rmthunter's Full Review: Takashima Kazusa - Mad Love Chase 1
Mad Love Chase begins a new series by Kazusa Takashima (Man's Best Friend, Wild Rock) that seems to incorporate all her strengths and moderate some of her weaknesses.
Prince Kaito, heir to the King of the Demon World, got tired of his circumscribed life -- particularly his impending marriage to a total stranger -- and ran away with his cat, Rebun. The two escape to the Human World, where Kaito is transformed into Kujou Yamato, a high-school student, and Rebun becomes the school nurse, Haga.
Kaito's father dispatches three demons in pursuit, Taiki, Souya, and Touma, who individually are pretty much screw-ups, and as a team just have to be seen to be believed. Taiki, a large, husky young man, becomes Kujou's best friend, while Souya is the schools' groundskeeper, determined to connect with the voluptuous Haga, who thinks he's a jerk. Touma, regrettably, seems to be the brains of the outfit. Given the notable lack of success by this trio in achieving the return of Kaito to the Demon World, the fiancée, Lady Viita, takes a hand herself, becoming the school's guidance counselor (read disciplinarian), Sugita.
What follow is chaos.
One thing that has bothered me about Takashima's stories in the past, particularly Wild Rock, which was a romance/drama, was their lack of depth. That's not such a problem in a madcap comedy such as Mad Love Chase, and in fact, the way Takashima has handled the story, that sort of seriousness would be somewhat out of place: it's slapstick, from the word go. One of the running gags, for example, hinges on the fact that Kujou has the royal crest tattooed on this back. Needless to say, everyone is trying to get his shirt off, while Haga is determined that he will stay dressed at all times. Add in such factors as Taiki, who has become Kujou's protector (he doesn't believe Kujou is the Prince) and who has the habit of picking people up and tossing them aside when they get in his way, and you have the foundation for what we used to call "physical comedy" when I was an acting student. And don't forget the girl who has the hots for Taiki and who concludes he has fallen for her and she only has to get rid of Kujou to have her dreams come true. Taiki, being the rocket scientist he is, concludes she's fallen for Kujou.
And the drawing, as always, is superb. Takashima drops down to chibi sequences quite a bit, but also makes full use of a stylistic range between chibi and the normal comic realism. (And I have to mention the cover art: both front and back covers are gorgeous, beautifully executed, although I'm giving the back cover pride of place because it shows fully developed renderings of the three demons, who are all yummy.) The character designs are all based firmly in the bishounen (pretty boy) aesthetic common to BL manga, which leads me to one big question about this one: is it or isn't it?
So far, it's not, but there are some distinct possibilities. Kujou is determined to fall in love. He has a thing for big, athletic women (he himself is one of Takashima's typical skinny little uke), who all seem to think he's too small. And Taiki is very devoted to him. But, since this is only volume one of the series, we'll have to see, won't we?
OK -- it's a pretty light-weight story so far, but broadly funny. I didn't even mind the chibi sections too much. I'm giving it a 3.5, contingent on how succeeding volumes turn out.
Kujou appears to be an average teen. But he s really Kaito, the prince of thedemon realm who has escaped to the human world. His dad is furious at Kai...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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