The synopsis for this manga drew me in and the artwork was both different and beautiful.

However at times I found the story hard to follow, sometimes I wasn't sure if I was reading current events or past. The artwork and colouring also made it hard to see who was talking and at times I would miss speech bubbles due to them being on a dark background.

The plot, to me, changed priorities; somewhere along the line it became less about their contract and more about the mysteries surrounding the mansion. That storyline was interesting, don't get me wrong, but that wasn't what drew me in, to begin with, which left me feeling disappointed. By the end though most of the loose ends had been tied up and that is always a bonus with mangas that ask a lot of questions.

I liked the characters in this and the way they were portrayed, especially Ken. And although we find out about how the characters got to be in the mansion I don't think that they developed very well. They did change in reaction to events, but we didn't really see enough of what made them tick, for me anyway.

The artwork in this manga was, for me, both its selling point and its failing. I mentioned before that I found it hard to read in places and it was easy to confuse the speakers which annoyed me greatly. Ignoring the text, though, it was a beautiful manga to look at. The drawing style was fairly unique (when it comes to mainstream manga) and really had an elegant flair to it. In the same breath though it made the manga feel less 'authentic' to me, more like a western comic trying to be a manga, which was odd.

Overall I have to say that whilst I enjoyed reading Model it's not a manga that I would encourage people to rush out and buy. The story and the characters were interesting, but I don't think they'll stick with me for a long time. And it certainly hasn't made me a Model fangirl.

Nanashi Moriko
28/4/07