Haruka, vol. 1

Story and Art by Tohko Mizuno
Released in the US by Viz Shojo Beat


Slugline: Rather than traveling back to a fantasy China, this alternate reality romance has the heroine traveling back to historical Japan! Oh, how novel.

Maybe my slugline is a little harsher than it needs to be, but while this is a competently churned out story, it doesn't seem to go over any new ground and does not create much excitement. Think of this as another entry into the Fushigi Yugi genre, with time traveling Japanese schoolgirls being hidden priestesses that will save everything. Or make everything worse, it is so hard to tell it apart. She needs to find her guardians, which include some of her fellow students that all time-traveled to medieval Japan along with an assortment of bishonen boys that have pledged to their lives to her and find themselves attracted to her. And there is of course a pretty boy that is the main antagonist, who is considered a demon/foreigner because he looks different from everyone else and if he is a bad guy is not a very competent bad guy, giving Akane (the said time-traveling priestess) the time to find her guardians so that she can be a challenge. Sorry, can we ever have a bad guy who thinks that using any advantage that they can get is fair, rather than waiting for the odds to stack up against them?

While some of the character bits are well handled, others are not, and I don't really see where it adds anything new and different. If you read Fushigi Yugi, you have pretty much reach this, so unless you just love the concept to pieces, it is hard to recommend this. It is another of the not bad but not interesting titles.



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

-Ferdinand

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Vol. 1

Story and Art by Shigekatsu Ihara
Released in the US by Vizkids


Slugline: It's Pokémon, it delivers exactly what you expect.

Much like porn, all-ages titles have a slightly different set of review criteria simply because you can't expect subtle characterization or complicated plotlines. Not to say if one managed to accomplish I would give it a lot of credit (and the corresponding stars.) So three stars here means slightly different than it would a typical teen romance manga, which is how well it succeeds as an all-ages title.

Okay, now that I have that out of the way, feral child Hareta that has been raised in the wild with Pokémon and who considers them his friends has been convinced to go look for a legendary Pokémon, Dialga. The professor that has been keeping an eye on Hareta has given this mission, and assigned one of his assistants, Mitsumi to go with him. Hareta has as his main Pokémon Piplup, a prideful Pokémon that Hareta eventually convinces to ally with him and they have to continually face the challenges of Team Galactic, a group of selfish Pokémon trainers who want to capture Pokémon for their own purposes.

Like the slugline says, this is Pokémon, so you can say that the plot is basically predetermined. We have a boy trainer, a girl sidekick, a slightly older trainer and their Pokémon traveling the world, facing off against a nefarious team and gym trainers from cities with dubious names. That being said, within that framework, everything it solidly constructed and it works as a Pokémon story. If you even watched a commercial for the show, you know what you are getting and it fulfills that expectation. The art is straightforward and depicts things clearly, even in the midst of the action scenes. So it is a good first or early manga, but if one wants to show off some of the more creative or offbeat stuff that manga is capable off, something else would be better.



- Ferdinand

Winter Demon, vol. 3

Story by Yamila Abraham with Art and Letters by Le Peruggine
Published by Yaoi Press


Slugline: Oh, those sensitive, tortured gay demon boys…

I have not read the first two volumes and I’m glad to say it’s not necessary to if you can’t find them. For a porn series, this is both well written and well drawn. Life does not revolve solely around sex, for these characters, though there isn’t any skimping on that part either. Everyone is terribly sensitive and considerate and nice, but the story manages to not get bogged down in metaphysical hand-wringing. Nothing too surprising happens, but it’s well presented and the visual storytelling is both clear and nice. That has been a problem with some of the OEL books I have read lately. I’m curious to see what else this creative team has done, and what they will do in the future.

-Miranda

Despite Miranda calling it a porn title, I went through the title to make sure after the problems the blog had earlier, and the title is not explicit. I wouldn't give it to a five year old, but it is R rather than NC-17

-Ferdinand

Winter Demon, vol. 3 is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

SERIES UPDATE: Kashimashi, vol. 4

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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