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Manga-ka: Shiho Sugiura
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008
Synopsis: “Rakan’s normal life had been turned upside down thanks to strangers from another world suddenly appearing in his backyard! Chigusa and Narushige are starting to become more comfortable with their new surroundings, but coming to disrupt the peace is an assassin sent by the Prince. Will Chigusa save the day again?”
The two travellers from another world, Chigusa and Narushige, remain residents of Rakan’s home. More is revealed about their dark pasts that’ve led them here but not before an assassin is sent by the other world’s Prince to get rid of them both. Sweet home life moments, brisk confrontations and a likeable cast of returning characters, awaits readers in this second volume of Silver Diamond.
I’m still singing the praises of the first volume of this series so volume two had some high expectations to live up to! Fortunately it did so with a great sense of charm and humility. A good portion of the book follows the trio, Rakkan, Chigusa and Narushige, during their everyday, which in this case includes sleeping, cooking, shopping and tending to Rakkan’s family grave. The three are so darn likeable, I can’t get over it. Shows how a good writer can take attributes that may seem overdone by stereotypical standards, but weave them into a character that manages to feel fresh and fun. I really love the subtle interactions between them all as they form a quaint little family.
One thing the first volume had over this one was the humour. While there were still some funny moments here, mostly due to the shameless snake who came with Narugise, I didn’t find it has chuckle-worthy as before. None the less, it’s a small thing to miss when it managed to remain as entertaining as before.
The book contains one fight scene when Chigusa and Narushiga are attacked by the assassin. I give major kudos to Rakkan as a character for speeching in order to pause the fight but with a speech that was actually one based on common sense! Sometimes the clichéd speeches of ‘I suddenly really like this person so you can’t hurt him and I won’t let you ‘cause they’re so special’ get a little old but Rakkan made some simple, good points based on logic over emotion that fortunately resonate with the assassin’s own troubled thoughts. Seeing Rakkan get annoyed by the assassin’s prior preaching and lay it out so straight-forward made it feel like a much more believable reaction.
As for this English edition, Tokyopop’s put together another pretty release for this series, with an attractive layout job on the front and back covers and no issues from me with their interior work. A double-sided, full colour page is also left intact in the front. More an observation than anything else, one thing I’ve been noticing on recent Tokyopop books is their increasing detail with age rating explanations. For the curious, Silver Diamond is rated Teen (13+) for having aggression, mild gore and mild fanservice. Mild fanservice is definitely my favourite. Watch out for them man on man hugs!
Seems safe to say that two volumes in and I remain in love. Silver Diamond has such a unique charm to it and it’s been a lot of fun to read so far. Can’t say I know how the series will progress to lead it to the 13+ volumes it currently consists of, but if this fluffy fish-out-of-water story remains as pleasing, both in character and art, as it has proven itself so far, than I’m more than game to stick around until the very end. Silver Diamond remains a solid recommendation from me.
Review written October 27, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book purchased from in-store from Chapters
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