Title: Phantom Thief Jeanne 1

Writer/Artist: Arina Tanemura

U.S. Distributor: Viz Media

U.S. Release Date: March 4th, 2014

Format: manga / paperback/258 pages

Genre: Magical Girl/Romance

Publisher Age Rating: T for Teen

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Synopsis:

Maron Kusakabe is a 16 year old high school student. She is part of the gymnastics club, lives by herself in apartment next-door to her friend Miyako, but most notable is that she secretly steals paintings under the name Phantom Thief  Jeanne. One day they meet a new neighbor, a guy named Chiaki Nagoya  who is transferring to their school. He is the kind of guy all the girls seem to fall for, Maron and Miyako are no different.

Maron as Jeanne, steals paintings that have been cursed and infect their owners. The demon lord wants to take over the world . He created the paintings and cast demons into them. Whoever’s heart is moved by the painting becomes possessed by the demon. Jeanne can capture the demons in the paintings because she is a reincarnation of Jeannne DArc. She is guided by a little angel named Finn, who gives her the assignments of what painting to find. During a mission, she encounters another phantom thief, Sinbad. Finn tells her that he is an enemy.

Chiaki keeps flirting with Maron and Miyako is quite jealous. But is he stringing her along? It seems that he has a commitment from his past. They take a trip to an amusement park. Once inside the hounded house, something goes wrong and there is a demon posing one of their classmates.  Suddenly the whole park goes dark…

During a gymnastic tournament, one of the competitors is acting strangely, Maron suspects she is possessed. But when she trying to capture the demon, she is injured, Sinbad comes to her aid.

Commentary

Phantom Thief Jeanne  is a magical girl genre of sorts, with the transformation and powers.  It was originally published in America under the name Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne.  This new edition will be released in 5 volumes instead of the original 7. It doesn’t appear that we loose content because this volume one is much thicker.

In this volume, things move pretty quickly. We jump directly into the story, Maron is already Jeanne and working with Finn.  Bits  of information will get revealed later. I didn’t find it as complex as Sakura Hime by the same author(which I can’t help compare it too as the main characters look so much alike). Phantom Thief Jeanne was originally written first, 10 years earlier. There has definitely been a progression of skill in both the story and artwork that is produced

I have a few minor complaints. It was totally easy to figure out who Sinbad is, why can’t Maron figure it out? I wish it hadst least been not so obvious to us, or rather Maron get her first inklings right away. His secrets are revealed by chapter 3 to us, although there is more to come I’m sure, like his motivation. Something I found odd and don’t understand why it is in the stories, is that Janne and Sinbad send out notices when they are going to take a painting. Polite maybe, but doesn’t that make it more difficult?

There are somethings I waiting for and expect to be revealed is how they are actually capturing the demons it isn’t exactlty clear. It goes rather quickly and it seems that they are sealed into chess pieces. Also, reading a little too much background online, somethings are going to be changing. I look forward to getting deeper into the mystery part of the series.

The artwork is the best part of the book, and that is what Arina Tanemura does best. It is this flowing, linear work, sort of like art deco, but not quite. The faces (and some of the figures) seem a bit dated with the pointy chins and way over the type giant eyes, but this is the artist’s style. I guess it was good that ribbons and hair give the chance to really create the beauty.

Overall Grade: B-