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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane I admit it: it took me a little while to bring volume 2 of Rasetsu to the top of my review queue. Not because I'd heard anything off-putting, but because I hadn't read the first volume and was completely unfamiliar with Yurara, the series Rasetsu spins off from. Turns out it's a shame I put it off, because Rasetsu is a really fun read. Reading through the character list at the beginning of the book got me up to speed enough that I had no trouble following the story. For the benefit of anyone else who might not know the plot, here's the gist: Rasetsu is a teenage exorcist who's been (literally) marked by a demon who intends to steal her away on her 20th birthday if she hasn't found true love by then. This puts a bit of an urgent spin on a young shoujo heroine's quest for romance, but Rasetsu seems to be kept pretty busy by working for an exorcist agency, where she has a group of entertaining male co-workers. Oh, and she replenishes her psychic energy by eating lots of sweets. (I still haven't the faintest idea how this series connects with Yurara.) The series is fairly episodic, so the characters go out on three different assignments during the course of the second volume, but there's plenty of time spent on the dynamics between Rasetsu and her co-workers, particularly Yako, who controls water (the character bios tell me that Rasetsu headhunted him in volume 1), and Kuryu, who uses kotodama (controlling people/spiritual entities through the power of words, a power familiar to anyone who's read Her Majesty's Dog). I like Rasetsu herself quite a bit. She's never overshadowed by the other characters, and she's presented as a competent, powerful psychic, although the exorcisms they perform sometimes tap into her fears about being taken away by the demon who apparently loves her. Those fears make her vulnerable, so there's an element of the guys being protective of her, but it doesn't come across as patronizing or as downplaying her ability, which is always refreshing. (There's plenty of teasing going on, but it seems to be equally balanced and affectionate.) Overall, this is fun, solid shoujo. It hasn't stolen my heart, but I really enjoyed reading it. Volume 2 of Rasetsu includes one page of bonus manga. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Think you could have written a better review of Rasetsu v2? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
2 December 2009
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