Protect Japan for the New Year!

The last post of 2008 for 427 will be a review of the Mao-chan vol. 1 manga.  And what better way to end the old year and kick off the new one than with an article about cute 8-year-olds saving Japan from cute aliens?

This manga is based off of the anime created by Ken Akamatsu, author of Love Hina, Negima!, and A.I. Love You.  Here’s where a big “Uh-oh” comes in.  Now this “Uh-oh” could be about one of two things:  it could be because, one, it is a manga adaptation of an anime (everyone knows that whatever came first was best!) or two, because it’s about grade-schoolers and was created by Akamatsu, the guy who needs to include (at LEAST) half-naked girls on every other page (if you’re lucky!).  Well, I honestly cannot say for sure if this manga is a terrible or amazing adaptation of the anime because I have never seen it.  So, the “Uh-oh” is for lucky choice #2.  But more on that later.

Cute aliens are attacking Japan and trying to abduct all of their famous tourist hot-spots!  Well, they’re not much of a threat physically, but since they’re just so darn cute, the Japanese citizens won’t stand for the military using normal weapons against them–that would be mean!  That would be cruel!  That would be the equvalent of bullying.  So what do they do?  They get three 8-year-old girls, each equally cute to the aliens, to fight them off.  Mao, the titular character, is in charge of the Ground Force (hence the Japanese title, Ground Defense Force!  Mao-chan), her best friend Misora is in charge of the Air Force, and new transfer student Sylvia (also known as “Sylvie”) is in charge of the Marine Defense.  Their situations are a little strange and have cheesy resolutions (Mao’s messing up usually helps save the day) but the girls are always able to remain cute and fight for their country, which they obsessively love.

This volume is split into two parts.  At first, the fan-service is practically nonexistant, with at most one tiny panty shot of a sophomore character who happens to be a spy for the aliens.  However, as part 1 draws to a close, the panty-shots increase 5-fold, and their attention turns to the heros.  So yes, there is lots of fan-service given to us…by 8-year-olds.  If that’s a turn-off, do NOT buy this manga.

Since this manga is based off of an anime, Akamatsu didn’t actually draw the art.  The artist, RAN, really deserves a lot of credit–there are only a handful of spots in the entire manga that DIDN’T look like it was Akamatsu’s work.  Honestly, if I didn’t know that RAN was the artist and not Akamatsu, I’d have no idea that it was another guy.  Kudos to you, RAN.

In all, I feel kinda…cheated.  Akamatsu is one of my favorite mangaka, and I strive to get all of his works, but this really didn’t deliver.  The plot’s really simple and although it does have its high points, there simply aren’t enough.  The fact that the fan-service increased also made me shake my head in shame–I shouldn’t have spent $15 on this.  But check it out, see if it seems interesting.  If you like this kind of stuff, by all means, buy it–when it’s on sale.  The content is in no way worth $15.