Penguin Revolution: Volume 1 [Paperback]

Sakura Tsukuba (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Revolution | Publication Date: October 25, 2006

Yukari Fujimaru has a magical ability to see talent in others. Now she uses this gift to become a manager for a competitive talent agencyunder the condition that she convinces everyone shes really a guy! The battle is on as the Peacock agency finds itself under attack by rival Yasuoka Productions. The ambitious Noriko Kano is ready to use any means necessary to put her agency back on top, even if it means exploiting a relative of Peacocks star client Ayaori Mashiba. Peacocks President is going to have to draft Yukari into this battle to have a shot at winning this war.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: CMX (October 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401211305
• ISBN-13: 978-1401211301
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Promising New Series, March 16, 2008

By 

B. Calhoun (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penguin Revolution: Volume 1 (Paperback)

Yukari Fujimaru is a bright high school student who dreams of becoming a civil servant and has a spaz for a father. She also has a secret ability: she can actually SEE other people's talent, in the form of wings sprouting from their backs. At school she sees these talent wings on Ryoko Katsuragi, a beautiful and popular female student that Yukari soon discovers is actually a guy named Ryo. Apparently, in fine shoujo manga tradition, Ryo is forced to cross dress by his talent agency to hide his identity while out in public. When Yukari is left homeless when her father yet again loses his job, Ryo asks her to be his manager. She quickly agrees, and Yukari is now in charge of helping Ryo gain his dream of becoming the number one talent. However, he has far to go, as right now he is at the lowest level of talent, that of a "penguin" (a flightless bird).

I initially picked up PENGUIN REVOLUTION because I loved mangaka Sakura Tsukuba's previous series, the incredibly cute and sweet LAND OF THE BLINDFOLDED. After the first volume, I don't think PENGUIN REVOLUTION is quite as good as Tsukuba's earlier series, but it has potential. I'm not really a fan of male-having-to-pretend-to-be-female story lines (see W Juliet, which I didn't particularly like), but it didn't really bother me in this volume. Ryo and Yukari are very likeable, the art is cute if sparse (notice the generally empty backgrounds), and the premise has promise. I don't understand why this series seems to be flying under so many people's radars; at least right now, if you type in "penguin revolution" to Amazon's search, only the latest volume shows up in the results. This is a good enough series that it deserves more recognition. Although it might not ever become my favorite series, it is still fun and enjoyable and a lot better than quite a few others I could name that are easier to find. A solidly good series recommended for fans of shoujo, high school dramas and gender-bending comedies (such as those who like Ouran High School Host Club, Hana Kimi and, yes, W Juliet).