Fool’s Gold Mini Review (North American manga)
September 19th, 2007 by Nothayama
PG-13 for high school hijinks; official series website
Like most of Tokyopop’s OEL comics, there’s nothing blatantly wrong with Fool’s Gold. The art is really nice, and it has a few good ideas behind it. The problem with the comic is the way the characters are written. Penny, the main character, is supposed to be a brilliant leader, the kind of person who can bring half the student body over to her side with a few words and a little determination. But her words are trite and oversimplified, and she’s the center of the entire school’s adoration for no particular reason–random side characters go on and on about how amazing Penny is, what a great speaker she is, and how everything she does is wacky and interesting, but her actions don’t live up to the hype. Because she isn’t really the great leader the story claims, ordinary people have to act like mindless automatons just to make the plot work. The story uses a few basic personality groups–nice boy, evil boy, girl, and nasty girl–and acts like it’s actually representing a real high school community; I mean, even the most cliché high school stories at least divide people up into cliques based on their interests. By representing all of humanity as identical, easily-led sheep, Fool’s Gold is unfair to girls and boys alike.
Initial impression: Don’t bother. (NotHayama)
Additional initial impression: NotHayama is completely right about this comic’s flaws, but the manga still has its moments and includes a refreshing bashing of hot male assholes. It’s worth a try if the aforementioned flaws don’t really bother you. (Lianne)