I'm talking about Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa, which is serialized in Jump. Kano Yasuhiro is known for Pretty Face and Mx0, both serialized in Jump in the past.
Kano Yasuhiro's one of my favourite manga artists. All his three manga are rom-coms with a slightly supernatural element, and I really liked how to approach this genre. Unlike a lot of similar series, Kano Yasuhiro's male lead has a lot of backbone, and in all cases, often went through hell to protect the female lead. I really love his female designs; they never had an outrageous body (aside from some side characters used for comedic effect), and always really cute in the innocent way (excuse me). The romance in the stories also has a very innocent and childish feel to it, practically no mention of sex at all, and a lot of cute and awkward moments. This may sound like him trying to redo the same idea again and again, but it's just what he does best. And I'll bite, because I just love how he does it.
Unfortunately Jump readers don't appreciate him that much. Pretty Face was canceled after a one-year run due to low ratings, but it wasn't so bad because the story concluded pretty nicely, although he had to leave things a bit open-ended due to lack of time to do a proper conclusion. I didn't realize Pretty Face was a canceled manga until Mx0.
Mx0 wasn't so lucky. I was following the manga as it published, and I bought the books as it came out. Despite what I thought was a awesome two-year run, Mx0 got cancelled due to low ratings as well, and it concluded really badly. With just 3 chapters to sum up the manga, the very forced story had the main character transfer school so he could began life proper, or something like that. I couldn't believe it when the story stopped so abruptly at 99 chapters. Jump literally screwed Mx0.
I loved both mangas, so it was disappointing that both of them had to end up like that. I also can't imagine what it's like for Kano Yasuhiro to have both of his works screwed like that. In the next couple of years I've heard nothing from him expect for a few one-shots, which never made the hit. He even tried to do a bloody and gruesome story known as Loop... maybe he was desperate or something.
Well, that's why I was elated when I found out that he's finally back in 2011 with another project, which is Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa. Unfortunately, he got serialized on Jump again. Haven't he learned that Jump readers don't appreciate him?
Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa is a lot more ecchi compared to the earlier two. I don't doubt that it's a way for Kano secure his fanbase, but the setting of the story makes it too easy for Harisugawa to take a good look at the
Story-wise, I can't say I really like the development compared to Mx0, but it's still enjoyable nonetheless. Give it a try people, and if you like it, buy the manga when it comes out! I'd hate to see this one go down the same way as the other two.
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| I love his "epic" faces. |
