Review Corner: The President's Time
Title: The President's Time
Mangaka: Tamaki Kirishima
Publisher: 801 Media
Grade: B+
From the back cover: Everyone wants to live up to their parent's expectations. But for Mutsuki Nagasawa, the president and CEO of Biei Cosmetics, living up to his father's dying request is proving to be almost impossible. His goal isn't to make Biei Cosmetics the number one brand in Japan or even to expand and grow the company for the next generation. Nope! Mutsuki's legacy is to become the evilest boss ever to walk the face of the earth! Unfortunately for Mutsuki, he's a totally and utterly timid person whose idea of an evil deed is to jaywalk across the street. Despite the encouragement of his secretary and other subordinates, his daily attempts at evil exploits are complete failures. When Mutsuki's latest attempt at "Ding Dong Dash" - a child's game where you knock on someone's door and then run away before they answer - fails, he meets the mysterious Makoto Torii. Running into Makato opens up a whole new world for Mutsuki and his quest for evil. Casual sex and forcing yourself on another person are all considered evil acts. Now, the only question is if Mutsuki will have the determination to end up on "top".
The back cover of this manga really summarizes this cute story very well. Mutsuki is a well liked, kind, and moral person who has grown his father's company into a successful and thriving enterprise without committing one bad act. Despite his success though, he is constantly grieved over his failure to become an evil president, which is his father's dying wish. He has inspired such loyalty in his staff, that they actually root and cheer him on as he attempts to break misdemeanor laws such as graffiti (attempting to draw a mustache on the face of a lady in a poster - something he can never make himself do no matter how hard he tries), or jay-walking. But it's his failure to accomplish these deeds that leads him to run away in shame, until he becomes utterly lost. His horrible sense of direction, though, leads him to find Makoto, and thus begin a slow courtship leading to love. But, there are obstacles in the way of the lovers. First, Mutsuki's brother enrolls Makoto as an 'ally of justice'. This manages to throw another kink in the plan for Mutsuki to become an evil president, since every time he tries to commit a bad deed, the 'ally of justice' shows up to stop and 'punish' him. If that weren't bad enough, time is running out for him to successfully complete the change into an evil president. If he can't get it done by the deadline, his truly evil uncle will inherit everything. His uncle's first order of business when he does inherit the company? Fire everyone and ruin it. Now Mutsuki has not only the worries of resolving a relationship with his beloved enemy - 'the ally of justice', but also the livelihoods of all the employees that count on him. And when the uncle decides the stakes aren't high enough, and goes after Makoto, it's finally enough to motivate even the most forthright of individuals to overcome their law-abiding ways. But will it be enough to appease the executor of the will, who must make the final decision regarding the inheritance?
I found this story to be quite entertaining. It is cute and silly, without going too overboard, and I found myself chuckling in several places as I read. The characters are attractive, each fairly distinguishable from the next, even when they are in chibi form. The only exception might be Mutsuki's brother and Makoto - I mixed up those two a few times. I liked the use of shading and tone done throughout the pages, as well as the details in some of the panels.
As for 801 Media's presentation of the book, I'm a bit disappointed. There were several grammar mistakes within the book and I actually wondered if, perhaps, the company might need to hire some proofers. But, it wasn't so much that it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. The paper didn't seem to be as quality as I might expect. It seemed oily, for lack of a better term. There is one color insert at the beginning, and a book jacket. But, considering that the sister company (June Manga) yields a bigger book with much crisper paper for several dollars less, I'm hard-pressed to understand the extra cost. I suppose some might argue that the sex scenes are more explicit, and that may be somewhat true as there was no blurring or white-out effects in the few bedroom scenes. Still, for the suggested retail cost of 801 Media books, I expect a little bit more in terms of quality.
As mentioned, though, overall I liked the story. It doesn't require much thought process to read; simply shut your brain off and enjoy. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a zany little comedy to escape into for a bit.
Mangaka: Tamaki Kirishima
Publisher: 801 Media
Grade: B+
From the back cover: Everyone wants to live up to their parent's expectations. But for Mutsuki Nagasawa, the president and CEO of Biei Cosmetics, living up to his father's dying request is proving to be almost impossible. His goal isn't to make Biei Cosmetics the number one brand in Japan or even to expand and grow the company for the next generation. Nope! Mutsuki's legacy is to become the evilest boss ever to walk the face of the earth! Unfortunately for Mutsuki, he's a totally and utterly timid person whose idea of an evil deed is to jaywalk across the street. Despite the encouragement of his secretary and other subordinates, his daily attempts at evil exploits are complete failures. When Mutsuki's latest attempt at "Ding Dong Dash" - a child's game where you knock on someone's door and then run away before they answer - fails, he meets the mysterious Makoto Torii. Running into Makato opens up a whole new world for Mutsuki and his quest for evil. Casual sex and forcing yourself on another person are all considered evil acts. Now, the only question is if Mutsuki will have the determination to end up on "top".
The back cover of this manga really summarizes this cute story very well. Mutsuki is a well liked, kind, and moral person who has grown his father's company into a successful and thriving enterprise without committing one bad act. Despite his success though, he is constantly grieved over his failure to become an evil president, which is his father's dying wish. He has inspired such loyalty in his staff, that they actually root and cheer him on as he attempts to break misdemeanor laws such as graffiti (attempting to draw a mustache on the face of a lady in a poster - something he can never make himself do no matter how hard he tries), or jay-walking. But it's his failure to accomplish these deeds that leads him to run away in shame, until he becomes utterly lost. His horrible sense of direction, though, leads him to find Makoto, and thus begin a slow courtship leading to love. But, there are obstacles in the way of the lovers. First, Mutsuki's brother enrolls Makoto as an 'ally of justice'. This manages to throw another kink in the plan for Mutsuki to become an evil president, since every time he tries to commit a bad deed, the 'ally of justice' shows up to stop and 'punish' him. If that weren't bad enough, time is running out for him to successfully complete the change into an evil president. If he can't get it done by the deadline, his truly evil uncle will inherit everything. His uncle's first order of business when he does inherit the company? Fire everyone and ruin it. Now Mutsuki has not only the worries of resolving a relationship with his beloved enemy - 'the ally of justice', but also the livelihoods of all the employees that count on him. And when the uncle decides the stakes aren't high enough, and goes after Makoto, it's finally enough to motivate even the most forthright of individuals to overcome their law-abiding ways. But will it be enough to appease the executor of the will, who must make the final decision regarding the inheritance?
I found this story to be quite entertaining. It is cute and silly, without going too overboard, and I found myself chuckling in several places as I read. The characters are attractive, each fairly distinguishable from the next, even when they are in chibi form. The only exception might be Mutsuki's brother and Makoto - I mixed up those two a few times. I liked the use of shading and tone done throughout the pages, as well as the details in some of the panels.
As for 801 Media's presentation of the book, I'm a bit disappointed. There were several grammar mistakes within the book and I actually wondered if, perhaps, the company might need to hire some proofers. But, it wasn't so much that it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. The paper didn't seem to be as quality as I might expect. It seemed oily, for lack of a better term. There is one color insert at the beginning, and a book jacket. But, considering that the sister company (June Manga) yields a bigger book with much crisper paper for several dollars less, I'm hard-pressed to understand the extra cost. I suppose some might argue that the sex scenes are more explicit, and that may be somewhat true as there was no blurring or white-out effects in the few bedroom scenes. Still, for the suggested retail cost of 801 Media books, I expect a little bit more in terms of quality.
As mentioned, though, overall I liked the story. It doesn't require much thought process to read; simply shut your brain off and enjoy. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a zany little comedy to escape into for a bit.