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Wild @ Heart
Manga Review
Natsumi Ando has won a 2006 Kodansha Award for her manga, Kitchen Princess, and has written Zodiac P.I. Of both titles named, there are English releases. If you have read the other titles, what is an appropriate response to picking up this book? Why read it.
Wild @ Heart is a three volume manga series that is packaged in a nice complete omnibus. Manga series on a publication trend can become very long in Japan. With the cost of manga being cheaper there than here, Japanese publishers can afford to release on a volume by volume basics. Since manga has to be imported and translated, there has been an American publication trend, with repacking series in an omnibus deal.
Certainly this doesnít have to be with the attention span of an American reader, but definitely as a gift, having a complete series for one price is much better than purchasing individual volumes. There are certainly no frills and bows with this type of release, but to read the entire story in one sitting is nice. There are also two additional short stories that are included after the main story.
 Wild @ Heart is a Tarzan/Jane jungle romance between Hyo and Chino. As an eccentric adventuring writer, Chinoís father found Hyo living in the jungle. Not missing a chance for a story of a life time, he brings Hyo back to civilize him so to say. Chino is a girl who wants to find love desperately, so of course walking in half naked to see Hyo should send her into a romance right?
Not really, it certainly didnít help her initial impression of him, but of course with Hyo, Chino is the only girl for him. Throw them into a school setting then what? There are other characters and situations in this book to make it an interesting fluffy light read. Thatís a ìjungle promise!î
If you enjoy this book, then you would be a type of reader that would enjoy reading Hana Kimi or Rin Ne on the basics of characters falling in love even under unique circumstances. Wild @ Heart certainly finishes sooner than what appears for the other two series.
Reviewed by Linda Yau, January 2011
Below: Two spreads from Wild @ Heart, click on each image to view at full size.
Below: Illustrations from Wild @ Heart.
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