5.0 out of 5 stars
Kawa's Pleasures are Simple and Undeniable, November 24, 2009
This review is from: GABA KAWA (Shojo Beat Manga) (Paperback)
This manga's title, which loosely translated means "so stubborn it's cute," tells a reader everything she needs to know. Gaba Kawa is so fluffy it almost floats off the page, and so persistently precocious it can hardly be resisted, buoyed as it is by Rie Takada's over-the-top artwork and airy-fairy plotting. (One can almost imagine Takada dotting I's with hearts or smiley faces.) Many of contemporary manga's rougher, more provocative edges are sanded into submission in this childlike outing; Gaba Kawa is for younger readers, newbies to the medium.
Yet tame need not be a dirty word, for Gaba Kawa is rich with simple pleasures, telling the story of Rara, a demon who visits the human world in search of another legendary demon, but instead falls in love with Aku, a human baring the demon's name. Rara swoons for the human's charms, helpless as she falls in love with him, even as she realizes he is human. (That said, Aku has his own little hiccup: He sees dead people, natch.) Takada's narrative finds a bit of dramatic tension in Rara's dilemma: The more she falls in love and surrenders to her new love, the more vulnerable she becomes. Indeed, selflessness spells extinction for demons.
Still, Takada--who fared better with Punch and Happy Hustle High--is in a playful, willfully naïve mode here, less interested in plowing fresh dramatic terrain than in reveling in the rainbows-and-unicorns of young romance. Gaba Kawa'sstoryline--cute demon girl falls for hot human boy; Buffy-lite--is breezy, helium-filled, and almost entirely incidental to its celebration of giddy innocence and cutesy characterizations. Takada excels at finding the humor, broad as it is, in her spunky characters and their star-crossed attraction. (Romeo & Juliet this isn't.) Rara is an adorable demon but completely inept at the dark arts, while handsome Aku's ability to see ghosts is among his only distinct qualities.
For a quick fling, though, Gaba Kawa's pleasures are simple and undeniable, beautifully and cheerfully drawn, a story sweetly told, a comedy through and through, suitable for young readers and those who are young of heart.
-- J. Rentilly
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Demon Girl in Love, June 9, 2009
This review is from: GABA KAWA (Shojo Beat Manga) (Paperback)
I read "Gaba Kawa" during its run in Shojo Beat, but I liked it enough to buy it later.
The story is probably not so original, but Takada adds some interesting twists to it that keep things fresh. The tone is humorous, and there are a lot of funny moments. Most of the humor depends upon Rara herself. She's kind of... weird for a shojo heroine, but that's what makes her interesting. She's always pulling some kind of stunt to get near Retsu. He's a pretty good character himself, though not as good as Rara. He's typically good looking, but he's more reserved than most shojo love interests, and he's surprisingly unpopular with the girls. The art is cute and lends to the light tone of the story. Rara's chibi forms are especially good.
"Gaba Kawa" might fall flat if it were a longer series, but it's good for a one-shot. The story is interesing and moves at a good pace. Takada also manages to put a lot of personality into her characters, which is very difficult to do in just one volume. This is a great manga to buy if you want to read something new but don't want to commit to a whole series.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A very cute story., May 10, 2009
This review is from: GABA KAWA (Shojo Beat Manga) (Paperback)
I grabbed Gaba Kawa one day while at my local bookstore because I wanted a new manga, but I didn't want to start an entirely new series as I still had a few I hadn't finished. I found the story and the main character, Rara, to be absolutely adorable. It didn't have an incredibly deep plot -as I expected since it's only one volume- yet the story was still very enjoyable. There were some hilarious moments due to Rara being somewhat eccentric.
If you're looking for something short and cute I would highly recommend Gaba Kawa.
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