Tsubasa: Those With Wings

Title:  Tsubasa: Those With Wings
Japanese Title:  Tsubasa wo Motsu Mono
Mangaka:  Natsuki Takaya
Length:  6 Volumes (or 3 bunkobon volumes) (Completed)
English Translation?  Yes.  All three bunkobons were released by Tokyopop.
Demo/Genre:  Shoujo/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Comedy/Romance/Action

How did I hear about it?  Originally, I found it because I'm a huge fan of Fruits Basket.  I was curious about Takaya-sensei's other works and that led me here.  It jumped up on my reading list after I found it highly recommended in a blog I stumbled upon.

In the future, the earth has been destroyed by wars.  Now, the majority of the population lives in poverty under the rule of a totalitarian military government.  Enter Kotobuki, a young thief stealing to survive.  She is half-heartedly pursued by a captain in the military, Raimon, who has fallen for her.  Soon, he resigns from the military in order to spend his life with her, much to her annoyance.  Romantic comedy ensues.  Mixed in with the romcom elements is the legend of Tsubasa, a glowing light from the sky that long ago descended to grant the wish of a human.  Though most believe that it is only a myth, there are still some that spend their lives searching for it, and it seems that even the military has its sights set on finding Tsubasa...

I loved this series.  The actual plot behind the race to find Tsubasa is intriguing.  I was just as caught up in the main plot as I was the romance.  The series has a decent villain, which I feel is essential to any good series.  Being the shoujo fan that I am though, I guess I will move my discussion to the romance.  I.  Love.  Raimon.  I liked him right away, but I soon found myself falling for him completely.  He's almost difficult to describe.  He's an asshole, but a gentleman at the same time.  Hmm...let me see if I can expound on that.  He cares for no one except for himself and Kotobuki, and between the two, Kotobuki comes first.  He's a (very funny) asshole to everyone else he meets.  He delights in teasing Kotobuki, who is at first resistant to his advances, but he never crosses the line and waits for her to come to him.

This series really is a mustread for shoujo fans, especially fans of Takaya's ever-popular Fruits Basket.  I'll warn you though, the scanlations are a little all over the place.  I read the first three chapters online, then just decided to go ahead and buy it so that I didn't have to worry about reading something out of order or skipping chapters.  With just three volumes readily available on Amazon, it was very easy to collect.  The covers for the bunkobon volumes feature new artwork drawn by Takaya-sensei long after the end of the series, drawn after even the end of Fruits Basket.  The actual artwork in the manga remains unchanged though, featuring her old artstyle.