Kyo Kara MAOH!: Volume 1    by Temari Matsumoto & Tomo Takabayashi Order:  USA  Can TOKYOPOP, 2008 (2008) Paperback     Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto If you are in the mood for real escapist fantasy with bishonen characters, then Kyo Kara MAOH! is the manga for you. Temari Matsumoto, the artist for Tomo Takabayashi's novels of the same name, has taken the story and brought it to full graphic life. Yuri Shibuya is just an average high schooler until the day he defends one of his classmates against a group of bullies. Displeased with Yuri's meddling, the gang flushes him down the toilet. Yuri wakes up in another world, where demons called Mazoku fight humans – and it turns out that Yuri is the Mazoku's king. Yuri discovers that his soul was sent to earth for safekeeping until the time he would become Maoh. However some of his subjects do not agree with this choice. Yuri must prove himself worthy of being Maoh while leading the war against humans and trying to figure out just what is going on. Kyo Kara MAOH! is a lot of fun. Yuri, the type of hapless hero that works well in manga, finds himself in outrageous circumstances. Even though readers could never relate to what Yuri is going through, it is easy to empathize with how he feels. Matsumoto's artwork is clean and crisp with more detail when needed, creating a wonderful shojo look. If the Kyo Kara MAOH! story itself does not capture readers (though I was certainly hooked), Temari Matsumoto's hot demons will definitely snag female readers' attention. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews