Short Takes: The Big Adventures of Majoko, The Magic Touch and The Manzai Comics

With the Fourth of July right around the corner, I decided to keep things light and sparkly here at The Manga Critic by reviewing three humorous shojo titles: The Big Adventures of Majoko (UDON Entertainment), an all-ages title about an inept witch; The Magic Touch (VIZ), a comedy about a group of high school students who aspire to be professional masseuses; and The Manzai Comics (Aurora Publishing), a dramedy about a shy young man who becomes half of an Abbott-and-Costello comedy team.

THE BIG ADVENTURES OF MAJOKO, VOL. 1

BY MACHIKO FUJI AND TOMOMI MIZUNA • UDON ENTERTAINMENT • 200 pp. • RATING: KIDS (7+)

Like Fairy Idol Kanon and Ninja Baseball Kyuma!, The Big Adventures of Majoko uses magic and humor to teach kids the importance of telling the truth, doing their best, and treating each other respectfully. The story focuses on Nana, an ordinary eight-year-old, and Majoko, a young witch who’s still learning the ropes when it comes to flying and casting spells. Thanks to a magic diary, Nana can summon Majoko whenever she wishes. The two embark on a variety of missions, from assisting a mermaid to finding a lost necklace, relying on pluck and smarts when Majoko’s magic fails — a frequent occurence. While a few of the stories are didactic, most employ a light touch, keeping the pious sentiments to a minimum and focusing instead on adventure, as the girls battle one-eyed monsters, pursue a rainbow thief, and journey to the bottom of the sea.

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Queen of Ragtonia, Vol. 1

Though some authors get it right on their very first try – say, Ralph Ellison or Harper Lee – most take a few books to develop their voice and storytelling chops. Chika Shiomi is no exception to this rule, as Queen of Ragtonia, an early series, demonstrates.

The plot is standard-issue fantasy. Falna, a feisty young princess, is on a quest to save her kingdom from the Necromancer, an evil sorcerer who assassinated her family and unleashed a demon horde into the Pharsian countryside. She has her work cut out for her, however, as the Necromancer stole her left eye and her legs. With the help of a muscle-bound warrior named Cadmus and a magical sword called The Igliese, Falna sets out to reclaim her missing body parts and her once-beautiful homeland.

Though the art is polished, the creaky plot mechanics and tone-deaf script are hallmarks of an amateur work. There’s almost no tension in the story, as every potentially difficult situation is neatly resolved by the sudden arrival of a new character or convenient discovery of a new weapon. Nothing is revealed in an organic fashion; characters frequently resort to explaining terms and phenomena to one another as if they were studying for a history exam, not holding a casual conversation. Worse still, many of these explanations don’t make much sense and do little to advance the story.

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Chika Shiomi Appreciation Week

Chika Shiomi may not enjoy the same name recognition as Matsuri Hino, but like her better-known colleague, Shiomi specializes in a particular kind of supernatural drama that pits a plucky, pretty — but not too pretty — girl against demonic forces. More often than not, the heroine has a helpful gift — the ability to see ghosts or a talent for slaying vampires — and a handsome love interest who isn’t entirely trustworthy, often because he’s a demon or vampire himself. Though Hino and Shiomi don’t skimp on the horror element, their stories emphasize emotion over blood-letting, focusing primarily on the heroine’s struggle to reconcile her world-saving duties with her attraction to a [fill in the type of evil, supernatural being].

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