 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DOKI DOKI / DMP | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | EIKI EIKI & TAISHI ZAOU | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 224 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | 16+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 06/24/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 07/19/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Color is a delightful romantic comedy that marks the collaboration between mangaka Eiki Eiki (Train Train, Millennium Prime Minister) and Mikiyo Tsuda under her pen name Taishi Zaou (Princess Princess, Day of Revolution). The beautiful young man Takashiro sees his painting “Color” hanging next to a nearly identical painting by the same name. Burning with a longing to meet the fellow painter with such a similar artistic reflection, Takashiro is almost in love at first sight of the other’s painting. When he hears the artist will be going to the same high school as he is, he is overcome. The shy boy is eager and anxious to at last meet the girl who has already captured his heart. He’s in for a shock however, when that girl turns out to be a guy. Sakae is less timid than Takashiro and like the other boy, has longed to meet the artist who shares his vision. The two soon become inseparable and the gossip begins as does the romance and the drama along with many laughs in this engaging and highly entertaining one-shot manga. The young couple has a lot to contend with. First, they have to come to the realization of how they feel, and then find out how the other feels and then take those first awkward steps to intimacy and first love. Much of the comedy centers on their gushing over each other in public and the amusing reactions of their classmates. The drama enters avidly in the final chapters when the two are separated after three years of being together. Takashiro’s father has collapsed and events in Sakae’s family have left him whisked away and possibly forced to become the heir to the family business and forever apart from his true love. The manga ends in climatic fashion with unexpected outbursts, a few tickling revelations, a declarations that go straight to the heart. The unique collaboration offers a fun parallel to the real life of the authors, a tongue-in-cheek mix of fact and fiction to wink at the reader with and enjoy. Much of the meeting and certain aspects in the manga that Color reflects (with obvious twists) the real life friendship that blossomed between creators and artists Eiki and Zaou (Tsuda). They clearly had a great deal of fun in the manga with their lighthearted rendition of their friendship turned into fiction and flirting with the reader over the fact versus fiction. The tremendous amount of amusement that results is reflected in the art work. They shared tasks fairly well with one character easily identified as designed by Zaou (she always draws those distinct and striking eyes) and the other main character by Eiki. Their art styles have always been similar enough that it forms a seamless collaboration illustratively in this manga. Color gives readers lovely polished images, clean line work, and attractive characters. The manga also holds many bonus features including comic panels, afterword from the co-mangakas, afterthoughts, extras, a bonus preview of the manga, and funny panels depicting their work collaborating together.
IN SUMMARY:
Color is a romantic collaboration between two of mangas top creative artists and writers in yaoi. |
