Customer Reviews

Cantarella Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I read the first three volumes of this manga only a couple of days ago and I can say that I am hooked. When I picked this book, I wasn't sure what to expect but I didn't regret buying it at all. This is my fourth Go! Comi manga. I used to read only Crossroad and Tenshi Ja Nai but I am glad that I gave Her Majesty's Dog and Cantarella a try. Move forward with the good work, Go! Comi.

It is amazing to see the way Cesare Borgia transformed from an innocent boy into one of the most legendry characters in history. How the evil consumed his body after his father sold his son's soul to Satan in exchange for being a pope.

His brother, Juan, hates him since they were kids. On the other hand, his sister, Lucrezia, worships him but this brotherly love has turned into a not so brotherly, forbidden love, as she grew up. She is looking at him as a desirable man and not her brother, which brings the story into an edge of excitment. I wonder what will happen between these two in the upcoming volumes. And what about Michelotto, his companion and best friend? It seems that there is quite an attraction between the two buddies but where will it lead to?

I never read about Cesare Borgia before, so it is a good chance for everyone to know about him. We have You Higuri and the Go! Team to thank for bringing us such a beautiful historical romance story. All my thanks for the Go! Team for keeping bringing us such good books and we will always be waiting for your new.

I love the way miss You Higuri researches her work, it makes reading her books really interesting and exciting. The art is beautiful and the emotional aspects of the characters is well portrayed. I love all her works, she is very talented. Cantarella is one of her more provoking works, it contains some really cool plot developments and some very sexy content, plus some moral issues that will leave you wondering. Read all 5 volumes, it only gets better.

Intresting and provoking read. the illustrations are really pretty and very detailed. The story is pretty intresting too, and has enough "twisted" to make for an enjoyable sitting.

Machiavelli is not the only one captivated by Cesare Borgia, it seems! What a delight to find a manga series that focuses on someone in the western world. So much of the manga I read is (rightly) based in Japan, with Japanese culture and customs that I don't understand. But to read about Cesare Borgia - who seemed a tedious character when we were forced to read "The Prince" in high school history class, but who has been explored in various historical fiction recently - really, what a great idea. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Too bad Borgia wasn't contemporaneous with Catherine de Medici. What an awful, scheming, compelling couple they would have made...

Thank you Ms. Higuri for writing and illustrating this series on the Borgias.
In this volume we get introduced to all the characters: Cesare, Pope Alexander, Vanozza Catanei; Juan, Lucrezia, Michelotto, Julia and the famous poison Cantarella. Cesare is not born of Vanozza, and is sacrificed by Rodrigo (Pope Alexander) to demons for the papal crown. We see his struggle to be loved by his father and his discovery of the secret of why his father fears him, a definite great start to an epic story. The illustrations are incredible with a lot of detail to the costumes and background I look forward to the rest of the volumes. It also seems like a set-up for some romance between Cesare and Michelotto as Higuri is mostly known for Gay manga. Intriguing...

This is a great book and the story is well written. I can't wait to get the next vol.

The first story I read by you higuri was "Ludwig II" that also had an historic context but couldn't bore me...
Higuri's mangas contain a lot of text and for normal readers it can take up to 45mins of read (I take 20mins to read a "normal manga )so if you like spending a lot of time wiht your manga; you won't be deceived!

her art is gorgeous, you could just keep staring at the pages (which could explain the 45-60minutes of read ^^;; )flipping them back and forward endless of times.
The emotion of her characters are really well drawn, they evolve as the story evolve (they aren't flat characters unlike some cliché manga...)and keep on surprising you with some of their acts.

well to get back at the point; "Cantarella" is wonderful.
but what's Cantarella exactly about?

**first of all; if you want to keep the story interesting; don't search for too much information because you could end up on non-desired spoilers that could just totally ruin the story.**

In the first volume you meet with Cesare Borgia from the Borgia family (doh!) that are well known for their poison.
You've got his brother Juan (which is favorised by the father) and his sister Lucrecia, who will later become an important character. If I remember right, Cesare is the pope (well at that time not yet...)'s illegitimate child.
his mother gets struck by lightening I think, but Cesare survives while his mother dies.
what happened in fact is that Cesare was sold to demons by his father so he could become pope.

You also meet with Chiaro (aka; michaelotto) who frequently pays a visit to his father who's in prison.
They've got a mask in the family and when putting it on; it's as if they change and become very skilled assasins; that way the legendary assasin michaelotto could survive for years and years...
Chiaro will become very close to Cesare, following him around everywhere until the later volumes where they will eventually part for a while because of some circumstances

-> spoiler <-
(Higuri is known for her stories involving homosexual characters - Ludwig II, various oneshots such as "boyfriend", Gakuen heaven, etc...- so it's only obvious that all the squaling fangirls will get some slash as well...(which pleased me a lot anyways) BUT! if you can't stand such stuff, don't back down to buy it; apart of the hints, the story is worth it!

if you have any questions about the story, you can always ask me.
hope this helped^^

In Cantarella the Italian Renaissance,known for not being too shabby with its artwork, meets contemporary manga and the result is a feast for the eyes. The life of Italy's Cesare Borgia receives a left hand turn in this new Japanese storytelling. He's the handsome bravo of the quattrocento with the dark politics swirling around him, not to mention the little sister with the big eyes, and the family's special poison to deal with. Everybody wears fabulous clothes with special attention to lacings and ribbonwork but the mood is the haunted feeling cultivated in the manga of today. A delightful diversion.