Title: A.I.が止まらない (Love Won't Stop) Vol. 1
Artist/Author: 赤松健 (Ken Akamatsu)
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 212pp., w/furigana
Original Serialization: Weekly Shonen Magazine Vol 18, '94 - Vol 25, '94
Rating: 2/4

This is, I believe the second manga series I started when I felt confident enough to read manga (the first was Love Hina). I really wasn't impressed with it as the artwork isn't as good as Ken Akamatsu's later work, so I stopped halfway and left this volume on my shelf. However, after two years of reading, I'm a more experienced now, having read a lot of less than stellar manga, so I guess I'll dive back into this one. I already bought a lot of the issues, but fortunately, most of them were $1 from Book-Off, which is an awesome price for readable books. I mean, hell, I could buy the entire series for the cost of just one volume of the translated version.

Anyhow, the manga hasn't gotten any better the second time around. The story is pretty weak, the artwork isn't up to my expectations, but it does show a lot of where Ken Akamatsu comes from. Hopefully he'll add some more characters in the second volume.

Since this is a re-release, there's a bunch of bonuses including newly drawn artwork pages (more Love Hina-like) and interviews with Ken Akamatsu himself. There's a mini-poster pull-out and the inside cover is a pencil drawing of the cover.

1. 呼ばれて、飛びでて、ジャンジャカジャ～ン (Calling, Flying, Jan Jaka Jan): The computer geek and otherwise loser, 神戸ひとし, has been played again by the popular girl he has a crush on, 麻生希美華 (Kimika Asou). On his way home, a thunderstorm arrives and as he's working at his computer, his house gets struck by lightning and the girl he's been programming, Thirty, comes to life. She "transfers" to Hitoshi's school and suddenly she's the talk around the schoolyard. Kimika obviously doesn't like the attention being diverted away from her, so she has a strong dislike for her, but can't surpass her because she's perfect in almost every way (as she's programmed to). One of her few flaws is that she can't cook. When Thirty and Hitoshi are talking in private about her condition and how she's a program, Kimika secretly records it and goes to broadcast it on the school's P.A. system. However, since Thirty is a computer program, she has complete access to the school's system, and averts a disaster by making a mockery of Kimika.

2. めざせ　ホテル龍宮城 (Let's Go, to the Imperial Dragon Hotel): Hitoshi is studying all the dating books to program/teach Thirty more about human relationships. Unbeknownst to Hitoshi, Thirty obtains the book and executes the instructions exactly as it is written. To Hitoshi's surprise, she is the perfect date. And like all dates, they end up at a luxurious hotel, which is what Thirty coaxes Hitoshi to do. However, the book doesn't say what goes on at the hotel, so she just turns around, much to Hitoshi's dismay.

3. クラブでGO GO! (GO GO! at the Club): Hitoshi wants Thirty to join some of the clubs at school. She performs poorly at the cooking club, doesn't do well at the floral club, and plays too rough at the volleyball club. Since she's not much a team player (from volleyball), Hitoshi recommends she join the tennis club and tone down her game a bit. However, her first opponent is Kimika and with her lowered ability, she's being beaten pretty bad. Hitoshi then tells her to max out her ability at which she kills Kimika.

4. 私を海へつれてって (I Said I'm Taking You to the Ocean): They go to the beach only to find that it's polluted with cans in the sand and that there's a little brat who doesn't want them to be there. The reason is that the little kid thinks they're just going to pollute more. Moved by this, they offer to help, and with some of ingenuity on the part of Hitoshi and Thirty, they use Fleming's right hand rule to use electro-magnetism to pick up the trash (or something like that. I took physics sooo long ago).

5. 笑う侵入者 (The Laughing Intruder): Hitoshi is sick, so Thirty tries looking at a computer database for some cures. She executes a mysterious program which seems to give the computer a virus and eventually makes her weaker and weaker. At the end, the virus, a laughing clown, is revealed and it mentions that he has 64 minutes before Thirty is erased.

6. SAYONARA: As the time ticks down, Hitoshi tries to figure out where the virus is originating from. Since he has so many computers, it takes him a while to figure out that it's his little laptop. He unplugs the data cable and the virus is destroyed.

7. Moneyで大変！？ (A Problem with Money!?): Hitoshi is low on funds so Thirty tries to help. She first prints up some money, but they're definitely fake. She then alters his bank account, but he says it's wrong. So in order not to get caught, she hacks her way back into the bank's database. This journal takes her underwater to the island/database. She fixes his account, but is pursed by "guardians" and she narrowly escapes.

Comments

(Comments are Closed)