Himiko-Den by Oh! Great

Synopsis: Himiko and Jaru are in love of each other, so big is their love that Jaru swears to protect Himiko no matter what. One day Jaru finds the second half of the Kyou, a Bronze Mirror which is supposed to hold some secret power. But this mirror is being searched by demons, so they can ensure their victory over mankind and destroy the world. Suddenly a demon attacks Himiko and Jaru awakening their true self’s; Himiko: The Goddess and Kutani: The One who seals and while they fight the demon, Kunenoku (the Demon City) rises to the sky. The world sits at the bridge of destruction and it is Himiko’s and Jura’s job to save it from the Evil Lord: Jyakatsu.

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Sigh... Another manga that is used for only one purpose in mind: Publicity. this manga came out on 1999 and was the product of 3 years of not-so-hard-work. A game with the same title inspired and anime and apparently it was so popular that Oh! Great decided to create a manga and one that wasn't as great as someone could expect from a popular franchise.

The only high point Himiko-Den has its the artwork. Clean, detailed, fresh and colorful. The colored pages on this title are breathtaking; with the right tone of hues and shadows, even the black and white pages look awesome. Yet art is nothing when the plot is not interesting, same thing could be said about the characters and with a dialog like this one, I just wished they didn't talk at all. If art is the only thing tat prevails in a manga, then it shows that the manga has no depth.

There is a page at the end of the manga in which the creator explains his thoughts on his work. After reading this I almost wept. 80 (eighty) characters were designed for the game and less than 10% made it to the manga, the creator of the manga is not the same one for the game and was given free card to deal with the story and the characters as he pleased. He only created 1 volume in 3 years! And he managed to forget an ending, appropriate character interaction and what do we get? Nothing. Unless you are a fan of spontaneous nudity and fan service, irrational violence (which I don't have a problem with when there is a story to back it up), bad action scenes and stories that will never see and actual end.

The only thing this manga needed; besides th obvious, was a note on the last page that said: "Want to know the real ending? Then buy the game!" Just to make my day.