The (girl) characters were great, the twists were unexpected and poignant, the art as gorgeous as you'd expect from Tanemura, and the pacing was on point. The most festering blemish on this is the godawful romance, which I think can only really be enjoyed if you have a high tolerance for rapey dudes that don't respect women's autonomy (or women in general). Like Jesus Christ, that guy sucked.
Maron and Miyako however had a FANTASTIC dynamic. It's still a good story, just with a really, really, REALLY shitty romance, in my opinion. Maron deserves better than that sentient garbage.

And that's a real shame as the manga delves into more complicated views of good and bad (not too complicated for early teenagers not to understand). The portrayal of love, family and friendship was beautiful as always by Tanemura. The main couple compliment each other, I really enjoyed their chemistry.

I remember watching this when I was a kid and being entranced by the story. The art is terrible now looking back but the story is cute. Would recommend this for middle schoolers!

Art: This story is clearly one of Arina's early works. This is most obvious with character and costume design - the faces are much too angular, especially in the early volumes. She does get shading and dynamic layouts very right, I have to give her props for that.

Themes: We've got a tricky situation on our hands. The story uses Christian elements in ways that may be seen as misguided or offensive, and students of history may be put off by the representation of Joan of Arc as a magical girl. I found myself cringing multiples times for these reasons but… There is a sincerity and thoughtfulness even in these inaccurate interpretations. You get the sense that Arina has respect for the Christian interpretation of God, and may have been working out her own feelings in the story.

Story: We've got a magical girl/phantom thief/supernatural romance story here that can be very corny in the more episodic chapters (I found myself only skimming those). The romance is alright… Chiaki is a little too grabby for my taste, but I have to give Maron props for acknowledging her feelings while still standing up for herself with dignity (most of the time). In the end, as I alluded to above, I think Arina's goal was to try and inspire her readership with themes of selfless love: whether it be between God and Man, Man and Woman, or two friends. It lacks polish, but for a rough work I find it well meaning and sweet, misguided though it may be.

Once you got past the first ten chapters or so. The flow really improves, whereas at first every page was really busy with unnecessary stuff. After that, though, it evolved into a nice, light shoujo romance. D'awwww.

Compared to the Episodes it seems it was big time rushed...It good but in the first couple chapters equal basically half the damn episodes...I love it too but she wasnt like that in the episodes and the grandfather and the police wasnt either. But it was a awesome story!

... Last updated on July 19th, 2011, 4:48pm

It's very cliched at the beginning. It has most of the cliches of Kaitou-manga (where the main character's friend and/or classmate is trying to catch them, ect) and also slips into the magical girl category, where everything is a cliche in itself. The first time I read it, I only made it through a chapter and a half because of this.

However, I recently decided to give it a chance, and once I actually got into it, it was good. The cliches do not hinder the story as much as they seem to dominate it in the first chapter or two, and once you get past them it's very enjoyable. You do not have to drag through too many chapters for development to happen and there is not chapter after chapter of the same thing.

What makes the story is the twists. The (cliched) characters all have proper motivations and deeper personalities. Unexpected revelations between characters make it very interesting as you reach the end. The end itself was satisfying.

Overall, it would really depend on your tastes. If you really hate cliches, you decide if you feel like sticking around until it starts to dig deeper.

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne does not offer anything new for the mahou-shoujo genre. It is obviously affected by Sailor Moon. Maron's design as Jeanne looks like Usagi, the mysterious guy that is her rival but he also help her and he is her romantic interest is also like Tuxedo Mask and the two main eternal enemies. What is original though is, that the author decided to use a historical figure serving as the reincarnation of the main character and the religious elements. I liked that.

Other than that, quite cliche; Both story and characters.

I found all of the characters stupid. Maron is just your very typical shoujo-manga girl where she can't stop thinking of her romantic interest and where she will do something silly. Her romantic interest is the typical again shoujo-guy, where is mysterious and he pick on her. Oh yes and Maron has a best friend that is also doing silly things.

The artwork is pretty but Arina Tanemura is making the characters eyes extremely huge.

It was an okay read, I guess. Check it out only if you are a mahou-shoujo fan.

I got this when I was only in second grade. I was amazed by the beautiful art and intriguing storyline. Everyone else just wanted to see "the smart girl's weird backwards comic book", but I loved the story for what it was. This got me started on becoming a mangaka. Thank you, Tanemura-sensei. Thank you, Maron-chan. And thank you most of all, Zen-kun, for opening my heart and letting me cry for you and all those who cannot live as long as they want to...

I love this, it was a great break from most other magical girl stories
I love the idea that the main characters a thief, and most people don't see her as the good guy. It's a nice change for once.
And I'm a huge Arina Tanemura fan, and this is definitely one of her best, if not her best in my opinion.
I would recommended this to anyone