Natsumi Ando’s Arisa is a shoujo manga with a unique feel to it. The series seamlessly mixes familiar shoujo conventions with a more plot-driven, mystery/thriller centered style of storytelling. A little more background on the series before we dive in; Arisa had a three year run, spanning from 2009 to 2012 in Japan’s Nakayoshi monthly manga anthology, and was compiled into twelve volumes. Interest in an American release was quickly garnered, and Del Rey Manga released the first volume in October 2010, but the publishing of subsequent volumes was then taken over by Kondansha Comics, and released the remaining eleven volumes between 2011 and 2014 for the Western audience.
The story’s opening panels introduce us to series heroine Tsubasa, a rough and tough, bleached haired schoolgirl, as well as give us an expose on her living situation. Tsubasa has a biological twin sister named Arisa, that Tsubasa has not seen in person over the last three years due to the divorce of their parents. Over that time, the pair have kept in contact by means of hand written letters delivered via snail mail. After we meet Tsubasa, we learn, much to Tsubasa’s excitement, that she is going to reunite with Arisa at a local park. The visit then evolves into a sleepover at Arisa’s house, where the two joke about how similar they look. Among the joking, Arisa concocts the idea of giving Tsubasa a wig and having her go to her school as Arisa, to which she accepts. Tsubasa is able to fake it as Arisa, but comes across an odd note in her locker at the end of the day that states, “ARISA SONODA IS A TRAITOR”. Arisa is quite different when Tsubasa comes home, and Arisa ends up making an attempt to end her own life, to which she survives, but ends up in a coma. Determined to get to the bottom of Arisa’s depressed feelings, as well as the origin of the note, Tsubasa continues to masquerade as Arisa, and finds herself engulfed into a strange cellular phone based game with real life consequences. Tsubasa decides to join into the game sessions with the idea that the game has something to due with her sister’s suicide attempt.
While I did mention previously that Arisa is a more plot-driven manga, Tsubasa undoubtedly possesses the level of charm you would expect from your standard, character-driven shoujo manga. A harder-edged, delinquent style character is fairly atypical for a shoujo lead, which sets Tsubasa apart from other protagonists in her genre. The way she interfaces with the hurdles and challenges presented to her in the narrative really bring out her headstrong, rough personality, and leads to some really fun to read panels and scenarios. While the supporting cast of manga are usually boiled down to a few defining traits of each character, Arisa’s plot and nature of the cell phone game mystery gives every student Tsubasa encounters an air of mystery about them, and that any one of them could be more than just a regular student at any given moment.
If you are a fan of traditional shoujo style art, complete with the large eyes, softer line work and general pretty aesthetic, you will feel right at home within the pages of Arisa. Everything from the character designs to the backgrounds has an adorable, stylized look to it that is akin to a sugary treat for the eyes. The character design and art has a very “2000’s shoujo” vibe, and fans of character designs of series such as Dengeki Daisy or Shinobi Life (two series I would also love to do a write-up on someday!) will sure to enjoy the character aesthetics of Arisa. One more thing that stood out to me about Arisa is that the backgrounds have a very strong attention to detail and complete the scene in a way that is a cut above its contemporaries. Little touches like that can really make a manga all the more enjoyable.
If you missed Arisa during its initial printing, or are just looking for a new shoujo manga to pick up and check out, don’t sleep on Arisa! Arisa’s unique blend of shoujo and thriller/mystery, adorable character art and engaging plot undoubtedly make volumes of the series worthy of any shoujo manga fan or collector’s shelf space. Arisa is a series I highly recommend any fan of shoujo or psychological thriller to give a shot.
