Manga Review: Tokyo Crazy Paradise

[Eclipse]

Title: Tokyo Crazy Paradise
Author: Yoshiki Nakamura
Genre: Shoujo, Romance, Action, Comedy
Number of tankoubon: 19
Publisher: Hakusensha (Hana to Yume)

What do you get when you pair an icy fourteen-year-old boy who is a feared and respected gang leader with a hyperactive girl who dresses as a guy to hide her gender? If you throw in guns, action, and yakuza, and add a mixture of comedy, romance and drama in a futuristic setting, you get TOKYO CRAZY PARADISE!

Set in the crime-filled Tokyo of the year 2021 we are introduced to Tsukasa KOZUKI and her three brothers who are kicked out of their apartment after the death of their parents leaves them unableto pay the rent. Homeless and starving, Tsukasa decides to ask for help from Ryuuji SHIROGAMI, a longtime classmate and leader of the largest yakuza gang in the area – the Kuryugumi. Ryuuji initially refuses, until Tsukasa lies that she knows the face of his father's murderer. In hopes of discovering the killer's identity, Ryuuji decides to keep Tsukasa near him by employing her to serve as his personal bodyguard.

We soon discover that Tsukasa's parents raised her as a boy to protect her, and that her considerable martial arts skill easily qualifies her to be Ryuuji's bodyguard. The story progresses as Ryuuji secretly develops feelings for Tsukasa. However, raised to be the dutiful leader of his kami and already apointed a fiance by the Kurygumi, he hides his feelings for her. Tsukasa, completely oblivious to such feelings and living in the yakuza world, holds on to her dream of becoming a police officer like her parents. The story turns comedic soon afterward as Ryuuji uses all his means to keep Tsukasa at his side, increasing her debts by such varied methods as as forcing her to eat expensive food, giving her impossible tasks to earn her pay, and offering to let her and her brothers' debts continue unpaid so long as she remains in his employ.

The narrative of the series is brilliant. It is perhaps one of the few long series that does not give the reader the feeling that the creator is making it up as she goes along. It is obvious that everything has been carefully planned, since the ending of the story ties in with the very beginning, and the "random comedy" in the middle of the series actually serves a larger function in the story as a whole. While readers laugh and enjoy the strange progression of Ryuuji and Tsukasa's relationship and adjust to the foreign customs of the yakuza world, the story slowly weaves into a serious plot that was not apparent at the beginning. The shift, which starts at volume 10, begins to explore Tsukasa's growing feelings for Ryuuji, her friendship and rivalry with Ryuuji's fiancee, her dream of becoming a cop, and her most fundamental beliefs about her own identity.

The artwork is great from the start, but as the series progresses Yoshiki's skills improve. In the beginning, Yoshiki uses mostly long shots. She zooms in on only the necessary and depicts subjects using only straight-on and side views, which distances the readers from the situation. However, by the third volume it becomes evident that the artist has fully understood the functions of framing, layout and angling. She uses more intimate, tight framing to suit the needs of the mood, situation and narrative of the story. Showing subjects in the various angles necessary to create a more realistic space, she allows readers to be intensely involved as if they were positioned in the center of the scene. It is in this third volume, that Yoshiki is first able to push the two competing art styles -- the cute, roundish style used for humorous effect, and the beautifully detailed and delicate style used for the serious, romantic or action scenes -- to an extreme.

Whether you're someone who is typically into shounen action, shoujo romance, comedy, fantasy or sci-fi, you'll enjoy Tokyo Crazy Paradise because it has it all. It is definitely one of the most well-rounded manga I've ever read.

Reviewed by: Floating_Sakura
Proofed by: RainyFrog
Edited by: brewthatistrue