Tsubasa’s beloved twin sister Arisa is awake--but wants her eliminated by the King! Reeling from Arisa’s betrayal, Tsubasa falls right into a trap set by “King” Midori. The clocks tick as Tsubasa awaits her demise. Will this be her final King Time?
安藤なつみ, Andō Natsumi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for Zodiac P.I. as well as Kitchen Princess, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for children's manga in 2006.
Favorites: Donald Duck Favourite manga: Ossu! Ichijin and Kimagure Orange Road Favourites: meats and fruits Hobbies: shopping, reading and watching TV
Oh my gosh. Did something actually happen in this series? With it ending in just two more volumes, I knew we'd eventually get answers, and finally, we get answers.
This series doesn't make a lot of sense. My constant complaints that no one has contacted authorities to investigate mysterious accidents and deaths and absentee parents letting their teenage kids run amok still hold. The kids in the class are just a mindless herd (gotta love the herd mentality). But, what makes this series worth reading despite the massive pitfalls is the delicious psychological craziness.
Midori reveals that he is the one who has been the King and he is the one who has taken drastic measures in order to try to unit class 2B (his class). Tsubasa is awakened and shaken by the sad truth and is tied next to a bomb which will destruct at a press of a button. Midori shames Tsubasa for falling for her sister's boyfriend and making Arisa unhappy. Although Arisa tries to fight back, Midori leaves her locked in a room after confessing all of his terrible misdeeds. Kudou, a classmate and ally of Arisa, stumbles in to help release Tsubasa and believes that she is the only one who can protect Arisa. Tsubasa runs away with Kuduo and was able to escape the bomb. Tsubasa tries to return to her own life and tries to leave Arisa alone because she believes that it was the best thing to do for her sister's sake. She tried not to become involved anymore because she believed that Arisa wanted to be with Midori.
Manabe, on the other hand, felt that there was something much deeper going on with Midori and so he invites Tsubasa to continue to investigate the situation. Tsubasa finds that Midori was raised in an orphanage until recently and from a nun, discovered that Midori witnessed the death of his own twin brother. Midori's mother was an alcoholic and often neglected the needs of her children. One day, his mom did not show up and so he and his brother fended for themselves for about a month or so. It was dirty, cold, and there was nothing to eat. As Midori's brother was dying, he tried to seek for help, but no one helped him because he looked like a dirty and confused child. From that point on, Tsubasa begins to understand that Midori has intentions of seeking revenge on people for not helping him when he tried to save his baby brother.
At some point, I realized that Midori would have some sort of traumatic background story because he seemed to be really corrupted in order to carry out the actions that he did, but I was surprised at the fact that he had a twin. I think that was the point when I realized that this was how Midori had connected with Arisa. I think the manga is coming to an ending, but I hope that it isn't too disappointing because it sounds very cliche now.
No matter how fucked up or nonsensical you think a story is, it will always have a message to impart to its readers. That message, however, is entirely dependent upon the receiver on what s/he's going to make out of it. Other times when the readers become so immersed on the negative side of the story, they fail to notice the redeeming factors it has to offer. In Arisa's case I have gotten so absorbed on how twisted its characterization is but taking a step back and looking at the picture as a whole, I'm glad to find the gems that I always look forward to in every single one of my reads.
Friendship, loyalty, trust and love.
It gets me everytime when a person who's lost in his own darkness gets to see the light because another person is there to make him feel compassion by showing faith, loyalty, dedication and love. These are what Tsubasa has shown Arisa. That no matter how many times she betrays her, Tsubasa will always be there to look after her and protect her. Not even questioning once the horrible things she has done. Instead, Tsubasa continues to believe that Arisa is a good person and to show Arisa that there is redemption for all the things that she has done. The problem here for Tsubasa is that Arisa doesn't want to change and although her resolve is finally starting to crack, there's another who's pulling Arisa back to darkness.
I'd like to say that I love this manga for all the gems it has but the story is not really
Hearing Arisa's story of why she became "King", how awful her mom was to her, and how off Midori was makes me feel a bit sympathetic towards her, but I still don't think she should be easily forgiven. She knew exactly what was going on, and yet she still not only sent her sister into the lion's den, she also made a wish to "the king" to have her disappear. She knew what Midori would do with that. So what's her excuse now? If she was just trying to placate him, why would she make that kind of disgusting wish??
Woy lahh ini si Midori cogil parah. Di sini urutan pemegang Osama udah jelas siapa dan siapanya. Kudo walau dirawat intensif tetep dukung Arisa apapun yang terjadi, begitupun Tsubasa yang bakal selalu melindungi Arisa. Tapi kayaknya ancamam Midori lebih kuat ya, jadi Arisa nggak berani buat menentang si Midori.
Gue sangat sangat menunggu Midori vs Tsubasa. Tu cogil emang gak bisa dibiarin.
This cover is gorgeous and I am not sure about the reasoning behind Arisa's decisions in this volume. Like i get that it's an abusive relationship, but I dont understand the die hard devotion she had for him.
Arisa is a multiple layered story with mystery elements, which are all coming together in these later volumes. It would be pointless to start here - go back to the beginning and proceed in order.
** Since we are so close to the end of the series and it is a mystery at heart I will keep all discussion in this review general and it will have NO SPOILERS for any volumes. **
Natsumi Ando has crafted a tense, layered battle between Tsubasa and The King over the course of ten volumes. Here we get a lot of answers and background filled in as the stage is set for the next, and penultimate, installment of the main story. Everything builds well and is internally consistent, although a number of things throughout the series strain credulity from a "realistic" point of view. It didn't bother me though - the escalating tension, interesting developments and characters and ample twists and surprises more than made up for being a little heavy on the drama here and there. The art continues to perfectly compliment the story. It's generally simplistic in backgrounds but they do what they need to and the character work, from expressions to framing to great use of shading is excellent and really conveys atmosphere and emotion.
But perhaps the best part is that I still can't predict exactly how it's all going to end. I love a good mystery and Natsumi Ando has crafted one of the best I've read in a long time. Really looking forward to volume 11.
Series Rating: 3.5Stars (first few volumes are 4 Stars)
I read this series in one sitting, which is quite telling in itself. However I will say now that the story does lag a bit after a few volumes and loses something of the great set up it had at the beginning. That said, the author Natsumi Ando is good at ending chapters/volumes with cliff-hangers. So you get to the end of one book and immediately want to pick up the next one. (Case in point – me.)
The art is excellent and was part of the reason I decided to pick this series up. As much as story is important if you don’t like that images it’s a struggle to continue but for this genre (shojo) Natsumi Ando style fits beautifully.
Tsubasa is likable and determined to find out what happened to her sister. As reader it was easy to be on her side. This series requires suspension of disbelief to some extent but you’ll enjoy Arisa more for it.
It was really interesting to see Arisa's past in this volume and how King came to be as well as how her and Midori's relationship began. It was also interesting to see how all the characters are developing and all the different relationships. I look forward to seeing what happens next with Arisa and Tsubasa.
Contains Chapters: 35 - 38 Chapter 35: The Clockwork Clown Chapter 36: A Bouquet for K Chapter 37: The Two Kings Chapter 38: The King's Smile
Oh my what a turn of events. Kudou helped Tsubasa. And that was it. Midori and Arisa just wanted to be noticed by their mom?! So they strive hard to be the best. There's nothing wrong with that. Actually that's pretty good but some of their ways or well most of their ways were just insane. -.- i thought Arisa will be nicer now but why is she still saying that she'll be by Midori's side? She's still somewhat scared of him. More like she has no choice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I must say, almost nothing happened in this volume. It was chiefly exposition, new flashbacks, and a bit of back-and-forth with character allegiances. I breezed through it in no more than 20 minutes; not very challenging content. The story here wasn't bad exactly, just...empty. I really hope the next volume has more action, plot, and plain 'ol substance.
Things are definitely coming to a head, but sometimes the story is just so ridiculous I kind of have to laugh. It's still lots of fun though, and I'm enjoying the complexity of Tsubasa's relationship with Arisa. I'm kind of ready for this to wrap up though...
i kinda read this three days ago when i was fighting off the flu so i don't have a whole lot of memory of what happened here? king reveal is on lockdown though and sister times are a go. that seems like it should be worth 3 stars
AHHHH! Why does this book have to grip my mind sooo hard!!! I never know who the King is and by the time I figure it out its changed!!!!! Big cred to the author for making something so genius! Just finished Arisa, Vol. 11 can't wait for 12!!!!!!!
It's gotten to the point of super-ridiculous, but I still find myself wanting to know what's going to happen next. It's ridiculous, but it's still good.