'Zodiac P.I.'
Oh, wow.I'd heard of this probably since I started to become aware of the existence of manga. But for some reason I'd never bothered to check it out until now. It had occurred to me that since I love Natsumi Ando's other series, 'Kitchen Princess', well, why not see what her other work is like?
'Zodiac P.I.' is an earlier manga series of hers. Judging from the first volume, it is, without a doubt, the stupidest, silliest manga I have ever read, that I ended up liking anyway. The plots, the mysteries, make almost no sense, and neither do the motivations and resolutions. There are plot holes and unexplained details galore, and there are as many OTT shōjo manga caricatures and cliches as you'd expect from the early 2000s. It's kind of a mess.
But it's an entertaining mess. There's action and drama. There's murder and blood in this all-ages shōjo manga! The main character, Riri Hoshizawa, is a magical girl who is a detective. Or, she's a detective who transforms into a magical girl for no logical reason other than to have thrilling climaxes to the cases she solves, as she confronts the murderer. She needs horoscopes, magical astrology and divine intervention - from mini goddesses representing the twelve signs of the zodiac, who give the magical girl clues based on the murder victim's star sign and horoscope from the day they died... the premise is absolutely bonkers and so early 2000s and I love it - to help her solve the murders. But she has innate skills of her own that aid her, too.
Riri's love interest is Hiromi Oikawa, a wannabe detective and former childhood friend, who of course has black hair and looks like every handsome, darkhaired male love interest in every shōjo manga ever. Hiromi is the Tuxedo Mask to Riri's Sailor Moon, and he's not half bad. He's a cute moody boy who wants to prove himself, though he breaks out in hives whenever he touches a girl - he literally says he's allergic to women, which, what? What's that about? He's acts as the straight man to the heroine's outgoing, energetic, cheeky personality.
And I think, more than its murder mystery subgenre with the bizarre astrological element to its magical girl angle, that's what makes 'Zodiac P.I.' stand out from other shōjo titles: its heroine, Riri Hoshizawa, aka Spica, her magical girl private investigator identity.
Riri is not your typical meek, helpless, delicate, demure, clumsy, flustered, people-pleasing shōjo manga and anime protagonist who always needs males to protect her and solve all her problems. She's rambunctious, rude, thoughtless, impulsive, and quite egotistical and smug. She's a junior high school fortune teller, astrologer, and P.I., who doesn't always have the most selfless and altruistic motives (mainly she wants to find her missing mother, who was also a Spica). But she's determined to the core. She won't let anything get in her way. She delivers mean high kicks to boot, managing to keep her modesty while wearing skirts. Riri is rather unique, and therefore admirable, for heroines of her ilk at the time this manga came out.
Plus she wears fabulous outfits and fashions (she's all about the skirts!), when she's in disguise and as Spica... whose outfit looks like regular clothing, hardly resembling a magical girl, but whatever, she clearly knows what she likes.
Another positive: There's a plus-sized girl, Akina Nakamura, in one story, which is very rare in anything to do with manga and anime. At no point is her weight brought up, and she isn't treated like a joke. It's a shame she runs off scared before the murder victim is even discovered, and is never seen again.
Another positive: Another rarity: The art contains a few small moments of varying facial expressions which you don't typically see in shōjo manga, like when Riri lifts one eyebrow and squints one eye when facing the sun's glare, and in an inquisitive look. I was a bit shocked when I saw that dedicated attention to detail. It's small but noteworthy for its genre's art conventions.
Another negative: The English translation from the out-of-print copy I managed to get online. It's pretty bad. Names are mixed up infrequently (did no one proofread this?), and I'm sure I missed crucial details in the dialogue and Riri's internal monologues in the manga's murder mystery stories. I'm sure it makes more sense in the original Japanese. Also Riri is called Lili, except for one instance in the mini story at the end, where she is suddenly Riri (oops! The translation can't even stay consistent). I'm positive the rename is wrong, as she has 'Riri' written literally all over her shirt on the bloody cover of the manga!
'Zodiac P.I.' needs to get back to print with a retranslation in English; our standards are much higher now.
But for now, for a good laugh, good action, and a good slow-burning romance between cute, spirited leads, involving fun banter and mutual hijinks, and a turning-your-brain-off reprieve, I'd say, yeah, go ahead, seek out 'Zodiac P.I.'. Though it would take deep detective work to find an acceptable, cheap copy nowadays. I'd recommend it to magical fans, too. I mean, how many magical girl homicide P.I.s can you name? And with Riri's confident, charismatic and infectious character?
I know I would have been into it as a teen reading manga for the first time, as I was obsessed with magical girls and horoscopes and star signs way back when.
'Zodiac P.I., Vol. 1' is my biggest guilty pleasure of the year, and a unique oddity I have to keep and preserve. It's the sort of charming, earnestly presented, early 2000s nostalgic stupidity I need at this moment.
Thank you once again, Natsumi Ando-san.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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