Title - "Jniky de Tsukamaete"/"Juunikyuu de Tsukamaete"
Alternative title(s) - "Catch The Criminals From the Constellations of the Zodiac"/"Zodiac Detective"/"Zodiac P.I." (Private Investigator)
Genre(s) - Mystery, drama, shjo, etc.

There's an unusual story behind this series. Several months ago, after attending a mass in Milpitas of a funeral in which a friend died, I went to a bookstore there and read a bunch of series. I had thoughts of having a "Saint Tail" collection of my own, but then, as I read series after series, I bumped into this one. I had no clue what this series was nor was I familiar with the creator. I didn't have enough to buy the first volume and I didn't know that it came out last month at the time. I only had enough for snacks. That's it.

Jump ahead a month. I went downtown to pick something up and I went to a bookstore there. Again, I had thoughts of a "Saint Tail" collection, but the store ran out of the books, especially the first volume. I had thoughts about other series, but I wanted "Saint Tail". Then, at the corner of my eye, I saw that series I saw in Milpitas again. "Hey! You're the last series I read back in Milpitas last month," I thought. I bought the first volume and I ended up feeling floaty, I guess.

Fast forward to now. As of late, I've been researching and researching. Well, I found out that the creator has a good record of series to back up the title I'm about to read. Also, I now know more about the series itself. Oh yeah. I soon realized afterwards that I saw this series way before the series was brought here, but I barely took a look at it.

Okay. That's the end of my story. I might as well talk about "Jniky de Tsukamaete" now.

"Jniky de Tsukamaete" is an And Natsumi-sensei series that came out 3 years back, courtesy of Kodansha. From what I have learned, there are four volumes total. Tokyo Pop did the translation and they brought out the first volume back in July of last year as I mentioned earlier.

Hoshizawa Riri (or Lili for some of you) may seem like your normal teenage girl. What people don't know is that she is able to predict the future. Adding on, she's a detective known as Spica, but people aren't supposed to know that. To solve mysteries, she uses the zodiac to help her. She can find the clues and the suspect just by knowing the victim's sign.

Fun - 9

This is probably one of the hottest series I have seen that was introduced in this century. Oh and did I mention that this is actually a youth series? Well, it is.

I like the cases. The characters are there, but they do have life in them. I even like the omake I see here.

There's not much to rant on about in terms of complaints. It's too short, but that's not my main concern. I think that the editing could be improved and there were a few dull moments. Nothing more.

Life - 9

I can assure that this is one series you really won't regret keeping. The spirit is glowing. The editing needs improvement. That's all.

Story - 10

I like the way on how the matters are turning out. This series is more than just cases. There's development as well. I don't want to go out and give away every detail. Just read it yourself.

Art - 10

"Wow! The art's good! Look at the amount of detail seen on the girls. There must be a lot of emphasis on them. Oh and this must be a mini-skirt heaven! Whee! Oh and the guys were fine too, but man! There's so much emphasis on the girls!" Uh, I think that's the weirdest way to describe the art section right there, but if you didn't catch my random insanity, the art in general looks good and I can't complain much about it.

Overall - 10

If you've read "Jniky de Tsukamaete" already, you probably have enjoyed this. I see the amount of potential here to be a good series in North America. I'd certainly recommend this series to anyone, though I can't recommend this to people who are really flat out serious in their religion as in like the case of "Saint Tail".

+

The art, the amount of fun, this is that good of a series.

-

Aside from a few dull moments, the editing can use a little help in the translated version and this will peeve off many, if not, all serious religious people.

Date of creation - 1/1/04

Last update - 8/10

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