Customer Reviews

NG Life Volume 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You can get the brief summary from the product review or more detailed versions from the two previous reviewers so I won't get into that. But I will say that this is one of the best mangas I have ever read.

I wanted something new to read so one day I went to the book store and started browsing and I kept coming back to this title. The summary intrigued me so I thought I'd give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did! Light-hearted even with some serious themes yet completely unique and something new and it made me laugh so hard. This is a great series to read, especially if you want to smile.

I'm going onto the 5th volume now and so far they just keep getting better. So I definitely recommended to give this title a try. You don't know what you're missing!

Pompeii used to be such a lovely city until it all went kablooie way back when. Back in the day, Sirix was an up and coming champion in the gladiator arena. He had everything: a soaring reputation, his best friend, Loleus, at his side, and the beautiful Serena for his lover. But 1,900 years ago, it all came to an abrupt end when Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city. Sirix and Serena parted ways, promising to return to each other, but neither one survived the destruction.

Sirix has since been reborn in modern-day Japan as Keidai Saeki. As fate would have it, the souls of his loved ones have returned in his current life as well. Loleus was reborn as his best friend, a girl named Mii Serizawa. His sister was reborn as his mother, and his archrival was reborn as his father. The only problem is he seems to be the only person who remembers his life in Pompeii! Saeki grew up knowing that his soul mate, Serena, was out there somewhere. At long last, Serena appears as his new neighbor. She too been reincarnated...as a boy named Yuma.

Crushed by this turn of events, Saeki is torn on what to do. He knows his soul belongs with Yuma's, but unfortunately for him, neither one is gay. Should he change himself to fulfill his wishes? Should he tell Yuma everything about their past lives together? And if he does, will Yuma even believe him?

The mismatched souls lead to an awkward love triangle between Saeki, Yuma, and Serizawa. Saeki wants to love Yuma. Yuma finds Serizawa attractive, and Serizawa has secretly been in love with Saeki for a long time. Yuma wants to bulk up and look manly for Serizawa, which only drives Saeki all the more insane.

The first volume climaxes when Serizawa puts on a play about Saeki's memories of Pompeii (insert Hamlet joke here). Saeki gets suckered into playing Sirix, while Yuma takes on the part of Serena. At the last minute, Yuma pretends to get sick so Serizawa has to play Serena instead. In the play's finale scene, Saeki finds it difficult to relive his final moments with Serena. Serizawa picks up his slack and starts to improvise, speaking the words she believed Serena would have spoken to Sirix. This turning point leads to the significance of what the story attempts to question: Is fate really playing a cruel joke, or did it get their souls in the right bodies this time around?

That scene is greatly needed because the rest of NG Life is rather kooky and a bit over the top with Saeki's overreactions to practically everything that happens on every page. This romantic comedy might even work better in anime form if it had a good voice cast. The art is adequate, but nothing particularly good or bad. The only noticeable problem with the manga's format is that it becomes very difficult to tell when scenes begin or end.

If you're wondering what the NG in NG Life stands for, you're not going to find out by just reading the manga. For now, let's just assume it stands for "Neapolitan Gelato" and leave it at that.

-- Courtney Kraft

Two thousand years ago, a man named Sirix lived in Pompeii with his beloved wife, Serena, and his best friend, Loleus. They all lived happily together, until the fateful day when Mount Vesuvius exploded and destroyed their peaceful existance.

In the present day, Keidai Saeki is a normal teenaged guy. The only thing that sets him apart from his peers is that he remembers his past life as Sirix of Pompeii. The only one who knows his secret is his best friend, Loleus, now a girl named Serizawa, but she doesn't remember her life in Pompeii. Nor do his parents, formerly his little sister and rival. Keidai sometimes has trouble separating his past life from his present life, but it usually doesn't cause too much trouble.

Then Keidai is reunited with Serena. He's been waiting his whole life to meet her again and is overjoyed to see her. There's just one problem- she is now a he, a middle school boy named Yuuma. To make matters worse, Keidai mistakes Yuuma for a girl upon first meeting, leading Yuuma to hate him. Keidai, of course, is upset that Serena has become a boy, and such a bratty one at that. Still, he can't help liking Yuuma because of his feelings for Serena. To make matters even more complicated, Yuuma develops a crush on Serizawa, who already has feelings for Keidai.

Phew! Got all that? It sounds like a convoluted plot, but it's not hard to follow at all. I really enjoyed "NG Life." I liked the clever love triangle (or is it a love circle?). And the characters are all so endearing. Keidai is kind of a lovable loser. He hates all the complications in his "No Good" life, and it's a little lonely being the only one who remembers Pompeii. But at the end of the day, he's really just happy to be with the people he loves. Yuuma has a complex about looking cute, so he tries to act like a tough guy (which in itself is cute). He sees Keidai as his rival for Serizawa and pretends not to like him, but at heart, he's a good kid who cares about his friends. Finally, Serizawa has a little trouble dealing with her unrequited love for Keidai, but she does her best to be a supportive friend. Even though she doesn't remember the past, she's always willing to lend an ear to Keidai's frustrations, and she encourages his relationship with Yuuma.

The story definitely has its share of cliches, but it's still well done. Even though they've been done before, Kusanagi does things to make the plot points interesting, and they serve to develop the characters and their relationships. The art's a little rough, but it has a warm feel and brings out the characters' personalities.

"NG Life" isn't perfect, but it's such a sweet, funny little manga that you can't help but love it. Any weakness in the plot is overshadowed by the warmth of the characters and their friendships with each other. Don't let this one slip under your radar! It'll really put a smile on your face.

NG Life is one of the more original and weird mangas I have read, which is saying something, as anyone who reads manga knows. Certainly, I have read stranger things, but generally only online, the things that would never get published here because they are off the wall batty and creepy. Anywho, I was skeptical and still am about some of the aspects of the past lives thing (particularly that they were all reborn together in Japan), but I do find the idea of past lives fascinating, so I was willing to overlook it.

My favorite thing about this series, the thing that frequently made me chuckle, was the gender-benderness of it. There is a love triangle between Yuuma (who likes Serizawa), Serizawa (who likes Saeki) and Saeki (who likes Yuuma/Serena). No matter which of them Saeki ends up with, he'll be going gay a little bit, which I think is hilarious. Serizawa was a dude with his past self and his love from before is a dude now. I just love that. I also really loved Smyrna/Shinogu, who was totally a lesbian when living back in Pompeii (although that side story at the end of volume 9 was not okay at all...Serena needs to let Smyrna be).

If you read this be prepared for over the top ridiculousness (although that's the case with a lot of manga). Also, be ready for a lot of slapstick humor. The series often made me chuckle, although it did sometimes me make me angry, too. If you're into past lives, gender bending and comedy, this is definitely a series worth checking out.