manga look: Please Save My Earth Vol 1

[Kiril]

\ Summary \
Tonight is Halloween, my kids are running across the ceiling on a sugar high, so of course that means it is time for another review. You can decide if this is a trick or a treat.


\ Statistics \

English Title: Please Save My Earth
Japanese Title: Boku no Chikyuu o Mamotte
Author/Artist: Saki Hiwatari
Publisher: Viz
Translator: Lillian Olson
English Adaption: Fred Burke
Editor: P. Duffield
Price: $9.95
Pages: 186
Vol. # 1 of 21
Age Rating: T+ for Older Teens
Orientation/SFX: Unflipped/Retouched
Size: Tall B6
ISBN: 1-59116-059-6
Originally serialized in Hana to Yume Comics.

Release Date: October 2003
Review Date: 31 October 2003
Reviewer: Kiril Jones

\ Grading \
Story: A-
Art: B
Exterior Presentation: B
Interior Presentation: A

\ What They Say \
Life's hard when you're shy, harder still when you move from your quiet hometown to the bustle of a big city and a new high school. Poor Alice also has to cope with being regularly harassed by the bratty neighbor boy, Rin. Her life turns upside-down when she's stuck babysitting Rin and the annoying chore ends in unexpected tragedy. What Alice doesn't realize is there could be a greater force at work than chance.


\ Review \

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The story starts off deceptively simple: Alice is a shy, daydreaming kind of girl, and she is new in Tokyo and hasn't made friends yet. More likely to talk to plants than to people, she has to worry about the harassment of Rin, a young neighbor boy, and try to adjust to her new world.

So of course, something has to happen to her, right? With a title like Please Save My Earth and a cover image of Alice resting her head dreamily above an Earth-like pillow, certainly you would think so. However, the story unravels with no supernatural elements at first, with Alice dealing just with human problems, like the manipulations of a trickster boy and trying to break the ice among her peers. There are daydreams of dinosaurs and talk of her empathy with nature and animals, but overall this settles for a bit into the life of a schoolgirl.

Of course things start to change as she overhears two of her male classmates talk about how they are not "normal," but when Alice notices this she comes to the conclusion "This is what manga fangirls are supposed to weep with joy over... TRUE GAY LOVE!"

(Gravitation fans, one moment, Alice would like to borrow your manga.)

Ah, I see for some people, they are already doing some one-click shopping at Amazon, but perhaps things are not what they seem? Let's continue.

For me, the turning point was in the babysitting scene mentioned in the What They Say segment. I found myself surprised at the outcome of this, and until this point I had been following along nodding here and there, but now this book had my complete, undivided attention until I finished the volume.

While some are already familiar with the overall plot, I don't want to spoil everything here, but I truly liked how the story managed to have very realistic moments balanced with elements of fantasy/science fiction. If you're expecting a story where by the end of the second chapter the heroine is whisked away to an alien world or something this may surprise you. If you're expecting a romance, well, that may turn out a little different than you expect as well. But for me these were treats and not tricks, and I'm on board to see what happens next.

Some have warned of the artistic style of the early volumes, noting that it is a bit rough and improves with time. Overall i didn't have a problem with the art, although I do notice a tendency for characters to have slightly overdeveloped foreheads. I'll be glad to see how the style improves, but I find the art suits the story pretty well and I'm happy with it.

This is another of the "new Viz format" which borrows heavily from Tokyopop: an almost identical size and price, and an unflipped presentation. The SFX are fully translated in the retouched method. They used the original cover art and I don't see any obvious problems or errors. The cover and look of the book doesn't command attention like some other titles might, but I think it gives a decent impression of what lies within, and using original covers is always a good thing.

Overall I'm impressed with the story and say: recommended.

[philnicau]

My copy hasn't arrived yet, but i'm glad Viz is using the Original covers now if only Tokyopop would follow, its been one of my major complaints with their 100% Manga line.

[Helschadenfreude]

Ohhhh I love Please Save my Earth the OVA, and it was said that the manga went even further..and was better even?

Anyways, I'm definitely getting this.

[Kiril]

[ QUOTE ]
PsychoIdiot said:
Ohhhh I love Please Save my Earth the OVA, and it was said that the manga went even further..and was better even?

Anyways, I'm definitely getting this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a Mad, Mad Manga Mod, and have not seen the OVA. I buy so much manga I can't afford too much anime. Heh. But I'm glad to hear you're picking this up.

[Kevinroc]

I've had this for awhile now. The manga does go into more detail then the OAV did. We actually see Alice overhear the conversation between Issei & Jinpachi as opposed to just their 2nd conversation like the OAV.

I look forward to seeing more of the differences from the OAV, especially when the manga goes past where the OAV ended.

I really love this title, btw. [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img]

[MegsLeigh]

I may or may not get this title. It depends on how my backlog is coming along. But fantastic job as always, Kiril!

[Sapphire]

[ QUOTE ]
Megs said:
I may or may not get this title. It depends on how my backlog is coming along. But fantastic job as always, Kiril!

[/ QUOTE ]

/me removes your backlog

There is no "may". There is only buy.

Mariela

[Kiril]

[ QUOTE ]
Sapphire said:
[ QUOTE ]
Megs said:
I may or may not get this title. It depends on how my backlog is coming along. But fantastic job as always, Kiril!

[/ QUOTE ]

/me removes your backlog

There is no "may". There is only buy.

Mariela

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of buy, did you manga to get your hands on a copy of the Viz version? If so, how do you think they did with it? As a neophyte to this title, I'm a bit worried there may have been nuances in the presentation that I overlooked.

[Harafan]

[ QUOTE ]
Kiril said:
[ QUOTE ]
PsychoIdiot said:
Ohhhh I love Please Save my Earth the OVA, and it was said that the manga went even further..and was better even?

Anyways, I'm definitely getting this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a Mad, Mad Manga Mod, and have not seen the OVA. I buy so much manga I can't afford too much anime. Heh. But I'm glad to hear you're picking this up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Were I you, Kiril, I'd wait a few more volumes and then pick up the video. It's only one DVD (I think) which contains all the OAVs that they put out. It's a VERY pretty version of the manga. And now that the manga is actually coming out, you won't have to endure the frustration that we have all endured for several years now...

Harafan

[Keiti]

An intriguing review. Since so many titles that I am reading have ended or our coming to an end, I think I'll add this to my new title selsction. My bookshelves have way too many Tokyopop titles, so it'll be nice to have something to balance it all out.