"...Tsubasa, you can fly so freely in the sky," Arisa says while gazing out the window. "You've never thought about this, have you?" She sits carefully down on the window ledge. Her head is down, and her face is gloomy. "You've never wanted to disappear from this world." Tsubasa looks at her with big eyes, shocked, not knowing what to think. "Arisa?" she says anxiously. "You don't know anything, Tsubasa. You don't know their secret, and you don't know my secret." Arisa looks up at Tsubasa with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry, Tsubasa." Her hand lets go of the ledge while her body falls backwards.
That dramatic scene you just read now is from the first chapter of ARISA. This will be the first manga I review. Why you ask? It's funny, cause this was not the first manga I read, nor do I have any special relation to it. I chose it just because I liked it, and because it made a good first impression on me. ;)
Plot
ARISA, a series by Natsumi Ando, is a mystery and romance shoujo manga. The manga revolves around Sonoda Arisa and Uehara Tsubasa, twin sisters separated by their parents' divorce, who promise to send letters to each other to keep in touch. They finally meet again for the first time in three years. Tsubasa is envious, but proud, of her sweet, popular sister in comparison to her own school life where she is often related to "The Demon Princess," and Arisa suggests they switch places for a day. After this, Tsubasa goes on about how she envies Arisa, to which she responds, "You don't know their (Arisa's class 2B's) secret, and you don't know my secret!" and attempts suicide by jumping out of the window. She stays in a coma, and Tsubasa poses as her and goes to her school to find out why she did so. She finds out class 2B sends wishes on their cellphones to a person called "KING" each Friday. The KING only grants one wish weekly, mostly resulting in violence. Tsubasa tries to stop the KING and find out who he is to save Arisa, as he may be the reason of her attempted suicide.Review
ARISA is an amazing story filled with love, excitement, mystery, and friendship. Although love and romance are some of the main themes of this series, there are a lot more things to it than that. Murder, blood, betrayal, and "crazy people" are important parts in ARISA. Now that you read that, you may have changed your mind about it, but I just want to reassure you that it isn't as bad as it sounds. It is nothing close to the genres thriller and horror. Its genre is a romance mystery. In fact, I think that explains it the best. There's also a lot of humour, friendship, and school life. But for me who is reviewing this, it is important to state that there may be scenes which aren't always in your usual shoujo mangas. Instead of this manga being a 100% love story, like Bokura ga Ita, Special A, Ouran High School Host Club, and many more, it has a lot more mystery and excitement.
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| Arisa is to the left and Tsubasa to the right. |
Out of all the manga's I've read, this is definitely a manga worth reading. I liked it a lot! Many times I've read manga's that although I like, I don't remember them when I look back. However, ARISA I did remember. It's the type of manga where you're telling yourself you don't want it to end. I think that's an important feeling to get when you're reading a manga series. This is definitely the manga for you if you like excitement, love, and mystery.
Now, over to some Christian judgement… ARISA has a great storyline. Tsubasa, one of the main characters, is a very determined person and tries to do everything for her sister. However, behind all this sweetness there are lies, misery, revenge, and gossip. Even between the two sisters. So what does the Bible say about these things?
Lying
God makes it clear to us not to lie, because it is a sin and it's displeasing to God. The 9th commandment also tells us to not bear false witness, which is the same as saying to not lie. Colossians 3:9 says, "Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds." In 1 Timonthy 1:9-11, lying is something practiced by the lawless. Furthermore, liars will be among those judged in the end. Jesus called Himself the way, the truth, and the life, and He expects those who follow Him to be people of truth. In addition, God never lies. In fact, it is impossible for Him to lie.
Misery and Revenge
Proverbs 15:15 says, "For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast." This verse basically tells us that, if you choose to be miserable, your life will end up being miserable. However, if you choose to be cheerful, your life will be cheerful. This is considered one of the hardships people face everyday. Many people choose to be miserable and then want others to pity them. And I find that some of the characters can be very miserable at times. Therefor, I think that if they would stop that habit and concentrate on the good things in there lives, they wouldn't have to be in those terrible situations where they're at the point of killing themselves. Yupp, you heard me.
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| Kudou Rei (The guy who has a crush on Arisa) |
You have probably heard people say, "There is nothing wrong with revenge," "Revenge is fun," "I live for revenge," "Because you did this, I'm gonna take my revenge," and so on… If you've ever been in that situation, I just want to say to you, "Don't do as the wicked do, and follow the path of evildoers. Don't even think about it; don't go that way. Turn away and keep moving," (Proverbs 4:14-15). I once asked my friend, "Why not just forgive him for what he did?" My friend answered, "Never! It's much more fun with revenge, plus he deserves it." Now, if you were in that situation, I am sure that (if not on the outside) deep inside you wouldn't want someone to take revenge on you, right? And who decided people deserve revenge? All people do mistakes and mean things to each other that they may regret, but that doesn't mean you have do the same towards them. God doesn't punish us when we do something wrong. He loves us no matter what. If we ask for forgiveness from God, we will get it. I think (out of experience and observation), if you don't have Jesus in your heart to guide you through your life, you will only seek to do evil. The scary part is that after a while, you won't even notice the difference. "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord." -Romans 12:19 "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." -Romans 12:21
Gossip
In my Bible, there are little boxes with questions and explanations in them. One of them is about gossiping:
Is it ok to just listen to gossip?
Imagine these scenarios. Scene 1: Your best friend is gossiping about you. (That would hurt, wouldn't it?) Scene 2: Someone else is gossiping about you, and your best friend is standing there listening, not defending you at all. (That would also hurt, right?) Scene 3: Someone starts gossiping about you to your best friend, but your best friend walks away. The conversation stops cold. (Wow, wouldn't that make you feel good?) See, gossip is harmful. It fuels fights and sinks deep into people's hearts. It's a terrible, hurtful thing; and even if you aren't the one actually saying anything, just listening is being part of the problem.
This is just a little thing to think about. ;)
Other sins to be aware of
Proverbs 6:16-19 is a good summary of all the things (or sins) the characters in ARISA do. "There are six things the Lord hates – no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who shows discord in a family.""Haughty eyes" refers to Arisa's class, class 2B, thinking that they are the best class in the world. "A lying tongue" refers to pretty much everyone who lies. An example is when Tsubasa lies to class 2B saying she's Arisa. "Hands that kill the innocent": when the KING kills people according to class 2B's wish. "A heart that plots evil": The KING, Mariko (Arisa's so-called friend), and Kudou Rei, a guy who is in love with Arisa (who appears later in the story). "Feet that race to do wrong": the KING. "A false witness who pours out lies": Kudou Rei. And last, but not least, "A person who shows discord in a family" is of course Arisa and her reason for why she attempted to kill herself.
Conclusion
To conclude, I want to say that I enjoyed reading this manga very much, and the author is indeed very talented. I think I might even say that it's one of my top favorites. However, I want to make people aware of the sins committed in this manga. As I said, ARISA has a great and touching storyline, but don't go and do what the characters do. Don't be blinded and think that the people are only doing good deeds. Don't think that what they are doing is "cool" or "normal". If you're aware of these things while reading ARISA, I think it's ok to read it. In my opinion, the story was very creative, and I haven't read anything like it so far. But I did not like the characters' idea of life, neither the way some of the characters manipulated each other. Well, now it sounds like I'm only saying negative things about it. Hehe… Oppsi ^-^' ARISA is definitely a manga I recommend. So if you got some free time on your hands, check it out!Lastly, I just want to give some basic rating of the manga.
Ages: from 13-14 years and up.
Storyline: 5 out of 6
From the first chapter, it's already a very exciting, fascinating, and catchy story. However, the author could have used less violence.
Creativity: 6 out of 6
As I said, I've never read anything like it, so it was definitely interesting! The drawings were also very beautiful~! ^-^
Message: 3 out of 6
I don't want to spoil anything… But, I think you will (maybe) understand why I gave it such a low mark when you read the end. I didn't dislike the end though. It gave the feeling of never giving up your dreams or goals in life. Even though the message was kind of special, it still had good parts about it. :)
Impression: 5 out of 6
I definitely remembered this manga. It still hasn't left my mind and is a touching and exciting one, which I very much recommend! Overall I give it a 5 out of 6.
My Bible: Girls Life Application Study Bible (Version: New Living Translation)
http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-lying-sin.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisa_(manga)
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