Nightschool, vols. 1-3

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 

Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro, vol. 1

By Satoko Kiyuduki
Released in the US by Yen Press


Slugline: A 4-koma non-comedy title

Kuro is a black clad girl (who does not look very girlish) that carries a coffin on her back, a flock of talking bats and two children who follow her that has strange abilities. Kuro is apparently looking for a specific witch, has been injured in some way and carries the coffin on her back because she believes she will need it on her travels, for her that is. The exact nature of her travels isn't really revealed, though it can be pieced out from the book. The title seems to vary a slice of life to a supernatural quest style story.

I haven't read that many yonkoma, Japanese gag strips which are four panel, usually one on top of each other. It's an odd format, because despite having a continuing story and discrete episodes, the four panel structure makes it full very choppy. Like a movie reel that is missing some frames, it just doesn't flow smoothly. A whole lot isn't explained, and there is the requisite cute kids, but they seem to have a mystery attached to them that won't go away. The book has several color pages scattered throughout, probably as a legacy from original publication (presumably in 4 panel sections) which shows a subtle sense of coloring. At the moment, it's parts are charming and work well enough that I gave it 2 1/2 stars despite the fact as a total package you can see the joints and gears trying to mesh between its parts.



Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

-Ferdinand

Zombie Loan, vol. 1

By Peach-Pit
Released in the US by Yen Press


Slugline: Death has easy financing but the installment payments are a killer.

Michiru's parents have passed away and she lives with her aunt and uncle who barely tolerate her presence. If anything, she barely tolerates her own presence in the world. She allows herself to bullied around, by the girls in her school, and by Chika and Shito, two fellow students that miraculously survived overpass collapse. But Michiru has the ability to see rings around people's necks that show whether or not a person is going to die soon, and they both have solid black rings. It turns out that they are both dead but were allowed to bargain for their lives. They were given a chance to return to life, but to repay their debt they must recover zombies, people who had died but hadn't realized it yet and satisfy their hungers on human flesh. Despite using and bullying her, when Michiru is in danger of dying by a zombie attack, Chika and Shito take on more debt to save her. Bolstered with the knowledge that she didn't want to die, Michiru begins making changes to her life.

For once the timing of the episodes complements the volume, so that one complete story arc is completed in this book. And that makes the story more effective, because we can see the characters' progression without being immediately reminded of any backsliding. The first half of the book I wondering how I was going to make my way through it because Michiru was such a push over, but then she acknowledged that fact and was given a push. But it was merely a push, so the choice to change was still left up to her, which she did make. There is no doubt she is at the very beginning of a very long journey, but it is one that she is taking the very steps on her own. Chika and Shito remain mostly enigmas, but at the moment Michiru's journey is one that is interesting to me, which wasn't at all what I expected when I picked this up.

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

-Ferdinand