Tokyo Crazy Paradise

[Munsu]

Here's the winner of the second round of "GW Reading the Same Manga: New Edition". To all of you who said that they will take part in this, please read the manga. If you don't like it, at least read some of it and comment on what you've read or the impression you got from it at least.

This round was for "Ryllharu's Romance", and the manga that won was a completely scanlated series, so I advise that you should be careful reading the posts that follow this one if you haven't read it fully and if you don't want to get spoiled. For those who have read the manga completely, try not to say much about what happens until at least 3 days from now to give some people a chance to read it. Also, please preface all your posts with the volume and chapter you've read to, that way we know up to where in the manga the content of your post will be up to, and diminish the risk of getting spoiled by any given post.

You can download everything from here:
http://www.mangatraders.com/manga/series/91

It's the year 2020 AD, and Tokyo II is a city infested with crime. Women can no longer go out in the streets alone without being victimized. Not wanting their daughter to suffer the same fate, Tsukasa Kozuki's cop parents raise her instead as a boy. When they are suddenly killed by one of the yakuza's in-fights, Tsukasa is left orphaned on the streets along with her three brothers. With no other options, she goes to the only person she can think of for help: pokerface Ryuji Shirogami, her classmate of 8 years and also the head leader of the powerful yakuza group, Kuryugumi. Ryuji, whose father was also a victim of the same yakuza fight, agrees to take her on as his personal bodyguard. As they set out to find their enemy, Ryuji slaps on an increasing amount of debt onto Tsukasa using all manners of ploys necessary to keep the reluctant Tsukasa by his side.

Have fun reading it, and let the discussion begin!

[kAi]

Just finished reading volume 1, and I am liking how this is turning out.

[Kraco]

I read all of it already (but no, I didn't start when the poll was finished but when the manga was being suggested for the first time). This post won't contain spoilers (and thus not much at all).

It was a good story basically, if a bit erratic at times. Also, it felt just a tad long, with some elements being stretched in my opinion. I'm not generally speaking a fan of triangles but somehow it worked really well in this series because it kind of wasn't arranged on the spot but was for historical / cultural reasons. And what shoujo manga could even exist without one or two, anyway...

One irregularity I could mention without compromising anything was the fact how this was located in the future yet you didn't really see anything futuristic unless it served some purpose in the plot. So, it was more like today but when the author needed some gizmo or solution for the plot it suddenly was there. I guess such a thing is beyond the main point of a romance but it was somewhat bothersome especially when it kept escalating towards the end (which is one of the reasons why I felt it could have been more effiecient shorter).

As far as I could see the story left one important thing pretty much unexplained. Well, to honour what I said at the beginning I can't even mention it but I'll get back to it once people have read most of the volumes.

[Honoko]

Is it safe to talk about the entire series yet? I know I haven't been voting because I'd rather just go along with what everyone else chooses =P

I'll just say that I was somewhat dissatisfied with the ending as it wrapped a lot of things up a little TOO neatly. Made me think that good endings are really hard to do... but then again, I'm the type that likes to see full and complete resolutions, even if it took another whole volume to do so. Either that, or just leave everything up to the viewer's imagination. Anything in between will always come off as some kind of cop out.

[Munsu]

I haven't started reading yet, will do so at some point this weekend.

[Raven]

I've got a day off on Monday, so I'll try to get through the whole thing then. I probably won't have time this weekend.

[Death BOO Z]

I've read two volumes, and i'm still not addicted.
the plot seems to be very simple; guy is rich and powerful, yet sad on the inside. girl tries to act out as boy, and is a complete idiot, yet powerful enough to kick most butt around her. throw in a few more suitors for either of them, and you've got enough misunderstandings to keep a whole season of ranma going.
also, the mangatraders translation has too man japanese words, there's no reason to leave 'gaki' untranslated, it means brat\kid, and having that complicated 'law abiding citizens son' japanese word is pointless, when you can write "a cop's son", it makes the reading unnatrual.
also, all the charecters are composed of above waist body parts, the guy's cheast has more body mass than the entire body of most charecters...

[Kraco]

Fortunately there really was more to the story than that... If it had been 19 volumes of just various suitors messing around like in some cheap soap opera, it surely would have been a real killer in a very wrong sense.

[Ryllharu]

also, the mangatraders translation has too man japanese words, there's no reason to leave 'gaki' untranslated, it means brat\kid, and having that complicated 'law abiding citizens son' japanese word is pointless, when you can write "a cop's son", it makes the reading unnatrual.
also, all the charecters are composed of above waist body parts, the guy's cheast has more body mass than the entire body of most charecters...

That's just Yoshiki Nakamura's art style. It gets more a little more refined later on and in her later work. It's still better quality than a lot of manga out there. It's also supposed to emphasize how tall they are. Asago and Tsukasa (boy form) are drawn with more normal proportions for manga, as they are both drastically shorter. Tsukasa gets the similar treatment when she gets all dressed up though, since she actually has a very feminine form.

As for the 'gaki' and all the other untranslated parts, they actually fit perfectly in the translation. 'Gaki' and the other untranslated terms are yakuza language. Mainstream Japanese people don't use them often, if at all. By the end of the series, you're so used to the terms you won't even notice. It nicely parallels with how Tsukasa gets more attached to the group.

As Kraco started to point out, this is why I was very specific with the category I laid out. There's a lot more going on than a series of overlapping love triangles. TCP is probably one of the most action oriented shoujo series out there.

[Death BOO Z]

I gave up this manga during volume 3, it had a X-mas party and then the romatic rival appears. wake me up when the creatvity ends.
I know I'm probably missing the more intersting parts of the story, but I never cared for it much, I feel like i'm trying to read 'Love monster', too many charecters, a far too basic plot, and not enough 'fun' to keep me going.
Heck, I can't even remember everyone's names, other than the rich guy that has 'ryu' in his name. so that everyone will remember how strong and noble he is.

I give up, so I'll be waiting for next round.

[Munsu]

Well, I gave this series a couple of tries and couldn't get into it, so I'm not going to read it... it's been a while, so I'll start getting some suggestions for the next round.

Will try to give this manga another shot again in a couple of days to see if by any chance I get into it, but I doubt it.

[Ryllharu]

Well, I tried and failed. This type of series and especially the art style are not for everyone.

Perhaps ongoing series might spur more conversation though. It's hard to talk about completed series.