PAPILLON • Del Rey • Miwa Ueda • 16+
Ageha, a beautiful but shy girl, lives in the shadow of her popular twin sister. Her life changes when she meets Kyû, a handsome 24-year-old guidance counselor whose unbelievably inappropriate behavior (you know, skirt-flipping, hitting on students, the usual) contrasts with his always-helpful, if optimistic, advice. (“Your attitude affects your behavior.” “Try really hard and your wish will be granted.”) With Kyû’s help, Ageha starts to stand up for herself and challenge her sister for the boy she loves…but will she fall for her guidance counselor instead? “Papillon” is French for “butterfly,” appropriately for a manga about a shy girl’s caterpillar-like transformation. Despite the absurdness of combining manga melodrama and “real” psychology (Ueda mentions that she consulted a real therapist to write Kyû’s scenes), the result is an interesting story that’s a little more serious-minded than Peach Girl, but far more entertaining than the preachy Peach Girl: Sae’s Story. As always, Ueda’s art is great; all the characters look extremely hot, so that you just can’t wait to see them get over their problems and start making out with one another. The scene where Ageha’s sister thanks a boy for slapping her is a bit hard to get over, however, as is the characterization of the sole unattractive character—in what’s supposed to be a “beauty is more than skin deep” story—as a spiteful villain. (This review was originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
** 1/2 (two and a half stars)
Today’s winner is Michael W. of Utah! Congratulations, Michael!
Karyna sent this photo of herself with her yaoi prizes! Unfortunately, it’s true, I wasn’t able to find volume 1 of two of the series, and I was only able to send one standalone book, “Endless Rain.” But I’ll make sure to send you something good, something you can jump right in to, for your second batch of manga!
At Comic-Con this year I did a panel on The Best and Worst Manga of 2010 with Deb Aoki, Shaenon Garrity, Christopher Butcher, Tom Spurgeon and Carlo Santos. For those who couldn’t make it to Comic-Con, Deb Aoki has put up a transcript of the panel, please check it out!
I love manga stories but i hate when it cames to love
i love papillon. the best manga love story i have ever read!!!! when will volume 7 and 8 come out??????
i can’t wait. i am sure there are millions out there waiting for vol.7 and 8 !!!!
WHEN WILL VOLUME 7 & 8 COME OUT?????? I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!
IF IT DOESN’T COME OUT SOOM, I’M GOING TO GET THE KOREAN VERSION WHICH IS ALREADY PUBLISHED!!! DEL REY MANGA HAS TO SPEED UP SERIOUSLY ! ! ! ! !
When will volume3 come out for english?
Please publish volumes 7 and 8 soon, the suspense is killing me. Thank you very much.
I know..!!!! When will vol. 7 and 8 come out seriously?????
I’m going to actually buy them instead of checking them out from my library this time !!!
Del Rey~~! Plz Plz Plz publish Papillon vol. 7 and 8 soon before the readers all forget about it!!!
YES!!! Please….throw us a bone and let us know when 7 & 8 are coming out!!!
Need volume 7&8…. I’ve been trying to find them for so long, I already have bought all the other volumes. I don’t see why this manga has stopped being translated. >>
Look, I really don’t understand what is wrong with this publishing company, but if it weren’t for Miwa Ueda, I would not buy into their products. Who wants to buy into a book series when the publishers aren’t even serious about producing completed series?? I honestly don’t care how much the books become-double their price if you have to-but produce the books! There may not be a demand for this series as high as you would like, but there are people out there who want to read this series. Miwa Ueda is the most influencial manga author that I’ve come across. Her books, her heart, eveything is cherished. Just produce the book. I’ve been waiting over a year for this to happen. If your not serious about the fans, the people who pay for your company to be in business, then keep upsetting them and see how much business you’ll get. Maybe this book is just a loss to you, but this book is the world to me. I love this woman, I love her characters; she makes my life better. Isn’t that what is important? The lives of others? Not your piggy bank? This is disturbing that you all are so lazy to print this in English.
PLEASE RELEASE PAPILLON VOLUMES 7-8 AS POSSIBLE!
Please release Papillon volumes 7-8
It’s been quite awhile.
I’ve been waiting for 7 and 8 forever too! Are they not finishing them? Because I refuse to buy another Del Rey manga until they publish the rest of Papillon! My friends are all pretty upset about it too. How can you just start a series and not finish it? Bad business if you ask me! Please finish 7 and 8!
Damn, seems like every comment is about wanting volumes 7 and 8. Why? Because we want the damn volumes. I have been reading this series since I was in the 6th grade. I must have the next volumes. I’m a very patient person. But I have been waiting for a year now and I want to know what happens next. Please publish them. I know there are more manga series that you guys are doing but seriously, don’t start something you can’t finish.I NEEED THE NEXT INSTALLMENT NOW. NOW!!!!!!!!!!
I’m waiting for the last two volumes as well. I haven’t bought from Del Rey since then. I love Miwa’s work, and it’s extremely disappointing to not be able to finish a series. Publishers complain that they want Americans to buy their products to support the translators instead of running to the fan-translated versions, but it’s what we have to do to get to read the entire series. Same thing happened when Tokyopop went under and Skyblue Shore got dropped. It’s increasingly difficult for someone like me (24/F) to find a series I enjoy in America that ISN’T dripping in yaoi, and everytime I manage to find a series I like that’s being translated, it gets killed.
Come on.
Greetings from Germany! Papillon is a great series, I enjoy the works from Miwa very much. Though I’m quite disappointed that there are no volumes 7 or 8. Where are they? If you stopped the series, I’d love to know! Am I still waiting for ‘nothing’? Think of your readers, and clear up if you stopped the series! Everyone wan’ts to know what happened!
When are they coming out with the next books? I really wanna know because I fell in love with these books. I hope they come soon.
I love this manga series! Out of all the one’s I have read, Papillon is my absolute favorite. It would be nice if I can have the complete series. Please translate the last two volumes of the series! What is the point of collecting the books if one cannot complete it?
I have Papillon 2,3, and 4. I live here in U.A.E Dubai but I’m a Filipino
Please publish the last two volumes! I agree with all the above comments. I hope you know your history lessons because people have power. Boycotts can get serious and it’s not hard to find a good number of upset people. It’s two volumes. I know it takes a lot of money to publish anything at all, but this company is upsetting a lot of people when they don’t publish an entire series, and with this one it’s not that hard since it’s complete. You know what you’re getting into to finish. Just please publish the last ones. This isn’t a threat. It’s a plea and a warning.