Friday, September 12, 2008

Mail Order Ninja Volume 2 by Joshua Elder and Erich Owen

Timmy McAllister used to be one of the most picked-on nerds at school. But all that changed when he sent away for his own Mail-order Ninja, Yoshida Jiro. With Jiro's help, he suddenly became the coolest kid in school. But that didn't sit well with Felicity Huntington, the former school "Queen" who found herself suddenly unseated by Timmy's meteoric rise.

She's not about to take that lying down! She buys herself her own army of mail-order ninjas, led by Hakuuryu Nobunaga, Jiro's longtime foe, to take down Timmy and Jiro and make herself Queen all over again. Invading the dance party Timmy has thrown, she and her ninja take Jiro hostage, and Felicity unveils a statue with a gem called "The Heart of Darkness" that gives her power over Darkness and the ability to take over the town of Cherry Creek once and for all.

All the adults have been brainwashed with a mind-numbing nutrient paste, and the kids are forced to declare allegiance to "Queen Felicity" and her regime. But when Ms. Melton breaks free of her mind control, she is kidnapped by two White Ninja thugs, Goemon and Mitsuhide. But this is the final event that makes Timmy and his friends agree to fight back against "Queen" Felicity, but can they win with so much of the power on her side?

This was a cute book that plays with the idea of a mail-order ninja (for $249.99, no less!) and how ordering one made him from a loser to a winner. But in this volume, Timmy has to fight himself to restore order and freedom in Cherry Hill, and is instrumental in taking out Queen Felicity while Jiro fights Nobunaga. Can both of them win against their enemy's "ultimate techniques"?

Being an American manga, the book is rather slim, but still manages to pack in a reasonable amount of story into its pages. Still, at under 100 pages, it looks pretty anemic compared to other manga on the shelf, but is also cheaper, priced at just $5.99. As for the story, it's nothing exceptionally great, but does keep your attention and is just over the top enough to make you smile or laugh.

While it isn't the best Tokyo Pop title out there, it does have the Kawaii factor on its side. It's also geared for grade-schoolers rather than teens, but for all that, it's not bad.

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