Jun 2, 2010
(Some spoilers may follow)
Story: This part about the manga made me cry when I saw the ending. I call the ending the "Koge-Donbo Middle Finger." That's exactly what it was, a boy (Suzune) comes from the future to prevent it's horrors from happening, only for Karin and company to have to go back in time so they never meet Suzune, and that somehow resolves the future and makes everyone happy. I believe it could have been a good story, since there isn't much manga out there about gods, and the art was so pretty and cute. Unfortunately, it was a crazy shojo manga, that acted
...
like it belonged in an anime (Every chapter felt more like an episode filler). One thing about the manga that bothers me even more is how some of the actual god battles (such as that in volume 3) only took 5 pages or so. Anti-climatic, I call it. The last thing that bothered me about the story was how Rika supposedly needed the "Seeds of Chaos," but Koge-Donbo never explained WHY. I failed to comprehend how they were needed at all, and why Karin, Kazune, Jin, and Micchi were fighting against those seeds, when all Rika needed was to use the ring of Zeus to awaken her father inside of Jin. The worst part is that this series was supposedly made to answer questions left from Kamichama Karin, the prequel. The only question I had answered was "Why was Kirihiko so obsessed with power?" Besides that, I only had even more questions at the end of this series. At the end, I was baffled, confused, and slightly insulted.
Art: It's a known fact that Koge-Donbo uses chibi style too much, but when she wasn't drawing chibis, her art came alive in every page. There were some points when I was wondering why she was using chibis, the scenes did not call for them most times. I believe they should be reserved for a select few scenes per chapter, like 7-10, not 20+. But with all the tone that Koge-Donbo used and all the ink, it really made the pages some of the most gorgeous I've ever seen her do.
Character: Kazune and Jin were wonderful in this regard. They both loved Karin deeply, but by the end of the book, instead of just wanting her for themselves, they realized that it'd be better for Karin if she ended up with the other if it meant she'd be safe. It was very timely when they realized this too, Koge couldn't have picked a better time. Suzune was also good at showing development, when he went from being a helpless little toddler and turned into the god Cupid to protect his daddy. Karin's supposed development confused me. When Suzuka takes control of her body, Karin's furious about it, but then all of a sudden decides to be nice to Suzuka and have them both "go together to her body." That kindness appeared from nowhere, so I don't know where Karin learned to be nice like that (she's very loud throughout the entire series, and she really doesn't change at all).
Enjoyment: Because of the fault of the chapters feeling like episodes, it actually enjoyable through each chapter. Unfortunately, it's almost always the same: Rika plants a seed, Karin and company destroy it, the end. It nearly got tiresome, then a plot twist came in volume 4, and now even though they're still fighting seeds, they are also now fighting against their foes. All the crazy, romantic plots within each chapter though got even more tiresome, and it got to the point where even Karin needing to kiss Kazune in a play didn't seem like much at all. Even the bonus at the end of volume 7 felt more like a filler, and nothing was really solved in it, besides knowing Karin and Kazune have yet ANOTHER obstacle in their love.
Overall: This series is more for the blind shojo fan. If you think a lot like me, you wouldn't like this series. I've already read all the chapters online, so I'm definitely putting off buying the books. I must say, after reading Pita-Ten and then reading Karin, I was very disappointed in Koge-Donbo.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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