Peach Fuzz
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- For the hair, see vellus.
Peach Fuzz, is an original English-language manga made by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, and originally published in January 11, 2005 by TOKYOPOP. Peach Fuzz originally started as a short 17-page story in TOKYOPOP's 2nd Rising Stars of Manga competition, where it placed as Grand Prize. Vol 1 was published January 11th, 2005, Vol 2 was published October 10th, 2006, and Vol 3 was published December 11th, 2007. The series also appears in a Sunday comic strip form within Sunday newspaper comics sections.
Peach Fuzz is about a 9-year old named Amanda Keller who buys a sassy ferret named Peach. The thrust of the story is that Peach believes that she's royalty and isn't impressed about being taken away from her subjects at the pet store. Life in the little girl's home is soon turned upside down by Her Ferret Highness Peach!
[edit] Synopsis
A ferret named Peach is abducted from the pet store by what she believes to be a ferocious, five-headed monster called Handra (from "hand" and "hydra"). In actuality, the "monster" is a well-meaning girl called Amanda, who only wants to be loved. Peach soon makes trouble for her new owner due to different and humorous perspectives they have of each other, wherein "Princess" Peach believes herself to have been kidnapped from her domain as a source of amusement for a tyrant and Amanda sees her new pet as simply a playful nonentity.
The series begins when Amanda desires a unique pet. She chooses a ferret, because "they are cute when they play, so gentle while they sleep, and use a litter-box". Amanda chooses Peach at the local pet shop, against her mother Megan's wishes that Amanda select something more easy to ignore. Megan reluctantly yields to her daughter's decision only after Amanda agrees her new pet should never injure her, and that doing so will be enough reason to get rid of Peach. Amanda, terrified of losing her new pet and companion, keeps Peach's naughtiness a secret. Peach, in turn, rebels in a self-congratulatory way, maintaining that she is an unloved, friendless princess who must heroically retain her composure and courage while being tormented by hideous giants and their slaves.
[edit] Characters
Amanda Keller: an enthusiastic, attention-starved young girl who has recently entered into the fourth grade. Her birthday falls just before the cut-off date for school, making her younger than all the other students in the class. This isolates her from the rest of her classmates and makes her an easy target of two ruthless bullies. In her search for approval and praise from her peers, she comes upon the idea of getting a pet that will help her stand out from the rest of the class. Though the pet she chooses, a ferret named Peach, brings new joy into her life, it also brings with it new responsibilities for which she was unprepared. Amanda seems to think that Peach is a plaything — a sentient plaything, but a plaything nonetheless. This head-in-the-clouds paradigm leads to one dangerous mishaps after another, possibly teaching Amanda a few lessons.
Megan Keller Amanda's single mother who thinks peach is a nuisance.
Peach: a princess of the Ferret Kingdom, or so she thinks. Kind words and preferential treatment from her mommy-ferret when she was young, combined with growing up as the only female ferret in the cage of ferrets at the pet store, has given Peach a vast egocentrism. As a result, Peach is a bit snobbish and bossy. She can be fierce if frightened or annoyed. She is abruptly thrown into a strange new land (Amanda's house) where she must learn to toughen up to gain control over the Handra (Amanda's hands) and ultimately achieve her goal of reestablishing her domain. Peach often superimposes her own imagination over the situations into which she is thrust: when confronted by Amanda's dolls, Peach believes herself to be a gladiator; when in her cage, she sees herself as a prisoner, eating tasteless food and licking water from the dungeon walls; when a toy is put into her cage, she dramatizes the toy as a slave-watchman. She is very much confused by Amanda's dealings, but is correct in supposing that the so-called Handra (a portmanteau of "hand" and "hydra"; see Lernaean Hydra) keeps her for its amusement alone.
Edwin: Amanda's other ferret (introduced in Volume 3). He is very clumsy. At first, Peach believes him to be her prince, who has come to rescue her, due to his fur patterns matching those of the ferret on the treat box. Peach later doubts this after seeing how clumsy he is, and after the ferrets in the pet store denounce him as a mere "peasent". However, she grows fond of him. Amanda's mother had named him after the attractive hero of a romance novel she had been reading.
Kim Chang: Amanda's best friend who is very popular among her classmates. She is intrigued by successive fashions; therefore, when Peach is popular with their class, she obtains a ferret herself, named Pavaratty. She then helps Amanda make a ferret costume to make her become popular; the plan fails when two bullies blackmail Amanda, turning Kim and all their classmates against her.
Pavaratty: Kim's pet ferret. His name is a portmanteau of Pavarotti (the name of a tenor opera singer) and rat. As mentioned in Kim's blurb, she obtained him in keeping with the sudden trend that Peach sparked during her debut at show and tell. Pavaratty is more egocentric, contemptuous, and arrogant even Peach, whom he views as socially beneath him. His concept of human hands as "handlers" whose sole purpose is to attend to him, while more accurate than Peach's paradigm, offend Peach immensely. Pavaratty, or "Pava" as he is sometimes called, is somewhat larger than Peach and has a shaggier coat.
Phillip (Phil) Eugene Krauss: The tallest boy in the class. He bullies Amanda ruthlessly, but almost exclusively, possibly to suppress an emotional soft spot, which he perceives as weakness. He dotes on his two pet hamsters.
Timothy (Tim) Lankenwurst: A huge troublemaker, known for founding the organization "Masters of Detention". He has been punished, though not expelled, for carrying a knife into school. It was under his influence that Phil became a bully.
Mimi: Amanda's friend. An anergetic girl of Amanda's age who is, along with her family, part of a 'circle of life' mushroom-religion (Mushinite). Amanda's mom does not trust Mimi's family due to their "strange" religious beliefs.
Truffle, Spore, and Puffball: Mimi's three albino ferrets, known at the "Shadow Ferret Clan." They are trained to do tricks and have a very bleak outlook on life, believing that they (and anyone who enters their domain) are cursed. Puffball dies before he is formally introduced in the series. Truffle is a mother-type figure, and Spore displays manic-depressive tendencies. Their all of their names refer to mushrooms.
