blog: All Time Favourite Manga

by Nakamura Yoshiki.


"TCP will always be my favourite" (*) The more I look at this picture the more beautiful it becomes..

Summary (from mangafox)

It's the year 2020 AD, and Tokyo is a city infested with crime. Women can no longer go out in the streets alone without being victimized. Not wanting their daughter to suffer the same fate, Tsukasa Kozuki's cop parents raise her as a boy. When they are suddenly killed by one of the yakuza's in-fights, Tsukasa is left orphaned on the streets along with her three brothers. With no other options, she goes to the only person she can think of for help: pokerface Ryuji Shirogami, her classmate of 8 years and also the head leader of the powerful yakuza group, Kuryugumi. Ryuji, whose father was also a victim of the same yakuza fight, agrees to take her on as his personal bodyguard. As they set out to find their enemy, Ryuji slaps on an increasing amount of debt onto Tsukasa using all manners of ploys necessary to keep the reluctant Tsukasa by his side.

Thoughts and comments..

I saw the image above whilst looking through the 'Tokyo Crazy Paradise' tag in tumblr and it made me remember all of those feelings and experiences I had from this wonderful manga. Thus, I felt the need to write it all down somewhere.

If I were to completely explain why I love this so much, it would take three days & three nights (ahaha.. I kid you not). I don't know where to start.. Well, I love the wide range of genres that it covers! It is a gender bender, romance, action, comedy, sci-fi, martial arts, drama, school life, and shoujo (there should also be tragedy included there ;_;). I also love the art style from this particular author and time. I have a liking towards the kind of art that appeared around the late 1990s and early 2000s. This manga came out in 1996; Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike in 1997; Skip Beat (from same author) came out in 2002; and Hana Kimi in 2004. The first time I came across this manga would probably be around 2006, when I was only turning 13.

I must say, the number one reason would be its strong female lead. Tsukasa is a good role model. She can fight back her challenges and never give up; she is not weak. She was raised as a boy but that doesn't necessarily mean that any girl would have that strong will that she possesses. I think she is how she is because of her own role models, her father and mother. Because they were cops, they had influenced her to be self-righteous, believing in the good of others and also to protect her family. I think it is important to have a role model for yourself because, who knows, maybe you would find yourself changing into a new and better you, or just slightly weirder you. :)

I also like the fact that the author included some references to Hinduism. There is the term 'Durga' meaning 'the invincible' which was a title given to a legendary female of a certain clan in the story.

"Durga is is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion or a tiger, carrying weapons and a lotus flower, maintaining a meditative smile, and practicing mudras, or symbolic hand gestures." *