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Story by Noriko Ogiwara, Art by Harahiko Momokawa
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: Daughter of a missing princess turns up in a small town, and is chased by mysterious bad guys.
It's a story that turns up often enough in the fantasy fiction shelves -- princess disappears with her lover and a pretty girl turns up a generation later wit all the indicators of royal blood. At the same time, there's trouble in the kingdom from a mysterious cult/coven/etc.
In this version, so far, Firiel has no apparent abilities other than making sure the boys in her life stay fed. Except for a lucky kick she gets in. Still, it's the kind of story that can be entertaining when it's done well and there are some interesting details. A book of standard Western fairy tales makes an appearance, but they're not well known stories in this world. Firiel's friend -- and her father's apprentice -- may have a dark side lurking within.
Volume 1 is a standard beginning to the story: Firiel finds out about the missing princess and is stripped of her childhood -- and volume 2 will be a big influence on my opinion of the series. Though if it were a fiction book and the first 200 pages couldn't tell me if the story was any good I'd have gotten bored already, but hey, it's manga.
- Miranda
by Marley
Published in the U.S. by Net Comics
Slugline: Sunbi is plagued by evil spirits and the strange new world of the big city, but she gets some advice on how to fight back.
This volume has it all: horror, philosophy, jokes, Korean folklore, tragedy... I get a lot of manga for free, but I went to the store and bought Dobeki Bride and I plan to do it again.
Here in Seoul without her grandmother's guidance, Sunbi struggles to settle in while being tormented by various nasty spirits. It's not easy to sit through class with a demon chewing on your head. Her human acquaintances range from the cousin who hates her to the paranormal buff with the Kirlian camera to a monk who helps Sunbi out of a bad spot. She's hurt and confused by it all, but remains proactive and starts searching for ways to protect herself from these demons.
The art has occasional perspective problems, but segues easily from the mundane world to hyper-detailed horrors of the paranormal. It's not a horror story, though. It's the sort of strong heroine story that I would recommend to anyone, along with Polly and Eternal Sabbath.
I'm hoping I can find an equally good boy-centerd series to go with these, in all honesty.
The back page says v.3 was due in September '06... I'll have to see about that, and order it straight from the source if my book store isn't keeping up.
- Miranda
Written by Kimura Noboru and Illustrated by Ken-etsu
Published in the U.S. by TokyoPop
Slugline: Whose brilliant idea was it to have distraught schoolgirls battle each other and have 'children'?
This is one of those manga that at first glance seems relatively, but when you start really taking it apart it starts mildly creeping you out. The two female leads, Mai and Natsuki, are driven by duties to others. Because of these duties they create mystical creatures called children with the main male lead Yuuichi, and even though they do not like him, their try to focus on their child. They are called princesses (the English translation of hime) and they are both protected and isolated, made to serve others. And in the process of doing so, they are revealed to the male eye in tons of fanservice. I've never formally studied feminist theory, and my thought processes do not usually turn to it, but this work I suspect revealed far more about what the expected Japanese roles for women and gender relationships than the creators intended.And to show how bad I am at feminist theory, I am now going to put it all aside, and try to talk just about the manga as presented.
The story is basically about an Academy that is under attack by entities called Orphans, and school students called Hime use their psychic abilities to defend the school, with the story revolving two of the Hime and the new male transfer student who is a Key that helps the Hime create Childs, psychic creations that boost the Himes' abilities. Okay, one of the non-lead female students says to the male student "Please, open my keyhole..."
Ewww.
Okay, the art at times is a little confusing, with lots of fan service and the plot is, well, thin. Painfully so and unrealistic even by manga standards. I find that there are some good character touches and moments that rang true, for instance, real sexual tension in this sort of highly charged environment must have considering the sort of relationships that exist between Himes and Keys. I haven't watched the anime that this is based on, so if you really liked it, this is supposedly a re-imagination of aspects of the original story and you may want to read it because of that. Otherwise this is just something to looked at, experienced on a surface level if you like fan service and pseudo-sexual imagery, but otherwise, eh, not enjoying it.- Ferdinand.
by Shiki Satoshi
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: Bored teenager wants to be a secret agent.
This story is so resoundingly ordinary that I have very little to say about it. It's been decked out with various science-fiction trappings -- underwater cities, super-duper-jet-skis, government agents in scanty outfits -- but it's just another bored teenager with an unlikely job and a couple "oddities" thrown in.
Ai spends her time in school or test-driving high-speed jet-skis because her dad is a muckety-muck scientist and she gets involved in chasing some escaping terrorists and running into the special agents assigned to eliminate said terrorists (I'm sure there are "secrets" the government's suppressing that the terrorists want to educate everyone about) so Ai wants to be a secret agent and she's kidnapped by the terrorists but saves the day and... gratuitous boobs, hooray.
There's nothing particularly bad about Daphne, but there's nothing noteworthy either. This author also wrote Kami Kaze, which I found more interesting and I'd recommend over this title.
- Miranda
by Suu Minazuki
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: "Eve", possessed by "Judas" (no relation to any Biblical characters) must slay lots of bad guys.
But there's more to it than that, it seems. The "bad guys" are themselves possessed by another spirit, one claiming to represent life to Judas's death. There's an organization involved, somewhere, and recurring cross-shaped hypodermics. And at the end we meet Zero, who's cast as Judas's nemesis.
That's the interesting stuff. On the other hand, Eve is a boy and a crybaby to boot. Mizuki, a 16-year-old medical/computer/all-around supergenius, joins their quest to kill 666 after Judas kills the priest who ran the orphanage Mizuki grew up in. The group also picks up Kogiku, who seems to attract animals and is slightly more useful than Eve. Judas himself is tiresomely petty and bossy, most of the time.
But there are some genuinely strange moments and enough of the underlying world-building, mentioned above, to hold my interest. I found the artwork to be occasionally unclear about what was going on, sometimes forcing me to backtrack in the middle of an action sequence. It's not so great when a portion of the swirling cloud effects turns out to actually be a giant scythe. I'd like to know about these things before we get stabbity.
Whoever wrote the back cover blurb didn't read it, I'm thinking -- there's more to this than just killing 666 people. At least, that's what I'm hoping. 3 stars, with a bullet.
- Miranda
By Scott McCloud
Published by Harper Paperbacks
Slugline: Everything else you need to know about making comics .
I've said before that we will occasionally review stuff here that are not precisely manga, but will be of interest to manga fans even if they do not seem to at first blush. In the western comics, Scott McCloud is one of the foremost theoreticians of comics. Calling him a theoretician makes him sound very dry and possibly boring, but he approaches his work in a very entertaining style, packing it with ideas that explode like grenades in your consciousness just a few minutes into reading the book. And reading the book is not a very difficult task, considering it is a comic book with Scott McCloud himself guiding you through the work.Making Comics is not about art, or how you draw chibis, but instead about the more abstract and more important issues about what you draw, how you frame, how much space should be between panels or should there even panels at all. He doesn't give you any concrete answers, but points out what the questions should be. If you have ever looked at a page and wondered why it just didn't feel right, Making Comics offers a concrete list of questions you can ask to help you discover just why that is.
While he does mostly focus on western comics, McCloud has been looking at some of the regional differences between comics, and he does have a short section about some of the differences between American and Japanese comics.
Considering just how many "How to Draw" books there are on the market, and how many of them are manga-focused, if you want to learn how to draw that is well covered. But if you want to do more than just arrange them one after another, if you want to tell a story with your pictures, to turn something good into something great, Making Comics is an invaluable toolkit to have, just as important as pencil and paper.- Ferdinand
by Kim Young-oh
Published in the U.S. by Dark Horse Manhwa
Slugline: Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night... and not siege armies or monsters either, apparently, will stop this delivery man.
This is the sort of fantasy world where everyone wears neo-traditional garb except for the teenage girl (of which there is only one.) She, of course, must wear something inspired by current teen fashion.
The three kids, including Banya, all work for the Desert Post Office (without a boss or even a town in the vicinity) and are similar go-getter personalities. Bany is particularly known for his over-the-top stunts to deliver a package, so when a wounded messenger has to pass his burden on, it goes to Banya. Bad guys show up in pursuit of the message, and the chase is on.
There are plenty of over-eager, over-competent teens in manga, plenty of mysterious bad guys, random monsters that eat your camel, and plucky girls to back up the main man. Overlook these sorts of standard fantasy tropes and Banya is a fun enough action story. There may not be any noble sacrifices -- everyone's got to pony up the delivery fee -- but it'll be a fun romp since nobody seems to be taking this too seriously. At least not until people start getting killed.
Well, maybe not even then.
- Miranda
By C. Lijewski
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: Re:Play is another one of TokyoPop's OGM's created by a winner of the Rising Stars of Manga contest, in this case Christy Lijewski. Though she was discovered that way, she is also producing a monthly comic for Slave Labor Graphics, which after reading Re:Play makes me want to check it out.
Re:Play is a musician manga, but I'll try not to hold that against it. Eh, it's not that I have anything specifically against manga featuring musicians, but it seems to be popular out of proportion to its actual usefulness. I mean manga, or any comic for that matter, can not actually convey the music that is such a central part of the story. Of course, that may be the attraction, that you don't have to be concerned about the music.
Cree is the singer of a small-time band that was starting to take off when their bassist ditches both the band and her. But fortunately she finds a new bassist Izsak, who is a amnesiac homeless street musician. Nothing can go wrong there, right? Needless to say she starts to fall for him, despite her best friend Rail's misgivings. There may be something to his concerns, since there are some very odd people that are overly interested in Izsak. Plus Izsak himself has some strange needs.
Okay, I said earlier that I usually have problems with musician manga, well this is one that proves the rule by being the exception. The art is a jagged style, which fits the characters and the story. Cree is fairly well established character-wise, while the others are described as far as they are needed to keep things moving. Surprisingly enough, Izsak's secret wasn't revealed at the end of the volume, which would have been a good capper, but instead the story ends on a emotional note. There is some strangeness and action, but it is understated and hinting, rather than being full out. I definitely want to see more.- Ferdinand
by Tatsuhiko Takimoto & Kendi Oiwa
Published in the U.S. by Tokyopop
Slugline: Satou has a love-hate relationship with his otaku-hermit lifestyle.
A "hikikomori" is a college-age dropout, usually male, who goes into voluntary seclusion. Apparently it's a growing phenomenon (or is perceived to be -- sounds a lot like my brother for the last ten years) in Japan. Satou says he's been a shut-in for four years and he's starting to try to emerge from the solitary confinement.
This is, of course, easier said than done.
The story is rather disjointed, as Satou is prone to massive overreactions (in his own mind, at least) and is easily distracted. His internal self-flagellations are both amusing and sadly familiar to any shy person struggling to pry open their own shell. Safe to say that Satou's gone a bit stir crazy in his confinement, and the two friends he makes aren't terribly helpful.
One is Yamazaki, hentai collector, who is also a hikikomori and seeds a crazy idea in Satou's head to invent an erotic video game.
The other is Misaki, a pretty girl whose existence tortures Satou with visions of porn. She claims to have a sure-fire cure for hikikomori (I suspect it includes a job and a girlfriend) and she lures Satou out of his apartment for "sessions."
NHK is funny and fast-moving, but it's also guaranteed to be a long string of failures and humiliations for its hero. It has some raunchy moments and some predictable moments, and the characters aren't quite as unique as they sound. So I put it in the middle of the pack.
- Miranda
by Toru Yamazaki
Published in the U.S. by Dark Horse Manga
Slugline: If Madmagazine is too tame (or, possibly, too high-brow) for you these days, then suffer no more. Truly bizarre gross-out comedy has been brought to us by the good folks at Dark Horse.
This isn't a Dishonorable Mention, but I'll be brief because I'm not usually found hanging around the horror/comedy crossroads. I need to go bleach my eyeballs after reading this.
Octopus Girl is a semi-anthology of two girls who sometimes have the bodies of an octopus and an eel and who have strange, gory and sh*t-filled adventures. The art is hideous, but that's intentional. The dialog is flat, but that hardly matters. Believe it or not, I'm giving it two stars for inconsistency -- not all the stories are pointless or even sh*t-filled.
If you've got a friend who's into gross-out comedy and you're looking for a present for them, there's three volumes of this stuff for sale at Amazon.
- Miranda
Created by Morgan LuthiPublished by TokyoPop
Slugline: A fluffier, more easy going but still destructive Akira.Morgan Luthi is another of the TokyoPop artists who were discovered through the Rising Stars of Manga contest. He actually has an interesting story about winning, in that he had been applying for several of the contests in a row, being turned down each time, but slowly gaining in skill until he finally was one of the winners published.
Snow is a story about the apparently identity-less newcomer to the Hub, the back end of the galaxy, a galaxy that seems to be under random assault by the Warmongers, a race of giant robots, whose greatest weapon is the Ghost, a psychic of unprecedented power. On the Hub, there is a gang that battles the other gangs to help the city function, called the Crows, led by Katarina. Needless to say the other gangs do not share the Crows' altruism, and the Warmongers are looking for the Ghost.I wanted to like this, and to a certain extent I do, but when I start unpacking the story I keep on hitting on elements that just didn't seem to work. Katarina's unusual background comes up, but then doesn't really change anything. The reveal of the Ghost is handled casually, and the reveal at the end of the episode is anything but believable.
The art is very open and fluid, both futuristic and old at the same time. The story moves very fast, but there does not feel like that there is much story actually there. Part of that may be the panel layout, which is very open, which means that there are fewer panels per page. Luthi has a very good sense of design, with the title pages and other administrativa of the book seamlessly flowing in with the story pages.
I think this series still has potential, and these structural flaws can be fixed, so that is the sole reason I haven't given this manga a lower score.- Ferdinand
by Kosen
Published by Yaoi Press
Slugline: Saihoshi agrees to bodyguard Prince Anel on the way to meet his arranged bride. Needless to say, things go wrong. Caution: softcore gay porn.
Yaoi Press has been boldly forging ahead with an all-OEL list of titles. This is the first story of theirs that I've read, and it was a pleasant surprise.
It's a fairly amusing story of a horny young prince trying to catch his bodyguard's eye and getting into trouble when his journey is interrupted by an ambush. It's a fantasy world stocked with gay boys (did I even see a single woman? will his "bride" be female?) who like a lot of leather straps. And get this, Saihoshi wields a giant pair of scissors for a weapon. He runs with scissors. It had to be done, I guess.
As noted, the porn is softcore -- no frontal nudity, just a lot of butt shots and convenient drapery. Not that there's anything wrong with nice butt shots.
The characters are solid and even have an occasional twist, the story is straightforward and the dialog got an occasional smile. I read a special edition handed out at a retailer convention which included a short, yaoi version of Gawain and the Green Knight that I'm less impressed by (I'm a little too fond of the original) and an snippet preview of a title called Stallion (which looks pretty formulaic.)
As yaoi goes, Saihoshi is light and angst-free and that's a nice change of pace once in a while. I am kind of curious to find out if his "bride" will turn out to be a boy in drag, or maybe a hermaphrodite (in the apparently-well-entrenched hentai style...)
- Miranda
by Ueda Hajime
Published in the U.S. by Del Rey Manga
Dishonorable Mention
Review of v.1
Since this was written by the creator of FLCL, I should've figured the second volume would resolve exactly nothing.
Amusingly, these two volumes comprise the entire story. I think the translator's note at the end says it best, and I quote, "So what happened? I wish I could tell you."
Thanks for killing tons of trees so we can all be confused together.
- Miranda
Created by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges
Published by TokyoPop
Slugline: A pet primer and younger kids title, all in one.
Peach Fuzz is one of the first of the TokyoPop original creator titles, and is aimed at younger readers. Amusingly enough, I am pretty sure I remember its creators, Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, for the adult work that they did beforehand.
Amanda wants a pet, and so at the pet store she chooses a ferret which she names Peach. However, Peach's apparently gentle nature at the pet store is mostly because she was napping, and once she awakes she is not happy. Peach saw herself as a princess, and now sees herself as a prisoner of a dungeon, under the sway of the evil Handra, which she has to fend off with bites. Amanda's mom doesn't want to keep an animal that will hurt her daughter, but Amanda wants to keep Peach.
What I like, in its humorous and roundabout way, is that this story points out that pets don't look at the world the same way that humans do. Peach Fuzz hides it under the idea that Peach sees the world as a medieval kingdom with as her as a princess, but when Amanda uses animal behaviors that Peach learned from her ferret-mommy, Peach and Amanda finally get to an accommodation, one that is limited by the fact that Peach will still on occasion nip just to make a point.
I actually would suggest giving a copy of this book to a kid who wants a pet, to help illustrate that what they think and what the pet thinks may be entirely different things. And the unmeaning and casual cruelty they may unknowingly visit upon the pet. As a story, the art is very good, very open, very friendly to non-comic-experienced readers. I do feel that while the story is more geared to younger readers, older readers will find some bits to entertain themselves with. - Ferdinand
by Kei Toume
Published in the U.S. by Del Rey Manga
Slugline: Jintetsuo tries not to get involved with two old friends and the politics of revenge.Volume 1 review
One gets the impression, from this volume, that Jintetsuo doesn't know what he wants -- other than to not get involved, which he doesn't do a very good job of. And I'm not sure what happened to the interesting ideas I saw in the first volume, because other than the hero waffling back and forth, the stories are retreads of standard Japanese-style revenge by underage, overenthusiastic orphans.It seems, also, that Jintetsuo is less of a robot in this volume -- he eats, he drinks, he still doesn't talk but the talking sword now claims it can read his mind. Which may be more convenient for the writer, but it removes most of the mystery and another point of uniqueness. And if Jintetsuo's just another closed-lipped samurai watching others kill each other and feeling guilty, what's the point?
It may be that in v.3, he will find something to do that can carry the further volumes, but as sophomore slumps go this is a tough one and I don't know if I'll be there to find out about v.3. I've got a lot in my to-read pile. - Miranda
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
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
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
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
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
