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At Seiyo
Elementary, the Guardians consists of Amu
Hinamori, a sisth-grade girl who sits in the "Joker" chair, Tadase Hotori,
a sixth-grade boy that sits in the "King" chair, Rima Mashiro, a
sixth-girl that sits in the "Queen" chair, Kairi Sanjo, a
fourth-boy that
sits in the "Jack" chair, and Yaka Yuiki, a fifth-girl that sits in the
"Ace" chair.
On the
first day of sixth grade, Amu wakes up to find another Guardian Egg, a
diamond egg. With the new school year starting, Kukai Souma has moved up
to middle school, which leaved the "Jack" chair open in the Seiyo
Elementary Guardians. Also, Nadeshiko Fujisaki has left for Europe to
study dancing for a year, so the "Queen" chair is also open. Amu is
depressed when she finds out the Nadeshiko won't be at school this year.
Feeling upset by everything that has happened, her new diamond Guardian
Egg, which hasn't hatched yet, turns into an X Egg and escapes. El, Utau Hoshina's
only good Guardian Character leaves Utau because she no longer feels
needed. She ends up in the possession of Amu when Amu was trying to get
her diamond egg back. A new transfer student, Rima Mashiro, makes her
appearance the first day of school and all the boys go ga-ga over her.
She is pretty, she knows it, and she calls all the boys that go crazy
over her "slaves." At first, since Rima doesn't talk that much, Amu
thinks that she might be a little like her. But as it turns out, she
isn't. When she is picked to be in the "Queen" seat, Rima teams up with
the new boy in the "Joker" seat, Kairi Sanjo. Kairi states that he has
been studying the "Joker" and finds that she is not doing a very good
job because the number of X Characters is on the rise. What Amu doesn't
know yet is that every time Utau sings in a concert, she is creating X
Character Eggs from all the boys in the audience. Just when Amu is
feeling her lowest and is ready to stop being a Guardian, Kukai pays a
visit. He convinces her that it is time to go X Egg hunting, but what he
really wants to do is talk with her about how she is feeling. They run
into Utau, who has Amu X diamond Egg, and she challenges Amu to a fight.
If Utau wins, Amu must give her the Humpty Lock. If Amu wins, she gets
back her diamond egg. When Utau attacks, Amu doesn't fight back. The
diamond X Egg hatched for Utau and she is able to character transform
and Amu used El to transform. The attack stops when Ikuto shows up and
Utau kisses him. When he tells her to stop because she is his little
sister, Utau states that she doesn't care . . . she loves him. She also
states that she hates Amu because she has seen Ikuto protecting her and
that she will defeat her one day.
Shugo
Chara!: Volume 4 is written
and drawn by Peach-Pit. This story was
Translated by Satsuki Yamashita , Adapted by Nunzio DeFilippis and
Christina Weir and Lettered by North Market
Street Graphics. There are
also some sections in the book for: A) Honorifics Explained,
B) About the Creators, and C) Translation Notes. The book read from right to left and back
to front, just like a book from Japan. This manga book is intended for
readers ages 13 and up.
Shugo
Chara!: Volume 4 is
another really good manga book that takes place at the beginning of the
next school year. Hmmm . . . I wasn't very happy with this. I felt like
I hadn't had much time to get to know Kukai and Nadeshiko before they
were gone. Plus, Rima seems like such a little witch while Kairi is not
very nice either. So, now there are two rather nasty little kids in
Guardian seats. To top it all off, Amu's new diamond Guardian Egg turns
into an X Egg and ends up in the hands of Utau. But, here is the real
kicker. We have known for a while that Utau is in love with Ikuto, but
now we learn that she is his younger sister. Ewww . . . can you say
"incest?" Yuck! That is really gross. Why can't they be second cousins,
or something? At least that is somewhat acceptable. But brother and
sisters? Grody to the max! Okay, moving on. The story in this volume is
quite good and I found it to be a little stressful. A lot more drama in
this book than the previous three. The Translation and Adaptation from
Japanese to English is okay, but needs some fine tuning. There are some
awkward phrases in the book that we would never say in America. The
artwork is very good. As for Rima, I understand that she is supposed to
be cute, but I begin to wonder if Japanese boys only ever look at the
wrapping and not the entire package. If they were to see inside Rima,
they would find a girl that is pretty rotten. She is not nice at all and
I wonder at the inability of a singe Japanese boy not being able to see
this. Instead, they are all struck dumb by the beauty of her face. It
certainly cannot be her body either, because it looks like the body of a
first grader. Overall, Shugo
Chara!: Volume 4 is
another great book in this fun series that takes a more serious turn.
Still, I look forward to seeing if Amu can get her Diamond Guardian back
and not have her be an X Character. Maybe this will happen in Shugo
Chara!: Volume 5?
I rated
this book an 8 out of 10. |
