ISBN-13: 9781937867904
Language: English
Direction: Right to Left
By: OKAYADO
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Type: Series, Manga
Genre: Supernatural, Shounen, HaremSynopsis:
What do world governments do when they learn that fantastical beings are not merely fiction, but flesh and blood-not to mention feather, hoof, and fang? Why, they create new regulations, of course, like the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Accord!
When twenty-something Kurusu Kimihito becomes an involuntary “volunteer” in the government homestay program for monster girls, his world is turned upside down. A lamia named Miia is sent to live with him, and it’s Kimihito’s job to make sure the sexy snake girl integrates into everyday life. While cold-blooded Miia is hot for Kimihito, the penalties for interspecies breeding are dire. Even worse, when a buxom centaur girl, and a scantily-clad harpy move into Kimihito’s house, what’s a full-blooded young man with raging hormones to do?
Firstly an apology, this blog has been neglected due to a number of factors over the past few months. Me getting both a PS Vita and a PS3&4, and general life throwing several curve balls. Things are calmer now and should be back on track….i hope.
Right, onto the manga!!
This is a great manga slightly spoiled by Seven Seas, so I’ll be splitting the post. Initially focusing on the manga itself before moving onto Seven Seas Handling of it.
The manga itself is a pretty damn good Harem manga, lots of funny scenes with a great set of characters. However the pacing and introduction of said characters is way to fast, especially considering it’s a harem titles.
The first volume alone see’s us introduced to three girls, and it’s pretty clear that while it’s a harem series, it’s also a series where there’s really only the one love option; which has worked before, Aoi Yori for example.
The concern i have with this volume is the coverage the girls get. The first volume spends a good chunk of the volume establishing that Miia is his girl of choice. Then we suddenly get two more girls thrown into the mix without a lot of character revelation. The reasons for being there feel weak and contrived. Yet i have to admit that despite that it works pretty well.
Pappi makes for an interesting character, someone who is wilful and rather rather simple. As a character she’s got a lot of potential for hilarity, though there’s a scene just after she meets Kimihito that does need some explanation, hopefully that will come later. There’s also another scene which frankly shouldn’t have been there at all since it’s totally misplaced and meaningless. Especially given the context of their meeting and what happens over the rest of the volume.
I love the relationship they have, rather than being lover it’s more brother and sister. Which is great. Makes for a nice reprieve from all the sex floating around, though it doesn’t last very long sadly. By the end of the volume she’s trying to get into his pants just as hard as the other two.
Cerea makes for an interesting character, and i have to admit one i liked. Though i have to admit
she reminded me so much of Sylvia from Princess Lover which gives me a vibe of what to expect, somewhat. However it’s not just the vibe, her personality and character design are very similar as well.
The mix of these two character with Miia, who was the initial girl, does make for some hilarity, as each tries to catch the eye of Kimihito in their own way. Once the three are together we get a chapter or so of them messing together and making Kimihito’s life interesting. and torturous. Oyakado ends the volume in a awesome style that just makes you laugh and ponder how things are gonna change in the subsequent volumes.
Art style, is heavily focused on the women, with fan service being rammed down you throat from the outset. I have to admit it’s a bit over the top at times, the way the girls act around Kimihito, especially they all know the ramifications, except for Pappi who can’t remember anything for more than three steps apparently.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but i expect more from my harem titles these days. More than just fan service i expect some actual character interactions and development. This title feels like it’s just pandering to those that want excessive fan service.
Seven Seas are releasing this and i generally find them to be a pretty damn good publisher. frankly at the moment they’re in my Top 5. However this volume makes me question whether they did any Q&A on this volume.
While there were no apparently spelling mistakes or grammar error, i do find i have to question their choices of translation. Right off the bat we’re confronted with “…cutting the blood from carotid arteryâ€. I’ve no problem with medical terms, but given the situation and what was said previously, it just doesn’t fit. It’s a total immersion breaking sentence. This was just one of several sentences like this which break the flow of the story.
Then we have the humour, it feels like Seven Seas just shoe horned in the various puns about the ‘bird brains’, and ‘hoofing it’. Frankly i found these to be misplaced and not very funny, if anything they were cheesy in a bad way.
Then finally we have Pappi who for some reason refers to Kimihito as ‘boss’, this is just totally out of place and wrong. Especially given the way she talks to him in general, brother or some variant is better and does get switched to over the course of the volume.
So the question comes down to whether it’s worth getting, and for once i have to admit i can’t just say yes or no. On the one hand it’s got the potential to be a comical harem series, but on the other the over the top fan service and Seven Seas handling of the title make wonder. Luckily it’s not a sealed title (wrapped in cellophane), so my recommendation would be to go to your local book store and read a copy on the shelf and then decide. I’m not sure I’ll be picking up subsequent volumes on release, but I’ll probably pick them up over time.
