Hey again, everybody! I’m back from hiatus- and I’ve got some new series for all of you to read! Series I hope will make it through the trials of being published in the best selling manga magazine ever. One’s that I hope won’t go the way of series like The Last Saiyuki, Tokyo Shinobi Squad, Guardian of The Witch, and other series that I’m probably forgetting. It’s a rough business- being a mangaka(check out the link for a series all about that). Ladies and Gentlemen- from the creator of the acclaimed Black Cat; I present “Ayakashi Triangle!”
Funny thing about this post: I’ve been trying to work on it for WEEKS now! Thanks to this hiatus, though; I was able to focus on it and make it as good as possible. It also allowed for a few chapters to get under the series belt. So I’m not recommending a series that I think is gonna make it but ends up getting the boot. I should really start doing that more.
This series is an exorcist series- in the same vain of Bone Collection. But instead of Yokai; it’s “Ayakashi.” And the supposed “King of Ayakashi,” Shirogane, wants eat Suzu Kanadae- and “Ayakashi medium.” Humans in this world have spiritual energy- which Ayakashi eat to grow stronger. But an “Ayakashi Medium” has immense spiritual energy- they were even used as sacrifices in the old days. For this reason; Suzu is constantly sought after by Ayakashi. And standing between Suzu and the Ayakashi is her childhood friend: Matsuri Kazamaki. He exorcises these Ayakashi- much to Suzu’s dismay. When she was younger; she could see and talk with Ayakashi. But no one else could. So these were her only friends for a long time.
Then she met the young, timid Matsuri. They grew closer until Matsuri began his Ninja training. The Kazamaki clan is kind of “THE” big clan- the “Uchiha” or “Hyuga” of this world, if you will. He grew distant after learning the truth about her, and started to protect her from a distance.
Shirogane is the latest in a long line of Ayakashi to make a move on Suzu. And the “King of Ayakashi” was not an exaggeration. He transforms in a giant monster cat to try and eat her, but Matsuri intervenes. He almost completely exorcises Shirogane- until the Ayakashi turns him into a WOMAN! Look: This cat knows what’s going on between Matsuri and Suzu. He did this as basically a middle finger to them both: “I may not be able to eat the girl, but I can at least make sure you 2 don’t get all ‘lovey dovey!'” So he turned Matsuri into a silver haired, pretty attractive ninja girl. Plot insues.
Of course, you have fan service; this manga’s main cast is predominantly female based. Though the type varies between Matsuri and Suzu; while Matsuri’s biggest draw are his/ her boobs- Suzu’s are sexual trait are her thighs. To each his own. But that’s just me being a pervert. The main plot of the series is turning Matsuri back into a boy- which they need Shirogane to do. And while Matsuri is more than willing to stay a woman for Suzu’s protection; Suzu is the type of character that’s not going to compromise. She wants to be with Matsuri. So much so that she’s even thought of going for him as he is now! So she wants to befriend Shirogane so he’ll turn Matsuri back into a boy.
It’s only about 6 chapters deep, so not much in the way of “over arching story” has happened yet; it’s mostly been character introduction, fan service, and action scenes. I think it’s all a good balance, though; the fan service doesn’t happen during the action, and there’s no “BAKA” moments. I think Yabuki sensei knows what he’s doing with this series.
I think my favorite character introduced thus far is Soga Ninokuru. He’s around the same age, and I think the joke with him is that he’s “super serious, but a pervert.” He and Matsuri met on Matsuri’s first mission. At first; Soga thought of him as little more than a rookie. Then they ended up fight some Oni, and he saw Kazamaki whoop some @$$ and thought “I finally have someone to be my friendly rival.” He wanted something like that(as I’m sure most of us anime fans would). But he was disappointed to hear that Matsuri became a woman. So he set out to kill Shirogane and “erase the male Matsuri Kazamaki.”
I think the series is pretty funny. This one girl-Yayo- is kind of handsy. Her debut appearance is rubbing Suzu’s thighs, and then she proceeded to grope Matsuri-both squeezing her boobs together, and grabbing her butt after tripping. 1)Good Fanservice and 2)Seeing a guy in a girls body being grope makes for some pretty funny material.
The only problem I could see coming is the over use of the fan service. As funny and……….”successful” the joke is; everyone can agree that it sometimes gets to be too much. It’s fine for the “slice of life” introductory arc we’re in currently, but if this series ever goes the “battle shonen” route, then fan service during the fight scenes would get annoying and honestly unnecessary. It’s kind of one of the things I don’t like about Hiro Mashima’s series- even Edens Zero. I’ve noticed several times where a super serious battle cuts away for an exaggerated face or some kind of seemingly-random drawing or joke. He’s gotten better at keeping serious moments serious and his comedic moments have gotten better timing and have honestly gotten funnier since the early arcs of Fairy Tail, but he’s still not perfect- even in his 3rd work. I don’t know ANYTHING about Black Cat other than that it’s pretty popular, but I hope he doesn’t succumb to that.
I think that’s all I wanted to say about the series. Like I said; I think I’m going to start to let a series get a good number of chapters under its belt before I recommend it to you all. And if that’s the case; I already promised 1 a long time ago, and another series that you may already be familiar with, but……I think you all are gonna like what I have to say about it.
That’s all for this post, boys and girls. See the lot of you, later!
Demon God Tadd 