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Reviewed by Jason Brice I am definitely not the target audience for this book. However, Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts was a real treat to read. Creator Haruka Fukushima trots out the old "kid wants to be an adult, hilarity and life lessons ensue" storyline, but she does it with such charm and whimsy we are completely distracted from the creeping decrepitude of the plot. The premise is so simple I don't mind stealing the description from the TOKYOPOP website. Here's what the PR gurus say:
Eating these nuts causes her to morph into a voluptuous adult, and she's offered modeling opportunities and suddenly becomes noticed by guys who wouldn't have given her the time of day before. But, she's still a kid inside and is about to learn that things don't always work out exactly as you hope they will... Where Instant Teen succeeds is in Fukushima's inventive storytelling and clear focus on the core dilemmas that each of the cast have to deal with. Obviously Natsumi soon finds she is in over her head, but we get the feeling that she is never in any real physical danger. However, Natsumi's main problem is that she has to keep her adult life a secret from her family, and her kid life a secret from her new boyfriend. Natsumi's neighbor and friend Asuma Yoneyama is torn between being jealous of Natsumi's boyfriend, his own desire for the adult Natsumi, and wanting Natsumi to be a kid again. The only character that lacks depth is Professor Hakase Morinomiya, the "mad scientist" who invents the magic pink nuts; the story's McGuffin. While Fukushima does employ conventional tropes like the bleeding nose to indicate sexual desire, she manages some very innovative ways to tell the story and out the reader into Natsumi's headspace; a kid joyously overwhelmed by new found opportunities but at the same time tinged with apprehension and doubt. This thoughtful approach to the illustration is surprising and welcome; it adds depth to a well-worn plot, and guarantees I'll be checking out the next volume in the series. Comment on this review of Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts v1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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