+Anima

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Being a geek I naturally have a collector habit. Of course all I really seem to collect these days are comic books and video games, not that there’s anything wrong with that. When it comes to comics my tastes obviously tend to lean heavily toward the manga flavor (interrupted now and again by things like ElfQuest or Marvel’s Dark Tower adaptation) and since I’m only really collecting Fruits Basket and Fullmetal Alchemist right now (despite having read all of the former and up to the recent magazine chapters of the latter in scanlation) I will sometimes grab a random book for something fresh. Lately I’ve had no luck with series sticking for me, one volume of Trinity Blood and two volumes of Godchild (some part of the Cain series) sitting on my dusty  "manga I randomly have for whatever reason or are in Japanese, French or Spanish" shelf will attest to that.

While perusing the book store one day after work I spied something called "Anima" (not noticing the "+" at the time which would have otherwise scared me away, I hate titles like that, the godawful Blood the Last Vampire spinoff  Blood+ has not helped my opinion on that matter either), which looked kiddy but the style and the back description caught my interest and so I picked it up. Seven volumes later I have to say I’m diggin’ it.

The comic is of a Fantasy flair and stars a group of four children who have acquired animal powers, allowing them to transform part of their body to reflect that of their respective beasts. In their world they’re known as +Anima. The series name is pronounced as "Plus Anima", but while reading I stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the "+" (yes, dreadfully enough they do refer to people with the power as "+Anima" in the dialog) simply changing "a +Anima" to "an Anima" in my mind. So henceforth I will simply refer to the children as "Anima". Anyone got a problem with this!?

At any rate, the first character we see is Cooro, who apparently fell mysteriously from the sky as a baby and was raised in a church. He’s a crow Anima, and so he can grow black wings and fly when he needs to. The wings stem from two marks on his shoulders and his arms also become covered in feathers. Oddly enough it seems the children can transform over clothing but it’s a comic book so let’s just roll with it. Cooro meets a pretty young man called Husky, a fish Anima who was caught in a fisherman’s net and sold to a circus, where he’s currently preforming in a side show as a "mermaid princess" (something Cooro continually, absentmindedly brings up throughout the series much to Husky’s embarrassment.) Cooro convinces Husky to escape and the two of them head off together, Cooro declaring that he wants to find other Anima. Along the way they meet Senri, a very taciturn bear Anima who can transform his right arm and seems to remember events by pressing local flowers in a book, and Nana, a cute little girl bat Anima who can grow wings, use a sonic screech and grow her ears for enhanced hearing.

Up until about volume 4 the pacing of the series is entirely episodic and a bit hectic, which could turn some people off at first, especially since half of volume 2 is unrelated episodes that were written before the comic was serialized.  However it’s the characters that keep the story going, they’re all very likable with robust personalities and unique quirks. Volume 4 gives us the first sort of mini story arc but it’s not until volume 6 that we really begin to learn about the characters’ pasts, it’s here that the story really picks up and gains an actual focus. This is kind of good in its own way, because if we didn’t like the characters first we might not care as much about learning their histories. And that’s also not to say no development occurs even in the episodic chapters. Certain pieces of the characters’ pasts are hinted at along the way, and their context falls neatly into place as the plot develops. We also find out how people become Anima in volume 4, and it’s quite fascinating. There are some semi-shady characters we see from time to time who seem to have an interest in Cooro, and the audience becomes privy to some of the conflicts going on in the world around the children as well.

The Anima children do seem to face some persecution here and there, many different people have different ways of reacting to Anima. Some seem to like them, some fear them, some look down on them, but no one seems so freaked out by them that they’d chase them with torches and pitchforks. Most of the characters are shamed of their Anima (both the main children and other Anima they meet along the way), or at least keep them hidden unless they need them, Cooro is the one who most freely uses his power and he seems to have the most natural attitude about it, likely because he’s been an Anima his entire life.

Overall I think this is a very overlooked and under-appreciated series. I was quite shocked to discover an anime hadn’t been made based off of it yet, because I could easily see it as one. Sure it has some pacing issues to start with, it’s not all that epic, but it is just cute, sweet, fun and very enjoyable. It’s a little strange, I can tell the series isn’t that high quality, but I’m completely in love with it anyway. There’s just a striking charm to the characters and the artwork that really moves it.

I’d highly recommend to any manga fan to give it a look-see. Onemanga.com has it in their database, and I say if you like what you see go out and buy the books. They’re a nice addition to anyone’s collection and definitely a good one for the kids.