SEAN: Things are pretty quiet the day after Christmas. Even Diamond Comics is taking the week off, with the exception of a few books from its elite, non-manga publishers. That said, Midtown Comics has a few things that Diamond already sent out that are coming in from their other suppliers, so let’s catch up.
Cage of Eden 8 continues to be action-packed, thrilling, revelatory, and absolutely drenched in fanservice. It’s a title I enjoy reading but can’t recommend to anyone unless they’re used to large breasts everywhere. That said, it is refreshing seeing a shonen title doing well over here that really is for 10-12 year old boys, as opposed to Jump’s more balanced gender readership.
MICHELLE: I have some small interest in this title because of its plot but, yeah, boobs deter me.
MJ: I suppose that, being a manga fan, I’m *used* to large breasts everywhere, but I admit it gets wearying after a while. I wouldn’t say they deter me, exactly, but they do tend to push me into “critical” mode right out of the gate.
SEAN: Viz has a new volume of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage, the first in a year. (Either it’s caught up to Japan or sales are meh. I suspect the former.) This is also filled with action, thrills, and revelations, and is absolutely drenched in fanservice… for female readers. I don’t think I’ve read a single non-BL Dogs fanfic on the internet. (Note: Dogs has no actual BL.) I need to catch up with this, but it’s recommended in a dystopian sort of way.
MICHELLE: I have just started reading Dogs with an eye to featuring this latest volume in an upcoming Off the Shelf. “Dystopian” really is an apt way to describe it, and since I usually like those sorts of stories, I am kind of liking this one too, even if violence is trumping characterization at the moment. I’m just in volume one, though, so this could obviously change.
MJ: Is it wrong that I find myself more interested in looking up the fanfic than I am in the series itself? I’ve always been kinda so-so on this series, and I suspect some BL might help.
SEAN: And Neon Genesis Evangelion 13 may have come out last month everywhere else, but this means little to Midtown, who are seeing it arrive a bit late. It’s worth the wait, as I noted in my review. And may finally end with Vol. 14, sometime before we all die. Or the artist does.
MICHELLE: Y’know, I have never actually seen Evangelion (aside from the first couple of episodes), nor have I read any of the manga. Possibly this is a serious oversight in need of correction.
MJ: I’m a fan of the anime, but I never got very far with the manga adaptation. Sean’s review has me feeling rather curious, however.
SEAN: What are you spicing up your Boxing Day with?
JRB says
December 20, 2012 at 6:05 pm“Dogs: Bullets and Carnage, […] is absolutely drenched in fanservice… for female readers.”
Y’know, from what I read of it I don’t buy this (disclaimer: I only read the first few volumes). Ultra Jump is not the most female-friendly magazine out there, and while DB&C does have some attractive men in it, the same could be said for Death Note or Code:Breaker or, hell, The Qwaser of Stigmata. I suspect Miwa just likes his ultraviolent affectless psychopaths pretty and stylish.
Travis Anderson says
December 21, 2012 at 12:20 amI’ve only seen the first couple episodes of the anime of Eva, but I like the manga a lot. However, the release pace is super frustrating, so if you haven’t started it yet, at this point I would just recommend waiting until it’s done! (I kind of doubt vol. 14 will be the end. Several years ago they were saying it would end with vol. 12 and that didn’t happen. But I also don’t think it will be too much longer, since it is clearly nearing the end. But it’s the type of manga where an entire chapter can have little to no dialogue and just be lovingly detailed fight scenes, so combined with the slow pace at which the author draws it, it’s taking an awful long time to tell the story.)
Aaron says
December 21, 2012 at 11:48 amI was “happy” to see a new volume of Dogs Bullets And Carnage but I only continue to read it only becuese Hiene is an intresting charcter and the psychopathic gun hand lolis are good for a lrak