Phantom Dream review

[heavenly_pearl]

 

Yesterday, I got in the first volume of Phantom Dream, the debut series of Fruits Basket mangaka Takaya Natsuki, so of course I had to drop everything and read it right away. You can definitely tell that it was her first series. The artwork is rather rough compared to Fruits Basket, and there’s definitely a different feel to the story, which is to expected, considering it’s about an exorcist who kills the demons that possess humans. While Fruits Basket was mostly character-driven, Phantom Dream appears it is going to be plot-driven.

As for the characters… Well, I can appreciate the relative novelty of a shoujo manga having a male protagonist that isn’t marketed to yaoi fan girls, but Tamaki is a jerk. I mean, he hits and kicks his girlfriend. Not in the “black eye and broken bones” kind of way, of course, but more like how the tsundere girls do it, in that they’re never seriously hurt and you’re supposed to find it funny, or at the very least, amusing. It’s a total double standard, I know, but while girls hitting guys can be hilarious (see Kagura from Fruits Basket or Kaname from Full Metal Panic, but not Naru from Love Hina, who just abused poor Keitaro), I can’t imagine a situation in which the opposite would be possible. Definitely not in Phantom Dream. It just makes me not like Tamaki very much…like not at all.

Asashi, the girlfriend, is more likeable, other than the fact that all she ever does when Tamaki hits her is call him a “meanie”. (Girl, tell him to stop already!) She’s like a lot of typical shoujo leads, in that she’s always cheerful, full of love, and not that great at school, but she’s kind of refreshing in a way because she’s not an innocent virgin. She and Tamaki are dating and already sleeping together before the story even starts, so even though Tokyopop labels the manga as “romance”, it’s not the kind of romance where the story is getting the couple together. (Makes me wonder if it is really shoujo, or should be considered josei.) Another thing that makes Asashi kind of unique is that she has no illusions that she and Tamaki are going to get a “happily ever after”. Tamaki is the sole heir of a powerful spiritual family, thus he’s expected to marry a woman with powers that his family chooses for him. Granted, I’d bet good money that somewhere along the line (just speculation, not a spoiler), she’s going to discover that she actually does have some sort of spiritual power and she and Tamaki will be able to get married, but, still, I like that Asashi has a realistic view of their relationship and isn‘t holding on to the idea that it all might work out if they just love each other. She just wants to be with him for as long as she can.

To wrap this up, I'm not really sure I can recommend this title based on the first volume. The plot is interesting if you can get past Tamaki's hitting thing, but if you're interested in checking out Takaya's work, stick with Fruits Basket. So much better. I'll still keep reading Phantom Dream, though. With only five volumes, it's not much of an investment, and I am enjoying the storyline.