Prospero's Manga

Arisa, vol. 1

2010-11-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

Story and Art by Natsumi Ando
Published in the US by Del Rey Manga

Slugline: A real psycho high school drama

Tsubasa has not seen her identical twin Arisa in years, and upon meeting her after all that time they decide that Tsubasa will replace Arisa for a day at school. She does so and finds that her sister’s life seems just as good as Arisa had said in her letters. When Tsubasa tells Arisa so, Arisa reveals her deep depression and tries to commit suicide. As her sister lies in a coma, Tsubasa decides to find what hidden secrets in the schoo are resposible for Arisa’s attempt. Tsubasa discovers out her fellow students send texts to someone named the King, and those texts come true. With that power, the students’ cruelty has come out and Tsubasa needs to discover who the King is, even as she becomes a target. She may have an ally, the standard bad boy of the class, but his real allegiances are more complicated.

At first this reads like the typical high school shoujo, with Tsubasa being the violent girl that has trouble controlling those tendencies while her identical twin having the perfect life that Tsubasa wishes she could have. The fact that Tsubasa would be given the chance to live Arisa’s life in the manga was given, but the fact that she would get that chance by Arisa attempting suicide is not. From there the story takes a darker turn than most shoujo as the class is revealed to have a dangerous secret, and the manga is less about Tsubasa trying out Arisa's perfect life but about uncovering secrets. Rather than her violent self being a liability, it may be the only thing that lets her survive to find out what is going on. While the story does not get as dark as others, it quickly moves into the shadows that most shoujo never venture towards even as its visual style remains unchanged. This is a story that has more meaning than it first appears.

Arisa, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ghost in the Shell

2010-11-02T01:36:00.003-05:00

By Shirow Masamune
Published in the US by Kodansha

Slugline: Philosophical violence or violent philosophy?

Motoko Kusanagi is a paramilitary police officer unit in near future Tokyo. Cybernetic enhancements and computer use is near ubiquitous, allowing human brains to be hacked to alter memories or have a full body replacement. Most of the stories in the volume are stand alone as Motoko and her squad rein in government excesses of the rest of the as rampant corruption and self-serving agendas are behind nearly every case they tackle. In one Motoko encounters a ghost, a living program, and the experience leaves her shaken. When it looks like that one of the politicians have finally succeeded in getting Motoko thrown under the bus to further his own schemes, Motoko turns the situation around with the help of the ghost. This leads to her making an unusual decision though debating what is life and its meaning has a lot of resonance in the volume overall.

Ghost in the Shell is a classic manga in American because Shirow Masamune’s long relationship with Dark Horse Comics meant that his titles have been available in the US long before the rise of popularity and availability of other manga. This story has been retold several times in anime, though this is a case were the retellings have allowed adaptors to boil the story into a coherent whole. For instance, the Ghost in the Shell movie melded together a half dozen separate stories from this volume into a single narrative. This makes the source material suffer in comparison to later versions, which is unusual. The art is much softer and fluid than you would expect in such a hard sci-fi setting. So expecting to read this and find the great original material that all the adaptations have ruined is not realistic but it is still a good story though fond of its philosophical musings.

Ghost in the Shell is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

.hack//Legend of the Twilight, the Complete Collection

2010-09-24T16:46:00.000-05:00

Art by Rei Idumi with Story by Tatsuya Hamazaki

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: A secret epilogue

Shugo and Rena have won the online avatars of the legendary dot hackers in the MMORPG The World and gather friends that are not just interested in their famous avatars but in sharing their adventures. Shugo while dying in The World is gifted with an artifact which allows him to break the game’s rules. The appearance of their avatars and artifact has CC Corp, the owners of The World, in a frenzy to prevent what happened the last time they were around. Shugo and Rena encounter the avatar of a child claiming that the entity that gave Shugo the artifact is her mother and believe returning the child is their quest. With that goal they explore the seedy underbelly of The World and overcome resistance by CC Corp to return the daughter and tell her mother their stories. Along the way, colleagues of the original owners of their avatars help them.

While not precisely a sequel to previous .hack stories, Legend of the Twilight draws heavily on the consequences and characters of them. Roughly the first half of the volume merely refers to them but in the remainder these previous stories become ever more important until it seems that Legend of the Twilight is just an epilogue not its own story. As the story becomes more of an epilogue the action/adventure aspects become minimal until the whole point is to tell the story to others rather for it to have its own purpose. While it manages to avoid most of the metaphysical diversions that other stories in the .hack series fall prey to, it still feels the need to ponder the nature of friends and comrades. In a way, this being a complete collection means taking the less interesting parts at the end with the more entertaining ones.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight, the Complete Collection is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

World of Warcraft: Mage

2010-09-14T04:13:00.000-05:00

Story by Richard A. Knaak with Art by Ryo Kawakami
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: Treachery that can be seen from up high.

Aodhan is a trainee mage in the flying city of Dalaran. He became a trainee despite the opposition of his warrior family that did not see the usefulness of mage skills as compared to the family’s tradition so Aodhan instead follows his uncle Crevan’s example. When Dalaran is attacked by blue dragons, Aodhan learns that Crevan’s example is perhaps not the best one to follow when he tricks Aodhan into releasing him from prison. As the attack continues, Aodhan realizes that his uncle is not as virtuous as he had once thought and that the trainers who were so hard on him were so to make sure he did not make the same his mistakes as his uncle. With that in mind, Aodhan manages to turn the tables on his uncle and help save Dalaran.

This story would have been better served as a short story rather than filling an entire volume. Mage is part of the classes line of Warcraft manga but what makes the class different and special wasn’t shown here. This was a fairly typical ‘boy finds out his inspiration has feet of clay while people he not had much respect for have more wisdom that he thought’ story. Variations of this story are fairly common but rather than trying to make interesting twists on it, pages are filled up with essentially meaningless fight and chase scenes that only make it clear that Aodhan's uncle is up to something while Aodhan stays clueless. Meanwhile, some things are hand waved away rather spending pages to set things up for the story in order to make room for those fight and chase scenes. There are a couple nice bits where items introduced earlier in the story are revealed to have more than one use but it that effort would have better spent working on making sure that the story held together better.

World of Warcraft: Mage is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

.hack//Cell, vol. 1

2010-09-10T11:50:00.000-05:00

Art by Akira Mutsuki with Story by Ryo Suzukaze

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Is it surprising that virtual reality screws up your identity?

Midori is a high school girl who becomes ill and is confined to the hospital as she grows weaker. There is another Midori who is a professional victim in The World, a massively muliplayer computer RPG. As a victim she allows other Player Character to try to hit her earning money if they fail . However being a victim can attract Player Killers (PKs) who hunt down and kill other players in the game. Midori's latest session of being a victim spirals out of a control as a crowd of PKs surround her which attracts the attention of a PK Killer. The PK Killer is so powerful that the PKs later kidnap Midori's sidekick Adamas who is killed and resurrected repeatedly to attract either Midori or the PK Killer's attention. Adamas is toughened up by his experience so he asks to meet Midori in real life. This forces Midori to confront her suppressed memories as the Midori in the hospital struggles to live.

It has been hard to review the .hack titles since they all seem to be too abstract for their own good. Using computer games as a metaphor to explore reality and identity is all well and good, but .hack tries too hard with characters wondering if anything exists rather than starting smaller such as if they have done what they think they have. When Midori's view of the world collapses and she is left with nothing, it is hard to care because everything so far in the story has seemed random and meaningless. The volume also ends abruptly with no satisfying partial resolution or even interesting cliffhanger to draw readers back, just Midori getting more lost and apparently fading away.

.hack//Cell, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Children of the Sea, vol. 1

2010-09-07T01:53:00.000-05:00

By Daisuke Igarashi
Published in the US by Viz’s Ikki Comics

Slugline: Manatees make for good au pairs.

Ruka has been banned from handball on the first day of her summer break so she has to deal with her father, who works at an aquarium. While there she meets Umi and Sora, two boys who were raised by sea manatees. Umi and Sora feel a connection with Ruka and act on it by first making sure that she sees a falling star with Umi and later taking her with them when they 'borrow' a boat to swim near where the meteor splashed down. There they see thousands of fish with phosphorescent spots, reminding Ruka of when as a child she saw a ghost disappear from an aquarium tank. Umi and Sora seem to know more than what they are saying about what is going on, but Ruka is drawn ever closer to them even as she tries to recover from their dive. As she practices snorkeling, Sora's weakness and the unusual situations in the surrounding ocean becomes more pronounced.

This is a series where the beginning scenes seem to tell a minor and unimportant story (a kid being kicked out of a school sport, visiting a friend in a hospital) but will lead to major events. Exactly what those major events are remains uncertain, but you can feel the weight of them in the actions of the the characters as they also seem to be anticipating something. When the first volume is broken down by scene even though it is longer than the traditional manga volume not that much happens in it. But the tension and sense of rising action is managed so well that is easy to overlook it. What also makes this an unusual manga is the art is very impressionistic rather than the heavily stylized like most manga. This is very effective in the underwater scenes, as it helps it give a sense of otherworldliness, that there is of the nearby world that is intimately tied to our own yet still is unfamiliar.

Children of the Sea, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Alice in the Country of Hearts, vols. 1-3

2010-09-02T01:43:00.000-05:00

Art by Soumei Hoshino and Story by Quinrose

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Where being in love and wanting to kill the person makes perfect sense.

Alice is resting in her garden with her sister when she is taken by a man with rabbit ears to Wonderland. She arrives at the clock tower which is at the center of Wonderland’s three feuding territories. They are the Mad Hatter’s mafia based out of his mansion, the Queen’s castle surrounded a garden maze and the amusement park run by Mary Gowland. The conflict seems to be mostly between the Queen and the Mad Hatter but none of them really like each other or the clock tower’s master who is traditionally neutral. Alice is forced into this world, with her unique status of an outsider that making her interact with others to return home. She learns that a difference between her and Wonderland’s is that she had a heart while everyone else has a clock. This difference and what it means along with everyone loving her continually surprises Alice as she gradually forgets about escaping Wonderland.

In many manga it seems that every male character that sticks around for more than a couple of panels falls in love with the female lead character. Here, they take that and make it a plot point! Everyone in Wonderland is supposed to love Alice, it is part of being an outsider. But because the Wonderland natives are already fighting this just gives them one more reason to it to continue and get even worse. The characters reflect their roots from the source material which means they can be very odd making into them both charming and disturbing at turns. Alice’s shuttling between factions can feel a bit repetitive but every time Alice visits someone the question is whether or not this will be the time the character will stop being charming and become deranged.

Alice in the Country of Hearts, vol. 1, vol. 2 and vol. 3 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Songs to Make You Smile

2010-08-31T04:12:00.000-05:00

By Natsuki Takaya

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: When do shojo songs not make you smile?

Songs to Make You Smile is an anthology volume by Natsuki Takaya, creator of Fruits Basket. This collection is mostly of one-off stories of young love, though there is a Tsubasa: Those With Wings story included that uses its characters to tell a twisted Snow White tale. The story that gives its name to the anthology is a high school romance between an unemotional singer whose emotional songs touch the heart of a girl whose own heart has been lost due to bullying. Next, Chisato feels emotionally cut-off from her recently deceased father but through the actions of her new stepmother she reconnects with him. Inagaki is a world class violinist who other students often deride for riding on his famous parents’ coattails, but a viola player can hear his true original music playing through. Finally, a young man given to knitting and other less than manly arts is given the courage to declare his love through the actions of his grade school cousin.

One of the worst parts of any anthology is that often they hide one or more clunkers that just are not very good but rely on the rest of the anthology to get readers. None of the stories here are that, surprising since it was originally published before Takaya's far better known Fruits Basket, meaning that they were made when she was still gaining experience. There are several different artistic styles she in the book showing that growth, with the one with the Chisato character looking the oldest but none feeling dated. There does seem to be reliance on standard storytelling elements but while none of the stories feel original neither do they feel particularly cliche-ridden. The only story that particularly stands out is the Tsubasa: Those With Wings side story, mostly because it is such a cheerfully abusive tale that manages to avoid being cruel.

Songs to Make You Smile is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

World of Warcraft Shadow Wing, vol. 1 The Dragons of Outland

2010-08-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

Story by Richard A. Knaak with Art by Jae-Hwan Kim

Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: Watch out for falling dragons!

The demons that attacked Azeroth have been defeated and pursued back to their homeworld through a mystical gate. Among the armies that followed them back to Outland are Tyri and Jorad, who have been seen before in the Warcraft titles. Jorad is still desperate to prove himself as a paladin of the Light so he takes on an important mission to coordinate friendly forces but he is waylaid and rescued by Tyri. Tyri, who is a blue dragon that can transform into an elf, has felt herself drawn to Outland by her magic. Together they convince some of Outland’s inhabitants to help them solve the mystery of the strange Nether Dragons and what their connection to other dragons be. Meanwhile, a Death Knght has learned how to seize control the Nether Dragons and is planning on using them to rule Outland.

The World of Warcraft manga have been reviewed previously (see links), some of which have been by the same same creative team but they earn their new low rating for the new reasons here. This is because of how the story is told rather than the content or the style of the story. Richard Knaak is better known as a novelist and it seems that most of the problems come from using a novel’s pacing in a manga. Five or ten pages of text reads a lot slower than the same number of pages in a manga. A character that changes their mind over five pages of text seems more natural, like they had a chance to cool off and think, while doing so in the same number of pages in a manga pages seems like a waste to have the first scene at all. Once again, it seems that this title would appeal just to fans of World of Warcraft rather than a wider fantasy audience.

World of Warcraft Shadow Wing, vol. 1 The Dragons of Outland is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Portrait of M & N, vols. 1 and 2

2010-08-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

By Tachibana Higuchi

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Why does love have to hurt?

Mitsuru and Natsuhiko have both started in a new high school and have attracted attention because of their appearance and aloof demeanors. But they both have secrets that drove them from their old schools and inaccurate rumors about those secrets have followed them and begin to make their lives more difficult. Fortunately no one has learned that the secrets are that Mitsuru is a masochist while Natsuhiko is a narcissist. While both have triggering events that cause their behaviors to flare out of their control, they manage to keep them a secret despite the other students’ curiosity. Their shared secrets tie them closer together even though their respective obsessions put up obstacles to being emotionally honest with each other. The mental confusion and uncertainty that they both face comes across each day as they try to keep their secrets and rein in their behaviors.

While aspects of Mitsuru and Natsuhiko’s relationship feel true, especially their uncertain feelings, the portrayals of their masochist and narcissist tendencies are not, especially with the idea of having such blatant triggering events. Those are not intended to show the difficulty with living with such tendencies as a teen, but instead to set up comedic situations. That uses up a lot of the respect the manga had earned, because it turns what could have been serious high school drama into something that uneasily straddles the divide between drama and farce. The title would have been much better served if the humor had came from the story or if there were characters there for comedic relief. There are several characters that could have taken that role, but they were not central enough to the story to take up that burden. Still, a good story that is undercut by a cheap device to inject comedy.

Portrait of M & N, vol. 1 and vol. 2 are both available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

Nightschool, vols. 1-3

2010-08-17T14:43:00.000-05:00

By Svetlana Chmakova

Published by Yen Press

Slugline: A other kind of Plot? What Plot? story.

Sarah is the new Night Keeper of the Night School, a school for supernatural children including Weirns (witches), vampires, mermaids and many others. Being held in a public school after the human children have left shows how close the two worlds are, especially since there are Hunters who make sure that the night creatures do not push at their boundaries. But Sarah’s disappearance, not only physically but from people’s memories begins a series of events that may bring a dangerous prophecy to pass. Sarah’s sister Alex already has a curse upon her, but to find the sister that no one remembers she enrolls in the Night School while a group of trainee Hunters and their Seer try to find who stole time from some of them. There is seven prophecy children and though they are not known even to themselves, the consequences of their meeting will be terrible.

The characters are done well, at turns scary as they show off their more dangerous aspects while at other times they are cute and childish such as when they act like the teens they are. The big problem is that while there is a strong overall plot, with the prophecy and the seven children waiting meet again, the actual plot in each chapter moves slowly. Part of it may be a function of having to follow multiple characters who may (or may not) be the prophecy children but the end result is that Sarah’s story comes across as the main story but not as the most important one considering the number of scenes she isn’t even tangentially involved in. The other potential prophecy children get less time than she does but get equally complicated plots so it feels that their stories are moving at a snail’s pace. It didn’t feel so bad in the first volume, but by the end of the third the feeling becomes oppressing and the question is when are things going to happen?

Nightschool, vol. 1, vol. 2 and vol. 3 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Fairy Navigator Runa, vol. 1

2010-07-20T02:58:00.000-05:00

Story by Miyoko Ikeda with Illustrations by Michiyo Kikuta
Published in the US by Del Rey Manga

Slugline: In the original legends, fairies were anything but nice.

Runa was left at an orphanage as a baby, never knowing her parents but told by a teacher that Runa's kindness was her strength and that she needed to be careful or the weight of it would crush her. Runa never really understood what her teacher meant until two strangers that could transform into animals approached Runa and told her that she was the fairy princess. Her parents gave her up to protect her but now there was an open portal to the fairy realms so other fairies will come since Runa is the only one who could freely travel between the worlds. However, for Runa to use her powers makes her cold and distant, so she needs all of her friends from the orphanage and the fairy realms in order to keep her on an even keel and remind her that kindness is what makes her powerful, not fairy powers.

Runa comes across as another sweet and gentle story intended for younger readers, but then towards the end shows a bit of bite. When Runa loses her cool and wants to harm another fairy (for admittedly perfectly valid reasons) her dark side emerges that is genuinely disturbing in contrast to her earlier behavior. While she quickly gets herself back into under control, the fact that her dark side is so clear cut brings extra meaning to the story. The fear that she could lose control of herself is meaningful, rather than her just being a light and fluffy character that says she has to be good, or else. The supporting characters don't seem to know who they are, with their decisions furthering the story but not making much character sense. Still, for a children story it seems to be more willing to show the consequences and costs of power than most.

Fairy Navigator Runa, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Neko Ramen, vol. 1 Hey! Order Up!

2010-07-13T05:40:00.000-05:00

By Kenji Sonishi
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Not realistic in that no cat work around that much water.

While on his lunch break Tanaka decides to try out a new ramen shop and discovers it has the strangest chef he has ever heard of. It is not that the ramen chef Taisho is particularly skilled (in fact, he does not seem to be very good) but instead that he's a cat. Taisho ran away from home, determined to not be like his cat model father who specialized in being too cute for words. After his dream of being a sushi chef fell through (he snacked on the fish) he turned to ramen noodles. Taisho swears that he plans to become a famous ramen chef, but his ramen never really improves and he seems to be more interested in fame than anything else. Strangely he ignores his quickest route to fame for while Taisho knows that he is a cat, he refuses to act like one and ignores that others refuse to do the same. You can find most of the humor of the series coming from either Taisho's ineptitude or the face he is a cat in a chef's world as Tanaka tries to be the voice of reason.

Neko Ramen is another 4-koma but like many other 4-koma collections, there are several short stories in the volume that are not. Unlike many other 4-koma collections, the shorts work very well and continue story threads that were begun in the 4-koma. A lot of the humor derives from jokes about ramen noodles, so on occasion there are gags that lack punch because they rely on knowing more about ramen noodles than one would normally know outside of Japan. That being said, most of the jokes come across without any difficulty because they rely on standard comedic situations such character obliviousness. The strongest source of humor comes from Taisho's inability to accept that a talking cat could be unusual, and while it could have gotten monotonous, those gags are broken up with enough other kinds of humor that it never does.

Neko Ramen, vol. 1 Hey! Order Up! is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Starcraft: Ghost Academy vol. 1

2010-05-28T12:46:00.000-05:00

Written by Keith R. A. Decandido with Art by Fernardo Heinz Furukawa
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: Brain panning is not an "This your brains on drugs" reference.

This manga fills in a missing gap in the Starcraft: Nova novel when Nova goes to the Ghost Academy. In Starcraft, Ghosts are psionically powerful humans that are drafted to help keep the Dominion secure. Nova is training to be one after suffering the the standard traumatizing childhood awakening of her psionic powers that both drives and isolates her. But she is not allowed to be too isolated because the Ghost Academy trains in teams, and because of her isolated nature the others in her team suffer in their grading. Things come to head when one of her teammates, a son of powerful political leader, helps create a situation in which another teammate who is a drug addict goes off the rails. Though Nova helps her teammate and graduates to the next stage of her training, she has her memories erased of the incident and gains a new foe she does not even remember.

This is another title where the lack of knowledge about Starcraft handicaps the reader since it seems to expect that you already know background. This is made worse because Nova has already starred in a novel with the manga taking place in a gap in the novel. As an example, some of the characters seem extraneous but if the reader knew the larger story their presence may make sense. The main character Nova is in a journey to be more connected to her fellow soldiers, but there is a moment of that journey that is missing. In the manga she realizes her behavior is harmful, and there are moments where she connects with the rest of her team, but there the moment in between when she makes the decision to change which is missing. While these are problems, they are not terrible ones since one of the purposes of the manga is to fill out the Starcraft backstory, so as long as it does that the manga has some worth.

Starcraft: Ghost Academy vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Happy Cafe, vols. 1 + 2

2010-05-20T14:16:00.001-05:00

By Kou Matsuzuki

Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Don't people need to search for happiness somewhere other than small shops?

Uru decides to live on her own so not to get in the way of her mom's happiness with her new husband, so despite still being in high school she has gotten her own place and her own job. Her job as a waitress at a cafe brings her into contact with odd people, the strangest being the cafe's chef Shindo who is a strange mixture of caring and impassiveness. The three workers of the cafe help each other and their patrons out, though mostly Uru needs their attention. Uru, after she learns she didn't have to leave the house, needs the help to balance her own growth and independence to her mother and stepfather's protective impulses. Otherwise their major challenge is when a competing cafe issues a challenge to them but despite Uru's foolhardy acceptance of it, everything turns out well though the competing cafe workers settle into a resigned tolerance of Uru and her cafe.

This is another entry in 'happiness can only be found in a small shop' genre of manga. This reminds me a lot of Haru Hana, which was reviewed in March, not in the characters but in the situations that they find themselves in. In both an late teen, early twenties woman enters the shop, whom the female protagonist first looks at in suspicion but whom later becomes friends of the shop's workers because of the way they help her. She becomes a supporting character that continues to show up and in both titles the character is introduced at the end of the first volume. But while this a faithful entry into a well-established sub-genre, it still is a solid one. Other than one or two extreme character traits (which in comparison to other manga are not that extreme) it remains well-grounded. The story and characters deliver a satisfying but not particularly memorable manga.

Happy Cafe, vol. 1 and vol. 2 are both available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

-Ferdinand

King of RPGs, vol. 1

2010-05-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Written by Jason Thompson with Art by Victor Hao
Published by Del Rey Manga

Slugline: We will deny any similarities between the reviewer and the manga's characters

Shesh had a problem with computer RPGs, but after the therapy, shock treatment and lifetime wireless ban he goes to college and can act somewhat normal. There are temptations at college but when Shesh goes to a RPG club he discovers they have pen and paper RPGs rather than the computer games he once abused. As he considered leaving he is challenged by the gamemaster Theodore and after his friends ask him to, he decides to play just one game. What he doesn't know is Theodore is his match in obsessiveness but to pen and paper RPGs. Theodore discovers a talent to provoke Shesh into unleashing his frenzied player persona that therapy had supposedly tamed. After dealing with the repercussions of his first gaming session, Shesh's attempt to find a gamemaster to safely game with brings him into conflict with a gamer that takes advantage of the collectible games and a student officer who is convinced of the evil of playing games.

This manga hits in the middle of my two loves (well, the ones that are not real people at least) manga/comics and tabletop roleplaying games. I may not have been as obsessive and as Theodore, but my college room (my house now) was filled with just as many game rulebooks as it was graphic novels and manga. While my time in college predates World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs that broke Shesh, other computer games were just as effective on people I knew, in fact I knew people similar to all the characters. So all of the characters ring true, but are overlaid with a shonen filter. This includes that no one is really bad, they are misunderstood or victims of circumstance and everything devolves into a personal challenge. Still, it has enough gaming in-jokes to satisfy the gaming crowd (such as the culmination of the final story arc of the volume harking backing to a gaming urban legend) but does not need in-depth gaming knowledge to get the humor and the story, which was the problem with the review earlier this week of .hack//4koma.

King of RPGs, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

.hack//4koma

2010-05-04T01:46:00.000-05:00

By Koichi Sumimaru

Published in the US by Tokyopop

Slugline: hack is just a very bad cough

.hack is one of those series that appears to be very popular despite all of my attempts to understand it. Considering that there is little attraction for me towards a humorous take on it. It seems that most of the volume requires previous knowledge of the .hack characters and story in order to get the jokes, though I suspect even if I did understand more of the references I would not find them very funny since the their setups are not very interesting. The volume is actually a compilation of four different creators take on .hack, though Koichi Sumimaru is responsible for most of the material. This is unfortunate, since that material is the least funny in the volume despite giving the title it's name. The 4koma, or four panel gag strips, starts the volume, making it a hard slog to wade through it and reach the other creators contributions. Most of the other creators' material can be understood on its own, without being already immersed in the .hack universe, but by the time you reach it any enjoyment that could be had has been leached away. Unless you are a hard-core .hack fan, especially of The World and The World R:2, there is nothing here worth your time.

.hack//4koma is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ratman, vol. 1

2010-05-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Story and Art by Inui Sekihiko
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Rats are not exactly good models for heroes or villains.

Shuto wants to be a hero, which is more possible than the typical childish fantasy because he lives in a world where super heroes are common. Even though he is short for his age and so few people take him seriously, he continues to espouse the notions of justice that he believes are the bedrock of heroes. Only two people seem to take his desire seriously, a slightly odd student at his school named Mizushima and Rio, the daughter of the head of the Hero Association. Shuto finally gets his chance to be a hero by rescuing Mizushima but discovers that it was to trick him to undergo an experiment and be forced to become a villain by Mizushima's sister. Shuto's first mission as a villain brings him into conflict with the Hero Association, leading to Rio vowing to hunt him down personally along with the Hero Association as a whole. Shuto is torn between his heroic desires and the messed up reality that he finds himself forced into.

Shuto has the sort of personality that is so earnest in wanting to be a hero that he would normally annoy anyone. So when the trap is sprung and he is forced to become a villain instead, Shuto's stunned response makes the story. Sure, that particular twist can be seen coming a mile away, but since it is a twist that the character would never expect because of his nature, the readers can allow themselves to enjoy it. Sadly, for the moment the female characters are just foils for Shuto to react against rather than having their own personality. While parts of the manga descends into parody the fact that Shuto is taking the heroic ideals so seriously suggest that will have a more mature examination of them, though the rest of the story may be less so. It is the interplay between the two that will keep things interesting.

Ratman, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

The World I Create

2010-04-15T10:41:00.001-05:00

By Ayami Kazama
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Believing is Seeing

This manga is about people that have the ability through magic lanterns to create illusionary environments that can encompass all of the senses. These 'projectionists' share their school grounds with a more traditional high school so that they share many of the same problems of typical students except that their conflicts are not just over grades but over their special abilities. A couple of students that have had trouble advancing in their training end up creating worlds not for their teachers but for each other. A student that is losing her projectionist ability has to decide what her last illusion will be and how she will keep her projectionist friends despite moving back to the ordinary school. Two students first aggravate each other then help each other reach ever greater heights in their abilities. A student is worried that he will lose his girlfriend if she pursues her projectionist abilities. In all of these different stories characters from the others visit but the problem of each story remains their own to resolve.

This is an all ages title, and the conflicts in each story reflect that rating in that none of them are intense though they can be bittersweet and their relationships while having the beginnings of romance for the most part are innocent and sweet rather than hot and heavy. It is not much of a surprise to find out that at the heart of each story is the revelation, the showing of a truth. That ties in with the characters' projectionist abilities, because in most cases that truth can only be shown through those abilities. But this is one of those times were the all ages ratings holds back the title, because the stories could be so much more bold than they end up being. A less restrictive rating could have allowed higher and more varied stakes rather than leaving the reader with a sense of repetition and a mild disappointment that the manga was not more.

The World I Create is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Red Hot Chili Samurai, vol. 1

2010-04-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

Created by Yoshitsugu Katagiri
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Just as spinach gives you strength chilis make you a swordsman.

Kokaku is the son of the Han's (or province) leader. The province is small and poor so Kokaku has to help in keeping the peace, which he is glad to do because it allows him to kick butt on a regular basis. Unlike many other samurai Kokaku does not feel the need to use his sword to kill, having been taught while he was young and impressionable that the sword was to protect people. Kokaku has some friends who help out in upholding justice and other cool sounding catchphrases like that. These are the studious and serious guy, the competitive girl and the silent ninja, all of whom do not really need names since they are their appearances. Despite his need to make sure that the people are protected and justice is served, Kokaku still has more than a healthy ego, often revealing his family tattoo of a black crane when knocking out his opponents so that they know who beat them.

Something about the name Red Hot Chili Samurai led to the impression of the title being more energetic and interesting than the resulting rather standard adventure story with samurai trappings. The samurai aspect does not seem to be that important since anachronisms are introduced on the flimsiest of reasons. The use of the chilis, rather than being symbolic of characters or having some subtle meaning becomes just another gag. The supporting characters are straight out of central casting with only the smallest of flourishes to make them unique. While there is an attempt to show Kokaku's motivation, by the time it is introduced there is already ample evidence that shows instead his desire to be the center or attention and put his opponents in their place. That way, Kokaku gets to be arrogant in an acceptable way. None of the characters are mean, but neither are they as heroic as they think they are.

Red Hot Chili Samurai, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Rampage, vol 1

2010-03-24T12:44:00.002-05:00

By Yunosuke Yoshinaga
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Who knew the skull could be sliced through like butter?

Zhang Fei is a wanderer in ancient China during a period when the bureaucratic eunuchs corruption has lead to civil unrest. Which basically describes all of China's history, but in this instance the forces hoping to bring change are called the Yellow Turbans. In their fervor to bring change they commit as many crimes as their opposition, so Zhang Fei agrees to join a volunteer force against them lead by Liu Bei. He sacrifices his life to save a little girl but instead of dying he wakes with a cursed spear after a near-death dream experience. When in fear for his life the spear takes control and is relentless in destroying the enemy but is reluctant to return control over his body. Liu Bei is revealed to be secretly a woman and has experience with the power that has Zhang Fei in its grip, so he joins her and her army despite being told of the risks of the cursed spear, hoping that they can help each other with his power and the Yellow Turbans.

One of the annoying things that I find with historical Chinese tales is that I can never keep all of the names straight so that the frustration of working out character references by their context may be spoiling my review. That may partially explain why it seems that the characters' rationales and why they react in the ways they do always seems to be off in the title, appearing to be more the creation of convenience and plot rather than motivation. But since the whole point of these characters is for gratuitous violence and nudity, accomplishing that seems to be more important than the journey there. This is not a deep story, at least not yet, so looking for anything more than battle scenes and having a chance to ogle some non-sexual nudity is probably asking for too much. The violence is done in loving details while the nudity is not, with them not being tied together so the story so far has not been disturbing, but it is just an excuse for violence. Fortunately, it well orchestrated violence.

Rampage, vol 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Deadman Wonderland, vol. 1

2010-03-22T14:30:00.000-05:00

By Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Prisons and amusement parks are not a good combination

In the near future Ganta is among the few survivors of the Great Tokyo Earthquake but by the time he is a teenager he barely remembers it and has adapted to high school life. The mysterious Red Man then kills everyone else in his class and Ganta is convicted of the crime and is quickly sent to Deadman Wonderland, a combination private prison and amusement park built on Tokyo's ruins. Private prisons are never nice places in fiction and Deadman Wonderland is no exception with prisoners pitted against each other to entertain visitors and earn privileges. In the case of death row prisoners like Ganta, the privileges include living for another three days. To help him survive long enough to prove his innocence a childhood friend from pre-earthquake Tokyo is helping him while Ganta also learns to master the powers that the Red Man left in him while killing his classmates.

While there are some similarities to such titles as Battle Royale and Death Note (here are our reviews for Death Note 1-6 and 7-10), here the main tension seems to be from Ganta coming to grips to the mysteries that surround him. The Red Man is central to these mysteries and at this stage in the series he is like a storm that comes in and upsets the natural order of Ganta's life. Shiro, Ganta's childhood friend, helps lighten the title though still leaving the danger in it intact. That way the story is not too dark though how maniac Shiro is will have to be managed so it doesn't become silly and descend into parody, admittedly not terrible danger. This is a good start to a potentially complex emotionally charged thriller, but it is still only a good beginning not proof of a successful continuing title.

Deadman Wonderland, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Only One Wish, vol. 1

2010-03-18T14:15:00.002-05:00

By Mia Ikumi
Published in the US by Del Rey Manga

Slugline: Why do people like monkey paw stories so much?

Students believe in an urban legend that if you text under the right conditions you will get an angel to make one wish come true. But things are never that simple. Here, as in many other monkey paw-like stories, getting exactly what you wish for leads to the worst possible outcome. The angel will fulfill only one wish, there is no chance to take it back, no matter how much it is needed. In this volume, a trio of friends tear themselves apart from jealousy and anger over who will wish a boyfriend to them. A dead girl has to find the wrong boy to kiss to bring herself back to life. A boy and girl who are so alike have blindly to find each other across the city. A girl shrinks a boy down to doll size until he loves her. In all of these, what can go wrong with the wish does often without any recourse.

This seems like a monkey paw in search of a good story to grasp onto. At first, having wishes go wrong seems like a good foundation for a series but variations of it has been done so often it is hard to find a new take. Plus if the story is always about wishes going wrong, reading it gets depressing as people keep on destroying themselves despite the best of intentions. This problem is realized as while the first story has a very traditional 'be careful what you wish for' story the later ones depart from that strict formula. The angel is a like a ghost character which helps prevent readers from blaming her for the evil that befalls the other characters but there is nothing emotional linking the stories together. The manga feels well written but empty. There is a short Tokyo Mew Mew! story included for the creator's other fans.

Only One Wish, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Haru Hana, The Complete Collection

2010-03-16T14:47:00.001-05:00

By Yuana Kazumi
Released in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: What is better, music or a massage?

Hana has just moved to Tokyo, hoping to overcome her previous experiences with boys and work at being a violinist. Her problem is that she breaks out in hives whenever she even touches one, but she hopes that things will change. Haru is a fellow student that soon learns to tease Hana by touching her and causing her to breakout, but he has his own problems that he needs to be distracted from. He works as massuesse while trying to recover his memories, while Hana is forced to work at the same place to pay off her sister's debt. Needless to say it is inevitable that these two will team up together, each using their own skill in a relaxation center that is named after them, Haru Hana, as they work to understand and help each other (and the occasional walk in customer). And of course, become emotionally involved.

Haru Hana falls into this weird territory between plot driven manga and slice of life ones. The volume's stories are meandering but have some purpose, but not enough to say that they are moving towards something. It is only until the final third of the volume, when the creator probably realized that some sort of conclusion was needed that Haru's amnesia subplot is resolved with various aspects skimmed over to do so. Even the romance between Haru and Hana remains sketchy, but despite it the reader is left with vivid impressions of the series. The character art helps, being very evocative so that after most of the storylines have been forgotten there remains a very strong image of Haru and Hana working and playing in the shop. It is that ability to create a lingering image and set of emotions that makes this series worthwhile.

Haru Hana, The Complete Collection is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory

2010-03-11T21:42:00.001-05:00

By Sakae Esuno
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Is eating fish with human faces cannibalism?

Aso Daisuke is a former police investigator that is now a private detective with an unusual focus, dealing with allegories that are more popularly know as urban legends. For instance, when Kanae Hiranuma hears the urban legend of the axe murderer who lurks under the bed, the story has such an effect on her that it literally becomes real to her, a situation that Aso rescues her from. Unfortunately she cannot pay her bill and decides to work with him and his even stranger partner Hanako to pay it off. The cases soon become even stranger and more bizarre, moving from the gotcha factor of the axe murderer to a full-blown psycho-sexual laden tale involving human faced fish. The manga is given more meaning by the fact that Aso is suffering from allegories himself, making him both less and more than just human.

At first it seem like this will be another creepy-crawly filled horror manga, but it is during the human faced fish story in the last half of the volume that it becomes clear that this is something more else. The horrors the characters face become less important than then the ones that live in the characters' minds and drive them. The story could use better explanations of the urban folklores used in the background, for while the allegories that drive the story are well explained, the ones that drive the characters seem less so, especially the one that Hanako is part of. For an explanation of it, click out this link. Much like the creator's other work, Future Diary (see the Prospero's Manga review here) this appears at first like many other stories but soon shows that the idea behind it can be much deeper than what the source material may originally suggest.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

My Darling! Miss Bancho, vol. 1

2010-03-09T15:29:00.000-05:00

By Mayu Fujikata

Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Not ashamed to know how silly it is.

Souka has decided to attend a technical school so she can quickly graduate and get a job to help out her recently divorced mother. Unfortunately she made a mistake and her chosen school is run by grade-based gangs that have many fights and school wide rumbles. It is so bad that Souka quickly discovers that she is the only girl left enrolled at the school yet because she has already paid the tuition she is reluctant to just quit. To encourage her stick around the class leader Yuuki gives her an iron plate to defend herself so while caught up in a brawl she uses it to knock out the Bancho, or gang leader of the whole school. That makes her the school's gang leader so she chooses to defend her title out of fear that someone worse will take it and she uses the role's influence to make something of a school populated by hooligans. That and trying to figure out the violent yet nurturing Yuuki, of course.

While in the beginning of the manga it tries to to tell the story seriously, by the end of the volume it has accepted that the whole idea underlying the manga is a little silly and has decided to roll with it. This becomes especially blatant in the inevitable beach trip chapter. It is this willingness to use the cliches of the formal challenge, the requires field and beach trips of school manga that helps makes what would be just another school manga into something that will be actually remembered. Well, that and the manga has a slightly unusual setting being set at a vocational school, which does not appear to be that different from a regular school but in my understanding has differences that run far deeper than just the cosmetic appearance, so hopefully those differences will come into play in the series.

My Darling! Miss Bancho, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Panic X Panic, vol. 1

2010-03-02T15:38:00.001-05:00

By Mika Kawamura
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: Why are the bad guys always more interesting than the good guys?

Mitsuki and Kakeru have grown up across the street from each other, her the heir of a Shinto shrine while Kakeru the son of a priest, while their fathers were in constant competition. That competition has spilled over to their children's relationship so that they do not get along either in school to the surprise of their classmates. They usually just annoy each other but now demons that have been kept out of the human world for hundreds of years have been released and only Mitsuki and Kakeru can stop them. Until they find the seals to permanently seal away the demons, they have to work together to convince the demons that have entered the world to behave themselves.

What a surprise. The most popular boy and girl in school can't stand each other despite knowing each other since childhood now they have to save the world from a threat that no one else can perceive. While the plot aspects of this manga are interesting and show some originality the characters themselves do not. If anything they show very cookie-cutter characteristics, especially in that despite Mitsuki's supposedly equal power in dealing with demons she is instead acts helpless and deals mostly with the demons by talking and making friends with them. Considering how cliche it is for the girl to be the one to fulfill that role in a story, the characters need to be really interesting in order to overcome that and none of them are up to the challenge. This is a case where the formulaic approach overcomes everything else and makes this an easily forgettable manga.

Panic X Panic, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Stolen Hearts, vol. 1

2010-02-23T16:38:00.001-05:00

By Miku Sakamoto
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Despite years of reading manga, I am still not sure what the difference is between a kimono and a yukata.

Koguma is the stereotypical big tough guy that exists in every teen manga, so when Shinobu spills something on his package she fears the worst especially when she learns it contained an antique kimono. Shinobu agrees to work with Koguma to pay for the damages, but rather than doing hooligan-related activity she expected she instead learns that she will be joining him in working at his grandmother's kimono shop. Given the chance to see him outside of the school where all anyone can see is his looming size Shinobu sees that he is more and they enter into a relationship. But they both have a lot of work left to do in their relationship and get their schoolmates to see past both Koguma's reputation and the odd appearance they present when together from their height differences

This is a fairly light and fluffy school romance manga, mostly because the relationship is in the honeymoon period where everything the other one does is cute and perfect. This manga feels more like an all ages title due to the combination of a somewhat educational storyline about the kinds and a how-to of wearing kimonos, and in that Shinobu's focus seems to be getting others to see past Koguma intimidating appearance rather than their own romance. Koguma is a softy, an emotional blank that happens to look big and tough who is anything but. His grandmother as a background character who is obsessed with money, seems to be more interesting than him. Despite the weak romance element, there is still something about the manga that keeps readers' interest despite the face the elements and characters individually do not.

Stolen Hearts, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

The Lizard Prince, vol. 1

2010-02-02T14:54:00.001-05:00

By Asuka Izumi
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Dating outside of your taxonomic Class should require a PG-13 rating

Canary is Linaria's princess and has reached marriageable age while the neighboring Gazania also has a unmarried prince but Heath has a bad reputation. Canary is only willing to meet Heath to berate him, but he has no desire to do that and switches places with his magical talking lizard, Sienna. Sienna is charming while masquerading as Heath and convinces Canary to visit him again. Heath is surprised by Sienna's actions so he decides to be rude to Canary to drive her away. Canary sees through his deception and declares her love for Sienna, which lifts a curse to reveal that he is Heath's brother. But as Sienna gets closer to Canary they are forced to rely on his lingering ability to turn into a small lizard to solve problems for their kingdoms and for themselves.

This title straddles the line between shoujo for teens and a more all ages title. All ages titles stay away from deep relationship/sexual issues to keep their rating while most shoujo titles have to go into those waters because their whole point are relationships. Not to say that shoujo titles are solely about teens trying to hook up but they still delve deeper into relationships than the relatively platonic love that Canary and Sienna seem to share. The title reads like a shoujo but after a while it feels that something is off and that confusion sabotages the story. The shoujo aspects should have been further submerged or been embraced fully. This makes this title perfect for the tween age bracket, those who are not quite ready for a 13+ title but who desperately want to be.

The Lizard Prince, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Choco Mimi, vol. 1

2009-12-15T12:04:00.005-05:00

Story and Arty by Konami Sonoda
Published in the US by VizKids

Slugline: Preteen girls on the prowl

Choco and Mimi are fashionable eighth graders that enjoy their lives way too much. Sure, Choco can be called the serious one and Mimi is the silly one, but only in comparison to each other since Choco is still fairly silly. In between causing trouble for their teacher and driving each other nuts, Choco and Mimi let themselves be mildly attracted to boys. Boys like the serious and aloof Ando and the gender confused Mumu. To round out the cast is Chiffon, a cute little dog that thinks of himself more as a samurai and several other pets. Most of the strips are about the girls interacting and getting each other in and out of trouble, but occasionally it deals with their delicate dance to attract the boys' attention.

Most of the volume is made up of 4-koma, basically four panel comic strips, so the stories that are told by necessity are little gag scenes that have little connection to each other. There are several longer storylines about major events such as a party that takes a couple of strip to resolve the events but there are no character changes and their relationships. Unlike comedy focused stories for boys, Choco Mimi does not have any fart or other bodily humor jokes which saves it from being totally ignored by adults. Despite having all of these good bits and the occasionally funny joke, in aggregate it just doesn't mesh well enough to create something greater than the parts. For adults and boys, this is a barely tolerable strip while younger girls who find playing with paper dolls and fashions might find it worthwhile.

Choco Mimi, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Oh! My Brother, vol. 1

2009-11-24T20:37:00.002-05:00

By Ken Saito
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Siblings who are way too close.

Masago is the younger sister of the popular class president Shiro. Even though he is far more popular and gets better grades than her, Masago looks up to him even as she plays second fiddle to him. After all, being close to her brother gives Masago an opportunity to indulge her crush on his best friend, a fellow school council member. One day while walking home from school Shiro sacrifices himself to save Masago from a traffic accident and everyone at their school, including Masago herself, is devastated. Shiro is not gone, because his spirit has apparently set up a time sharing arrangement with Masago's body. Mosago and Shiro have to work together to finish his last project for the school council while making accommodations for each while using Masago's body.

Despite all expectations, the fact that Shiro is overly protective of Masago in that way manga often describes as 'sister-love' the story manages to not come across as too creepy. Creepiness all too easy even when the siblings aren't forced to share a body so that makes Oh! My Brother stand out more. The manga comes to a natural conclusion about three quarters of the way through the volume but the story is picked up in the next chapter and is crudely restarted. While the resulting story is fine, continuing it seems to have been last minute decision which may explain the story's uncertainty afterwards. This is only a two volume series so that may be a hindrance that the story never really recovers from, but in this volume it does pretty well.

Oh! My Brother, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

World of Warcraft: Death Knight

2009-11-17T11:34:00.004-05:00

Story by Dan Jolley and Art by Rocio Zucchi
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: A common tragedy

Thassarian was once a soldier under Prince Arthas, so when the call was made he left his farm and remaining family to go with the Prince and attack the evil forces of the Scourge to keep them from his homeland. Thassarian and the rest of their force was betrayed by their Prince and was killed. Brought back as a Death Knight he has to blindly follow orders until a raid on a chapel which housed the bodies of heroes made him confront the ghost of his heroic father. That brought Thassarian back to himself, but while under the Lich King's control he had done horrible things and even though he had pledged to fight the Scourge and the Lich King, his allies and the common folk he seeks to save hate and fear him. The evil he was once part of has many faces so that it is hard to find them even though there are ones right next to him no matter where he goes.

This is the first of the class focused manga titles for World of Warcraft, which reveals the background of a character of the class example from the game. It is hard to judge this manga by the fact that it is a prequel to part of the World of Warcraft game background which I have not experienced. Some of what seems to be dangling plotlines may turn out to link into the greater story of World of Warcraft, but without that knowledge it is hard to judge. If this is supposed to be about the Death Knight class, at the end of the volume I am still not quite sure what a Death Knight can do, even though I do not expect shouted out names of abilities or other in-game information. As a action fantasy story it succeeds even though the tragic elements seem almost by the number, but the story does not seem to fully embrace or divorce itself from the World of Warcraft background.

World of Warcraft: Death Knight is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Night Head Genesis, vol. 1

2009-11-13T10:37:00.003-05:00

Story by Georgbe Iida and Manga by You Higuri
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: More veterans of the Psychic Wars

Naoto and Naoyo are brothers who were taken from their parents at an early age because of their psychic abilities. The older brother Naoto has more physical powers to move and destroy objects while Naoya the younger brother has visions. They were studied at a research center but escaped in their teen years though without realizing it was with the assistance of a female psychic of their own age. While outside Naoyo has a vision of the extinction of the human race through the accidental creation of a super-virus by an unknowing researcher. Another psychic has seen that but has decided that the researcher has to die while the brothers want to keep her alive but stop the research while . Lurking in the background is a far more powerful psychic with his own agenda.

This is another psychic powers manga with teens caught between a secretive organization and powerful psychics. Fortunately the book focuses on the brothers using their abilities rather than them trying to have a life on the run. Their powers are strong but are not building-shattering (no Akiras in other words.) The virus apocalypse storyline was not dragged out with the challenge of it is matched with the characters' abilities as they were introduced and the storyline sets up rising difficulties later on. Some of the character interaction was a bit stiff and suffered from "professional woman who is really just a girl" syndrome, but that is a common problem in manga. This is a very good first volume, introducing the characters, their major opposition and possible future storylines in a way that you do not feel that the rest of the story has been given away.

Night Head Genesis, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Moyasimon, vol. 1

2009-11-11T12:14:00.003-05:00

By Masayuki Ishikawa
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: Who knew that E. coli were so cute?

Tadayasu and Kei are childhood friends that grew up on farms and have decided to go to an agricultural college. Tadayasu has a mysterious talent to literally see microbes and identify them that the agricultural college can enhance. Since both of theirfamilies rely on fermentation in their agricultural products, Tadayasu's ability means that both could thrive. An old friend of Tadayasu's grandfather teaches at the college and has heard of Tadayasu's ability. The professor hopes to use it further his own research while some of the upperclassmen think that Tadayasu could be useful in their get rich quick schemes. Despite all of the confusing attention Tadayasu and Kei just want to get through and enjoy college.

The major problem with this manga is that is filled with major info-dumps making it read as something between a love letter to Japanese agriculture and a microbial science textbook. Despite that concern the info-dumps are handled well, reminding one of the technical asides that are found on CSI or Numb3rs. The manga can be really disgusting as it show faux food products that people are willing to eat once they have been fermented or pickled, but it isn't too gory. In spite of these concerns the manga was still enjoyable. The characters were fun, the manga managed to give microbes a sense of personality and none of the plots were overwhelming silly. I'm not sure over how manga episodes that this premise could be stretched, but here at least it works.

Moyasimon, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Mikansei, vol. 1

2009-11-06T13:15:00.004-05:00

By Majikoi
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Sluglines: Singers who don't pretend to be able to sing.

In the 23rd century, the 21st century is seen as a crude and immodest era. That is also the reason why Neo likes it, especially because of the singing, dancing and short skirts. She is accidentally hurled back in time and immediately finds a reluctant singing partner in Sayaya. Despite early disastrous performances, Neo so loves singing she manages to keep Sayaya involved as they work together as they move towards a seemingly impossible goal of impressing a talent manager. There are additional complications ranging from Neo's inability to contact her future, the resemblance of a 21st century singer to her missing 23rd century childhood friend and who is secretly supporting her in the 21st century.

One of the problems of idol manga is how to represent singing in that format. Since it is nearly impossible to get a tune or melody from reading the lyrics, I tend to just scan over them because if they become important they will be repeated. When the manga tries to have characters hailed as talented musician with only the lyrics to go by it is hard to take it seriously. Mikansei gets around this problem by having the first audiences boo the characters offstage. Considering how often lead characters of manga just have to sing once to become stars, when that didn't happen here it was a pleasant surprise. The characters are putting in the time and effort means that when they finally 'really' perform their applause will have been earned. Neo is facing many challenges not just in her musical profession or romantically, but on different levels as well but none are such thatNeo's sunny attitude appears to be denying reality. Mikansei succeeds because it subverts and deals with the cliches of idol manga rather than ignoring them.

Mikansei, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Bloody Kiss, vol. 1

2009-11-02T15:28:00.003-05:00

By Kazuko Furumiya
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: They promise the next volume is better?

Kiyo has always fough against others impressions of her family, so when her grandmother wills her decrepit mansion to Kiyo she can only see that selling it would make the law degree she needs to clear her family's name possible. The problem is that two vampires are already squatting at the property having been invited to live there by Kiyo's grandmother and want to stay despite Kiyo's plans. To make things even more complicated one of the vampires, Kurobashi. wants Kiyo to be his 'bride,' his sole source of human blood which will strengthen him supernaturally. Kiyo initially refuses, but when (evil) lawyers try to forcibly sell the mansion out from under her, she reluctantly agrees to giver her blood to him, permanently linking them together. Since she is now his 'bride' he uses his new supernatural abilities to help her at work and school.

The back cover blurb extols that the end of the second volume is great. Well, the question is why bother to buy the first volume if they feel that they need to talk about the second on it? This is only a two volume series, and maybe TokyoPop wanted people to know they could have a complete story in just two volumes that has a great ending, but if that was the intent it was not communicated clearly. This is another poor but hardworking girl stuck between two supernatural guys story, but the second guy, Kurobashi's servant, just too thinly sketched out so the sense of a competition over her is not clear. As it is, that better be one heck of twist/surprise in the next volume because at the moment it just feels like every other shoujo/vampire story.

Bloody Kiss, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Detroit Metal City, vol. 1

2009-10-30T15:39:00.004-05:00

By Kiminori Wakasugi
Published in the US by Viz Signature

Slugline: A (rude) one hit wonder

Negishi is a musician that has moved to the big city to make his name and fortune. Unfortunately it is not in folk or pop music, his true musical passions, but instead in the death metal band Detroit Metal City (DMC). He takes on the persona of Krauser II, the foul mouthed and depraved lead guitarist of the band. This causes no end of trouble for Negishi who tries to keep the halves of his life separate, but sometimes when he is stressed or nervous he falls into his Krauser II persona confusing those around him since he has not shared his dual identity with most people. Despite the popularity and fame that DMC has, Negishi still just wants to talk to his old college friend Aikawa who likes the same pop music that he does without having to let her know about Krauser II or DMC.

The title is rated M for Mature for wildly excessive use of swears. Every time Krauser II is in the panel expect a least a dozen words that you can't repeat in front of your mom. It's played for laughs but it after a while the joke just isn't funny anymore as the swears lose their power to shock and quickly move into the realm of annoyance. It is never quite explained how Negishi ended up or started DMC and considering his attitude to his role and the music, the reasons why he was willing to split his life so severely would explain why he bothers keeping up with the illusion. Some of the characters' behaviors, especially towards women, is just not funny no matter how tongue in cheek it claims to be. This might have been a good short story but stretching the joke out over an entire volume just makes it feel thin and unless new angles are explored there seems to be little reason to continue reading it.

Detroit Metal City, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Deka Kyoshi, vol. 1

2009-10-27T12:27:00.002-05:00

By Tamio Baba
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Old school detective

Toyama is a police detective investigating the suspicious suicide of fifth grade school teacher. He goes undercover as the teacher's replacement and befriends the class misfit,Miyahara, who see things no one else can. Miyahara is seeing the various mental disturbances that the students have so Toyama believes his descriptions. Toyama uses them to deal with the various afflictions that the students have while making a friend and an unofficial partner of Miyahara while also drafting the school nurse into his efforts. What is certain that someone is behind the teacher's death and there is a mysterious figure lurking in the background that makes all of the students' problems worse, but by the end of the first volume his identity remains unknown.

The art and story feels very old school, like the title was produced in the 70's or 80's with the art simplified and the storytelling straightforward. The rational explanation for the supernatural abilities is weak, even by the liberal standards of manga, which still bugs me. The stories worked best when both theToyama/Miyahara team and the student of the week deal with the problem together rather having Toyama punching a psychosis that only Miyahara can see leaving the student confused. The best example of this was the "Swimming Girl" chapter where the student confront her guilt over her parent's breakup by speaking with her mom in addition to Toyoma and Miyahara's own efforts. It still feels like an After School Special at times but in the better stories reader isn't being preached to.

Deka Kyoshi, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Four-Eyed Prince, vol. 1

2009-10-23T07:11:00.003-05:00

By Wataru Mizukami
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: Cruel to be kind... No, it's just cruel

Sachiko is attracted to one of the princes of her school, Akihiko. Part of her attraction is due to his stylish glasses while the rest is from his kindness to her when her father died, but when she approaches him she is rebuffed. Later that daySachiko has to move in with her mother, meeting her for the first time but making her day a complete nightmare Akihiko is her mother's stepson (no blood relation of course) and that they will be living together. Akihiko tries to ditch her, but she discovers that he works as bartender to get extra money, but protects his identity by going by a different name and without wearing his glasses. Since girls seem to want him irrespective of name or appearance, he has a poor opinion of them and of love in general. That makes him the target ofSachiko's desperate romantic assaults for the rest of the volume, while which he claims to be softening his positions but his actions would drive away all but the most lovelorn teen girl. Which, fortunately for him and the story, Sachiko is.

This is another entry in the "What do they think a relationship is?" sweepstakes. Akihiko pulls a stunt halfway through the volume, to 'help' another couple, that shows how little respect and empathy he has for Sachiko. Everything after that scene basically made me wonder why Sachiko was sticking around despite the offers of a full mountain spa vacation. While Akihiko is not a 'bad boy' in the traditional sense, Sachiko reacts as if he is, as she tries to 'change him.' That is something that only works in cookie cutter made romance novels.

Four-Eyed Prince, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Karakuri Odette, vol. 1

2009-10-08T11:13:00.002-05:00

Created by Julietta Suzuki
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Robots who want emotion because of peer pressure

Karakuri Odette like many other 'humanoid robots goes to high school' stories with a brilliant professor who sends his advanced robot to a high school who has various adventures. The title manages to avoid most of the obvious traps of that premise by keeping the stories small and focusing on slices of life. It also helps that the robot Odette actually does act detached from her emotions, unlike in other stories where robots insist on becoming more 'human' even though they already display a full range of human reactions. Though it is billed as a comedy it feels more like a drama since it is more about the characters rather than setting up weird situations and characters to be mined for humor.

A lot of manga suffer from something I call cast bloating, with many minor characters who readers still want to follow as over time a manga's cast gets larger. That happens when a creator introduces a new character to be bounced off the rest of the cast to create new and zany situations rather than utilizing the current cast. The problem is when these guest star characters may be so open-ended that they will end up sticking around to finish their story. If the guest character is ignored it will feel like the title has distracting dangling plotlines but if they are left onstage they take time and focus from the main characters. Karakuri Odette manages to avoid that by making the guest stars' stories feel complete with enough wiggle room that the guest stars could return but that they don't have to. It is a narrow line to walk, but it shows the care and craft that went into manga better than any story summary.

Karakuri Odette, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ninja Girls, vol. 1

2009-10-06T18:01:00.002-05:00

Created by Hosana Tanaka
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: Resisting making the horn/horny puns here.

Raizo has a little problem in that he has a horn on his head, which makes the local villagers fear him and call him demonchild. It is that same deformity that marks him as the last scion of a noble house. Only four ninjas remain to protect Raizo from the enemies of his previously unknown ancestors so inevitably they bicker with each other over the best way to protect him and reestablish their house. The ninja fall into easily recognizable stereotypes such as the cross-dresser and the silent one, while as usual the bubbly one, here named Kagari, wants to get 'closer' to Raizo.

Scantily clad ninja girls protecting a younger hapless guy should be its own genre because I swear I have seen this plot before many times. The only question I have after reading the title is whether or not the ninja girls are color coded in the colored art of the series. Sure, some of the details are different such as what makes the male character 'special' which here is his horn. But the characters and the story itself are so familiar that I can feel the story beats coming by merely looking at the chapter heading art. While the manga by itself is well executed the manga itself doesn't yet offer anything interesting other than for collectors of fan-service as they marvel at the ridiculous situations created to give the fan-service a veneer of plausibility.

Ninja Girls, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Domo: the Manga, vol. 1

2009-10-01T14:36:00.004-05:00

Created by Tsuneo Goda, Stories by Clint Bickham and Art by Rem, Sonia Leong, Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: Speaking of characters who have a wide-ranging vocabulary...

Domo is the mascot of NHK, a major Japanese TV network who has been featured in a variety of formats already including a series of stop motion shorts on cable. The manga however is the product of TokyoPop creators and features the whole range of Domo characters in a color anthology. Most of them involve Domo developing a monomania about an object or activity that all of his friends are caught up in much to their dismay. This usually ends whenDomo's battered friends manage to convince him to stop. Considering that Domo has one word vocabulary you can understand that most of the stories are read quickly.

Domo is an all ages title that is definitely aimed toward kids. Most of the stories are built around very simple and repetitive gags that are done by Domo round-robin style on the entire cast of characters. While the stories are cute they are fairly predictable nor do they really add much to the characters. This title seems to be more for people who already know who Domo is and wants more of what they already know rather than being introduced to the characters.

Domo: the Manga, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Spy vs. Spy: Missions of Madness

2009-09-09T12:23:00.003-05:00

By Antonio Prohias
Published by Watson-Guptill

Slugline: The Wrong Format

Spy vs. Spy is a classic comic strip made famous by Mad Magazine featuring two spies that use increasing more elaborate traps and ruses (including Rube Goldberg machines) to trap and kill one another. Very much a creation of the Cold War, with its creator Antonio Prohias a Cuban exile, the two spies representing opponents that have become indistinguishable from each other. This volume is one of several collections of the comics earliest strips in a manga format. It is because of that manga format that it is included on Prospero's Manga since it is likely that this volume (along with its companion collections) could be shelved with manga titles. That is a mistake because the comic is totally unsuited for the format, having just a single panel (in most cases) per page. Strips that would take up just a page or two in the original magazine format takes 10 or more pages in the manga, completely changing their feel and pacing. Since the comics are without word balloons the volume reads far too quickly making the book feel short even though it as long as traditional manga. The material itself are fine, this is just the worst possible way to read it.

-Ferdinand

The Battle of Genryu: Origin, vol. 1

2009-09-08T08:44:00.003-05:00

By Shoko Fukaki
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: A plot an uncertain as its fight scenes are smooth

Jin is a high school student that also practices martial arts and while he is good at it he is not exceptional. Except for about one day a month when everything seems to go his way and he can pull off near superhuman feats of agility and strength. Jin chalks off those days as his lucky days but his family knows it is just a sign of his growing power. Unknown to Jin, he has deeply hidden abilities that have secreted away so that he doesn't lose control and kill people. But Jin days of hiding are over because his missing brother Soichiro has found him while also using his own marital art abilities to rule the fight circuit. At first Soichiro has Jin beaten by ordinary thugs during one of his weak days but quickly escalates to challenging Jin himself while trying to convince their sister that he has their best interests at heart.

This is another example of how the story doesn't seem to know where it wants to go. At first it seems that Soichiro is going to be a mysterious mastermind but when he is more fully introduced he starts to look like one of the misunderstood characters who can be redeemed once their own errors are proven to them, usually by beating that into them during a battle royale . But the the uncertain, almost stuttering plot refuses to settle down to a consistent direction or tone. Martial arts manga are not required to have much of a plot but what little they have should flow as smoothly as its fight scenes. Unusually, the fan service wasn't too annoying, verging on the reasonable rather ridiculous while the art in the few fight scenes being especially well done.

The Battle of Genryu: Origin, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Leave it to PET!, vol. 1

2009-09-02T17:44:00.004-05:00

Story and Art by Kenji Sonishi
Published in the US Viz

Slugline: An incentive to throw your recycling into the dump

Noboru is a typical nine year old who wants to avoid trouble and have fun, in that order. He thinks that both of those goals will be easily meet when PET enters his life, for despite being a recycled plastic bottle, PET has all sorts of abilities, sort of like a super-robot such as Doraemon. Unfortunately for Noboru PET is not very smart and has far less common sense than him, which means that many of PET's attempts to help Noboru backfire spectacularly. The exceptions are when he does not properly understand what Noboru is asking for or is bored and decides to do something else. Despite feeling that he owes Noboru for recycling the plastic bottle that made him, PET does not try very hard to improve either himself or Noboru.

You would think that after the first few times that PET made things worse for Noboru he would stop being so willing to call on PET, but that is a lesson that Noboru never seems willing to learn, if for no other reason that it would end the series. As a kid's series it definitely is just for kids rather than being appropriate for all ages for if you are well into your teens the story will quickly become repetitive and is just not very funny. As for the series name, PET is an acronym for a widely used recyclable plastic though most plastic items are labeled by number rather than type. The story does gently tweak recyclable programs, if for no other reason that if you recycle you may get stuck with a robot friend like PET.

Leave it to PET!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Mad Love Chase, vol. 1

2009-08-28T00:56:00.001-05:00

By Kazusa Takashima
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Plot summary part 1: Run Away, part 2: Repeat step 1

Kujou is demon prince who has been told he must marry but he instead fled to Earth. He takes on the form of human teen to attend high school, with his familiar cat taking on the form of the school nurse. But his father and his fiancee are not happy about him skipping out on the wedding and have sent pursuers to bring him back. While they have managed to narrow down his location to the school, to only way to positively identify him is to see the tattoos on his back. So as Kujou tries to find someone nice and normal to love he has to avoid his pursuers who want to strip him. Other than his cat/school nurse his only other ally is one of the pursuers that cannot believe that his good friend Kujou could be the demon prince and so tries to help him whenever he is threatened, but he has his own suspicions.

The plot quickly devolves into repetitive attempts to get Kujou alone by his pursuers and to strip his shirt off. That's it. There is not much variation, and whenever anyone manages to get close to doing that, Kujou either runs away or for some flimsy reason they have to let Kujou go 'for now.' For someone that is supposed to looking for love or for anyone who cares about him rather than his position, Kujou is remarkably passive spending most of his time instead running or planning on how to run. Sure, he gets to reminisce about the few good times he had, but several of the supporting characters are more interesting and are more active than him. The book has nice art, but that is about it.

Mad Love Chase, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

A Tale of an Unknown Country, vol. 1

2009-08-27T04:57:00.003-05:00

By Natsuna Kawase
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Yet another Princess disguised as a maid romance

Rosemarie is the princess of a small and poor country whose brother has arranged her marriage to a neighboring prince. Prince Reynol rules over a wealthy and technologically advanced country and a marriage with him would be a benefit for Rosemarie's country but she has heard many rumors about him, few of them good. Rosemarie disguises herself as a maid to work atReynol's castle in order to learn the truth about him and despite him knowing that she is really the princess, they still managed to get to know each other and decide to go forward with the betrothal. But there are always new challenges as he returns her favor and visits Rosemarie at her own castle.

Most of the book is a lightweight romance until Rosemarie's brother turns into a control freak and reveals that most of the couple's troubles are the result of his own machinations. He is testing the couple to make sure that their love is strong, or something similar is the justification he is using to justify himself. If a parent tried to manipulate their kids this way, there would be no sympathy from the readers but somehow here it is supposed to be acceptable. Any relationship would be hard-pressed to survive similar revelations because t he couple would be continually questioning whether their feeling are real or manipulated. This is another example how the storytelling and art are fine, but the concepts that lay underneath the surface, that help drive the story, are of concern.

A Tale of an Unknown Country, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Maria Holic, vol. 1

2009-08-26T09:41:00.003-05:00

By Minari Endou
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: All a woman needs is a cross-dressing man

Kanako has transferred into the same private all-girl school that her mother graduated from hoping to find love there just as her mother did. Of course, whileKanako's mother married one of the teachers, Kanako wants to fall into love with a fellow female student since she literally gets hives from even touching a boy. Unfortunately the first girl she gets a crush on, the daughter of a important school founder namedMiriya, turns out to be really a secret cross-dressing boy. After Kanako accidentally discovers that, Miriya decides that the only way to ensure that his secret is kept is to move in with Kanako in the school dorms and thus sabotage all of her efforts to get close to someone. Naturally this creates all sorts of hilarity and confusion.

This is a story where you are not sure if the people who you are supposed to cheer for are worthy of being cheered, if for no other reason thatMiriya is making Kanako attempt to resolve her sexual identity more difficult. As a result, it is hard to answer the question whether Kanako is really gay or just the sort of pretend gay that is supposed to be titillating within the story without actually having to resolve it. Or worse yet, is the creator trying to imply that all that a lesbian needs is for a man to cross-dress in order for him to become acceptable? Maybe this is treading into one of those areas where American and Japanese cultures define sexual identity and lesbianism differently, but it is hard to look at this as just a comedy without also looking at the mixed messages the title is built on. Which is a shame, because the art and storytelling is pretty solid, it is just some of the themes that underpin the story and where they can go concern me.

Maria Holic, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk

2009-08-18T20:31:00.004-05:00

Story by Sekou Hamilton and Art by Steven Cummings
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: A murder of a Mary Sue

The Las Vegas CSI team has begun a high school intern program and Kiyomi Hudson is glad she managed to squeak into the program despite the lack of pay. But one of her fellow high school students will never get a chance to try again to be part of CSI except as the victim in a murder investigation. The five new CSI interns are allowed to work on the outskirts of the investigation, but they soon find themselves thrust into its center when it becomes clear that one of them is the murderer. Each of them focuses on their own specialty to uncover the evidence that is needed, with the killer's motivation revealed to be among the oldest, jealousy and lust, something which is not in short supply among high school students.

Any credibility this story may have enjoyed was lost the moment they had the interns on the firing range blazing away at targets. No cop in their right minds would let any 15 year old near a gun on a firing range. In a CSI story, where things are grounded in a world where science rules and emotions lead to your destruction, rational behavior defines the characters. So when the interns start shooting, there are no longer part of the world of CSI TV series. This is supposed to be spin-off of the TV series and thus follow the same rules as it, that disconnect makes it hard to the the story seriously. Add to that the new teen characters taking center stage and main characters of the series being shuttled off to the side the resulting story feels like a piece of bad Mary-Sue fan-fiction.

CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Zone-00, vol. 1

2009-08-14T15:47:00.003-05:00

Art and Story by Kiyo Ojo
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Nowhere near any good zone.

Shima, son of an exorcist family, has transferred to a Tokyo school to combat the increasing demon attacks. There he meets Kujo, a happy go lucky student who asks embarrassingly blunt questions and turns into a ogre when he is beheaded. That happens surprising far more often than one would normally think, apparently. In short order almost a dozen characters join up ranging from witches, animal companions that turn into hot guys, sibling demons who turn into vehicles,Shima's killer robot servants, a werewolf detective and some demon entrepreneurs. There is barely room at the end of the book to introduce Zone-00, a drug that turns men into monsters.

Done by the same artist who did worked on Trinity Blood, the art is the redeeming quality of this manga. Though for the content of the art itself, well since this book is rated as having moderate fan service, it makes one wonder what would be considered excessive. That same art can also be a challenge to understand since it is so busy it can be hard to follow the story. Not there is much a story, because so many pages are spent introducing the mob of characters that few are left to introduce the story's MacGuffin , the drug Zone-00. The antagonists of the story are still ciphers as the book ends and the 18 page character guide at the end of the book is necessary to tell you about the characters enough to care. Most of the characters seem to exist because the artist wanted the widest possible variety of body types to draw and dress. While pretty, the story here is barely enough of an excuse to string the characters together that the artist may have been happier doing a pinup book instead.

Zone-00, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Momogumi Plus Senki, vol. 1

2009-08-05T07:28:00.003-05:00

Created by Eri Sakondo
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline:Childhood stories taken way too seriously

Yuuki enters a new school, hopeful that his bad luck would finally stop following him for he is tired of it always causing accidents and personal disasters. But he discovers once at the school he is the reincarnated hero of a classic Japanese fairy tale, Momotoro . His bad luck is the result of being cursed by the demons he once defeated in the original tale, so now he has to defeat those same demons in order to lift the curse before he dies. Fortunately, the school attracts reincarnated people of all types, so not only has Mamotoro's demons been reincarnated as his fellow students but his old animal allies and his adoptive grandparents are also in the school, but in unexpected ways.

The art in most manga is technically proficient so it is the story and writing that have problems. This is one of the few times that the art itself is the problem, not that it is an incomprehensible style, but its ability to help tell the story is weak. Some of the panels are messier than the others, making it difficult to follow the story because after pages that were tidy it creates a speed bump effect jarring you out of the story. The use of chibi is off-putting, both in how the chibi are drawn and when they are used. Finally, the art style itself seems to be aimed at an older audience, while the story and the characters seem to be intended for an younger one. As a result, the whole book just felt out of step despite seeming on the surface to be orderly and readable.

Momogumi Plus Senki, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, vol. 1

2009-07-30T14:12:00.004-05:00

Story and Art by Motoro Mase
Published in the US by Viz

Slugline: Worst Government Health Plan Ever!

Fijimoto has started a job with a government ministry as a messenger of Ikigami. This government has decided so that the citizens will live to their fullest, some have to die. All citizens receive immunizations and in those immunizations some receive a capsule that will kill them at a predetermined date and time between the age of 18 to 24. Their only warning is that 24 hours before their death, the victims receive an Ikigami with their death information. Fujimoto questions the ethics of this, but not too loudly since social malcontents also receive a capsule. He delivers two Ikigami in this volume, one to victim of bullying who now has to wonder how to get revenge and the other to a street musician that has sold out in order to be a success that he will now never enjoy.

This series acts more along the lines of an anthology, with Fujimoto only being involved in the beginning of each story as the background of the Ikigami and the world that permits it is touched upon. The rest of the stories are about the last days of the victim and how they chose to use their death. These are character studies, as the victims have just a day forcing them to pare their goals and themselves down to fit that day. Despite the implicit questioning of Ikigami by the characters, on how there is no need for it to be used to bind the society together, in the two cases here the final acts of the victims are to help others, thus undercutting the argument against them. The strength of the title is in the character examinations rather than the overarching story which has too much useless infodumps.

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Gestalt, vol. 1

2009-07-28T10:27:00.002-05:00

Story and Art by Yun Kouga
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: I guess the cover art is nice

Father Olivier of the Valeria Order has evaded his superiors and is going to the island of 'G,' the home of a banished demon. Along the way he acquires the slave Ouri , who rapidly reveals that she has hidden abilities and a connection to the island of 'G' herself. There are some traveling companions and some complications, but the story was so choppy and all of the characters drawn so similarly that it rapidly become too much work for too little reward to actually care what could be going on. Character motivations and powers appear and disappear with no explanation, bad video-game terminology is used as an excuse to avoid actual world building and plot lines are created and discarded apparently randomly. This was painful to read, and despite the creator's otherwise compelling body of work, this title is one to be avoided.

Gestalt, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Tail of the Moon, Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u)

2009-07-24T14:35:00.003-05:00

Story and Art by Rinko Ueda
Published in the US by Viz

Slugline: They only way to keep the peace is through treachery and assassination

Kaguya, who was discovered wounded and without her memory in a bamboo field, works as a servant at a brothel during the Japanese Warring States period. All of the ladies there are interested in the playboy warriorHansou, though when he sees Kaguya he decides that he needs to meet her. At first she is flattered by the attention until she learns that he visits all of the red light district's ladies. Honsou insists he feels differently for her but as they get more intimate he realizes that the scars from her wounds are identical to ones he gave to an assassin. This jogs her memory, enough to remember that she is a ninja trying to keep the peace through carefully aimed violence. Despite their roles on opposite sides of the Warring States,Kaguya (now using her real name Sara) and Honsou keep their relationship alive in the face of her missions to marry and spy on other members of Honsou's family.

As a prequel, this volume helps explain the background and relationships of several of the supporting characters of the main Tail of the Moon series. The art style is appears to be a touch out of date, which helps create the illusion that this story predates the main series. While sometimes the logic of the characters seems spurious, especially when they try to justify how despite being on opposite sides their objectives remain the same, the story still does not read all that badly. This is one of those stories where you don't really need to justify everything, just go along with the characters' emotions and feelings. If this was a continuing story, it's structure would be more of a problem, but as a standalone or a side story, it works.

Tail of the Moon, Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Rasetsu, vol. 1

2009-07-22T14:28:00.004-05:00

Story and Art by Chika Shiomi
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat

Sluglines: Love and Roses must always have thorns

Rasetsu is the lead exorcist of an agency that casts out spirits and other supernatural menaces despite her young age. Part of the reason that she is so talented is that an early age she was marked by a rose tattoo as the possession of the spirit to be claimed by it on her 20th birthday. The only way for her to escape her fate is to fulfill a very specific set of conditions that she has little confidence in herself in fulfulling. Despite her competence, she does not look it, so when Yako Hoshino, a character from Chika Shiomi's earlier work Yurara needs the help of an exorcist he is reluctant to hire her agency. Rasetsu steamrolls over his protests and when she realizes that he has his own ability, she arranges for Yako to lose his current job and be hired to work for her agency so that she can have someone halfway competent to help her. What Rasetsu doesn't realize that she bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love, a relationship thatforms the core of Yurara.

This is a sequel to the Yurara manga but so far only Yako has appeared in Rasetsu in more than background role. The focus in far more on Rasetsu, a new character, than Yako. She is an interesting mix of competent and carefree, doomed and light hearted. She is reticent to discuss her need to find true love to escape the spirit which makes the plot stronger, as it is believable that her experience makes her wary of any kind of love even if it would be her salvation. Yurara has not been reviewed so there is no way to really compare this title to it's prequel, but the mere fact that this is not another high school shojo gives it a leg up. While it has been certainly been implied that Rasetsu and Yuko will be getting together because of Rasetsu's fate and her resemblance to Yuko lost love, the plot does not feel like it is predetermined or just an exercise of filling in the blanks, which is partly why it is so well rated.

Rasetsu, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica

2009-07-21T01:51:00.002-05:00

Stories by Emily Salzfass, Richard Hatch and Mike Wellman and Art by Chrissy Delk, Christopher Schons and Anthony Wu
Published by TokyoPop

Slugline: Just as dark and depressing as the original.

This is an anthology of Battlestar Galactica stories based on New Caprica storyline, when the humans were under Cylon occupation. Former President Roslin becomes a teacher and tries to balance educating and keeping her students safe with the demands that the Resistance and Cylons make on their parents. Temporary President Zarek after the escape from New Caprica makes decisions that are both difficult and easy on how to deal with humans collbators with the Cylons. Kara (the pilot Starbuck) has to decide after New Caprica what her relationship with her false daughter Kacey will be now that she has rejoined the fleet and the only lies left are the ones she tells herself.

Despite not having watched the new series, the volume gives enough information to understand what happened during the New Caprica storyline and why it was important to the characters. But this is probably one of the books that should be read in conjunction with the series in order to get the most enjoyment out of it, since the storyline in Battlestar Galactica was constantly changing and this touches on issues that the series could not take the time to examine. The Roslin story was an interesting view of life under occupation and featured its uncertainty, but the ending was weak and confusing, robbing the story of much of its power. The Zarek story covered ground that was already gone over during the series, but the Kara story did not, exploring the emotional fallout of Kara's time on New Caprica along with how it did not change despite her wanting it to, making it the strongest entry.

Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

You Will Drown in Love

2009-07-16T01:48:00.000-05:00

Story and Art by Hinako Takanaga
Published in the US by TokyoPop Blu

Slugline: Emotional stunted guys are apparently irresistible.

Jinnai has been working in a fabric shop for years so when the manager retires, he thinks he is a shoe-in for the position. Unfortunately the owner's son takes over as the manager instead of him Reiichiro gladly admits that he has a lot of learn from him. As Reiichiro relies on Jinnai to guide him in running the store they grow closer together and become friends. Reiichiro asks Jinnai for advice for all sorts of issues including his emotional life, making Jinnai to realize his jealousy of Reiichiro's romantic entanglements. When the opportunity arises, Jinnai makes his move to awaken Reiichiro to his own and Jinnai's feelings.

While the back cover text says that this is a sequel to You Will Fall in Love it is more of an intersecting story, with characters from that manga as supporting and background characters in this one. But other than connection, there is not much here that is any different from every otheryaoi manga. There is a very masculine lead who is aggressive in the relationship and a more passive character that lets the other declare his love first and even initiate physical intimacy over their own initial objections. If this was a traditional heterosexual relationship very few people would say that it was healthy or even attractive. The only attractive aspect of the manga is the art.

You Will Drown in Love is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Fushigi Yûgi, VizBig Vol. 1

2009-07-15T01:15:00.001-05:00

Story and Art by Yuu Watase
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: I still remember the endless cries of "Tamahome!"

Miaka is a typical junior high school student that is studying hard to get into a prestigious high school, when while studying at the library she discovers a book describing a magical world. That book transports both her and her best friend Yui to that world where they meet Tamahome, a money obsessed martial artist. They girls travel back and forth from Japan and the world of the book, separately and together until misunderstandings and deceptions cause Yui and Miaka to be allied to different empires. This is important because they can fulfill a prophecy by becoming priestesses, allowing them to have wishes that can make or break empires. Each priestess will have seven protectors, who are necessary to fulfill the prophecy so Miaka begins the search for them even as she falls more in love with Tamahome.

Fushigi Yûgi was one of the first big shojo animes so it had and probably still has a fairly big following but by modern standards it is about as subtle a brick. Not that modern shojo is very subtle either, but people could mock it by randomly calling out Tamahome since Miaka seemed to cry it out every 10 minutes in the anime. The manga is not quite as bad but Miaka still is an airhead and you wonder how she can manage to focus on anything long enough to finish it. But despite that, the story does carry you along and it becomes almost addictive, reading (or watching) as much as you can just to see what happens next. Or to see if Miaka will ever be mature enough to avoid calling to Tamahome every time her moods change.

Fushigi Yûgi, VizBig Vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Manga: Bounkenshin

2009-07-14T01:02:00.001-05:00

Stories by David Gerrold, Diane Duane, Christine Boylan and F.J. DeSanto with Art by E.J. Su, Chrissy Delk, Don Hudson and Bettina Kurkoski
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Can a story be too faithful to its source material?

This an anthology title, with the first story being patterned on the tried and true "Wesley Crusher learns an important lesson" style of episode. There is also a scientific mystery story while the final two stories explore the fallout of broadcast episodes. These stores are reminiscent of early Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes in that they are more cerebral rather than action oriented and are humanistic, as in the outcomes are determined by human emotions and instincts. That results in very specific kinds of stories, ones that Star Trek: TNG moved away from in later episodes and in the spirit that Gene Roddenberry created the series in. This is not necessarily a judgment on the stories, but it does describe them and if you are expecting stories from other eras of Star Trek you will be disappointed.

The cover proclaims that one of the stories is written by David Gerrold, who is best known for writing the original series episode The Trouble with Tribbles. However, his contribution is the Wesley Crusher story which feels like it goes over ground that has been covered in many episodes before. David Gerrold has written some very adult oriented material, but in this case it feels like that he wrote a story that was more kid or comic book oriented. All of the stories are relatively self-contained, even the ones that spin out of broadcast episodes, with the only thing that you really need to know is that Picard once was taken over by the Borg. The stories are almost too much like the broadcast episodes, taking on many of the same themes without adding anything new.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Manga: Bounkenshin is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Updates to the Blog

2009-07-13T12:50:00.002-05:00

So soon after our last delay, now we are having computer problems. Add together a cat, a glass of water and a keyboard and you end with a keyboard with only half the keys working. Until we get a new keyboard updates may be a bit random as we wait for access to a public computer.

Amefurashi, vol. 1

2009-07-07T13:51:00.003-05:00

By Atsushi Suzumi
Published in the US by Del Rey Manga

Slugline: More little kids who exist to force the plot along.

Gimmy is a mechanic of a desert village that depends on a nimbus tree, a giant magical tree that provides the village's water. In exchange for water, the tree's goddessAmefurashi asks for dolls. Gimmy as the village's handyman is asked to make the doll, but is so caught up in the details that he blows the deadline for the doll's delivery. Gimmy's younger siblings Mel and Mil run off and pretend to be dolls to appease the goddess, with Gimmy climbing the tree to recover them. On the way he finds an annoying young girl named Sora and discovers too late that she is actually the Amefurashi. Gimmy tries to make a deal to get his siblings back, but while working out the deal Ciel, another amerfurashi without a tree steals Sora's tree's heart. Without it, the village will no longer get water so Gimmy decides to help Sora get back her tree's heart.

For once none of the characters are stupid. While they make mistakes, there are mistakes that are believable and match their character traits. Gimmy is a little too perfectionist for his own good, Mel and Mil are impetuous and Sora has a hard time understanding what the heck the humans want or are even actually are saying. The only concern is with the plotting, with the story first looking like it will be about howGimmy is going to convince Sora to return his siblings and only later it being about Gimmy and Sora teaming up. Ordinarily it would be better if the story didn't feel the need to switch tracks, but this feels like a mostly organic change rather than desperate flailing around to find something to do.

Amefurashi, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

The Loudest Whisper, vol. 1

2009-07-06T02:58:00.000-05:00

By Temari Matsumoto
Published in the US by Blu

Slugline: Not much whispering or meaningful conversations here.

This is an anthology of yaoi romances that focuses on their start. There are two multipart stories, the first one showing two friends in school that are so close that rumors begin that they are dating. Apparently that is that is need to date and then quickly move into a physical relationship. The other story, which ends the volume, concerns with a young heir of a vast fortune and the bodyguard that has protected him since he was a boy, and their bond that turns into something more. In addition there are several single chapter stories sandwiched between the two longer stories in the volume.

In the first story of the manga there is about as much passion as one could find in a church bake sale. The characters begin a relationship simply because other people suggest it there is no drive on the part of the characters that suggest they find it good for anything other physical release. The final story has an unbalanced power relationships that just scream wrongness and exploitation to me. The relationships that seem somewhat balanced between the partners and have some emotion attached are the stand alone stories but it is not enough to overcome the damage that the two longer stories inflict on the volume.

The Loudest Whisper, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Game X Rush, vol. 1

2009-07-03T08:53:00.002-05:00

By Mizuho Kusanagi
Released in the US by TokyoPopo

Slugline: Isn't it supposed to be easy to tell a bodyguard and an assassin apart?

Memori may be one of Japan's best bodyguards but because he works for his brother's small agency he is chronically overworked and underpaid. Yuuki could be a new hire for the agency, taking some of Memori's workload though he is more than a little bit off by Yuuki's casual attitude. That casual attitude hides a core of competence that Memori starts to warm up to, only to have it revealed almost too late that Yuuki is an assassin that is after Memori's client. Though Yuuki does not succeed, Memori cannot just forgive or forget as they continue their relationship, as it becomes strained and strange with Yuuki eventually becoming a employee of a large rival agency.

The premise of the manga begins as an entertaining one, as an assassin and a bodyguard becomes friends and rivals, but once their roles are revealed to each other it is difficult to keep the premise believable. For a while it feels like the story is flailing about trying to keep Memori and Yuuki snarking but not getting any more aggressive at each other. While at the end of the volume the premise has been recast enough for them to be friendly rivals, it is now difficult to believe in the competence of either one of the main characters after the previous shenanigans. Realism is not be demanded in manga, but the characters need to at least act in ways that are consistent with who and what they are.

Game X Rush, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Updates to the Blog

2009-07-03T08:10:00.002-05:00

Sorry that there has been a posting lag, but I was sick for a few days. We will get back to posting on a regular schedule along with making up our backlog.

-Ferdinand

KimiKiss, vol. 1

2009-06-23T16:17:00.003-05:00

Art by Taro Shinonome with Story by Enterbrain, Inc
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Why bother having doubt or suspense in a shoujo manga?

Kouchi begins the second semester wanting to have a girlfriend and start kissing. So far he has not had much luck but his childhood friend Mao takes him under her wing teaching him how to be the perfect boyfriend. While learning how to date Kouchi realizes that he wants to turn Mao's 'practice' dates into something more real.

KimiKiss is based on a popular virtual novel/dating sim (for a definition check this wikipedia entry.) Virtual novels often give you a selection of different several girls to date. It appears that this manga series will have each volume focus on a different female character from the virtual novel, with how each girl ends up with the boy. Mao, the girl from this volume, is one of the childhood friend that becomes the girlfriend archetype. All she needs to do is show up, makes herself available and be friendly, and before page 100 they are liplocking away. Kouchi is a blank slate with only a few details brushed in, with many of his character bits coming from Mao's revelations about herself. There are no real challenges or other challengers for Mao to overcome before starting a relationship with Kouchi beyond that he is a boy and they sometimes need to have things spelled out for them. The art is nice in fan servicey way, not that many panty shots and the like, but Mao's, umm, assets still get to ignore gravity.

KimiKiss, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

the 9 Lives, vol. 1

2009-06-18T12:20:00.003-05:00

Story by Bayou and Rachel Manija Brown with Art by Bayou
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Why are cat-boys always effete?

Conri is an uncollared cat boy in a world like ours except that humans keep alien cat people as slaves and pets. Conri has no wish to be a pet but it is illegal to be uncollared so he has to dodge the authorities. After nearly being caught for stealing food he is rescued by the human Adrian. Curious why a human would help a cat person without demanding favorsConri follows Adrian back to his apartment. Conri later sneaks in, eating his food and sleeping on the bed, so when Adrian returns and sees the damage that Conri has done, Conri agrees to do housework to pay for the damage. Conri is wary around Adrian, causing several misunderstandings, as Conri expects that Adrian will eventually try to collar him. The reason why humans want collared cat-people is that they literally have nine lives and can share them to bring someone back from the brink of death.

What is it about cat-boys that make them androgynous and desperate to be featured in an yaoi like title? While this isn't a yaoi title per se, it certainly leans that way. Some sexual overtones are inevitable in any title that deals with a slave race (and is deftly handled early in the story) it just becomes gratuitous innuendo later. The idea of the nine lives that can be shared is revealed late in the book though the concept would suggested it ought to be a far more central part of the story for it makes believable the public acceptance of slavery. While issues of trust are brought up and explored,Conri is a juvenile so he handles them in a juvenile and superficial way. There is a lot of potential and a good foundation is laid, but using it is left for another volume.

the 9 Lives, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Cat Eyed Boy, vol. 1

2009-06-16T10:36:00.001-05:00

Story and Art by Kazuo Umezu
Published in the US by Viz

Slugline: A horror manga that has gone horribly wrong.

Cat Eyed Boy is an abandoned monster that has been forced to live on his own, living in house's attics and observing the people live there. Either trouble follows him or he follows trouble, but either way the people he spies upon often have things go terribly wrong. Eventually he comes across a group of human freaks who are behaving as monsters to get revenge on humans that are monsters on the inside. This perversion of monsters (comparatively speaking) good name sets him in opposition to them.

Kazuo Umezu created The Drifting Classroom manga, so when this title come up for review the expectation was that it would be very good. Instead, The Cat Eyed Boy is more memorable for the lack of internal consistency and the meandering and purposeless main character. Sure, maybe that reflects the character's true nature as a cat rather than a human being, but it still makes for a very poor story. Even the opposition that makes their appearance in the last half of this super-sized volume doesn't make much sense, and because their victims deserve their fate it is hard to sympathize with them. Still you can't help but feel annoyed that the Cat Eyed Boy is completely incompetent in trying to stop them. As a result the art rather than conveying a horrific mood merely has a gross out factor.

Cat Eyed Boy, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Ballad of a Shinigami, vol. 1

2009-06-11T15:00:00.003-05:00

By Asuka Izumi and Original Story by K-She Hasegawa
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Featuring a death that never shows up

Momo is a shinigami, a reaper like spirit born from a suicide who takes on the the appearance of a young girl wearing white. Despite her supernatural connection to death she is not especially dangerous or even girl-like, but she does carry messages or other hints from the dead to the living. The living often need the help in order to deal with their own pasts and quite frankly to get the girl/boy.

White symbolizes death in many eastern cultures, so the fact that Momo is wears white is not as reassuring as one would first think when she is introduced. But it seems like that it is not very important who or what Momo looks like as long as she gets to say her one line per story that forces the potential couples to change and survive the fate that would otherwise lay in store for them. Momo barely more involved in the stories than the old Cryptkeeper character that once introduced horror stories, and in that sense the supposed main character does not feel very necessary to the stories. This is more like an anthology of tortured teen romance than actual supernatural stories or even a single continuing story, and while the individual stories are done well, there is nothing holding them together and making the title as a whole interesting enough to rise above average.

Ballad of a Shinigami, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Blue Eyes, vol. 3

2009-06-10T09:48:00.001-05:00

Blue Eyes, vol. 3 is an explicit manga title so the body of the review is on Prospero’s Manga – Mature, a review blog for adult manga titles. Please check there for the review.

-Ferdinand

Gravitation Collection, vols. 1 & 2

2009-06-05T16:26:00.004-05:00

By Maki Murakami
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Is love without meaning still love?

Shuichi wants to avoid school as much as possible and sing his songs but his life insists on throwing complications his way. After meeting Eiri and being insulted for his lack of song-making ability, Shuichi falls in love with the older man, despite the apparent disinterest. Shuichi's best friend wants to leave the band out of the desire to get a real life and stop disappointing his parents. Eiri has his own complicated life, with a sister who tries to manipulate him through Shuichi and a younger brother that is everything that their father wanted, never mind the betrothal that Eiri has been dodging. Through it all, Shuichi works harder to become a professional musician and keep Eiri's attention.

Is it too much to ask for romances, even the shonen-ai variety, to have some actual romancing going on? Shuichi sees Eiri and falls in love immediately and Eiri does little to return or even deserve it in this collection of the first two volumes. Yes, Gravitation is considered a classic of the genre, and quite frankly everything around Shuichi and Eiri's pairing is done well, but the actual relationship of the two is pretty unrealistic even by the loose standards of the genre. If you just skip a few pages, there is a half decent rock and roll story in here, but the romance at its center just seems unreal and more than a little creepy.

The sequel for this series, Gravitation EX, has been reviewed on Prospero's Manga here. Frankly, it sounds that it takes the silly aspects of this series and pushes further to be really funny.

Gravitation Collection, vols. 1 & 2 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Ferdinand

Orange Planet, vol. 1

2009-06-04T17:09:00.002-05:00

By Haruka Fukushima
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: One of each shojo cliche

Rui has boy problems that many girls in junior high would love to have. There is the neighbor boy who has long liked her, the school's hottest boy who is returning her interest and a playboy student teacher that has invited himself to live in Rui's apartment. Rui is pushed and pulled between the boys and the young man through humorous and embarrassing situations. But Rui's childhood memory of a boy who comforted her after the death of her parents continues to haunt her.

Gah. This has all of the annoying shojo cliches concerning potential boyfriends wrapped together into a single manga. Childhood loves, lack of parents or any adult supervision and college students being friendly with junior high girls does not improve the final result. I like the fact that Rui is human enough to try weasel the answers for an exam from her live-in teacher, but other than that she acts like one of the saints that only exist in manga, setting completely unrealistic expectations of behavior for girls. Technically, the work is fine and the story holds together (such as it is) but it just jams together too many of the shojo cliches to put up with.

Orange Planet, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Yokai Doctor, vol. 1

2009-05-28T13:14:00.002-05:00

By Yuki Sato
Published by Del Rey

Slugline: Even spirits need housecalls

Kutoko is the granddaughter of famous exorcist, but other than the ability to see spirits (called yokai) she has no other exorcist abilities. That doesn't prevent her from using what she does have to become accepted in her school by performing fake exorcisms. Kuro is an outsider in the school, believed to be a pervert but actually reacting to the spirits that only a few can see. Glad to see that someone else has her ability, Kutoko befriends Kuro but is surprised to learn that he is a yokai doctor, one who tries to treat and cure the yokai. From Kutoko's perspective yokai have always been hassle and harmful, but after Kuro rescues her from some trouble by helping not harming a yokai she decides to be his assistant, though not to wear any nurse's outfit. But she hasn't learned all of Kuro's secrets, he is not only a yokai doctor but a yokai himself.

This volume has an interesting beginning with the first two chapters being retold from the perspective of a different character before moving onto original material. This was the result of the first few chapters intending to be one-off story but being successful and the creator starting a series based on it. There are some minor changes to smooth things out for the continuing story, but it is interesting to look at things from another perspective, especially it is in the process we learn character traits. Other than that interesting opening, most of the characters and situations are unfortunately fairly standard and it remains to be seen whether the unusual opening was the result of more than just happy accident.

Yokai Doctor, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea

2009-05-26T01:28:00.001-05:00

By Nakaba Higurashi and Seiichi Morimura
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: A historical epic without any actual epic story

Temujin is the son of a Mongol chieftain and despite questions about his parentage he rises to lead the Mongols, forging them into a nation. His main obstacle along the way is a blood brother he made while hunting as a youth. But as they both grow older, they become leaders with different motivations until their conflict is carried over to their children until only one family is left alive. Guess which one.

This is based on the same source material as the movie by the same name, but since virtually no one saw the movie and even fewer in the English speaking world have read the source material. Despite the scarcity of the material, the manga reads as if the readers can bridge the gaps on their own, presumably because they have seen or read one of the other versions of the story. There are a lot of gaps to bridge over as the story jumps around in time without warning and with a very generic facial and dressing style for the characters it takes a lot of work to figure who everyone is as eras change. Fortunes twist and turn off panel, so that leaders rise to the height of their power then become friendless with the transition of a single line of text. It comes across as a collection of scenes rather than a story or even a tale of a broken friendship.

Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Takeru: Opera Susanoh, Sword of the Devil, vol. 1

2009-05-21T11:57:00.002-05:00

Story by Kazuki Nakashima and Art by Karakarakemuri
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: So three fighters named Takeru walk into a bar...

Three fighters named Takeru meet in the island chain Oyashima that is being contested by the imperialist power Amamikado and being defended by the Amazon kingdom of Jagara. But the three Takerus are more interested in following the trail of clues that lead to the Susanoh, one of the swords of the gods. They believe that the trail will lead them to Jagara and the secret of how the kingdom has resisted being assimilated by the Amamikado, but the three sister Queens of Jagara recognize that the three could be the resolution of a prophecy.

This a perfectly fine and nice fantasy sword epic. The fight scenes are pretty well done though the choreography of them could be cleared up a bit and the characters, while not the most original of creations are not cookie cutter creations either. The main problem with the work seems to be pacing, with things unfolding at an odd pace. This is like a car engine with has an odd misfire every now and then, one that you can't trace back to a specific fault, but is there nonetheless and still niggles at you.

Takeru: Opera Susanoh, Sword of the Devil, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

The Lapis Lazuli Crown, vol. 1

2009-05-19T10:05:00.003-05:00

By Natsuna Kawase
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: Everyone prefers to go through school to be with the boy they like rather than simply dating them.

Miel is a child of a magical family in the Kingdom of Savarin but despite her family's history of magical prowess she is not interested in pursuing that. She wants to be considered cute and attractive so that she can hopefully marry well, which disgusts her more magically adept sisters. One day while in town she meets Radi , a visiting nobleman who bears a resemblance to the popular Prince Radian, but of course could never actually be him. If you really believe that, I also have this fine bridge in Brooklyn available for long-term lease. Through an amazing 'twist' Miel learns of Radi's true identity and gives up her aspirations of being a gold digger, deciding instead to practice her magic so that one day she will work at the palace helping the Prince.

Why yes, one afternoon is all that is need to change someone's goals from selfish to altruistic ones. Goals that are so so altruistic Miel doesn't even think romantic thoughts about Prince Radi, though he does think she is 'special.' While the storytelling and art are accomplished, at the same time the story itself is so mild that I think the manga's E for Everyone was not intended but merely a side-effect of the title's frantic inoffensiveness. The review rating is not the result of failure or inept execution, but instead as a result of the story not affecting the reader in any way and making one wonder with it in the first place.

The Lapis Lazuli Crown, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi, vol. 1

2009-05-14T10:12:00.002-05:00

By Yu Minamoto
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: How modest! Four girls is barely a harem in most manga.

Yoichi is the young samurai in training deep in the mountains of Japan, who is told by his father that it is time to go to the city for the next step in his training. It is then revealed that despite the implications otherwise the story is set in modern Japan, which makes the story 'dangerous country bumpkin in the big city.' Fortunately what distracts him from turning this into a more destructive story is that his father sent him to a dojo run by four sisters. Now one of the sisters is too young (I hope she is considered too young) and one is not really interested in him other than for use as a research tool for her manga, but there is two sisters who unsurprisingly, are secretly attracted to him. For the fan-service needs Yoichi keeps on tripping, falling and bemoaning that gravity is a harsh mistress, forcing him to grab onto the sisters at very inappropriate places and times. But could the two girls on the last page of the volume bring actual danger, or just end up as two more girls for the harem? I suspect that will be an easy prediction for most readers.

People who have deep childhood or family connections seem to run into each other all the time on the street of Tokyo, so it must be a pretty small town, right? Sorry, I was just appreciating the foibles of manga storytelling. Despite several of the characters being highly trained martial artists, they all are very clumsy feeling the need to grab onto various naughty bits as they go down. Of course, none of the characters' subconscious are at all just very, very horny. It would be a lot more honest if the story went with that direction rather than having all of these teenagers' minds being as pure as driven snow, especially the girls. But that is just a general problem in many manga. The two main characters (Yoichi and the oldest sister) are too flawless to be more than two dimensional, but I found the sister who has given up because of the older sister's perfection to be the most interesting. I am glad to see that someone around those characters realizes just how unrealistic they are and has had the perfectly rational response of 'why bother?' because anything they do will simply be done better by someone who doesn't even realize they are crushing their hopes and dreams. But other than that, pretty standard harem comedy, not a lot of fighting, at least not yet, and the characters are rather standard. Pretty to look at it, nice if you like fan service or harem comedies, but not much of interest other than that.

Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Dogs Prelude, vol. 0

2009-05-12T00:59:00.000-05:00

Story and Art by Shirow Miwa
Published in the US by Viz

Slugline: Percussively putting the pieces into play.

Dogs Prelude introduces four loosely connected characters that live in a noirish near future city. Each has their own drives and personality, and we see three out of the four at emotional turning points in their lives. For the fourth one, well his emotional damage is that he likes to shoot things when he goes into nicotine withdrawal. There is no unifying story in the volume, but because this is a prelude it is possible that the subtext of the four character's stories might be woven into a single overarching one. While there is a bit of over thinking and melodrama, the characters are interesting on the individual level and even if their stories are needlessly confused in order to make them more 'noir,' they are still engaging enough that I care that the characters' care about what is happening to them. This is reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop in tone, though no of the characters seem like direct analogues yet, though that comparison might give you an idea of whether you will appreciate it or not.

Dogs Prelude, vol. 0 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Dinosaur Hour, vol. 1

2009-05-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

Story and Art by Hitoshi Shioya
Published in the US by VizKids

Sluglines: Bad humor and hungry dinosaurs are a winning combination!

Dinosaur Hour is basically a collection of humorous short skits that feature dinosaurs making fun of and exploiting their own natures. There is some mild educational content here, but it certainly not a focus and it shares only the basics (how big a dinosaur is, what period it existed and whether it was a carnivore or herbivore seems to be most of it.) There are no continuing characters in the volume and most of the dinosaurs are identified by their species rather than having any specific name. The humor is pretty juvenile and transparent, so rather than being for all ages it is really more for young ages. Keeping in mind that many of the jokes revolve around whether or not the dinosaurs can manage to make each other dinner, it is much more a boy book. The art is not very good, but since that this volume is basically sketch comedy, the fact that the art itself is barely more than a sketch works, and it allows the readers to have enough distance from what is happening to be able to laugh when someone becomes lunch. Once you take those limitations into account, it is pretty funny for what it is and doesn't try to do too much with what little attention that the volume will probably get from the typical reader.

Dinosaur Hour, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Honey Hunt, vol. 1

2009-05-05T07:43:00.002-05:00

Story and Art by Miki Aihara
Published in the US by Viz Shojo Beat

Slugline: Parental abandonment issues galore!

Yura would seem to have a pretty good life since both of her parents rich and famous. But her parents treat her as an afterthought and at best treat her with a sense of benign neglect. Things finally come to a head when Yura's father's affair is discovered and her parent's divorce. At the same time, Yura discovers that her best friend Shin has been sleeping with her mom every since he went off to college. Lost, Yura goes off on her parents in front of the paparazzi. Her diatribe attracts the attention of one of her parent's agents, who offers Yura a chance to stand on her own two feet away from her parents and her old life. With that opportunity Yura begins a career in acting so to be independent and be able to get her parents to recognize her.

I disliked Hot Gimmick! (well, the novel version of it) a previous work by this creator. While I am not sure how much I buy into Yura having a special gift into acting, Yura's struggle for recognition from her parents is powerful and one I suspect many manga readers can emphasize. Having your family not only not understand who you are and what you do, but also being not even sure if it is worth trying to understand what you do is one of the universal adolescent anguishes. Unlike many stories where the parents are out of touch in order to give the main characters a free arena of action, the emotionally missing parents here are what drives Yura. While Yura herself is a little passive, but helps represents someone who has kept her head down most of her life and is only now learning how to do otherwise. The breaking of her old habits are more likely to be a gradual process than a sudden one, making this title feel very real.

Honey Hunt, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho, vol. 1

2009-04-30T03:47:00.001-05:00

By Moyamu Fujino
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: The animals are literally telling you what to do.

Neko Fukuta has never been a good student, so she was worried about being admitted into a high school. She finds one named Morimori, passing an admissions test that had very offbeat questions. Meeting some of her fellow students on the way to the school's dorms the oddities kept on piling up even as she befriended her fellow student Miiko. The school's headmaster almost turns her away, but is so impressed by Neko's desire to go to school that he allows her to enroll. It is only after Neko is formally admitted that she realizes that this is a school for shapeshifting animals to learn how to act human, and that Miiko is a somewhat possessive cat. All of the students assume that Neko is cat also because of her name but she has to keep her nature as a human being secret.

Another entry in the "human stuck in a nonhuman school" genre, which Rosario + Vampire was an entry of, with a previous review. Considering the target age of this title (10+) it is probably safe to say that this will be a less intense title to maintain that age rating. But as result of that all of the characters seem to have been flattened, simplified so not too be challenging to the reader. Neko doesn't seem to realize what she is getting herself into even as it is dangled in front of her while Miiko, once she is revealed as a cat, becomes a very stereotypical cat who just looks like a person. I guess I should be happy that Niiko doesn't have cat ears that no one seems to notice. There does appear to be secrets lying just out of sight to entice interest, but Neko is so low-key that she will have to be thrown into them to become involved. Who wants a protagonist that is that oblivious? Which is a shame, because I see some things here that remind me of the first couple of volumes of Harry Potter, but it seems like it won't reach that potential.

Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Maid War Chronicle, vol. 1

2009-04-28T10:46:00.001-05:00

Presented by Ran
Published in the US by Del Rey

Slugline: At some point perverts stop being cute.

The Prince of Arbansol is about to go through his coronation and become king. Cacao, one of his six personal maids is hoping that will encourage Alex, the prince, to show some maturity because currently he is a major pervert who enjoys ordering his maids around way too much. Cacao is the only one of the maids who pushes back, having grown up in a circus and being a featured attraction there gave her self-confidence with the only reason for she currently being a maid is to save enough money to start her own business. But she is forced to flee with her fellow maids and the prince when the kingdom of Nowarle invades. Prince Alex claims that all he needs to retake his kingdom are beautiful women around him, well beautiful women armed with legendary magical weapons that usually are wielded by the realm's knights. Prince Alex's way around that little restriction is by creating an order of maid knights and immediately inducting all of his maids. Cacao gets a claymore sword and being the only one of the maids that has half a clue and any fighting experience, works to keep her fellow maids and Prince Alex alive.

This manga feels very old school, with a traditional pervert with a heart of gold and a whole array of characters named after food items. Those elements have been merged with the modern manga tradition of fan service via the use of maid uniforms whose skirts magically shorten when convenient. This is a light story, even by the normal standards that piece of fluff stories are measured by. The fight scenes are set up nicely and the fan service seemed mild, even with the gratuitous nudity. Or it could just be that I've been numbed by reading so much fan service. Still, the prince, despite the attempts to make him a funny and harmless pervert still makes my skin crawl and requires a major personality transplant to become tolerable.

Maid War Chronicle, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Future Diary, vol. 1

2009-04-24T13:36:00.000-05:00

By Sakae Esuno
Published in the US by TokyoPop

Slugline: Knowing the future means knowing how you are doomed.

Yukiteru doesn't have any friends but he consoles himself by having a hobby, which keeping an exhaustive diary of the events around him on his cell phone. It is one of the few things he talks about to what he considers to a playful yet dangerous imaginary god of time and space Deus. The imaginary god turns out to be very real when Yukiteru's diary changes to show what he would have written for 90 days into the future. At first Yuki enjoys and exploits having future knowledge but this ends when Deus' playful and dangerous nature is revealed. It turns out Deus gave 12 people future diaries based on diaries that they were already keeping and whomever is the last one alive will replace Deus as the god of time and space. Yukiteru's initial enjoyment of his diary only made him a prime target of a serial killer and a terrorist bomber, both of whom are diarists. As a mixed blessing, a fellow student at Yuki's school, Yuno Gasai, had been stalking him and her diary is filled with details of his life, which helps him survive. The detective Keigo Kurusu has his own criminal investigation diary and is determined to end all of the mayhem that the future diaries are causing and the three of them ally together by the end of the volume to stop the other diarists and keep Yuki alive.

Think of this as a less dark version of Death Note. Not to say that this light and fluffy, but it isn't quite as nihilistic as Death Note was. At least, not yet, though the series could easily go very dark or get less intense fairly easily from this point. The fact that I don't which direction it will take is a good sign. The good guys have some major problems, with Yuki's near breakdown in the face of danger, Yuno having more than a couple screws loose and Keigo almost a little too willing to sacrifice Yuki . The mechanism of the diaries help drive the action, though while some of the diaries at least for now seem like that they can get a little silly. As an example, a bomber keeping an escape diary? But the story grabs hold of ordinary people, throws them into deep end of the pool and we get to watch them react and struggle to survive in a very realistic way.

For those that are curious, here are our reviews for Death Note 1-6 and 7-10.

Future Diary, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

BakéGyamon, vol. 1

2009-04-21T05:36:00.001-05:00

Story and Art by Mitsuhisa Tamura with Original Concept by Kazuhiro Tamura
Published in the US by Viz

Slugline: Children's adventures that aren't as dumb as they first appear.

Sanshiro wants to have adventures, much like his missing father had. Unfortunately, he is still a child under the guardianship of his grandparents, who would prefer that he would give up all such foolish dreams and be an innkeeper like they are. They are helped in this goal by living on a small island, making it difficult for Sanshiro to get into trouble. But Sanshiro is not to be denied, so when a mysterious figure offers Sanshiro a chance to be in the game BakéGyamon, which is run by monsters on a Reverse-Japan empty of people, Sanshiro jumps at the chance for adventure. Not even the prize of single wish granted matters more to him than having an adventure. But while Sanshiro is enthusiastic, neither is he ignorant to the dangers of adventuring and he uses his monster allies and the fellow players he wins over to great effect.

You see a device to summon monsters, monster seals and the word 'game' together, you expect to see a thinly disguised collectible card game or an attempt to launch one. Add that Sanshiro starts the volume out as the typical over-excited naive guy, so while he never quite losses that aspect, it is a bit of a surprise that he gains a brain. He isn't the smartest guy in the volume, but he does show something more than just relying on his enthusiasm to get by. If this manga is an ad for card game, it is among the worst ones I've seen, since the creatures that they can summon change by scene and there isn't any particular key cards or the like. The manga's game is more like chess, where the point is to figure out how to use your particular piece (monster) to your best advantage rather than using the manga to showcase the creatures and gameplay. Rather than fighting, it is more like dealing with puzzles and challenges. In that way, the manga was a pleasant surprise, in that it feels no need to be what you expect, but instead is its own story.

BakéGyamon, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Wolverine: Prodigal Son, vol. 1

2009-04-16T09:51:00.002-05:00

Story by Antony Johnston with Art by Wilson Tortosa
Published by Del Rey and Marvel Comics

Slugline: Sort of the Wolverine you've seen.

Logan is the best fighter at the Quiet Earth Academy, a martial arts school in the northern woods for troubled teens. But Logan was not sent there by parents tired of his antics, but was found on its doorstep without any memory of his past other than his name. Add in his strange ability to quickly heal from any wound and claws that pop out from his forearms, Logan is isolated along with having grown an attitude problem that dwarfs the other students' problems. In an attempt to give Logan some peace the school's sensei takes Logan to New York City, but it only serves to make Logan even more disappointed. Just as the sensei is about to reveal a hint to Logan that there may be others like him, they are attacked by paramilitary types lead by Lady Silence, who can speak directly into one's mind. His sensei is captured, but Logan runs back to Quiet Earth, only to find it in flames and all of the students dead except for the sensei's daughter. Defeating the former student that destroyed the school who was allied with Lady Silence, Logan gains a clue about his origin and who is responsble for hunt for him.

This is a reimagining of Wolverine's origin, who is one of the most popular mutants of Marvel Comic's X-Men. Logan is not a person inclined to deep thought, so he, and thus must of the story is involved in kicking ass. That actually works well, for whenever the story slows down to think or talk about what is going on, the emotional responses of the characters seem shallow. There is not much of that, because most of the scenes are setting up for the fights or cleaning up after the fights, but it was still a block to my enjoyment. There are some shoutouts to other versions of Wolverine's origin, but he has had so many over of the years it is hard to pick them out. The art does show off the fights and their kinetic style well, but some of the details need a little bit of work, for it took me far too long to figure out that Lady Silence was actually a woman. Still, this is a nice action story that doesn't rely on its brand name to carry it.

Wolverine: Prodigal Son, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Venus Capriccio, vol. 1

2009-04-14T16:28:00.003-05:00

By Mai Nishikata
Published in the US by CMX Manga

Slugline: A boy prettier than any girl and a girl who is as rude as any boy.

Takami and Akira have been friends ever since Takami's mom signed her up for piano lessons in an attempt to combat Takami's tomboy nature. While she never gained Akira's skill at the piano, Takami did enjoy Akira's friendship. But Akira is determined for Takami to see him as more than a little 'sister'. By the end of the first chapter, he has managed to do so, but he has a lot of work left to do in order to get Takami to see him as boyfriend material.

On the face of it, this seems a lot like many other shoujo titles. To a certain extent it is, but the execution of it elevates the title together. Takami is a tomboy, but not so strongly that her feminization seems like a betrayal of the character and while Akira is a talented pianist he still has deficiencies that reflects his human nature. Takami does not immediately fall in love with Akira upon realizing he is a boy, but is open to the possibility as Akira starts working on her. Sure everyone is too pretty and seems unaware of it, but that is just fact of shoujo. Still these are characters I can mostly believe in (while Akira is a little too nice and understanding but does not yet verge on sainthood.)

Venus Capriccio, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand

Extract

2009-04-09T01:36:00.001-05:00

Extract is an explicit manga, and has been reviewed on Prospero’s Manga – Mature, a review blog for adult titles. Please check there for the review.

-Ferdinand

Anima

2009-04-08T01:57:00.001-05:00

Story, Art and Letters by Dany & Dany
Published by Yaoi Press

Slugline: A setting that has nothing to do with the story

Patrick Owens is a burned out political reporter that has seen nothing but the worst of humanity with his one weakness being an appreciation for the ballet star Danya. Of course, Dany has secrets of his own as an illegally modified android masquerading as a human. But despite Patrick's own despair and Danya's secrets they are drawn to each other. Danya's 'teacher,' the former ballet star Nikolaj is using Danya to act out his dreams of greatness, becomes the main obstacle between the two lovers. To resolve this conflict will cost both Danya and Patrick part of their own sense of belonging.

I am a big fan of steampunk, which is why I pulled this out volume out of the review stack. Imagine my disappointment as I read it to find that there was a very few steampunk aspects. What little advanced technology that was in story was not especially steampunk inspired, and the clothing seemed to be draw more from French fashions than Victorian. Patrick's occupation as a reporter did not figure much into the plot, and Nikolaj's connections to the mafia and corrupt politicians remained in the background. Whole swathes of the setting could have been changed without affecting the story. I usually prefer the characters and the setting/environment to interact more, so that the characters are part of the world rather than existing apart of it. Separate from that, the back cover text is especially important with Anima since it is shrinkwrapped, but it gives an impression of a far more nuanced and dark story that what the title really is. But for yaoi fans, the title delivers on its promises, barely avoiding being pornography but showing everything else.

Anima is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand