Yazawa Ai - Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, vol. 01-03 (Chi. trans.) (reread)

[oyceter]

This was the first Yazawa Ai manga I read, and it was the one that made me fall in love with Yazawa Ai. I don't think it's the best she's written; Nana's taken that place for me, but this series still holds a spot in my heart. It also helps that the protagonist is one of my favorite manga characters and among the few fictional characters I would love to befriend.

Saejima Midori is a first-year student (10th grade) at the newly-formed Hijiri Gakuen. It's so new that her class is the first class there. Her class eventually gets her to run for student council, saying that Midori is the angel of their class and that she should become the angel of the school (ergo, the title, which roughly means "I'm no angel"). She's got a crush on the rebellious-looking Sudou Akira, and the series is mostly about her relationship with him and the relationships of the kids who make the student council.

All of this sounds incredibly boring, and the angel bit sounds eye-rollingly precious. Also, the art is awful -- the figures look stiff and wooden in some scenes, and Yazawa's still developing what will become her very distinctive style. I think the art gets a little better later on, but it's still fairly rough throughout.

And still, I love this and rereading the first three volumes have made me incredibly nostalgic. Much of the appeal is Midori herself. She's the one in my icon, and the picture perfectly encapsulates why I love her so much. She's one of those people who let every emotion show on their face. When she's happy, she beams. When she's sad, she cries. When she's touched, she says so. And she is happy so much. I love her because she's optimistic and sees the good in everyone and everything, because she is so generous with her affection, because there is not a mean bone in her body. She has her flaws and her weaknesses, but she strikes me as the kind of person who tries so hard and as the kind of person whose happiness is infectious.

While this series doesn't privilege female friendship the same way Nana does (the Akira/Midori romance is the central relationshpi of the series), Yazawa's keen eye for character is still there, and one of my favorite relationships in the series is that between Midori and Mamiya Yuuko, the somewhat icy, grumpy, antisocial, awkward girl who's the secretary of the student council.

So far, several plot complications have already come in, and since this is high-school shoujo, we've already had a school festival and a play. But I love the characters so much that I don't mind; there's less of an emphasis on hijinks (let's put the hero in drag!) and more of an emphasis on the rhythms of the school year, on the emotional highs and lows of being a teenaged girl, on friendships and schoolwork and clubs.

Highly recommended.

Comments

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a transitional manga in terms of style. Throughout the series you can see her moving from her early, very typical '80s shoujo style to the style she cemented in Gokinjo and has since perfected.

[oyceter]

Yeah, very much so! I'm still amazed by how different vol. 1 looks from vol. 8; it's not Gokinjo style yet, but it's so much better than vol. 1 style.

[larryhammer]

The Midori/Yuuko relationship is win. As is the rhythm of the school year. I find myself dragging when the focus is on Midori/Akira angstfesting.

I should reread.

---L.

[oyceter]

Yeah... one of the problems with the manga is how much Akira angst there is. But oh, I love the school setting so much! And Mamirin! She is awesome.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I am still waiting for more scanslations of this! Midori is wonderful, and I love Mamirin too. Akira can stay out of the country for all I care.

[oyceter]

I love Mamirin so much! I like the Akira/Midori romance, but less so than a lot of the other relationships... I think the side characters and the focus on the school are what makes this better and different from most of high-school shoujo.

ETA: where do the scans stop?

[larryhammer]

Near the end of volume 6, with chapter 29.

---L.

[oyceter]

Ahhh, got it, thanks!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

It is as lnhammer says. There are 8 volumes total, right? At a chapter every two months, they'll finish sometime in 2009. :(

[oyceter]

Yeah, 8 total. Oh no, that will take forever! Woes. I would totally lend people the Chinese version, except I do not think that would work so well. Also, they're my sister's....