Figure 17

    (ADV Manga, 2004)
™ and © ADV Manga

This is a drastic manga condensation of an anime TV serial. Tsubasa Shiina, an extremely shy elementary-school student, is the only witness when a spaceship crashlands and dangerous space monsters, the Magure, escape. The spaceship’s automatic defenses produce an android “Figure” to protect Tsubasa that is a duplicate of herself but with an opposite, extroverted personality. Super-science makes Tsubasa’s father and schoolmates think that Figure 17 is her twin sister, Hikaru, so she can stay in the area until all the Magure are found and destroyed.

In the anime, each episode is a balance of SF action fighting the Magure, and Tsubasa’s and Hikaru’s young social life. Having Hikaru as a friendly, outgoing role model helps Tsubasa overcome her shyness, but she must develop her own personality to avoid the opposite danger of becoming an imitation Hikaru. This manga adaptation shoves the SF elements into the background and concentrates almost entirely on the two girls. This final volume resolves their relationship. Figure 17 is awfully sweet, but this “All Ages” manga seems mainly for preadolescent girls.

— Fred Patten
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