KAMIKAZE JEANNE? what is it and what is your opinion about it?

[RoyalWing]

i would just like to know on what "kamikaze kaitou jeanne" is. i've heard it's something about a demon hunter and st. jeanne d'Arc but nothing else. is it good? should it be avoided? ... and all that other stuff. ^-^

[Gypsy]

Hang on, waddledee, I just paged Ashley and she'll tell you all about it.

[Ashley]

Goood question my friend. As the resident KKJ fan, I'll do my best to help answer.

Ok, KKJ is the story of a high school girl, Maron, who lives by herself in this apartment complex with her best friend, Miyako. Miyako is obsessed with helping her father, the chief of police, track down an infamous thief of art called Jeanne. With your typical plot twist, Maron is actually Jeanne's alter ego, which makes life interesting between the two friends. Turns out that Jeanne is sent from God with a mission--to capture demons residing in different pieces of art. These demons have the power to possess the artwork's owners and make them do horrible things. However, when Jeanne seals the demon the artwork disappears, making her reputation as a thief. Add in a cute boy next door named Chiaki, a rival thief whom Jeanne suspects is working for Satan, a great plot and you've got the series in a nutshell.

Now this sounds well and good. The artwork, for example, is incredible, and the story had me breathless. However, I have to tell you some negative points too:
1. the story takes liberties with theology here. For example, Maron is the incarnation of Jeanne...which last time I checked wasn't possible in Christianity ("It is appointed for man once to die and then the judgement"). Also, the demons have the power to steal human souls and thus hurt God...they have a matrix-y view of humans as sort of spiritual batteries that can be used for God's power or the devil's. In the second season, things get really nasty theologically:
[spoiler] A demon, Queen, tells Maron that God forgot he was God and fell in love with a human girl named Jeanne (her prior life) and placed all his power in her, etc. [/spoiler] This was really unsettling to me, but a few of the lies they spouted I could accept as lies because they were coming from a demon's point of view. However, that's something you definately have to research and take up between you and the Lord

2. There are a few curse words. Also, the sub is...well not very great quality. Decent, but not superb

3. There is a little undefined nudity in the second season and a few bathtub scenes. However, if you can handle Sailor Moon or Magic Knights Rayearth, this shouldn't bother you too much

4. In the manga ONLY, there is an attempted rape scene. It's very mild, but it's there...this was way toned down in the anime series and made into a choking struggle and didn't even hint at sex.

Personally, I adored the series. I thought it was great, and I am mature enough in my walk to handle the bad things in it. However, I wanted to make sure I got that across to you right away. Here's the full review I wrote (http://www.christiananime.net/forums/reviews.php?display=39) and of course, if you have any, any questions at all, please PM me. I'd be more than happy to answer them for you.

[RoyalWing]

wow! ^-^ thank you alot!! that was great, i think you gave me everything i needed to know. and this is what i've concluded:

i think for now i will just stick at looking at the pretty art on the internet. personally, after reading your (amazing) review, i have decided that i am not mature enough in my faith to go through with this series. i have lots to learn about God for now and in my view this series wouldn't help me much; in fact it really might be unfortunate for me. so~ not yet, maybe not never. but thanks alot!! ^v^

[Ashley]

Glad to be of help to you pal. You might also want to check out Tanemura Arina's more innocent (theologically and sexually) titles, like ION, Time Stranger Kyoko, and Full Moon wo Sagashite. PM me and I can hook you up with some scanlations/summaries. I'm a huge Arina fan myself.

[Kisa]

Thanks so much Ashley! Great review and overview of the series! I have been curious about this one for awhile now ^^
Sounds good and the religion stuff sounds a bit weird, but I think as long as I remember this is NOT real I'm a'ok ^^

[Ashley]

At first the "religion" thing bugged me a little, but...hmm, how to say this without spoiling it. Well, let me just say this: later on it is revealed all you've been told about "Kami-sama" is a lie. For me, that made it much more acceptable...although in the manga they go into further detail and actually represent Kami-sama. I didn't like that part one bit, but it didn't ruin the series for me. You just gotta remember it's all fantasy anyway. I hope you enjoy it, Kisa and Tacti. ^^

[Mave]

Oh oh wait Ash, I have a question. This came to mind when you mentioned the rape scene.

I've read random chapters of KKJ. Perhaps it's my misfortune that without fail, I would come across some scene of a guy forcing himself on some girl. I've heard about the twarped Christian element but it was really all the "forcing" that bothered me. Just to quote some examples I recall:

[spoiler]
1) Chiaki grabs both Maron's hands and tries to kiss her. I think he was jealous seeing her talking happily to that teacher (whoever he was) on the rooftop of the school. Does he do this often?

2) There's another scene, where Chiaki is fooling around with her good friend at some camp (I didn't like that at all). She wanders alone and falls on some eh..landslide (?). She cries for help...teacher appears from nowhere and kinda "pounces" on her and forces a kiss. What's the deal with that? 0.o;;

3) ehh...can't remember what happened somewhere else but teacher grabs her again, pushes her down to the couch with him on top, hair loosen 0.o;;;

4) Time Access once ehh...."tricked/hynoptized/deceived" that she-angel into falling in love with him. I didn't find that idea comforting. Is that true?

After seeing such random scenes, I admit I lost interest despite the great art. Maron always seems so weak and guys just love to pounce on their ladies without considering their feelings (the latter bugs me the most).

[/spoiler]

Perhaps you could help clarify the following if I had the wrong impression or misunderstood something.

[Ashley]

I got a totally different impression, Mave. To be honest some of your spoilers I couldn't recall specifically, but I'll try to address them as best I can:

#1- I wouldn't say "often". It happens once or twice in the beginning, and Maron strongly dislikes it. It will be explained why he keeps trying to get close to her, which will eventually mature and change into a deep desire to protect her. At first he's a bit of a flirt but eventually he grows a lot more somber about it. In the anime they kissed just once.

#2- I don't remember at all. I remember a camp from the anime, but not the manga. Can you give me a chapter number?

#3- This is the scene I was talking about. I can easily see how anyone would stop right here and throw it away, and with reasonable justification for it. Myself, I understood the plot device, and while it isn't one *I* would ever choose, it wasn't enough to really ruin the series for me. Maron is deeply shaken up by this incident, and it deepens Chiaki's resolve to protect her.

#4- Again, not something I recall in the least. A lot of Tanemura's characters are a similiar in design, and it could be that reading a random chapter without any background explanation or character names had you confused. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just offering perhaps one explanation for it. Again, if you supply me with a reference I'll be happy to look it up and explain.

I would say your last statement is true at the *beginning* of the series, but Maron over the course of the series develops into a strong, independent girl. She realizes she's weak, but she decides to become strong, to stand on her own 2 feet, to fight even if it means fighting all by herself. That's a major plot point. As for the second half of your statement--involving the guys--I really didn't see that too much. I saw Chiaki being somewhat of a flirt trying to get her to like him, and of course she is just flat out irritated by it. Noin's character is given motives that ...while I hate to say "justify" what he did, because he IS a villian and they WERE wrong...explain it rationally and provide a catalyst for Chiaki's character/an awakening for Maron. I would say this manga is the opposite of the theme that "women are weak and need saving/kissing"--but instead takes up the banner (almost humanistically) that women can be strong heroes too.

I'm not going to defend this manga to every last inkdrop, I'm just hoping to explain what you mentioned in light of reading the whole thing and seeing the anime series.

[Mave]

Hey Ash, thanks!

Like I suspected, I always have the bad luck of stumbling upon the less-than-comforting scenes whenever I check random chapters of this title. I think I'll check it out as a whole nevertheless since the art is really PRETTY.

It's good to hear that the characters mature eventually.

#2 Honestly I don't have the chapter number since I ehh...kinda got rid of it (I think I did). >_<;; It was in one of those Japanese magazines. Well, from what I understand, it seems as if

[spoiler] Chiaki has broken up with Maron and is dating her best friend. During the camp, they're deliberately frolicking with each other in front of Maron (so cruel!) and everyone is gossiping like crazy. Maron soaks a bunch of girls with a bucket of water and lectures them...she looked very strong and brave in this scene. Later on, she wanders off...and she accidentally falls off some cliff and hurts her ankle. I think it was raining at that moment. The teacher appears out of nowhere and kinda hugs/kisses her. Meanwhile, Chiaki and Maron's best friend almost kiss but somehow Chiaki can't bring himself to do it.

Of course, these are my assumptions since the manga was in Japanese ^_^;; ehh...does this description help at all?
[/spoiler]

4# I'll have to double check this one. I never really understood what happened between Time Access and that girl...ehh angel?

Don't worry, I wasn't expecting anyone to defend this manga. I just wanted to clarify any misconceptions I had on this manga before giving it a try. Thanks once again! ^_^

[Ashley]

GAAAAAAAAAAAH! I had a really well thought out post and CAA ATE IT!

Ahem, anyway. I'm a huge tanemura-sensei fan, so I love talking about her work! ^^ While I think it's cool you're going to check it out, I also urge you to be prayerful about it. I'd hate to suck you into a series that messes you up just on my opinion. Also, Tanemura-sensei has a LOT of other titles that aren't nearly as ...theologically nasty, as well as several artbooks you can enjoy.

The spoiler isn't ringing any bells with me, which is a little disconcerting since I thought I knew this series inside and out. However, the teacher thing doesn't suprise me--he had a very specific purpose for getting close to her including taking advantage of her in painful/vulnerable moments; it was a truly heart-breaking plot/backstory he had going on so what he did fits right along with that. I wouldn't say on the whole though that girls are forced into kisses or anything like that...Tanemura-sensei rarely puts a mushy scene in just for the crap of it, and that's one thing I like about her. It's not like everyone, "is making out with everyone in sight!"

As for Access and Fin, their stories are pretty well developed , so I'm sure whatever you saw will be more fully explained.

Oh also: http://rosary.shining-abyss.net/ <--seems to be a pretty thorough resource on the anime