MixxZine Special Manga Page 6G
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MixxZine Special Manga Page 6G

On this page I will review some translated Japanese manga featured in MixxZine.
Note that the quality of the images, reproduced here for bona fide review purposes, has been affected by the scanning and compression processes, so if you want to see how the originals look, you'll have to buy the magazine!

Reviewed:

REVIEW
MIXXZINE issue 1-2, October 1997 (Mixx Entertainment Ltd), 210pp, $4.99, 18x26cm.
This is the only issue I've seen. It's published bimonthly, on coloured paper, with a different colour being used for each of the four stories. It's not absolutely clear if all the stories are serials, though at least two evidently are. The cover price and US subscription rates are a bargain considering the page count. The large pages display the artwork to advantage. The only advertising is on the front inner and back covers.
For more info, contact mailto or Webpage.
Show Cover
(GC).

REVIEW
SAILOR MOON by Naoko TAKEUCHI, 33 page episode.
This is an English version of the very well-known shoujo manga, (also a TV series) and since I already reviewed the Japanese version in my Shoujo Manga section, I don't feel the need to say too much. This featured episode, in which Amy's powers are revealed, and she joins the Sailor Scouts, is obviously from near the beginning of the story. The translation, by Stuart J Levy, renders the dialogue into American adolescent-speak, which you may or may not feel is a good thing. If you are a Sailor Moon fan, and want to collect a manga of it that you can read, or you just want an introduction to Sailor Moon, then this is for you.
If you are interested in graphic design you'll find this a textbook example of the way that shoujo artists break out of the confines of picture frames and dialogue bubbles to give a much more interesting page design. (GC).

Sailor Moon,Mixx p.15 (Tr.by S.J.Levy)

The character drawings also have that characteristic wispy shoujo look. I've always liked the Sailor Moon characters; it's only the battle scenes that are a bore.


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REVIEW
 MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH by CLAMP, 44 page episode
This story, by now fairly well known (there's also an anime), features the adventures of three junior high school girls who are whisked from Tokyo into a magical fantasy world, and told that unless they become the Magical Knights and fight the bad guys, they'll never be able to return home. Early on they are given some magical armour and some magical attributes, and as the series progresses they refine their skills. In this early episode they are being briefed by the rather short sorcerer, Clef.
I've always felt that the characterisation in RAYEARTH is poor and the whole thing is rather silly. Of course, there will be many who violently disagree. The translated dialogue reads rather stilted in places. (GC).

Magic Knight Rayearth, Mixx. p.47 Tr. by Aika Takahashi & S J Levy

This is another shoujo manga, as can be seen from the page design, in which both characters and text escape from the confines of picture frames, and the lavish, rather feminine artwork.
The artwork is very pretty (the girl wearing the kilt thing looks particularly cute).

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REVIEW
 PARASYTE by Hitoshi AWAKI, 40 page episode
Sems this is a popular title in Japan, and that PARASYTE won the Kodansha Best Sci-Fi award in 1993. The author writes seinen-manga (young-man manga), aimed at the 18-25 age group. The "Paraystes" (sic) of the title are the result of spores that drift down to Earth, infecting animals and people and changing them into shape-changing cannibals. The story is fairly simple but powerful. A young man, Shin, is infected, but the infection stops at his wrist, leaving him with a Parasyte hand that can change shape and talk to him. It can also fight other Parasytes, and threaten to hurt Shin.
(GC).

Mixx 1-2, p.89 (Tr. by S.J.Levy.)

This is a quite good SF/Horror manga with realistically drawn characters. (asides from this guy, I guess).

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REVIEW
 ICE BLADE by Tuotomu TAKAHASHI, 86 page episode.
A layered tale of revenge, betrayal, lack of love, and love. The principal character is an emotionless police officer who uses a girl to further his own career. The character designs are quite realistic. (GC).

Mixx 1-2, p.180 Tr. by S J Levy
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[G. Cowie, 1.3.98]