Title: Swan Volume(s): 21 Author(s): Ariyoshi Kyoko Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: CMX MSRP: $9.95 Genre(s): Drama Rated: All Ages

I have to hand it to DC, when they choose manga to license, they can sure pick them. Yep, they can pick ‘em real well. DC's instincts on manga are on target with Michael Eisner's instincts on what movies to greenlight (and CMX's instincts on how to handle the series they pick up are even worse). So I have four manga books I've bought from DC's CMX label. The first one I read was "Land of The Blindfolded," and I was in awe at how average the series was. It wasn't a train wreck, but it certainly wasn't an attention-grabber, either. Now I may have only read a couple of CMX's releases so far, but I must say that, so far, I am pretty far from impressed. Even Gutsoon started out with a strong lineup with their manga launch ("Bomber Girl" and "Baki The Grappler" not withstanding). I guess you can tell this review isn't going in a very kind direction, huh? But why complain about the time I wasted with "Land of The Blindfolded?" After all, it's a new day, new possibilities, and a new manga series to read. This one is called "Swan," most likely a play off the title to the hit ballet "Swan Lake."

"Swan" is, obviously, about ballet. Last time I reviewed a ballet manga was last year, with Tokyopop's release of "Forbidden Dance." Come to think of it, that series was mediocre too. Oh well, to make a long story short, "Swan" is about a girl named Masumi who loves ballet. One day she is specially chosen to participate in a ballet competition. She fails. But that doesn't matter, because a famous dancer sees potential in her dancing skills, and he invites her to a competition, with the prize being the privilege to learn ballet from some of the best ballet teachers in the world. And to do more competitions, and go on more tours, and... live out her dreams... I think. Well folks, to be completely honest, this is all I could pick up from reading the first book of this series. The main problem with "Swan" is that the series is, for the most part, a confusing mess. I read this book not once, but twice, and as God is my witness, I could only figure out what was going on about 85% of the time. The characters have shallow personalities, I couldn't figure out what they were talking about most of the time, I couldn't even tell the characters apart from one another at times, and not even halfway through the book I felt like I needed a score card to help keep track of everything. The problem with "Forbidden Dance" was that it went through all the typical clichés you find in shoujo, with the only difference being that the characters took ballet. "Swan" is so messed-up, so confusing, and so convoluted that it has no clichés.

Get used to this expression, as you'll be see it for a good 70% of the book.

Yeah, the author is apparently so lazy, the series can't even garner enough focus to bother using clichés, and ends up throwing us random story twists and random speeches about ballet, none of which melds together particularly well. The only part of the story I really got was that Masumi kept failing all her competitions and practices, yet for some reason she, above all the "talented" dancers, gets to keep advancing in the competitions. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe she gets so many lucky breaks because her sponsor REALLY believes in her so-called "talent," and he happens to be friends with the judges. Personally, if I were the person pulling the strings for her, I probably would have given up in frustration five chapters ago.

The artwork for "Swan" is putrid. In fact, the artwork most likely contributes a LOT to the confusing nature of the series! For some reason or another, author Ariyoshi Kyoko just seems to LOVE cramming as much information in each page as she humanly can, yet most of the pages end up being cramped with so much information that I can't tell what's going on most of the time. Take pages 125 through 129 for example: Masumi's ballet teacher is trying to explain to Masumi and her friend why the basics are so important to ballet (because they're the "basics," stupid). While he is having this conversation, dancers pop up everywhere, the guy turns naked, stretches out his arms like he is Jesus, and all the while the two girls are standing in weird poses crying and screaming, "Yes, YES!" I'm telling you, this crap not only makes no frickin’ sense, but it's also pretty freaking creepy too (even more so than Justine Timberlake trying to pass himself off as a "R&B artist").

Just, plain, creepy.

I'd like the author to give me a call on the phone so I can personally ask her what the heck all this is supposed to mean. Is it even necessary to draw this much information for a scene that amounts to no more than a teacher scolding his students? Why must a million things be happening on screen for every single d**n page? And why can't this stinking story be consistent, for Pete's sake? I saw this girl hanging out with three guys, but she claims she only loves one guy. Which guy is the guy she loves though? I don't know, maybe I should pick one and assume that's the boyfriend for future books, seeing as how the only difference between the boys was their hair color (white, black, and shaded grey).

In fact, I'm not even sure why I'm wasting my time by continuing this review. By now I've most likely lost most of you guys’ interest in this review. What I'm talking about must sound like utter nonsense. It is, trust me. I'm baffled that this is one of the series DC Comics decided would be a series to help launch their CMX line. What's even more amazing is the fact that this series clocks in at twenty-one books. Meaning you have the chance to spend $210 (plus tax) to give yourself a mental headache. Sorry, but I've got better things to waste my money on (like sandals). If you want to sample what kind of manga CMX has to offer, then you might want to stay away from this. Of course, most of the other stuff they've released hasn't been too hot either, which doesn't bode well for CMX's future in the manga business, does it?

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -