Genju no Seiza, v.1

by Matsuri Akino
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Slugline: Fuuto Kamishina just might be the true reincarnation of the ruler of a small, Tibet-like country.

I reviewed Matsuri Akino's other new manga, Kamen Tantei, and I must say this one is better. Not that it does anything too surprising, but the dialog is a bit better, the characters are a bit more intriguing, and the writer obviously did more homework.

Fuuto's lifetime of trouble with visions and nightmares starts to make more senes when a guardian spirit of the reincarnated kings of Dhalashar finds him. He spends the rest of the volume alternately refusing to believe what he's told and conveniently manifesting the very powers that prove the guardian spirit right.

Like Pet Shop of Horrors (also by Akino-san,) there are some interesting story ideas and creatures, but also a certain lack of tension, risk, or surprises. Fuuto's refusals to believe are unoriginal and tiresome in the face of his abilities. He uses his powers for "evil" once, and quickly backs down and fixes it. An enemy sends agents to dispose of Fuuto, but they're converted to his cause by a display of mystical ability. The guardian spirit also displays tremendous powers (like turning back time) one moment and is on the defensive the next moment.

There are a few funny moments, but on the whole it's only a middling manga. We will see how things go in v.2.



- Miranda

Line

By Yua Kotegawa
Published in the U.S. by ADV Manga



Slugline: Sometimes you have to run for your life. Sometimes you have to run for others' lives.

This is an early review. I haven't mentioned it here, but I am enjoying another ADV Manga title, Anne Freaks. So when I saw this book, titled as from the same creator, I swiped it off the freebie table at a retailer convention I was attending.

It is a standalone volume, focusing on Chiko, the popular girl at school, and Bando, who is not. Chiko finds an abandoned cell phone, but before she can return it, it rings. The voice on the other end tells her that she has only minutes to reach someone before they commit suicide. Bando ends up following her, and they begin a run through the Tokyo night.

This is a fairly serious title, and other than a few moments of fan service, it is played straight. Chiko is fairly easy to understand, and even though she is popular, by the same token she is empathic, concerned how others feel. She thinks that the people that are committing suicide are idiots, but still feels driven to stop them. A bunch of contradictions are wrapped up in her, but still understandable. Bando on the other hand, seems a lot more opaque to me all through the volume, but she knows one thing: she wants to see it to the end. A very good read.

Sometimes the art seems posed, and the action shots feel more static than I think they should be. Most of the time it isn't noticeable, but there is a splash page toward the culmination of the book that was especially jarring for me. But other than that? Good.



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

- Ferdinand

Anne Freaks, v. 1 & 2

by Yua Kotegawa
Published in the U.S. by ADV Manga



Slugline: Anna and her allies are out to destroy a violent religious cult. Most of them are escapees from the cult's fold.

The first volume of Anne Freaks was deliciously twisted and evil. The second took a right turn into a cop drama -- a decent one, but not as unique as v.1.

Anna started out by recruiting two boys nearly as disturbed as she is, and the story could have been an interesting look at the group dynamics of sociopaths, but in v.2 a posse of other characters show up. Each has some connection to the violent religious cult (which is run, of course, by teenagers... sheesh) that Anna escaped and together they concoct a plan to infiltrate and destroy.

I meant to write a glowing review for v.1, but now that's tempered by v.2. Not to say that v.2 is bad -- it's not, and I say that as a long-term watcher of such venerable dinosaurs as Law & Order and CSI. (And the even more venerable Homicide, a must for cop drama fans.) Just that as the stage fills up with characters, Anna starts to fade into the background and that's a shame.



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

- Miranda

Gerard & Jacques, v. 1

by Fumi Yoshinaga
Published in the U.S. by Blu



Slugline: Poverty-stricken aristocrat boy becomes a servant of a gay bourgeois in pre-Revolution France. Caution: explicit gay porn.

Someone needs to mention to Asian writers that selling one's children has never been an acceptable way to pay debts in Europe. Maybe you'd send them away as apprentices, or let them take indentured servitude to pay for a boat ride to the Colonies -- and both of those may be a lot like slavery -- but in theory they'd get an education out of it and finish their service with a clean slate.

In any case, this is an okay yaoi romance of the we'll-fight-till-we're-crazy-about-each-other variety. These aren't my favorite -- I'm the sort who dislikes the people I fight with -- but it's a well established romance genre.

Gerard is, of course, well-read in Enlightenment philosophers under his gruff persona and has been burned by women in the past. Jacques rings a bit truer in personality to me: a sheltered kid thrown out in the real world, but he's making an honest effort to learn and adapt. Everyone else is a one-trick pony.

There is not actually very much porn in this volume, to the point that what scenes there are feel gratuitous. I'm sure this will change in further volumes.



- Miranda

Skip Beat, v. 1

By Yoshiko Nakamura
Published in the U.S. by Viz Shoujo Beat



Slugline: A shoujo heroine realizes that pining after the boy is stupid. At last, one of them gets a clue!

I have to admit up front, I am not a shoujo-loving sort of guy. Not because it is too girly or anything like that, but because it feels that so many of them use the same three plots, repeated in different backgrounds. I also like there to be not only interior challenges to the character, but exterior challenges, because I think that when a character is being tested in all ways that it is the best way to see what they are made of.

Kyoko starts the manga as one of those girls you have seen before in a shoujo manga, but rather than redoubling her efforts when the boy rejects her, she decides to kick his ass by becoming greater than him. No shrinking violet here. Now this is still a shoujo title, with convenient coincidences and so on, but it still has a harder and more modern edge than most others. I want to see her get to track down and beat her pseudo-ex's butt! And while there is a potential new love, her focus is on herself and on revenge.

The art is pretty good, but there were a couple times the panel layout didn't feel organic, especially in the first chapter, but other than that no major problems.



- Ferdinand

the dreaming, v. 1

by Queenie Chan
Published by TokyoPop



Slugline: Twin sisters realize that a private school deep the Australian outback has some drawbacks of the ghostly kind.

Another gothic tale, much more steeped in horror than my previous review of Bizenghast, the dreaming is focused on twin sisters Amber and Jeanie. After an undisclosed incident, they leave the city and move to a private school deep in the Australian bush with their aunt who, unhelpfully, immediately leaves on a long business trip. Attempts to fit into the school reveals that they should never mention they are twins, and they also discover a history of spookiness surrounding the school culminating in a tragedy that the reader could see coming.

While a ghost story doesn't need to give you all the answers, I feel that it was hard to pick out the story threads introduced and determine which ones were important. Either a lot is going to start tying together in the next volume, or there are going to be loose ends all over the place. There was a character introduced early in the volume, the only boy in the volume, who never appears again, but the way he was introduced made me feel that he was important in some way. So the story feels fractured.

The art is strong and well detailed, but since the main characters were twin sisters, I continually had to work to keep them separate. It was one of those no-win art challenges -- you need to keep them looking similar for story purposes, as twin sisters, but at the same time they need to look different so readers can tell them apart.

While enjoyable, I felt like I had to work to get that enjoyment, more than I should have to, but I was not put off enough to not at least want to check out the next volume.



- Ferdinand

Bizenghast, v. 2

by M. Alice LeGrow
Published by TokyoPop



Slugline: Dinah grows stronger while Vincent becomes more uncertain as they confront more of the tests of the Mausoleum.

This volume suffers from the problem of many middle parts of a story: after the introduction, you need to set the pieces in motion for the finale, and there some scenes in here that are basically for setting up later scenes, or that are left as open questions with the intent of being resolved later.

But there are some changes, mostly as the characters, especially Dinah, develop. Dinah seems to progress to being more assertive and stronger, putting more of her darkness behind her, though she does regress here and there in the story. Vincent doesn't change much in comparison, but since Dinah has, different aspects of his personality emerge. His protective urge, which Dinah appreciated and even needed in the first volume, has started to become a liability by the end of the second.

The art continues to be one of the strongest aspects of the title, capturing the gothic atmosphere, though I still wish at times the lines were a little stronger, so scenes seem more real, at least outside of the dream worlds that the characters visit.



- Ferdinand

Innocent W, v. 1

by Kei Kusunoki
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Dishonorable Mention

Oh, boy, teenagers being slaughtered in the woods! That's never been done before!

- Miranda

R.I.P. (Requiem in Phonybrian)

by Mitsukazu Mihara
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Slugline: A bored angel adopts a tainted soul as a pet, giving him a chance to redeem himself and other suicides.

Mihara is also the creator of the Doll series, (six volumes, all available now) which I enjoyed and recommend and would give four stars. Both Doll and RIP are studies in Gothic Lolita costuming, but they are also well written and thoughtful for those who are less interested in frills and platform shoes.

This is a one-shot story, so I will stick to the slugline and not give away too much of the plot. I will note, though, that despite being built on Christian ideas about angels and death, it does not take any painfully distracting liberties with them. (unlike, say, Angel Sanctuary - I still wince every time I think of Metatron as a whiny little boy in plaid.) There are some novel twists to what angels can and can't do, but I found them interesting.

RIP is an enjoyable read, with a good mix of character, worldbuilding and dialog, and I look forward to reading more of Mihara's work.



- Miranda

Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth, v. 1

by Jake T. Forbes
Published by Tokyopop



Slugline: Toby's charmed life leads him back to the Labyrinth, where we meet new characters and familiar faces.

While reading this, I tried very hard to set aside my sentimental attachment to the original movie so as not to bring the Star Wars effect to bear. And I reminded myself that Jareth is not actually developed too much in Labyrinth, so some character flexibility must be allowed.

Even so, the story is about as elegant as the robot guard at the gates of the goblin city. Maybe the writer is inexperienced. Maybe the movie is a hard act to follow (well, David Bowie certainly is.) I'm willing to forgive the slashiness dripping off this Jareth and the illogic of things like inviting Ludo to a ball. The characters are simply predictable, the dialogue's clunky and, worse yet, the art isn't very interesting.

I didn't expect Terry Jones and Brian Froud, but... I'm disappointed.

Despite it all, I want to forgive this volume and hope that v.2 is better. I'm not saying this is a travesty like Star Wars Episode 1 -- it's not. But it's no Wrath of Khan. Maybe more like the second Matrix movie: has its good points, but lacks the soul of the original.

All will depend on whether the writer can give Toby some quirks of his own, lay off the cameos and generate some real tension in the story, whether plot-driven or character-driven I'm not fussy.



- Miranda

Apologies

Life has taken a turn for the crazier and necessitated a complete change of my daily schedule. Thus, the erratic posting. Hopefully things will settle down after Labor Day.

- Miranda

Suzuka, v. 1

By Kouji Seo
Published in the U.S. by Del Rey Manga



Slugline: What a surprise that another high school guy works in female-only bath. Is there a law or something about that? Caution: Mature Content

Del Rey seems to be putting out a lot of titles that are heavy in fan service. Not sure if that is a deliberate choice on their part or a coincidence due to their contacts in Japan, but they seem to be one of the few companies that are unworried about having their titles shrinkwrapped in the stores. Pastel, a series that I am enjoying despite my better instincts, is from Del Rey, and they continue this trend in Suzuka.

Of the two, I am enjoying Suzuka more. Let's get the setup out of the way; country boy goes to Tokyo to live with his aunt while going to high school, an aunt who runs a female-only apartment building with a spa/bath attached. So he is the only guy in a building full of single women. There's a girl the same age as him in the building, so it is almost a given that they will fall for each other. But they are actually attempting to forge a relationship, rather than just having them both like each other and not revealing it because of a series of unbelievable coincidences. Both characters are right now in that stage of quasi-friendship, with a bit of hormones thrown in, but that is something that is understandable and believable.

So I like it. Sure, it is set in a hothouse, and there is some partial nudity in it, but not all nudity means X-rated (so far), and not all stories in manga set in bathhouses have to stretch reality. Maybe just credulity.



- Ferdinand

Laya, the Witch of Red Pooh, v. 1

by Yo Yo
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Dishonorable Mention

Laya makes potions and lives with her friend Niky, a crow in human form called Snowy and a cat named Puss, who smokes. And wears boots.

Oh, and they have four-page, non-linear "adventures" in which everyone can show off their cuteness and attempts at witty dialogue.

If you need a massive dose of cuteness, this book is for you. Here, take it. Please.

- Miranda, the Grinch

Kamen Tantei, v. 1

by Matsuri Akino
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Slugline: Two high school students want to be mystery writers and try to solve mysterious deaths. Yup, just like Murder, She Wrote.

Matsuri Akino also wrote Pet Shop of Horrors, and like that, Kamen Tantei seems to be trying a bit too hard. Clues are tossed around, one or two reasonable questions are asked, the "mysterious" masked detective shows up to say something less than useful, and then the solution spontaneously appears. Only once in the four stories did Haruka get to point a finger at someone, and that time it was the most obvious answer.

I'm not a fan of murder mysteries, and stories like these are part of why. The characters have no stake in the story, no reason to solve the mystery but their own moral indignation or, maybe, bad weather trapping them in the house. The stories are more for showing off the writer's ability to manipulate facts than tell a story, and sadly Akino-san's stories were neither complicated nor original. I doubt a true fan of mysteries would find them interesting at all.

And aside from the lack of tension in the plot, the dialog and characters are flat and the worldbuilding effort amounts to "maybe ghosts are real" with way too many exclamation points.

Pick up Pet Shop of Horrors instead.



- Miranda

Eternal Sabbath, v. 2

by Fuyumi Soryu
Published in the U.S. by Del Rey Manga



Slugline: You have to get up pretty early in the morning to get the drop on a psychic psychopath.

Whereas Shuro was decanted and raised fairly normally, Isaac was kept in the artificial womb and slated for dissection. Being psychic, he found out about everything and doesn't have much of an opinion of people as a result.

The really dark side of psychic powers turns up every so often in thrillers -- I haven't seen much of it in manga since Akira -- but it's difficult to keep things from looking too hopeless in the face of an enemy that knows you're coming and can control almost anybody. In Eternal Sabbath, Shuro's equal psychic power and Mine's and Sakaki's immunity are their only aces. However, at this point in the series they aren't getting up early enough to get the drop on Isaac.

Volume 2 fills in more background and sets a dark stage of death and betrayal for the action to come. It will be interesting to see how the characters respond to their first run-in with the enemy, whether they take a conventional dark-thriller route or do something unexpected. I'm hoping for unexpected, of course.



- Miranda

Vampire Doll, v. 1

Created by Kari Erika
Published in the U.S. by TokyoPop



Slugline: Vampire lords need to be cute!

Vampire Doll is pretty, I will give it that. And the fact that I have started out the review with that should give you an idea of what I think about this title. Not that it is bad; it's just an assortment of elements that I have seen and read before.

There is a cute doll-girl that really has a vampire lord imprisoned within, whose powers are limited to cute ones simply because she/he is a cute girl. For once, I would like a cute girl with non-cute powers, like having blood erupt from the eyeballs or something. There is a kind-hearted sister that is so kind-hearted that she is virtual cipher. But I guess it is all part and parcel of shoujo brand EMP (Extruded Manga Product.)

Maybe I sound a little harsh in my assessment here. I do like the character designs and the costumes. It's just hard muster any enthusiasm for the title. It's not bad, it is done competently, it just has nothing to get me excited or interested in it beyond the most superficial details.



- Ferdinand

The Voices of a Distant Star

Created by Makoto Shinkai, adapted by Mizu Sahara
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop



Slugline: Relativistic space travel can break your heart.

There are some questionable practices in this story -- particularly the random selection of spacecraft crew from the general population -- but it's all to set up the separation that drives the drama. Mikako is tapped to be a mecha pilot (what else is a girl going to do on a spaceship?) and Noboru has to stay home in the aimless everyday of growing up.

The story illustrates very well the slow death that long distances can bring to a relationship, but in this case it's not life getting in the way but increasingly large lag times in communication. By the end of the book, Noboru is 25 and Mikako is still 16 because of the light-speed travelling she's done.

The science does get fudged here and there, but on the whole it's surprisingly hard science fiction for a romance.

This is a standalone story, and as such it works very well for me -- another volume of this level of anguish would burn me out fast. It leaves the future, and the consequences of Noboru's choice at the end, up in the air, which is good. You don't have to ride every emotional point to death in a story, but unfortunately that often happens in manga.



- Miranda

Fullmetal Alchemist, v. 2

Story and art by Hiromu Arakawa
Published in the U.S. by Viz Media



Slugline: Edward and Al begin a journey to heal themselves in more than the obvious way and find the philosopher's stone .

Fullmetal Alchemist is a title that needs little introduction thanks to its high profile. I have already reviewed the first volume over at the CBG website, with the link here. I've continued with the second volume to see how it followed up on the story presented in the first.

I liked the flow of this volume better, for while the first volume of FMA had a very episodic feel, with strong beginnings and ends of chapters, here the opponents and episodes flow together almost seamlessly. If the title pages were removed, it would be difficult to separate it back into chapters.

We see part of Edward's guilt over his brother's condition, the depth of it being rather surprising. He's willing to die for his brother in a manner very different from most heroes. Also, we fill out the supporting characters and the idea that there will be consequences to actions, for when Edward loses an arm, it is not easily or immediately replaced. The story arc continues and is strengthened, but not much light is shed on the story's opponents or its final direction.

No sophomore slump here, with the story only continuing to grow.



- Ferdinand

RavenSkull, v. 1

by Christopher Vogler & Elmer Damaso
Published by Seven Seas



Slugline: Ivanhoe's villan, Sir Brian, resurrected and re-cast as a cursed knight in love with the equally cursed Rebecca.

I've never read Ivanhoe (though I recommend Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) and now that I've read a brief overvieww of the plot, I'm glad to feel less obliged to. Sir Brian was killed by Ivanhoe, in the book, and now he's resurrected by Rebecca and brings back hell's curse for both of them. The all-star cast also includes Richard the Lionheart, King John, and Robin Hood with Merry Men in tow.

The characters and plot are fairly standard for this kind of story, and nobody does anything really surprising aside from how Rebecca brings Sir Brian back from the dead -- that was a nice sequence. The action and artwork are solidly good to balance out the rather ordinary dialog and characters. And insulting well-known characters like Ivanhoe is always fun.

(For more interpretations of stock characters, check out Grendel by John Gardner and The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell)

There's potential for plot twists further down the road, since the cure for their curse isn't certain and its location is unknown, so we'll see where the writer leads us.



- Miranda

Assembly

By Sherard Jackson
Published by Antarctic Press



Slugline: Gritty mecha story set in a war-torn future, where a teenage girl tries to do the right thing.

A brief review, because this is a short story complete unto itself. On the one hand, it's a hard-hitting war story with mecha, pilots, and plenty of explosions. On the other hand, it illustrates how quickly the past can be forgotten in the face of immediate problems.

That's two downers with no up... well, it's on the dark side, yes, and it left me thinking about Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie) and how people try to do the right thing even when their choices are limited.

This seems to be a one-shot story, but it is well crafted and paced and definitely recommended. I'd like to see more of this world and Sherard Jackson's work, if anyone's listening...



- Miranda