Arisa

Have you ever read a shoujo manga and thought "We should put these characters in a psychological thriller"? If so, Natsumi Andou has got your back. First things first: This is not a romance. This is a story about a girl who loves her sister more than anything and also a thriller. It gets a little macabre. Not gory, but pretty horrible at times. It's a thriller first and foremost, and that's where it excels. Characterization can be weird and arbitrary in the way people suddenly act illogically in a way that's convenient to the plot, and the author's prone to a lot of half-assed, unearned swipesat redemption for previously evil characters, but ultimately it's not really the point. This is a thriller. And while you have to suspend your disbelief way more often than not, it's not more than most shoujos, and it's worth it, because Andou keeps you on your toes. There is absolutely nothing predictable about this manga - from beginning to end, it engages you completely. Not to say it's perfect; this manga has very little reread value. After the initial shock, there's usually a lack of substance, resolutions that come far too easy. But it's not quite a disappointing or a regrettable read, either. There's something to be said for a story that's engaging like this, and it definitely handles its twists better than M. Night. It's akin to that really good thriller you catch on TV; maybe it's not worth $12 and a trip to the theater, but it's not time wasted. If you're in the mood for a good mindless thriller, go for it.

I got shallowly interested in this manga because it has quite high of a rating here and decided to read it to fill my nothing to do moments. In the begining i thought it was a spinoff of that Erich Kastner novel about separated twins, but then it surprised me the realisation of genre (psychological, mystery) also the depiction in the undertone of the plot of the psychological group processes, group thinking.... yeah, social psychology stuff. So the plot is interesting, kept my eyes glued to the pages, mystery was good and suspense, even made me do making my own theories who themystery man was, so to say. Downsides are too many cliffhangers and too many soap opera-ish twists and general feeling that it could be better. Art is your average shoujo style, sparkly eyes.... very girly, but character design wasn't very well executed, characters were drawn very generic, so un unexpirienced shoujo manga reader like me had trouble to differentiate the characters at moments, and i probably wont remember what they looked like tomorrow, but their personalities were rather well made. In the end it was a good read, and i would praise it more and give it better score if i were between 13 and 17 years old....this just wasn't my cup of tea, but still likeable, nevertheless.

This manga is unpredictable. I read this when I was like 9 or 10 and it was amazing, it's a physiological manga. It has many twists that make you flip, although this is a shoujo, I can see males enjoying this manga too (if they're not picky). This has VERY, VERY, VERY light romance. It focuses on the plot rather than useless conversations or actions that don't contribute to the story. The art is beautiful and simplistic, the covers are wow. In terms of character development, it progresses steadily. I gave an 8 as an enjoyment because I would have enjoyed some Tsubanabe, but I guessthat's just a preference. I don't really see anything bad about this manga, the characters have their own backstory of why they have turned out that way. This makes the antagonist interesting and enjoyable.

Arisa is one of the very rare shoujo that is not a romance, rather it is a mystery thriller. The very fact that exists makes me happy, because there should be more variety in the types of manga targeted at women. Even better, this manga is also pretty well executed. The premise is that a girl named Tsubasa has been separated from her twin Arisa for three years. When they are reunited, Arisa attempts suicide and ends up in a coma. Tsubasa decides to pose as her sister to unravel the mystery of why Arisa would attempt to kill herself. While the manga isn'tnecessarily realistic, it does offer alot of very enjoyable and disturbing thrills and mystery. It keeps up its relentless pace throughout, never getting dragged down by slower, less thrilling parts. And despite the fact that it is disturbing, it never goes far into excessive gore or violence, relying instead on the psychological fear of the unknown, and the costar looming dead of, "How far is this going to go?" I think the one thing story wise I would change is how non-present any adults are in this situation. Things would even be more tense if it were more realistic in its depiction, with the adults trying to interfere without understanding the situation, such that they could even be a hiderance more than a help, or even a suspect in the mystery. As for the art and characters, I gave a more average score, because while serviceable, they are obviously not the focus of Arisa. Tsubasa and Arisa and others seem more like cliches than uniquely fleshed out characters, but this doesn't detract when the point of the manga is to be completely focused on the mystery.