New Manga Purchases: Week of August 15, 2010

• "Rasetsu" Vol. 1 -- This is a spin off of "Yurara."  In this series Yako from "Yurara" returns and starts working for a small exorcist company.  The company's main talent is an 18-year old woman who happens to strongly resemble Yurara.  The ghosts they exorcise are run-of-the-mill and the side characters are very one dimensional.  I can't recommend this series based on this first volume because there are much better series with similar themes.  These series include the original series "Yurara," "Her Majesty's Dog" by Mick Takeuchi, and "Ghost Hunt."  2/5
• "Afterschool Charisma" Vol. 1 -- I'm so sad about this one.  The premise is GREAT!  It's about a school filled with the clones of notable historic figures and one seemingly normal guy.  But then that premise is rammed down the reader's throat and then pounded into the reader's head with a jackhammer to make sure we understand these are clones of famous people.  I think a little subtlety would have been nice.  The quiet moments when Kamiya is with Freud and Hitler (of all the famous people to clone...) are quite nice.  The rest of it, though, is schlock.  I think it also would have been nice to get rid of the obvious villains and the glaring lack of ethics of those villains.  I guess I felt this series could have been a whole lot better if it stuck to the nature vs. nurture question and gone with it in that vain.  So what if Marie Curie wanted to play music and be in love with the school's founders son?  That could have been interesting. Oh!  The most excellent thing about this volume was the "All Mighty Dolly."  I wants one badly!!! It's soooo cute!!!  2.5/5  I really feel that this one is a matter of taste, so if the premise sounds good to you, you might want to check it out, especially if subtlety is not your cup of tea.