365 Days of Manga, Day 227: Wanted

WANTED • Viz • Matsuri Hino • 16+
Somewhere in the Mediterranean sea in the late 17th century, the young songstress Armeria loses her best friend Luce in a pirate raid. Years later, Armeria disguises as a boy to infiltrate a pirate crew and find Luce, only to be captured and kept on a rope by Captain Skulls, a handsome ladies’ man. (”I’m letting you live because you’ll serve as a nice distraction for me on this long voyage.”) Surely, surely there is no The Princess Bride-like connection between the rakish Skulls and the sweet young Luce of Armeria’s memories? The complete predictability of the plot is besides the point: Wanted is a throwaway one-volume bit of fun which is bumped up a level by Matsuri Hino’s finely detailed shojo artwork. (As in Vampire Knight and MeruPuri, she loves drawing baroque period costumes.) The only major problem is that the story is left annoyingly open-ended, apparently in case Hino wants to go back and draw more of it someday. The side story set in the Meiji era, “Spring Cherry Blossoms,” is a period piece about a girl engaged to marry a responsible boy but tempted by his dashing younger brother. (Review by Jason Thompson; originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
** 1/2 (two and a half stars)
Today’s winner is Andrea M. of California! Congratulations, Andrea! For those who want something a little more bizarre in their romance than “Wanted,” I’ve also recently written a new column for io9: 5 Brilliantly Perverted Manga (and why you should read them). Please check it out!