Bookshelf Briefs 8/13/12

This week, Michelle, MJ, and Sean look at recent releases from Seven Seas, VIZ Media, Yen Press, Kodansha Comics, and Dark Horse Manga.

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Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 1 | By QuinRose & Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Published by Seven Seas – I am pleased to report that, so far, Cheshire Cat Waltz is much better than the prior “country of Clover” installment, Bloody Twins! Some of the elements that made Alice in the Country of Hearts so surprisingly good are back, like ominous hints about a particular character and Alice experiencing culture clash with the various attitudes and mysteries of Wonderland. However, because this is much more obviously a romance—here, Alice is paired up with Boris, the Cheshire Cat—the story’s more intriguing aspects must occasionally take a backseat to Alice being confused about her motives for remaining in Wonderland, Alice being pounced upon, Alice getting smooched, and lovers’ quarrels born of jealousy. Although I am sure I’m being duped again and that nothing significant of Wonderland will be revealed, I remain interested enough that I’ll probably come back for volume two. – Michelle Smith

Bakuman, Vol. 13 | By Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata | VIZ Media – Bakuman‘s heroes, Mashiro and Takagi, are always the most interesting when they are at odds, and this volume is a perfect example of exactly why that is. As all the young Jump mangaka throw themselves into a rather unusual competition (writing romantic one-shots), it isn’t Nizuma’s sudden display of inexperience or even Hiramaru’s over-the-top romantic hero act that make the volume work, hilarious though they may be. What really steals the volume are a few scattered scenes between Mashiro and Takagi’s wife, Kaya, as they try to make sense of their shared partner. These moments are uncharacteristically honest and sincere for an Ohba/Obata manga, and it’s a real pleasure to discover them amidst all the slick shounen meta. On a personal note, Kaya has long been my favorite of Bakuman‘s characters, and I’ll admit that a scene in which she receives a basket of flowers from Shueisha as thanks for her work on her husband’s series was surprisingly gratifying. Still recommended. – MJ

A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 4 | By Miyoshi Tomori | VIZ Media – As “Devil” Maria’s class finally prepares for their choral performance, everything falls (rather predictably) apart, but fortunately this is shoujo manga, and even in a story with a heroine as prickly and jaded as Maria, a little romance can save the day. Any feelings of frustration one might have as the choral competition story drags interminably on are blown away completely by the impact of a wholly surprising confession by the character from whom you least expect it. Despite this series’ cynical bent, its romantic thread reads as genuinely sincere and even sweet—a mashup of contrasting tones that apparently works very well. Even as the series appears to be gearing up for a typical romantic triangle, it seems clear that Miyoshi Tomori’s gift for injecting raw emotional truth into standard shoujo tropes will continue to keep things interesting. – MJ

Drifters, Vol. 2 | By Kohta Hirano | Dark Horse Comics – Volume Two of this series continues to do what the series does best – give us a lot of people trying to kill other people in nasty ways. It’s great fun for those who don’t mind that sort of thing – Hirano draws battles that are easy to follow, and the ‘nasty’ aspect of the combat is not remotely glossed over here – Nobunaga’s treated arrows are as disgusting as possible, and the rape of the elven women is not played for laughs. As for our hero, Shimazu, well, he does seem to be strategizing a little more, almost despite himself, and is also forming a deep bond with Nobunaga that involves a lot of yelling and punching. Meanwhile, for those wondering when this ‘warlords in a fantasy world’ would reach Hitler, it didn’t take long at all. Still good fun, even if it plays mostly to the 12-year-old in all of us. –Sean Gaffney

Durarara!!, Vol. 3 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda & Akiyo Satorigi | Yen Press – There’s a lot of big reveals in this volume, which would be churlish of me to talk about, so I will merely note that one of the weaker of our heroes turns out to have far more strength than we had imagined. Elsewhere, Shizuo shows once more how incredibly tough he is, Izaya is one of the most obnoxious S.O.B.s in all of the universe, and Celty is cute, if frantic. But then, she has reason to be frantic. There’s also a fantastic parody of Doraemon about 1/3 through, when the art style shifts to that in order to demonstrate Mikado’s disbelief at the latest plot twist. And of course there’s Namie and Seiji, whose creepy desires are something completely amped up in this manga, to the point where even the novel’s author was impressed. A solid adaptation. –Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 10 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I have to say, Nanami is starting to remind me a bit of Tohru in Fruits Basket, who sometimes felt as if she existed to interact with the screwed-up Sohmas and heal them with her magical power of niceness. Tohru turned out to be just as screwed-up, though, whereas Nanami is shiny all around. Her interaction with Jiro (who irritates Tomoe as he reminds him of himself) is fairly predictable, though that doesn’t necessarily mean bad – there’s a wonderful bit towards the end where she notes Tomoe’s strength as something that might not be a positive. In the end, though, this arc wrapped up a lot easier than I’d anticipated, and I’m left with a feeling that things are simply going too well for our protagonists right now. Of course, I’m sure that will change – the manga is not ending anytime soon… –Sean Gaffney

Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations, Vol. 1 | By Kenji Kuroda & Kazuo Maekawa | Kodansha Comics – I try not to review Volume Ones in the Briefs category, but with something like this title there’s little choice, as there’s so little *to* it. Heck, we don’t even get to see Kay Faraday, which I was expecting given the title – the only regulars are Miles and Detective Gumshoe. The cases are both pretty good, though the first is extremely short, and the writing is much the same as it was in the Phoenix Wright books. The trouble is that Miles is not Phoenix – he doesn’t make screwups or say dumb things on occasion. He’s simply too smart to make this anything but a foregone conclusion. Indeed, in the first case he solves things so quickly that everyone around him just stares. Let’s hope future books find more of a challenge – and maybe more faces we know? –Sean Gaffney

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 10 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | VIZ Media – The cliffhanger from last volume is resolved incredibly quickly, leaving us with two major plotlines for this volume consisting mostly of fighting sequences. First we see the conflict between Yura and her siblings, which shows us how even the purest of heart can be ruined by just a tiny sliver of pride and jealousy. Meanwhile, Rikuo and company are taking their airship to Kyoto (still being destroyed bit by bit), but infighting may destroy them before the enemy can. Here we see just how much trust Rikuo has gained over these ten volumes – and how much more he has yet to earn, though the greater control of his power here helps. Unfortunately, this conflict doesn’t look nearly like it’s reaching the end, so expect Volume 11 to me more fight, fight, fight.-Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 11 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | VIZ Media – Thankfully, the fighting briefly pauses here in this volume of Toriko, which is especially a relief as it means we don’t have to see more of the repulsive Tommyrod. Instead, our heroes leave the Ice Hell for their own separate quests – Toriko to somehow regrow the arm that he lost in the last book, and Komatsu to try to recreate the Century Soup from the brief sip that he got. Komatsu continues to be my favorite part of Toriko – he’s smart enough to know he has to make his own soup and can’t simply duplicate another, and stubborn enough to keep at it even knowing it might take years. Of course, in his own way Komatsu is as badass as Toriko, so we know it won’t take that long. In the meantime, there’s more weird food and weird creatures, which is the main reason to read this fun manga. –Sean Gaffney