Instant Teen

    (Tokyopop, 2004-2005)
™ and © 2001 Haruka Fukushima
reads right to left; b&w

Another transformation manga? Yup. But this is not your father’s manga; it’s your daughter’s.

Instant Teen is the story of a 10-year-old girl who eats pseudo-scientific nuts and turns into an 18-year-old bombshell. Like Tom Hanks in Big, however, she still thinks like a kid and is overwhelmed by her adult experiences. When she discovers the source of her transformation and can control it, what path will she choose?

While the premise sounds not too dissimilar from Ranma 1/2 and other transformation manga with which the reader may be familiar, the execution is different. The level of the writing, the style of the art and the romantic direction of the story make it perfect for the pubescent princess in your life. There are precious few comics aimed at girls (and fewer still when one narrows it down to ’tweens), so this manga fills an important niche.

The back-up, “Fortune Cake” is pure romance, without the fantasy elements of the lead. It’s not bad, but it lacks the hook of the main event and is fairly anticlimactic.

— Jack Abramowitz
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist