HANA KIMI VOL. 1 REVIEW
 

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/manga/hanakimi1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/manga/hanakimi1t.jpg" align=left alt="Hana Kimi Vol. 1"></a>[Reviewer: Marcina Riley, fantasyfiv@yahoo.com
Quick Rating: Good
184 pgs.
$9.95 US/$13.95

Mizuki chases her dream.

Story by: Hisaya Nakajo
Art by: Hisaya Nakajo
Translated by: David Ury
English Adaptation by: Gerard Jones
Touch-Up by: Gabe Crate
Lettered by: Gabe Crate
Design by: Izumi Evers
Editor: Jason Thompson

When I first started hearing about Hana Kimi, I didn't want to like it. The summary of the story was beyond over done. A girl cross-dresses at an all boys' school to meet with her idol. Not to mention, Mizuki travels all the way from American to Japan just to be with a guy she's never met. I don't find those particular girl types interesting. I filed the whole thing away until much later. Enter Viz, in an effort to gain a larger female audience they decided to license a few key titles i.e. Hana Kimi. It's amusing when you think about that because 10 years ago a title like Hana Kimi would never have appeared in stores. Now, it's one of Viz's answers to Tokyopop's domination of the female manga market.

Hana Kimi, For You in Full Blossom, is a story about a girl surrounded by boys, and only really being in love with one of them. Except for the girl part, it sounds like the plot of Ranma ½. However, just as there are subtle difference between D.C. and Marvel, I could tell you the all the characteristics that make Hana Kimi different. Of course, what sets Hana Kimi apart from the sea is hard to explain. The best I can think of is that it is a more natural human approach to the story. The characters are complex just as humans are. There is an instant three-dimensional aspect to the characters. Nakajo shows the human side of this series not just in the writing but in the art as well.

She has a way with her art and writing that's really hard to separate. Generally, I find an artist either better at one or the other, but in this case, no. Her art has a lot of the more mature, more natural style in, with just a splash of flowery screen tones. The characters aren't gross exaggerations, but true to the human form. She keeps solid strong proportions that would hold even by American comic standards. Her facial expressions are beautiful and so soft. The way she has Umeda smirk, or Mizuki's innocent gentle faces adds to the characters personality. The way people have habits or ways of standing. Each character has an individual look something that makes them different from the others. Her panels sometimes look like they should be framed.

Unfortunately, Viz doesn't handle her beautiful covers well. I've seen the original Japanese color covers. Viz turned up the saturation or something, because rather than this nice subtle difference between the colors, the colors are drastically different and bleed. It takes the beauty completely away from then.

The problem that most people might find with Hana Kimi is absurd exaggerations, Nakajo makes it seem as if the boys at the school haven't seen a woman in months. As such, the school nerdy pervert takes pictures of the cute boys and sells them. When the sports teams find out Mizuki is a fast runner, the team captains chase her around the campus begging her to join their respective teams. Mizuki's extreme openness is explained as part of her American heritage. Which I wouldn't mind expect that behavior would probably not be acceptable anywhere.

As I said before I really don't think Hana Kimi is something that would have seen shelf time before now. It's clearly aimed at girls. And though, I think some men might not have issues with the title, some will. It's not an action-oriented title, and in Japan it's up to 22 volumes, so it's not fast with the story either. It's a slow romantic comedy. It is the sort of story that appeals to people who like dramas.

The first volume of Hana Kimi also includes a short story called The Cage of Summer.

Toko's family takes in her distant cousin Kaeda while his parents go through their divorce. She instantly thinks her younger cousin is the perfect little angel until she discovers something else about him. The Cage of Summer is a coming of age story with slow sultry pace. Personally, I liked this story better than Hana Kimi. The Angel/Devil comparison of Kaeda was rather interesting. The art of course is just as good as the work on Hana Kimi. However, the best part was the "Sex Scene". Nakajo does a tasteful juxtaposition between the two lovers and the flowers in the room. The scene was truly beautiful. This story was a nice break from Hana Kimi.


STORY:
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ART:
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OVERALL:
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Visit Viz's Offical Website.
Visit Hisaya Nakajo's website (Japanese language only).