I just saw Andy’s post and decided to write this for those who want to know more about the chapter 🙂
I think you all remember Yoh’s past, when he had no friends and was always alone… But do you remember these two pages? You should, because both are related to this story!
Soo… who wants some spoilers? I’ll divide this review into two different parts.
As Andy said, if you comment something PLEASE use the spoiler tag if needed! Some people may not want to read about this yet ;D
Summary of the story, including details and some pics. You should know by now that we don’t like posting raws, so don’t expect more than some panels. SPOILER ALERT
[spoiler]First of all, this story was supposed to happen “before Yoh moved to Tokyo”, so everyone thought it’d be right before Volume 1. Well, Takei trolled us again… because this is set before THE REVOIR ARC, so Yoh’s only 9 or 10. Oh, well.
The story starts with him sitting on a bench at the train station, because his only friend (the ghost of a teen girl) lives there. Her name is Suzu, and she’s the secret character! She tells Yoh that she doesn’t want to go to heaven because her musician boyfriend promised he’d come back to her.
Every day Yoh goes to class the other kids tease him for being different. When one of the bullies steals his headphones Yoh gets so angry that unconsciously attacks him. Because of that, the bully makes his father have the train station exorcised, since he knows that Yoh’s always there “talking alone”. I love how Takei’s fat people are always like 5 meters high, by the way.
The person they hire to do it is no other than Yohmei, so Yoh tries to stop him by all means, but doesn’t achieve it. The next day, during the exorcizing ceremony, Yoh appears all of a sudden in the train station with a guitar and the spirit of Suzu’s boyfriend. Then he does the hyoi gattai for the first time and by playing a guitar song both spirits go to heaven together. After that some of his classmates stop being afraid of him, since they were at the station when everything happened.
Yeah, that’s Yoh in his pijamas lol
[/spoiler]
My thoughts after reading it. 100% spoiler free.
[spoiler]First of all, the cover art, the poster and the postcard are GORGEOUS. I’d recommend you to buy this magazine if you have the chance, because these alone are already worth it. Although the postcards will only be given as a present while supplies last, so if you want one you’d better hurry! There are two different models, the one I have and this other one. It depends on where you buy the magazine.
Now, for the chapter… the first 4 pages are printed in full color and glossy paper. They’re very pretty, and I think they’re also my favorite ones in the entire chapter. I must admit that I chocked when I read what the super cute Yoh Andy posted is saying. Alas, I want to keep it a secret until we release the whole chapter. I just don’t want to spoil the surprise, so please forgive me.
The first part of the oneshot is pretty cool and angsty, especially if you like Yoh (he’s my favorite!) because you get to see how his life was in Izumo, and why he decided to leave. The second part is… a little too random for my liking, but still good.
The story as a whole is pretty great, if you ask me, but there’s something “different”. I just don’t know what or why, but it doesn’t really feel like Mankin. Maybe it’s just that this is a story about daily life instead of battles… I can’t really tell. Needless to say, the drawing style is 100% like in Jumbor or Ultimo, so that means skinny arms, legs and such (well, you already know how Takei’s current style is…)
Another problem I see is that if you don’t like Yoh this oneshot may bore you to death. If that’s your case don’t worry, since the next oneshot will be focused on someone else! For the same reason, if you’re a Yoh fan I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, because it’s mostly him all the time :D[/spoiler]
My grade for this chapter is 8/10 because I’m a complete Yoh fanatic! 8D
