Favorite Manga #12: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne

Synopsis:
Maron is the reincarnation of Jeanne D'Arc and thus is able to turn into a phantom thief in order to collect beautiful works of art that hold demons who are there to steal human hearts and thereby God's power.  Demons and the thief Sinbad (Chiaki) are out to stop her, but is Sinbad on the side of the demons or is he really trying to protect Maron?  And what her feelings for Chiaki?  Can she find love and save the world?

Review:

Characters:

 Maron (Kaitou Jeanne): A smart, popular girl, she often held herself at a distance from other, probably because she felt abandoned by her parents who left he country, leaving her alone. She often gets yelled at by Finn Fish for wanting to be lazy.  She is a likeable hero who really wants to save the world.





Chiaki (Sinbad): Originally, he gets close to Jeanne to stop her from collecting demons, but whether he's doing it to aid the demons or some other reason, is a mystery.  He acts like a playboy and Maron dislikes him for it, but he grows to care deeply for her and wants to protect her from some unsettling truths.








Access Time: He came to earth in order to be close to Finn Fish who is in love with.  His greatest wish is to prevent her from helping Jeanne.  He is an adorable character, lively and cute. 









Finn Fish: She came to Earth and convinced Maron that it was her destiny to help God by collecting the demons.  She is very dedicated to her duty to make sure that Jeanne stays on task, and refuses all of Access's advances because she won't fraternize with the enemy.   At times her focus on getting the job done was frustrating, but her obvious care for Maron makes it hard not to like her.





Plot:
 ****This is a 7 volume series.  I have read the whole series, but did so in scanlations before it was bought for the American market.  I do not believe that this has any impact on my review, since differences with the official release should be minor.****
 

This falls into the category of a magical girl series (ie. it's about a girl who transforms to fight evil) and like all good magical girl series, it still manages to be unique and entertaining.  Sinbad's real reason for competing with Jeanne is a welcome twist, and the fact that her best friend is the one trying to capture her, while not fully original is handled well.  Combine this with a detailed back story on Jeanne's relationship with God and the fairies life before they teamed up with Maron and Sinbad, makes this a well written story.  Also, as with many of Arina Tanemura's series, there is a full resolution to the story (something frequently lacking in many Japanese stories).


Art:

Arina Tanemura is my absolute favorite manga artist.  Her character design is beautiful and she puts so much detail into things (especially her characters).  Jeanne is only her second manga and she improves a lot with later series, but as pretty as this series is, that is really saying something.