Suihelibe! Vol. 01

Suihelibe!—subtitled Hydrogen Helium Lithium Belium (a play on the characters' names)—has almost no scientific content, despite the chemistry title and despite the plot, which centers on a middle school science club. Thirteen-year-old Tetsu Kobayashi meets an alien girl named Lan on his first day of class as she dislodges her crashed flying saucer from the side of the school. Like a cute-girl version of Doraemon, Lan produces magical alien devices that help Tetsu out of scrapes. Tetsu and Lan become friends quickly as they join the failing science club, which is about to be canceled by a clichéd power-hungry student council—unless they can recruit five new members soon. The plot rockets forward in an attention-deficit-disorder method of storytelling, with elements similar to both Pokémon and YuGiOh. The art is simple, cute and clean-cut, and there's no questionable content, although young newcomers to manga might find the panel layouts a little difficult to follow. A fairly forgettable manga outing, but in only two volumes, at least it's short and sweet. (Nov.)
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