I finally dove more thoroughly into VIZ’s Ikki online manga “magazine” this past week after sort of ignoring it for a few months. The first series on my reading list was Kumiko Suekane Afterschool Charisma, which I had heard a lot about in various places on the net. After plowing through all 7 chapters posted, I found myself craving more, because it is an extremely interesting series so far. It has its unbelievable moments (“Almighty Dolly?!” Please tell me that’s just a poor translation!) but its unique setting and fascinating plot are keeping me hooked.

The only problems? The lack of professionalism by the site’s staff. In addition to not posting a mature content warning regarding the naked boobs in AC chapter 2, the site’s serialization efforts went on an unannounced hiatus for the “holiday season”… and still has not returned from break. According to my poking around, the manga were last updated on December 24th (for some of the series; a few were earlier than that) and don’t seem to have been touched since. It’s February 15th. The “holiday season” ended over a month ago, guys. Additionally, the blog post acknowledging the hiatus is dated January 16th. (Insert snarky commentary here.)

I only bring this up because I hate getting into series that have serialization issues (a la D.Gray-man)… and had I known that VIZ was having issues, I would have held off on starting the series. (Especially with the occasional nipples. I’m a minor, guys!) There doesn’t even seem to be any scanlation efforts out there, though it’s possible one escaped my research. Normally I wouldn’t worry much, but this unannounced hiatus could indicate licensing issues or some other conflict that could affect future publication of all the site’s series. Consider this a warning to anyone looking to get into the series, especially those of you who hate when a manga ends up unfinished.

Anyway, onto the actual review…

Afterschool Charisma’s premise is simple: in the near future, there’s a boarding school full of clones of famous historical figures. Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, Napoleon Bonaparte, Sigmund Freud, Mozart, even Adolf Hitler… The clones all exist for research purposes, as well as to perhaps make the world a better place. One boy, Shiro Kamiya, is only there because his father runs the school. He’s not even a clone! So how does he fit in with everyone there… and what will he do when a mysterious organization suddenly announces their intent to slaughter the clones?

Okay, so maybe that’s not particularly simple. There’s assassinations, fathers who may not be all that they seem, clones who rebel against their predecessors, quasi-cults that obsess over Dolly the sheep (yes, for srs,) Freud analyzing the crap out of people…  You get the point. Despite its strengths, the concept alone isn’t enough to carry this manga; the series’ attention to detail and originality are what make it an okay read.

It has all the potential to be an annoying, pretentious sci-fi romp full of wangst and fail, but it’s somehow not. It’s dark, and has a few minor futuristic technology bits, but it’s actually entertaining at times. It’s serious, but isn’t afraid to have a few shameless fanservice moments (usually involving boobs.) The educational bits are nice as well, especially if you’re into history (or Hetalia, perhaps~)

My favorite character so far has to be Florence, because she’s a cute, fun female lead who’s actually believable and not pure fanservice bait. Her emotions are fairly well-executed, even she is being fanservice bait. Shiro’s not the most annoying lead character out there, and even has his moments of real likability. Freud and Hitler fascinate me the most, though, partly because of my history geek side and partly because of their… how do I phrase this… uniqueness.

Of course, there are some major believability issues in other areas. Take Joan of Arc, for example; why on earth would she of all people worship Dolly the sheep?! She’s as Catholic as it gets! The whole Dolly thing is really bizarre and unrealistic, but considering the fascinating direction it pushes the plot in, it’s almost a worthwhile ploy by the author. The morbid turn of events after Mozart’s rejection of Dolly makes me wonder if that “cult” will continue to influence things for a while.

Though there’s not enough good things about Afterschool Charisma to make it a must-read, it’s certainly an interesting “what if?” sort of story. The characters and plot twists are enough to keep me hooked despite the major believability issues at some parts. Hopefully it’ll keep up its solid execution of a mildly lame premise. Of course, all this might not matter if SigIkki effs up its serialization if the manga; let’s just hope VIZ gets its act together and maintains its release of all the SigIkki series.

CJ’s Rating: 7.5 out of 10 California rolls