There's a new Manga-ka to watch out for guys xD Motomi Kyousuke is someone I stumbled on by chance while procrastinating on onemanga.com a site where you can read manga updates translated as they come out in Japan.
This was the first of his mangas that I read and actually, I frickin love it.
Something that did surprise me (greatly) is that Motomi is a man! While it's certainly not uncommon for women to foray into the Shonen (boys) manga scene it's pretty rare for a man to produce Shoujo (girls) manga.
Having said that, this is a great story with great art and it's not as sickly sweet as some Shoujo mangas can be.
Beast Master is the second manga (I think) by Kyousuke, and it follows young high-schooler Yuiko Kubozuka (the rather serious looking redhead) who loves one thing above anything else in the world... She adores animals. Whenever she sees an animal she just has to shower it with cuddles and affection.
Unfortunately, as I'm sure most people will remember from their childhood (I know I do...), animals shirk from the overly-affectionate, and with Yuiko, her talent for repelling animals leaves her broken hearted.
At this point, I'll tell you now that Yuiko is not as cool as she seems on the cover- she's popular enough, and makes friends easily, but she can be stupid. One day her neighbor's cat escapes from her up a tree, and as it begins to rain, a boy jumps down from the tree, cat in hand, and covered in blood. He leaves the cat with Yuiko and runs away.
The next day, the same boy turns up at school, Leo has been transferred from a foreign country due to "exceptional circumstances". At first glance, he's a terrifying guy with dark eyes and chains around his neck. He seems too wild to Yuiko, who follows him during lunch and tries to befriend him.
It soon transpires that he's actually a very gentle guy with a sweet personality, and he takes a strong liking to Yuiko, who is the first person to ever not think he's scary. Well... her and every animal in sight. Yes you read it right... Yuiko's new friend is a magnet for animals. They love him. (Poor Yuiko gets pretty jealous)
They become good friends and he even reveals that since he was attacked by a leopard (apparently he lived in Africa for a while...) he's been volatile when threatened, and blacks out only to wake up with all the people around him wounded or dead.
This manga is devastatingly funny at times, with Leo's absolutely adorable personality winning everyone over, and the mystery behind his upbringing and disorder being slowly revealed. The relationship between Yuiko and Leo begins as friendship, but they soon become inseparable and over time...
Oh they're adorable. The whole storyline is actually really well thought out, and what seems at first to be a bit unbelievable is soon explained in a way that makes you think "Well of course they moved to Africa..."
Without giving too much away- it turns out the reason behind Leo leaving Japan as a child is darker than a mere wish to explore... and there are people after his life even now.
And they'll stop at nothing to get what they want.
Anyway, I'm not sure that this is released in the UK yet, but it's a nice, relatively short series that can be read online and it's a pretty awesome story to have in your memory. I've read it twice!
MC out :)
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