Comics / Manga

Re:Play Volume 3

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 9, 2010 - 09:30

Re:Play Volume 3 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Drama/Romance, Rated “OT” for “Older Teen-16+”

Christy Lijewski was a runner-up winner in TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga 3 contest (for the entry "Doors").  By the end of 2004, Lijewski had her own ongoing series, Next Exit (SLG).  For TOKYOPOP, she created the three-volume, OEL manga, Re:Play, which has come to an end.

Set in a sort of near future, Re:Play focuses on a young woman named Cree Winters, the lead singer of a rock band called, Faust.  Ed Delphi, her ex-boyfriend and the band's bassist, abandoned Cree and Faust.  Charles Delphi, Ed's twin brother, choose to stay with band; he is a young man who prefers to live as a woman (or at least live dressed as a young woman).  As chance would have it, Cree found Ed’s replacement in the form of a mysterious, homeless young man who says his name is Izsak.  Izsak proves to be a talented bassist, and despite the objections of Faust’s guitarist, Rail Kainer, who is also Cree’s stepbrother, Izsak joins the band.

In Re:Play, Vol. 3, Izsak’s secrets are finally revealed, and boy, are they dark.  Those secrets may cost Cree her life, and they will certainly force her to make a big decision, at the very least.  Meanwhile, Rail decides that Cree has to make another big decision – about him, the band, and Izsak.  Plus, two chapters reveal some history about the characters.

[This volume also includes character sketches, a gallery of fan art, and some closing words from the artists.]

THE LOWDOWN:  Christy Lijewski blends American and Japanese comic book styles into something that is part shojo manga (comics for teen girls), josei manga (comics for adult women), and American indie comic book.  This third volume of Re:Play exemplifies the author’s hybrid style, but style doesn’t hide that this all feels a little awkward.

The conclusion seems compressed, as if all the ideas had to be squeezed into this finale, and the end also seems rushed, because the story reads as if there were a lot more important stuff that has to be said and revealed.  Thankfully, Re:Play shows the love and knowledge of Christy Lijewski.  She knows what she is doing as someone who tells stories using the language of comic books, and her love of the medium shows in the thoughtful way so much of this story is presented graphically to the reader.  In spite of my small reservations, I like Re:Play enough to want more.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of American manga will want Re:Play.

B

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12