SHADOW LADY 2

Shadow Lady [シャドウレデ] #2

by Masakazu Katsura

The fate of the world depends on Shadow Lady finding and sealing up the dreaded Demon Stones, but first she must vanquish the evildoers corrupted by their demonic power. But Aimi Komori has very little left of the magic eye shadow that transforms her into Shadow Lady, and she must transform for perhaps the final time to face the hideous Zera, Arch-Demon of Destruction. If Shadow Lady can't reseal the Demon Stones, Zera will transform into the Demon of Final Destruction, and mankind and demonkind will both buy the farm Of course, the citizens of Gray City think that Shadow Lady is actually Zera's master, so they're after Shadow Lady's head too

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

Paperback

First published May 15, 1996

About the author

Masakazu Katsura (桂正和) is a Japanese manga artist.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for complete series



Aimi is incredibly shy and can barely get herself to hold a normal conversation. What no one knows: at night, she becomes the coquettish thief Shadow Lady. She never steals anything of value - to her, it's all about the thrill of the chase.

Shadow Lady is not the usual type of manga I would pick up and pretty much only did so because I like Katsura's art. I confess, my first read was rather a disappointment and I regretted buying it. Somehow over the years, I seem to have warmed up to it though, at the very least, I like it well enough to keep my copies. I think, a big reason why I wasn't so keen on this series is the simple fact that I'm not a huge fan of sexy and flirtatious characters - I prefer shy Aimi over her night-time alter ego any day.

Nonetheless, I found myself liking both sides of her personality and Shadow Lady's traits don't strike me as pronounced as they used to. It is nice to see Aimi grow a little confidence and I can see how at a later point in her life she could develop a personality that lies somewhere in between. But that is also a big drawback to this series: one can only imagine. I am pretty sure this series was cut short, at least I always see red flags if there's a quest to collect X amount of items and suddenly the bulk of it is skimmed over in a quick leap to complete the final task. The story itself doesn't exactly feel incomplete, but there's enough material for this to have been a longer one.

The whole thieving aspect of the story was very typical and used tropes I never quite got my head around why they are used to so much: Shadow Lady announces all her robberies in advance to make sure the police is well prepared. Although, unlike other manga of its kind, it doesn't take itself so seriously and there's at least somewhat of a logical explanation if one considers that Shadow Lady's main goal is the thrill.

While this is largely a comedy and action manga, the romance is pretty fun. Aimi falls in love with the handsome police agent next door who just so happens to be in love with Shadow Lady. Wait, does that count as a love triangle? As for the action, the setting and even the art has a bit of a Gotham City vibe, which does not surprise at all considering Katsura's interest in US comics.

I still don't think I would have picked this up if I hadn't already been familiar with the author. I also wouldn't know to whom exactly I would ever recommend this, but it is by no means a bad manga. It's funny, well-drawn and, despite the fact that it uses many known tropes and concepts, surprisingly different.

[Gonzalo Milano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este tomo se siente mas variado en su contenido, pero no se si en muy buen sentido.

Salta del anterior tomo, que se mantenía como una historia sin rumbo, al conflicto de rivales, triángulos amorosos y la búsqueda de unas piedras que pueden terminar con el mundo. Parece como si estuviera probando cual de todas las salsas es la que le falta a una obra que se lee bastante amateur. Pero sin bastardearla por demás, creo que es el caso, así que veremos a futuro si en sus próximos mangas aprende del pasado.

También esta esto de las otras caras que posee la gente, que estoy mas que seguro algo quieren intentar decir sobre las mascaras que nos ponemos frente a la sociedad y quizás lo que reside en la oscuridad. Pensando en quizás Bright y la verdadera vida de diversión que dejo solo por Shadow lady, la heroína que se esconde detrás de Spark Girl o el millonario que por fin puede cumplir sus deseos de controlar mujeres. Pero no quiero darle mas profundidad a algo que aun no me ha probado estas teorías.

Después lo de siempre, encuentro algunas paginas muy bien estructuradas, los dibujos en su mayoría con ese estilo que me encanta y siguen con esas escusas para desnudar mujeres, que ya dio la vuelta y ahora me parece hasta gracioso.

No se si la mejor forma de pasar mi cumpleaños jaja

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had these Shadow Lady books on my bookshelf for a good 25 years now and I don't think I'd ever considered taking them down to reread them until recently. I gotta say, the story is thin and the relationships shallow, but there's some fun in them. Still debating if this little trilogy will go into my library donation pile or back onto the shelf.

In book two, Shadow Lady's origin is revealed - magical make-up from the demon dimension triggers her transformations, and because her little demonic sidekick has escaped the demon dimension (and revealed himself and his powers to Aimi), he's hunted by other demons. BUT they'll let De-Mo and Aimi go IF they capture six demon stones for them. So Shadow Lady shifts from "nuisance against the cops" to "hero but the cops still think she'd bad." Katsura ramps up the action nicely, and the cheesecake artwork remains strong. Very slight, but reasonably fun.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

La storia prende un pochino di pepe anche se rimane piuttosto banale. Abbiamo una rivale gelosa del cuore di Bright e dei demoni che compaiono e sono intenzionati a uccidere Aimi e Demo a meno che non portino loro delle pietre misteriose. Diciamo che c'è un po' più sostanza e ammetto che in alcuni punti fa ridere.

[Tiliqua · Rating 2 out of 5]

well, it got a story now. sort of. there is a sense of progression. the fantasy demon aspect at least has a chance to be part of the world setting.

still enjoying the art and the action, still bummed about the ecchi.

[✨Sky✨ ♏ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

From reading the title, I already had a feeling what I was getting into. I gave it a chance and it did not impress. A weak story about some girls being undercover vigalantees or demon hunters. Lots of up skirt shots later and multiple battles in which most of their clothes were removed left me looking for something interesting to read.