Not all sunshine and daisies. However, I'm loving the character situation. T-chan (as I cannot remember her name) the main character is fantastic. I love that despite her cross dressing to avoid violent woman related crimes, she does not follow the trend of many cross-dressing woman and can defend herself as well and often better than a man. I'm also interesting in her relationship with the Yakuza head as an enemy/friend. ( )

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In the last few months, I’ve gotten back into my manga obsession. I’ve not fit in a LOT of manga reading, but I’m making sure to keep reading consistently, if not speedily. Because I have this weird thing with order and didn’t track my manga reading well in the past, I’ll be rereading a lot of stuff I’ve read before, even if I didn’t much like it. I already know this isn’t entirely sane, but don’t mind me. Anyway, I’m trying to keep my manga reviews to those licensed in the US, as well as the most hilarious, notable or amazing ones otherwise. Tokyo Crazy Paradise is notable for being by the author of Skip-Beat! which I love. My expectations were high, but it couldn’t possibly be bad, right? WRONG.

Man, I am still upset that Tokyo Crazy Paradise didn’t work out for me. I mean, there’s gender bending and an incredibly strong heroine who doesn’t change who she is when she falls in love. On the surface, this is something I should love, and I do admire those parts of the series. The heroine, Tsukasa, really is pretty fabulous. She’s a great fighter, she’s loyal to a fault, determined, and completely silly. She saves the series from being endlessly boring.

The romance is…well…kind of okay. I don’t ship it, that’s for sure, but Nakamura puts in a real slow burn and I can respect that. Also, I respect that Tsukasa never becomes a girly girl. She’s more comfortable crossdressing, and has no desire to act any different after she falls in love. Ryuji’s totally okay with that, though he does also love seeing her in women’s clothes. Ryuji also keeps the “stay away; I’m dangerous” and hiding things from Tsukasa for her own good to a minimum. He respects her strength and they act like equals. These are the good things.

To explain the core element in why I didn’t like Tokyo Crazy Paradise, I need to talk about a YA book. You might have heard of it: Legend by Marie Lu. Tokyo Crazy Paradise has the same problem: the main characters are too young for me to find them believable. Tsukasa and Ryuji are both FOURTEEN. Yet, he’s as tall as anyone else in the series, he’s so hot much older women try to seduce him constantly (partly for his position as head of a yakuza group, but barf) and she, when she puts on women’s clothes, has an incredibly voluptuous body with huge breasts. Now, I’m not saying teens never develop early, but if her boobs are as big as depicted, then how is she able to flatten them so well? Doesn’t it hurt? Also, is no one else grossed out at ALL THE ADULTS perving on freaking fourteen year olds? NO? *shudders*

Aside from that, the story was just way too long. There were unnecessary plot lines and an abundance of wordy dialog. There’s so much talking but also somehow too much mindless action. Tsukasa and Ryuji should have died a million times over. Ryuji’s yakuza group shouldn’t have had any men left in it by the end, since so freaking many died in the course of the series. While the contrast between the dark plots and killing and how sweet the yakuza guys could be is amusing, it’s not really enough to carry the series.

The worst part, for me, was that the series takes turns into absurd science fiction. Where it had been fairly straight forward mobster stuff, suddenly there was a guy in another guy’s body, people with guns for arms, and a drug that turns people into incredibly strong enslaved fighting forces. It’s way too much and I was just laughing every time a new plot element was revealed. On top of that, many of the fights scenes are simply impossible.

What it comes down to really though is that the story failed to invest me. Tsukasa’s fun, but she and Ryuji, while okay, didn’t make me set to sailing. And, actually, if I were a shipper, the ending would have really frustrated me, because you totally don’t get much of a payoff. I think the most interesting parts for me were Ryuji’s relationship with Kamo-san and the relationship between Asago and the cop, even though it still had the icky age gap factor.

This was totally not what I was expecting from having read much of Skip-Beat!, and ultimately it’s not my thing. I think if you’re more open to absurd gangster plot lines and unrealistic action, then it might amuse. As a more romance-focused manga reader, I was bored bored bored…and grossed out. ( )

Tokyo, in 2020 is a violent, dangerous city especially for women. Tsukasa Kozuki, daughter of cops has been raised as a "boy" so she can be more protected from the violence of the city.

But when her parents are murdered, Tsukasa and her three brothers are left alone and homeless in the middle of Tokyo. Desperate, Tsukasa asks her classmate Ryuji Shirogami for help. Ryuji, a yakuza boss, agrees to shelter her and her family if Tsukasa agrees to act as his bodyguard.

Cute storie, but I thought it was too episodic, at least in the first volume. The art is not as good as Skip Beat, so it takes a little getting used to. ( )