YAOI MANGA REVIEW: Maiden Rose Volume 2

Maiden Rose Volume 2~ Fusanosuke Inariya

June Manga ~ 200 pages

Quick Synopsis:

“When a mysterious train charts a path through the demilitarized (and allegedly tainted) No Man’s Land, Taki must act quickly in order to prevent its passage into his domain. But will he protect his own boundaries from the brute advances of Claus… or is he prepared to welcome a forceful invasion? Sometimes a minor skirmish becomes an all-out war for prized territory… and only the strongest soldier will be left standing once the final shot is fired.”

Plot/Readability:

For as much as I loved volume one (I gave it an “A”), I really feel volume two falls flat. The plot is convoluted, and the reasons for this mysterious train’s invasion are not clear. We have two apparently psychotic people on the train with two very different reasons for being there. With how the initial train scenes are set up, it’s odd we are only given two pages of explanation for why the male character hates Claus so much. Considering none of this was in volume one, it’s going to take more than two pages for me to buy into the hatred this man has for him. It’s also odd that considering how many asterisked side notes there are that this man’s nickname for Claus, which is used repeatedly, is never once explained.

Character Development:

Claus and Taki stay true to their roles in volume one but I don’t see much development beyond that, which is disappointing. As mentioned above, we’re also introduced to two new characters on the invading train. With how they were built up and with all that goes down on the train prior to final climax of the story, there is no back story and we’re left wondering who these people are and why we should care. It’s as if they were just thrown into the story to make a second volume. I’m walking away from this second book not even knowing the one character’s name and not caring enough to look back through to see if it was even mentioned. Personally, I think Fusanosuke Inariya and/or her editor phoned it in on this one or were rushed to get it out. There was so much potential with these new characters and it’s sad to not see them utilized properly.

Sexual Content:

Compared to volume one, this volume falls flat in this area as well. It’s not that all stories have to have tons of sex to be good but if the plot fails AND there’s hardly any sex then I have to wonder why I even bought the book. There’s one sex scene in this volume and it’s on par with what we’ve become accustomed to… intense, violent and graphic, so at least there’s that.

Illustrations:

The illustrations are as nice as volume one. There may be slightly less detail with the war scenes but the sex scenes show some improvement in the physical form.

Final Thoughts:

Volume two starts off with a bang with a mysterious train and psychotic new characters, but it fails to deliver and reach the heights of volume one.

Plot/Readability: B

Character Development: B-

Sexual Content: B

Illustrations: A-

Overall Grade: B

Buy now!

~Jennifer LeBlanc

3 Comments

yblees April 15, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Hmm. I can see how vol 2 is problematic as a stand alone book.
Some of the loose ends lead into volume 3 and onwards. The political intrigue plot is still ongoing.
But some hints may be for speculation only, and never be confirmed explicity. Unfortunately, this does seem to be the style of Inariya sensei’s storytelling.
I do think some plot subtleties may have been lost in the translation though. For a native Japanese reader, obscure remarks in the the original raw dialogue may be quite obvious in meaning.

BTW, “Lycanthrope” is either Claus’ air force call sign, from when he was a fighter pilot in some war with Berkut’s country .
Or else the nickname used by enemy pilots to refer to him, from his plane’s wolf head insignia. Like the “Red Baron” nickname during WWI.

Also keep in mind there is a supernatural element in this story that tends to be overshadowed by the military action. Taki is the medium for some kind of god of his people. Some entity linked to the tainted lands. They used to be sacred lands for Taki’s family, until so much blood was spilled that they became defiled. (for Buddhists/Shinto, blood is considered as unclean as it is considered holy for Christians and Muslims. And blood spilled in killing is the most unclean of all)
Claus is linked to the huge wolf creature associated with Taki’s god. At some point, a promise made between the two was broken by their descendants. The floral scent that Taki gives off sometimes may have something to do with channeling his god.

[Reply to this comment]
Jennifer LeBlanc AKA Asami's Girl Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 9:43 PM
I had to actually stop reading and look up lycanthrope because it bothered me so much. I’m going to assume a lot of this is lost in translation but then it’s still an issue regardless. Either way, I’m just surprised at the difference between the two volumes and I still think the way the two new characters were ‘introduced’ lacked. For as good as V1 was, V2 raised an eyebrow. Too many loose ends at the end of this one. I’m still going to pick up V3. I just hope she pulls it all together.

[Reply to this comment]
yblees Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Erm,
I don’t know if DMP has decided to pick up volume 3 yet. *cries*
There is *cough* *hack*, “that” option….
But Vol 3 is still ongoing and the mangaka has started a new series.
So, well, lotta patience needed to read this manga, is all I can say.
If you have a chance to read some of her doujinshi, you’ll notice sensei is very into snapshot type stories – and has a nasty habit with the loose ends.

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