+Anima, Volume 1

I've seen mostly children read this. I read it when I was in middle school but I still enjoy it now in college. It's a simple and cute story.

I skipped the first two books and went straight to this one. Even so, I somehow got most of the story. The artwork truly is beautiful and I love how cute the plot is. Some of the characters, like Nana, made me laugh. I especially did at Nana's hypothesis of Husky's secret. This is a really cute manga.

Begin the story that follows one unique individual with animal characteristics that allow him to survive in the harsh world he has been born in. +Anima are individuals whom the beasts have given characteristics of themselves to help them fight for their place in the world. Cooro, a child with characteristics of a crow, explores a traveling circus to find another child like himself, with fish characteristics. Such characteristics are called +Anima (read plus anima) and are often frowned upon and feared by others. Beautiful artwork carries the reader so quickly through the book that at the end, you can't help but thirst for more!

This third volume of +Anima continues the adventures of the characters introduced in the first volume: Cooro, the cheerfully impetuous crow-winged boy; Husky, the sulky hot-headed mer-boy who can't stand girls; Senri, the silent older youth whose right-arm is that of a bear; and Nana, the chatty bat-winged girl who main defense is her ultrasonic scream. We also see the return of Rose, the sexy older cat +anima girl who travels around as a peddler, and the kids' adversary the soldier Igneous who appears particularly hostile to Senri for some reason. There are four stories in this volume. In "Wings of the Wind", Cooro comes across a human youth, Shadow, who wants to build a flying machine and resents Cooro's +anima gift that allows him to fly on his own. In "Guardian Heart", the kids run into Igneous again, who is pressuring a retired weapons maker, now a blacksmith, to return to his craft to forge new swords for the army. They try to aid the blacksmith and discover a new +anima in the process. In "Husky's Melancholy" (my personal favorite), Nana suspects that Husky is actually a girl pretending to be a boy and tries to get him to accept his girl-ness with hilarious results. In the final story, "Scars", the kids encounter Rose again, and in the course of helping a village discover yet another +anima. All good stories, and we see more clues about each of the characters backgrounds (won't reveal them here, you'll have to read the book). If you liked the first two volumes, then you'll definitely like this one as well.

+Anima is a new fantasy Manga from Tokyopop about a strange group of humans...and perhaps their not humans at all...who possess animal-like powers and features. Cooro is one such +Anima and he is on a quest to find more just like him. Coora you see has large, black wings, crow wings, causing some to think he was some kind of Angel when he was born. While visiting a circus, Coora finds the mermaid princess and recognizes her as another +Anima. Cooro rescues the mermaid from the clutches of the Ringmaster then makes a startling discovery...the mermaid is a merman. Obviously circus customers would be more interested in a mermaid so the Ringmaster dressed the boy named Husky up to look like a girl. Cooro is more than a bit surprised! The pair then travel to the village of Abon where the only thing Cooro has on his mind is the legendary cuisine of the Abon. But they are greeted rudely by a group of thugs called the Garrison Gang. Fleeing from the village they come into contact with the Abon's protector, another +Anima named Senri who has a large, powerful bear's arm for his right arm that ends in very sharp claws. Soon the trio face-off against the gang and their leader. But where will the trio travel to next? And what is the mysterious book that Senri possesses? +Anima was a fun Manga filled with action, fantasy and comedy and a dash of mystery thrown in for good measure. Natsumi Mukai's art is wonderful and expressive. The story also tosses in some social relevance as the +Anima tend to be feared and discriminated against by most people. A great new series from Tokyopop! Reviewed by Tim Janson

I own the Japanese version of this volume and I would have to say that this is one of the best originals out there. It's cute, it's funny, and it has people in it who can turn partway into animals; what more could one want? *Spoilers Ahead!* The story follows a young boy named Cooro who is a crow +Anima. (Get it? Cooro? Crow? Haha. XD) He can grow wings from his back and fly, and he's on a journey to find others like himself. He meets up with a boy named Husky who is a fish +Anima. Husky was working at a circus against his own free will, and Cooro stumbles upon him while watching the show for free. Cooro is captured while trying to escape the circus workers and is then forced to work at the circus alongside Husky. (Husky had to dress as a mermaid princess even though he's a boy, hahaha.) Cooro comes up with a plan and manages to get away, carrying off Husky with him. It is then that the two decide to work together, although Husky is reluctant at first. As the story progresses, they meet up with a bear +Anima, Senri, and later a bat +Anima, Nana. They, too, join Cooro and Husky on their journey to find others. The underlying theme of this manga series is discrimination. Those who are +Anima are feared, hated, or exploited in some way. However, Cooro and the others try to show these people that +Anima are no different from regular humans. I highly recommend this manga if you like cute art and humorous stories. There are times of seriousness, but they never last long when Cooro is around. His optimism keeps the mood light and cheerful, even though it annoys Husky to no end. XD