My-HiME, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer: Kimura Noburu
Artist: Sato Ken-etsu

200 (192) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2004. US edition November 2006.
Translation: Jeremiah Bourque
English Adaptation: Gina Lee Firenzi
Copy Editor: Sarah Morgan
Design and Layout: Michael Paolilli
Graphic Designer: Monalisa De Asis
Editor: Bryce P. Coleman
Publisher’s Rating: Mature, Ages 18+

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Premise: School girls with psychic powers are gathered at a special academy to fight the “orphans”, monsters that appear out of nowhere with little but mayhem and destruction on their mind. So far, at least, the Orphans only appear to attack the school…

Synopsis:

Yuuichi Tate is a new transfer to Fuka Academy. He’s stoked, because his old school was boys-only, and he’s looking forward to co-ed education.

The poor lad. It’s just his second day, and on the way into class from the dorm, he finds himself in the crossfire of a psychic-powered catfight: a couple of girls named Mai and Natsuki are in the middle of a grudge match when poor Yuuichi takes a wrong turn.

The results of the fight are pretty much a draw, but Yuuichi discovers he is a Key, and as such is able to amplify the power of a Hime, as the girl psychics are called. The thing is, it looks like he is the Key for not one but both of the girls.

That afternoon one of the Orphans attacks (at the pool; because the writer & artist wanted girls in swimsuits in peril, is my guess) and while the Hime response team (with Yuuichi’s help) manages to defeat the monster, a stray shot takes out Yuuichi’s dorm room.

Poor guy. This being a manga, he gets assigned temporary quarters in a girl’s dorm, rooming with Mai and her junior roommate, Mikoto. Before the night is over Yuuichi has to put up with strict rules about which side of the room is not his (enforced by Mikoto with a sword), inadvertent temptation, a kidnapping, and a botched rescue that results in another destroyed dorm room, and a third girl (Mai’s rival Natsuki) being crammed in with the rest.

There are at least two more battles and a lot of school politics, and mayonnaise-covered ramen and other horrors to contend with. And Yuuichi’s first week isn’t even over yet.

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Review:

My-HiME is based on an anime of the same name. From the info in one of the sidebars within the manga–and also some of the flaws apparent in it–we know the comic was conceived as part of a multichannel strategy (TV, print, a PS2 game, merchandise, etc.) to drown the market in cute power-wielding, creature-summoning, monster-fighting school girls, who in the heat of battle occasionally have bits of their uniform burned, torn, or melted off.

Obviously, these guys know their target market.

Like many (all?) adaptations, this manga suffers from one glaring flaw: the writer assumes everyone is familiar with the show, so they hardly bother to introduce anyone or explain anything.

If you didn’t know better, you might think that this was a brilliant literary device, using foreshadowing while simultaneously dropping the reader in medias res, with the expectation that characters and concepts will be introduced later, after the action.

Let me disabuse you of that assumption right now. Nope, no exposition, no introductions, and only the slightest nod to the reader not-in-the-know. At most, they’ll toss a name at you in a caption the first time a character appears, and that’s all you get. A knowledge of a whole bundle of personalities, allegiances, conflicts, back story, and motivation is all taken as a sine qua non.

But here I am, 600 words into a review, and while I’ve insulted several people, disparaged a whole class of manga, and used Latin twice, I still haven’t actually told you anything about this particular comic.

Well, I haven’t seen the anime yet (I’m waiting for the final disc to street sometime this March; call me picky, I like to see a show all at once) so like most of you would be, I’m nearly lost in this first volume. And, if an offhand comment from another sidebar is any indication, fans of the TV show will be just as confused (if a bit more familiar with the characters) because apparently the manga is an alternate storyline anyway.

The events of this first volume could easily have been split over two books of the same length. A slightly slower pace, particularly in the beginning, would have given the writer room to introduce characters (and setting, and concepts) while also providing the artist some room to display the monsters and summoned creatures in all of their glory, rather than having them shoehorned in behind explosions in the fight scenes.

Granted, the art is good, mostly. Tender moments between leads are perhaps some of the best panels in the book; Ken-etsu manages to convey the emotions of the teenage characters well. You can literally read it in their faces. The action panels are also well done, but tend to pile up on one another. And inexplicably some attacks appear to be happening in mid-air, without impact or targets, just because the character will look cooler that way.

The book earns its 18+ rating, so don’t let your 12-year-old read it. Damsels in distress get at least a half page each, skirts fly even without a breeze, and there was the aforementioned fight at a swimming pool. I know that as a manga fan I’m supposed to demand my books uncut and unbowdlerized, but in this case some of the fan service is just distracting, or seems misplaced. The book would have actually been better without a bare ass or strategically-tattered uniform or three. Not that you’ll hear me repeat that.

So I might have given this a 4, if they bothered to explain anything, or a 2 just for the distracting T&A. I’ll split the difference. And as distractions go… I suppose it could be worse. [*cough*]

Fortunately for me the final DVD will be released about the same time as the second volume, so I can watch a few episodes and then come back to this property with a little more background. If you are already a fan of the show, then you might just give this a try for an alternate take on your favourite characters.