V.B. Rose Vol.#01

By: Danielle Van Gorder
Review Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Release Date: Thursday, January 31, 2008



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Banri Hidaka
Translated by:Yuya Otake
Adapted by:Rachel Brown

What They Say
Ageha gets the job of a lifetime: making her sister's wedding dress. Ageha loves making handbags and other accessories, so when one of her sister's dress makers hurts his hand she jumps right in to help! And thus begins Ageha's adventures at the fashionable Velvet Blue Rose.

The Review
Shiny!

Packaging:

This is a sharp looking book, no doubt. The cover piece is a small image of Ageha, Yukari, and Mitsuya, framed in blue roses. It's set against a white background with metallic accents - simple but striking. The print quality is decent but not the best - the blacks are dark, and there are few muddy lines.

Art:

Hidaka's art is stunning - large, expressive eyes, flowing hair, elaborate backgrounds, and a careful attention to detail. Visually, this book is a real treat. The panel layouts are creative and varied, and unlike many manga artists with a rather loose understanding of anatomy, Hidaka manages closeups and full-length shots from multiple angles and makes them look good.

Text/SFX:

The sound effects are untranslated, a decision that remains disappointing in this day and age. The translation flows smoothly with no major rough points

Contents (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):

Ageha is a talented young designer who specializes in hand-made bags with her trademark butterfly mark on them somewhere. She idolizes her older sister, so when she finds out that Hibari is pregnant and getting married, she doesn't take the news well. Ageha turns to her friends to vent her angst and jealousy, and by coincidence runs into a beautiful man who's familiar with the "Ageha Series" bags that she designed.

She's also a fan of anything beautiful and sparkly, so when Hibari asks Ageha to go to the bridal shop with her to look at her dress design, Ageha can hardly say no. The shop is everything she dreamed of and more, but to her surprise the owner is the same beautiful man she met so recently! Yukari, with Mitsuya's skilled help, creates custom wedding gowns out of his shop, Velvet Blue Rose. He and Ageha have a bit of a falling out when she lets her true feelings show, but her determination to make Hibari happy results in her taking a part-time job at V.B. Rose to help make her wedding dress.


Yukari is a hard taskmaster, but his skills are first rate, and his expectations of Ageha are high. She wants to make everything perfect for Hibari, but she has so little time to get so much work done that she doesn't know if she'll be able to finish in time. Hibari is expecting her little sister with the perfect wedding gown, but things might not end up going according to plan.

Comments
Ageha is an adorable character, a very believable young woman - still childish in many ways, but capable of recognizing it when it happens...even when she doesn't want to change her behavior. Her talent is believable, and her delight at the beautiful things in V.B. Rose is utterly charming. She's not the only fun character - Yukari's harshness and Mitsuya's aggressive pursuit of Ageha are a nice contrast, and Ageha's cold-blooded and calculating best friend Mamoru is a delight.

This is a book with a lot of fans, and it's easy to see why. The story is well crafted, the art is gorgeous, and the characters are both funny and compelling. While it isn't one of those rare books that's so good I tear into as soon as a new volume arrives, this is one series I can see myself enjoying for some time to come. Shoujo fans are in for a treat.