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     It is the year 222 AA (After Armageddon) and society has been completely rebuilt. The new monetary system rests on karma; in short, if you do good things and are a kind person in life, you are rich. If you are cruel, you get squat. This is the world that Kemmy, a young girl from a small town lives in. And this is the world that we are all expected to understand without much of an explanation. Aside from this, I found Sushi Girl to be a rather entertaining graphic novel despite my original thoughts which leaned more towards questioning how good a story about sushi could possibly be?

     Armed with an offbeat sense of childish wit, Sushi Girl follows the story of Kemmy as she moves from the small town to the big city to pursue her dream of becoming an Operarap (apparently this new world’s form of pop) star. When she gets there, she ends up being attacked by a group of wild animals and in the end rescuing several children from them. This catches the attention of Big Ed, the owner of the local sushi bar. He hires Kemmy and her friend Shay to work for him at the sushi bar, which also happens to be a secret agent base. There, Kemmy meets Karyna, Phoebe, and Arcus-all of which are Big Ed’s employees and by extreme luck, all of which can play an instrument! Along with their sarcastic friend Quo Quo, who happens to be a tiny purple moose, the gang delivers sushi by day and performs Operarap at night...always finding time to help with some secret agent work in between, and each time bouncing back from attacks from Olivia, the ex-employee with bad karma.

     Yes, Sushi Girl is a strange story indeed! I have to admit that at first, I had a little trouble following the whole "karma is money" aspect of this story, but eventually I caught on. Funny and offbeat enough for any young audience, Sushi Girl has no offensive language or violence, so it's definitely one for the kiddies. Although, strangely enough, I managed to realize many similarities between this and popular eighties cartoon show, Jem. For one, there is Kemmy, the pink haired lead singer, and like Jem, she is always in way over her head, balancing the life style of a sushi delivery girl, an up and coming Operarap star, and a secret agent. Another similarity is the green haired rival, OliviaMisfits, lashing out with a competitive style of music laced with bad karma.

     I must note that the art of Sushi Girl, is astounding. Popping with bright, sharp coloring, you don't just want to read this book, you want to stop and take a look at a combination of 3D and traditional manga-style drawing. The artists are able to portray a great range of emotions. Simply skimming over the pages, I was able to see the ups and downs of Kemmy's emotions as the story progressed. Plus, they captured the oddball feel of a place that has actually had an "ice-cream age" instead of an ice age and still managed to give it that post-apocalyptic feel.

     The most surprising part of the story to me, however was that the purple moose was my favorite character! At some points it was almost as though he were my voice in the story, sardonically noting when people were acting a little too wacky for most people's taste. Well, that and he bit Shay's leg and did not let go for four pages, which I found pretty funny!

     While Sushi Girl will not continue on under its current name, TOKYOPOP will soon be releasing a series called The Karma Club, which will continue Kemmy's adventures. While I would recommend Sushi Girl, the jury is still out on Karma Club. Tavicat will not be returning to write or illustrate the follow-up. This is a very disappointing fact. The artists deserve a huge commendation, as the book is visually stunning and sometimes completely detracts from the silliness of the story as well as aiding jokes that would normally fall flat.

     Overall, this story is cute, but probably more suited for the younger set. If you've got young ones, or you are young at heart, you should definitely get a giggle or ten out of Sushi Girl.

     Send your comments and or questions about this article to manzanos@netzero.net.

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