Midweek Manga Reviews: From Goddesses to talking toys!

Minima! Vol.1
Story & Art: Machiko Sakurai
Translation: Athena Nibley
Adaptation: Alethea Nibley
Publisher: Del Rey

I can’t imagine what it would have been like to grow up without a favorite stuffed animal. My toy rabbit was my buddy when I was a kid and I would have given anything for him to come to life. Well that’s exactly what happens to Ame Oikawa. She is a shy schoolgirl that happens to be in love with the cutest guy in the school Sasaki; she also finds a stuffed animal that is already alive. Nicori is a little meerkat doll (I still think he looks like a mouse) that has a mind of his own and he lets people know exactly what is on his mind all the time. He also happens to have a short temper and a thirst for vengeance for anybody that crosses him. Nicori decides to stick around and help Ame win Sasaki’s love. There are people after Nicori and Ame gets caught in the middle and eventually gets kidnapped. It does end on a cliffhanger that kept me wondering what is going to happen next. The flaws of the book fall on the main cast; everyone just happens to be one dimensional and while the story is cute, all the characters are cookie cutter and bland. What really saves the book is the wackiness that is Nicori, so he is what is keeping me interested in the series. C+

Oh My Goddess! First End novel
Author: Yumi Tohma
Illustrations: Kosuke Fujishima & Hidenori Matsubara
Translation: Camellia Nieh
Publisher: Dark Horse

I think to say that I love Oh My Goddess! would be an understatement. When I found out there was a novel written by someone other than Fujishima, I just couldn’t imagine anyone else duplicating the magic that Fujishima created. Then I figured, heck some of the best Star Wars stories were written by someone else other than Lucas, so why would that formula not work here? Going by the events that are happening in this book, this story takes place after volume 27, but new readers should be able pick up on characters and what’s come before fairly easy with the help of the introduction. Within the first 50 pages Tohma does something that really took some nerves of steel to pull off. Keichi dies after a motorcycle accident and the goddesses receive a phone call from Peorth warning them of Yggdrasil’s imminent collapse.