365 Days of Manga, Day 263: Time Stranger Kyoko

TIME STRANGER KYOKO • Arina Tanemura • VIZ •´ 16+
In the 30th century, Kyoko Suomi is secretly the princess of Earth, who lives with two hot half-dragon bodyguards, an android cat named Chocola, and her father the king. Kyoko would prefer to live the simple life with her school friends and not have to worry about being princess–but not only is she princess, she’s also the chosen one who must use the powers of the “time-scorpion cane” to find the “12 god stones” and the “12 telepaths” in order to wake her sister from an enchanted sleep! Using her powers to stop time or go back in time, Kyoko must save her sister, outwit the evil bandit Witzig and ignore the talking cane’s fuddy-duddy advice (”Tell me you aren’t planning to return to the past just to retrieve the lace pattern!”). Tanemura’s later and better manga Gentlemen’s Alliance and Full Moon o Sagashite had lots of angst and melodrama to go with their complicated plots, but in Time Stranger Kyoko the silliness drowns out the seriousness and we’re left with a manga that reads like it was collectively written by a troupe of Brownies during a sleepover. It’s got some cute moments ,but for anyone above the age of 10, the chaotic and silly mixture of dragons, magic, love, robots, princesses and time travel (surprisingly little of the latter) is like putting all your favorite foods in the blender and eating them all together. (Review by Jason Thompson – originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
* 1/2 (one and a half stars)
Today’s winner is Gerald P. of Florida! Congratulations, Gerald!