I-Revo (Ice Revolution) and Gin ni Naru

Its that time of year again, winter and holidays. Let's start the festivities with not one, but TWO ice skating manga! I'm not sure how many holiday manga I can find, but it will be at least a winter wonderland from now until Christmas. The following week, I'm not sure I'll get to post anything but I'll try and find some interesting things for the next two weeks to come. Happy Holidays.




I-Revo ~Ice Revolution~ Story by Tsutsumi Aya and Art by Takemura Youhei

Art (c) Takemura Youhei and Story (c) Tsutsumi Aya

Length: 3 Volumes - 11 Chapters
Genre: Shonen Sports


           Art, at first glance, reminds a bit of Eyeshield 21 meets D. Gray-Man, it has strong, expressive faces though the eyes lack a lot of definition and distinction among the characters. On the whole, the characters all are distinct from one another, even background people. Clothes are simple for the most part, but can be detailed if they need be. Hair ranges from
normal looking bobs and mops to super angled straight bangs. Backgrounds are pretty much forgettable. Its a little too ugly at times, especially in the beginning, but it evens out better after the first volume.
           Masaki is a tomboy of such a high caliber that most just assume that she is a boy straight off the bat. Its all thanks to her father, who runs a dojo and taught her karate ever since she was small, that Masaki only knows how to do things with a man's brute force, though her attitude doesn't help. Then, one day, in a twist of fate, a prince-like boy helps her up and the she desperately wants to be a girl for him. Following a classmate with a similar bag to what her 'prince' was carrying, Masaki finds out about the sport of ice skating and how beautiful one can look while doing it. Determined that skating will make her more of a woman Masaki steps onto the ice.
          Not a lot of romance in this one, perhaps I should have expected it since its a shonen, but I was fooled by the main point of the plot. Truthfully, its very much just a string of gags about her looking like a boy for a good part of the first volume. After that the silly parts don't go away but they become much less like the story hinges on them. So it can be a rough start on this manga if you think you've found a girly ice skating manga. In fact, its not that compelling, its interesting but not compelling. Masaki herself is really to blame for most of her problems so it doesn't much feel like she is improving herself at first and then her growth is shoved at you quickly. Her love interest is pretty much forgotten, too, until there is a need of him. There are some lengthy explanations for things, if you've read any sports manga you'll find that that is common occurrence, but that isn't what gets you bogged down. Story wise, it feels a little rushed. It seems like just when the story was getting into a groove, they had to end it so you only get a small fraction of her experiences. Its a good read but I'm not sure its good enough to re-read.



3.2/5 Its a fun story but it might be hard going.







Gin ni Naru by Mari Okazaki

Art and story (c) Mari Okazaki

Length: One Volume - 4 Chapters and 1 unrelated One-shot
Genre: Shojo




           The art of Gin ni Naru is a little sloppy, and from time to time, ugly. It has a charm in the eyes and the lines and it is very interesting to look at. All the same, its always hard to like a comic when the person or persons you are supposed to be attracted to is weird looking with a case of the crazy eyes. Describing this makes it sound worse than it is, it isn't offensive or generic but it is kind of strange. Clothes are unremarkable, and the backgrounds are

forgettable except for several times the blank space between panels, a couple of times in the panels as well, was flooded with angular bubbles. I am still confused about what they represent. Its generally cute, I guess, but its not typical.
           Ery is kind of strange girl who doesn't act like her friends, she looks to have no passion for anything in life. When walking home one day she catches glance of what seems like a lovers spat but when the man strikes a strange pose she instantly reacts and follows him to an ice skating rink, despite her friends ditching her. Once there she finds he's an ice skating instructor and asks him to teach her, but instead of saying yes he tells her he only cares about money and will teach her so long as she pays his high fees. Ery can't pay but she can't leave the man alone, either.
           An interesting love story that doesn't go anywhere. There's quite a bit of how much Ery instantly loves her teacher, it being a teacher-student romance, but you don't get much emotion through it. I'm not much for such cold guys (though I like grumpy and you do get some of that here) still, it feels more like the man has hardly any personality. It has its moments here and there, its an okay read really, but I found my mind wandering a few times. There is remarkably not a lot of explaining about ice skating in it, but that doesn't really help in any way. The love triangle doesn't have any heat, and it doesn't go anywhere after all the time you spend reading it. The one shot isn't too exciting either.



2/5 You might give it a glance but you might put it down after and never finish it.