Title: Galaxy Angel, Vol. 1 (of 5)
Author: Kanan
Publisher: Broccoli Books
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 193248020X
Pages: 195
Price: $9.99
Rating: 7
Synopsis:
The Angel Troupe has one mission. They must protect Prince Shiva, the sole survivor of the royal family decimated by a coup d'etat.
Milfeulle, Mint, Ranpha, Forte, and Vanilla are beautiful and talented pilots of their Emblem Frame. Each of these warriors possess special gifts, making them ideal for the job at hand. Takuto Meyers finds himself leading the mission, getting caught between the five unique angels.
Review:
Galaxy Angel, the newest hit sensation in Japan has finally arrived in America! There are several books in the series, including Galaxy Angel Beta and Party. I'm reviewing the regular series, which doesn't exactly seem like it should be a beginning to anything, since the story isn't explained very well.
First, you don't really know anything about the girls or the war raging on. If you want to understand the story better, read the book backwards. That's right! Backwards! At the end of the book is a guide explaining everything that you just read. Maybe I'm supposed to be clueless, but I personally enjoy cheating and understanding the characters from the beginning.
Second, the characters just show up without much explanation. Also, there isn't much about each character in the story yet, the words are pretty few even for a manga (definitely not a Gundam type epic), and most of the characters split up in the first volume, so the manga doesn't even depict their relationship to each other.
Yes, the book has its good points; the art is some of the best in manga as well as the worst. You can easily see all the times the artist drew with a giant sharpie and made chibi just because. I don't think chibi should be thrown in as much as it was in this book. It just seems redundant.
One surprise in this book is that the male character is even less of a pervert than the one in Girls Bravo. In fact, there really isn't any fanservice. How shocking! The comedy and slight romance tends to appeal to the female audience here. I mean, there really isn't much action at all going on. A few cannon blasts and that's it.
I feel the book is too similar to other books. There's already an anime about 5 female soldiers, there's already WAY too many space epics, and WAY too many books about a guy and at least 5 girls.
The combination was a hit in Japan, but I doubt it receives the same audience in America. I think the story's fine, but somewhat unoriginal and I'm tired of Chibi popups. This isn't Azumanga Daioh! I recommend this for female readers looking for a cute book that fits outside normal Shojo.
