Archives for July 2015

Double Dose of Seven Seas: Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn vs. Magika: Swordsman and Summoner

July 15, 2015 by Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn by Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi. Released in Japan as “Koukaku no Pandora – Ghost Urn” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Newtype A. Magika: Swordsman and Summoner by Mitsuki Mihara and MonRin. Released in Japan as “Magika no Kenshi to Shoukan Maou” by Media Factory, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Alive. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

As I’ve said before, my tendency to give all Volume 1’s a shot even if I suspect they won’t be my thing at all gets me into a lot of difficulties, particularly with Seven Seas, which is very much an all or nothing company with me. They debuted two new titles this month, one of which not only has the amazing writer-artist team of Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi (leaving Viz means he gets his u’s back), but managed to be on SDCC’s worst manga of the year list despite having been out a total of 5 days when the panel ran. The other one is a harem fantasy from my old nemesis, Comic Alive. Two otaku-pandering titles enter, only one can leave – which one did I like more?

Pandora gets off to a poor start with that cover, featuring our heroine bursting, semi-mude, from some sort of mosaiced plastic casing. We then get color pages of another heroine dressing up in tiny lingerie. This title definitely does not skimp on the fanservice, as we’ll see throughout the volume. The basic premise involves Nene, our heroine, getting involved with a confident young woman who may actually be a supervillain and her cyborg companion. Nene is also a cyborg and highly idealistic, saying that she wants to see world peace. Sadly, she arrives at her island destination to find a robot gone amok, and only she and Clarion (the other cyborg) can hope to stop it.

On pure skeeze factor, Pandora in the Crimson Shell wins hands down. The sequences where Nene has to finger Clarion in her vaginal ‘port’ are risible, though admittedly I wouldn’t put it past Shirow based on past titles. Speaking of which, the credits show quite a committee working on this title. Rikudou is the main artist in charge, but I had felt that I could only see his art style occasionally, and that may be why. His sense of humor, thankfully, is sometimes more apparent, particularly in the Excel-ish intrepid reporter and the dry tones of Uzal Delilah. The action sequences, which make up much of the second half, are… decent. Basically, if it weren’t for the horrible service and constant sexual assault hints, I may actually have enjoyed this. Sadly, the service and assault is all over the book.

Magika Swordsman and Summoner is our second title, and reads like a modern-day light novel checklist (appropriate, it’s based on a light novel). Our hero is the lowest of his class at magic school, not good for much yet but stirring water around. He’s also the only male in a class of females. He has an adopted sister (older than him, but acts younger as they only found that out recently), who harbors incestuous feelings for him. At the school, he meets a busty airheaded woman who turns out to be student council president, as well as an angry young blonde who seems very upset that he doesn’t recognize her, for some reason. Oh yes, you can also add in a quiet, stoic elf-girl and a shy girl who can’t deal with men. When he summons an amnesiac diva with no powers (which gets him in trouble, as she may be evil), he discovers he has to form a harem of 72 women in order to become the Harem King.

If you started throwing up halfway through that, you may get the feeling I had while reading this title. Everything about it is from Tropes 101, be it the Magic Academy stuff or the Harem stuff, though I admit 72 is aiming high – even Negima didn’t quite go for that many women. (Yes, it’s from reports of the houris that accompany Muslim martyrs after they die.) Seven Seas’ back cover notes that fans of Dragonar Academy and Zero’s Familiar will enjoy it, and I can’t argue with that – it’s certainly more of the same. The one redeeming feature is the hero, who seems a decent sort and is very uncomfortable with the whole harem concept. We’ll see how long that lasts. Or rather, other readers will.

In general, if you’re going to be a bad manga and keep me interested, it’s best to do it with style. Neither of these titles are things I’d recommend to anyone except SS’s core otaku audience. But honestly, Ghost Urn made me wonder how the cliffhanger might be resolved, whereas with S&S I just didn’t care. On balance, I have to give the edge to Shirow, Rikudou and company here.

My Week in Manga: July 6-July 12, 2015

July 13, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

So, apparently last week was Shark Week, an annual event on the Discovery Channel. I don’t watch much television or pay attention to programming schedules, therefore it was a complete coincidence that both of the manga that I reviewed last week happened to include sharks! First up was my review of the deluxe hardcover omnibus of Junji Ito’s (comedy?) horror manga Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps. It’s an incredibly gross and absurd manga and will certainly not be to everyone’s taste. I was entertained by its outrageousness, but overall much prefer his earlier work Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror. The second review last week was of The Legend of Kamui, Volume 1, an influential historical drama by Sanpei Shirota. The manga was actually one of the earliest series to be released in English back in the 1980s. Fortunately, it’s still relatively easy to find even though it’s long been out-of-print. I really wish that more of the series had been translated, though; The Legend of Kamui is excellent.

A couple of interesting things that I came across last week: Shojo Beat’s tenth anniversary celebration continues with five questions for Julietta Suzuki and Haikasoru posted a translation of a conversation between authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Taiyo Fujii from 2013. (I recently reviewed Fujii’s debut novel Gene Mapper, and reviewed Bacigalupi’s novel The Windup Girl, which has been very well received in Japan, at my old review blog Experiments in Reading several years ago.) Last week was the San Diego Comic-Con, but most of the news and announcements seemed to be repeats of Anime Expo. However, there was one newly announced license that was huge: Udon Entertainment will be releasing Riyoko Ikeda’s influential shoujo classic Rose of Versailles! Among other good news, Udon rescued Moyoco Anno’s marvelous shoujo series Sugar Sugar Rune, which makes me very happy. (I reviewed Del Rey’s edition of the first volume a couple of years back.) Udon will also be releasing Yomi Sarachi’s Steins;Gate manga. Kodansha has picked up Kousuke Fujishima’s manga series Paradise Residence. Dark Horse will be re-releasing Hiroaki Samura’s epic Blade of the Immortal in an omnibus edition which is great news since some of the individual volumes are out-of-print and hard to find. (The series is also a favorite of mine.) A couple of other interesting SDCC/manga-related posts: myths from the Manga Publisher Roundtable and a summary of 2015’s Best and Worst Manga panel. Oh, and Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa: A History of Japan won an Eisner Award!

Quick Takes

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Volume 1 by Aya Shouoto. There were mainly two things that initially drew my attention to The Demon Prince of Momochi House, the beautiful and somewhat provocative cover illustration and the promise of beautiful and somewhat provocative yokai. Himari Momochi unexpectedly inherits a house when she turns sixteen. As an orphan, it’s the only connection that she has to a family that she has never known. But when she arrives, she discovers a couple of complicating factors: the house is a gateway between the human and supernatural realms, and it is already occupied. Honestly, the story’s setup feels a little forced and employs a few well-worn shoujo tropes; it remains to be seen whether or not Shouoto will do anything clever with them. However, the artwork is attractive and I actually really do like the underlying premise of the manga. Although I wasn’t blown away by the first volume of The Demon Prince of Momochi House, I did enjoy it. The series has great potential and the manga certainly delivers on its promise of beautiful spirits. While I’m not in a rush to read the next volume, I’ll likely continue with the series to see if it develops into something really special or if it will merely remain something that is enjoyable in passing.

Dengeki Daisy, Volumes 13-16 by Kyousuke Motomi. It’s been awhile since I’ve read Dengeki Daisy, but it is a manga that I tend to enjoy. Since the final volume of the series was released in English relatively recently, I figured it was about time for me to catch up. Dengeki Daisy isn’t always the most realistic or believable series—frequently things will happen because they’re convenient for the sake of moving the story forward or are being used as a punchline rather than being a convincing development—but it’s still pretty great. The manga also handles the romance between Teru and Kurosaki very well, especially considering the eight-year gap in their ages. Interestingly, while the last volume quickly wraps up the main story, it’s actually mostly devoted to a small collection of side and bonus stories, generally of a humorous nature. The volume also includes Motomi’s debut manga, “No Good Cupid.” It’s kind of a fun send off for the series, especially as the final story arc is focused more on intense action and drama rather than the manga’s humor or the quirkiness of its characters. However, I always find Motomi’s author notes and commentary to be endlessly entertaining. I definitely plan on reading more of her work in the future.

NightS by Kou Yoneda. Only a few of Yoneda’s boys’ love manga have been released in English, but I enjoy her work immensely and would love to see even more of it licensed. NightS is a collection of stories: “NightS,” about a transporter for the yakuza and an older man with whom he becomes entangled (in more ways than one); “Emotion Spectrum,” a high school romance with a bit of a twist on the usual sort of love triangle; and “Reply,” featuring the blossoming relationship between a car salesman and a mechanic. Although the anthology is called NightS, “Reply” is actually the longest and most involved work in the volume. But even the shorter manga feature well-developed stories and characters. They each come across as an individual with a distinctive personality. This is a particularly important aspect of Yoneda’s manga since the plots tend to be very character focused and driven—people and their relationships, romantic or otherwise, are key to her stories. There is a maturity to the storytelling, as well. And a great sense of humor. Though they aren’t comedies, at times the manga collected in NightS can be quite funny. Also, Yoneda’s artwork is excellent; especially impressive is her use of light and shadow to create drama, mood, and atmosphere.

Tokyopop + Disney = Manga Mickey?

July 12, 2015 by Katherine Dacey

Anyone hoping for a definitive statement of Tokyopop’s 2015-16 plans was probably disappointed by the company’s SDCC panel. The company reiterated its intention to do “original manga,” announced it was launching a phone game called Sushi Cross, and hinted that it was negotiating an agreement with Disney. Tokyopop also revealed it will publish a new boxed edition of M. Alice LeGrow’s Bizenghast, one of the company’s best-selling OEL manga titles.

UDON announced that it would be reissuing Moyocco Anno’s tween-friendly fantasy Sugar Sugar Rune (originally published by Del Rey Manga in the 2000s). Also on UDON’s calendar: the oddly punctuated Steins’; Gate, which debuts next month.

If you didn’t make it to SDCC 2015, never fear: Deb Aoki has posted a detailed recap of the Best and Worst Manga Panel of 2015. Although the group focused on new releases from 2015, all five panelists also discussed manga they’d liked to see licensed, from Ai Yazawa’s Neighborhood Story (Gokinjo Monogatori) to Gengoroh Tagame’s My Brother’s Husband (Otouto no Otto).

UDON to Publish Rose of Versailles; Showa Wins Eisner

July 11, 2015 by Katherine Dacey

UDON may have scored the biggest coup of SDCC 2015: at its Saturday panel, the publisher revealed that it had acquired the rights to Rose of Versailles. UDON will release Riyoko Ikeda’s ground-breaking shojo manga in a 2-in-1 omnibus format next spring.

Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa 1939-1944 and Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953 clinched the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia, beating out All You Need Is Kill, In Clothes Called Fat, Master Keaton, One-Punch Man, and Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki.

At the Kodansha Comics panel, one new title was announced: Paradise Residence, an ongoing series by Oh! My Goddess creator Kosuke Fujishima. The Kodansha team also gave the audience a sneak peak at volumes 16 and 17 of Attack on Titan–both of which will include special extras–and hinted that they might have some additional licensing news at Otakon.

Dark Horse will publish a new omnibus edition of Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal. No publication date has been set.

Sword Art Online: Progressive and Tokyo Ghoul lead this week’s New York Times Manga Best Seller list.

Erica Friedman posts the latest Yuri Network News update.

The new omnibus edition of Chi’s Sweet Home looks ridiculously cute. ‘Nuff said.

The Manga Bookshelf gang previews next week’s new arrivals. Over the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi blog, Brigid Alverson highlights July’s best manga, from Twin Star Exorcists to Pandora in the Crimson Shell.

News from Japan: The last chapter of So Cute It Hurts! will appear in the August issue of Sho-Comi; eleven volumes have been released to date. Corpse Princess creator Yoshiichi Akahito just launched a new “battle fantasy manga” in Shonen Gangen magazine.

The Japan Times has a fascinating profile of manga-ka Machiko Satonaka, whose series Tenjo no Niji chronicles the life of the Empress Jiro (645-702 AD).

Reviews: Ash Brown jumps in the WABAC machine for a look at Sanpei Shirato’s The Legend of Kamui, which VIZ originally published in English in the 1990s.

ebooksgirl on vol. 10 of Attack on Titan (Geek Lit Etc.)
Connie on vol. 2 of Black Rose Alice (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 64 of Bleach (WatchPlayRead)
Jocelyn Allen on Deathco (Brain vs. Book)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (Comic Book Bin)
Svetlana Fedotov on Fragments of Horror (Fangoria)
Matthew Warner on Gyo (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 1 of No. 6 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Toradora! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Whispered Words (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on The World of Mud Men (Three Steps Over Japan)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of World Trigger (WatchPlayRead)
Ken H. on vol. 2 of xxxHolic Rei (Sequential Ink)

The Legend of Kamui, Vol. 1

July 10, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Sanpei Shirato
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781569313183
Released: August 1998
Original release: 1990

Sanpei Shirato’s The Legend of Kamui had its beginnings in 1964 as one of the first series to be published in the influential alternative manga magazine Garo. In the 1980s, Sanpei would continue the manga with a second series, Kamui Gaiden. It was Kamui Gaiden that became one of the earliest manga series to be translated into English and widely published in North America. Between 1987 and 1988, Viz and Eclipse Comics released thirty-seven issues of Kamui Gaiden under the title of The Legend of Kamui, serializing edited versions of two stories: “The Island of Sugaru” and “The Sword Wind.” “The Island of Sugaru,” which was later compiled by Viz into two volumes in 1998, is probably one of the most well-known Kamui stories, and not just because of the Kamui Gaiden live-action film adaptation from 2009. The Legend of Kamui, Volume 1 collects the first half of “The Island of Sugaru,” material from a volume of Kamui Gaiden that was originally published in Japan in 1990.

Kamui is an apostate ninja during Japan’s Edo period, on the run from the members of his clan who consider him to be a traitor when he tries to leave. While traveling through Yumigahama he encounters a woman who, like him, once belonged to a clan of ninja. Sugaru has been able to avoid capture and death long enough to establish a new life with a husband and three children who love her, but she is still being hunted and must be constantly vigilant. Sugaru has managed to survive because she doesn’t trust anyone, and that includes Kamui. Although he helped to save her life when she was attacked by Iga ninja, Sugaru can’t take a chance that Kamui might be trying to kill her as well. After an intense battle in which they are both injured, they part ways. But in a strange twist of fate, Kamui is later shipwrecked on the very island where Sugaru and her family reside. Kamui lives peacefully for a time in the small, remote fishing village and Sugaru’s family becomes very fond of him, but Sugaru would rather see him dead.

From reading The Legend of Kamui, Volume 1 alone, not much is known about either Sugaru or Kamui’s past lives beyond the fact that they are trying to escape them. The hunted versus the hunter, whether the prey chooses to flee or to fight, is a theme that recurs throughout the manga, mirrored in both nature and human society. Kamui and Sugaru do have the advantage of being exceptionally adept fighters. Although Sugaru does strain under the burden of keeping both herself and her family safe, she is actually one of the strongest characters in The Legend of Kamui, Volume 1, exhibiting both great determination and martial prowess. Her skills rival and in some cases surpass those held by Kamui. Tragically, and understandably, due to her circumstances Sugaru has lost her ability to trust others; it’s simply no longer an option for her. Kamui, on the other hand, has so far managed to retain that part of his humanity, even though it has put his life in danger on multiple occasions.

I really wish more of The Legend of Kamui had been released in English because the series is excellent. The characters are complex, as are their personal struggles and their searches for freedom in an era that could be unforgiving, harsh, and violent. The action sequences are exciting and dynamic. Although a few ninja tricks are employed during the life-or-death battles—secret techniques, impressive acrobatics, illusions and transformations—there is a sense of realism that pervades The Legend of Kamui. In between the dramatic conflicts are the quieter moments of everyday life in a fishing village. Initially it appears as though Kamui, like Sugaru, will be able to outrun his fate and have a chance at a peaceful, happy existence. He learns to fish and becomes friendly with the villagers who are more than happy to welcome a strong young man into their midst. The Legend of Kamui, Volume 1 offers hope that such changes are possible, but ultimately taking charge of one’s own destiny is a difficult path to follow.

Dark Horse Reveals 2016 Publishing Plans

July 9, 2015 by Katherine Dacey

Dark Horse announced it will publish four new manga in 2016–Danganronpa: The Animation, I Am a Hero, Fate/Zero, and Giganto Maxia-–and reissue RG Veda, formerly a Tokyopop property. Dark Horse also revealed plans for spiffy omnibus editions of Astro Boy and Oh! My Goddess.*

At VIZ’s Shonen Jump panel, editors confirmed that Gakkyu Hotel: School Judgment will make the leap to print in February 2016, while Best Blue, a brand-new shonen sports manga, will appear simultaneously in the Japanese and American editions of Weekly Shonen Jump.

Jennifer de Guzman talks to creators Rikki Simmons, Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons, and Sophie Campbell about their experiences publishing OEL manga with Tokyopop in the mid-2000s.

Do you love writing about shojo? Laura at Heart of Manga wants to hear from you; she’s currently looking for contributors.

News from Japan: After three years of sporadic updates, Kentaro Miura’s Beserk will resume regular serialization in Young Animal magazine on July 24th. The Attack on Titan: Lost Girls light novel is being adapted into a manga for Bessatsu Shonen Magazine; look for the first chapter in August. Fans of My Love Story!! should mark their calendars: the live-action film opens on October 31st.

Reviews: Michelle Smith, Anna N., and Sean Gaffney post short reviews of Assassination Classroom, Love at Fourteen, Say I Love You, and other recent releases. Over at The Comics Journal, Joe McCulloch tackles Junji Ito’s new anthology Fragments of Horror.

Joseph Luster on vol. 5 of Ajin: Demi-Human (Otaku USA)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Alice in Murderland (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Carrie Hildebrand on vol. 64 of Bleach (Three If By Space)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Chaika: The Coffin Princess (Anime News Network)
Joseph Luster on Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon (Otaku USA)
Amanda Vail on Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon (Women Write About Comics)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Emma (Girls Like Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on Fragments of Horror (Comic Book Bin)
Joseph Luster on Fragments of Horror (Otaku USA)
confused muse on Fruits Basket (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Ash Brown on Gyo: The Death Stench Seeps (Experiments in Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 4 of High School DxD (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (WatchPlayRead)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Little Battlers Experience (The Fandom Post)
Naru on vol. 1 of Love Stage!! (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of My Hero Academia (Otaku USA)
Sakura Eries on vol. 8 of My Little Monster (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 4 of My Love Story!! (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 10 of Nisekoi: False Love (WatchPlayRead)
Matthew Warner on Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Extra Story (The Fandom Post)

* Editorial note: As my colleague Brigid Alverson reported in May, Dark Horse originally announced many of these licenses at an unscheduled Anime Central panel. The title of the post has been updated to reflect the error.

Bookshelf Briefs 7/9/15

July 9, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Anna N 1 Comment

After a bit of a break, Sean, Michelle, and Anna offer up a hefty serving of briefs, including recent releases from Seven Seas, Viz Media, Yen Press, and Kodansha Comics.

Alice in the Country of Hearts: Junk Box Stories | By QuinRose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – In general, the stories done by Fujimaru, the ‘default’ Alice artist, have a higher quality to them than the other spinoffs, even in a grab bag collection of short stories like this. There’s a little bit for everyone here (except Julius, my own favorite – sigh), and if you don’t like the Twins as an Alice pairing – which I don’t – wait 10 minutes and we’ll have moved on. The best story in the collection involves Gray, Nightmare’s right-hand man, attempting to get Alice to realize he likes her despite his maturity and her own self-image issues. I feel like I know Gray better now than I did with the Lizard series. Alice fans who want more content should enjoy this. – Sean Gaffney

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 4 | By Yusei Matsui | Viz Media – To defeat a culture of bullying – and let’s face it, the entire school in Assassination Classroom is based around “Bullying is good for you” – requires that the class develop strong bonds between each other and with their teacher. They need to learn to take pride in themselves – which they do at the end of one arc here, insisting that they won’t let an outsider kill Koro-sensei, they have to be the ones to do it. And of course they gain skills through assassination training, which by its very nature also teaches you about everything under the sun. Even Irina is becoming part of the group. This must be worrying the school principal – the cliffhanger seems to say he’s going to make sure this class Knows Their Place. Fantastic as always. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 13 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – right from the beginning, this manga has reminded us that it’s darker than the usual Jump fare and that people are going to die. Right at the start of this volume we see one of the bad guys, moved by Izumo’s plight, try to help her escape… and she’s horribly murdered for her trouble. Our heroes have arrived at last, but are split up and attacked by ghouls – or is it zombies? Far too many of those coming out from Viz Media this month in any case. And of course there’s Renzo, our double-triple-quadruple agent, who we still aren’t sure about. Killing off Izumo’s familiars is not going to win him friends, though. If there’s one big drawback to this series, it’s that it comes out far too slowly. It should move to Weekly Jump. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!, Vol. 6 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – In case anyone was wondering how Soma got the drive to always succeed that we’ve seen in these first few volumes, we’re introduced to his father, the top chef of his own class (though he never did graduate), who promptly creams Soma in a breakfast competition.. and it’s revealed has creamed Soma almost 500 times over the course of his life. Suddenly a schoolwide curry competition seems less taxing. Even though ‘curry’ is pretty broad a topic. I could have done without another teacher who looks like a teenager but is really far older, but in any case most of this is clearly setup for what’s likely to be an amazing set of cooking shonen drama in the next volume. Yum. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 11 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – She may be very hard to like, but there’s no denying that Yozora remains the most fascinating part of Haganai, and the best reason to keep reading. Most of the Friends Club are at least occasionally making the effort to reach out to each other, but Yozora created this club for her and Kodaka, and is still incredibly resentful that it’s hijacked. She’s also trapped in the past, something Sena rightfully calls her out on here, and later on Kodaka does the same thing. This is a shame, as she’s already shown when she applies herself she can do great things – her play here impresses everyone, even Sena. But of all the cast struggling to move forward, I think Yozora will be the last to do so, and the final part of this still ongoing series. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 18 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – This series is now three times as long as Karakuri Odette – remember that? – and after a long and intense arc in Tomoe’s past, is trying to get back to basics with Nanami dealing with school, and the fact that her grades are absolutely awful. But after all this time, she just can’t quite get away from life-threatening crises, or indeed sacrificing herself in order to save even her enemies, which has always been Nanami’s greatest strength and greatest weakness. And rescuing her friends, even if they’ve been turned into dolphins at the behest of a cruel and noble mermaid. I do wonder if Aimi will remember what happens to her, or if we’ll get a convenient memory erasure soon. In any case, still good. – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 3 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – The title is important in this series. We’ve gotten so used to shoujo romance involving young teenage students that the fact that the leads are fourteen-year-olds is more likely to have a reader say “Yes, and?”. But they’re all still maturing, and insecure, and at a very impressionable period in their lives. So we see Kanata and Kazuki deal with their first fight, which starts indirectly and continues simply as they misunderstand each other’s absences. We see Nagai, seemingly betrayed by Hinohara, lashing out in pain and regret, even as he tries to protect her from any consequences. As for Hinohara herself, she’s still the one aspect of this manga that makes me worry. We’ll see what happens next time. – Sean Gaffney

Magi, Vol. 12 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – The core trio of Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana is fun to watch and heartwarming to see develop, but it’s become increasingly clear that Alibaba relies on it more than the other two. So the latter half of this volume, where both Aladdin and Morgiana realize they need to go on their own journeys in order to become stronger, devastates him. Sadly, his acting like a whiny, pathetic young teenager is also very in character, and I hope that he learns a valuable lesson soon. Elsewhere, Sinbad shows off why he’s not the hero of this tale, as his character development has mostly already happened. He easily takes out the volume’s villain, and his seduction techniques are so good they’re made fun of in the extras. Magi is a ton of fun. – Sean Gaffney

My Little Monster, Vol. 8 | By Robico | Kodansha Comics – This series is an interesting blend of familiar shoujo scenarios—like the start of the gang’s second year bringing with it a quirky new first-year character who immediately falls in love with Haru—and a distinctly different vibe that actually makes it seem possible that the two leads will not actually end up together. Granted, Haru and Shizuku do finally become an official couple in this volume, and there are plenty of sweet, significant moments between them, but there are also some missed connections, and the occasional insight into just how broken Haru is that makes their long-term prognosis as a couple less assured than many others I could name. It was lovely to have a small stockpile of volumes to consume over a weekend, and now I’m kind of bummed that volume nine is a whole cruel month away. – Michelle Smith

My Love Story!!, Vol. 5 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – I hope at some point we get a Suna-centric side story, because in this volume he’s at his watchful and sympathetic best as he observes Saijo developing a crush on Takeo, despite the fact that Takeo and Yamato have such a strong relationship. Saijo eventually confesses her feelings, and Suna helps her deal with the aftermath, as Takeo nicely turns her down and reaffirms his commitment to his girlfriend. Takeo and Yamato also celebrate a birthday and learn some important lessons about matchmaking. This manga continues to be unusual in the refreshing lack of drama in each volume, and the smaller more heartwarming moments that continue to drive the love story forwards. Always a great read. – Anna N

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – The first story in this volume is cute and fun, and the last one is sweet but melancholy. But it’s the met of this book that most folks will be talking about, as Natori ends up overhearing about the Book of Friends, something that Natsume has been trying to keep a secret from him for a long, long time. Like most subplots in this series, we’re unlikely to see the consequences of this play out immediately. But it continues the motif of Natsume learning to open up and trust people even as the yokai that he deals with every day show the dark side of trusting humans. There’s a very good reasons that yokai and humans are of two worlds, and Natsume’s precarious balance between them is what makes this manga so addictive. – Sean Gaffney

Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary, Vol. 2 | By Shake-O | Seven Seas – There are some more students with teenage problems introduced here – a winged girl who.hates rules and confinement, a boy who finds growing breasts shows him how women deal with things, and a girl who will eat absolutely anything. But honestly, I suspect most of the audience for this title will only be interested in Kaminaga-sensei, who is the prettiest teacher in school, can control and manipulate her extremely long hair, and is, as one student puts it, “a great big lesbo!” This falls directly in ‘comedy lesbian’ territory, complete with lots of sexual assault of Hitomi, her object of affection. Still, this is a light fluffy comedy series, so that only makes sense. Enjoyable if you don’t take it remotely seriously. – Sean Gaffney

Say I Love You., Vol. 8 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – After a couple of intensely character-driven volumes—particularly focusing on teen model Megumi—we come to a slightly lighter (though not insignificant) story about a school idol contest that Mei ends up entering in an attempt to prevent anyone else from winning the grand prize of a date with the male winner, who is sure to be Yamato. I suppose it was predictable that Mei would end up surprising the audience with a stunning transformation, but the way the contest ultimately plays out should have some interesting repercussions for Mei and Yamato’s relationship. I also quite like that Mei is definitely thinking about going all the way with Yamato, but doesn’t want to do it for the wrong reasons. I’m starting to believe we’ll actually see them take this next step, which is pretty rare for a high school romance manga. – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Plenty of Shoujo

July 9, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: There’s some nice Viz stuff out this week, both new and old, as well as a few choice titles from other publishers. I suspect the MB team will be warring between What Did You Eat Yesterday? and Sunny. I will be picking My Love Story!!, because it’s still the most adorable shoujo out there.

MICHELLE: Actually, although What Did You Eat Yesterday? was indeed my initial impulse, especially since I won’t be able to pick it again for who knows how long, I’m going to vote for Yukarism because volume two really won me over and I’m excited to check out volume three.

ANNA: There’s a ton of great manga coming out this week. Since Michelle already picked Yukarism, I’m going to swing my vote over to The Demon Prince of Momochi House because I am shallow and enjoy manga about handsome spirits.

ASH: Well, so as not to completely disappoint Sean, I’ll throw my pick to the most recent volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?. Actually, I was going to pick that anyway. Or, was I?! My Love Story!! is an excellent choice, as is Sunny. It’s a great week for great manga!

MJ: I’m pretty torn here, but I don’t really have anything original so I’ll simply echo Ash’s sentiment! I choose What Did You Eat Yesterday? as my official pick, but that won’t stop me from picking up the rest as well! Sorry, Sunny, for leaving you in the cold. Yoshinaga always wins.

What looks good to you this week?

Manga the Week of 7/15

July 8, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, MJ and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: Mid-July is a good-sized week, but not completely overwhelming like the first/third weeks tend to be. Let’s see what’s happening.

Dark Horse has the second volume of Oreimo spinoff Kuroneko, marketed to the six remaining Oreimo fans who didn’t scream in anger at the end of the main series.

Kokoro Connect has proven to be a fast favorite of mine, and so I am very happy to see the fourth volume from Seven Seas.

Magika Swordsman and Summoner is the new series debut of the week. It’s fantasy, it has a magical school, our hero is bullied by the students for his status, he amasses a crew of girls who like him, *and* it runs in Comic Alive. If ever a series screamed “License me, Seven Seas!”, this is it. And so they did.

The Sacred Blacksmith also has a new volume, its eighth.

For BL fans, there is the second volume of Love Stage!! from SubLime.

MICHELLE: I wasn’t entirely sold on volume one, but I’m at least willing to check out the second.

ASH: I actually still need to read the first volume…

MJ: Same here.

SEAN: And also a 2nd volume of The World’s Greatest First Love.

I’m loving Vertical’s My Neighbor Seki as much as I thought I would, and the arrival of a third volume fills me with glee.

ASH: My Neighbor Seki is an incredibly delightful series!

ANNA: I haven’t read this yet and I feel guilty.

MJ: I second the glee!

SEAN: The rest is Viz. I believe that Vol. 17 is the final volume of 07-GHOST, though Anna can likely confirm that. Bye, 07-GHOST! You were a good license rescue that I fell so far behind on I may never catch up.

MICHELLE: I still intend to read it, one of these days!

ANNA: I also have not caught up on this series and feel even more guilty, because I liked the first few volumes.

SEAN: Case Closed has Vol. 55, which is not the final volume, or even close to the final volume. It’s a long series is what I’m saying.

The 9th Ranma 1/2 omnibus has one of my favorite arcs of the series, where Akane gets so mad she declares that Nabiki can be Ranma’s fiancee instead, and the fallout that happens is magical. Oh, and we’ll also meet Pantyhose Taro, who… I will not spoil.

There is an 18th volume of RIN-NE, where the plot finally comes into focus and nothing will be the same anymore… OK, I can’t even type that with a straight face.

MICHELLE: I still like RIN-NE, though, particularly when I’m in the mood for something not mentally challenging.

SEAN: Lastly, a 7th volume of superhero manga with BL tease Tiger & Bunny.

Is there a favorite here for you?

Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps

July 8, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Junji Ito
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421579153
Released: April 2015
Original run: 2002

Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps is a short, two-volume horror manga series created by Junji Ito. Originally published in Japan in 2002, Gyo has had several English-language releases by Viz Media. It was first translated between 2003 and 2004, a slightly updated second edition was released between 2007 and 2008, and most recently, published in 2015, was the deluxe hardcover omnibus. In addition to Gyo, the omnibus also collects two of Ito’s short horror manga: “The Sad Tale of the Principal Post” and “The Enigma of Amigara Fault.” The deluxe edition of Gyo is very similar in design to the recent omnibus of Ito’s manga Uzumaki; the two volumes look great on the shelf together. Uzumaki was actually my introduction to Ito’s work, and I consider it to be one of the best horror manga that I’ve read. Despite Gyo having been released in English three times, and despite the fact that I’ve been meaning to read more of Ito’s manga, the series’ deluxe omnibus is actually the first that I’ve read since Uzumaki.

While vacationing in Okinawa, Tadashi and his girlfriend Kaori witness the harbinger of what will eventually become a plague overrunning the entirety of Japan—a small, rotting fish walking on land with what appear to be mechanical legs. Accompanying it is an overwhelming and nauseating stench. Soon, countless fish and other sea creatures begin streaming out of the ocean. The only things that they have in common are the bizarre appendages and the sickening smell. Kaori and Tadashi cut their vacation short and return to Tokyo, but Kaori in particular is traumatized by the events in Okinawa and soon the creatures begin to be found in the city as well. No one knows where the walking fish originated or how they evolved; of much greater concern is the death and disease caused by their presence on land. And things are only getting worse with the passage of time.

The back cover of the omnibus describes Gyo as Ito’s “creepiest masterpiece of horror manga ever.” Admittedly, some of the artwork in Gyo is fantastically creepy, not to mention gruesome and grotesque. Ito is an extremely skilled illustrator, creating images that are horrifying and nightmare-inducing. And as a whole, Gyo can be exceptionally gross. However, the manga’s story ends up being so utterly ridiculous that I would be hard pressed to call it a masterpiece, especially when compared to his earlier work Uzumaki. Whereas Uzumaki is surreal and bizarre, Gyo is so absurd as to be ludicrous, and only increasingly so as the manga progresses. I simply can’t take Gyo seriously; I can only read the series as a comedy, whether or not it is actually intended as such. The manga is perhaps closer to being a cult classic, which I suppose might make it a masterpiece of a different sort, but that’s something that could be argued either way. If nothing else, though, Gyo is a brilliantly outrageous spectacle.

Gyo is certainly not a manga that will appeal to every reader, even those who are already fans of horror manga. Though disconcerting and disgusting, especially the illustrations, the plot of Gyo is too silly to be truly terrifying. Taken alone, the art is superb, but the ridiculous nature of the story creates a weird disconnect. However, I can’t deny that I was entertained by the progressively over-the-top, illogical, and random developments in the manga: sentient gas, a circus out of the middle of nowhere, characters who are oddly oblivious or overly accepting of what is going on around them, and so on. (Though, it is rather sweet how Tadashi sticks beside Kaori through to the very end.) Assuming that one can find it palatable to begin with, Gyo is a very strange manga that is difficult to look away from as Ito presses further and further into territory that is beyond believing. I kept turning the pages to see just how far he would be able to take things. Gyo may very well be one of those manga that’s so good simply because it’s so bad; whether that’s deliberate or not, I’m not sure.

Alice in Murderland, Vol. 1

July 8, 2015 by Sean Gaffney

By Kaori Yuki. Released in Japan as “Kakei no Alice” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Aria. Released in North America by Yen Press.

I’ll admit that I’ve always found Kaori Yuki titles hard to get into, and even harder to review. There is a certain amount of ‘aesthetics preferred over plot and character’ to her work, which makes it highly entertaining and visceral but leaves a person frustrated when they have to talk about it. There’s also giant piles of corpses in most everything she’s done, usually of the most sympathetic women in the book, and that applies here 100%. And of course the grand guignol horror of it all. Oh, and this is yet another of what has become my least favorite genre, the survival game. Despite all that, this is still a compelling read, and I had no trouble getting to the end of Volume 1, though I’m not exactly sure where it’s going beyond ‘chaos’.

Our heroine is the Alice seen on the cover – except not really. She’s actually Stella, a normal dark-haired high school student who is part of a very eccentric family of orphans who were adopted after a tea party filled with mass child slaughter. Every month the family goes to a tea party that’s held by their amazingly insane mother, who this month tells them that the time has come for them to fight each other to the death to see who gets to be the next family head and have access to a medicine that makes a person young and beautiful even in their old age. Some of them are, of course, reluctant to do this, so each of them has a hostage who will be killed if they don’t comply. To make matters worse, none of them are exactly stable to begin with – certainly not Stella, who snaps in traumatic situations and transforms into the blood-spattered Alice seen on the cover.

If this sounds a bit over the top, welcome to the world of Kaori Yuki. I also forgot to mention Alice’s stalker-cum-protector, Tsukito, who carries around voodoo dolls to curse people and is obsessed with Stella, yet halfway through shows up to become her new bodyguard and who we’re now supposed to feel sympathy for, despite the fact that he was a real creep earlier. As for the rest of the family, the other one who merits mention is Zeno, Stella’s ‘big brother’, who is killed early in the volume but then revived, only for Stella to find his personality is quite a bit different. She should be used to this, though, given how she does a 180 degree turn into murderous grinning killer when faced with horrible situations.

I’m not sure I actually enjoyed this – the horror is really grotesque in places, and there’s a sequence with a toy bunny getting restuffed that should come with a trigger warning. But it’s certainly compelling and gives a visceral thrill. I wouldn’t read it if you want to see what happens next with the plot and characters. But if you enjoy Kaori Yuki’s terrifying manga titles, and want to see lots of action and corpses, Alice in Murderland is right up your alley.

Kodansha Licenses Princess Jellyfish; Tokyopop Returns

July 7, 2015 by Katherine Dacey

Just a quick programming note before I tackle the day’s news: The Manga Revue is on hiatus this week so that I can focus on breaking stories from San Diego Comic Con. The Revue will be back on Friday, July 17th with an in-depth look at Junji Ito’s Fragments of Horror. On to the links…

This year’s Anime Expo yielded several major licensing announcements, including the welcome news that Kodansha Comics will be publishing Princess Jellyfish in 2016. Vertical, Inc. also unveiled two recent acquisitions: Nichijou, a surreal gag manga, and FukuFuku: Kitten Tales, a josei title from the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home. For a complete list of all of the titles announced at AX 2015, check out Sean Gaffney’s comprehensive round-up.

The biggest news story of AX 2015 was the re-launch of Tokyopop. Not surprisingly, the Robofish reboot generated numerous essays from industry veterans and journalists, including Alex de Campi, Heidi MacDonald, Aja Romano, and Brigid Alverson. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and read up on Stu Levy’s second act.

Mobile Suit Gundham and Tokyo Ghoul top this week’s New York Times Manga Best Seller list, followed by the perennially popular Naruto and Attack on Titan.

Publisher’s Weekly reports that the North American comics market grew 7% last year, generating almost $1 billion in print and digital sales.

Erica Friedman compiles the latest yuri publication news.

Megan R., host of The Manga Test Drive, shows off her manga collection and discusses her reading habits.

Justin Stroman interviews the husband-and-wife team of Christine Schilling and James Dashiell, who are currently translating Akame ga Kill! and The Seven Deadly Sins. Fun fact: the two met at Tokyopop, where Schilling was an intern and Dashiell was a letterer.

What will you find on the New Arrival shelf this week? The Manga Bookshelf gang sift through the good, the meh, and the awful.

News from Japan: Move over, Daigo Asahina–Atsushi Okubo, creator of Soul Eater, has a new “sci-fi firefighting battle manga” in the works for Weekly Shonen Magazine. Over at Weekly Shonen Jump, creator Masahiro Hirakata will debut Best Blue, a manga about a champion swimmer. Saint Seiya‘s Masami Kuramada also has a new series launching this year: Ai no Jidai (Ichigoe Ichie), a “semi-autobiographical” story that will run in Weekly Shonen Champion.

Reviews: Over at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, confusedmuse sings the praises of Kaori Yuki’s The Cain Saga. Johanna Draper Carlson had an exceptionally productive long weekend, posting reviews of Ani-Emo, So, I Can’t Play H, and Emma. Not to be outdone, Ash Brown posted brief reviews of The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Man of Many Faces.

Ken H. on vol. 5 of Ajin: Demi-Human (Sequential Ink)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (Manga Report)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 5 of Food Wars!! Shokugeki no Soma (Sequential Tart)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1-2 of Love at Fourteen (Comics Worth Reading)
Kristin on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Comic Attack)
Nick Creamer on vols. 5-6 of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Monster Musume (ANN)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Prophecy (Manga Xanadu)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 14 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Twin Star Exorcists (Comic Book Bin)

My Week in Manga: June 29-July 5, 2015

July 6, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Once again, I was actually away for most of the week last week. The taiko ensemble I that primarily play with had a series of performances, a mini taiko tour of sorts, so I was traveling. We had a great time; I only wish I that could make my living in music! (Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll be able to make it work. You know, once the mountain of student loans has been paid back.) Although I fell behind in my reading and writing, I did have a few things in queue to post at Experiments in Manga. First, the Assassination Classroom Giveaway Winner was announced. The post also includes a list of manga available in English that feature teachers. I’m a couple of volumes behind in my reviews for the series, but the honor of the first in-depth manga review for July goes to Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 7. Kenji finally has the chance to meet Shiro’s parents and it’s great. Finally, over the weekend, I posted June’s Bookshelf Overload. Most notably, I found an entire set of the tragically out-of-print Banana Fish that I didn’t have to trade a kidney to obtain!

Because I was away from the Internet for so many days, I didn’t really stumble across any articles that I found particularly interesting. However, Anime Expo was held last week, and there were a ton of licensing announcements. (Manga Bookshelf cohort Sean has a nice roundup.) Kodansha has Akiko Higashimura’s Princess Jellyfish (I’m thrilled!), Shizumu Watanabe and Okushō’s Real Account, and Hoshino Taguchi’s Magatsuki. Haikasoru has the first three novels of Yoshiki Tanaka’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes (hooray!), and Sentai licensed the anime series. Shojo Beat picked up Matsuri Hino’s Shuriken and Pleats and Bisco Hatori’s Behind the Scenes. Seven Seas licensed Angel Beats!: Heaven’s Door. Tokyopop returns to manga publishing in 2016, but no specific titles have yet been mentioned. Vertical will be releasing Keiichi Arawi’s Nichijō, and Kanata Konami’s FukuFuku: Kitten Tales among other things. Yen Press announced a slew of manga and light novel acquisitions, too, including the mahjong manga Saki! (Sadly, it’s currently only a digital release.) I’m sure I’ve missed something, so please let me know what exciting news or reading I should be aware of!

Quick Takes

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Volume 1 by Kore Yamazaki. Apparently, The Ancient Magus’ Bride started as a one-shot doujin before catching the eye of an editor. It’s a curious and atmospheric manga, mostly set in current-day England, albeit it’s a world in which magic and alchemy take their place alongside science. Although magic use seems to be fading away, fae are still very real and a few humans show rare talent for the craft. Chise is one of those humans. Sold into slavery, she is purchased and perhaps rescued by a Elias, a powerful mage who wants her to become his apprentice. He also mentions something about Chise becoming his bride, too, though she can’t quite tell if he’s being serious or not. Granted, it’s a little difficult to read a person with an animal skull for a head. Yokai exist in The Ancient Magus’ Bride as well (they can be seen in the background of some of Chise’s memories), but so far it appears as though the manga will be focusing on Europe’s fantastical and legendary creatures. I enjoyed the first volume of The Anceint Magus’ Bride a great deal and look forward to reading more of the series.

An Entity Observes All Things by Box Brown. I was already curious about An Entity Observes All Things, but after briefly meeting Brown at TCAF I knew that I wanted to read it. The volume includes nine of Brown’s short, alternative comics, three of which were previously published elsewhere while I believe the other six are new for the collection. Though for the most part the comics are unrelated to each other—they don’t really share characters, plots, or settings and even their color palettes are different—in general, the short works fall into the category of science fiction and deal with themes of exploration, specifically of the world and of the self. They all tend to be fairly quirky, too, and can often be rather humorous without necessarily being comedies. I enjoyed An Entity Observes All Things quite a bit. As with most collections, some of the individual comics worked for me more than others, but overall I found the selections to be engaging. Sometimes funny and sometimes sad, the comics are all somewhat strange, and that’s something that I particularly appreciate about An Entity Observes All Things.

Man of Many Faces, Volumes 1-2 by CLAMP. I largely enjoy manga by CLAMP, but if I’m going to be honest, I was primarily interested in Man of Many Faces due to its loose connection to the works of Edogawa Rampo. For the most part, the Rampo references are limited to the characters’ names and roles. There’s the titular “Twenty Faces,” a skilled thief in both Rampo and CLAMP’s creations, a young man by the name of Kobayashi who chases after him, and even Akechi-sensei, although he’s a school doctor rather than a detective in the manga. Man of Many Faces is one of CLAMP’s earliest professional works and it is very, very silly, the more absurd elements being lampshaded and intentionally left unexplained. However, the manga ends up being rather sweet and charming, too. Twenty Faces is a third grader who has taken on the role of the gentleman thief in the absence of his father. Akira steals things according to the whims of his two eccentric mothers in addition to doing all of the cooking and housework. Although the story at first focuses on the various heists, ultimately Man of Many Faces is about romantic love.

AX 2015 Licensing Roundup

July 6, 2015 by Sean Gaffney

So AX 2015 has come and gone, and everyone remembers it as the con where everyone’s dreams came true. Each company had a title that made everyone’s jaw drop, down the line. The ‘impossible’ titles. And there were lots of others as well. Particularly from Yen Press, who dropped 22 titles on us.

I will start with Tokyopop, who had a panel to announce they were back, sort of, and might be getting back into manga, sort of, but had no titles to actually announce. As for its attempting to get creators to sign up with them again, see this.

Let’s move on to Viz Media. The big, BIG announcement here was from Haikasoru, Viz’s science-fiction novel imprint, who announced the acquisition of the first three Legend of Galactic Heroes novels, with more coming if sales are good. It’s possible that this may be too old a property for many readers, but for anime fans of a certain age, this is HUGE. One of the most famous space operas out of Japan. Oh yes, and the anime was licensed as well.

Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint also had two licenses, by some of its more famous mangaka. Bisco Hatori’s Urakata!! is her newest LaLa series, about a drama club. And Matsuri Hino has Shuriken to Pleats, about a young ninja girl who has to start over as a normal high school student, also running in LaLa. Neither of these is particularly surprising, but both are welcome returns for best-selling authors.

Seven Seas was not at AX, but took the weekend to announce a new title of their own. Angel Beats: Heaven’s Door is a prequel to the anime series, and is apparently by the folks behind Air, Kanon, and Clannad, so I expect it might be depressing. It runs in Dengeki G’s magazine, and is ongoing with 8 volumes in Japan.

Vertical was next, and I will admit that their big surprise was possibly the least shocking of the big con surprises. But still made me very happy. Nichijou is a gag manga famous for being wonderfully strange, and inspired an equally strange yet adorable anime. It runs in various Kadokawa magazines, including Shonen Ace, and is 9+ volumes. It is worth the purchase, especially if you enjoy My Neighbor Seki.

There’s also Fuku Fuku Nya~n, which is the latest in a series of Nya~n titles about an old woman and her cat that technically is a josei title, but really is more of a cat lover’s title. It’s by the author of Chi’s Sweet Home. Lastly, Vertical announced a new Attack on Titan novel, Lost girls, which has short stories focusing on, among others, Mikasa and Annie, who also get the cover.

Mangagamer is not a manga company, but I would feel remiss if I did not mention that they have licensed the Umineko When They Cry visual novels, which will be released arc by arc on Steam. They’re working with Witch Hunt, the Umineko fan translators, to refine and improve translation, and will, again, have an option of updated sprites. No release date set yet that I saw. Umineko is more cynical and difficult to read than Higurashi, but also has more depth and better writing.

Kodansha Comics had three announcements. In the non-earth-shattering ones, Real Account is a Weekly Shonen Magazine series combining the increasingly popular survival game genre with social media. Maga-Tsuki is a harem comedy from shonen Sirius that will likely fulfill every fan’s fanservice needs. And oh yes, one more thing, Kuragehime.

Kuragehime, aka Princess Jellyfish, has been one of THE most demanded josei series of the last few years. It runs in Kodansha’s KISS magazine, and involves a shy girl who loves jellyfish and her meeting with a beautiful young… woman? It inspired a popular anime, and everyone assumed it would not be licensed here as a) it’s josei and b) it’s 15 volumes and counting. Kodansha is doing it in 2-in-1 omnibuses, with a larger trim size. And Crunchyroll Manga also announced it will have it digitally, starting July 15.

That’s a lot of stuff. What could be left? Oh right, Yen. Let’s break this down into three waves.

First, digital-only series. There’s supernatural/horror titles (Aphorism, Corpse Princess, Renaissance Eve), another survival game series (Seishun x Kikanjuu), harem comedies (the popular yet polarizing Sekirei), straight-up mysteries (Black Detective), and even gambling manga (Kakegurui). There’s also series where I have no idea at all: Ore no Kanojo ni Nani ka Youkai is by the Working! author, and Manzen Maou Shoujo Ena-sama… I don’t even know. The big one here, though, even if it is only in digital format, is Saki. This long-running mahjong manga with yuri subtext has been an underground favorite ever since the anime came out, and it’s nice to see it getting a NA release.

In actual print, we’ll start with Handa-kun, the prequel to Barakamon. It had been previously announced as digital only, but I guess is popular enough that it’s now getting a regular release. For Log Horizon fans, the popular spinoff West Wind Brigade has been licensed. Sword Art Online’s manga continuations have been licensed – both Phantom Bullet and Mother’s Rosario, which run concurrently in Japan. Phantom Bullet’s artist also does Sacred Blacksmith.

There are a few Dragon Age titles, which usually are a bit more fanservicey than most. Kamigoroshihime Zilch seems to be about a teen who’s told he’s secretly incredibly powerful. And Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, better known as Saekano, is based on a light novel, though Yen have only announced the manga, which is an odd combination of harem manga and visual novel creation. Fans of Genshiken might like this. Lastly, as it wouldn’t be a con without something from Comic Alive being licensed, Taboo-Tattoo seems to be a manga with lots of girls fighting – indeed, I can’t really find much else about it except that.

But Sean, you’re thinking, where is the jaw-dropping Yen Press title? Well, for that, let’s turn to the light nvoel imprint, Yen On. First, there’s a sequel to the horror novel Another, called Episode S. The second one, Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru, is very surprising for two reasons. First, it’s owned by Shogakukan, who usually do not let their books fall outside Viz’s purview, even if Viz isn’t actually doing novels at the moment. Secondly, it’s the first Yen On title to be announced that does not involve some element of fantasy or supernatural – it’s a straight up romantic comedy. It also sells like hotcakes in Japan, and has a very popular anime, which likely explains why Yen moved past 1 and 2 above. They’ve also licensed the manga.

But there is also Baccano!. From the author of Durarara!!, this is actually Narita’s first series, about a group of mobsters in 1930s New York who get caught up with a group of immortals. Baccano! is one of those series whose anime was FAR more popular in the West than in Japan, where it bombed. It has a huge online fandom in areas such as Tumblr, and fans had been begging Yen for the novels. I was not expecting this at all – I love Baccano!, particularly the characters of Isaac and Miria, who are very… themselves. Everyone is flipping out over this, and I really hope it sells incredibly well.

Lastly, there is Crunchyroll manga. In addition to the Princess Jellyfish release I mentioned above, we have Fukigen na Mononokean (another supernatural title), Takahashi-san ga Kiite Iru (a gag comedy about an eavesdropping girl), Kuzu no Honkai (a romantic drama seinen series about pretend lovers), and Amaama to Inazuma (a child-rearing manga which should interest those who enjoyed Bunny Drop but disliked the road it went down). I like the variety of series they’re getting, and will definitely be checking these out.

There’s also SDCC next week, but I expect, while there will certainly be some titles announced there, it will be quieter than this week. AX has let everyone exhausted but happy, even those who didn’t attend it.

The Demon Prince of Momochi House Vol. 1

July 5, 2015 by Anna N

The Demon Prince of Momochi House Volume 1 by Aya Shouoto

I enjoy Shouoto’s other series, Kiss of the Rose Princess, so I was interested in trying out The Demon Prince of Momochi House. When I read the description and looked at the front cover, I was also curious to see how similar it might be to another Shojo Beat series featuring yokai, Kamisama Kiss.

<br />

Himari Momochi is a plucky orphan who inherits a house that has been in her family for years. She decides to journey to Momochi House and claim her inheritance, despite some dire warnings along the way that the house she’s traveling to is haunted. When she arrives at the house, the inside is trashed and shadowy figures keep brushing past her as she explores the interior. One of the shadowy figures ends up being a naked young man named Aoi, who is quickly admonished to put clothes on by a couple of other men. They accuse Himari of being a burglar, and she quickly produces the legal document that proclaims she’s the owner of the house. Himari is determined to stay, and the horrible cleaning jobs that await her and the mysterious implosion of her smartphone, and presence of male squatters do nothing to change her attachment to her new home. Mysterious animal yokai appear, and Himari is introduced to the supernatural elements that occupy her house. Aoi is serving as the guardian spirit, and the other young men are his helper spirits Yukari and Ise.

When Aoi switches from his human to Omamoiri form, he admonishes Himari not to look at him in his beguiling fox spirit guise. Himari thinks the relationship between Aoi and his helpers is very much like a family, which makes her wistful. She’s also pragmatic despite the new element of the supernatural in her life, deciding that she needs to charger her three freeloaders rent and thinking about investigating enrolling in a local school. Aoi and Himari are clearly attracted to each other, and Aoi seems to be operating under an imperative that he protect her at all costs from the haunted elements that still exist in her ancestral home.

Demon Prince of Momochi House is a much less silly series than Kiss of the Rose Princess. I think the art is stronger and a bit more distinctive than Rose Princess too. Sometimes drawing spirits brings out the best in a manga-ka! Some aspects of this series did remind me of Kamisama Kiss, but I also feel as though Kamisama Kiss is such a standout series in terms of quality that other manga are going to suffer in comparison automatically. I wish there had been a bit more character development, because so far the characters seem more like types than fully realized individuals. I found myself liking Kiss of the Rose Princess more as the series progressed, and I’m expecting that to happen with The Demon Prince of Momochi House too. It could be that I’m just a sucker for series featuring handsome spirits, but I enjoyed this first volume much more than the first volume of Kiss of the Rose Princess too. I’m hoping for more character development in the next volume.