Today I’m looking at a couple of recent series published by CMX.

Time Guardian by Daimuro Kishi and Tamao Ichinose (amazon.com)

Miu is an ordinary high school student, having problems managing her time taking tests. One day she accidentally stumbles across a curious shop. At the Kusaka Time Shop time is loaned out to whoever needs it, but the price is a precious memory from the customer’s past. The shop is staffed by Tokya Kusaka, a mysterious man with a monocle. He’s assisted by Ginzo the talking frog. Miu is strangely attracted to a timepiece that is reserved for someone who takes the role of go-between, observing the experiences of the regular Time Shop customers. Miu has a crush on Mr. Kusaka, but his motivations might not be entirely benign. The series mixes stories of people finding emotional resolution through their use of borrowed time, with the occasional bit of broad humor as Miu abruptly transforms into a tadpole when she makes the mistake of talking about her new job to her classmates.
The art for the series is attractive, but a little bit generic. I’d prefer something with a more distinctive style. Still, this rated “E for Everyone” series might be a good fit for a library wanting to add a series to their manga collection that doesn’t have any objectionable content. I don’t think the plot and characters would appeal to anyone below the age of 12.

Go Go Heaven by Keiko Yamada (amazon.com)

Go Go Heaven has an interesting premise, but the first volume doesn’t fully explore it. Shirayuki is a shy nonentity in at her Christian high school. She dies in a car accident and the Prince of Hell decides to give her 49 days of additional life that will help her determine where she will be able to go after she dies. Go Go Heaven is supposed to be a madcap comedy – the Prince shows up at Shirayuki’s school after her resurrection and announces that he’s the new school director and Shirayuki is his Queen. He has three assistants – Blue, Green, and Page. The supernatural boys make their home in Shirayuki’s doll house, mush to the dismay of her mother, who keeps bursting in Shirayuki’s room when she hears male voices. The introductions of the characters and new plot lines are hurried and the whole book has a frantic pace that makes it difficult to absorb what is happening – I had to go back and reread pages to figure out who one of the Prince’s assistants was. Although the book was filled with zany plot developments such as everyone being forced to parachute out of a plane to a tropical island complete with random playboy bunny girls, the humor was forced and not very funny. Although I was interested enough in the premise of the series to pick this volume up, I’m not going to read any future volumes of Go Go Heaven.