Mujirushi Shimazaki

This review covers volumes 1 and 2 as a set.
‘Monster Tamer Girls’ is a 2 volume manga series. The style is a more shoujo than shonen focusing on the emotional states and relationships over action and situational conflicts, even though there are problem solving to be had. The theme and plot are both rather original. Mysterious monsters have appeared on earth. While their physical size has led to levels of destructions, many are also quite tame and merely seek to exist. The trick becomes how to communicate with them and to manage their existence, hence to tame them. It was discovered that some young ladies have the gift of song that can both sooth and communicate naturally. Thus, the Tamer Girls Committee is formed for both training and duties. The artwork is classic manga ‘cute’. The monsters are of all varieties from dinosaur-like or large animals to even a cone with eyes. They are also portrayed as being intuitive, protective, and with feelings as intelligent animals would. Being only two volumes and without using added text, the story is kept simple, not attempting to define this blended society thoroughly. I did enjoy what I consider to be important coming-of-age themes, especially for girls – discovering the strength in oneself, finding confidence, embracing their gift, and ultimately acting as mentors to others in the epilogue. It’s always pleasant to find a shoujo manga that is not about boy-crazy frustrations.

From the library… (más)

"Music has charms to soothe the savage breast" in this world overrun with giant monsters. Middle school girls and young women have the power to calm and direct the beasts with song, so of course a school has been set up to train monster tamers. The girl with the most potential is a bit of a scaredy cat, so she must learn to overcome her fears as she starts to work with the monsters and perhaps start to uncover some deeper mysteries about their behavior.

This slowly grew on me despite being big on cutesy and low on energy. The cast of students and teachers is appealing, but the monster Blue (depicted on the cover) could very easily steal the spotlight, especially as the creators start to delve into the mythology of the giant beasts.

Side note: I'm a little wary about all-female manga titles featuring school uniforms (males show up only infrequently in the background in this volume) as they often seem to be to be pedophile fodder. And indeed there are some young women wrapped in tentacles as they deal with monsters, but the fan service here is subdued or may only exist in my paranoid imagination. I'll keep reading as long it doesn't start to get creepy.… (más)

After an intriguing set-up, the series quickly loses momentum as this volume devolves into a collection of short stories about how random people in the world are affected by the giant monsters. The monster tamer girls did not really even need to show up. And when they did, I realized I could not really tell any of them apart even just a couple weeks after reading the first volume. Either their personalities really did not play much into the events of this volume, or, more likely, they really didn't have much in the way of personalities to start with.

I'll try another volume, but I need the creator to focus on the core group of girls and monsters to keep me engaged.

p.s. Well, another review here on Goodreads and a quick Google search seems to verify that this is the last volume of the series. In which case, what a waste of time. There is no satisfying story to be had here at all, just a squandered opportunity and a taste of what might have been.… (más)