He is My Master Vol. #1
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September 12, 2007
by: Adam Beck
A beautiful and hilarious comedy that will blow you away.
Manga Description: [The Harem Hijinks Start Here!]
Welcome to the day-to-day adventures of the richest, most perverted kid on the block – Nakabayashi Yoshitaka. At 14 years old, he’s already a master blackmailer, sports a major superiority complex, and has a uniform fetish to boot.
After inheriting the family fortune upon his parents’ death, Yoshitaka decides to fire all the old staff and hire some new live-in maids to help look after his estate. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for when two hot girls and their pet alligator Pochi show up to fill the positions!
Manga Review:
Content: (This section may contain spoilers)
Poor Yoshitaka has suffered the terrible loss of his parents in a car accident; while this is a total travesty for anyone, the 14-year-old boy thinks positively, as his parents left him their wealthy inheritance. Even though this is a tough time for our main character, it almost feels like he doesn’t really care that his folks perished, as he never seems to see the down side of the situation. Looking for someone to care for him and let him be at ease for his entire life, Yoshitaka looks to hire a live-in maid, but what he gets is a lot better than he imagined. Instead of getting an older woman, two young sisters around Yoshitaka’s age appear at his doorstep to only give our main character a strong punch across the face. Here we meet the main cast of He is my Master. Yoshitaka is a perverted young boy who is a fanatic when it comes to designing very revealing costumes. He is the owner of the mansion and has feuds with our other main character, Izumi all the time. Izumi Sawatari and her younger sister Mitsuki Sawatari are the other two heroines to join the cast. Izumi is a strong headed girl who only wants to protect herself and her sister from any danger. She provides for a very excellent mix with Yoshitaka, for the two always fight together; on the other hand, they also throw in Mitsuki who is more carefree and tries her best to have fun. I will say this now, the entire main cast of the story is brilliant: the mixture between the perverted Yoshitaka, the very defensive Izumi, and the entertaining and full of fun Mitsuki brings more comedy than anyone would ever imagine. I personally cannot pick a favorite only because, like I said, the three make an excellent mixture to create a series full of entertainment. The next character to make an appearance is Pochi, Mitsuki’s pet alligator. Pochi gives a terrific performance in the first volume but is far from being up to the other three.
The first chapter is basically the introduction to these characters and a couple disputes between Yoshitaka and Izumi. We also get into the pervert mind of Yoshitaka as he designs two beautifully crafted maid outfits that, of course, Mitsuki loves and Izumi thinks is way too revealing. Yoshitaka gets to Izumi’s good side a couple times in the first volume, and the first chapter starts it off, but at the same time, loses it quickly.
The story moves rather fast as we see the next chapter already getting into Izumi and Mitsuki’s life when their parents go looking for them. It was really interesting to see how young their parents are, as their mother had Izumi when she was only a teen. Of course, Mitsuki sets up another contest that involves catching and detaining the lovable Pochi. There are a lot of hilarious moments in this volume as bribery with cute adorable photos of Izumi are passed around. This was actually one of my personal favorite chapters, because there's little back story on why Izumi and Mitsuki ran away in the first place. A tragic story then leads to even more comedy as the promises made to Pochi only come a bit off target as he pictured it to be.
Moving on in life, we are introduced to a third new female character - Kurauchi Anna, a shy young girl who reveals her love towards the perverted Yoshitaka. The third chapter follows Yoshitaka and the newly enrolled students, Izumi and Mitsuki, to a private school. Here there is once again… another competition between love and respect that comes into place. These events show off some very deep moments into Izumi and Anna’s life as one can’t cook while the other just leads to more pain for the poor Yoshitaka. Pochi is also placed into the mix at the end, but it felt unnecessary because the comical alligator only provides for a bite or two and quickly finds himself gone from the chapter. Anna is a very interesting character, especially at the end of the third chapter when she finds herself falling in love with our strong headed girl, Izumi and only adds more to the story as she gains access to the main cast and as a maid of Yoshitaka’s mansion.
The final chapter actually involves a lot more character development between each body than humor. There are still lots of comical acts, but this time around, we find out a bit of Yoshitaka’s courageous side when his two maids get into the hands of Mitsuki’s defense force. This wasn’t my favorite chapter but it did the job and left the future open for many more adventures. In the end, the first volume of He is my Master is an entertaining one; it has a fresh new idea and is expanding it to great heights.
Art: The artwork in He is my Master is strong; there is a good amount of detail that goes to each scene and flushes out each environment perfectly. The visuals itself aren’t too clean and become cluttered at times, but for the most part, everything is well done, right down to the loose piece of clothings. The visuals do take a dip from time to time when things become comical, but this is natural, not to mention Pochi’s very unrealistic look. There are a couple CG quality scenes that stand out from the rest so there is a good mix of quality that should please fans. The art style is rather strong as most character have a specific amount of flush in their faces, and the hair shines strongly and establishes each characters by their own. Overall the visuals are very good, there are a lot of strong detailed scenes – not too realistic though, more comical being this is a harem comedy – but not many you will find will be clean.
Translation: The English-translation is perfect. There are no apparent grammar errors or spelling mistakes nor are there any untranslated sound effects. Sound effects are, for the most part, left in the original Japanese characters with an English-translation nearby. There are some sound effects that are presented in English and no Japanese, so either they erased the Japanese sound effect or it was originally put into English in the first place. Seven Seas have done an amazing job translating this series into English with some very hilarious dialog,content, and tons of entertainment all around. This goes as one of the best English-translations you’ll ever read in any manga series, for a harem comedy.
Extras actually fair a bit longer than I originally expected. Quickly getting past the main storyline, we enter two short chapters – 2 to 3 pages each – in which one ventures into Yoshitaka’s maid fantasy in how it is played in a visual novel. The second is the dispute on Izumi and Anna calling Yoshitaka “Master,” where you will notice throughout the first volume that Mitsuki is the only one who does it. These are cute and well worth a read. Past that, there is a quick explanation on Mitsuki and Izumi by the creators on why they love or dislike adding them into a scene. There are also a well deserved mention of honorifics and translation notes which go into great detail, and finally a page about the artist and writer. The extras aren’t amazing, but they do strong justice for a good read past the main storyline.
The Bottom Line: He is My Master is a fantastic new series that looks to expand what you know and love about harem comedies. With strong visuals, an absolute perfect translation, and a very intriguing storyline, He is my Master is already establishing itself as a true contender for comedy of the year. If you enjoy comedies and don’t mind a bit of sexuality, He is My Master is for you.
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Content |
An absolute laugh out loud comedy that should be picked up by any harem comedy reader. While the last chapter wasn’t all that great, there is enough content to keep anyone happy. |
9.5 |
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Art |
A fabulously designed manga that does the job extremely well. Being a comedy it does take a few dips but nothing out of the ordinary with very enriching visuals. |
9.0 |
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Translation |
An absolute perfect English-translation by Seven Seas with no mistakes or grammar errors to be found. |
10.0 |
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Verdict
He is My Master is turning out to be one of the best comedies ever published. It has some very compelling dialog and events that will have you in laughter – not to mention a perfect translation and beautiful visuals. He is My Master is an absolute must buy.
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9.5
[not an average]
+ Unique storyline.
+ Excellent cast of characters.
+ Perfect translation and beautiful visuals.
- Each chapter is basically contests.
- Pochi could use a bigger role.
- The idea of waiting for the next volume.
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