Rating: 
Summary: a must-have for manga fans
Review: Planet Ladder starts off very confusing, so I reccomend buying at least volume two along with volume one. This is not something you can just blow through, you really need to pay attention so as you read farther in the series you can understand it more clearly. It slowly reveals more and more of the main characters importance and of her unknown past. Yuri Narushima does an excellent job on the artwork, it's amazing! The detail is incredible along with her ability to make the story confusing and strange but it still makes you want to read more and more. The origanal right-to-left format makes it even better. For those who haven't read manga that way, don't worry it doesn't take long to get used to ^_~.
Rating:
Summary: Short and Simple
Review: The book was a little confusing at the begining, but it was pretty good, and weird. And, of course, it is a cliff hanger, like all other manga that I've read.
Rating:
Summary: This is a suprising pleaser!...
Review: This book took me by suprise, I wasn't really expecting much out of it....anyway....the story is about a girl named Kaguya. Kaguya has been raised into an adoptive family after being found when she was a little girl wondering the streets, she has no idea who she really is or where she comes from. All she remembers is being caught in a fire and a mysterious boy coming and rescueing her, despite the fact that he was injured himself. Despite this fact she leads a pretty normal life, then suddenly one night she gets a a call from a strange man saying that he would come for her...... I don't want to tell the whole story, but I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume... ...I believe that there is a lot more about Kaguya's past than she knows!!!
Rating:
Summary: Love mangas you'll love this one
Review: This is a wonderful manga! All of the books keep you geussing. I suggest you buy this book and the others. In this book you'll meet Kaguya, a young girl, who is kidnap by the mad Prince Seeu and Gold. Gold is a prefect copy of Kagami. You will learn more of Kaguya's and Kagami's relationship later on in the books. Kaguya must learn how to serve in this new world, but can she? The worlds are hard to remember, but that is made up for in the dialog. Great book if I do say so my self. The drawlings are great and have a lot of details. Every manga reader must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Planet Ladder takes you to another level
Review: This is one of the most interesting manga I have ever come across. The art is beautiful (I especially love the cover picture--I even have a wallpaper of it on my desktop), the story is interesting and new, and the characters are mysterious and different. The story is confusing, but that is part of what makes it interesting--you're kept guessing throughout it. And it is building up suspense for the final book. I first got this when I saw the ads in Animerica and in various TokyoPOP manga. From the moment I picked it up off the shelf I was hooked. I have all of the books that have been put into English and am waiting with baited breath for the others to come out. This is not for the easily confused or easily bored, since the story moves rather fast and the action is rare. But for those looking for another perspective on a theme that has almost been beaten to death, pick up Planet Ladder. I don't think you'll be disappointed (unless you fall into groups A and B mentioned above.)
Rating:
Summary: A breath of fresh air in today's manga market.
Review: TOKYOPOP is the kind of company you either love or hate. It has a devout following of fans who enjoy the company's releases of manga based off popular anime shows such as "Gundam Wing", "Cardcaptor Sakura", and "Sailor Moon", but it's also despised by people who feel TOKYOPOP butchers many great manga titles with mediocre translations and distortion of the original artwork. But TOKYOPOP decided to change the opinions of the latter group of people with its new "100% Authentic Manga" policy, and one of the titles selected for this new line-up is "Planet Ladder", a relatively unknown series in the US. This is actually a shame, because while not many people have heard of "Planet Ladder", it shows the promise of a teriffic manga series that is a breath of fresh air in today's manga market. "Planet Ladder" tells the story of Kaguya, a girl who was found orphaned at a young age with no memories of her past except for a chilling vision concerning her and a nameless young boy. She tries to blend in with her new life and family, but her low self-esteem hinders her from feeling at all useful. Her life starts to fall apart when her father is charged with bribery, but things really start to get out of hand when mysterious beings appear before her, apparently wanting her for some obscure reason. While some of the normal conventions of anime and manga are still found in "Planet Ladder", the story as a whole is refreshing and unique. It can sometimes be difficult to understand what's going on, but the reader afterwards quickly understands and the story overall flows smoothly and cleanly. Visually, the artwork is undeniably "shojo," girls-style. Characters are drawn seriously with a lot of detail in several frames, and then switch to a chibi-like form with the usual sweat drops and tear marks and such. It can feel a little unbalanced at times, especially if the reader wishes to know what kind of style the artist plans to utilize mainly in the series. But for the most part, the artwork is amazing and showcases some extraordinary talent. And thanks to TOKYOPOP's new "100% Authentic Manga" policy, we US readers can see that artwork as it was originally intended. Unlike the majority of English-translated manga, "Planet Ladder" reads from right-to-left, leaving the artwork crisp and clean and untouched by photoreversing methods that can distort or blur it ("Cardcaptor Sakura" is an unfortunate victim of such methods). In regards to the translation, I can honestly say that TOKYOPOP is getting better. While other of the company's manga like "Gundam Wing" used a horrible text that looked like computer type, "Planet Ladder" uses text that appears more handdrawn, giving it the intended "authentic" feel. And the translation is actually pretty good; it doesn't feel static or bland and actually expresses emotion. There weren't even any typos, something TOKYOPOP is infamous for. All in all, "Planet Ladder" is a worthy addition to any manga fan's collection. While it is a little early to tell how well the story will develop, the first volume is good enough that readers can expect quite a bit from the second volume. While not in the same league as the manga-greats such as "Inu-Yasha", "Fushigi Yugi", and "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind", "Planet Ladder" is an entertaining series that should delight any manga fan. And thanks to TOKYOPOP's new "100% Authentic Manga" policy, we can enjoy the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
| 
