With the release of Baki the Grappler announced for an August release, it was high time to take a look at what Media Do has offered right now.
…It’s about to get a bit wacky.
Zombie Cherry (Shikabane Cherry), by Shouko Konami (Serialized in Princess in 2012)
I guess if you’re young and in love, you’d do anything to be with that special person. Now whether it’s to turn into a zombie, probably not. However, that’s the situation poor Miu faces as she deals with the reality that she died.
…And yet, is still alive.
She was obviously not this way initially. She harbored a small crush on her class’ most admired guy, Tohno, but two things stopped her: seeing him reject the girls who also harbored crushes on him, and herself. However, a chance opportunity arises when the two have to talk and discover they both love horror! Tohno later asks her out, and Miu’s all excited to finally date the boy she admires! Then she gets sick. Very sick. To the point where she’d have to skip the date. For Miu, however, that’s worse than death.
But here comes the quack to the rescue!
Actually, it’s not really established what her best friend Haru is (a scientist? Aspiring doctor?), but he’s created an incredible concoction called cherry soup. His goal is to make enough of it to be able to cure some of the most powerful diseases and also maintain super levels of efficiency. He let Miu taste a bit of it, which raised her productivity and energy to the roof! Then by day’s end, she was as useful as a couch potato. So yes, very much work in progress, so it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to try the whole thing–
…I guess you can imagine what happens after that. But, with the strain of the cherry soup being too much, Miu no longer could control herself and runs into something bad. She does manage to wake up. She then arrives late to see Tohno (who was also late). The date goes well for most of the day. But by the end, it goes from great to absolutely terrifying when she realizes…she has no pulse.
…And now she’s officially a zombie!
There are so many questions. How can one person love someone so much to do all this? Is Miu truly dead? How long will the cherry soup power her body? IS it powering her body? Can Haru make more? The list is endless!…And I’d like to find out. I’m totally curious as to how she’s gonna make it, how this is gonna affect her relationship with Tohno (and Haru), and I have no idea if this work will solve all of its problems in a great manner. But with the setup and some of the humor (which doesn’t always fly), it’s certainly a curious one.
Eve: The Beautiful Love-Scientizing Goddess, by Masaharu Nabeshima & Yumi Hanakoji (Serialized in Manga Sunday in 2008)
Have to admit. Didn’t have any idea what exactly I’d be getting into outside of this being a very mature, fanservice work.
Instead I get to meet a potentially nutty professor and her innocent acting sidekick???
At least so far in the chapter I read of Eve: The Beautiful Love-Scientizing Goddess (What kinda name IS that by the way???), the series is gonna be about dudes who have possibly zero luck with women and are in need of a love doctor. Enter Professor Maria Eve & her assistant!
Maria Eve explains that she’s a professor of behavioral psychology at Touto University, and she’s been tasked by the government to perform test experiments on men, all to make an attempt to solve the declining birth rate in Japan. While the promise is to solve a person’s love issues, it looks as if she’s going to also aim to reframe their mentality. For example, the first chapter is a guy who’s super naive about love, to the point he doesn’t realize he’s been conned.
I’m not actually sure if this is going to be great, but it is most certainly entertaining so far. With that and the localization being on point from what I can tell, it’s worth a read.
Miya’s Love (Miya no Koi) by Mako Takami (Published by Shueisha in 2000)
Miya’s Love is either potentially the ultimate rags to riches story or a sleazy manga involving a young girl and an art teacher in the Taisho Era.
Or is it about a girl discovering the ways of romance? For Yayoi, she hasn’t experienced that, but after being scouted as a model, something changes her. Whether it was being drawn naked by male art students or making money, she soon began not minding being looked at in her state. This eventually leads to her admiring the art teacher, though whether it’s anything more than teasing, you’d have to find out by reading more of it.
The not-yet-introduced character Goro Yumeya may also make the big difference in the manga. In general, there’s nothing wrong with the story so far, and I think the manga would be a worthy look for a couple of chapters. I’m just not sure if I’d want to continue reading it as the growth potential seems low. That might reflect in its length, as it’s only a two volume series. Maybe that means it’ll find a premise and stick with it, but it’s not a work I’d look to continue personally.
If you are however looking for romance set in the Taisho era though, or maybe looking for something that makes you think of Sakuran, this could be it. If so, then this could be worth a read.