World Exists for Me 2

Ooh, drama-licious!  Makes me wanna go out and get the Utena manga.  The one-shot was really good, but I didn’t like the actual manga series until the very end when I read it in Animerica Extra.  Maybe I’d like it a little more now.

It did make me mad that so little was explained even two volumes into the series.  Other than a cursory link between Machivello, Sekai, and S, the little boy was never explained, nor was it ever made quite clear what would happen if the devil “possessed” Sekai, though there were hints about what would happen if she got ahold of his gem.  Also, I was very confused about her old boyfriend’s role, which was NEVER clearly explained in the past.

But drama-licious all the same.  Villianous (apparently extremely so, according to the historic info in the back) guy thinks Sekai is Joan of Arc, falls in love with her a little due to this, steamy scene between her and the devil, lots of steam otherwise, lots of action, drama drama drama with all the characters, really… very good.  That’s EXACTLY what I want in my shoujo, plus it’s a fantasy time-travel historical tale!  Hooray!  A shame it was never completed, though.

World Exists for Me 1

I suddenly went nuts and bought a whole bunch of Tokyopop fantasy series.  The product of this mania was this and all they had from Sang Sun Park.

This series is unfinished, which is the only reason I didn’t pick it up since the plot appeals to me quite a bit.  I did want to read more from Chiho Saito though.  All I’ve read from her so far is the Utena manga, which I loathed until it executed a perfect ending, and the Utena movie manga, which I liked quite a bit.   The art style is a bit different from what I remember it being in Utena, which could just be my poor memory, but I do like her character designs and fashion sense a lot.

I also really do like this story, despite the fact I’m still kind of confused by it.  Sekai is the main character, and somehow she is tied into the devil’s powers, which generate from the destroyed “Book of S&M” (which I will not make a joke about, though it certainly does beg for one).  After the initial description, I thought she was the “S” half of the book (for “Sekai”) and her love interest was the “M” half of the book (for his name, which began with an M).  However, the book’s powers are sealed into a doll with the name “S” (or maybe something that began with S) and simultaneously her as well somehow, though she wound up with the short end of the stick since the doll can time travel.

I’ll just abandon that copious description halfway through.  I was quite confused, since I was under the impression that there was an “M” somewhere that apparently wasn’t her love interest, though the devil himself seems to have the “M” powers of the book and wants Sekai to… complete him.  There is also a third main character, one who looks like a little kid and keeps guard on the S doll,  who also lacks a purpose as of yet.  I’m extremely confused about all this, and I doubt I’ll ever get an explanation.  But somehow this takes a backseat to the historical backdrops and plots in France.

Mostly the story is about time traveling, which I like best of all.  Sekai was in a train wreck as the train was heading through France, and the little kid stepped in to save her by pulling her through a time warp that took her to Renaissance France, where she is accused of being a witch because of a dress.  To bail out of there, they travel back even further to the time of Joan of Arc, who Sekai apparently bears more than a passing resemblance to.

So far the story is pretty addictive and decent.  It’s a shame I won’t get more than one more volume, because it’s good shoujo fantasy.