Man, have I read a lot of weird stuff recently. First it was Kiryuuin Saeko, Private Detective Agency (which I did not review because there is no Yuri in it) and then there was Assistant Denki Keika (which I did, because there was.)

In Mikarun Cross, Volume 1 (ミカるんX) Runa is a normal child who finds herself somewhere between here and there and is given a magical bracelet that grants her wishes. Her first wish is that her battling parents make up, which appears to work. Mika is the daughter of an archaeologist who is killed in a Hamas attack and is adopted by a powerful politician. (Are you with me so far? my wife asks)

Runa and Mika meet at an elite girl’s school in Shibuya. You can tell it is elite because it incorporates the famous Shibuya 109 building into itself and because the buildings make the shape of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

Mika immediately starts to mack on Runa, but when a giant alien monster slices Mika’s head off, Runa loses it and asks her magic bracelet to not allow her to be left alone. At which Mika and Runa merge, so that a giant, naked Mika with Runa’s head in her chest takes on the giant alien monster over Shibuya. (Still with me?)

Turns out the giant alien monster is actually one of the girls in their class. And so is the leader of the army that later ties a giant, naked Mika up and helicopters her over Tokyo for “study” which appears to involve spreader bars and cow-patterned BDSM gear. About this time my brain crawled out of my head and I was reduced to the mental competence of the typical Champion Red reader and it all started to make sense. So, when Mika and Runa transform in order to defeat the giant soccer ball monster and Runa insists on being the giant one, it was completely sensible that she transform into a magical girl and defeats the soccer ball with her magical Mika wand.

In any case, there’s loads of nudity, bathing, giant aliens and giant naked Mika and a Yuri storyline that is quickly subsumed in all the other crap that passes for a plot. As Champion Red stories go, this was actually decent. There’s no specific “violence against women,” just a sort of overall skankiness that one quickly grows used to or one stops reading.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 3
Characters – 3, with flashes of 7
Yuri – Starts at 6, then tanks
Service – 9

Overall – 5

I’ve recently discovered Comic Ryuu and, unlike most of the manga mags I read, it does not make me feel filthy. (Comp Ace always makes me want to scour my brain immediately after reading.) I plan on reading more series without giant, naked women and alien monsters. It’ll be good for me.