series that I would rather not pick up again.

Overall, all these issues made the series a slow, frustrating read.

Recommended: I would only consider borrowing this from the library for my five-year-old neighbor. Consider it- not necessarily do it. This isn’t worth the time or energy to search out unless that’s who you’re going to be giving it to. Any swearing is done with comic-strip symbols. The sex is alluded to, and she merely says that she’s going to have him (he is shown taking a cold shower- waist-up picture, there). It doesn’t actually happen, though. She does end up wearing some daisy-dukes and one of those tops that ties in back with a string.

Other titles you might enjoy:
High School Debut (manga)
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight (anime)
Gakuen Alice (anime or manga)
Aria (anime and manga)
Aishiteruze Baby (anime or manga)
Train Man: A Shoujo Manga (manga)