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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fairy Navigator Runa, vol. 1

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

Red Hot Chili Samurai, vol. 1

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

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

The Lizard Prince, vol. 1

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

World of Warcraft: Death Knight

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

Momogumi Plus Senki, vol. 1

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

Gestalt, vol. 1

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

Fushigi Yûgi, VizBig Vol. 1

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

Amefurashi, vol. 1

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

Yokai Doctor, vol. 1

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

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

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

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

Maid War Chronicle, vol. 1

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

Orange Crows, vol. 1

Written by James Perry II with Art by Ryo Kawakami
Published by TokyoPop


Slugline: Post-Apocalyptic Witchcraft

Cierra, in an effort to solve a magical problem that her dead mother could not, disastrously failed in a magical experiment, injuring her best friend and scarring herself. Five years later, after serving the five year exile punishment for her crime, Cierra is brought back to a city that she barely recognizes. Her best friend Natalie has changed also, broken in a way that a witch of this world cannot hide or heal from and is emotionally damaged also. Cierra's own scars have grown from strange abilities that marked her in her time in exile. These changes forces Cierra to think that she will never again be able to find a place for herself, with her friends, family or society.

Though this volume is of standard length, it does not feel that much has occurred in it. The main and supporting characters are well fleshed out in asides and flashbacks, but at least in this volume many of those character moments do not pay off. The questions about the plot that we do know about at the end of the volume, such as who is the one-eyed demon and what is the source of Cierra's abilities, those answers have yet to be even hinted at. Considering that this is an original manga, this first volume does not really stand alone, and with publishing so unstable right now, who knows when or even if the rest of the story will be continued. It is that uncertainty and the fact this volume did not tell a complete story, or even a chapter of one, that lowers the rating of this otherwise well-executed manga.



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

-Ferdinand

St. Dragon Girl, vol. 1

Story and Art by Natsumi Matsumoto
Released in the US by Viz


Slugline: Every good town has to have a teenage demon removal service...

Momoka is a hard charging kenpo student, daughter of the master of a martial arts school, whose childhood friend Ryuga Kou is a Chinese sorcerer who often deals with the demons that plague their town. Momoka is secretly in love with Ryuga, well, not so secretly. Apparently everyone in town, including Ryuga, is fully aware of it but she refuses to acknowledge it. Even when Ryuga gets in over his head with a demon and is forced to summon a dragon to possess him, Momoka insists that rushing in to take the blast of magical energies herself is just a show of friendship. Still, that means that she is possessed by the dragon and when the dragon is not bound, she can be very powerful. That can attract all sorts of attention from demons that Ryuga has to help her with, and with her dragon derived powers she can help him with his own duties chasing down demons.

Reasonably okay story, but there is no romantic tension at all here. She knows she loves him, he knows she loves him, the neighbors down the street know that she loves him, and while he hasn't said anything (typical boy) it is pretty clear he is at least fond of her and there are no obstacles in their way. That is all that is needed for true love nowadays in most manga, so what is the point of dragging it out any further? True, he binds her dragon powers for no readily apparent reason so that he controls whether or not she is powerful, but when is that ever a problem in manga? Sure, most real people would have problems being forcibly constrained in such a way, but as manga misogyny goes, that is relatively mild. But those two in combination, and the lack of anything really interesting going in the plots, drags this title down to two stars.



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

-Ferdinand

Kyo Kara MAOH!, vol. 1

Temari Matsumoto with Original Story by Tomo Takabayashi
Published in the US by TokyoPop


Slugline: Smart kid. The first thing out of his mouth after traveling between worlds was were was the princess he needed to rescue.

The toilet must represent some deep repressed fear, for once again a hapless guy is transported to another world through one. YuriShibuya meets up with angry human villagers but it is rescued from representatives from his kingdom. Yes, his kingdom, for rather than being brought to this new world to confront an ancient evil or rescue a princess, he has been brought there to be a king. Which doesn't sound so bad until he is told that it is a kingdom of demons (who look just like humans) that has been waiting for their reincarnated king (that's him) to lead them against the humans and wipe them out. Thatis not the worse of it, since Yuri manages to trample all over local traditions and gets engaged and agrees to a duel to the same person with five minutes of each other.

First of all, the yaoi subplot that is mentioned in all of the descriptions of the title is something very minor in the first volume. You may breathe a sign of relief or disappointment as necessary. This is a fairly standard 'welcome to a strange new world' story with a couple of minor twists to keep it out of the ruts that trap many other stories of a similar type. Though I wonder if the baseball references in the original version were for Japanese rather than American teams. I wish the difference between humans and demons was clearer, so that the conflict between them would be more understandable. Hopefully that will be something that changes in the later volumes but a solid foundation has already been build with some small interesting feature, it just needs something more to be truly exciting.



Kyo Kara MAOH!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga

-Ferdinand