Manga Bookshelf

July 21, 2017 By Ash Brown

ME

Author: Tomoyuki Hoshino Translator: Charles De Wolf U.S. publisher: Akashic Books ISBN: 9781617754487 Released: June 2017 Original release: 2010 Awards: Kenzaburō Ōe Prize My introduction to the work of Tomoyuki Hoshino was through We, the Children of Cats, a volume containing a selection of his short stories and novellas which left a tremendous impression on me. Since encountering that collection, I’ve made a point to seek out and read everything of Hoshino’s that has been translated into English. (Sadly, there hasn’t been very much.) I was very excited to learn that Akashic Books would be publishing Charles De Wolf’s translation of ME, a book which quickly become one of my most anticipated literary releases of 2017. After Lonely Hearts Killer, ME is only the second of Hoshino’s novels to be…

July 21, 2017 By Sean Gaffney

Aho-Girl – A Clueless Girl, Vol. 1

By Hiroyuki. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Karen McGillicuddy. Do you know, I actually tried to research the difference between Aho and Baka as I read this? Thanks to Ranma 1/2, I think ‘baka’ is far more prominent in my mind as the default meaning for ‘stupid idiot’, and I’d assumed that ‘Aho’ was a stronger, cruder variant. Turns out it’s just regional differences – Aho is Kansai, Baka is Kanto. Whichever one you use, though, you know coming in what sort of series this is going to be. And it does not disappoint. Featuring the incredibly clueless Yoshiko and a supporting cast who seem to be her foils but turn out to…

July 20, 2017 By Katherine Dacey

The Four Immigrants Musical

In 1931, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama published the Four Immigrants Manga, a collection of comic strips that offered readers a unique window into the lives of four Japanese immigrants living in San Francisco in the early 1900s. Stonebridge Press rescued Kiyama’s work from obscurity in 1998 with a beautiful new edition that was translated by Frederik Schodt, and while it’s never been a mainstream hit, it has enjoyed a stellar reputation among critics. Playwright Min Kahng recently adapted Kiyama’s work into a musical that’s garnering rapturous reviews from Bay Area newspapers. Lily Janiak, the San Francisco Chronicle‘s theater critic, praises Kahng’s efforts to bridge the gap between page and stage with imaginative sets, music, and choreography. “To Kahng’s swashbuckling, jazzy score, played by a six-person live band, Dottie Lester-White’s choreography reveals the immigrant characters as the…

July 20, 2017 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N

Manga the Week of 7/26/17

SEAN: Viz is done. Yen is mostly done. Quiet final week of the month, right? HA. J-Novel Club has the 3rd volume of excellent fantasy The Faraway Paladin, which barely feels like a “light” novel at all. Lots of Kodansha, starting with a Del Rey resurrection, next week it’s Princess Resurrection 16. The 4th volume of All-Rounder Meguru hits digitally. Descending Stories is a highly unusual license for North America, particularly in print, but I thought the first volume was pretty good, so am looking forward to next week’s Vol. 2. MICHELLE: I plan to read both of these soon! ASH: I’m still waiting, perhaps/probably in vain, for All-Rounder Meguru to be released in print, but I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Descending Stories! SEAN: We near the end…

July 20, 2017 By Anna N

Honey So Sweet Volume 7

Honey So Sweet Volume 7 by Amu Meguro Between My Love Story!! and Honey So Sweet, English manga readers certainly have some stellar current shoujo series that are standouts for being adorable and benign. I was struck by just how Nice with a capital N Honey So Sweet is with the seventh volume’s take on a typical shoujo plot of the girl who gets a crush on main girls boyfriend and attempts to drive a wedge between them. Miyabe has a crush on Taiga, and she proceeds to pursue him in the relentless and clueless way that only someone in the grips of first love is capable of. She shows up when Nao and Taiga are about to share some precious time alone, and she even starts trying to copy…

July 20, 2017 By Sean Gaffney

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Stratagem

By Yoshiki Tanaka. Released in Japan as “Ginga Eiyū Densetsu” by Tokuma Shoten. Released in North America by Haikasoru. Translated by Tyren Grillo. Well, I did ask for more politics, and we get it here, though there’s not really a lot of political backroom dealing. Instead, what we get is Reinhard sitting back, letting everyone else hang themselves, and then strolling in and taking everything over. I’m still not quite sure we’re supposed to like Reinhard or not, and certainly his casual lack of empathy as he sacrifices people for his own ends can be chilling, but there’s no doubt that at the end of the day he can make the decisions that lead to the Empire gaining power, whereas Yang Wen-Li is never going to be that person (much…

July 19, 2017 By Anna N

Anonymous Noise Vol. 3

Anonymous Noise Volume 3 by Ryoko Fukuyama I’ve found Anonymous Noise both intriguing and frustrating due to some of the overly contrived coincidences (even for shoujo manga). However with the third volume either the storytelling has settled down a bit or it just took a couple volumes for my suspension of disbelief to kick in, because I found myself smiling more while I was reading this manga instead of feeling snarky. One of the things that I found a bit frustrating in the earlier volumes is that there were some characters functioning in silos to a degree that seemed somewhat ridiculous. The love triangle in the manga is clear, but if the three sides of the triangle haven’t each had a conversation with each other, it seems like the reader…

July 19, 2017 By Michelle Smith

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 1

By CLAMP | Published by Kodansha Comics It’s been a long time since I read anything by CLAMP. After failing to love Kobato. and Gate 7, I just sort of drifted away from paying attention to what they were doing. When a beloved favorite got a new arc, however, my interest was piqued. And when Kodansha Comics not only licensed it, but released the first volume digitally months ahead of the print release, I might’ve squeed. We rejoin Sakura Kinomoto as she begins her first year as a middle-school student. To her surprise and delight, Syaoran Li meets her on her way to school and announces that he’s back from Hong Kong and will henceforth be a permanent resident of Tomoeda. Everything seems to be coming up roses, except Syaoran…

July 19, 2017 By Sean Gaffney

Kounodori: Dr. Stork, Vol. 1

By You Suzunoki. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Morning. Released in North America digitally by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Erin Procter. Despite occasionally feeling overwhelmed by new titles, I am grateful to the publishers putting out digital-only series for choosing some series that are clearly experiments, titles that would not have a remote chance of being licensed in print over here but can perhaps reach some kind of an audience digitally. We’re seeing long-running sports titles, some experimental josei, and now we have Kounodori, a series from Kodansha’s flagship seinen magazine about an obstetrician who helps expecting families when he’s not busy being a secret, mysterious piano player. Back in the day, I used to go buy a random Japanese manga magazine from Kinokuniya,…

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