Vertical_Ed
02-15-2004, 06:50 PM
Howdy,
Waited a while to see if Booga was going to review this or not but its almost been a month so I went ahead and typed the following up (feel free to post yours booga whenever yours is ready).
After a good experience with the first volume will the introduction of Luu Ann keep me interested or will Tasuke's bland personality have me give it up? Why couldn't I have my own Nitten? Tasuke is not using his! /images/graemlins/noseblef.gif
English Title: Guardian Angel Getten (http://www.raijincomics.com/images/products/649.jpg)
Japanese Title: Mamotte Shugo Getten
Subtitle: N/A
Vol.: 2 of 11
Author/Artist: Sakurano Minene
Publisher: Gutsoon!
Translator: N/A (editor Sam Kondo)
Original Publisher: Enix (GanGan Comics/Monthly Shonen GanGan)
Price: $9.95
Pages: 186
Age Rating: 13+
ISBN: 1-932454-19-5
Release Date: 1/04
Review Date:
Grading:
Packaging: B+
Artwork: B
Text: B+
Content: C-
What They Say:
What would you do if you were blessed with a cute and magical guardian angel?
According to a 4000-year-old legend, there is a miraculous angelic ring known as the Shitenrin hidden in a village deep in the mountain ranges of China. It is said that one with a pure heart who can see the light in this ring will be blessed with a guardian angel from heaven.
14-year-old Shichiri Tasuke is your ordinary high school student - well, sort of. His life is a little lonely, as his family has left him alone at home while they travel the world over, only occasionally sending him letters and postcards.
This lonely and uneventful life gets shaken up the day Tasuke receives the Shitenrin ring from his father in China. From out of this ring appears Shao Lin, the Guardian Angel Getten. She proclaims that she is here to protect her new master from all forms of danger and will stay by his side forever.
Packaging:
Similar to volume one, Gutsoon uses different cover than the original that was done for Enix's GanGan Comics. This cover has an image of Shao Lin in beach attire on a tropical photograph. Shao Lin looks really nice in this water-colored drawing. The backcover has a blue-toned image of a Star Spirit to the right of the huge blub on a sunflower filled background.
Logo Check!! (©2003 Megs)... Gutsoon!'s logo is huge. It takes up almost a third of the cover. I like how "Guardian Angel" is framed above "Getten" but I really wish they could have used a smaller font for that redundant part of the title.
The printing looks really good. Unlike other studios, Gutsoon! tends to take a lot of care in regards to screen tone.
Artwork:
Sakurano's character designs are cute. Not extremely long as some other bishojo character designs, Shao and Shoko are cute in everyday cloths or bathing suits. Personally I do not care for Tasuke's designs too much. His hair and his costume designs are just a little too strange for me and it leaves me feeling as if he is a slob. This also carries over to the new male characters as well. They are drawn very simply and basically look like girls in oversized boys uniforms (Koichiro in the final chapter was so precious with his muffler, oversized glasses, twinkly eyes and blushing checks. Oh gawd, he made Tasuke look like Kenichiro from FotNS!). Luu Ann is really cute but she is very long so I tend to like her more when she has more cloths on (it gives the illusion that she is to scale).
The layout is actually pretty nice. Subtle but still active it really gives some good perspective. But for those looking for fan-service the layout is not going to help you this time.
Backgrounds are solid but they are not very crucial to the manga so far so Sakurano doesn't really work on them too hard.
Orientation/SFX:
Right to left in a TP/Viz sized GN.
The SFX were handled inconsistently . There are not many to begin with but some are translated and some are not so its a little confusing.
Text:
The translation is okay. Honorifics are used on and off. "-San"s are used quite often but instead of using "-sama"s Shao Lin and Luu Ann refer to Tasuke as "Master Tasuke" (or in Luu Ann's case "Master Ta"). Asides are translated very well and in general the translation as a whole flows really well. I did not notice typos or grammatical errors either.
Contents (Watch out potential spoilers ahead)
<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>If one Guardian Angel was not enough dad had to send over another Chinese artifact to pure of heart Tasuke. Similar to the Shintenrin, the Kokutento is a hollow object (this time a tube/pipe) that can call forth a spirit of the stars. Once Tasuke peered into the Kokutento out appeared the Spirit of the Sun, the Guardian Angel Nitten Luu Ann.
In many ways Luu Ann is like the total opposite of Shao Lin. She is aggressive, mature and a quick learner. It is her nature to bring her master good fortune and she tries to please Tasuke in many ways. Like the Getten, the Nitten has magical abilities. Luu Ann can bring inanimate objects to life and make them do her bidding. In contrast to Shao Lin, Luu Ann's magic is pretty corny and seems to be intended to lighten up the mood with silly humor (it really didn't work for me).
One would imagine having two beautiful umm... angels living with you would be a dream for a middle schooler. They are both very attractive and they are here to serve their master but Tasuke really wants no part of it. While he is starting to build an attraction to Shao Lin, he does not consider Luu Ann's feelings. He also does not like having to keep these two under check too much so quite often he seems uptight and frustrated with his current situation.
Other people would be happy to be in his shoes. Womanizers like Miyauchi Izumo and Takashi (one of Tasuke's classmates) would go through hoops to get to someone like Shao Lin. Miyauchi actually goes as far as getting a job as the school lunch bread vendor (** some schools sell stuffed breads for lunch. Melon-pan, yakisoba-pan, curry-pan are amongst the most popular. Usually pretty cheap but they fill you up for very little money.) to get closer to Shao and hit on some middle schoolers while he is at it (Lolicon!!!). Also in the running are Tasuke's classmates Takashi and Koichiro. Takashi might be the most macho of the three. He has little chance of ever being with Shao Lin but he tries. I can easily see him being just like Miyauchi in a few years. Koichiro has a thing for older women. Luu Ann wants Tasuke more than anything but he does not mind giving Koichiro a little attention when he begs!
Tasuke is not a pushover, though. While he is passive by nature, he does feel closeness with Shao Lin. So when some of his rivals muscle in he tries very hard to keep them at bay. Shao Lin never notices but he usually ends up getting points from the other gals - Luu Ann and Yamanobe Shoko. Even Shao does ask for a response from Tasuke, he usually backs off assuming that Yamanobe or someone else is behind it taking advantage of Shao's naivety. </span>
Volume two is part character introduction and part character development. Introducing a new Guardian Angel was pretty easy but with Tasuke not showing any interest in her I cannot feel much for the guy. He seems cold and reserved and to be honest I feel for his rivals, as they do not have any chance at the two women that want his attention. More often than not I wish he was not present but he is the main character so there is no way to avoid him.
Tasuke does grow up a little here but it is almost superficial. While he shows strength and resolve whenever his relationship (if there is one) with Shao is threatened he always ends up falling short as soon as he sees some skin. One could consider that side of him cute, joking about Tasuke's sexual inexperience. I found it frustrating, as this young man actually so shallow he cannot focus on anything else at those moments. Way to ruin the mood man. But there is some maturity. He is kind enough to not take advantage of Shao and seeing him try to prevent others from taking advantage of her can be fun (if it was not always so silly.) And if Shao is involved he does not take things lightly, giving her respect and the opportunity to make her own decision (which appears to be a theme in this series.)
For those of you looking for simple shonen romance with kawaii characters this is for you. Some people may compare it to Ahh! My Goddess and they would not be too far off. Tasuke is much more lonely and now near as mature as Keiichi but if he does mature his growth should be an interesting one filled with a lot of growing pains. Female characters, Shao Lin and Luu Ann, are very cute and with a few more rivals involved things are not going to get easier for Tasuke.
For those of you looking for a romance with a little more substance you should look elsewhere. Getten has the base for a lot of potential for romance but instead it always comes out awkward. I cannot find myself supporting Tasuke. Now that I know he has a thing for Shao Lin everything seems all wrong now. Why does he wait? He always wants to tell her and instead he suffers from his most simple weakness: he is sexually inexperienced. How annoying is that!?! Hug her darnit!!!
I gave up reading this series in Raijin a while back and when I read the first volume I took a liking to the series. I didn't think it was a must read but for a mindless romance with bad romance and nice character designs I could live with it. Volume two took this series down a peg. Luu Ann is a great character. I love her devotion and I really think she brings a new level of comedy to this dry series. Unfortunately, with Tasuke showing no interest in her at all and the romance rivals being extremely dull (unlike the two-demontional and cute Yamanobe Shoko) I just feel annoyed with practically everyone. Making matters worse are a few pointless episodic chapters. Stretch out the romance. Give these characters a little more time with each other instead of adding characters that do not have a chance at getting either one of the Guardian Angels. And if we must have rival love interests make them interesting like Miyauchi. Too bad Shoko has taken the high road and decided to help the love birds get together cause it would be fun to see her go after Tasuke. I’d much rather see a chapter of her interfering than see Tasuke be tough and then freak out over sitting close to someone.
Average
Waited a while to see if Booga was going to review this or not but its almost been a month so I went ahead and typed the following up (feel free to post yours booga whenever yours is ready).
After a good experience with the first volume will the introduction of Luu Ann keep me interested or will Tasuke's bland personality have me give it up? Why couldn't I have my own Nitten? Tasuke is not using his! /images/graemlins/noseblef.gif
English Title: Guardian Angel Getten (http://www.raijincomics.com/images/products/649.jpg)
Japanese Title: Mamotte Shugo Getten
Subtitle: N/A
Vol.: 2 of 11
Author/Artist: Sakurano Minene
Publisher: Gutsoon!
Translator: N/A (editor Sam Kondo)
Original Publisher: Enix (GanGan Comics/Monthly Shonen GanGan)
Price: $9.95
Pages: 186
Age Rating: 13+
ISBN: 1-932454-19-5
Release Date: 1/04
Review Date:
Grading:
Packaging: B+
Artwork: B
Text: B+
Content: C-
What They Say:
What would you do if you were blessed with a cute and magical guardian angel?
According to a 4000-year-old legend, there is a miraculous angelic ring known as the Shitenrin hidden in a village deep in the mountain ranges of China. It is said that one with a pure heart who can see the light in this ring will be blessed with a guardian angel from heaven.
14-year-old Shichiri Tasuke is your ordinary high school student - well, sort of. His life is a little lonely, as his family has left him alone at home while they travel the world over, only occasionally sending him letters and postcards.
This lonely and uneventful life gets shaken up the day Tasuke receives the Shitenrin ring from his father in China. From out of this ring appears Shao Lin, the Guardian Angel Getten. She proclaims that she is here to protect her new master from all forms of danger and will stay by his side forever.
Packaging:
Similar to volume one, Gutsoon uses different cover than the original that was done for Enix's GanGan Comics. This cover has an image of Shao Lin in beach attire on a tropical photograph. Shao Lin looks really nice in this water-colored drawing. The backcover has a blue-toned image of a Star Spirit to the right of the huge blub on a sunflower filled background.
Logo Check!! (©2003 Megs)... Gutsoon!'s logo is huge. It takes up almost a third of the cover. I like how "Guardian Angel" is framed above "Getten" but I really wish they could have used a smaller font for that redundant part of the title.
The printing looks really good. Unlike other studios, Gutsoon! tends to take a lot of care in regards to screen tone.
Artwork:
Sakurano's character designs are cute. Not extremely long as some other bishojo character designs, Shao and Shoko are cute in everyday cloths or bathing suits. Personally I do not care for Tasuke's designs too much. His hair and his costume designs are just a little too strange for me and it leaves me feeling as if he is a slob. This also carries over to the new male characters as well. They are drawn very simply and basically look like girls in oversized boys uniforms (Koichiro in the final chapter was so precious with his muffler, oversized glasses, twinkly eyes and blushing checks. Oh gawd, he made Tasuke look like Kenichiro from FotNS!). Luu Ann is really cute but she is very long so I tend to like her more when she has more cloths on (it gives the illusion that she is to scale).
The layout is actually pretty nice. Subtle but still active it really gives some good perspective. But for those looking for fan-service the layout is not going to help you this time.
Backgrounds are solid but they are not very crucial to the manga so far so Sakurano doesn't really work on them too hard.
Orientation/SFX:
Right to left in a TP/Viz sized GN.
The SFX were handled inconsistently . There are not many to begin with but some are translated and some are not so its a little confusing.
Text:
The translation is okay. Honorifics are used on and off. "-San"s are used quite often but instead of using "-sama"s Shao Lin and Luu Ann refer to Tasuke as "Master Tasuke" (or in Luu Ann's case "Master Ta"). Asides are translated very well and in general the translation as a whole flows really well. I did not notice typos or grammatical errors either.
Contents (Watch out potential spoilers ahead)
<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>If one Guardian Angel was not enough dad had to send over another Chinese artifact to pure of heart Tasuke. Similar to the Shintenrin, the Kokutento is a hollow object (this time a tube/pipe) that can call forth a spirit of the stars. Once Tasuke peered into the Kokutento out appeared the Spirit of the Sun, the Guardian Angel Nitten Luu Ann.
In many ways Luu Ann is like the total opposite of Shao Lin. She is aggressive, mature and a quick learner. It is her nature to bring her master good fortune and she tries to please Tasuke in many ways. Like the Getten, the Nitten has magical abilities. Luu Ann can bring inanimate objects to life and make them do her bidding. In contrast to Shao Lin, Luu Ann's magic is pretty corny and seems to be intended to lighten up the mood with silly humor (it really didn't work for me).
One would imagine having two beautiful umm... angels living with you would be a dream for a middle schooler. They are both very attractive and they are here to serve their master but Tasuke really wants no part of it. While he is starting to build an attraction to Shao Lin, he does not consider Luu Ann's feelings. He also does not like having to keep these two under check too much so quite often he seems uptight and frustrated with his current situation.
Other people would be happy to be in his shoes. Womanizers like Miyauchi Izumo and Takashi (one of Tasuke's classmates) would go through hoops to get to someone like Shao Lin. Miyauchi actually goes as far as getting a job as the school lunch bread vendor (** some schools sell stuffed breads for lunch. Melon-pan, yakisoba-pan, curry-pan are amongst the most popular. Usually pretty cheap but they fill you up for very little money.) to get closer to Shao and hit on some middle schoolers while he is at it (Lolicon!!!). Also in the running are Tasuke's classmates Takashi and Koichiro. Takashi might be the most macho of the three. He has little chance of ever being with Shao Lin but he tries. I can easily see him being just like Miyauchi in a few years. Koichiro has a thing for older women. Luu Ann wants Tasuke more than anything but he does not mind giving Koichiro a little attention when he begs!
Tasuke is not a pushover, though. While he is passive by nature, he does feel closeness with Shao Lin. So when some of his rivals muscle in he tries very hard to keep them at bay. Shao Lin never notices but he usually ends up getting points from the other gals - Luu Ann and Yamanobe Shoko. Even Shao does ask for a response from Tasuke, he usually backs off assuming that Yamanobe or someone else is behind it taking advantage of Shao's naivety. </span>
Volume two is part character introduction and part character development. Introducing a new Guardian Angel was pretty easy but with Tasuke not showing any interest in her I cannot feel much for the guy. He seems cold and reserved and to be honest I feel for his rivals, as they do not have any chance at the two women that want his attention. More often than not I wish he was not present but he is the main character so there is no way to avoid him.
Tasuke does grow up a little here but it is almost superficial. While he shows strength and resolve whenever his relationship (if there is one) with Shao is threatened he always ends up falling short as soon as he sees some skin. One could consider that side of him cute, joking about Tasuke's sexual inexperience. I found it frustrating, as this young man actually so shallow he cannot focus on anything else at those moments. Way to ruin the mood man. But there is some maturity. He is kind enough to not take advantage of Shao and seeing him try to prevent others from taking advantage of her can be fun (if it was not always so silly.) And if Shao is involved he does not take things lightly, giving her respect and the opportunity to make her own decision (which appears to be a theme in this series.)
For those of you looking for simple shonen romance with kawaii characters this is for you. Some people may compare it to Ahh! My Goddess and they would not be too far off. Tasuke is much more lonely and now near as mature as Keiichi but if he does mature his growth should be an interesting one filled with a lot of growing pains. Female characters, Shao Lin and Luu Ann, are very cute and with a few more rivals involved things are not going to get easier for Tasuke.
For those of you looking for a romance with a little more substance you should look elsewhere. Getten has the base for a lot of potential for romance but instead it always comes out awkward. I cannot find myself supporting Tasuke. Now that I know he has a thing for Shao Lin everything seems all wrong now. Why does he wait? He always wants to tell her and instead he suffers from his most simple weakness: he is sexually inexperienced. How annoying is that!?! Hug her darnit!!!
I gave up reading this series in Raijin a while back and when I read the first volume I took a liking to the series. I didn't think it was a must read but for a mindless romance with bad romance and nice character designs I could live with it. Volume two took this series down a peg. Luu Ann is a great character. I love her devotion and I really think she brings a new level of comedy to this dry series. Unfortunately, with Tasuke showing no interest in her at all and the romance rivals being extremely dull (unlike the two-demontional and cute Yamanobe Shoko) I just feel annoyed with practically everyone. Making matters worse are a few pointless episodic chapters. Stretch out the romance. Give these characters a little more time with each other instead of adding characters that do not have a chance at getting either one of the Guardian Angels. And if we must have rival love interests make them interesting like Miyauchi. Too bad Shoko has taken the high road and decided to help the love birds get together cause it would be fun to see her go after Tasuke. I’d much rather see a chapter of her interfering than see Tasuke be tough and then freak out over sitting close to someone.
Average