The first couple volumes of this series were great. The characters were interesting, the plot was sweet (if not too terribly original), and the art was (and still is) incredibly beautiful. However, things change quickly and the story quickly degrades into what feels like a money-making operation rather than a naturally flowing story.
Don't let the add copy fool you. This series becomes pure soap. If you're looking for a light hearted, modern-day Cinderella tale, look elsewhere. It's artificially angst-ridden and not very original, but it will fill your misery meter to the brim. It's "All My Children", international-style. Kidnappings (yes that's right, multiple kidnappings of the same person), rape, murder, espionage, stalking, obsession, suicide, abuse, organized crime, assassins, sex, amnesia, and secret half-siblings bent on revenge fill the pages of "Perfect Girl".The story line goes from merely unbelievable to ridiculous around volume 4, and steadily becomes more and more ridiculous as the series progresses way past its peak. Though we are told that Jay is "average" every other chapter, she winds up with a harem of mentally unstable men who destroy themselves for her in bizarre and unrealistic ways. The harem itself is not the problem for me; rather it's the way it comes about. Other than Jay's foolish need to treat even the most despotic men with kindness, there is no reason for them to fall so madly in love with her. She becomes the Korean Helen of Troy without real cause. The only real reason that I can come up with is so that the author can cause problems for Jay and Jarte that would never have existed otherwise. The men themselves are suitably tragic, yet two-dimensional characters who are there purely to wreck havock and to eventually be tossed away for dramatic effect.
The main characters quickly degrade in terms of personality and reason. Jay goes from being a sweet, independent kid who has everything going for her to a weak, unfaithful, angst-ridden cry-baby who can do nothing but be kidnapped or nearly raped and who is decent to every man she comes in contact with rather than Jarte, the man she claims to love over and over again. Jarte goes from being an intelligent, strong and seemingly perfect man to a weak-minded, obsessed and jealous abuser whose only desire in life is to possess Jay for himself and treat her as horribly as possible for all the wrongs that she's done to him, real or imagined.
Honestly, I'm upset over what's been done to a promising series. I truly enjoyed volumes 1-3. The introduction of Luigi was the beginning of the end for me. A poster at Net Comics said that she/he felt as though "Perfect Girl" was being drawn out in order to sell more volumes, and I think they may be right. There was no reason whatsoever to drag this series out as long as it has been, and apparently will be for 2 more volumes. All of the artificial misunderstandings and angst has killed this story for me. At this point, I will continue to read the series to see if it has the happy ending that it so terribly needed 3 volumes ago, but I will not be buying it as it comes out in print as I had planned.
If you like pretty pictures, soap operas and drama for drama's sake, read "100% Perfect Girl". If you're looking for something original and upbeat, don't waste your time with this one.
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