Wish, Volume 1

I can't believe how much I loved this series. The only thing I don't like is the cover of the first book; the yellow color is ugly. I ended up getting it just because it consists of just four books, is a complete set and is still in print (can't say the same about most CLAMP works, now can you?), but I fell in love with the whole thing. The artwork is beautiful, though sometimes I don't like Mick Nekoi-sensei's jawlines (she's the lead artist for a change) and her chibi guys are weird looking at times. That aside, tones were used sparingly and the line work was all incredibly fine, giving the whole series a very angelic and airy look. Magic Knight Rayearth is so `toned' that most pages are all grey, black and action-filled. Both have their own unique style, perfectly fitted to their own stories. So a guy (Shuichiro) finds an angel (Kohaku) and she grants him a wish. She's on earth looking for another angel (Hisui; I would imagine, Hisui-sama because they call her `madam Hisui' in English...ew) and stays in Shuichiro's place until he can think of a wish. You know the rest. The more important thing you'll be wanting to know is the angel-devil thing. Now, the whole angel concept is very innocent, similar to the movie `The City of Angels' (or was that just `City of Angels'? Starring Nicolas Kage? I don't know....). God is mentioned sparingly, never appears in person and except for the devils bad-mouthing God slightly (for, as Kokuyo says, "Duh, we ARE devils,") there is really no objectionable material. The focus is on the angels and devils as individuals. As in the movie mentioned above, the angels are creatures like humans in mentality; they have thoughts, feelings, desires etc. In fact, it's hard to take the whole angel thing seriously, because there isn't anything very `angelic' about them.They're just people with wings and magic powers. In fact, had Tokyopop dubbed the series with `faerie' instead of `angel' and `the faerie king' instead of `God' you wouldn't have known the difference; it would have fit perfectly. Heaven was drawn beautifully, what with the trees and beautiful skies. Hell, however, is only shown through Koryu's eyes, in other words, his bedroom, consisting of a massive four-poster bed...with his two cut servants in it. =^-^= Now for the other problem: the shonen-ai (boy's love) thing. In the original Japanese version, the angels are genderless and are referred to with a genderless pronoun. However, though they might have been able to get away with calling pokemon `it' in the anime, it would be highly unsuitable, not to mention weird, calling the angels and devils `it'. And so the more masculine ones are `he' and the feminine one's `she'. Even CLAMP in an interview mentions their relief at finishing Wish because of the difficulty in drawing genderless characters. They all pretty much have a bishonen's figure: skinny, no hips and a beautiful face (this Kazahaya-kun of Legal Drug). And so as far as that's co

When I first read the reviews here, I expected the manga to be somewhat of a letdown, but boy, was I wrong! I enjoyed reading this even more that reading Rayearth, which is QUITE a statement! First off, I loved the artwork MUCH more than in X/1999. While that artwork tends to be somewhat dark and muddled and headache inducing, the clear line art in WISH was a relief. The plot line is as clear as the art, and entrancing (in fact, after I bought the first one, I had to go back the next night to immediately buy the second volume!) Also, it's a little on the shoujo side, but not to an extreme, which is well recieved after extensive readings of Fushigi Yugi and Ceres (I love those series, I really do...). In response to a comment from another reviewer, I DO think the translaters could have done a better job, but the main "romance" is NOT between two males. Yes, Shunichiro IS a male, but Kohaku does not have a gender, Kohaku is simply an angel. The translator simply assinged the Devils the male gender and the Angels the female gender to clear things up a bit to the reader. All in all, I find this a must read. I don't generally buy mangas (I borrow them from friends), but I've found that I'm compelled to buy this entire series because of it's sheer mastery. More proof that CLAMP are the masters!

P>I honestly don't see how it can get less than five stars.<p>Why?<p>Plenty of reasons. Firstly, in true Clamp tradition, the artwork is beatiful. There was a different key artist for this series, and I loved the slightly different style: more linear, with a lovely focus on crisp detail, and on contrast, which suited the series perfectly; I found myself greatly admiring the pages that had a gorgeous contrast of black devils against white angels.<br> <br>Also, for a four-book graphic novel series, this story has a fair bit of depth and character exploration. I think there must be at least one character for everyone. I myself fell in love with Koryu, a meanie devil who is incredibly cute as well as gorgeous and evil at various times. And how can anyone take one look at the different angels and not love them? Kohaku, the main angel, is just so cute, while 'her' naivete is realistic in how its portrayed, and in how it is challenged during the story.<p>There are innovative aspects, too, like the idea of the angels going into 'energy saving mode' at night, in other words turning chibi, while the devils are that way in the daytime. Also, the idea of devils and angels being genderless makes it interesting to interpret what kind of relationships there really are in the story. There are many little things like that that make this an original and thought-provoking series, not content to stick with hackneyed or traditional ideas.<p>Overall, I found this an enchanting and beautiful series, with unexpected plot twists, involving characters and gorgeous artwork.<p>And with only four volumes to buy, who can't afford to get this great set of manga? Go for it. You'll love it.

Shuichiro Kudo is walking along, minding his own business, when he ends up saving a tiny angel, a tiny angel stuck in a tree being attacked by a crow. Is she real? How can something that small have SUCH a huge head? Anyway, after saving her she offers to give him a wish. The problem is that he does not WANT one. His life is OK, his work is going well, he has no money problems and he believes in fulfilling his own dreams!What can an angel do? Well, Kohaku (that's the angel's name) decides that the best thing to do is hang around and help him till he DOES think of a wish she can grant.Can some wishes be fulfilled alone or do you sometimes need help?If you didn't need help...why bother to fall in love?