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ravensandpages 's review for:
Mame Coordinate, Vol. 1
by Sachi Miyabe
lighthearted
medium-paced
arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
First of all, I apologize deeply to this title, but it did not catch me in a benevolent reviewing mood. Mame Coordinate is a cute, lighthearted story about an unusual model named Mame. Having no fashion sense or confidence, she's finally foisted on a rookie manager for her last chance at being a model. This manga has a sweet, slightly childish art style to match its sweet, childish main character, which I think is the beginning and end of my praise available for this book.
The bottom line is, I finally started watching ANTM before I read this, and I think if I hadn't this book may have gotten 2-3 stars. Instead, I'm a little flabbergasted how Mame made it as far as she did in the modeling world, and I think this story has already fallen very flat with regards to how to make readers root for an underdog. If she'd made it past auditions, Tyra would have sent her packing in the first week. Mame is cute, and that is about it. She is somehow a perfect model, accidentally taking great care of her skin and looking stylish no matter what she puts on, but beyond that she doesn't have much of a personality beyond being singularly motivated by karaage (honestly, same, that was the most believable part of this book) and dressing like a five-year-old.
The rookie manager's entire family falls over themselves to help her become a top model, but it's because they want to, not even because her next audition will be her last if she doesn't succeed. There's not much about her that draws me as a reader to support her, so I'm curious why so many people she comes across seem to. I think I'd care much more if it was a confidence issue, but we soon see that she doesn't even know how to walk properly or take proper portfolio pictures of herself. Maybe there's just a huge gap between my understanding of how Japanese models are recruited and treated, but even beyond that, the characterization doesn't give me anything to go off of and Mame's current status as a sweet but clueless character doesn't give me any hope for her to handle a world as cutthroat as top modeling. At this point if she unseats Noel in the next audition I'll be disappointed.
I will not be continuing with this series, but thank you to TokyoPop for the opportunity!
First of all, I apologize deeply to this title, but it did not catch me in a benevolent reviewing mood. Mame Coordinate is a cute, lighthearted story about an unusual model named Mame. Having no fashion sense or confidence, she's finally foisted on a rookie manager for her last chance at being a model. This manga has a sweet, slightly childish art style to match its sweet, childish main character, which I think is the beginning and end of my praise available for this book.
The bottom line is, I finally started watching ANTM before I read this, and I think if I hadn't this book may have gotten 2-3 stars. Instead, I'm a little flabbergasted how Mame made it as far as she did in the modeling world, and I think this story has already fallen very flat with regards to how to make readers root for an underdog. If she'd made it past auditions, Tyra would have sent her packing in the first week. Mame is cute, and that is about it. She is somehow a perfect model, accidentally taking great care of her skin and looking stylish no matter what she puts on, but beyond that she doesn't have much of a personality beyond being singularly motivated by karaage (honestly, same, that was the most believable part of this book) and dressing like a five-year-old.
The rookie manager's entire family falls over themselves to help her become a top model, but it's because they want to, not even because her next audition will be her last if she doesn't succeed. There's not much about her that draws me as a reader to support her, so I'm curious why so many people she comes across seem to. I think I'd care much more if it was a confidence issue, but we soon see that she doesn't even know how to walk properly or take proper portfolio pictures of herself. Maybe there's just a huge gap between my understanding of how Japanese models are recruited and treated, but even beyond that, the characterization doesn't give me anything to go off of and Mame's current status as a sweet but clueless character doesn't give me any hope for her to handle a world as cutthroat as top modeling. At this point if she unseats Noel in the next audition I'll be disappointed.
I will not be continuing with this series, but thank you to TokyoPop for the opportunity!