Vertical_Ed
08-30-2003, 02:52 PM
Howdy friends,
Osaka Edo again and today i am sharing a few words about the final volume Karen by Shiozaki Yuuji.
A pitcher with a 99 m/h fastball and is cute high schooler... what more can you ask for?!!
English Title: Karen
Japanese Title: Karen
Author/Artist: Shiozaki Yuuji
Publisher: Shueisha (Business Jump Comics)
Translator: N/a
Price: 505 yen
Pages: 210
Vol. # 2 of 2
Release Date: 1998
Review Date: 8/30/03
Grading~
Story: C+
Art: A-
Exterior Presentation: A- (cover (http://sbookg.s-book.com/shueisha/4088756215.jpg) design by Smile Studio)
Interior Presentation: B+
What They Say:
N/A
Publication Notes~
Orientation: Right to Left
Size: B6
ISBN: 4-08-875621-5
eccetera~
N/A
Review
.
.
.
(Watch out potential spoilers ahead)
.
.
.
At the end of volume one Shiozaki-sensei left readers with a great finish - the Aokusa Gakuen High School Baseball team defeated the local power to move closer to the national championships. Aokusa star, Kimishima Karen had pitched her team of losers to the Tokyo Prefecture tournament and they were now only a few games away from going all the way to Koshien.
Despite her great game in the qualifying match, Karen still has not gotten much recognition and Aokusa was matched up against another high-ranked team, Seiryo Gakuin.
All of this attention and excitement was completely new to the team and man was it showing early on. Through the first few innings they were completely shutdown but fortunately for Yamada-kun and his teammates Karen had only allowed 1 run through 9 innings.
This really wasnt going well for Yamada, though. Once again he was not on the mound and from the looks of things the former "star" on a weak team was now on the bench reading "how-to" books on the basics of baseball. Nothing was working for him and then it happened.... well lets say if you play baseball everyone should where a cup!!
Yamada was on the DL and he didnt even get to take the field.
Now Karen's motivation was no longer at the park and Yamada was so frustrated he wished she never joined the team because its not like she said it would be - they dont play together; she plays and he watches on the bench.
Obviously, this is where a bit of reflection would start on the part of the two friends but Shiozaki does a real good job with this. He introduces another old friend who has been waiting for this day to finally challenge Karen. He was always outdone and he thought that with her just focusing on baseball he would finally have caught up. This encounter ends up being a wacky racers type of chase with both characters running around town while doing everyday things like shopping, eating, and helping the elderly. And yes in the end Karen goes back to the ballpark, hits a tying homerun and then pitches a few more scoreless innings.
Yamada comes back as well. And he is going to be given the chance to be the star. Bases full, 18th inning 2 outs and here comes the first pitch..... he pulls a Homer and forces the winning run by getting hit in the head by a wild pitch.
From here on the story goes a little off line.
TV producers caught shots of Karen during her match and are get her to sign a contract to do all sorts of idol jobs. Advertisements, signing, acting, being a guest on variety shows were all scheduled around her tournament games and while she would rather be on the field she was having fun and she thought her sleazy managers were nice.
Eventually, though, despite the troubles (rival idols and along with her high school rivals) she finally made the big time. Getting scouted by Major League Baseball.
This was not really her dream, of course, so she had to ask someone for advice on which team to pick. It was Yamada-kun and soon his idea sent her off to Dodgerland and Los Angeles where she was still hitting 99 m/h striking out the best and pitching to Mike Piazza. But just as easily as she got there, she got hurt during a game with a line drive to her head and she was back in japan.
The start of this final volume was great. A lot of the same funny baseball gags that carried the first volume and a little of that etchi-ness that really made for a fast fun read. Unfortunately, Shiozaki moved towards Karen's looks towards the end and that tangent really through me off quite a bit. While it was funny and the art was great, the new rivalry was not well done and the tie-in to thay getting her exposure to the MLB was really poor.
The chapter with her in LA were great. Full of stars that were actually playing for the Giants and the Dodgers in the mid-90's. Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Robby Thompson were all done well and they were a great touch of realism to something so comical.
The ending was also pretty good and it really maintained the nature of Karen: competitive, talented and always genki.
The art of Karen was always good. At times it really was pushing the level of etchi with tight fitting clothing as well as short cut clothing. There were the occasional frontal nudity scene along with the highly detailed action scene. For the most part everything was solid. Backgrounds were very good and for the most part accurate with real geographic locations in tokyo and LA. The layout had a good mix of active and passive panels with some interesting perspective being presented.
............
To me Karen was a fun title with a little hiccup in it. For those looking for a short sports-comedy this is a good title. A little etchi but with some baseball factiods that is usually demanded by those who follow the game. But keep in mind this is a very outrageous comedy. Karen is almost unreal in every way. She is super-human in regards to competitive talent, whether its ramen eating, japanese chess, karaoke signing, baseball or whatever. So you should not take this as anything more than a crazy etchi-comedy if you are looking for a great sports title.
While i am recommending "Karen" i wont recommend it to everyone. It really is a funky title that i feel crosses a few genres but it really doesnt nail any one down. But if you are looking for something crazy and well drawn with parodies this might be a good one for you.
Osaka Edo again and today i am sharing a few words about the final volume Karen by Shiozaki Yuuji.
A pitcher with a 99 m/h fastball and is cute high schooler... what more can you ask for?!!
English Title: Karen
Japanese Title: Karen
Author/Artist: Shiozaki Yuuji
Publisher: Shueisha (Business Jump Comics)
Translator: N/a
Price: 505 yen
Pages: 210
Vol. # 2 of 2
Release Date: 1998
Review Date: 8/30/03
Grading~
Story: C+
Art: A-
Exterior Presentation: A- (cover (http://sbookg.s-book.com/shueisha/4088756215.jpg) design by Smile Studio)
Interior Presentation: B+
What They Say:
N/A
Publication Notes~
Orientation: Right to Left
Size: B6
ISBN: 4-08-875621-5
eccetera~
N/A
Review
.
.
.
(Watch out potential spoilers ahead)
.
.
.
At the end of volume one Shiozaki-sensei left readers with a great finish - the Aokusa Gakuen High School Baseball team defeated the local power to move closer to the national championships. Aokusa star, Kimishima Karen had pitched her team of losers to the Tokyo Prefecture tournament and they were now only a few games away from going all the way to Koshien.
Despite her great game in the qualifying match, Karen still has not gotten much recognition and Aokusa was matched up against another high-ranked team, Seiryo Gakuin.
All of this attention and excitement was completely new to the team and man was it showing early on. Through the first few innings they were completely shutdown but fortunately for Yamada-kun and his teammates Karen had only allowed 1 run through 9 innings.
This really wasnt going well for Yamada, though. Once again he was not on the mound and from the looks of things the former "star" on a weak team was now on the bench reading "how-to" books on the basics of baseball. Nothing was working for him and then it happened.... well lets say if you play baseball everyone should where a cup!!
Yamada was on the DL and he didnt even get to take the field.
Now Karen's motivation was no longer at the park and Yamada was so frustrated he wished she never joined the team because its not like she said it would be - they dont play together; she plays and he watches on the bench.
Obviously, this is where a bit of reflection would start on the part of the two friends but Shiozaki does a real good job with this. He introduces another old friend who has been waiting for this day to finally challenge Karen. He was always outdone and he thought that with her just focusing on baseball he would finally have caught up. This encounter ends up being a wacky racers type of chase with both characters running around town while doing everyday things like shopping, eating, and helping the elderly. And yes in the end Karen goes back to the ballpark, hits a tying homerun and then pitches a few more scoreless innings.
Yamada comes back as well. And he is going to be given the chance to be the star. Bases full, 18th inning 2 outs and here comes the first pitch..... he pulls a Homer and forces the winning run by getting hit in the head by a wild pitch.
From here on the story goes a little off line.
TV producers caught shots of Karen during her match and are get her to sign a contract to do all sorts of idol jobs. Advertisements, signing, acting, being a guest on variety shows were all scheduled around her tournament games and while she would rather be on the field she was having fun and she thought her sleazy managers were nice.
Eventually, though, despite the troubles (rival idols and along with her high school rivals) she finally made the big time. Getting scouted by Major League Baseball.
This was not really her dream, of course, so she had to ask someone for advice on which team to pick. It was Yamada-kun and soon his idea sent her off to Dodgerland and Los Angeles where she was still hitting 99 m/h striking out the best and pitching to Mike Piazza. But just as easily as she got there, she got hurt during a game with a line drive to her head and she was back in japan.
The start of this final volume was great. A lot of the same funny baseball gags that carried the first volume and a little of that etchi-ness that really made for a fast fun read. Unfortunately, Shiozaki moved towards Karen's looks towards the end and that tangent really through me off quite a bit. While it was funny and the art was great, the new rivalry was not well done and the tie-in to thay getting her exposure to the MLB was really poor.
The chapter with her in LA were great. Full of stars that were actually playing for the Giants and the Dodgers in the mid-90's. Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Robby Thompson were all done well and they were a great touch of realism to something so comical.
The ending was also pretty good and it really maintained the nature of Karen: competitive, talented and always genki.
The art of Karen was always good. At times it really was pushing the level of etchi with tight fitting clothing as well as short cut clothing. There were the occasional frontal nudity scene along with the highly detailed action scene. For the most part everything was solid. Backgrounds were very good and for the most part accurate with real geographic locations in tokyo and LA. The layout had a good mix of active and passive panels with some interesting perspective being presented.
............
To me Karen was a fun title with a little hiccup in it. For those looking for a short sports-comedy this is a good title. A little etchi but with some baseball factiods that is usually demanded by those who follow the game. But keep in mind this is a very outrageous comedy. Karen is almost unreal in every way. She is super-human in regards to competitive talent, whether its ramen eating, japanese chess, karaoke signing, baseball or whatever. So you should not take this as anything more than a crazy etchi-comedy if you are looking for a great sports title.
While i am recommending "Karen" i wont recommend it to everyone. It really is a funky title that i feel crosses a few genres but it really doesnt nail any one down. But if you are looking for something crazy and well drawn with parodies this might be a good one for you.