Customer Reviews

ShutterBox, Book One: Orientation, Damien, Adrien and the Running of the Hyperpans

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was immediately drawn into Shutterbox when I saw an add for it. The pretty, yet mysterious guy on the cover intrigued me, and since my brother had the first Volume, I figured I'd give it a shot. At first, I wasn't sure what I thought about it. In fact I didn't like it much at all really. And I was sad because the guy on the cover cuts his hair. :( hehe Okay, so I'm a dork, sue me.! :p Anyways, as others have said, the story is intrigueing:

A girl named Megan has been having weird dreams lately. She's been unsure what to do with her life, and she's been seeing people or things that she's not sure are real, her mother sends her to a psyciatrist, doesn't help much though. But then one night when she goes to bed she discovers just how real it is. That she has been chosen to be a Shutterbox, an exchange student at Merridiah Univrsity where dead people are trained to be muses, and she is there to be trained as a living muse.

The characters are interesting enough, I really like Adrien, I hope to see his character grow. And I REALLY *hope* to see Megan grow out of somewhat typical manga-girl character she is right now, and become something that is a more 3-dementional. Not say she's a flat character, but I was more intrigued with Damien and Adrien then I was her. What kept me reading was knowing that I would see Adrien. And that the plot itself is very interesting.

Shutterbox seems like a very promising manga, I have a feeling it will only get better once the characters are giving room to breath and live. I did like the chapter names and pics though. Esp. the title "Quixotic" made me think, that maybe this is more poking fun at the typical manga, and celebrating them as well, by having Megan be the sort of character she is. If you are familiar with Don Quixote or the Female Quixote(which I studied in college), then you will know that they are characters transfixed with a romance novels and detimerined to live the lives of the romance characters. I think in a way, that is what the authors here are doing. :D

Well that's my bit, you may or may not like Shutterbox, that my friend, is up to you.

God Bless & *Enjoy* ~Amy

PS: The artowrk takes getting used to.

Like a lot of people, I first came to know Rikki Simons from his work on Invader Zim. As I also happen to be a Manga/Anime fan, and since it's not often you see an official Manga by an American, I thought I'd give it a look.
To my opinion, Shutterbox is more Lolita than Gothic. The characters seem a bit too light to be Goth, and the clothing designs are quite Lolita. The art quality you might find resembling doujinshi more than anything, but the character designs are quite unique. The character Megan seems to be the usual bright, cheery girl in Manga who has found herself thrown into another world, which may be a little cliche, but Mr. Simons pulls it off well without making Megan appear too annoying. I am also a fan of top hats, so I give the character Thomas a thumbs up.
Overall, I have to say it was basically what I was expecting, and I'm looking foreward to the second volume that I ordered. Being Mr. Simons, I would have thought that the humor in Shutterbox would have been a bit darker and random (which shows in the scene with the exploding corpse) but overall the kind of humor you will find in Shutterbox will be "cute humor". As the first volume is mostly for exposition, the second volume should be even better.

shutterbox, it seems it's one of the first american mangas published. the plot i particualry like, since you often must read it over again, to get all the hints though at times it's a bit confusing. i wonder what audience this sory is aiming towards....the main character seems a tad too pre- teen princess at times, though the male characters are very interesting to watch.
abother thing is the art. it seems as though this particualr story,it tries a tad to hard to act shoujo instead of being drawn in it's own unique way. i was immediately impressed with the very lovely front cover and the first few pages of the story. though when megan is in the ofice of her shrink it's quality goes down it seems, whih is rather unair because there are some very lovely shots, and the gothic cute fahion desings are wonderful as well.
while the art , perhaps not the same level as clamp or paradise kiss, it's still recomendabl. while some scence (as when megan is crying about her mom) are a little pitful,the sucide is very well done. the plot is quite interesting and most of the chapter pictures are fun to look at.
don't expect and incredible amount from this book, but just take it for it's down points and it will probably very fun read at least.

The back of the cover reads:

"Like a Photograph, love develops in darkness. On the surface, megan Amano sems like a typical Los Angeles girl, attending college and spending a good deal of her time in therapy. However, when Megan dreams, she travels to a place unlike any other - a supernatural and surreal college, one any recent high school graduate would die to attend. And usually they must...for Merridiah is the afterlife's premier educational institute. But for Megan a great exception has been made. Megan has been accepted as a Shutterbox exchange student, where she will spend a year studying to become a living muse. However, all is not as it seems as secrets are unlocked and a great mystery is exsposed - revealed, of all places, through the lens of a camera."

And with that said, combined with the beautiful art on the cover, I didn't even have to open this book to know I MUST HAVE IT!

You get a great feel for the strange, sad (melancholic?) feeling that runs through the theme of this book just from the beautiful picture of Adrien on the cover, but what's really surprising is the gentle humor that runs side-by-side with the sadness. Bitter-sweet and oh, so wonderful. The story begins and hooks you with a suicide drowning, and from there we enter megan's dreams and the land of Merridiah that resides there...or SOMEWHERE. Muses, fairies, little flying bunny things called Beebos, a herd of Hyperpans, reincarnation, and a mysterious/magical castle somewhere in the great beyond...I wish MY dreams were like Megans! Oh, but is she dreaming? This is the first book of six so I guess we'll slowly find out over time! I know I'll be there for the whole series if the rest are as good as the first.

BTW: there are so many things you catch on the second and third readings, it's like reading it for the fist time every time. Like, the cruel brother to Adrien, Damien, he's the only character with British spelling in his word balloons ("favourite" instead of "favorite")!

I snatched up Shutterbox as soon as I saw the great artwork on the cover. Yeah yeah...don't judge a book by it's cover :P In this case, judging it by the cover was the thing to do. It's full of fantastic art and well developed characters. It's confusing but the best mangas are that way in the beginning, it's part of the fun to figure out what is going on. I can't wait to read the 3rd volume and delve deeper into the world of Shutterbox.

I had first heard about Rikki and Tavisha through Invader Zim. While Rikki is best known for voiceing eveyone's favorite robot GIR, he has also collaberated with his wife on the series Rankle and His Three Legged Cat and Reality Check. ShutterBox, a more gothic and mature series, has wonderful art and plot, but can leave the reader confused once they finish reading the first volume.

The plot deals with recent high school graduate Meg Amano witnessing a man supposedly drowning himself on a beach she and her friends are at. Soon, Meg is transported to the land of Merridiah, an alternate universe, whenever she falls asleep at night. There, she attends the land's university as a ShutterBox exchange student, learning to become a muse.

Tavisha is a wonderful artist and her style continues to mature and grows more eye-pleasing. I really enjoied the character designs and the incredible detail of the landscapes. Plus, the characters all are great. One of my favorite characters is Damien, AJ's older brother. His characterzation is perhaps one of the best that I have ever read. I love how flirty he is toward Meg; this really rounds out the character well. Similar to the Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, he taunts and toys Meg with riddles and sarcastic quips that are irresistibly well-written and draw you in.

On the otherhand, this is where the fault line is drawn. While the plot is the perfect bait, the actually dialoge is either a hit-or-miss. Some of parts are pure fillers; using fluff and "pretty words" to make the story more "dark", but this leaves the reader confused and often causes him to loose his place. Other times, the dialoge is too simple and doesn't mix in at all. Also, the characters are slightly flawed. This happens to Meg the most. While she maybe somewhere between the ages of 16-18, she comes off as a little too "teeny-bopper"-like, resulting in becoming annoying rather fast. But that's the charm of her character: she is confused, yet remains mostly collected and accpects her surroundings. This also acts like a curve for Damien. While he's dialoge is well done, it can leave the reader very annoyed at times, due to the fact he teases Meg constantly.

Also, this volume should have been longer. This would have tied up any loose ends and make this volume a much more satisfied read. I also did not like how stereotypical gothic it was. While I certainly don't mind the gothic life style, it seems lately that it's becoming more and more mainstream and that it seems that it is starting to loose it's once "indie" (meaning, only a selected group of people know about it) edge.

But, if you can get past the faults, the first volume of ShutterBox is a great start. Hopefully, the later volumes will flesh out the characters and story, so give this series a go.

I love this book a lot. I encourage everyone to read it. It exspands your imagination, making you thinks of thing that could happen instead of things that actually exist. Open your mind to this wonderful new wolrd that Rikki, Tavisha and the muses have created for us: Read ShutterBox!

I can't really say I cared for Shutterbox. I guess I was expecting more. The story, while intriguing, really goes no where. Everything could have been compressed into a few pages, rather then a few chapters. I was drawn in by the cover, and I though it might be a good horror-romance comic. The art is very nice and easy to follow, and some of the images in the book appealed to me. So I bought it. (I don't read manga very long at the store, since I want to get the full experiance at home and not ruin the story.)

However, it was confusing, unfinished, and unpolished. A bit more tweeking and touching up, and it could have been something great. However, I just can't get into it.

There are 5 senses inside humans, humans are inside the 9 dimensions, the 9 dimensions are inside the universe, and the universe is inside the infinite multiverse.... and so on. This is the world of Merridiah. A world within worlds that only the dead can visit... except for Megan. She is a Shutterbox exchange student, the only living girl inside Merridiah. Her purpose? To learn how to become a muse, a living one. Unlike the rest of her peers, Megan will be about to use her powers on Earth to physically help others... to inspire them and their works.

The world that Shutterbox presents is vast and unique. And its characters are very quirky to say the least. There is the moody and mischievous Dane, the playful A.J. and a ton of other fun supporting characters that will entertain you to no end. The drawing in this volume are exquisite. Megan is almost like a living doll with her clothes being very reminiscent of Victorian period dresses.

The novel is a quick and engaging read that will capture your attention with its details and beautiful drawings. Shutterbox is sure to please those looking for adventure in another world and those who enjoy school settings with a paranormal twist.

I've been reading Rikki and Tavi's comics for 10 years now, since I was 12, all the way back when they used to make Robotech Clone and Reality Check. Shutterboxs is absolutely their best work to date, although my favorite is still Ranklechick. I don't undrstand the reviewer who wrote that "dialogue is a luxury in a visual medium." That's totally wrong considering that comics aren't just a visual medium. Hello, that's why there're are words to read! And I've always loved how Rikki conducted his personal style. It does take a long time for his story to get anywhere because that's his style. It fills up the world with something intelligent and not just speed lines and super deformed faces and same old same old "bishies". Tavisha and Rikki's work compliments each other completely. And I liked the Santa Monica scene. It made Megan look small cold and alone and I think that's how she felt when she saw AJ die. Plus, no other reviewer here wrote "I dare people to create their own manga this good". You must be paranoid.
Shutterbox is beautifully written and drawn. I can't wait for book two.