VS. Versus Vol. 1 – Manga Review

Julie from Manga Maniac Cafe suggested that I read Versus in order to shrink my major backlog. After reading the blurb on the back of the book, I found out this is a music manga! But could it possibly be as good as Nodame Cantabile?

The Back of the Book Says:
For Reiji, a gifted violinist with no formal training, success may be the key to escaping from his miserable home life. Mitsuko was also a prodigy until an accident left her unable to play. Now she is going to help Reiji achieve the goal she could never attain. Passions and rivalries play out against the backdrop of the music world, while Reiji’s family background provides intense, emotional drama.

Analysis:
So the setting of Versus is a music school, but it’s really just the backdrop for the drama that makes up the meat of the story. The mangaka admits that she really knew nothing about music when starting this manga. That’s a bad sign…

As a musician, I was hoping to get something like Yakitate! Japan except with music instead of bread. While it’s hinted that Reiji needs to mature as a musician, there isn’t really any real world knowledge of music applied. Also, the story is completely unrealistic. Reiji is only 14 years old but he’s expected to have the maturity to play these complicated pieces. It’s no surprise that he can’t understand the underlying emotions behind them; he’s just way too young.

All of the characters are basically nutjobs. Due to child abuse, both Reiji and his sister have serious mental issues. Their mom doesn’t even do anything to help! Mitsuko has major issues with her hand injury that prevents her from playing her instrument.

This first volume focuses on Reiji trying to win the Japan National Contest. If he loses, he’ll be expelled. The story makes it seem like an ultimatum, but if Reiji is as good as described, I don’t think it’d be so bad. He says that music will be the way to save his sister, but it just seems like wishful thinking.

Character Designs and Art:
I won’t say the art is terrible. It’s just drawn in a way that I don’t really like. At some parts, it can be good, but for the most part it looks like old fashioned shoujo. This is fine if you like shoujo art, but if you’re like me, the art is more of an eyesore.

The same goes for the character designs. Mitsuko is actually kind of hot sometimes, but besides that the characters are all blah. At least, to me they are.

The Actual Book:
The book is of fairly average quality. The print quality looks good, and the paper is the kind that you’ll see in most books. I did notice a few spelling errors, most notably the composer “Vaughn-Williams” name being spelled “Vaugh-Williams.” I wouldn’t have caught that if I wasn’t a musician, though…

Conclusion:
Despite Julie’s recommendation, I couldn’t really get into Vs. Versus. The musical aspect of the plot seems very made up, and the characters are all fairly unlikeable. Hopefully it’ll get better in the following volumes as the mangaka learns more about music.

Thanks to CMX Manga for sending me a review copy of VS. Versus Volume 1!