Mink, Vol. 3

Mink #3

by Megumi Tachikawa, Michele Kriegman (Translator), Darcy Lockman (English Adaptation)

Things had been going great for Cyber Idol Mink and her manager, Motoharu. But when Motoharu decides to represent a new recording star, his lack of attention makes Mink feel like yesterday's news. Her future turns shakier with the 411 about super-charismatic Illiya's latest pop plan—the Illiya CD label! With Illiya's company splashed all over the press, the buzz is that Mink will leave behind her "It" girl says with Motoharu for a life less ordinary with Illiya!

Genres: Manga, Shojo, Comics, Fantasy, Romance, Music

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Megumi Tachikawa (立川恵) is a Japanese shōjo manga artist, best known for the manga Saint Tail, which was also adapted into an anime series. She made her manga debut in 1992 with 16-sai no Tiara, which was nominated for the 'New Face' manga award.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest so far for me. It's starting to hit too many cliches, but like I mentioned with the off-pacing, I think that's just the audience the author was aiming for--young girls.

Another new rival comes into play--Yuka. This time the new girl is coming between our heroine and her crush, the manager Motoharu. With Azmui manipulating Yuka in keeping the two apart, to play into a scandal of our heroine Mink with Illiya, things get...well.... It's a lot of miscommunciation and lack of discussing things which lead to the "drama" this time around, which was a little frustrating. This series does still have that nostalgia for me, so it's hard to rate the series too badly, even with annoyances like this, haha.

There still isn't a 'love triangle' per say, but this volume had enough of the miscommunications and misunderstandings to warrant me tagging it as such.

As an aside, the English translation throughout the series feels a little...off? I don't have the original Japanese to compare, but it reads as if the translator kept too close to a literal translation versus more natural sounding English. So at times, things can appear out of place or odd.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof. Where I feel like the pacing and storytelling in the second volume improved off the first, I feel like this volume definitely comes across as clumsy and ham-fisted with its storytelling. While there are some crucial, well-presented moments, the vast majority of this volume flies by and feels a bit rushed. And when you rush storytelling, it doesn't hold up well. Perhaps this is just an example of Middle Book Syndrome in a manga series? (Then again, this could be a staple weakness within Tachikawa's work. I remember I didn't think the third volume of Dream Saga was well-executed either.)

Don't get me wrong though, I still enjoyed revisiting this volume and I'm so happy I'm getting back to the series. It's just a bit on the rough-and-rushed side, and I can't ignore that as an adult as easily as I could have when I was a teenager.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, there was a moment when I couldn't tell apart the three idols: Mink, Azumi and the new one were the same... I couldn't even tell their hairstyle apart. And so I was extremely confused.

I'm not sure I like the direction this manga is going to. The new idol is so dumb and Azumi is way to mean and everybody believes her and not poor Mink... And Motoharu, well, he doesn't know what's going on. I mean, it's all about lack of communication... :-(

I've read three volumes and there are three more volumes to go. Hope it gets a little better!

[L1nkinP4rK · Rating 5 out of 5]

good more tension than the first and second cauing more intrigue :)

[Suzanne Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Full disclosure: I am the English translator of this series, under my legal name, not my pen name of Suzanne Gilbert.)
Japanese is a language rich in onomatopoeias so my daughters, who were the age of the target audience at the time, had fun helping me simulate English versions of those sounds: c-runch, flip-flop, ka-boom.
Megumi is one of the most popular manga artists for tweens and teens and she really builds a connections with her readers by using the page margins to share how she felt, what music she was listening to and which ideas were inspired by earlier readers.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is really growing on me. It's definitely geared toward a younger audience, but it is a sweet story and it has a nice, innocent conflict that makes it charming. The art is good as well, and the only trouble I have is telling the girls apart at times. This story left in a bit of a cliffhanger, which definitely made me want to look for the next one when I get a chance.

[Jayme Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining!