Alichino: Belle Macabre

I’m here with my first review. I decided that since it’s hell week at school (at least it was when I started writing), I should keep it light. Currently, blogging is really just my excuse not to get started writing my final essay. This little number just happened to be sitting on my shelf in plain view. It’s relatively short at just three volumes.

Alichino
Kouyu Shurei

The Review:
Art: Ok, I must admit, contrary to the old adage, I’ve always been a sucker for pretty cover art. Shurei’s art is definitely pretty. Her color usage is superb, and the level of detail in her illustrations is daunting. The textures on fabrics, the individual strands of hair on heads, the feathers of a bird, it’s all there. Visually it’s a lot to process, and it’s very appealing to the eye. However, there are instances where the detail is overwhelming, and it becomes to difficult to tell what you are looking at, or what you’re supposed to be looking at.

Stylistically, there are a few things that irked me, but my annoyance stemmed mostly from the characters’ fashion sense (or lack thereof) and the effeminacy of the men. I can tolerate a certain level of androgynous aesthetics in my manga, and sometimes a little of the bishounen element can be nice, but it was through the roof here. Be warned, the men are pretty; too pretty. In fact, there was only one male protagonist I would have been able to tell was a man just by his appearance. The other two I only knew were male because Shurei made their genders known through dialogue. There’s some homoeroticism as well, but it can be overlooked due to the conditions under which it is taking place (the antagonists literally want to kill and eat the protagonist). I don’t consider that much of a spoiler as you learn this relatively early in the book. Oh, and there was some floating text, so it was kind of hard to tell who was talking at certain points. Ok, next…

Story: The plot is relatively simple, but it works. Mostly linear storytelling, nicely developed. There was enough action to keep things flowing between the less intense parts of the story. The fight scenes include some instances of minor gore, but nothing too terrible. I would have liked to hear more backstory on the Alichino and the Kusabi, perhaps more of an explanation on what they are and where they come from. Sometimes things seem to happen out of nowhere, and some things are never fully explained, and don’t even seem logical. It’s hard to give examples without spoilers, but for example, I find myself wondering why it is that Myobi is “different” than the rest of her people. I suppose that some of the loose ends could be tied up in the future, but the manga’s been on hiatus for 7 years, so I’m guessing three volumes is all we’re going to get.

Characters: The characters are nicely drawn, each with pretty consistent, distinct personalities. Unlike many other mangas of this type, no one looks like someone else, which is really nice. Many of the characters are quite enigmatic, and so the reader is tempted to read on, hoping to learn more. While there are humorous moments in the manga, overall, the characters are serious, and not likely to subject the reader to typical shoujo sparkle-eyed silliness. The main cast:

Tsugiri: Brooding, sulky, a bit emo, very visual kei. Tsugiri is basically a good person; he can be kind and compassionate but also a little cold. He had a hard childhood and feels remorse for an incident that occurred in his past. Terrible sense of fashion. >: (

Myobi: Cute and dark, quite loli-ish. Myobi is honest and knowledgeable. I can’t say much about Myobi without spoilers, so I won’t.

Enju: A man who helped raise Tsugiri, I don’t know exactly where he came from. Maybe I missed it in the story? This was one of those out of left-field things I was talking about earlier. Anyway, Enju is kind and gentle, and he obviously loves Tsugiri, in which way, I can’t say. It’s pretty open for interpretation.

Ryoko: Quiet, brooding, dark. Ryoko is the badass of the manga, but he has a sweet side, too. Ryoko looks the most like a guy as well. I’m sure if he was real he’d be pretty damned cute, too. Suffice it to say I like Ryoko.

Miscellaneous: I’m glad to report that there are not too many errors in the translation, although it’s been a while since I actually read the manga. Check out page 68 in volume three where Ryoko kind of, and I stress kind of, looks like Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

The Bottom Line: Overall, this is a pretty good manga. Superb art with an interesting story makes for an enjoyable, but perhaps forgettable experience. The action is good, but I don’t know if it’s enough to keep most guys interested. It seems like more of a girl’s book. If I had to rate this on a scale of one to ten, ten being highest, it would ring in at around a 7.5.