Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Takasugi-San’s Obento Vol. 1

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Takasugi-San’s Obento Vol. 1 by Nozomi Yanahara

This title is available on emanga.com, and the print volume is available for pre-order.

I’ve always been a bit interested in bento, even though I haven’t made it yet. I like the idea of all the cute bento boxes and accessories you can buy, and it certainly seems like a healthy way to prepare lunch. Takasugi-San’s Obento will appeal to foodie manga fans and those who enjoy slice of life stories. Takasugi is a hapless newly minted professor who hasn’t been able to get a regular faculty position since getting his doctorate. While the manga says his subject area is geography, his research methods look a lot more like cultural anthropology to me. While Takasugi is in his early thirties, he gets blindsided with adult responsibilities very quickly when he gets word that his long-lost aunt has died and left him her 12 year old daughter Kururi.

Kururi ends up being a tiny, doll-like girl who mainly presents herself as a blank slate. She does however get extremely excited about grocery store bargains, as she and Takasugi mainly attempt to bond with each other through the process of making lunch for the next day. Along the way they explore favorite meals and how the preparation of a bento can take on a deeper meaning. Kururi shops around to find the ingredients for a lunch her mother used to prepare for Takasugi after he makes an offhand comment about remembering his Aunt’s lunches. When Takasugi observes the differences between Kururi and her classmates at school he concludes that the way to fix things is to put more ingredients in her bento.

Different dishes and geographic variation with food are addressed as Takasugi and Kururu slowly get used to living with each other. They communicate mainly through food preparation. There’s a bit of a humorous element to this slice of life manga, as Takasugi’s eagerness to prove that he isn’t creepy for being the guardian of a 12 year old girl comes across as somewhat creepy, and his colleagues are constantly talking about Takasugi’s lack of job direction. There are some glimmerings of romance, but the focus of the manga is on food preparation, and I hope it stays this way for the next volume. It was interesting to read about the various ways of making bento in the context of this slice of life story.

Red Blinds the Foolish by est em

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I wasn’t sure at first what I was going to write about for the 801 Manga Moveable Feast, and then I remembered that I bought a few volumes of manga when Deux was going out of business and hadn’t gotten around to reading them. In particular I’ve been hoarding a couple Est Em books that I haven’t read yet, I think just because I just liked knowing that there was some English language Est Em manga that I could look forward to.

As I picked up this volume, one thing that caught my attention was a quote on the back by translator Matt Thorn comparing est em to Ursula LeGuin. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of that comparison, but as I thought about it more it seemed to make sense, as both authors explore concepts, ideas, and place in their work in an extremely thoughtful way. I tend to think of est em as a literary titan among yaoi authors. Red Blinds the Foolish doesn’t disappoint the reader looking for more thoughtful yaoi.

The main story in this volume focuses on Ratifa, a young successful matador, and Mauro who ends up butchering the bulls that are killed in the ring. Maruo is bull-like in some of his characteristics, as he is color blind just like a bull. This type of set-up might seem like a bit like metaphoric overload from a lessor creator, but est em’s slice of life approach documents the growing relationship between the couple in such a natural way that the reader ends up absorbing a lot of philosophy and bullfighting information without being hit over the head with a hammer of symbolism. There are fairly explicit sex scenes in this book, but I didn’t find them to be particularly lascivious because they take place in the context of a conversation between the characters. They could just be going out for coffee or eating tapas and and talking but since this is a yaoi manga they’re having sex.

The last third of the manga is a few short stories focusing on relationships in various stages – established, just beginning, and nostalgic. What makes est em’s work so interesting isn’t so much the specific details of the plots of her stories, but the general sense of wistfulness or longing she evokes by the time the reader reaches the conclusion. Seeing est em illustrations and then going back to more commercial manga always gives me a bit of mental whiplash, as her style with delicate, not overly polished lines and a very judicious use of screen tone always evokes a sense of clarity. I enjoyed reading Red Blinds the Foolish very much. It shows how versatile est em can be, that she can produce a work that explores relationships like Red Blinds the Foolish and then is also able to make an abrupt turn into the wacky but still poignant with a manga like Working Kentauros.

Manga the Week of 8/14

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SEAN: First of all, I’m giving up on moving Yen to when I get it. Diamond is shipping it next week to me, but that would mean 25 books this week, and only 3 to discuss next week. That’s just imbalanced. I’ll go back to using Amazon’s street date, and just revel in things on my own earlier.

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We start off with another Tezuka manga, as Vol. 1 of Triton of the Sea hits stores via Digital Manga Publishing. Another late 60s/early 70s Tezuka title, this was serialized one page at a time in Kodansha’s daily newspaper Sankei Shimbun. The story involves humans and mermaids, and is not as peppy and cheerful as Unico and Atomcat were.

ANNA: This looks interesting!

SEAN: DMP are slowly returning to print, which means more BL titles as well. The Tyrant Falls in Love has hit 8 volumes, and judging by the description it’s done that by basically being a giant soap opera. Expect emotions.

MICHELLE: I’ve never read any of this series, but I’m very happy to see DMP returning to print editions.

ANNA: I’m also glad to see that DMP is returning to print.

MJ: I hated the first volume of this series and then loved the second. I’ve been warned off later volumes of the series by fans who know my tastes, but I’m still glad to see it returning to print.

SEAN: Meanwhile, Wild Honey is a one-and-done volume that involves… sigh… werewolves. Really hot werewolves, no doubt.

Kodansha has the 2nd Battle Angel Alita: Last Order omnibus. I think this volume will feature the title’s descent into the Tournament Arc from Hell, which it takes several years to emerge from. That said, the fights are quite well drawn.

And the second volume of No. 6 drops, where no doubt our hero continues to find out how this world really operates and has more not-quite-ship tease with his newfound companion.

MICHELLE: I’m going to give this series one more volume at least, but I’m feeling a little meh so far.

SEAN: SubLime has the 2nd volume of Blue Morning, for those who want butlers and masters and really well-done cover art.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: I kinda can’t wait for this.

SEAN: For those who don’t want well-done cover art, there’s Embracing Love, debuting here in a 2-in-1 omnibus. See how the leads stare at you. They are serious about being gay. VERY serious.

MICHELLE: *snerk* I believe this is considered a BL classic, so I’m interested to read it.

MJ: Agreed.

SEAN: Viz has some amazing titles coming out this week, making my Pick of the Week either a chore or something I will have to cheat on. Dorohedoro hits double digits, which I am honestly delighted by. Still my favorite SigIkki title, and it looks like it may be hitting a point of no return soon in regards to Caiman.

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EXCEL SAGA 26! The second to last volume! Do you realize that we are almost at a point where you will not be buying new volumes of Excel Saga? This makes me so sad! And yet, new volume! Everyone must buy it! It has Homestuck, Warehouse 13, and Welcome to Night Vale cameos in it! Really! Trust me! Would I lie to you?

MJ: Someday, Sean, I’m going to try to read this series, and it will be entirely because of your undying enthusiasm.

SEAN: InuYasha’s VIZBIG edition hits Vol. 16, containing… (calculates) 3 more volumes! Honestly, I can’t remember. I think it’s somewhere in the 40s. Takahashi fantasy at its most popular. I really must catch up one day.

MICHELLE: I still haven’t finished InuYasha. I think I have the last ten volumes hanging around here unread.

ANNA: I am frightened by the length of this series, but it is totally something I would check out of the library one day.

SEAN: Itsuwaribito 9 brings us to a village ruled by women who have no use for men. Oh dear. In a shonen manga? Please don’t have the village learn a valuable lesson about how awesome the male lead is…

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I’ve been waiting for this debut for a while now. Magi is one of Shonen Sunday’s more successful current titles, and I hope the title breaks out here in North America in a big way. Retelling the Arabian Nights the shonen fantasy way, with verve and sass. And yes, starts slow. All Sunday titles start slow.

MICHELLE: I was pleasantly surprised by volume one, so if it gets even better from here, that’s definitely promising.

ANNA: Hmm, this sounds like a good shonen series for me to try out.

MJ: I’ve definitely got this in my queue!

SEAN: Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 gives us Vol. 4, containing Vols. 10-12 of the original title, and everything begins to go completely to hell here. Not that it had all that far to wander, honestly.

If you can’t get enough of the main Tiger & Bunny series, how about a doujinshi anthology? No, not like that, you pervs. This is 100% clean, though no doubt FILLED with ship tease. Vol. 1 of the anthology debuts from Viz.

MJ: I gotta say… meh. Unfortunately.

SEAN: Lastly, the X 3-in-1 hits Vol. 6. If I’m not mistaken, this is where the volumes will have to end, at least until CLAMP returns to the title to wrap it up. Which ain’t happening anytime soon. In the meantime, enjoy where it leaves off.

MICHELLE: I have no idea if it’s still available, but the anime did offer an ending of sorts. Or at least a reasonably satisfying stopping point.

ANNA: This is really one of my favorite CLAMP series despite the lack of ending.

MJ: I’m actually really looking forward to this, even though I’ve already read the not!ending. These lovely editions really have given me a new appreciation for the series.

SEAN: Besides EXCEL SAGA!, what else interests you here?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/5/13

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This week, Anna, Sean, and Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media and Kodansha Comics.

dawn10Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 10 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – This fantasy manga featuring a misfit red-headed princess struggling with her gift to see into the past and future has developed into an engrossing story with a focus on expansive worldbuilding and political machinations. The tenth volume heads into a new direction as Nakaba and Caesar are remarried to other people, while still determined to somehow build the better world they envisioned together. Nakaba has come a long way since her more tentative appearance in the first volume, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she does as she seeks her own political power with only Loki by her side. – Anna N.

devil10A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 10 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – It isn’t often that a shoujo manga volume leaves me with conflicting feelings a few days after reading it, but I’ve come to expect the unexpected from this manga. While Shin has been warned off from physical intimacy with Maria due to her psychological issues, he does force the issue with traumatizing results. Maria has unsettling flashbacks as her repressed memories are triggered, and Shin continues for a bit despite her clear distress. In a way this scene almost feels like Tomori’s commentary on the way similar set-ups are romanticized in manga, but in A Devil and Her Love Song it is genuinely unsettling. I predict fallout from this volume will continue for awhile. This is one manga that is always a bit unpredictable, which is why I enjoy reading it. – Anna N

fairytail28Fairy Tail, Vol. 28 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – Several people may have been surprised, even a bit annoyed, at Cana ignoring her friends’ plight in order to reach the goal of the S-class battle that is clearly cancelled. Now we find out why – it’s tied in to finding her father, whose identity is someone we all know. Cana’s past is rather sad and lonely, and reminds me a bit of Wendy. Meanwhile, the villains strike back in the quest to secure victory on the island, and at one point are so strong they even take out Gildarts (who, it has been said, rarely appears as he’s such a game-breaker). Luckily, Erza wins the day by, well, her psychic connection with Jellal – sorry, folks who hate him. As for Grey, he quickly sees through Ultear’s false crocodile tears. But is that going to do him any good? Still a fun shonen battle manga. – Sean Gaffney

kaze21Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 21 | By Taeko Watanabe | Viz Media – Volume 21 focuses on the fallout from Sei’s stint as an undercover spy—as a result of Okita’s feelings for her jeopardizing the mission, Sei is transferred to another company. She’s never been one for just following orders and so demands an explanation, and when Okita claims he requested the transfer because he’s sick of her, she contemplates giving up on bushi life and becoming a nun until an actual nun helps her gain perspective. I enjoyed this volume, but I was troubled by the number of times various characters equate being a girl with impetuous thinking. Too, Sei blames the female part of herself for wanting love, but isn’t it equally the girl part of her that wants to be a bushi and avenge her father and brother? This is something that Basara got right, and which I thought Kaze Hikaru did too. I must say I’m a little disappointed, though my love for the series remains intact. – Michelle Smith

magi1Magi, Vol. 1 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I knew absolutely nothing about Magi going in to this debut volume, but it turned out to be pretty fun! The first chapter introduces Aladdin, a young boy with a penchant for good food, pretty ladies, and super-deformity. He’s on the search for a metal vessel for his friend, Ugo the djinn, who currently resides in the flute Aladdin wears around his neck and who can be summoned in times of need. When Alibaba, a destitute young man looking to strike it rich by “clearing” one of the mysterious and deadly treasure-laden dungeons that have sprung up around the world, witnesses Ugo in action, he decides that Aladdin must be his servant friend and accompany him in this perilous endeavour. Magi‘s tone is light and the RPG influence strong, resulting in something that’s familiar and yet sort of refreshing. I’ll definitely be checking out volume two. – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Abundance

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potw-8-5-newMICHELLE: There’s a lot of good stuff coming out this week, but since I only get to do this once a year… my pick of the week goes to volume 21 of Kaze Hikaru. Even though this particular volume disappoints me just a little (see today’s briefs column!) the series still ranks among my favorites.

ANNA: If someone else hadn’t picked Kaze Hikaru, I would have gone with that! So I will pick the first volume of Happy Marriage?! because I am always ready to celebrate new josei titles.

SEAN: It’s gotta be Kitaro for me. Ever since I first saw an anime adaptation at Otakon in 1999, I’ve been fascinated by this series. Kitaro, the mostly stoic boy hero; his father, who is an eyeball with legs; his not-quite-girlfriend Neko Musume, and most importantly, Nezumi Otoko, the worst friend ever. Creepy yokai galore. It’s gonna be great.

MJ: This is a tough week, for sure. I do like to applaud endings, so it’s difficult to pass on the final volume of Bakuman, especially now that I’ve begun to care about its primary romance, and I’m interested in all the titles listed here, as well as the second omnibus edition of Lone Wolf and Cub. But I’ll give my vote to volume four of Tsutomu Nihei’s Knights of Sidonia, out this week from Vertical. It’s got everything I could want in a mecha series, which is to say, everything I could want in any series—action, complicated characterization, heartbreak, and truly stunning artwork. I’m all in for Knights of Sidonia.

What looks good to you this week?

Manga the Week of 8/7

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SEAN: Can’t talk, too much manga.

Dark Horse has the 2nd Lone Wolf and Cub omnibus. I enjoyed the first one more than I thought, and will hope that the 2nd gives us just as much assassination intrigue and adorable toddlers with killer eyes.

MICHELLE: I also liked it more than I expected.

ANNA: I read the first five or so volumes of this back in the day, and am glad it is getting reissued.

MJ: I’m surprised to find myself really looking forward to this second omnibus!

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SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly finally, after a long gestation period, has the first in what I hope becomes a series of books based on Shigeru Mizuki’s 60s yokai classic, Gegege no Kitaro. Retitled Kitaro for North America (Gegege is sort of an untranslatable sound of fear), it’s over 400 pages of 60s shonen goodness. For those who love all the yokai manga coming out these days, here’s the King.

ANNA: I am intrigued by this!

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: I know only I care, but I still do care: Kodansha Comics has Vol. 31 of The Wallflower. 31 volumes! That’s more than Kenshin! Lots more than Fruits Basket! It’s 30 volumes more than Gaba Kawa! It’s a long series that rewards me with comedy, not romance.

MICHELLE: Back in the day, I bought the first six or seven volumes of this. But then I learned about its length and its episodic nature and I just went “Ugh.”

ANNA: I had a very similar reaction to Michelle’s. I found the first few volumes amusing but wasn’t willing to sign up for a neverending series.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a significant presence this week. There’s another Alice spinoff, The Clockmaker’s Story. The spinoffs are starting to glut the market, but I really enjoy Julius and his grumpypantsness. He reminds me of Austria from Hetalia. So I have hopes for this.

MICHELLE: I kinda like Julius, too, but I have really lost count of these spinoffs.

ANNA: I am pro-Julius!

SEAN: Hooray, a new volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun, the manga that reminds you once again that spinoffs can not only do better than the original, but inspire flamewars about the original! The athletics festival continues here, and we find out what Misaka does when her support team of good friends is taken from her.

Dance in the Vampire Bund continues to omnibus itself with Vols. 7-9. I understand it has vampires.

Kanokon also gives us an omnibus, featuring Vols. 3 and 4. I think I’ve already said what I need to about this series.

MICHELLE: I don’t even know what Kanokon is. Should I be glad?

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SEAN: The Sacred Blacksmith has a second volume, for fantasy swordplay fans. I seem to recall I liked this slightly better.

And World War Blue, Seven Seas’ attempt to license a Fairy Tail that’s all their own, has its own Volume 2, just a month after Vol. 1.

It’s rare I discuss artbooks, but I’m also a giant Haruhi Suzumiya fanboy, so this dovetails nicely. Udon is putting out the first of a series of Haruhi artbooks, this called Haruhi-Ism: Noizi Ito Artworks. I suspect, as opposed to Udon’s amazing Read or Die artbook, we’ll see more art and less infotext here. But hey, getting it anyway.

MJ: I’m actually kind of interested in this, too.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 4th volume of Knights of Sidonia. What’s the chance they go back to the wacky harem comedy this time around? I’m guessing it’s more likely there will be body horror and space battles instead. But it’s good. I’m just being churlish.

MICHELLE: But it’s creepy body horror of the best kind! I love Sidonia a lot.

ANNA: I guess I am now two volumes behind on this series, but I look forward to getting caught up. I’m happy that Vertical is bringing over mecha manga like this and Gundam: The Origin.

MJ: I *heart* Knights of Sidonia very much.

SEAN: And Viz. Bakuman comes to an end with its 20th volume, and has proven to at least be a slightly happier ride than Death Note. Certainly more people know about the workings of Jump now…

MICHELLE: Stay tuned for a special Off the Shelf devoted to Bakuman., coming next month!

MJ: I’m really looking forward to the discussion with Michelle. This series surprised me at intervals, throughout, and I was especially surprised to find myself actually caring about the romance during the last volume. Can’t wait to see how it plays out!

SEAN: A Devil And Her Love Song hits double digits with Vol. 10. Given where last volume left off, it’s expecting this one will be a big ol’ angstfest, but you never know.

MICHELLE: I think angstfest is a good bet.

ANNA: I have read this and haven’t been able to write my review yet, but I would say that it goes beyond angsfest and heads strongly into severe emotional traumaland.

MJ: Oh, my.

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SEAN: Happy Marriage?! is the new josei title from Shojo Beat, being another foray into the magazine that gave us Butterflies, Flowers. I must admit, I’m a bit wary – Butterflies, Flowers succeeded for me because of its ridiculousness – this may not have as much of that. But hey, any Petit Comic over here is good.

MICHELLE: I’m wary, too, but I’ll give it a shot.

ANNA: I liked it just fine! It is a lightweight, fun to read josei title. Not as goofy as Butterflies, Flowers, but still enjoyable.

MJ: I’m interested, for sure. Wary, but interested.

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss has caught up with Japan, at least as much as Viz allows itself to do, so it’s been a while since we’ve seen it. Lucky Number 13 should give us yokai manga of the week #2.

MICHELLE: I’m going to try to get caught up on this soon.

SEAN: Kaze Hikaru 21! Squee! OK, I admit, I’m still 20 volumes behind on this series. But hey, any series that comes out yearly is always in my wheelhouse, given Excel Saga was there for a while as well. Highly underrated shoujo, from what my friends tell me.

MICHELLE: I love Kaze Hikaru very much. Everyone should read it! But especially MJ.

ANNA: I adore this series and I always feel a bit giddy when a new volume comes out.

MJ: *hangs head in shame*

SEAN: Kimi ni Todoke 17. I have little to say about this series, even though I love it to bits. Just expect everyone to be even more sweet and adorable, OK?

MICHELLE: Works for me!

ANNA: Works for me too!

MJ: Count me in!

SEAN: Another series hits double digits as Library Wars: Love & War gets to Vol. 10. I think this got delayed a month or so, so I hope it’s worth the wait.

MICHELLE: I’m kind of surprised how much I’ve been enjoying Library Wars lately.

ANNA: I was always going to be a fan because it is not that often that my profession gets featured in a manga, but I think that this series has gotten more enjoyable several volumes in.

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SEAN: Naruto 62. That’s a whole lotta ninja.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan wraps up Kyoto here at last, and moves on to a few side stories before the next big arc. It’s also yokai manga #3.

There’s always one Viz manga Diamond ships to my store late, and this month it’s Otomen 16. But the rest of you will get it. As always, I’m there for the Ryo.

Slam Dunk is in its closing volumes, but still not quite there yet. Here’s Vol. 29.

MICHELLE: It is taking a lot of willpower not to read the three unread volumes I have now collected, but this series is so good when read in chunks, so I’m tying to hold out ’til volume 31 gets here.

ANNA: I have less self control and generally read Slam Dunk as soon as it arrives because I can’t ration out my reading of this sports manga masterwork.

SEAN: Tegami Bachi is bachi-ing its tegami with Vol. 14. (Sorry, this has been a long post, I’m tired, and I don’t read the series.)

Lastly, Toriko 17 wraps everything up with some more tasty food fighting.

Assuming you didn’t move on halfway through this endless list, what are you getting this week?

Goong: The Royal Palace vols. 11 and 12

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“This will be my great, tear-filled finale!”

Melodramatic lines like this, spoken in this case by prince-in-waiting Yul are why I enjoy this melodramatic manhwa so much. The misadventures and heartbreak of Prince Shin and common girl turned princess Chae-Kyung continue in Goong, as she deals with the death of her grandfather and forces within the royal family conspire to drive the couple apart.

Shin is consumed with guilt over not being able to tell Chae-Kyung that the palace kept her from going to her grandfather’s side as he was dying. The King begins to crack under the weight of the promise he made to make Yul the Prince instead of Shin. Yul manipulates the Queen into putting forward the divorce of Shin and Chae-Kyung even as he’s saddled with his own fiancee, the psychotic rich girl Mi-Roo. Yul justifies his actions by thinking of the love he has for Chae-Kyung, thinking that she’ll be happier outside the palace. While it is clear that living in the palace is taking a toll on her physical health, her growing devotion to Shin ensures that she’ll be experiencing plenty of trauma if she’s separated from her young husband.

As I was reading this volume I appreciated how far Shin has come as he’s adjusted to his royal responsibilities. The reader gets a sense of the king he could become when he hears out his father’s confession and makes an audacious speech to parliament. Shin and Chae-Kyung manage to sneak off with each other a little bit, and as a couple they seem stronger, which means that surely disaster lurks ahead.

The 12th volume marks a turning point, as the divorce between Chae-Kyung and Shin becomes public. Even thought the queen attempts to get Chae-Kyung to keep the reasons for the divorce secret, Shin quickly figures out that his wife isn’t divorcing him willingly. Chae-Kyung prepares to live the life of an ex-princess and Shin is determined to get her back somehow even after the divorce goes through. Chae-Kyung at first protests the idea of leaving the palace with money and property but Shin insists on giving her what she’s due because that’s the only thing he can do for her during the divorce.

More than anything else, I finished reading this volume with a sense that the institution of the palace in Goong damages most people in irreparable ways. The King seems like he’s about to have a nervous breakdown. The Queen vows revenge on her evil sister-in-law. Yul continues to be both handsome and deluded. Chae-Kyung and Shin are devastated, and while there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll end up together, I’m guessing that it’ll take a bit of time before that’s possible. The glimmerings of kingly behavior Shin has displayed recently make me think that he might be up to the task of manipulating the Royal Family and leaning on public opinion until he gets what he wants.

Goong is a very satisfying, soapy series. The slapstick comedy elements combined with all the scenes of emotional devastation sometimes make the tone a little off, but the elaborate settings, ongoing plots, and stylized art combine to tie everything together nicely. I’m looking forward to reading volume 13, and I was excited to see that it looks like previous volumes of Goong are going to get a release on the kindle in the next couple months.

Pick of the Week: Sugiura & Tezuka

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potw-7-29SEAN: There’s a few interesting items this week, but none catches my attention more than Picturebox’s Last of the Mohicans, by Shigeru Sugiura. I’ll admit, I find the original Fenimore Cooper to be absolutely wretched. But I’m always up for a good adaptation, especially if it’s by an artist known to be as surreal as Sugiura was. Who knows, perhaps Natty Bumppo will be killed off horribly or something. In any case, this is a rare case where I know next to nothing about the content but am still excited to see it.

MICHELLE: And I know next to nothing about Tezuka’s Twin Knights, but I’ll still name it as my Pick of the Week. I really wanted to like Princess Knight more than I did, and I’m hopeful that somehow this sequel (though it actually came out before the remake we got here) will avoid some of the more problematic ideas, like female hearts being weak. I hope I don’t hope in vain!

ANNA: I’ll also throw in for Twin Knights as it is the manga from this week that I see myself reading soon!

MJ: Though I, too, have high hopes for Twin Knights, I’ll go with Sean’s choice, Shigeru Sugiura’s adaptation of Last of the Mohicans! I’m fascinated by everything I’ve heard about Sugiura’s art style, and though I’m skeptical about this story in particular, I’m willing to give it a try. It’s a unique opportunity, and I don’t intend to miss it.

What looks good to you this week?

Happy Marriage ?! Vol. 1

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Happy Marriage?! Vol. 1 by Maki Enjoji

When the series Butterflies, Flowers ended I was a little bit concerned about the future state of translated editions of smutty romance manga for Older Ladies. There’s plenty of smutty romance manga set in high school, but josei titles are a bit hard to come by. Happy Marriage?! comes from the josei magazine Petit Comic, which is the home magazine of Butterflies, Flowers and Midnight Secretary (also coming soon!). The manga opens with a winning image as an attractive woman freaks out over having to sign her name to a marriage certificate. What will become of her!?

Chiwa Takanashi is a hard-working office lady who moonlights as a hostess in a bar to pay off her father’s business debts. She loudly proclaims to her friends that she has no interest in romance, because she would want a normal guy who can take care of himself, but all of those men are already taken. Chiwa has an odd encounter with an arrogant businessman at her night job who tells her “there’s no point to what she’s doing” and she should quit because there’s nothing about a hostess job to take pride in. Chiwa stands up for herself by throwing a drink in his face, and promptly gets fired. At her normal job, she’s called in to the office of the president of the company, meets his grandfather, and gets the proposition that if she marries the handsome CEO Hokuto, her family’s debts will all be paid off. Hokuto’s grandfather is delighted with the prospect of Chiwa as a granddaughter because he used to be in love with her grandmother. Chiwa decides to be pragmatic and go through with the marriage, only to find out that she’s getting a lot more than she bargained for.

The set-up and characters for Happy Marriage?! make it seem fairly similar to Butterflies, Flowers but there are enough differences that I think readers would enjoy both series. Chiwa is a little bit more scrappy than Choko, and while Hokuto and Masayuki both share certain romance manga alpha male tendencies, Hokuto is much less weird. Happy Marriage seems like it dials back the wackiness and insane situations of Butterflies, Flowers and explores the developing relationship between Chiwa and Hokuto with a bit more nuance and emotion.

Enjoji’s character designs remind me a little bit of Miki Aihara. The illustrations do a good job at portraying all the nuances of the character’s emotions, from Hokuto’s black moods when he’s worried their secret marriage is going to be revealed at work, to the unexpected enjoyment the new couple find in each other’s company when they hide out in a love hotel only to have a marathon video gaming and karaoke session. One of the things that I liked most about this volume was the fact that Hokuto would secretly go out of his way to surprise and support Chiwa when she has to face the anxiety-ridden situation of going to a high school reunion.

Overall, this was an enjoyable first volume. The insane arranged marriage is set up very efficiently in the first chapter, so the rest of the book is devoted to showcasing the unconventional romance. I’m always happy to read more josei manga in English, but it is even more of a treat when the series is fun, entertaining, and capably illustrated. Happy Marriage?! won’t disappoint josei fans looking for a new series to follow.

Manga the Week of 7/31

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SEAN: It’s the dreaded 5th week of the month, but there’s more to find here than usual, with a couple of really tasty manga treats, particularly if you like old-school manga.

Dark Horse has the 28th volume of Gantz. I’m not certain if they’re still all wearing shiny leather catsuits. I have to assume they are. Sadly, this series is still not Hen or HEN, two series (yes, they are separate, though connected) by the same author that I would rather see licensed over here.

MICHELLE: Do they involve chickens? (Please say yes.)

henSEAN: Nope. Hen involves a straight high school boy falling in love with another boy, and trying to convince himself that his love is a girl who’s just trapped in a boy’s body. HEN is essentially the same, only the lead is a girl falling for another girl (this version got an anime). They’re both more interesting than they sound. (Hen means ‘strange’ in Japanese.)

MJ: Is it awful that I’m more excited about this Hen/HEN discussion than I am about the actual items on this week’s list?

MICHELLE: So am I. Gender-complicated romance trumps shounen fighting sagas.

MJ: Amen.

MICHELLE: Even if there are no chickens.

MJ: Even then.

SEAN: I also note that both Hen and HEN ran in Young Jump (which explains much of the fanservice scattered throughout both titles). So they’re not just seinen gay manga, but MANLY seinen gay manga. :) (They also take place in the same ‘universe’, and intertwine slightly.)

I found out about HEN from Erica, who has the series in Japanese.

MJ: I feel somehow that this week’s featured image should be Hen. Or HEN. One of the two. :D No?

SEAN: Sadly, it would require Viz to license the series (or sublicense it to Dark Horse, but honestly Gantz is more their style), which I doubt will happen unless the market changes a lot more than it has to date. This is late 80s-mid 90s stuff, let’s remember. :)

MJ: Oh, well. *sniff*

SEAN: Kodansha Comics has a new Fairy Tail, also a Vol. 28. Still speeding up, though if you have a digital option, you can get up to Vol. 33 now, I believe. I believe that fights are still happening.

MICHELLE: That is a good bet.

mohicansSEAN: Picturebox debut their new line of ’10-cent manga’, which seems to pick up various influential old-school titles, Yes, Tezuka is coming in the fall, but first we have Shigeru Sugiura, who was almost as influential but is criminally underrepresented outside Japan. His Last of the Mohicans came out in 1953, though I believe this hardcover release is from his 1970s redraw/touch-up of that. This is not a straight-up adaptation, though. Surreal is the word of the day. Highly anticipated.

MICHELLE: Huh. Interesting.

MJ: I’m definitely interested in this, though with the slightest concern over my ability to fully appreciate it. But I have high hopes!

ANNA: This sounds off the beaten path and very interesting. I’m always glad when something unconventional gets released, and old-school manga is something that we’ve not seen as much of over here as I would like.

SEAN: And in case you really wanted Tezuka, Vertical has the sequel to Princess Knight, Twin Knights. This came out in 1958, 5 years before the Princess Knight we saw over here, which was a redone version of the original Princess Knight from 1954, of which this is a direct sequel. If that made sense to you, congratulations, you are a Tezuka fanboy. This should be light, frothy adventure fun.

MICHELLE: Maybe it will be missing the elements of Princess Knight that kinda made me mad.

MJ: I’m hoping so. A lot.

ANNA: Looking forward to this!

SEAN: Lastly, Yen releases another in their series of Kingdom Hearts releases, this one an omnibus repackaging of Kingdom Hearts II. This is a full-on shonen adventure, which ran in Square Enix’s main magazine, Gangan. The only odd thing about it is Donald Duck and Goofy’s presence, really. Otherwise this could be Fairy Tail or Soul Eater.

MICHELLE: I regret to say that I could not possibly care less about Kingdom Hearts.

MJ: I probably could, but not a lot less.

SEAN: Are these titles too old-school for you? Or not old enough? Or do you want HEN as well? (No, it’s still not licensed – that image above is from the French release.)

Bookshelf Briefs 7/22/13

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This week, Michelle, Anna, & Sean look at recent releases from Viz Media, Last Gasp, Kodansha Comics, & Vertical, Inc.

kamisama13Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 13 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – This volume concludes the storyline where Nanami and her companions visit Himemiko’s erstwhile fiance Nishiki for their wedding, even though Himemiko is still in love with her human boyfriend Kotaro. Nishiki has gradually been changed by Nanami’s presence and his growing awareness of other people’s emotions. Nanami sees Kotaro and Himemiko’s relationship progress in a way that gives her hope for her feelings towards Tomoe, but everything is derailed a little bit when a toad spirit possesses her body. Nanami’s possessed form is unusually cheerful and doll-like, and Nanami as an amphibian is comically dispirited. Kamisama Kiss is always delightful and this volume is no exception! – Anna N.

knights3Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 3 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – Man, Knights of Sidonia is so good, I think I could happily read, oh, 25 volumes in a row. Plus, compared to Nihei’s enigmatic (to put it mildly) BLAME!, we’re actually getting quite a few answers already. True, new mysteries are cropping up all the time, including the rapid evolution of the enemy gauna that sees them creating a replica of one of Tanikaze’s fallen comrades, but the final chapters, in which readers learn the truth of Tanikaze’s origins, are incredibly rewarding. I’m honestly surprised that this information was revealed so quickly and coherently. About the only thing I could wish for from this series would be more “life on the Sidonia” segments. The battles are fascinating, but I’d like to see more of the characters off-duty. There’s a little of that here, and it’s neat, but more, please! – Michelle Smith

pelu2Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU, Vol. 2 | By Junko Mizuno | Last Gasp – Delightfully strange. Wonderfully absurd. If either of these descriptive phrases appeals to you, then you might enjoy Junko Mizuno’s Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU. In this volume, Pelu (an alien fluffball who has come to Earth in search of a bride to have his baby) pines for an enigmatic “soap girl” from afar, is duped by a sentient crocheted puppet, competes for yakiniku on a gameshow, becomes a sex slave and unwitting porn star, nearly runs off with a broken-hearted kappa girl, and meets his niece, who has an adventure of her own involving quintuplets and sparkly, magical sausages. PELU is wholly original and you are guaranteed to encounter scenes you’ve never come across in manga before. And even with all this absurdity, the story is still both coherent and compelling. Highly recommended. – Michelle Smith

missions4Missions of Love, Vol. 4 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – As I’ve noted before, my tolerance for trashy shoujo manga is basically proportional to the self-confidence of the heroine. This is likely the only reason I’m still reading Missions of Love like it’s eating candy. Everyone in this title is horribly flawed in some way, shape or form, none more so than our heroine, who has no idea what she does to everyone around her. We also have the addition of Mami, who is such a cliched “jealous rival girl” that I have to wonder if it’s parody of some sort. But the big draw for this title is still the sexiness, and more to the point, the dissonance between the brains of the lead couple and their emotions, which give the scenes like ‘bite me on the neck’ an extra erotic charge which you wouldn’t see if it were intentional. This manga is so bad for you, but I can’t stop. – Sean Gaffney

natsume14Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 14 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – This new volume of Natsume starts with two one-shots, one melancholy and one sweet. But the bulk of it is given over to his discovering more about his grandmother Reiko’s past, as we start to see what might become a backstory indicating how she even had a child – noted here to be out of wedlock. Natsume’s opening up to people is absolutely a good thing, and one of the ways in which he’s able to differentiate himself from his grandmother. But it also leads to pitfalls, as he can’t simply take advantage of his friends and family the way Reiko used to do. Caring too much is something Natsume has always done, but lately it’s getting worse, and you get the feeling that we’re headed to a breaking point. For now, though, we get some more yokai, and a slowly advancing plot. – Sean Gaffney

rin-ne12Rin-Ne, Vol. 12 | By Rumiko Takahashi | Viz Media – The last third of this volume of Rin-Ne is much like the previous 11 volumes, which is to say slice-of-afterlife comedy involving people who weren’t able to fulfill love so were unable to pass on, or alternately laughing at how poor Rinne is. The majority of the book, though, is devoted to a longer plot involving Rokumon, who is taking an exam to see if he can become a ranked Black Cat (which means a bigger budget for Rinne). He faces off against all the other familiars in the series, and the result is, as you’d expect from someone like Takahashi, more of a battle royale than a final exam. It does show off how earnest and dedicated Rokumon is, though, and how he can think fast when the need really arises. If you like Takahashi and don’t mind lack of plot movement, Rin-Ne won’t disappoint. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Limit

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limit6MJ: It’s a bit of a slow week for new manga, since we looked at Yen Press’ releases last week, but I still have a clear pick in the mix. I’m all in for the final volume of Keiko Suenobu’s Limit, out this week from Vertical. I’ve been on the edge of my seat since the very beginning, and the tension could not be higher as we go into this last volume. It’s rare that a short series like this packs such a punch. It’s the one and only pick for me this week.

ANNA: I will throw in for Limit as well. Looking forward to catching up on this series!

SEAN: Yeah, Limit 6 for me as well. Its overblown melodrama is its greatest weakness, but also its biggest strength.

What looks good to you this week?

Loveless Vols. 1 and 2

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I’ve had the first omnibus of Loveless for a fair amount of time. I tried reading it once when I was a bit distracted and put it aside after a few pages. The Yun Kouga manga moveable feast was the perfect opportunity to give this series a second try, and I’m glad I did. Some manga seems a bit too edited or mass produced. Unless you’re seeking out manga from some of the more alternative magazines, most mainstream manga isn’t all that weird. The pinnacle of enjoyable manga weirdness in my mind is Est Em’s Working Kentauros. That manga about the slice of life tribulations about Centaur salarymen provides the reader with a peak into a manga creator’s subconscious and ability to be creative without boundaries. Loveless isn’t as unconventionally weird as Working Kentauros, but its combination of cat people, light bondage, magical battles, mysterious organizations, abusive parents, master/servant relationships, and occasional licking definitely add up to a manga that’s a bit more distinctive and quirky than one might expect.

The world of Loveless features cat-people who seem to lose their extra cat-ears when they lose their virginity. So all the teens in the book have cat-ears and tails, while the adults look like normal humans. Ritsuka Ayoyagi shows up for the first day at a new school, attractive, mysterious, and bedecked with bandages. He’s still dealing with the emotional fallout from the murder of his beloved older brother Seimei. Ritsuka’s home life is difficult. He sees a counselor. His personality evidently shifted a few years back, and his mother treats him like a changeling and scapegoat. Ritsuka’s personality is understandably abrasive, and he promptly rejects the girls in his new class except for the persistent but simple Yuiko who appoints herself his new friend.

Ritsuka’s life takes a sudden turn when the college student Soubi shows up at his school and announces that he’s a former friend of Seimei. Soubi pledges his love for Ritsuka and announces that he’ll protect him, and they’re suddenly thrown into a mystical battle with a pair of fighters. Soubi casts spells, while Ritsuka serves as a sacrifice absorbing the pain of the others’ attack. Kouga’s art is graceful and dynamic, making the fighting scenes look very stylish with plenty of dramatic yelling and flowing hair. She’s particularly good at making Ritsuka appealing and sympathetic, as his facial expressions shift from closed-off to beseeching and vulnerable.

I’m glad I read this omnibus, because I probably would have been a bit unsure about continuing the series after just the first volume, but in the space of two volumes Kouga builds an intriguing world and made me invested in seeing what would happen next for Soubi and Ritsuka. While Ritsuka is allegedly the the one in charge of giving Soubi directions, Soubi is snarky and sophisticated enough to make the reader question who is really in control. The mystery of Seimei’s death, Ritsuka’s shift in personality, and the presence of the organization Septimal Moon all add up to a lot of plot points to explore in future books. I enjoyed Loveless more than I thought I would after my first reading attempt, although I can see myself getting a bit frustrated if answers to some of the questions raised in the first two volumes aren’t explored thoroughly in the manga series as a whole.

This two-in one omnibus has plenty of extra author’s notes, side stories, and character illustrations, and I think it would appeal to fans who already bought the first part of the series when it was published by Tokyopop. At roughly $12 per volume now on amazon, the first three omnibus volumes are a solid value for readers.

Manga the Week of 7/24

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SEAN: As you’d expect when I get Yen a week early, that makes this week look pretty damn tiny. What’s coming in? All final volumes this week!

bloodymonday11

Kodansha has the 11th and final volume of Bloody Monday. There are two sequels out in Japan, but I have a sneaking suspicion this may be it for the title on these shores. Let’s hope it ends better than your average season of 24!

MJ: I abandoned this series early on, though the fact that it wraps up in 11 volumes might be enough to draw me back to it eventually. I guess time will tell.

MICHELLE: I only ever bought the first two volumes of this one. I wonder if it’ll be the first series by this pseudonym-happy creator to actually finish in America, even if we don’t get the sequels. GetBackers, Drops of God, Kindaichi Case Files… all stopped short of the end. Oh, wait, there was Psycho Busters. Exactly my last choice of that group.

SEAN: Vertical has the 5th and I believe final volume of Heroman. Everyone on the cover looks happy, particularly the giant robot.

Lastly, Vertical also has the 6th and final volume of Limit, which has spend 5/6 of its time torturing its cast. Will it kill everyone off, or do we get to survive to see a sequel where they crash on a desert island or something?

MJ: This is definitely the most compelling item on the list for me this week. It has consistently kept me on the edge of my seat, so I’ll be anxious to find out what happens!

MICHELLE: I must confess that I haven’t read beyond volume one of Limit. One day I will!

ANNA: I need to catch up on this too! I enjoyed the first two volumes very much.

SEAN: Which series are you wrapping up?

Bookshelf Briefs 7/5/13

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This week, Sean, Anna, & MJlook at six recent releases from Viz Media.

blexorcist10Blue Exorcist, Vol. 10 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – As you would expect after the end of a long arc, a lot of this volume is taking a breather while setting things up for the arcs to come (such as the Gehenna Gate). So we see Rin back to school, and dealing with his normal, non-exorcist classmates. Except it turns out that one of then is starting to not be normal, and it’s slowly driving him insane. There’s a lot more silliness here as well, as our heroes are tasked with taking care of the 7 School Mysteries, all of whom are demonic, of course. Cue cross-dressing ghosts, bitchy grudges, and lots of amusing yet broad shonen gags. There’s also a pile of extras, something becoming quite common in these volumes – a short side-story focusing on Renzo, and lots of 4-koma gags drawn by Kato’s assistants. Not as mind-blowing as the last few volumes, but still fun. – Sean Gaffney

devil9A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 9 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – The first part of this volume deals with the unwanted attentions of Shintaro, a first-year student who has a crush on Maria. As always, Maria has a way of coming at a problem with a different perspective than other people. While Shintaro’s over the top flirting is annoying to almost everybody, Maria comments that it is just the way he communicates, and gives him the teasing nickname “Eros.” Shin attempts to take a step forward by performing again, but his habit of keeping his distance from Maria to preserve her fragile emotional state may just backfire, as she becomes more and more comfortable with Yusuke being her best friend. The drama in this series continues to be executed with unexpected plot twists, which means that it isn’t getting stale as it nears the 10th volume. – Anna N

jiujiu5Jiu Jiu, Vol. 5 | By Touya Tobina | Viz Media – There is a certain about of subterfuge in this volume that is deliberate on the author’s part. I get that. The true identity of Takayuki, who is the person who father’s Takamichi’s child (not a spoiler, it’s on the cover). That’s fine. The main issue is that everything else doesn’t make sense to me as well. Some series read badly chapter to chapter, and I’m sure that if I read Jiu Jiu in one big 5-volume chunk, I might get more out of it than I did. But I’ve no desire to. This frustrating series kept trying to figure out whether it was epic or not, what its art style was, and if it was going to risk offending people with a romantic pairing that was… problematic, to say the least. It did avoid that last one. But all in all, everything in Jiu Jiu was more annoying than endearing. If you like supernatural stuff, it may be for you. read it all at once, though. – Sean Gaffney

Psyren11Psyren, Vol. 11 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Viz Media – This volume manages to spend a large amount of time focused on the villains, and not a moment of it is wasted. I was apprehensive at first – I like our heroes. But this was easily one of the most terrifying volumes the series has ever had, with the battle on the docks between Miroku and Grigori winning the biggest awards (and killing off the most people – being an innocent bystander in Psyren is lethal). I was also fascinated with the subplot of rescuing Riko, where our heroes totally lose – she’s abducted by the bad guys (she’s probably that mini-boss we saw drawing in Psyren world a while ago). Add this to the continuing issues of Ahega and his father, and Miroku making his threat to the world much earlier than expected, and you have a series that still knows how to ramp up the tension. – Sean Gaffney

strobeedge5Strobe Edge, Vol. 5 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – I suspect that we won’t be seeing that much more of Mayuka after this volume. If that’s the case, what a way to go out. I loved everything about her arc, from her close observation and realization about Ren once her brother points out the obvious, to the acceptance she has regarding her parents’ divorce, and acceptance that’s shocking to her, and how it finally allows her to realize that she has to accept that Ren’s heart has moved on as well. It’s astonishingly mature, and in marked contrast to Ando, whose own past is shown here. No matter how much he acknowledges he’s being immature, I still want to belt him for it. And in the middle we have Ninako, who knows what she doesn’t want, but can’t quite get past not being able to get what she wants. Absolutely riveting shoujo soap. – Sean Gaffney

tigerbunny2Tiger & Bunny, Vol. 2 | By Mizuki Sakakibara, Sunrise, & Masafumi Nishida | Viz Media – Manga adaptations of anime series tend to be a sketchy prospect for me. Generally speaking, I’ve found that anime rarely translates well to paper, especially in terms of visual power (see Puella Magi Madoka Magica), and it’s difficult to understand the point. Why take the time to create something that is doomed to be nothing more than a clunky, cardboard version of its source material? Tiger & Bunny‘s weakness, however, may be that it resembles its source just a little too much. It’s breezy, action-packed, and easy to follow—often major stumbling blocks when adapting from the screen—and it’s definitely attractive to the eye. Unfortunately, it’s really not much more, and each volume of manga flies by with the emotional impact of a Saturday morning cartoon. This light, glossy series is undoubtedly fun to watch, but its move to print only accentuates how little lurks beneath the surface shine. – MJ