Check out previous reviews of Kashimashi vol. 1 and Kashimashi vols. 2 and 3.
After the story wandering around uncertainly for a while, Kashimashi vol. 4 finds it metaphorical feet in the revelation that Hazumu's near-death experience of volume 1, the one him to a her, was fated. Fate is not something that can be denied, and Hazumu's death is approaching once again. With that sort of ticking clock in the background, suddenly the characters have something that drives them, so that things matter. True, there is a bit of soap opera business where all of the characters know that Hazumu has a month left to live but no one knows that everyone else knows, but it prevents everyone descending in maudlin crying. I do wish that the characters had handled the revelations at the end of the third volume a little better, especially the potential 'cure' for Hazumu that was introduced at the end of that volume that wasn't really followed up in this one. Overall, the introduction of the ticking clock has pushed the series back up in the 3 1/2 stars category.
The Kashimashi vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3 and vol. 4 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Ferdinand
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
Devil's Bride, vol. 1
By Se-Young Kim
Released in the US
Slugline: A devil is always ready to make a deal for his yaoi love.
Devils are more like a powerful spirits, vampire and low level god all wrapped in one. The unnamed devil of the story is trying to live more like humans, because his nature is destructive and he wants to be creative. He lives near some human villages and thinks that by having a bride, he will become more human. A poor family basically sells off one of their children to him, and takes off before he discovers that the child is a boy, not a girl. Not that it really matters that much to him. Now, that I cansorta buy, because he isn't really human, so I get he can be omnisexual rather than being an yaoi pretty boy. Ley , the boy, dies, not sure if it accidental or deliberate, but the devil decides to keep him alive, but in order to do so he need human parts to returnLey to humanity. As a devil, he has decided to offer his serves to mortals, not for souls which is normal payment, but in body parts. Meanwhile a blind heir elsewhere in the world has been forced to prostitute himself to soldiers to save his kingdom, and his boyhood companion has to be take some harsh actions.
Devil's Bride, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US
Slugline: A devil is always ready to make a deal for his yaoi love.
Devils are more like a powerful spirits, vampire and low level god all wrapped in one. The unnamed devil of the story is trying to live more like humans, because his nature is destructive and he wants to be creative. He lives near some human villages and thinks that by having a bride, he will become more human. A poor family basically sells off one of their children to him, and takes off before he discovers that the child is a boy, not a girl. Not that it really matters that much to him. Now, that I cansorta buy, because he isn't really human, so I get he can be omnisexual rather than being an yaoi pretty boy. Ley , the boy, dies, not sure if it accidental or deliberate, but the devil decides to keep him alive, but in order to do so he need human parts to returnLey to humanity. As a devil, he has decided to offer his serves to mortals, not for souls which is normal payment, but in body parts. Meanwhile a blind heir elsewhere in the world has been forced to prostitute himself to soldiers to save his kingdom, and his boyhood companion has to be take some harsh actions.
It is an interesting set-up for an anthology story, with the ability for their to be one-off stories to that tie in devil's search for parts to help Ley recover from being a little bit dead, but it is the framing device is far more meaningful and involved that the usual ones. So the setup for the anthology structure takes up enough time that the first anthology story is not finished in this volume, though we do seem to have hit the first turning point on the last page. Of course, it is has a yaoi focus, with a tall lanky pretty boy and the younger, more effeminate looking 'junior' member of the partnership. Which is one of my major icks here, in that it seems that one half of the pairings are inherently in the inferior position. Yeah, it may be typical how yaoi is arranged but that doesn't make me feel any better. But the story is well structured, the characters have some depth and the art is 100% pretty boy, so that assuages my other concerns.
Devil's Bride, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
White Night Melody, vol. 1
By Selena Lin
Published in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: This would be a good second volume. Unfortunately it is the first.
Two living dolls are playing with their owner's son when good luck beads fall into a fish-tank and they turn human. Yeah, that is a horrible first sentence. Living dolls as a given? What, living dolls are so normal that we don't even have to introduce them? Never mind the fact that you can't tell the difference between the living dolls and the human child until someone says that one is human and the others are dolls. The living dolls don't really seem to have a long term memory, but there are half dozen questions that immediately come to mind. Where are the living dolls from? How did the family get them? Do they remember how they become dolls? How can you tell they are dolls in comparison to the human children? They want to be human, but it doesn't seem they have any problems living as dolls? Where are the good luck beads from? I would settle they were found in some mysterious shop, but apparently they have been in the house as long as the living dolls.
All these questions popped up within the first ten pages, and they weren't answered. At all. Now, it probably would have taken a single chapter, 20 pages, to set up all of these questions. But without that, I spent the first half of the book wondering what was going on, wondering if I missed something, and trying to refocus on what was actually going on. What was going on was sorta of interesting, but I was left at the end of the book wondering why I should care about the characters,because there were this big gaps in their background. I think there is a good story in there, but you are just thrown in the deep end without knowing how to swim here.
White Night Melody, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Published in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: This would be a good second volume. Unfortunately it is the first.
Two living dolls are playing with their owner's son when good luck beads fall into a fish-tank and they turn human. Yeah, that is a horrible first sentence. Living dolls as a given? What, living dolls are so normal that we don't even have to introduce them? Never mind the fact that you can't tell the difference between the living dolls and the human child until someone says that one is human and the others are dolls. The living dolls don't really seem to have a long term memory, but there are half dozen questions that immediately come to mind. Where are the living dolls from? How did the family get them? Do they remember how they become dolls? How can you tell they are dolls in comparison to the human children? They want to be human, but it doesn't seem they have any problems living as dolls? Where are the good luck beads from? I would settle they were found in some mysterious shop, but apparently they have been in the house as long as the living dolls.
All these questions popped up within the first ten pages, and they weren't answered. At all. Now, it probably would have taken a single chapter, 20 pages, to set up all of these questions. But without that, I spent the first half of the book wondering what was going on, wondering if I missed something, and trying to refocus on what was actually going on. What was going on was sorta of interesting, but I was left at the end of the book wondering why I should care about the characters,because there were this big gaps in their background. I think there is a good story in there, but you are just thrown in the deep end without knowing how to swim here.
White Night Melody, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, May 05, 2008
Foxy Lady, vol. 1
Story and art by Ayun Tachibana
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: It's titles like this that makes me think one of the requirements for Japanese editors is the serious need for therapy
I am not sure I want to destroy what little faith my readers may have left in the quality of manga. That manga editors signed off to publish this makes me think the creator had something on them, or that the editors really had faith in the creator's art. But the story that comes with the art...
Jin is a shrine heir and one day his cousin Kagone, a half fox demon/human shows up at the shrine dorm where he is living, asking to mate with him to turn her human and stay in the human world.
Yeah, my reaction also. But of course Jin, despite looking at magazine telling him ways to determine if a woman is attracted to him, meets a woman that tells him exactly what he wants to hear, he suddenly decides to be all noble and such. For a few moments he shows a spine, but then it reverts to being a wet noodle as he gets bossed around by virtually everyone. Despite the fact they live in the same dorm, nothing at all happens between Jin and Kagone, surprise, surprise. Jin has a couple of, well friends is a little too strong a word, but they can't be called anything else due to the rules of manga, who are just creepy. There is the slightly older guy who wants to take pictures of Jin's female classmates and a childhood friend that seems to have been pretending for as long as they have known each other that he was a girl. At least he/she is honest, and is planning to build a harem at the new school that is his attending, which just happens to be Jin's. No faux respectability or kindness here. That desire, to actually recruit a harem, I can actually believe. I mean, how difficult can it be when it seems virtually any guy can get a harem? Virtually everything else in the manga requires unnatural amounts of suspension of disbelief.
I could go on with all the unnatural and unrealistic character motivations and actions here, but ugh, thinking about them just makes me want to rant more about them. It feels like the author knows what the reader's expectations are, so he just skipping over the sections that don't interest him (not that they are not important to the characters.) Only a few moments of interesting character work save this from becoming a dishonorable mention.
Foxy Lady, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: It's titles like this that makes me think one of the requirements for Japanese editors is the serious need for therapy
I am not sure I want to destroy what little faith my readers may have left in the quality of manga. That manga editors signed off to publish this makes me think the creator had something on them, or that the editors really had faith in the creator's art. But the story that comes with the art...
Jin is a shrine heir and one day his cousin Kagone, a half fox demon/human shows up at the shrine dorm where he is living, asking to mate with him to turn her human and stay in the human world.
Yeah, my reaction also. But of course Jin, despite looking at magazine telling him ways to determine if a woman is attracted to him, meets a woman that tells him exactly what he wants to hear, he suddenly decides to be all noble and such. For a few moments he shows a spine, but then it reverts to being a wet noodle as he gets bossed around by virtually everyone. Despite the fact they live in the same dorm, nothing at all happens between Jin and Kagone, surprise, surprise. Jin has a couple of, well friends is a little too strong a word, but they can't be called anything else due to the rules of manga, who are just creepy. There is the slightly older guy who wants to take pictures of Jin's female classmates and a childhood friend that seems to have been pretending for as long as they have known each other that he was a girl. At least he/she is honest, and is planning to build a harem at the new school that is his attending, which just happens to be Jin's. No faux respectability or kindness here. That desire, to actually recruit a harem, I can actually believe. I mean, how difficult can it be when it seems virtually any guy can get a harem? Virtually everything else in the manga requires unnatural amounts of suspension of disbelief.
I could go on with all the unnatural and unrealistic character motivations and actions here, but ugh, thinking about them just makes me want to rant more about them. It feels like the author knows what the reader's expectations are, so he just skipping over the sections that don't interest him (not that they are not important to the characters.) Only a few moments of interesting character work save this from becoming a dishonorable mention.
Foxy Lady, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Friday, May 02, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Toto!, vol. 1
By Yuko Osada
Released in the US by Del Rey
Slugline: A take on The Wizard of Oz that doesn't read like one.
Kakashi has grown alone on an isolated island, his father having left on a voyage of exploration many years before and never returned. He has also wanted to go out and explore the world, but it is not until he manages to stow aboard a zeppelin that has landed on his island for repair that Kakashi manages to get off the island. He quickly makes friends with the bandits that have taken over the zeppelin, finds a pet dog, gets blown off the zeppelin by military ground fire,steals a girl lunch, gets his dog named and dognapped. Let's just say his dog, Toto, is more than what he (I assume he is he) appears.
The story and art has a very loose, almost cartoony look, reminding me a lot of early One Piece in style and tone (at least at the moment). I actually didn't see the Wizard of Oz (WoZ) elements, until Dorothy showed up a little past the halfway through the book in a cornfield. And named the dog Toto. At which point I promptly smacked myself, since while the title of the series is Toto! I didn't connect it with the WoZ. But so far this is really the same story. Yes, they are taking elements of WoZ, but at the moment they are appear to be just set dressings rather than story elements. So I (and thus the readers) don't really know what is happening next. The story is solid if not very deep, but at the moment this reads like a book that appropriate for younger readers. Though I am not sure how much I like that WoZ has turned from a girl-centric story to a boy centered one. Depends on how Dorothy is treated, but so far okay.
Toto!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Del Rey
Slugline: A take on The Wizard of Oz that doesn't read like one.
Kakashi has grown alone on an isolated island, his father having left on a voyage of exploration many years before and never returned. He has also wanted to go out and explore the world, but it is not until he manages to stow aboard a zeppelin that has landed on his island for repair that Kakashi manages to get off the island. He quickly makes friends with the bandits that have taken over the zeppelin, finds a pet dog, gets blown off the zeppelin by military ground fire,steals a girl lunch, gets his dog named and dognapped. Let's just say his dog, Toto, is more than what he (I assume he is he) appears.
The story and art has a very loose, almost cartoony look, reminding me a lot of early One Piece in style and tone (at least at the moment). I actually didn't see the Wizard of Oz (WoZ) elements, until Dorothy showed up a little past the halfway through the book in a cornfield. And named the dog Toto. At which point I promptly smacked myself, since while the title of the series is Toto! I didn't connect it with the WoZ. But so far this is really the same story. Yes, they are taking elements of WoZ, but at the moment they are appear to be just set dressings rather than story elements. So I (and thus the readers) don't really know what is happening next. The story is solid if not very deep, but at the moment this reads like a book that appropriate for younger readers. Though I am not sure how much I like that WoZ has turned from a girl-centric story to a boy centered one. Depends on how Dorothy is treated, but so far okay.
Toto!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, April 28, 2008
Heavenshield, vol. 1
By Ryu Blackman
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: What a horrible, over the top mess.
I wish I could tell you the basic outlines of the plot, but the few facts that I managed to glean from the title doesn't seem to match the back cover text at all. And what I did glean, I literally gleaned, sifting through the pages to try to pull out from the chaff some relevant bits of the story. I can sorta tell you that there is a religious/military conflict, that someone is trying to kill political leaders, that there is a maniac general of some sort, and that there is a top flight freelance protection squad out to protect a politician, but that is about it. And after trying to unpack what is going on, who is doing what, what everyone's motivations are, or at least what they say they are, I find that I don't really care. At the end of the volume I know about the same that I knew from the back cover text from before I even started. It just feels like such a mess. And I feel no urge to try figure it out.
Heavenshield, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: What a horrible, over the top mess.
I wish I could tell you the basic outlines of the plot, but the few facts that I managed to glean from the title doesn't seem to match the back cover text at all. And what I did glean, I literally gleaned, sifting through the pages to try to pull out from the chaff some relevant bits of the story. I can sorta tell you that there is a religious/military conflict, that someone is trying to kill political leaders, that there is a maniac general of some sort, and that there is a top flight freelance protection squad out to protect a politician, but that is about it. And after trying to unpack what is going on, who is doing what, what everyone's motivations are, or at least what they say they are, I find that I don't really care. At the end of the volume I know about the same that I knew from the back cover text from before I even started. It just feels like such a mess. And I feel no urge to try figure it out.
Heavenshield, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Friday, April 25, 2008
Kannazuki No Miko, vol. 1
By Kaishaku
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Sluglines: It's hard to tell whether or not I like this in the midst of all the storytelling mess.
This story suffers from, something. Compression? Many readers have said the strength of the manga is it's decompression, that it allows for stories to unfold at it's own pace. Here, whole whacks of the story seem to skimmed over. The female lead Himeko was raised at a orphanage apparently, but that is revealed in a side note. How it is presented makes you think that is important, but it is not followed up on. People love each other but with the revelations of live are handled oddly. Plus, the whole supernatural/sci-fi element remains unexplained. Not that I expect that somehow they provide some sort of pseudo -science but I am unsure of why any of the supernatural characters or elements are acting the way they are. Other than destruction for its own sake.
Some people would call this yuri and it is explicit at times, thus it has the plastic wrap of evil. Having not seen the anime, I am not sure how yuri the manga is in comparison to the anime, but I suspect since this is just a two volume set, there is a not lot of chance for relationships in the manga. As it is, Himeko, the female lead seems far too passive to maintain a relationship and Chikane's motivations are fuzzy. The way Chikane solves the 'problem' of the attacks on Himeko at the end of the first volume feels so guy and callous, removing Himeko's choices and doing it without explaining the why to her.
Kannazuki No Miko, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Sluglines: It's hard to tell whether or not I like this in the midst of all the storytelling mess.
This story suffers from, something. Compression? Many readers have said the strength of the manga is it's decompression, that it allows for stories to unfold at it's own pace. Here, whole whacks of the story seem to skimmed over. The female lead Himeko was raised at a orphanage apparently, but that is revealed in a side note. How it is presented makes you think that is important, but it is not followed up on. People love each other but with the revelations of live are handled oddly. Plus, the whole supernatural/sci-fi element remains unexplained. Not that I expect that somehow they provide some sort of pseudo -science but I am unsure of why any of the supernatural characters or elements are acting the way they are. Other than destruction for its own sake.
Some people would call this yuri and it is explicit at times, thus it has the plastic wrap of evil. Having not seen the anime, I am not sure how yuri the manga is in comparison to the anime, but I suspect since this is just a two volume set, there is a not lot of chance for relationships in the manga. As it is, Himeko, the female lead seems far too passive to maintain a relationship and Chikane's motivations are fuzzy. The way Chikane solves the 'problem' of the attacks on Himeko at the end of the first volume feels so guy and callous, removing Himeko's choices and doing it without explaining the why to her.
Kannazuki No Miko, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
HellGate: London, vol. 1
Story by Arvid Nelson with Art by J.M
Released by TokyoPop
Slugline: For a video game tie-in, I didn't have to hold my nose.
I spend my time reviewing manga, so I don't play video games (or watch anime) so the game that this is based on is completely unknown to me. From what I understand, timewise, this is an early prequel that details some of the events leading to the rise of the demons in London. Focused on the antagonism between the Knights Templar and the Cabalist factions, it tells the story of John and Lindsey Fowler, siblings that are descendants of a Knight Templar family, who had an ancestor who went bad. Needless to say, that ancestor was a little bit miffed and has decided to come back in the run up to the HellGate incident where the demons return to Earth, with the end result of the siblings being forced to operate in two separate factions by the end of the volume.
Fairly straightforward action/horror title, competently done, with a couple of emotional twists that while I wasn't too surprised by, neither was I expecting. While the characters are not all that smart, they are consistently not all that smart, which makes it sorta okay. The art is on the realistic side, so you know who everyone is and what they are doing, which sometimes can be difficult in an action title. So the title makes 3 stars for not screwing up and not being too cliche. Not sure if that is damning by faint praise or not...
HellGate: London, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released by TokyoPop
Slugline: For a video game tie-in, I didn't have to hold my nose.
I spend my time reviewing manga, so I don't play video games (or watch anime) so the game that this is based on is completely unknown to me. From what I understand, timewise, this is an early prequel that details some of the events leading to the rise of the demons in London. Focused on the antagonism between the Knights Templar and the Cabalist factions, it tells the story of John and Lindsey Fowler, siblings that are descendants of a Knight Templar family, who had an ancestor who went bad. Needless to say, that ancestor was a little bit miffed and has decided to come back in the run up to the HellGate incident where the demons return to Earth, with the end result of the siblings being forced to operate in two separate factions by the end of the volume.
Fairly straightforward action/horror title, competently done, with a couple of emotional twists that while I wasn't too surprised by, neither was I expecting. While the characters are not all that smart, they are consistently not all that smart, which makes it sorta okay. The art is on the realistic side, so you know who everyone is and what they are doing, which sometimes can be difficult in an action title. So the title makes 3 stars for not screwing up and not being too cliche. Not sure if that is damning by faint praise or not...
HellGate: London, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, April 21, 2008
Mamotte Shugogetten, vol. 1
By Minene Sakurano
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Sometimes you have to shoot the puppy.
Mamotte Shugogetten is another entry into the accidental goddess category, where a schmuck guy manages to get a goddess (or some other mystical creature that happens to look like an age appropriate girl) that is so innocent that even the boy that has no social skills whatsoever will inevitably have a chance with her. It also manages to give her such a sufficient weakness that even though she has the power of a goddess she still dependent on him.
There is the festival chapter, the beach chapter, the hot springs chapter, another goddess-like woman appearing that is a sex-pot as compared the original one's sweetness, and so on. It is so very earnest and trying to be deliberately sweet, so that saying back things about it is like kicking a puppy in the head. But I am sorry, I do not have a heart of stone, but even so there is only so much that I could take. It means well, it tries to be sweet and caring, but it just seems so Oh My Goddess-lite, and considering how lightweight Oh My Goddess can be, calling it lighter than Oh My Goddess involves violating the laws of physics. There is not much reason, that I have determined, to read Mamotte Shugogetten if you have read any of the Oh My Goddess genre titles before.
Mamotte Shugogetten, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Sometimes you have to shoot the puppy.
Mamotte Shugogetten is another entry into the accidental goddess category, where a schmuck guy manages to get a goddess (or some other mystical creature that happens to look like an age appropriate girl) that is so innocent that even the boy that has no social skills whatsoever will inevitably have a chance with her. It also manages to give her such a sufficient weakness that even though she has the power of a goddess she still dependent on him.
There is the festival chapter, the beach chapter, the hot springs chapter, another goddess-like woman appearing that is a sex-pot as compared the original one's sweetness, and so on. It is so very earnest and trying to be deliberately sweet, so that saying back things about it is like kicking a puppy in the head. But I am sorry, I do not have a heart of stone, but even so there is only so much that I could take. It means well, it tries to be sweet and caring, but it just seems so Oh My Goddess-lite, and considering how lightweight Oh My Goddess can be, calling it lighter than Oh My Goddess involves violating the laws of physics. There is not much reason, that I have determined, to read Mamotte Shugogetten if you have read any of the Oh My Goddess genre titles before.
Mamotte Shugogetten, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Thursday, April 17, 2008
New York Comic Con delays
This weekend is New York Comic Con, the show two years ago where in the midst of discussing manga, it was said Miranda and I should start a manga review blog.
So we have to return, if for no other reason to hunt down those folks that gave us that suggestion and 'thank' them.
With that said, we will be gone to the con Friday thru early Monday morning, so we posted a review today for tomorrow, and we may be late in posting on Monday.
-Ferdinand
So we have to return, if for no other reason to hunt down those folks that gave us that suggestion and 'thank' them.
With that said, we will be gone to the con Friday thru early Monday morning, so we posted a review today for tomorrow, and we may be late in posting on Monday.
-Ferdinand
SERIES UPDATE: Eternal Sabbath (ES), vol. 8
You can read our earlier reviews of Eternal Sabbath vol. 1 here, vol. 2 here vols. 3-4 here and vols 5-7 here.
The series draws to a not-terribly-surprising end, though there's a decent twist or two along the way. After all that's happened, it's no surprise that it comes down to Shuro and Isaac to duke it out, and the end result of the fight is interesting but ultimately not a surprise either. It's a mild disappointment after such a strong start, but on average this is still a four star series aimed at the non-teenaged reader. I will be looking forward to Fuyumi Soryo's next manga.
ES vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3 vol. 4, vol. 5, vol. 6, vol. 7 and vol. 8 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Label Update
We've found out that we are tripping some filters by even having a category named porn. Attempting to get those filters to realize that we are not publishing the porn has led us on a merry chase without much success.
So, we have renamed the category as 'Explicit.'
Hopefully that clever ruse will let the filters realize we are not Hustler or Icarus Publishing for that matter.
-Ferdinand
So, we have renamed the category as 'Explicit.'
Hopefully that clever ruse will let the filters realize we are not Hustler or Icarus Publishing for that matter.
-Ferdinand
Psycho Busters, the novel, vol. 1
By Yuya Aoki
Released in the US by Del Rey
Slugline: Breaking the rules of how source material is better than adaptations once again is painful. To me, that is.
We have previously positively reviewed the manga Psycho Busters (link here), so when the novel version of it arrived in out review box, it jumped to the top of the pile. I have so few titles that turn out to pleasurable reads that when I see something that looks like a good bet, I go for it.
Why do I torture myself so? The usual rule is that adaptations are never as good as the original work, so that the novel that the manga was adapted from should have been better. Yet another thing in which manga breaks all the rules in doing, but this time in not a good way.
All of the cleverness and intelligence that Kakeru had in the manga is gone. Here he is just a dopey teenager who needs to be whacked around with a clue stick for a bit. Especially since he doesn't use any of the clever ploys that he used in the manga to help defeat the rogue psychics, the fact that he still beats them makes it implausible for anyone to believe something is not happening through Kakeru. Eh, just stick with the manga.
Psycho Busters, the novel, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Del Rey
Slugline: Breaking the rules of how source material is better than adaptations once again is painful. To me, that is.
We have previously positively reviewed the manga Psycho Busters (link here), so when the novel version of it arrived in out review box, it jumped to the top of the pile. I have so few titles that turn out to pleasurable reads that when I see something that looks like a good bet, I go for it.
Why do I torture myself so? The usual rule is that adaptations are never as good as the original work, so that the novel that the manga was adapted from should have been better. Yet another thing in which manga breaks all the rules in doing, but this time in not a good way.
All of the cleverness and intelligence that Kakeru had in the manga is gone. Here he is just a dopey teenager who needs to be whacked around with a clue stick for a bit. Especially since he doesn't use any of the clever ploys that he used in the manga to help defeat the rogue psychics, the fact that he still beats them makes it implausible for anyone to believe something is not happening through Kakeru. Eh, just stick with the manga.
Psycho Busters, the novel, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, April 14, 2008
Honey and Clover, vol. 1
Story and Art by Chica Umino
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Why is the title relationship the most boring and shallowest in the book?
Takemoto is a second year student at an art college who is still not very sure what he is planning to major in, but falls into love with Hagumi, a new 18-year-old genius student upon meeting her. Why? Because we need to have a central focus of the overall story, and Takemoto seems have been elected to do so at the beginning since he seemed the most hapless and clueless of the introductory characters, so logically enough he has to be the focus of the story.
Please notice Hagumi is almost incidental to this, which is a shame but that is what is reflected in the book. She is a cipher that is loved because she is childlike, acting almost like a 12 year old, and looking almost that young, which does not reflect well on any of the characters that are pursuing her because it just looks like they prefer women who look and act too young to make an informed decision on relationships. More than a touch of the lolita urge there. The side-relationship involving one of the students, a professional woman that he helps and whom he knows that he has no chance with and the fellow student who loves him despite her intellect telling her to get far away from him, that is far more interested and tense that the supposed main relationship of the story. And far less creepy.
Honey and Clover, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Why is the title relationship the most boring and shallowest in the book?
Takemoto is a second year student at an art college who is still not very sure what he is planning to major in, but falls into love with Hagumi, a new 18-year-old genius student upon meeting her. Why? Because we need to have a central focus of the overall story, and Takemoto seems have been elected to do so at the beginning since he seemed the most hapless and clueless of the introductory characters, so logically enough he has to be the focus of the story.
Please notice Hagumi is almost incidental to this, which is a shame but that is what is reflected in the book. She is a cipher that is loved because she is childlike, acting almost like a 12 year old, and looking almost that young, which does not reflect well on any of the characters that are pursuing her because it just looks like they prefer women who look and act too young to make an informed decision on relationships. More than a touch of the lolita urge there. The side-relationship involving one of the students, a professional woman that he helps and whom he knows that he has no chance with and the fellow student who loves him despite her intellect telling her to get far away from him, that is far more interested and tense that the supposed main relationship of the story. And far less creepy.
Honey and Clover, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Friday, April 11, 2008
Element Line, vol. 1
By Mamiya Takizaki
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Good characterization can save average plots. Nothing funny about that.
Kam is an orphan (always a orphan) living in a post-apocalyptic fantasy realm, with creatures called Rizom roaming the countryside in between the walled cities killing those without protection. There is some under the table skull-drudgery by the various political factions that are trying to protect and control the remains of humanity, while Kam is trying to escape the legacy of heroic father and leave the city before friends and created family discover his secrets.
Whole swathes of the story are fairly generic, but it is handled with a deft hand so that the character motivations seem their own rather than selected out of the cookbook. When Kam turns back to save a friend, it is not because he is inherently noble, but because it reflects on his character and the lessons he has learned. I think the power-up at the end of the volume was not necessary, there was already enough of a mystery about what is happening to Kam's body (no symbolism of puberty here) there was no need to go there yet. Still, the characters make sense, something that isn't always true in action titles.
Element Line, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Good characterization can save average plots. Nothing funny about that.
Kam is an orphan (always a orphan) living in a post-apocalyptic fantasy realm, with creatures called Rizom roaming the countryside in between the walled cities killing those without protection. There is some under the table skull-drudgery by the various political factions that are trying to protect and control the remains of humanity, while Kam is trying to escape the legacy of heroic father and leave the city before friends and created family discover his secrets.
Whole swathes of the story are fairly generic, but it is handled with a deft hand so that the character motivations seem their own rather than selected out of the cookbook. When Kam turns back to save a friend, it is not because he is inherently noble, but because it reflects on his character and the lessons he has learned. I think the power-up at the end of the volume was not necessary, there was already enough of a mystery about what is happening to Kam's body (no symbolism of puberty here) there was no need to go there yet. Still, the characters make sense, something that isn't always true in action titles.
Element Line, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Ral Ω Grad, vol. 1
Story by Tsuneo Takano with Art by Takeshi Obata
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Breaking new ground with a teen hero who acts on his lust for girls?!
A couple things that we need to get out of the way up front. This manga is related to the Blue Dragon computer game series, so some readers may be interested in that. Takeshi Obata was also the artist for Death Note (see Prospero's Manga reviews for Death Note 1-6 and Death Note 7-10.) And here is the kicker, there is nudity with implied off panel sex, so this manga came shrinkwrapped so can be considered e-v-i-l.
With all those qualifiers out of the way, Ral has been imprisoned in complete darkness for 15 years while Shadow monsters have ravaged the fantasy world. Ral was bonded with a shadow dragon Grad, and when he just a baby the dragon got a little bit miffed and did some of his own rampaging. Ral was confined to a mystical prison but after 15 years he is released because he is humanity's last chance of fending off the Shadows. After saving the castle, Ral and Grad decide to take the fight to the Shadow mother.
There are two moments that sold this to me. The first is Ral and Grad 's killing of Ral's father as soon as they could, out of anger after being imprisoned for 15 years was real. No soft and squishy feelings of forgiveness here, just get that done and over with. That and some morning shortly afterwards he already has women lounging around in his bed. This is a medieval fantasy, with the hero wanting his 'reward' and Ral trying everything that feels good (especially for a teenage boy) after being in a state of denial for over a decade. It would have been so easy for the creators to chicken out, to either make Ral virtuous for no reason or just a leech who is one just for it's own sake (see virtually any leech in a manga in a modern setting), but they threaded a needle creating a world and character that complemented each other. Ral is not someone to emulate, and is pretty far from the shoujo ideal of someone who understands women, but what happens and his behaviors make sense because of they flow out of the world and the character, not just shoehorned in to get the fan service quotient into the manga.
Now, is there still fan service in this? Of course. But it fits, it's not just there, or trying to get by with a nod and a wink. The fight scenes work and the art is pretty good, though sometimes things get a little too clever, but it is still a good read.
Ral Ω Grad, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Breaking new ground with a teen hero who acts on his lust for girls?!
A couple things that we need to get out of the way up front. This manga is related to the Blue Dragon computer game series, so some readers may be interested in that. Takeshi Obata was also the artist for Death Note (see Prospero's Manga reviews for Death Note 1-6 and Death Note 7-10.) And here is the kicker, there is nudity with implied off panel sex, so this manga came shrinkwrapped so can be considered e-v-i-l.
With all those qualifiers out of the way, Ral has been imprisoned in complete darkness for 15 years while Shadow monsters have ravaged the fantasy world. Ral was bonded with a shadow dragon Grad, and when he just a baby the dragon got a little bit miffed and did some of his own rampaging. Ral was confined to a mystical prison but after 15 years he is released because he is humanity's last chance of fending off the Shadows. After saving the castle, Ral and Grad decide to take the fight to the Shadow mother.
There are two moments that sold this to me. The first is Ral and Grad 's killing of Ral's father as soon as they could, out of anger after being imprisoned for 15 years was real. No soft and squishy feelings of forgiveness here, just get that done and over with. That and some morning shortly afterwards he already has women lounging around in his bed. This is a medieval fantasy, with the hero wanting his 'reward' and Ral trying everything that feels good (especially for a teenage boy) after being in a state of denial for over a decade. It would have been so easy for the creators to chicken out, to either make Ral virtuous for no reason or just a leech who is one just for it's own sake (see virtually any leech in a manga in a modern setting), but they threaded a needle creating a world and character that complemented each other. Ral is not someone to emulate, and is pretty far from the shoujo ideal of someone who understands women, but what happens and his behaviors make sense because of they flow out of the world and the character, not just shoehorned in to get the fan service quotient into the manga.
Now, is there still fan service in this? Of course. But it fits, it's not just there, or trying to get by with a nod and a wink. The fight scenes work and the art is pretty good, though sometimes things get a little too clever, but it is still a good read.
Ral Ω Grad, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, April 07, 2008
switch, vol. 1
By the Naked Ape: Saki Otoh and Nakamura Tomomi
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: For a story about detectives, there is not a lot of logic here
Kai is the newest member of the Narcotics Control Division, but despite having a baby-face, he has a violent streak hidden well below the surface. Still, that means he is supposed to be trained detective, since they are so few slots for theses narcotic specialists, so instead we get a guy who seems out of a shoujo manga. The story seems to be trying to be realistic, dealing with drugs and the like instead of unstoppable assassins (Rose Hip Rose, I am looking at you) so the attempts to have what amounts to be a bipolar detective completely forces you out the story. I am sorry to have skipped me usual short synopsis of the story, but it seems not to matter much, because the story itself seems jumpy, as in sometimes it skips over material I think should be included, or conversations between characters not really seem to be connecting with each other.
switch, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: For a story about detectives, there is not a lot of logic here
Kai is the newest member of the Narcotics Control Division, but despite having a baby-face, he has a violent streak hidden well below the surface. Still, that means he is supposed to be trained detective, since they are so few slots for theses narcotic specialists, so instead we get a guy who seems out of a shoujo manga. The story seems to be trying to be realistic, dealing with drugs and the like instead of unstoppable assassins (Rose Hip Rose, I am looking at you) so the attempts to have what amounts to be a bipolar detective completely forces you out the story. I am sorry to have skipped me usual short synopsis of the story, but it seems not to matter much, because the story itself seems jumpy, as in sometimes it skips over material I think should be included, or conversations between characters not really seem to be connecting with each other.
switch, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Friday, April 04, 2008
Monkey High!, vol. 1
Story and Art by Shouko Akira
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Monkey's aren't usually this subtle about relationships
Haruna has had to transfer out of a prestigious school due to her politician father's scandal. She has learned from that particular harsh experience that school was a like a hill of monkeys, always jockeying for position. Unfortunately for her, the most monkey-like of all the boys is Masaru draws her attention. But despite both of their intentions they start exploring a relationship with each other.
What is nice here that there isn't huge declarations of love or emotional intent, mostly just two people trying to figure out what, if any, their emotional connection is. For once it is not an environment that is working against them, normally it seems that school classes are filled with people trying to destroy each other's relationships. Also, they both make mistakes, step forward, step back and wonder what the hell they are doing with no saints here. It feels like a while since I have read a shoujo that felt organic rather than needlessly contrived with over the top stakes (which means considering our review output means it was less than three months ago.)
I went back and forth on whether or not this was 3 1/2 or 3 stars, but while competent, even enjoyable, it hasn't quite started hitting all cylinders, with that spark, so to speak. I suspect that it will be clear within a few volumes, but after being down on the last few weeks of reviews, I am trying not to see what is not there for the titles that don't make me want to poke out my eyes.
As for my promise of all ages manga review today, it turns out there are very few all ages manga published, so I went for the next closest age bracket, 13+.
Monkey High!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Viz
Slugline: Monkey's aren't usually this subtle about relationships
Haruna has had to transfer out of a prestigious school due to her politician father's scandal. She has learned from that particular harsh experience that school was a like a hill of monkeys, always jockeying for position. Unfortunately for her, the most monkey-like of all the boys is Masaru draws her attention. But despite both of their intentions they start exploring a relationship with each other.
What is nice here that there isn't huge declarations of love or emotional intent, mostly just two people trying to figure out what, if any, their emotional connection is. For once it is not an environment that is working against them, normally it seems that school classes are filled with people trying to destroy each other's relationships. Also, they both make mistakes, step forward, step back and wonder what the hell they are doing with no saints here. It feels like a while since I have read a shoujo that felt organic rather than needlessly contrived with over the top stakes (which means considering our review output means it was less than three months ago.)
I went back and forth on whether or not this was 3 1/2 or 3 stars, but while competent, even enjoyable, it hasn't quite started hitting all cylinders, with that spark, so to speak. I suspect that it will be clear within a few volumes, but after being down on the last few weeks of reviews, I am trying not to see what is not there for the titles that don't make me want to poke out my eyes.
As for my promise of all ages manga review today, it turns out there are very few all ages manga published, so I went for the next closest age bracket, 13+.
Monkey High!, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
A Wish of my Sister
A Wish of my Sister and all other review of explicit titles have been moved to Prospero’s Manga – Mature, a review blog for specifically for those titles. Please check there for reviews.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Innocence, 2nd ed.
Innocence, 2nd ed. and all other review of explicit titles have been moved to Prospero’s Manga – Mature, a review blog for specifically for those titles. Please check there for reviews.
Blogging frequency update
Right now I am looking at my stack of manga to be reviewed and I am completely uninspired. I am worried that I may be little my ennui affect my reviews, so for the time being I am going to pull back to three reviews a week, MWF to combat that. Hopefully I will get exicited about titles again in a few weeks.
-Ferdinand
-Ferdinand
Friday, March 28, 2008
Dark Wraith of Shannara
By Terry Brooks, Adapted by Robert Place Napton and Illustrated by Edwin David
Released by Del Rey
Slugline: Not fantasy byproduct, very specific generic fantasy product.
The Shannara series is a classic fantasy series but I only read the first few volumes, so the Dark Wraith of Shannara starts from a point in the series that I am not familiar with. That being said, the book does a good job catching you up so that you can follow it easily. Jair has destroyed the Ildatch, a mystical living scroll, but in the process tapped something dark within himself and his wishsong, the fighting spirit of a slain comrade. His sister Brin who once had similar abilities but gave them up and is concerned that his wishsong power may yet consume him, but circumstances conspire to force Jair to rely on his wishsong in order to rescue comrades that had helped him in a previous quest.
The fact that you can follow the story, reflects on the reason that I originally stopped reading the series, that everything is spelled out in detail. I have not this many editorial boxes explaining the action to use in years, in either US comics or manga. Perhaps that is merely of its origin as a novel series, but I think it is more from the Terry Brook's style. It just feels very workmanlike, A is followed B followed by C, then there is handy set of instructions, then some audio-visual aids showing from a different perspective and so on. But the Shannara series does have its fans and putting the title together with other fantasy titles may introduce them to other titles.
-Ferdinand
Released by Del Rey
Slugline: Not fantasy byproduct, very specific generic fantasy product.
The Shannara series is a classic fantasy series but I only read the first few volumes, so the Dark Wraith of Shannara starts from a point in the series that I am not familiar with. That being said, the book does a good job catching you up so that you can follow it easily. Jair has destroyed the Ildatch, a mystical living scroll, but in the process tapped something dark within himself and his wishsong, the fighting spirit of a slain comrade. His sister Brin who once had similar abilities but gave them up and is concerned that his wishsong power may yet consume him, but circumstances conspire to force Jair to rely on his wishsong in order to rescue comrades that had helped him in a previous quest.
The fact that you can follow the story, reflects on the reason that I originally stopped reading the series, that everything is spelled out in detail. I have not this many editorial boxes explaining the action to use in years, in either US comics or manga. Perhaps that is merely of its origin as a novel series, but I think it is more from the Terry Brook's style. It just feels very workmanlike, A is followed B followed by C, then there is handy set of instructions, then some audio-visual aids showing from a different perspective and so on. But the Shannara series does have its fans and putting the title together with other fantasy titles may introduce them to other titles.
-Ferdinand
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Fairy Tail, vol. 1
By Hiro Mashima
Released in the US by Del Rey Manga
Slugline: Feels like Rurouni Kenshin with magic.
Lucy is a minor magician that wants to be part of the Fairy Tail, a group of wizards that are respected but also make other wizards very anxious because of their stunts. Lucy thinks she has found a wizard that will help her join Fairy Tail, but that wizard is actually luring women to be slaves. Fortunately, the bumbling kid from earlier in the manga is revealed to be Natsu, a powerful fire mage of Fairy Tail, who after wiping the floor with the impostor brings Lucy to meet the rest of the Fairy Tails. And afterwards, Lucy ends being Sancho to Natsu's Don Quixote to find a missing member of Fairy Tail.
While Natsu does not have the tragic past of Rurouni Kenshin, there are some echoes. The comedic bumbling character who turns out to be super-competent, a female lead that is talented but not very powerful and the impostor drawing on the reputation of the bumbling character's real identity (of being a Fairy Tail member.) I am not saying that this is bad, the art style reminds me a little of One Piece for instance, but there were so many similarities to other works that I have read and no real sense of dramatic weight to the title to make me feel the character's jeopardy, I just never got engaged or really cared over what was going on. Maybe I am just being a little jaded here, maybe for someone who picks this off the shelf this would be an average title, but for me, I need something more.
Fairy Tail, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Del Rey Manga
Slugline: Feels like Rurouni Kenshin with magic.
Lucy is a minor magician that wants to be part of the Fairy Tail, a group of wizards that are respected but also make other wizards very anxious because of their stunts. Lucy thinks she has found a wizard that will help her join Fairy Tail, but that wizard is actually luring women to be slaves. Fortunately, the bumbling kid from earlier in the manga is revealed to be Natsu, a powerful fire mage of Fairy Tail, who after wiping the floor with the impostor brings Lucy to meet the rest of the Fairy Tails. And afterwards, Lucy ends being Sancho to Natsu's Don Quixote to find a missing member of Fairy Tail.
While Natsu does not have the tragic past of Rurouni Kenshin, there are some echoes. The comedic bumbling character who turns out to be super-competent, a female lead that is talented but not very powerful and the impostor drawing on the reputation of the bumbling character's real identity (of being a Fairy Tail member.) I am not saying that this is bad, the art style reminds me a little of One Piece for instance, but there were so many similarities to other works that I have read and no real sense of dramatic weight to the title to make me feel the character's jeopardy, I just never got engaged or really cared over what was going on. Maybe I am just being a little jaded here, maybe for someone who picks this off the shelf this would be an average title, but for me, I need something more.
Fairy Tail, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Third, vol. 1
Original Story by Ryo Hoshino, Art by Ariko Itou with Original Character Design by Nao Goto
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: As a prequel, this manga reminds me of The Phantom Menace
This manga is the prequel of the anime title The Third, another anime title that I have not watched (hrm, I wonder if there is a pattern) so I have to look at this title as is, not as a teaser for the anime. Hundreds of years into the future after a war the majority of the world is desert, and Honoka , who suspiciously habitually wears a bandanna, is a beginning Dune Runner. Dune Runners are the guides and guards of the desert, but Honoka is still working out her approaches and gaining experience. This volume is basically a series of vignettes as she helps her clients and learns about herself.
Back to the slugline, for us old school fanboys, when we went into to see The Phantom Menace, we were subconsciously comparing it to our memories of the original series, which had achieved an unrealistic perfection over time. I got that feeling in reading The Third, that somehow that as a prequel it was not as powerful or simply as well structured as the anime it is based on. The writing and art itself is competent, but it just seems to lack a unifying plot or theme to bind it together. Maybe the characters that were introduced in this volume show up in the anime, and you needed to know that in order to bind the plot together, but at that point that is information outside of manga that I had no way in knowing, especially if I just picked this manga off a store's bookshelf.
The Third, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: As a prequel, this manga reminds me of The Phantom Menace
This manga is the prequel of the anime title The Third, another anime title that I have not watched (hrm, I wonder if there is a pattern) so I have to look at this title as is, not as a teaser for the anime. Hundreds of years into the future after a war the majority of the world is desert, and Honoka , who suspiciously habitually wears a bandanna, is a beginning Dune Runner. Dune Runners are the guides and guards of the desert, but Honoka is still working out her approaches and gaining experience. This volume is basically a series of vignettes as she helps her clients and learns about herself.
Back to the slugline, for us old school fanboys, when we went into to see The Phantom Menace, we were subconsciously comparing it to our memories of the original series, which had achieved an unrealistic perfection over time. I got that feeling in reading The Third, that somehow that as a prequel it was not as powerful or simply as well structured as the anime it is based on. The writing and art itself is competent, but it just seems to lack a unifying plot or theme to bind it together. Maybe the characters that were introduced in this volume show up in the anime, and you needed to know that in order to bind the plot together, but at that point that is information outside of manga that I had no way in knowing, especially if I just picked this manga off a store's bookshelf.
The Third, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
eV, vol. 1
Created by Roger Mincheff, written by James Farr with art by Alfa Robbi and Papillon Studio
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: Beware the Evil Bunnies
The slugline makes me want to sprinkle some of the lines from the Buffy:the Vampire Slayer musical, Once More with Feeling in the review, but I am afraid most people won't get people the reference. For the people who do, just remember Anya's bunny song.
Now that I have that digression out of the way, eV is set 20 minutes and five year's from now. Ev's father is a scientist specializing in nanotechnology and with the arrival of aliens asking for a Earth representative for an interstellar congress. Ev has some issues with her father basically disappearing for 5 years while preparing nanite enhancements for whomever eventually ends planetary representative, but car accident at the last minutes forces Ev's father to sacrifice the last five year's work to save her. But in return, she ends up having to become Earth's planetary rep, and let's just say aliens can be suckered just as well as humans by multi-dimensional creatures beyond anything's ken.
I wanted to like this more, but the pacing of the story seemed to be way off, sometimes skipping past things with barely any explanation, other times slowing down to show us details that don't seem to forward the story that much. I suspect that this was originally intended to be in another format (not manga) simply because of how the pacing seems off. There are some big sci-fi ideas, please I am always a sucker for Lovecraftian horrors.
And if the last scene doesn't scream out "sequel" I don't know what does. Is this the continuation of the trend of TV/Movie types getting involved in comics? Comic publishers have had an influx of Hollywood creators, is it nowmanga's turn? And is that a good or bad thing? I don't know, but in this particular instance, maybe the creators needed to acclimate more to the format.
eV, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: Beware the Evil Bunnies
The slugline makes me want to sprinkle some of the lines from the Buffy:the Vampire Slayer musical, Once More with Feeling in the review, but I am afraid most people won't get people the reference. For the people who do, just remember Anya's bunny song.
Now that I have that digression out of the way, eV is set 20 minutes and five year's from now. Ev's father is a scientist specializing in nanotechnology and with the arrival of aliens asking for a Earth representative for an interstellar congress. Ev has some issues with her father basically disappearing for 5 years while preparing nanite enhancements for whomever eventually ends planetary representative, but car accident at the last minutes forces Ev's father to sacrifice the last five year's work to save her. But in return, she ends up having to become Earth's planetary rep, and let's just say aliens can be suckered just as well as humans by multi-dimensional creatures beyond anything's ken.
I wanted to like this more, but the pacing of the story seemed to be way off, sometimes skipping past things with barely any explanation, other times slowing down to show us details that don't seem to forward the story that much. I suspect that this was originally intended to be in another format (not manga) simply because of how the pacing seems off. There are some big sci-fi ideas, please I am always a sucker for Lovecraftian horrors.
And if the last scene doesn't scream out "sequel" I don't know what does. Is this the continuation of the trend of TV/Movie types getting involved in comics? Comic publishers have had an influx of Hollywood creators, is it nowmanga's turn? And is that a good or bad thing? I don't know, but in this particular instance, maybe the creators needed to acclimate more to the format.
eV, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, March 24, 2008
Spy Goddess: Chase for the Chalice
Created by Michael P. Spradlin, Script by Rachel Manija Brown and Illustrated by Rainbow Buddy
Released by TokyoPop
Slugline: A literary rest stop between Spy Goddess novels
Rachel Buchanan and the rest of her friends from the Spy Goddess novels, which are about a bunch of teen spies after the mythically inspired Mithras sect, have to go to Japan to track down one of Mithras latest criminal capers. Rachel is denying any connection with the goddess that once defeated the Mithras cult, but needless to say when captured and as her friends race to rescue here, some evidence to the contrary is introduced.
I think I have noticed a pattern when novelists do manga adaptations (even if it not a direct adaptation) of their titles, it seems like they rely on the words to tell the story, rather than balancing between words and pictures. Not that I am an expert here, but that is my impression. Maybe because they have spent so much time in the world of their novels as purely written experience, it has hard to dial it back when they have to continue it in comic/manga format. As such, this title feels like I experiencing it from a distance, that all of the emotional cues that I am supposed to be getting are actually coming from a distance so that are just not connecting. Also, it feels like that there is, or should be, more going on with the characters that is actually expressed in the word or thought balloons. The art is nice, though I wish there was more of a difference between the two female leads, I had to work to keep them separated while reading.
Spy Goddess: Chase for the Chalice is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released by TokyoPop
Slugline: A literary rest stop between Spy Goddess novels
Rachel Buchanan and the rest of her friends from the Spy Goddess novels, which are about a bunch of teen spies after the mythically inspired Mithras sect, have to go to Japan to track down one of Mithras latest criminal capers. Rachel is denying any connection with the goddess that once defeated the Mithras cult, but needless to say when captured and as her friends race to rescue here, some evidence to the contrary is introduced.
I think I have noticed a pattern when novelists do manga adaptations (even if it not a direct adaptation) of their titles, it seems like they rely on the words to tell the story, rather than balancing between words and pictures. Not that I am an expert here, but that is my impression. Maybe because they have spent so much time in the world of their novels as purely written experience, it has hard to dial it back when they have to continue it in comic/manga format. As such, this title feels like I experiencing it from a distance, that all of the emotional cues that I am supposed to be getting are actually coming from a distance so that are just not connecting. Also, it feels like that there is, or should be, more going on with the characters that is actually expressed in the word or thought balloons. The art is nice, though I wish there was more of a difference between the two female leads, I had to work to keep them separated while reading.
Spy Goddess: Chase for the Chalice is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Friday, March 21, 2008
Dragon Sister!, Vol. 1
By Nini
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Dishonorable Mention
Slugline: What an exciting and suspenseful story. Not.
Okay, maybe I have been away too long and my tolerance of stuff has dropped down, but I couldn't bring myself to finish Dragon Sister! because it was so boring and cookie cutter. The characters were flat, all surface, and not even the art was enough to save it. It felt like a condensation of another work, where the characters moved from plot point to point, without any apparent motivation or reason for them to do so. Unlike yesterday's review of Your & My Secret, where reading it got me mad, this just failed to engage on any level other than wondering how many pages I had left.
Edited to Add: Over the weekend, I started feeling bad that perhaps I had let my negative review of Your & My Secret bias this review, so I tried to reread it, and gave it to Miranda to consider. Miranda is the one that pointed out for an action title, two of the fights were skipped over (we see them posing at the beginning of the fight, then we skip ahead to all the opponents on the ground) and the third is aborted after a couple of punches are thrown. At which point we threw up our hands and decided to let sleeping manga lie.
Dragon Sister!, Vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Dishonorable Mention
Slugline: What an exciting and suspenseful story. Not.
Okay, maybe I have been away too long and my tolerance of stuff has dropped down, but I couldn't bring myself to finish Dragon Sister! because it was so boring and cookie cutter. The characters were flat, all surface, and not even the art was enough to save it. It felt like a condensation of another work, where the characters moved from plot point to point, without any apparent motivation or reason for them to do so. Unlike yesterday's review of Your & My Secret, where reading it got me mad, this just failed to engage on any level other than wondering how many pages I had left.
Edited to Add: Over the weekend, I started feeling bad that perhaps I had let my negative review of Your & My Secret bias this review, so I tried to reread it, and gave it to Miranda to consider. Miranda is the one that pointed out for an action title, two of the fights were skipped over (we see them posing at the beginning of the fight, then we skip ahead to all the opponents on the ground) and the third is aborted after a couple of punches are thrown. At which point we threw up our hands and decided to let sleeping manga lie.
Dragon Sister!, Vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Your and My Secret, vol. 1
By Ai Morinaga
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Body swapping leads to new kinds of emotional abuse.
Update: For some additional insight into the title, please check out the comments for this entry!
Okay, I fully admit that I am guy. Not the most manly sort of guy in the world, but I still suffer from the XY set of chromosomes and I realize that there are some kinds of romantic tomfoolery that I will never get. I am fine with that, and I also admit that I am not fully immersed in all that is Japanese society and culture, so sometimes I don't get the attraction of some of the things in manga.
BUT, I am sorry, but I just can't wrap my head around the fact that this title is supposed to work as either a romance or a comedy. Nanako is tomgirl and Akira is the boy that likes her. They suffer a body swap, and Nanako takes to having a boy body with gusto, getting a girlfriend and ingratiating him/herself with the rest of the school and Akira's parent far better than Akira has ever managed to do. Akira, in Nanako's body, has to work to bring in money so that the body transfer can be reversed, but Nanako's scientist grandfather seems to be no hurry to do so, enjoying the money that Akira in Nanako is making and the fact that Akira is now a live-in maid. Akira's best friend is making the moves on Nanako, even though he knew that Akira liked her. So here we are, Akira in Nanako is having his dreams of maybe Nanako liking him back shattered, Nanako is using his body for her own enjoyment and seems to have hijacked Akira's life, while Akira's friend is going behind his back to hit on the girl the friend knew he liked and Akira's attempts to get his life back are stymied by the selfishness of Nanako's grandfather.
Where the hell in comedy and romance in this? I am thinking that this is more a tragedy and if something doesn't change soon, Akira is going to mentally break down or have to take radical action in order to take control of his/her life back.
So, I didn't think like this at all. And if someone can explain to me where the romance or the comedy is hiding in this story, please tell me via comments.
Your and My Secret, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Body swapping leads to new kinds of emotional abuse.
Update: For some additional insight into the title, please check out the comments for this entry!
Okay, I fully admit that I am guy. Not the most manly sort of guy in the world, but I still suffer from the XY set of chromosomes and I realize that there are some kinds of romantic tomfoolery that I will never get. I am fine with that, and I also admit that I am not fully immersed in all that is Japanese society and culture, so sometimes I don't get the attraction of some of the things in manga.
BUT, I am sorry, but I just can't wrap my head around the fact that this title is supposed to work as either a romance or a comedy. Nanako is tomgirl and Akira is the boy that likes her. They suffer a body swap, and Nanako takes to having a boy body with gusto, getting a girlfriend and ingratiating him/herself with the rest of the school and Akira's parent far better than Akira has ever managed to do. Akira, in Nanako's body, has to work to bring in money so that the body transfer can be reversed, but Nanako's scientist grandfather seems to be no hurry to do so, enjoying the money that Akira in Nanako is making and the fact that Akira is now a live-in maid. Akira's best friend is making the moves on Nanako, even though he knew that Akira liked her. So here we are, Akira in Nanako is having his dreams of maybe Nanako liking him back shattered, Nanako is using his body for her own enjoyment and seems to have hijacked Akira's life, while Akira's friend is going behind his back to hit on the girl the friend knew he liked and Akira's attempts to get his life back are stymied by the selfishness of Nanako's grandfather.
Where the hell in comedy and romance in this? I am thinking that this is more a tragedy and if something doesn't change soon, Akira is going to mentally break down or have to take radical action in order to take control of his/her life back.
So, I didn't think like this at all. And if someone can explain to me where the romance or the comedy is hiding in this story, please tell me via comments.
Your and My Secret, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Rose Hip Rose, vol. 1
By Tohru Fujisawa
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Perverts and the Psychopaths of the World, Unite!
Shohei Aiba has a problem, in that he is bored with school and the life that school seems to be preparing for him. So he does some things that he is not exactly proud of just to alleviate his boredom, such as taking under the skirt shots of students on the subway and putting the pictures up on a website. This was working fine until a new student at the school named Kasumi catches him taking cellphone pics. Kasumi is more than a little bit odd, with gymnastic skills and an interest in men's magazines. Because of course Shohei does not make the connection between Kasumi and the mysterious new police officer Rose Hip. Not that in real life a person would really make that connection, but the connection was so obviously made for the reader that you have to wonder why Shohei doesn't make it himself. Actually, I liked it as an action piece, though at the end where any reasonable cop would have take the sniper headshot and taken down the antagonist of the piece, the fact that Kasumi or Rose Hip does not seems to be a bit of disconnect for me. I don't know how much of a connection that there will be made with the other Rose Hip series, since I have only reviewed the first volume of Rose Hip Zero (reviewed here) but there seems to be some. It is an okay action story, but if the characters continue to insist on pulling punches, so to speak, I can see this going downhill quickly.
Rose Hip Rose, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by TokyoPop
Slugline: Perverts and the Psychopaths of the World, Unite!
Shohei Aiba has a problem, in that he is bored with school and the life that school seems to be preparing for him. So he does some things that he is not exactly proud of just to alleviate his boredom, such as taking under the skirt shots of students on the subway and putting the pictures up on a website. This was working fine until a new student at the school named Kasumi catches him taking cellphone pics. Kasumi is more than a little bit odd, with gymnastic skills and an interest in men's magazines. Because of course Shohei does not make the connection between Kasumi and the mysterious new police officer Rose Hip. Not that in real life a person would really make that connection, but the connection was so obviously made for the reader that you have to wonder why Shohei doesn't make it himself. Actually, I liked it as an action piece, though at the end where any reasonable cop would have take the sniper headshot and taken down the antagonist of the piece, the fact that Kasumi or Rose Hip does not seems to be a bit of disconnect for me. I don't know how much of a connection that there will be made with the other Rose Hip series, since I have only reviewed the first volume of Rose Hip Zero (reviewed here) but there seems to be some. It is an okay action story, but if the characters continue to insist on pulling punches, so to speak, I can see this going downhill quickly.
Rose Hip Rose, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Monday, March 17, 2008
CBG Review: Emperor's Castle, vol. 1
I have written a review for Emperor's Castle, vol. 1, available on the Comic Buyer's Guide website. Please remember that the CBG website uses a 4 star rating. Check it out!
Emperor's Castle, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Emperor's Castle, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Thursday, March 13, 2008
What has been going on
We have been a little quiet this last week, as we head into the last bits of the TokyoPop project that I have earlier mentioned. That project is making it hard to do reviews with the appearance of minimum of bias. We are hoping to finish it and hand it over to the artist, and thus be able to go back to a regular schedule with reviews next week. Thank you very much for your patience!
-Ferdinand
-Ferdinand
Friday, March 07, 2008
In the End
by Pink Psycho
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: A shallow tour of a teenage wasteland.
This is saved from getting a Dishonorable Mention by fairly good artwork.
Kaito has settled comfortably into the role of a whipping boy as a teenager, and apparently can't think of anything to do besides lay around the house provoking his father or lay around his favorite club looking for other people to emotionally abuse him. It's just a matter of time before easy meat like Kaito is picked up on by a more substantial predator like Ren, lured in with a bit of manipulation and stroking, and then it falls apart.
This could have been an ugly look at the real world of abuse, but instead the author wants the reader to feel some kind of sympathy for Ren without putting enough work into describing Ren's motivations. And Kaito's change of heart speaks more to his lack of self than any real change. Thus, the ending rings false after a string of predictable incidents that don't convey much in the way of "romance."
I was never a punk or a goth, but I also feel vaguely insulted on their behalf because this story will, in the eyes of a parent, reinforce the idea that punk/goth kids are lost and vulnerable and can be "saved" by getting them into a more normal wardrobe. Most of the people I knew who wore lots of black or dyed their hair were far more vibrant and stable than the go-with-the-crowd types.
- Miranda
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: A shallow tour of a teenage wasteland.
This is saved from getting a Dishonorable Mention by fairly good artwork.
Kaito has settled comfortably into the role of a whipping boy as a teenager, and apparently can't think of anything to do besides lay around the house provoking his father or lay around his favorite club looking for other people to emotionally abuse him. It's just a matter of time before easy meat like Kaito is picked up on by a more substantial predator like Ren, lured in with a bit of manipulation and stroking, and then it falls apart.
This could have been an ugly look at the real world of abuse, but instead the author wants the reader to feel some kind of sympathy for Ren without putting enough work into describing Ren's motivations. And Kaito's change of heart speaks more to his lack of self than any real change. Thus, the ending rings false after a string of predictable incidents that don't convey much in the way of "romance."
I was never a punk or a goth, but I also feel vaguely insulted on their behalf because this story will, in the eyes of a parent, reinforce the idea that punk/goth kids are lost and vulnerable and can be "saved" by getting them into a more normal wardrobe. Most of the people I knew who wore lots of black or dyed their hair were far more vibrant and stable than the go-with-the-crowd types.
- Miranda
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Please Miss Yuri
Please Miss Yuri and all other review of explicit titles have been moved to Prospero’s Manga – Mature, a review blog for specifically for those titles. Please check there for reviews.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Fever, vol. 1
by Hee Jung Park
Published in the US by Tokyopop
Slugline: Screw-ups and lovelorn of Korea, unite!
The structure of this volume is nice and tidy: we meet Hyung-In, we meet Ji-Jun, and Kang-Dae brings them all together for a first meeting. What happens next is anyone's guess, but if the dialogue maintains this quality and Bong-Nam the spaniel sticks around, I will too.
Hyung-In is wrestling with the consequences of her friendship with an unpopular girl. Ji-Jun is...unlucky, in more ways than one, and more or less adrift in life. And Kang-Dae is the sort of scattered oddball that could make things interesting. Bong-Nam brings the drool and a waggy tail.
4 stars, with a bullet.
Fever, vol. 1 is available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Miranda
Published in the US by Tokyopop
Slugline: Screw-ups and lovelorn of Korea, unite!
The structure of this volume is nice and tidy: we meet Hyung-In, we meet Ji-Jun, and Kang-Dae brings them all together for a first meeting. What happens next is anyone's guess, but if the dialogue maintains this quality and Bong-Nam the spaniel sticks around, I will too.
Hyung-In is wrestling with the consequences of her friendship with an unpopular girl. Ji-Jun is...unlucky, in more ways than one, and more or less adrift in life. And Kang-Dae is the sort of scattered oddball that could make things interesting. Bong-Nam brings the drool and a waggy tail.
4 stars, with a bullet.
-Miranda
Thursday, February 28, 2008
CBG Review: Mail Order Ninja, vol. 1
I have written a review for Mail Order Ninja, vol. 1, available on the Comic Buyer's Guide website. Please remember that the CBG website uses a 4 star rating. Check it out!
Mail Order Ninja, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Mail Order Ninja, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Crayon Shinchan, vol. 1
By Yoshito Usui
Released in the US by CMX Manga
Slugline: Everyone loves a bad boy, even if he is in kindergarten
Shinchan is a five year old with an innocence of a two year old and the mind of a typical lecherous old man of anime. So needless to say he makes the lives of his family, friends, teachers and random passing strangers difficult and interesting all at the same time. This volume does not seem to have any continuing stories, sometimes more along the lines of situation or complications that have been added to the main characters lives, such as a principal with a face like a mobster and the addition of a dog to the household. These are short, brutal and funny. The volume itself is fairly small, but it works to the title's advantage, because if it was too long I think Shinchan would cease being funny at some point and just be annoying. As it is, I think some psychiatrist is going to make a lot of money from Shinchan's parents one of these days, that is if the pharmaceutical industry doesn't make him a poster boy for the need for more ADD drugs. The reason that this title is rated M for Mature has to do with Shinchan having the innocence of a two year old, in that random nudity seem perfectly acceptable to him.
And no, I have never watched the anime, the perils of living a cable free life. And writing all these review for you, my readers. I slave away, really.
Crayon Shinchan, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in manga and anime.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by CMX Manga
Slugline: Everyone loves a bad boy, even if he is in kindergarten
Shinchan is a five year old with an innocence of a two year old and the mind of a typical lecherous old man of anime. So needless to say he makes the lives of his family, friends, teachers and random passing strangers difficult and interesting all at the same time. This volume does not seem to have any continuing stories, sometimes more along the lines of situation or complications that have been added to the main characters lives, such as a principal with a face like a mobster and the addition of a dog to the household. These are short, brutal and funny. The volume itself is fairly small, but it works to the title's advantage, because if it was too long I think Shinchan would cease being funny at some point and just be annoying. As it is, I think some psychiatrist is going to make a lot of money from Shinchan's parents one of these days, that is if the pharmaceutical industry doesn't make him a poster boy for the need for more ADD drugs. The reason that this title is rated M for Mature has to do with Shinchan having the innocence of a two year old, in that random nudity seem perfectly acceptable to him.
And no, I have never watched the anime, the perils of living a cable free life. And writing all these review for you, my readers. I slave away, really.
Crayon Shinchan, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in manga and anime.
-Ferdinand
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
SERIES UPDATE: Presents, vol. 2
You can check out our review of Presents, vol. 1.
Presents continues its approach of one-off horror stories, all centered around the idea of presents, how they help, hurt and curse people that accept them. In some ways, I think this volume is stronger then the first, because it starts out immediately with a vision of Santa Claus that I suspect only a culture that hadn't been steeped in Christmas and Santa Claus could produce. Santa Claus and Death are both recurring characters, talking and giving the main character Kurumi's perspective and some suggestions on how to deal with some gift givers. Not all of the stories devolved into horror filled tales of greed gone wrong over presents, several of them were rather touching. So while I could easily got bored at too many one-off tales, Presents, at least in this volume, varied their approach enough to continue to draw me in.
Presents, vol. 1 and vol. 2 are both available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Presents continues its approach of one-off horror stories, all centered around the idea of presents, how they help, hurt and curse people that accept them. In some ways, I think this volume is stronger then the first, because it starts out immediately with a vision of Santa Claus that I suspect only a culture that hadn't been steeped in Christmas and Santa Claus could produce. Santa Claus and Death are both recurring characters, talking and giving the main character Kurumi's perspective and some suggestions on how to deal with some gift givers. Not all of the stories devolved into horror filled tales of greed gone wrong over presents, several of them were rather touching. So while I could easily got bored at too many one-off tales, Presents, at least in this volume, varied their approach enough to continue to draw me in.
Presents, vol. 1 and vol. 2 are both available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
CBG Review: Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei
We have already done a review of Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 2 Kakan ni Sjinkou.
I have written a review for Star Trek: the Manga vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei, available on the Comic Buyer's Guide website. Please remember that the CBG website uses a 4 star rating. Check it out!
Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei, Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei the alternate cover,
Star Trek: the Manga, vol. 2 Kakan ni Shinkou are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
I have written a review for Star Trek: the Manga vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei, available on the Comic Buyer's Guide website. Please remember that the CBG website uses a 4 star rating. Check it out!
Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei, Star Trek, The Manga, vol. 1 Shinsei/Shinsei the alternate cover,
Star Trek: the Manga, vol. 2 Kakan ni Shinkou are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Translucent, v.1
by Kazuhiro Okamoto
Published in the US by Dark Horse Manga
Slugline: Teenagers feel invisible. That much never changes.
Invisibility as a cycling, mysterious illness -- it's a reasonable enough story idea. Even when set in the mundane world of middle school. But volume 1 proceeds to introduce us to a group of familiar characters, all of whom are dead set on being as normal as possible. Here's a disease whose only physical effect is invisibility, and everyone's ignoring the obvious implications.
Furthermore, the storyline insinuates that the disease is partly psychological. Which could lead to interesting stories too, but there isn't much sign of anything interesting happening so far. I couldn't even guess what volume 2 would be about -- there's no apparent conflict or goal in mind. The girl suffering from this disease wants to be an actress, but the story of reaching that goal hardly needs an invented disease to be interesting. The added "problem" actually detracts from that, in my opinion.
You can also check out Ferdinand's review!
Translucent, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
Published in the US by Dark Horse Manga
Slugline: Teenagers feel invisible. That much never changes.
Invisibility as a cycling, mysterious illness -- it's a reasonable enough story idea. Even when set in the mundane world of middle school. But volume 1 proceeds to introduce us to a group of familiar characters, all of whom are dead set on being as normal as possible. Here's a disease whose only physical effect is invisibility, and everyone's ignoring the obvious implications.
Furthermore, the storyline insinuates that the disease is partly psychological. Which could lead to interesting stories too, but there isn't much sign of anything interesting happening so far. I couldn't even guess what volume 2 would be about -- there's no apparent conflict or goal in mind. The girl suffering from this disease wants to be an actress, but the story of reaching that goal hardly needs an invented disease to be interesting. The added "problem" actually detracts from that, in my opinion.
You can also check out Ferdinand's review!
Translucent, vol. 1 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
- Miranda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
