Anime

Afterschool Charisma - Vol 1 Review

By BrightBlueInk 1 year, 10 months ago

Afterschool Charisma #1 By Kumiko Suekane

Shiro Kamiya is a fish out of water at St. Kleio Academy. You see, all of the other students of St. Kleio are clones of famous historical figures like Sigmund Freud and Napoleon Bonaparte. As the natural-born son of one of the teachers at the school, Shiro is the only student that has parents and a destiny that isn’t laid out for him. Within the walls of this very shady school, these teenagers study the history of the people they’re cloned from and are urged to focus on the fields their originals are known for—even if they don’t share the same passions or desires. Throughout the volume, mysteries reveal themselves. Who cloned these students in the first place? For what purpose are they being created for? And if that’s supposed to be the clone of Queen Elizabeth, then why is she a blonde instead of a redhead?

In fact, in this introductory volume the reader is served with a long list of questions and very few answers. Everything is shady in this story, from the people in charge of the school to the art of the manga itself. The tone of the story is dark and grim, enough that you can feel the weight of all the pressure the clones are under. There are moments of comic relief, but they’re few and far between.

Compared to the tangible pressure put on the clones, our protagonist’s teenage angst seems much more whiny. As the only one with a parent, Shiro is often the target of jealousy from some of the other students. To his credit his response in public is to try to be friendly instead of throwing on a pair of headphones and staring at the ceiling over his bed, but we still get to see all of his inner turmoil. By the time he’s sobbing in the privacy of his room you’re likely to be rolling your eyes.

The other characters range from fun and interesting to sort of bland. Freud’s obvious perverted side is a hoot, and Hitler’s gentle and repentant nature is an intriguing contrast from his original. On the other hand you have characters like Dowager Empress Cixi, who currently exists just to be the stereotypical snob. Part of that is probably due to how quickly the series is trying to introduce a huge cast of characters and dump exposition. Prepare for contrived lines like “Well of course! She’s Florence Nightingale, the Battlefield Angel!” and the maddening tendency to call characters by their full names. (Take a drink every time someone says “Marie Curie!”) Sure, it helps you follow the story without searching Wikipedia, but it doesn’t make for natural dialogue.

As I mentioned before, the art of Afterschool Charisma reflects the dark tone of the story with a heavy use of shadows and black borders. The character designs are angular and pleasing to the eye, although not exactly unique; I usually could tell the characters apart but I kept confusing Elizabeth and Joan of Arc thanks to their bobbed hair. The art certainly isn’t groundbreaking but it carries the story well.

One other thing I feel like I should note—the care Viz has put into this book (being part of their “Viz Signature” line) is obvious. The cover is glossy and way sturdier than most of the covers of manga that I own, the art’s been reproduced well, and the translation feels natural. Viz elected to erase the original sound effects and write in their own, but they at least did it in a way that doesn’t distract from the art. This book looks and feels great.

So, did I like Afterschool Charisma? Well, mostly. I love the psychological themes, and I’m already curious about where the countless mysteries will end up. But at the same time the moments where the story tries to dump exposition on you can be boring, if not frustrating, and the manga only really seemed to start moving into high gear right near the end of the book. There’s a lot of good ideas here, but the story hasn’t quite fulfilled its potential yet. For now, this brooding high school tale should satisfy anyone with a taste for psychological drama.

Some advice: don’t throw your copy against the wall when you realize you’ll have to wait until 2011 for the next volume if they maintain the current release date. For one thing, you’ll scratch up that pretty cover, and for another Viz has actually uploaded chapters from the next volume to read on their website here. That’s a nice marketing choice, don’t you think?

Also check out the Wikipedia page for more info about the series overall.

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