NG Life

Title:  NG Life
Mangaka:  Mizuho Kusanagi
Length:  9 Volumes (Completed)
English Translation?  Yes.  All released by Tokyopop.
Demo/Genre:  Shoujo/Fantasy/Romantic Comedy

How did I hear about it?  The recommendation came from my trusted otaku buddy from college.

Keidai Saeki is just your average 17-year-old guy, except for that he can perfectly recall his past life as a gladiator in Pompeii whose life ended when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.  In his current life, he is surrounded by the people who were close to him in Pompeii, only none of them have any memories that life.  Most important is his former best friend Lolaeus, who is also his best friend now...only now, Lolaeus is a girl named Mii Serizawa.  Keidai has been waiting his entire life hoping that his former wife will come back into his life, and shortly after the story begins, his wish is granted.  His beautiful wife Serena moves next door...only in this life, she's now a boy.  A crazy and complicated love triangle ensues.

The premise sounds horribly gimmicky, but it actually works quite well.  The series is pretty funny, and the characters are well-crafted.  While NGL maintains a light-hearted feel for the majority of the time, it does give way to some serious chapters as you near the end as Keidai has to come to terms with his developing feelings and realize why no one remembers Pompeii save for him (though we do meet a couple of other characters later who have also retained their memories).  I also found Serena/Yuuma to be an interesting and funny character.  The beautiful wife Serena is now a rather girlish boy who is very sensitive about his feminine appearance and only wants to become strong and manly.  Some of the other side characters were great as well, and the series even went so far as to feature a secondary romance between a couple of them that I thought was treated very well.  As for our female protagonist, Serizawa... she reminded me a bit of Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket.  Serizawa is cheerful, optimistic, and nice almost to a fault.  I didn't dislike her, but she didn't stand out to me as well as she could have.  That being the case though, it still didn't detract from the sweetness of the romance for me.

NG Life was just a fun read, plain and simple.  With light-hearted comedy and a unique premise, it easily entertains, but also contains enough drama and plot for it to linger in your mind even after you've finished reading.  This was one of the last series that Tokyopop released, with the last volume coming out just before the unfortunate shutdown.  I do believe that I will collect this series fairly soon.  If I did half-stars, this would probably get 4.5, but since I limit myself to either 4 or 5... Then this title will round up to a 5.  Cause I feel like it. :D