Afterschool Charisma: Volume 11 manga review

Manga
Afterschool Charisma: Volume 11 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
December 12, 2015 - 22:18

Viz Media
Writer(s): Kumiko Suekane, Camellia Nieh
Penciller(s): Kumiko Suekane
Letterer(s): Erika Terriquez
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8126-2
$12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, 208pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)

Afterschool Charisma Volume 11 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

The very exclusive St. Kleio Academy is a private school dedicated to the education of young people who are clones of great historical figures. The student body includes clones of Napoleon Bonaparte, Sigmund Freud, Adolph Hitler, and Florence Nightingale. Shiro Kamiya once believed that he was the only non-clone student at the school, but he is actually a clone of X, the founder of St. Kleio Academy.

Afterschool Charisma, Vol. 11 (Chapters 61 to 66) opens with the story of twins brothers, Glenn and Colin Farner. When they were boys, their mother died in a hospital, and they eventually placed the blame on a clone of Florence Nightingale. Now, older, the brothers seek revenge and manage to sneak onto the grounds of St. Kleio, where everything goes wrong.

Meanwhile, clone Hitler continues to his campaign to close St. Kleio, and now, a new national law seems to have given him the means to do so. Meanwhile, Shiro convinces his compatriots: Napoleon Bonaparte, two generations of Sigmund Freud clones, Florence Nightingale, and Ikkyu Sojun (a famous Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet) to return with him to the school to save it.

[This volume contains a bonus comic.]

THE LOWDOWN: Because of the twists and turns in the story, the Afterschool Charisma manga seems to be coming to an end. I have never been a fan of the idea of cloning people – talk about icky, and this manga seems to share some of my misgivings, although it does portray the clones as sympathetic and in some ways as victims.

Afterschool Charisma Volume 11 turns on intrigue, as the chapters that comprise this volume focuses on the forces gathered against St. Kleio. The series does pay much attention to the personalities of the clones, so it is easy to forget all the dark and clandestine forces arrayed against and manipulating the school. I think that at this point in the series, the rewards that creator Kumiko Suekane offers are for the readers that have stuck around. However, throughout this manga's run, Suekane has offered things that will entice new readers to start at the beginning.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers looking for unusual science fiction drama will want to give the VIZ Signature/IKKI Comix title, Afterschool Charisma, a try.

Rating: B+/10