Gentlemen’s Alliance † 2

Arina Tanemura – Viz – 2007 – 11 volumes

I think I’m still waiting for the other fantasy-themed shoe to drop, but that could have more to do with Tanemura’s spectacular and detailed artwork than anything in the story specifically.  The main reason I’m continually drawn to her series is that her artwork is more or less my ideal for shoujo manga: super-cute, and with lots of little frilly details.  The world the series is set in is embellished with a lot of little fantasy-like details, and the closest comparison I can think of school-wise is with Ohtori Academy in Revolutionary Girl Utena.  Which did have a fantasy tinge to it.  I think the downside to Tanemura’s art is that she has a limited number of character designs in her arsenal, but it’s more a problem of characters looking the same from series to series.  The characters in their respective series are always easily distinguishable from one another.  Sort of.  I mean, you know Ushio because she has a dull look on her face, and sometimes you can see a twist in her hair.

Even without the fantasy elements, lots and lots of exciting stuff happens here.  A couple big twists take place that I don’t want to spoil, but the one at the end of the volume concerning Shizumasa is pretty epic, and goes a long way towards explaining why he’s such a jerk towards Haine.  He has a good reason, to be fair to him.  I am curious as to how that situation will play out.

Another twist comes between Haine and Maora, and while I can’t say I saw it coming, it also wasn’t terribly surprising in the context of a shoujo manga, either.  The two work out their differences during Field Day, and all is well in manga-land.

Another, more disturbing, issue comes up between Haine and Ushio.  I’m growing more and more concerned with Ushio’s role in the story, and it’s becoming more clear to me that her love for Haine is definitely of the yuri variety.  She’s good for Haine and offers her wonderful support, but she’s also capable of pretty terrible acts of sabotage in order to keep Haine to herself.  Haine sees straight through them, which is what makes her more than the typical slightly ditzy and happy-go-lucky shoujo heroine… but so far, Haine is one of my least favorite characters in the series.

Aside from some mildly disturbing goings-on, my other favorite thing so far are some of the insane plot devices that the story uses.  At one point, a rampage is rationalized by the loss of false teeth.  WHAT?!  Seriously?  I mean, who does that?  I also love the unusual, tense relationship between Haine and Maguri for the love of Shizumasa.  You also rarely see the heroine competing with a boy for the hero’s affection.

That big twist at the end of the volume is what I’m most interested in now, though.  I am super-curious about how that will play out.