Enmusu Vol. 1 [Manga]

[Ragnar]

Enmusu vol. 1 (The Talisman and the Maid)
Takahiro Seguchi

  Once again, it's time for the First-Volume-Checked-Out-From-The-Library Book Review. The phrase Enmusu is a corruption of enmusubi, which apparently refers to the relationship between a man and a woman, which in this book can be summed up as "non-existent."

Cracks about the title aside, it's time we move on into the background of the plot. It seems that the wealthy CEO of the global mega-company Dragoon ("The Silly Name Company") has shuffled off his mortal coil, leaving two grandsons to inherit his fortune. However, because the old man was a miserable bastard who liked toying with people (or so I infer), he has left fifteen different talismans to different people around the country, leaving them to duke it out. He who collects all fifteen will inherit the company.

Gisuke Arikawa, aside from having a first name that reminds me of a Don Martin sound effect, is the "errand-boy" for Jishukan High School. It is also worth pointing out that despite appearing to be only three feet tall, he is eighteen years old and the protagonist. The book opens with him confessing his love to a girl in a two-inch skirt, who tells him that she'd rather lather herself with beef sauce and go streaking through the Serengeti than go out with him (okay, maybe it wasn't in those exact words). She is Shizuku Yanagi, the "smartest girl in school" and Supreme Bitchstress of the Court of the Ice Queen. It seems that the dope still has feeling for her, which continue throughout the book, despite the arrival of Sonya.

I forgot to tell you that the aforementioned talismans come delivered by maids who pledge themselves to the master's every whim (Fortunately, Gisuke isn't nearly as perverted as you are, and we manage to keep everything on a 16+ rating). Sonya is the Russian maid assigned to Gisuke, who is either a moron or a truly wholesome kid, as he even makes her wear a swimsuit in the bath. She is also not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, admitting her inability to count higher than five.
Not long after Sonya starts to live with him, we find that Shizuku has come under the power of another talisman-holder, one of the grandsons of the ex-CEO who also attends the same school. After losing to him in an exam, she is so out of it that she lets him parade her around in a collar, and there are allusions to a possible rape (this really made me like the book, because of course everyone loves rape :p ). This is the kind of kid you wish someone would run over with a steamroller, feet first. Anyway, Gisuke challenges the twerp to a re-match and takes Shizuku home with him. After a brief moment of character development where Shizuku hugs Gisuke while she isn't wearing anything, she once again reverts to Full Ice Mode and slaps him around a bit.

The final few pages leave with Sonya, Gisuke, and Shizuku striding into the exam room. Will they overcome the opposition and save the day? Do we care? The answer to at least one of these questions is "no," as there isn't much in this book that I would ever pay money for. This first volume was also published in December of 2004; after a year with no Volume 2 in sight, it seems ADV may have had the same feelings I did. If you're really interested in this genre, go read Mahoromatic instead. At least that has giant swim-suit shredding crabs.

Score: 4 out of 10.