Jyu-Oh-Sei 2
July 19, 2009
Natsumi Itsuki – Tokyopop – 2009 – 3 volumes
Like Fruits Basket, I waited to read the second volume of this until I had the third. Unlike Fruits Basket, I then waited some time before reading it, which is a shame, because this is a wonderful series. It reminds me a lot of To Terra… and Andromeda Stories in spirit, but I like Jyu-Oh-Sei a lot better than those two series.
I really like this series for its somewhat desperate, fatalistic fantasy setting. I like any manga series with a well-realized, non-generic fantasy world, really, and there are so few good examples in the US that aren’t total fanservice. On one hand, it’s kind of ridiculous at the beginning of the book when Thor seems to be besting a group of adolescents and people in their 20s at the age of 11, but on the other hand, I like that a mix of luck and Third cheating for him get him his place. His luck and destiny in becoming the Beast King are emphasized more and more as the volume continues, and I simultaneously love and hate the fact that Thor isn’t really master of his own destiny, but is being controlled almost entirely by Third and later Zagi. He seems to have little mind of his own aside from a survival instinct and a desperate need to get off the planet (a prize awarded only to the Beast King).
I also still really enjoy the fully realized social structure present on Kimaera. This was mostly established last volume, and it’s one of the more fascinating things about the series, because of its simplicity, the way it works with the weather patterns on the planet, the fact that the discrepencies between Thor’s colony upbringing and the native residents of Kimaera keep coming up, and because crashing this social struture will bring the Colony government running, for some reason. The government’s interest in and the secrets surrounding Kimaera are a little less well-realized, but that will probably come next time, since we get two rather huge bombshells at the end of the volume here.
The shoujo elements are floating around, adding a soft touch to everything. Rai’s death still haunts Thor, and at this point, I’m less sure that Rai will come back unharmed. I was sure that was going to happen at one point towards the end of the volume, but the vicious ecosystem of the planet won out over my hopes (yet another really awesome detail, simple but very important). Thor is also shaken by the reappearance of Zagi, by the fact that the entire planet’s social system is crashing down around him, and by love, as any good shoujo hero should be. The situation between he and Tiz is a sad one, and a new contender joins the fight for Thor’s heart, though Thor is still thoroughly shaken by the “mating rituals” of Kimaera, and tries to explain his feelings yet again to Tiz and the new girl.
The outside government will factor into the next volume and the ending, so I’m looking forward to how that will be integrated into the rich plot and setting of the series. I’m very much looking forward to it.
July 20, 2009 at 7:14 am
[...] Honey and Clover (Animanga Nation) Cynthia on vol. 10 of Junjo Romantica (Boys Next Door) Connie on vol. 2 of Jyu-Oh-Sei (Sightly Biased Manga) Lorena on vol. 5 of Land of the Blindfolded (i heart manga) Julie on The [...]
July 22, 2009 at 6:38 am
[...] Goong (i heart manga) Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of I Shall Never Return (Comics Village) Connie on vol. 2 of Jyu-Oh-Sei (Slightly Biased Manga) Dave Ferraro on Kitchen Princess (Comics-and-More) Johanna Draper Carlson [...]