Sokora Refugees Volume 1 [Paperback]

Segamu (Author), Melissa Dejesus (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sokora Refugees | Publication Date: April 12, 2005

Kana thought her life couldn't get any worse--she was consistently behind on her schoolwork, she had no luck with the boys and she was the only one of her friends who hadn't "blossomed" yet. However, when the new boy in class conjures up a portal in the girl's shower, she is transported to the magical world of Sokora...wearing nothing but a small cotton robe! Now, on top of landing at the center of a giant battle between good and evil, she finds that her body is beginning to go through some tremendous changes!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What do you do if one day, while in the school shower, you're suddenly whisked off to an alternate universe inhabited by elves and goblins, where your body is possessed by the spirit of a very powerful (and sexy) magical person? Self-absorbed teenager Kana finds herself in this very predicament when she enters the world of Sokora and her body becomes possessed by an elf sorceress. When she returns to school, she finds that the act of blushing transforms her from a regular, somewhat flat-chested schoolgirl into an extremely bodacious elf princess who can barely squeeze her assets into a plaid kilt and school blouse. Soon Kana and her schoolmates are hopping back and forth to Sokora to take on a dark prince, a horde of killer bumblebees, a gargoyle who can turn things to stone and a jealous humanoid raccoon cat. This tale rides the line between fun and madness—which is just where a good manga story should be. What sets this one apart is that it is produced by American creators who have all the conventions of Japanese manga down pat, from the high school soap opera to the generous portions of cheesecake. DeJesus's art is solid but not flashy, and the wacky but detailed story sets up entertaining subplots galore for future volumes. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–Poor Kana has to suffer through the indignity of being the last girl to bloom at her boarding school, where the boys cruelly have nicknamed her No-Cans. To add to her misery, a new student (who is secretly an elf) mistakes her for one of his own kind and transports her back to his own land to help fight the bad guys. Unfortunately for Kana, he does this while she is getting ready to shower, so she finds herself in a strange swamp wearing only a bathrobe. Soon Kana makes it back to her own world, but not before a powerful elf named Veila lodges her weakened essence inside Kana to recuperate and hide. The alarming side effect of this is that now every time Kana becomes embarrassed enough to blush (which is a fairly frequent occurrence), she is transformed from a preadolescent schoolgirl into an absurdly buxom elf. So starts this rather unusual quest to save the world of the elves, and to restore Kana to her normal, less-mortifying state. This manga reaches for a delicate balance, containing enough frequent titillating views of the female form to capture the attention of fan-boys, but at the same time gingerly examining the issues of body image enough to keep girls from being scared off. The depictions will probably keep this series out of school libraries, but the good, clear artwork, strong characters, and solid fun will attract a following among older teens.–Dawn Rutherford, Kings County Library System, Bellevue, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (April 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595327363
• ISBN-13: 978-1595327369
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,453,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Those who hunt elf cleavage, March 7, 2006

By 

J. Alford (Atlanta, GA. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sokora Refugees Volume 1 (Paperback)

Another of Tokyo Pop's original manga-styled graphic novel series. This new title is put together by writer Segamu(assuming that's his real name)and artist Melissa DeJesus who is a part of the all-girl Estrigious Studios. It's take on the time honored tradition of a girl travelling to other dimensions. But Alice and Dororthy didn't have monsters and fanatical elves to deal with.

In it, Kana is a girl who is suffering from lack of cleavage. Her friends Julie and Tamara try to cheer her up, but to no avail. Then, a new transfer studend named Tien shows up. He always wears a hat on his head, and it turns out its to hide the long elf ears he has. Tien is on Earth because his elvin brother Tristan is forming a resistance group in their dimension of Sokora against an army of monsters who are ravaging the land. These monsters had taken a voluptuous elvin sorceress called Veila hostage, but she just barely managed to escape being roasted alive by them.

Tien grows restless, and plans to escape Earth and go back to Sokora. For some reason though, he creates the portal between the two worlds in the school's girls locker room. Kana accidently falls through as Tien makes it, and ends up running into Veila. Veila is badly injured from her encounter, and transfers her essence into Kana. Unaware of this, Kana ends up running away back through the portal, but now with her body altered resembling Veila's gorgeous physique.

From here, the story fluctuates with Tien and his brother going back and forth from Sokora to convince Kana to come with them, Kana realizing the spirit and new power dwelling within her as well as how her new body will affect her social status, plus Kana's friends get in on the action too. All this while the forces of evil in Sokora plot to destroy all traces of the elves in their world.

Anime fans will totally dig the authentic manga artwork and storytelling. Plus, furries will undeniably fall for Salome, the sexy racoon girl/nymph who's a part of Tristian's resistance movement. There's lots of gratuitous fan service and fun in this ongoing jem.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REFRESHINGLY FUNNY!, April 18, 2005

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sokora Refugees Volume 1 (Paperback)

Sokora Refugees is a fantastically funny new graphic novel from TokyoPop combining fantasy elements and modern day humor in a refreshingly original story. Kana Tanaka is having a very bad day. She's late for class, hasn't studied for the big test, and her friends, the athletic and patronizing Tamara and the ever-inquisitive Julie have little sympathy for her. Add to that she's the butt of jokes from the boys in school who call her "no-can" due to her under-developed chest and things just can't get any worse for poor Kana....Oh, but they do get worse! A geeky new kid in school gets the desk right behind her. Later, when Kana is showering after gym class, the new kid springs out of hiding, slamming into the naked Kana. Suddenly both are transported to the mystical realm of Sokora and end up in a swamp, Kana wearing nothing but a towel!

And it keeps getting better for Kana as she finds herself face-to-face with a demonic Goyle who was hunting for an Elven sorceress. Kana is about to become Goyle food when she's rescued Tristan, an Elven Warrior and Salome a wood nymph. Joining them is that geeky new kid who turns out to be Tristan's younger brother, Tien. After escaping the Goyle, Tristan explains how portals to demon worlds have been popping up and their once peaceful land has been invaded. Tien was sent to Earth for his own protection but has no desire to remain there. He wants to use his magical abilities to help fight the demons. It's all very Greek...or Elven to Kana who just wants to get back home. She's sent back but now it's in the body of that same Elven sorceress, hunted by the Goyle. What's more, this body is EXTREMELY voluptuous and Kana struggles mightily to get her shirt buttoned around her huge new assets. Kana soon is contacted by Veila, the sorceress who tells her the two are now bonded together and she needs Kana's help. Soon Kana, along with Tamara and Julie travel back to Sokora and find themselves attacked by demonic insects, eventually driven off by their master the Vampire Demon Kogurai who destroys the portal to our world leaving Kana and her friends trapped.

This Manga had me laughing out loud on several occasions at poor Kana's plight. She instantly finds herself disliked by Salome who doesn't want any other females around Tristan. Little brother Tien is like an Elven Dennis the Menace who can work magic. He's always getting into trouble, and getting others into trouble with his antics...like anchoring a portal in the girl's shower! The art by Melissa DeJesus balances a humorous and cartoonish Manga style that blends well with the adventurous part of the storyline. The story was written by Segamu who definitely had a feel for the hardships of teenage girls and the problems they face and had great fun, all at Kana's expense. This 196 page graphic novel was the first volume in this new series and I can't wait to see what is in-store for the characters in future volumes. Another winner from TokyoPop!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty good Story..., July 3, 2005

By 

Icewolf (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sokora Refugees Volume 1 (Paperback)

This was pretty good, the art was nice, and it had a cute story, but I think that they relied to much on the crude jokes. I guess some people like that, it's just my own opinion. Otherwise, I thought it was really good art, and it was a story that you could get in to.