Land of The Blindfolded Review

Do you have a blindfold?

Genre - Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural

Length – 9 Volumes: 40 Chapters

Authors - Tsukuba Sakura

Run - Feb 2000 to Apr 5, 2004

Serialization - LaLa DX

I'm not a big fan of Shoujo manga, but this one is a keeper. Land of The Blindfolded is one of those series you pass off simply because it seems typical. And you would be correct in thinking it's typical, but there's more to it than that.

The story revolves around three people. Kanade, Arou, and Namiki. Kanade can see the future of someone she touches. Her power activates randomly, not at will. As the good natured person she is she tries to prevent malevolent visions of the future from coming true. Like Kanade, Namiki can see the future as well. The difference between them is Namiki can see the future at will. Namiki is introduced as a mischievous character who is somewhat selfish and is Arou's rival in love.

Oh the joys of seeing the future eh?

In reality he has a good heart and tries to help when he can. Arou is the opposite of both Kanade and Namiki. He can see the past of a person and objects at will. Arou is introduced as a smooth talker which is rather amusing since in reality he's rather shy and keeps to himself.

Arou and Kanade's first encounter

For the most part this is a typical Shoujo manga. You have romance, some comedy, and drama. Kanade is a shy girl who gets embarrassed easily, especially when she makes any sort of physical contact with Arou or Namiki. See? Typical right? But Arou defies Shoujo laws in some ways as he's not portrayed as just some good lucking guy with little to no internal emotional problems. In essence, he's not just there to look pretty. Same goes for Namiki. He's practically a prodigal son. He has the brains, looks, and the power to see the future. Out of the three main characters, he has the most personal issues. Each character gets their own little arc expanding on their past, and Namiki's past is very dark and sad. Arou comes to a close second in that department.

Arou when he tries to find out about how his mother died.

What drew me in was the supernatural aspect. It was interesting to see how the main characters affected those around them with their visions of doom and gloom. Of course, there are people who would fear them, or try to use them for their own selfish gain. This is seen in the second half of the series. There are no villains in this series. The only thing that comes close to a villain would be the power Arou, Kanade, and Nakimi all have. It's the one thing they are constantly fighting against. Kanade always goes out of her way to prevent bad things from happening to people. This puts her in many tight and awkward situations. Luckily Arou and Namiki are usually there to give her a hand. Kanade's energetic and ditzy best friend Eri is also there to help her. She becomes less of an important character when Namiki is introduced. She makes a comeback sort of speak near the end of the series.

The story moved smoothly, clichés were filled in with twists in the plots, and characters grew stronger with each problem they overcame. The character development, for a series to span over only 40 chapters, was well done. As I kept reading I fell in love with the characters. They each create a balance for one another. If any of them were to have been killed of somehow, the manga wouldn't be the same. Moving on to the art, the art was average. This series first started in 2000 so you can't expect much. As you progress through the second half of the series there is a noticeable upgrade in the art. The use of the soft textures and toning really emphasized the gentleness and personalities of the characters.

I have one and only complaint. It is never explained why the three main characters have powers. Near the end something almost impossible happened. I got all excited thinking I was finally going to get an explanation. But no, no explanation. The extraordinary event at the end stayed an unexplainable extraordinary event.

Art - (8/10) Plot - (8.5/10) Enjoyment - (9/10)

Overall
8.5/10

Note: Super Saiyan Arou ftw \o/