Throw-Back Thursday Review: Chobits V.02

Title: Chobits
Volume: 2 (of 8)
Creator: CLAMP
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Kodansha Ltd.
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 7/23/02
Pages: 184
ISBN: 1591820057
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Science Fiction
Rated: OT (Older Teen Age 16+)

Description: Hideki's luck with girls seems to be turning around. First, his sexy test-prep teacher asks to sleep over, then the landlady starts doing him favors, and even the really cute girl from work goes out with him. And then there's Chi. She's the artificially intelligent Persocom that Hideki found, and as she continues to grow and learn, she hopes that Hideki will be her one true love. She'll do anything for Hideki, so when he tells her he's low on money, she takes a job. But when Hideki finds out what she's been paid to do, HE'LL do anything to bring her home.

Contains Chapters 13-24:

• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24

Review:

Cover: The covers of the Chobits series gets better and better as the series progresses. For Volume 2, we have a nice sunset background. The colors are really dark. What I really like though is the picture of Chi in White. It is a really nice eye catcher, along with the red ribbon on her dress. The Title is on the top, same weird looking font as the first, which I do not really care for that much. The bottom of the cover has the Mangaka on the left, and the Volume Number on the right. Since it’s a Tokyopop Manga, they have the different color strip connecting the front/spine/back. It is an odd color of blue again, with Tokyopop written on the top in gray.

The spine from top to bottom has the Tokyopop logo, The Series Title, The Mangaka, and the Volume Number. Kind of dull.

The Back however is impressive. It has the same background as the front; three pics as well. 2 pictures of Hideki and one of Chi and Shimizu. The top of the cover has the Series Title. Underneath that is a Profile on Hideki. Then we have a nice Summary on what this Manga is about.

Artwork: I love the Artwork of CLAMP. Every one of their titles so far has had magnificent Artwork. That’s one of the reasons why I buy their mangas. As soon as I open the first page it just makes me say “WOW.” It is just utter brilliance.

As for Chobits Volume 2, this Volume is no exception. The Artwork is very simple and clean. It makes me feel all warm inside.

Translation: The translation for Chobits Volume 2 is accurate. Nothing I really noticed that can be that bad, except for Sumomo’s name change to Plum. The sound effects are all kept in Japanese, which makes the pleasure of reading it an even better experience.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): In the last volume, we were left with Shimizu staying over at Hideki’s place for the night. Hideki wakes up the next morning and Shimizu is still there, but in her underwear. Shimizu gets dressed and heads to the school to teach her class. Hideki goes with her. Chi stays behind with Ms. Hibiya.

While Hideki went to school, Ms. Hibiya shows Chi some pictures that appear to be Chi. When Hideki arrives home; Chi has a whole net set of clothes from Ms. Hibiya.

The next day, Hideki goes out to do some errands. Hideki finds the next book to the series that Chi is reading. He buys it for her and brings it back home. Chi takes the book and reads it, entranced by it. Chi begins to get visions of a girl that looks just like herself. The other Chi tells Chi they are connected and she will be seeing Chi again and tell her more on their pasts.

In the beginning of the next ARC, Hideki is in need of more money, so Chi decides to help by getting a job. While Hideki goes out to work, Chi goes to look. She stumbles across a man who lets her work for him. He has somewhat of a porn shoot. He takes her back to his apartment and tells her to strip. Chi listens, but when she begins to do other things, her inner self tells her not to. Chi then goes into a trance and all the Persocoms begin to shutdown around the city.

Hideki wants to find Chi so Shimbo lets him have Plum, his laptop, for a while. Hideki begins to look for Chi with Plum, when he spots Chi flying out over the city. Hideki finds Chi on top of a clock. He yells to her and Chi jumps into his arms. Chi becomes out of the trance, not knowing anything that she just done.

As the story continues on and on, it continues to get darker and darker. I love dark series. I’m not gothic or anything like that, it just really intrigues me. As for the content of this Manga, there was a lot of story present here. There was also a lot of information present in this Manga. Although there is a lot of perverted humor, it begins to die down in later chapters and lead to an even greater story. If you are just reading Chobits for the perverted/Hentainess, I’d say stop now and buy other mangas like Love Hina or Ranma ½. Most all of CLAMPs works are dark, and if they are not dark they are full of angst. Chobits is one of those titles that tests all that CLAMP has to offer.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: No
• Nudity: Yes
• Sexual Situation: Yes

Where Purchased: Frank and Sons Collectible Show
Overall Rating: 4 (Out of 5)

Original Review Date: 11/11/03
Reviewer: TheGodofJurai

Review: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic V.14

Title: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic
Volume: 14 (of 27+)
Creator: Shinobu Ohtaka
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: SHOGAKUKAN
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 10/13/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421559641
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Sunday
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Aladdin and his friends face the powerful and diabolical pirate queen Madaura, who uses a powerful magical item called the Holy Mother Halo Fan to enrapture her captives and make them her slaves. A fierce battle looms, and if Aladdin cannot release his companions from Madaura's grip, he may find himself fighting against them!

Contains Nights 129-138:

• Night 129: Independent
• Night 130: Memories of Darkness
• Night 131: The Enemy
• Night 132: Confession
• Night 133: A Kind Person
• Night 134: The Day Before
• Night 135: Traveling Alone
• Night 136: Koha Ren Appears
• Night 137: Days of Training
• Night 138: Days of Study

Review:

Cover Art: The cover this time has a new character to the series, who is only briefly shown in this volume, Koha Ren. Lots of pinks, grays, and black coloring makes the character really pop, however, with the series title also being the same color pink that is predominant over the cover makes the title not that noticeable on the top portion. The volume number is displayed at the center-bottom of the cover in a gold circle.

The spine is pink and from top to bottom contains the Shonen Sunday imprint, the series title, volume number, mangaka, Koha Ren's face from the front cover, and a magic lamp with some smoke coming out of it making it look like the image of Koha Ren is coming out of the lamp.

The back cover has an image of Alibaba, Hakuryu, and Sinbad on the top portion. The volume summary is on the bottom half of the cover in white lettering on a pink background.

Overall the color is nice. The coloring really pops, its just the lettering used was a bad idea. The pink on pink isn't the best thing. I love the back cover art though. It is nice seeing these three characters as with future volumes we won't be seeing much of them for probably a while where Aladdin is heading off to do.

Artwork: The artwork for this volume is all over the place. We have your typical shonen style for the beginning third of the title. When we finish the previous story arc and move into the next one, the artwork begins to feel a bit sloppier then normal. There is a lot more humor going on since the last story arc dealt with some serious drama which we will get to soon, but I feel the artist did not need to drop the quality as much as he did. At certain points it seems like a five year old could do a better illustration.

Translation: Character names, places, and references are left intact. The Sound effects have been changed from the original Japanese ones to show English sound effects.

Extras: There are two bonus mangas that are only a couple pages long. They don't really do much to advance the story. They are purely humor.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The battle with Madaura continues from the previous volume, and ends with a very dark story. Hakuryu finally uses his Djinn equip and frees the children from Madaura's control by killing her with no remorse. We then get a bit of backstory on why Hakuryu is trying to bring down the Kou Empire. Hakuryu is trying to get enough power to kill his own mother. This puts a bit of fear into the other members of Aladdin's group. Hakuryu leaves the group to fulfill his mission alone.

Moving on from the Madaura story arc, we have a few comedy chapters as Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morigana  have a night on the town before they all go their separate ways.

After the night out and our heroes all go their separate ways, Aladdin heads alone to Magnoshutatt, a magic country, to learn more magic. This is where he runs into Koha Ren, the third prince of the Kou Empire. After the short meeting and not really learning a whole lot yet about this new character, Aladdin finally makes it to his destination where he becomes a student of magic. Aladdin gets placed in the lowest magic class and must pass a test in three months in order to move up ranks or he will be removed from the magic school. He is placed in a class with a dominatrix like instructor who whips him into shape fast. The three months pass and the test finally comes and Aladdin passes and instantly makes it to the top class, Kodor 1. The volume ends with a mysterious figure finally reaching the Leam Empire.

For the most part, the story was entertaining. The humor was a bit too much this volume, and the time jump of three months within two chapters was a bit quick. I wish we got to saw a bit more of Aladdin's training and not just him drooling over his teacher and her huge rack. Hakuryu's story was very intriguing however and i hope to see more soon on that subject. The pacing though with the rest of this volume from when our heroes all departed on their own journeys makes me think we will be seeing more sooner rather then later.

Objectionable Content:

• Language: No
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: Yes

Overall Rating: 5/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date:11/3/2015