Customer Reviews

Papillon 1

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

 

 

The question at the heart of Papillon is what attraction really means. Is love at first sight really a good start? Is love all about looks, and will beauty always win the day even if we like to pretend it doesn't? Or can self-confidence, intelligence, and sincerity make someone beautiful? High school is a time of surface, where people are judged harshly by first impressions, but at the same time, it is a time of transformation, where everyone is trying to figure out just who they want to be. Ageha is beginning her transformation, but life has a way of throwing up roadblocks--how she deals with them will be her true test.

Ageha feels she will never escape her twin's shadow. Even though she and her identical sister, Hana, share the same basic looks, Hana is the school's social butterfly, adored by all who see her, while Ageha fades into the shadows. The two were raised apart, one in the countryside and one in Tokyo, and in a question of nature versus nurture, they could not be more different. Hana inspires her sister at the same time as she sets a seemingly impossible standard--how can Ageha compete with a girl whose glamour is so enchanting? Hana, even if she is dazzling, is not an angel--she seems to thrive by outshining Ageha, and she relishes keeping Ageha in her place. Ageha, despite years of being a willing pawn in Hana's little game, is beginning to think that it's time to get a bit of the spotlight herself.

Ageha has one secret she hides from Hana--her crush on her childhood friend Ryusei, a boy she adventured with during her life in the countryside as a tomboy when she was more worried about how to catch bugs than what a boy might think of her. Now that she's found him again in high school, and he doesn't connect this wallflower with the partner in crime of his summer vacations, she's trying to figure out how to confess her feelings in just the right way. Enter Ichijiku, the oddball guidance counselor who, through various tricks and machinations, pushes Ageha to speak up before she loses her opportunity. His advice is sound, if presented in quirky ways, but through a series of misunderstandings and tricks, the worst happens: Ageha's crush is announced to the entire school, including Ryusei, and she wants nothing more than to hide in her room for the rest of high school. She screws up her strength and faces her embarrassment head on, but what can she do when Hana decides that Ageha's favorite is just the type of guy she's looking for?

Ageha works for every teen who's been outdone by a sibling and every girl who's felt crushed by someone else's obvious beauty. There's a resignation that threatens to take over Ageha's attitude, that she's not worthy of much, and this first volume already has you wishing you could shake some sense into her--happily, Ichijiku is there to do it for you.

Miwa Ueda's Peach Girl is one of the first manga I ever read, and her style is over-the-top shojo, full of dewy, giant eyes, bursts of flowers, and dreamy guys. I admit, when I first attempted to read manga, Peach Girl is one of the titles I was a bit scared to open. Then Ueda sucks you in with expertly timed melodrama, and you just give up and read as many volumes as possible in one sitting to see what's going to happen next. She knows her audience, and while she does trade in highs and lows of teenagers' emotional lives, she also knows to keep just enough realism in there to make you care about her characters. A lot of the issues raised here are topics she covered in Peach Girl, but teens may not know the earlier series, and Del Rey has, as always, put together an above-standard volume.

-- Robin Brenner

I truly enjoyed the first volume and I can see that it has the potential to be even better than Peach Girl. I liked the main character, Ageha and it seems that her twin sister, Hana is going to be another Sae. I can't wait to see what's gonna happen between Ageha and Kyuu, the guidance counselor. Very good read.

Papillion by Miwa Ueda is a really cute shojo series about a girl named Ageha trying to steal the guy she likes from her twin sister. The amazon summery makes it more dramatic then it really is.

By the way, Papillion is french for Butterfly and Miwa Ueda is the author of Peach Girl.

The characters in this are very likable and the heroine is easy to relate to if you're a shy or mousy person. Or just anyone who's had unrequited love. Ageha's attitude and confidence changes through a smooth transaction which is nice for a debut volume. Although it moves kinda slow and nothing big happens, the characters deliver it well.

Overall, it's a quick read. Not too deep, but easy to follow and enjoy. The art isn't exactly pretty, but its simplistic and fitting for the story. Its the kind of art that has a beautiful cover image and illustrations, but the comic art isn't as stunning. If you're looking for a new shojo series, I'd recommend this.

3/5
I never read Peach Girl, although I did watch the anime, years ago. I didn't even know that this was by the same author until I started reading it. I've thought about reading Peach Girl (should I?), but the art just doesn't look pretty enough. It looks better in this one, though. The story line doesn't look much better though.
It's about Ageha, the 'ugly' older twin sister of Hana. Ageha wears glasses and has acne (even though, I swear, I thought she had freckles until they said that it was acne. And the fact that it was acne and not freckles, even if it didn't look particularly flattering, bothers me. There is nothing wrong with freckles, and that's what it looked like), and doesn't wear skirts and low cut tops, and has pigtails. And image matters a lot to her. Hana is pretty and has been with so many guys and flirts with them all. Ageha grew up in the country with her grandmother and Hana grew up with their parents in the city, and I guess this is a good enough reason for why they are so different. (It's not, really.)
Anyway, Ageha likes Ryusei, a boy she grew up with. She's too shy and embarrassed to say anything to him, and when she gets advice from this boy, Hayato, who turns out to be the school's new student guidance counselor, she decides to try to get closer to him. This works somewhat, until Hana decides to steal him away from her. She crashes this 'date' type of thing they're doing, dressed like Ageha only with more showing, and she's hanging all over them. And then in the middle of this, her newly ex-boyfriend shows up and hits her but then feels bad after she talks some and says something sweet. This was kind of stupid, and very ridiculous, and I don't believe any of it. And then this picture of Ageha and Ryusei that has been written on (by Hayato, not Ageha, which apparently doesn't matter) gets out and she runs away all embarrassed. A supposed friend of hers found it and showed it off, betraying her (or whatever). Ryusei turns her down, but he feels bad about it. Although, really, his feelings changed really fast about Hana, since he went from being wary of her and not having an interest in going out with her. And then in the next chapter, after she has come back to class with her head held high, not showing any embarrassment, and almost immediately makes friends. This also seems unrealistic. But her friends are nice and help her, which is good for her, I guess. And they encourage her to go after Ryusei, which she does. And she ends up setting up another thing with him, but Hana crashes it by calling him away, and then faking crying before laughing it off, and Ageha is talking with Hayato while waiting for him (even though they're walking, which I don't understand. Ryusei is late, yea, but she was waiting, and then started following Hayato to talk to him. This doesn't really fit,) when she sees them together as they kiss for the first time, I'm assuming. And then it ends with Ageha staring at them, wide eyed.
Honestly, this is kind of terrible. Ageha is whiny and wimpy and only cares about what people think, and Hana is terrible and tries stealing everything from her sister, who, supposedly, can't really compare. Hayato I like, as he is fun and interesting and older (which is also almost always fun). And then Ageha had a crappy friend who turned on her at any possible moment. Several of these things remind me of Peach Girl, but since I have only watched the anime, tell me if I'm wrong. But even though this is a terrible book, with very few redeeming qualities, I'm a little excited to read the next one. This might be since I already have it, but I do tend to like the dramas that are a bit more mature, even though this one isn't very mature, and the main character is pretty much all of the things that I dislike. Either way, the review of volume 2 will probably be up soon.
Oh, also. This was originally published by Del Rey, and, unless I'm mistaken, there are only two volumes left. Does anyone know if Kodansha is continuing it? I was assuming they were, and maybe I'm wrong and volumes 5&6 was published by Kodansha, but I don't think it was. So, are they? I hope they do, if only so I can complete the series.

As a long time fan of Miwa's other work Peach Girl, I eagerly grabbed this manga off the shelves as soon as I saw it. The story is about a shy & "mousy" girl who is always in the shadow of her beautiful & glamorous twin. (I say mousy since the main character of Ageha is one of those pretty ugly girls that is never really ugly or mousy.) Ageha was raised in the countryside, having been left to take care of her grandmother until she died & her sister Hana was taken to the city with their parents. Ageha's tentative existence is shaken up when she meets a guy from her past (Ryuusei) whom she's had a crush on forever. A guy that her sister also seems to have a crush on. Never fear, as there's also an equally gorgeous guidance counselor (Kyuu) who is willing to help Ageha get the guy she wants & get from under her sister's shadow.

Let me first say that while I was entertained by this manga, the plotline is really very similar to Peach Girl. Some of the circumstances has changed, but the plotline is still about a pretty outcast teen who has to fight against a backstabbing "friend" to get the guy she wants. The only difference is that now the "friend" is her sister. The guys are also the same as well, with Ryuusei & Kyuu both strongly resembling the male love interests in Peach Girl. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's sort of a little dissapointing. This formula is a safe plot mechanism & works, but it's just that I've seen it before in her previous manga.

Even so, the manga still is pretty entertaining for the most part. As long as the twists & turns still keep coming, I'll probably still read this. I only hope that this go round the twists aren't nearly as constant as they were in Peach Girl, as the soap opera twists got a little exausting at times.

Papillon: Miwa Ueda

The creator of Peach Girl, Miwa Ueda has journeyed into the tumultuous world of high school with Papillon one more time.

This time, it's the story of twin sisters Hana, and Ageha Mizuki. Hana is more popular than Ageha, and with a growing dissatisfaction, she is granted the wishes of her heart. A visit from a customer interrups Ageha's cleaning, and his strong suggestion that she repeat "My life is perfect...we're madly in love with each other" and a confident assertion on a photo will change her life leaves her slightly confused.

"I'm seeing Ryusei" she exclaims, and sure enough. Hana, Ageha, and Ryusei go to visit the girls grandmother in the hospital, and the man of Ageha's dreams joins them. Hana tries to interfere, and the differences between a country girl and city girl become evident. Will this country girl transform herself into the beautiful butterfly she is? The competiton between sisters for the affection of a man are interesting and beautifully drawn with the talent (artistic and writing) that Miwa possesses.

Www.delreymanga.com

Tim Lasiuta

Some of the dialogue in the Papillon series makes it seem as if a girl is a good girl if she can take a hit well from a boyfriend and not complain. This series is riddled with misogyny that makes me uncomfortable as an adult; no caring adult should let young developing minds read this. This series sends horribly destructive messages to young women's self-esteem and is a bad example of behavior for boys/young men.