Chikyu Misaki

(CMX, 2005-2006)
™ and ©2001 Yuji Iwahara

Misaki and her father move into a mountain town known for its legendary monster The Hohopo. While walking near the lake, she and new friend Sanae discover one of the Loch Ness Monster-like critters which, after locking lips with one of them, turns into a boy. Naturally, they take it home, name it Neo, and treat it like a pet.

It’s a sweet, simple premise with lots of unexpected sharp edges. Like a tangentially connected kidnapping plot involving the granddaughter of an industrialist—a plot that goes wrong. There’s a plane crash, the fortune in gold ransom is sent to the bottom of the lake, and Neo saves the hot female member of the crew from drowning.

The “b” plot is definitely a big departure from the “a,” but that’s what makes this one original—that and the beautiful art that’s exceedingly cute but never cloying. (Though I could have done without the bathroom humor and a sequence in which the girls stay up all night snuggling with Neo in the same bed.)

— S. A. Bennett

From the Publisher:

Schoolgirl Makishima Misaki’s life is about to get a lot more complicated in this exciting new title! She has inherited the house that belonged to her maternal grandfather, in a small, quiet, snowy town that boasts its own local legend, the Hohopo. Moving into the house with her klutzy widower father, she soon makes new friends—including one very unusual friend: the Hohopo itself, a shape-shifting creature who looks like a small Loch Ness Monster… when he's not masquerading as the boy next door!

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Cover Price: $9.99
1 copy available for $19.99

Iwahara Yuji