Arata: The Legend

Arata: The Legend (アラタカンガタリ) is a new offering from one of my favorite manga-ka, Yuu Watase, that is currently being serialized on Viz’s new Shonen Sunday website. It’s a fantasy manga, which isn’t unusual for her, but it’s also a shōnen manga, which is.

In an alternate world of tribes and gods, only a girl from the Hime Clan may become the ruling princess and receive the protection of the 12 Shinsho. Unfortunately for a young man named Arata, the Hime Clan hasn’t produced a daughter in 60 years. Rather than condemn his grandmother and himself to death he agrees to dress as a girl to buy some time and attempt to become the ruling princess, not expecting there to be another agenda at work in the shadows. At the same time, another Arata in our world is being bullied and shunned by his classmates. On his way home, wishing he would disappear, he somehow steps out of his own world and into the world of the boy who shares his name.

Two chapters into the story and I am really liking it, which really isn’t a shocker considering how much I love Yuu Watase. This is her first attempt at a shōnen manga and it’s interesting to see a more male-dominated storyline, but the signature Watase quirks and character types are still there. The character designs are gorgeous, though, with clothing reminescent of the tribesmen in Ayashi no Ceres and lots of flowing sashes and sleeves.

I’m also enjoying the format of the new Shonen Sunday website despite my initial apprehension. I like being able to sample the manga before I’m committed to buying the tankoubon, particularly since shōnen manga isn’t generally my drug of choice. One of the things I was going to miss the most about Shojo Beat was the previews of new series, but now that I’ve sampled the SS and IKKI websites I’m actually looking forward to the relaunch of the SB website following their format. The only thing I don’t really like is that there’s no set schedule for the new chapters to arrive, unlike RIN-NE. I subscribed to the RSS feed for the blog, hopefully this will do the trick.

As for Arata, I’m looking forward to the next chapter to see how Arata Hinohara handles his sudden introduction to the new world and how Arata of the Hime Clan handles the exposure of his secret and the sudden accusations from the Shinsho. Familiar though it may seem, Watase-sensei’s stories always grab my attention and I’m hoping the story keeps up the fast, exciting pace throughout.

EDIT 9/9/09: The new chapter of Arata was posted online today along with the new chapter of RIN-NE. Still looks good for my liking the series as a whole so far!