Papillon 1
Posted: July 28, 2009 Filed under: Papillon 1 Comment »Miwa Ueda – Del Rey – 2008 – 6+ volumes
Part of me was a little afraid of starting this, because as much as I loved Peach Girl (which was a lot, it’s still one of my favorite shoujo series, second in addictive trashiness only to Hot Gimmick), I disliked the later volumes and hated Sae’s Story. I haven’t tried any of her other series, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Papillon.
Realistically… it’s a kinder version of Peach Girl. Put Hana in place of Sae and you get the dynamics of the points of contention so far, though Hana seems against Sae-style underhanded tactics, and also seems to invite challenge from Ageha. It also has a significantly more positive message, where the Kiley role (complete with guy that looks almost exactly like Kiley) is a guidance counselor offering good advice to Ageha instead of going after her as a romantic interest. It’s actually the Toji-like Ryuu that has the childhood connection to Ageha in this series, instead of Kiley, who has the unrequieted past love angle.
But… let me talk about it for anyone who isn’t absurdly familiar with Peach Girl. Basically, Ageha stands in the shadow of her twin sister, and the series is about her remaking herself to be the person she wants to be in order to stand up to Hana and get Ryuu, the boy of her dreams. It’s a much healthier form of rivalry than these series usually go for, and apparently Ueda put a great deal of research into how school guidance counselors work, so it’s possible that the series will work out rather positively, whereas Peach Girl was horribly depressing… well, most of the time. Not much happened in this volume except the very beginnings of the transformation of Ageha and Hana stealing her boyfriend away.
But already I’m addicted. In fact, I’m going to read the second volume right now. Curse you and your addictive series, Miwa Ueda.
[...] Biased Manga) Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 6 of Land of the Blindfolded (i heart manga) Connie on vol. 1 of Papillon (Slightly Biased Manga) Julie on vol. 1 of Pluto (Manga Maniac Cafe) Connie on vol. 1 of Record of [...]