Title: Until the Full Moon #1
Author: Sanami Matoh
Publisher: Broccoli Books
ISBN: 1932480889
May Contain Spoilers
Mario has kind of a unique problem. Whenever there’s a full moon, he turns into a girl! His embarrassed parents pay a visit to Doctor Vincent, an old family friend, begging him to find a cure. Mario and David, Vincent’s son, used to be childhood friends. After avoiding David for the past ten years, Mario really doesn’t want to share his secret with David, but the truth gets sucked out of him (did I mention that David is a vampire?). Now their parents have decided that David and Mario will make the perfect couple, and they start planning their nuptials despite Mario’s protests. Can David convince him that theirs’ is a match made in heaven?
I liked the idea behind this story; a vampire and a werewolf’s son has a recessive gene that transforms him into a woman at every full moon. Mario’s mother is descended from the Yam tribe of werewolves, a tribe comprised only of men. At the full moon, some of the tribesmen turn into women, and the tribe can reproduce. Mario’s parents are taken aback with his “condition” until they hit upon the brilliant plot to marry him off to David.
Mario is against the idea. After all, they’re both guys, well, most of the time. David, a womanizer, likes Mario whatever gender he happens to be. This leads to Mario rejecting David when he’s a guy, but being a little more receptive to his charms when he’s a girl. Some of the plot devices to keep them apart weren’t very imaginative (a kidnapping and a jealous ex-girlfriend), but the fast pace of the story kept me flipping the pages.
I am not a big fan of Sanami Matoh’s art. I don’t like her character designs; they all look so garish and clunky. The layouts were easy to follow, and there was enough variety to the pages that, even though I don’t care for the illustrations that much, I didn’t lose interest in the book.
Grade: B-
Rated for 16+
Review copy provided by Broccoli Books.
March 2, 2007 at 3:07 pm
[...] From Manga Mania Cafe: Juvenile Orion vol 1 review KAMUI vol 6 review Until the Full Moon vol 1 review [...]
May 4, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I loved this volume. It was really sweet to me. <3 Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for romance
October 14, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Just wanted to let you all know that his name is Marlo… not Mario…Anyway, it’s a very good book. There is a second one and I’m pretty sure that they stopped making the first one (at least in Ohio). The series (though unfinished) is great and beautiful.