First Look at Beauty Pop V. 1

have fallen a wee bit behind on my reviews of VIZ titles.
As much as I wish VIZ was one of those companies that supplied me with review material copies from time to time (like Broccoli Books, Dark Horse or Icarus Publishing on the hentai side of the reviewing coin) I do still have a thing for their Shojo Beat line of books and titles (even if they are not giving me any to review).
Still, even if I am not presently picking up new graphic novels which I should totally get back on the ball on in September I am not behind on my Shojo Beat manga magazine reading, which I pick up monthly without fail (it’s one of my few monthly rituals that I have).
So, while I am abit behind on the books (need to get Aishiteruze Baby V. 3, Crimson Hero V. 3 and upcoming Nana V. 4) I can tell you about two upcoming titles for the VIZ line, Beauty Pop & Vampire Knight (this is the first look at Beauty Pop, previewed in Shojo Beat V. 2, Issue #8)
The world of fashion has been getting a once over lately. Now I mostly know of the world of fashion through series that focus on clothing and style and so forth, but a good hairstyle is just as important (if not more) than a good selection of clothing or style, which brings us to Beauty Pop.
Instead of being focused on the beauty of a new clothing style, the title takes a most rudimentary thing like a good hairstyle and gives it a shojo style all it’s own.
Kiri Koshiba wields the scissors of beauty (and by that I don‘t mean Weird Al Yankovic worldwide tour named Running With Scissors wield), and in her mind is the ability to unleash the power of making anyone beautiful through the art of hairstyling… yeah, not as impressive as the ancient art of using the force but it’s more useful and no whiney (bleep)er named Anakin ever tried to wipe out the Ancient Order of Hairstylists… so live with it.
A tomboy of a girl, she first uses her talent to help out a poor little girl who has been mauled hairwise by a triple threat of jerk boys with scissors, which by the way seems to be the theme of Beauty Pop since trouble with boys seem to come in threes in this title.
Her nemesis is three annoyingly pretty boy guys (one Chiyo-chan type prodigy without the charm of a Chiyo-chan, one heir to a beauty empire, and one with tons of personality to spare) who seem to form this fashion themed “fad” in her school called “The Scissors Project”. “The Scissors Project” is basically this one trick pony show where they have this 10 minute “timed attack” of beautification where they pick one female student and make her into goddess material… bleah if you’re Kiri and totally not into braggards and egotist in your refined beautiful art of hairstyling (aka the “dark” side of the hair).
And now it’s time to meet the Trek Three of the Scissors Project. The Kirk, Spock and McCoy of fashion (and boy, have I gotten a ton of mileage out of Classic Trek references ever since G4TV hooked me up with Star Trek 2.0! Thanks guys, and I mean it genuinely! Thanks!)
First, in reverse order, is the Doctor of nail manicurists and nail art, Kei Minami (I‘ll call him “Nails“)!
He seems to be the middle ground between the emotional Shogo (“Sho!” (“Jim!”)) and the cold calculating computer Kazuhiko (“Kazu!” (“Spock!”))… no mint julips for you, Kei. His specialty though, besides doing the ladies’ nails, is his spunky energetic personality that makes him ideal for being the MC for each and every one of the “Scissors Project” events.
Second, in reverse order, is the computer with legs (because he is, and so does not have the pizzaz of a Leonard Nimoy in my opinion) Kazuhiko Ochiai (heir to his family‘s gigantic cosmetics company despite the fact that his specialty in the Scissors Project is NOT cosmetics).
Whenever he meets someone he processes all the data on that person in his head, and comes up with an answer time and time again… until somebody throws a pair of scissors into the blender of his mind in the first chapter of the first volume, but that’s in a few minutes.
As for Kazu-cku (who will not go into Pon Farr every seven years) he’s the consultant for overall beauty for the Scissors Project, much as Leonard Nimoy was the consultant for overall logic in the Star Trek Project (and overall 9 out of 10 people would rather be consulted by Leonardy Nimoy than by this Kazu guy).
Finally there is “NAILS!!”… “SPOCK!!”… and the head of the “Scissors Project“… (arms seized up in fake pain)… “KIROK!!”… (oh, wait, wrong episode)…. Uh… “SHOGO!!” (yeah).
Uh… here’s Shogo Narumi, the ringleader of the trio and the one who does the actual nip/cut of the hair. He’s the one, of all three, who gets on heroine Kiri the most. How so? Well, she’s sitting in her awkward eating place on the ledge outside of a window on the second or third floor (which happens to be a good spot to spy on people passing by… speaking of which…) when a childhood friend (Kanako Aoyama) gets humiliated by the head of the “Scissors Project” (which Kiri already thinks is “lame” in her esteemed opinion) it gets her on their fearless leader’s case.
This, however, gets him back on the ball and scheduling another “Scissors Project” (which the trio’s fans have been demanding but to date he has been reluctant to give).
After the event, however, shocker comes when a mysterious beauty shows up only to end up being, yes, the formerly “unbalanced” (beauty wise) Kanako Aoyama which brings the trio to a shrieking halt.
This puts them on the trail of the mysterious hairstylist, who they will find at any cost… I guess.
Oh no, Shogo is angry. “KHHHHHHhhhhhhaaaaannn…” (oh, wait, wrong enemy) “…KIIIIIIIIiiiiiiirrrrrriiiiiiii….” (there, even if they don‘t know it was Kiri as this preview ends)
As for what happens next? That’s for the full review in the near future. Stay tuned.
And is it just me, or is Shojo Beat shilling Yaoi titles abit more prominently than they used to? An entire page ad for a line of Yaoi titles featuring hot blooded beefcake guys in tight tight hotpants, no shirts and all clingy onto each other? Oh, and look, a Brokeback Mountain type hard riding cowboy sto -- whattya mean I’m psychologically scarring you? Uh… ok, let’s just wrap it now. Anyway I can see why and all but it’s 16+ titles here… oh, right, 16+ people are reading Shojo Beat, I got it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, but I got it. Stay tuned for my review of Beauty Pop V. 1 in the near future, I‘ll order it soon.