▪	RELEASED BY:		DARK HORSE
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		KAZUHIRO OKAMOTO
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / B&W
		▪	PAGES:		200
		▪	RATING:		8+
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		10/31/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		10/15/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN

TRANSLUCENT is a breath of fresh air in the influx of schoolyard manga that has been appearing in North America lately.  The certain sameness among the plots of these stories has made for some tedious reading.  However, TRANSLUCENT has changed that with its combination of interesting premise and touching narratives that makes this a title for all ages. 

To sum up, using the blurb from Dark Horse as a foundation for new readers, Shizuka Shiroyama is a teenager with a mysterious disease that periodically turns her somewhat transparent and occasionally completely invisible!  She needs support from her friends and family to stay solid, both literally and figuratively as she copes with her health worries and struggles with personal insecurities, early career aspirations, and boys.  In her life she has some close friends who pull for her, although not always achieving their desired results.  There is the ever loyal, and persistent Mamoru Tadami, who helps her cope with the various problems that come with being invisible, the talented and popular Okouchi-san and Keiko, the artist, who is completely invisible and uncomfortable with depending on others for anything.  With this small but strong cast, the episodes that make up the stories are richly developed, not only in terms of characterizations, but also insights into the greater human condition without being too preachy.

In this volume, Mamoru and Shizuka finally go on an official date, Okouchi-their friend and the student body president-decides to be a pushy cupid, physically beating on Mamoru when he misses is cues in the experience.  Mamoru helps Okouichi on designing the school website in another story, breaking through her hard exterior when she least expects it with his sunny disposition and positive attitude.  Okouichi comes to realize how Mamoru, awkward as he is, really loves Shizuka, and how she finds that an attractive quality in him.  Keiko returns in another tale, where she, her fiancé, Mamoru and Shizuka head off to the beach for a day of adventures, and some heartbreaking moments follow when Keiko’s anxiety over becoming dependent on others leads to her dumping her fiancé.  Other stories have Shizuka and Mamoru’s relationship getting a little help from a local doctor, Shizuka helping Okouichi act in the school play, and Mamoru and Shizuka looking for monsters at a nearby lake.

As in the first volume, this manga is really easy to read, and easier to love.  The artwork is nicely done, with good tone and line work to clearly delineate characters and settings.  The camera angles are becoming more inventive and dramatic with the developing romance in the stories.  Also, Mamoru’s imagination is literally given more dimension in scenes where his love of models, sci-fi and fantasy sometimes explode into his art and real world.  The plots remain uncomplicated, with the stories self contained enough that you can read it in several sittings over short periods as your time permits.  Throughout is a sense of wonder, not just expressed through Mamoru, but also through Shizuka, as her coping with this bizarre ailment leads to some insights into innocence, experience, and the human spirit, each packaged neatly into the short story format that structures the manga.

EXTRA:
There are at least six one page manga pieces in the manga, falling at the end of the various stories.  Called OMAKE, they are cute and entertaining in their own way; well worth reading.  Also, there is a section in the manga by the author showing the room of one of the main characters, promising more in future volumes.  Finally, along with Dark Horse previews, follows a witty preview of Volume Three in the story, done quite tongue in cheek.

IN SUMMARY:
TRANSLUCENT is an outstanding manga, which will delight readers with its humor, sensitivity and intriguing premise.  Sweet without being saccharine, this is one story that can be enjoyed by more than the teens in its target audience, as its reflections on growing up in our complicated world will resonate with readers of all ages.