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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Volumes 6 and 7

October 12, 2011 by Anna N

I’d read the first couple volumes of this series and enjoyed the unique world building in this story about a young boy who wants to be a letter carrier in a world lit only by an artificial sun. The standard shonen quest storyline is fairly typical, but the art and settings are detailed and unique.

Tegami Bachi Volume 6 by Hiroyuki Asada

The sixth volume opens as Lag delivers a letter to a sick but rich young woman named Rei. She keeps getting anonymous notes that are lovely reminders of her hometown. Her new maid Kimidori is the source of the notes that bring her mistress comfort but the head servant takes credit for her work, bullying Kimidori into silence. Lag has to reveal Kimidori’s good works without breaking a promise he made to her to keep her secret. This story is focused on botanical images and nostalgia, as Kimidori uses flowers to produce a dye that evokes Rei’s favorite color. The second story delves into the psychology of loss, as in an abrupt shift Lag is working at a lighthouse with an elderly man he calls “Grandpa.” Lag’s identity seems to be completely forgotten in his new life, but he’s haunted by a shadowy monster at night and wonders if he’s losing his mind. It turns out that the loneliness of the old man has persisted after death, feeding one of the giant desert bugs that preys on emotions. Letter Bee Jiggy Pepper and Lag’s sidekick/dingo Niche come to the rescue.

Lag’s ongoing quest is to find the Letter Bee that inspired him to take up the job – Gauche Suede. Gauche has disappeared and is rumored to have become an evil marauder. Lag visits Gauche’s sister Sylvette to see if she can help him construct a letter that will bring Gauche back. Sylvette has some pretty dynamic action sequences as she fights from her wheelchair. The art in Tegami Bachi is one of the things that makes this series more enjoyable than most shonen series. The stark contrast of black and white is used in most of the illustrations, with sparing use of shades of grey. The contrast serves to emphasize that the characters are living in a fantastic world with artificial illumination. The barren desert that Lag journeys through is suitably menacing, as are the character designs of the monsters he encounters.

Tegami Bachi Volume 7 by Hiroyuki Asada

Most of the volumes of Tegami Bachi I’ve read focus on short stories centered around Lag and the people he meets briefly when he travels. Volume 7 really seems to propel the plot forward as well as give some back story about Niche, Lag’s tiny yet fierce companion. Lag and Niche are nearing the area where she was born and she abruptly announces that she was born 200 years ago, and it would be better if she didn’t attract any attention from the villagers. It turns out that the villagers had a symbiotic relationship with a powerful creature called the Maka, who serves as an elemental sort of protection against the giant killer insects that ravage Lag’s world. As with most cases when human encounter forces of nature that they don’t understand, the twin daughters of the Maka were abused and abandoned. Niche meets her sister, who appears in a much more mature form than Niche manifests. Niche’s sister is horrified that Niche is serving as a sidekick to a member of the human race, but is Lag still exactly human?

Some of the fight scenes in this volume were terrific. The hair blades that Niche uses for weapons become giant weapon constructs when used by her older sister. Gauche as the marauder Noir now seems to be targeting his old colleagues by stealing the mail. Lag’s role in shoring up people’s spirits through letter delivery may be much more important than he ever imagined. Overall, these were two very strong volumes, and I was happy for the chance to revisit this unique shonen series.

Review copies provided by the publisher

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Library Wars Volume 6

October 6, 2011 by Anna N

Library Wars is a predictable yet cozy series. There’s no doubt that Iku and Dojo are going to wind up together, and the plot does meander around their relationship with some cursory treatment of intellectual freedom and censorship issues. What I’ve really liked about the past two volumes is that instead of setting up predictable and artificial plot devices to keep the hero and heroine apart (Sudden Fiance! Artificial Misunderstanding! Evil Male Model!) the focus is on some of the secondary characters, giving us a chance to get to know the other characters better. The last volume focused on Komaki and this volume highlights Iku’s roommate Shibazaki.

Shibazaki has always been an interesting foil for Iku. She’s incredibly intelligent and self-possessed, which serves as a contrast to Iku’s impulsive and emotional behavior. Hikaru Asahina, a library patron, abruptly asks Shibazaki out and she agrees to see him after being pushed into the situation by a co-worker who is worried that her own crush is nursing some feelings for Shibazaki as well. Shibazaki thinks Asahina is a nice young man, but she becomes more interested when he mentions that he’s involved in studying issues centered around book burning. Asahina manages to crack through Shibazaki’s well-rehearsed facade. Some of his qualities remind Shibazaki a little bit of Iku, and we learn why she has a tendency to become attached to people who conduct their lives without pretense. Shibazaki was targeted by a bunch of mean girls in junior high, so in high school she dedicated herself to becoming popular with a cool and intellectual approach that resembled the practices of an undercover agent. Shibazaki’s personality traits of teasing reserve and constant deflection suddenly make a lot of sense!

Sibazaki’s slow approach to making another genuine friend is set against another storyline where everyone else in the library forces deals with a censorship issue. I thought this was a strong volume of Library Wars. The Shibazaki storyline was fresh and interesting, but there was plenty of Iku and Dojo action when they were dealing with the latest crisis of the week. I’m looking forward to the next volume.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Detroit Metal City Volume 10

October 3, 2011 by Anna N

The final volume! I’ve missed a couple volumes leading up to the grand conclusion of Detroit Metal City, but since most volumes of DMC are fairly similar it was easy to get into the story. DMC is broken up, and there’s a new metal king in town, “Lord God.” Lord God is a wannabe male model who has taken to death metal instead, turning his catwalk posing into a stage move called the “God Walk.” Negishi has run off to Paris to indulge his dream of producing syrupy sweet romantic music, but it seems like the French hate his true self. He is resolutely ignored whenever he plays his music on the streets of Paris to the point where when he gets hit in the face with a raw egg, he responds with thanks for getting some sort of reaction from someone. The remaining members of DMC want to put on one final show, but will Negishi come back from Paris in time?

Of course, there is never any doubt that Lord Krauser will make a final appearance in the last volume of DMC and he makes his entrance in grand style, after sending along video of him systematically violating every single symbol of Paris he can find. Krauser and Lord God have an epic showdown, and Negishi’s attempt to show his other side to his love Aikawa goes just as well as one might expect. My main problem with Detroit Metal City is that it was never as funny and shocking as the first volume. Once the reader knows the set-up, the subsequent volumes were all very similar. Still, I’m glad that a series this gleefully profane was brought over here. I will certainly never be able to think the same way about the national monuments of many countries, after seeing what Lord Krauser did to them.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Harlequin Manga: Acting on Impulse and Vengeful Seduction

September 30, 2011 by Anna N

Acting on Impulse by Natsue Ogoshi and Vicki Lewis Thompson
Available on emanga.com

I always enjoy Harlequin manga when they exhibit a strong sense of humor. Acting on Impulse is plenty funny as it details the adventures of a naive farmgirl who moves to New York City, determined to live a “metropolitan” lifestyle. Unfortunately Trudy’s expectations of New York are entirely drawn from popular entertainment, which results in occasional hilarity. Trudy’s landed a job as a lowly office worker at a PR firm. She’s friends with a couple in the city who decide that her arrival is a perfect opportunity to fix her up with confirmed bachelor Linc. They ask Linc to be Trudy’s tour guide and look out for her as she gets adjusted to life in the big city. When Trudy meets Linc she pronounces him almost as handsome as her favorite actor and asks him to intone the lines “Admit you want me. I’ll give you ecstasy like you’ve never had before.” They promptly enter into a relationship where they are dating but proclaiming that they aren’t dating, because she wants to experience the freedom of the city and he is afraid of commitment. Trudy’s excess of enthusiasm and bizarre expectations of city life give her more personality than I’ve come to expect from a Harlequin heroine. The art is a little rushed at times, but the characters are attractive and the funny dialog goes a long way to make Acting on Impulse fun to read.

Vengeful Seduction by Cathy Williams and Yukako Midori
Available on emanga.com

Vengeful Seduction is the story of a woman forced to betray her true love when an evil man blackmails her into marriage, only to be dramatically confronted by her past when her drunk husband kills himself and her father in a car accident. Shortly after dealing with her father and horrible husband’s deaths, Isobel is confronted with her ex-boyfriend Lorenzo. Now a successful businessman, he appears again in her life to buy and turn around her family’s failing business. He intends to get Isobel back too, but she’s determined not to be treated like a possession again. As Isobel and Lorenzo are forced to spend more time together, details about her evil husband and her father’s potentially shady business dealings emerge. This harlequin manga had a general feeling of doom and sadness, without the touches of humor that I tend to enjoy. If I’m reading something silly I’d rather have something to laugh about, as opposed to a story that while somewhat goofy takes itself too seriously. So, I am not a fan of Vengeful Seduction, but Acting on Impulse was fun enough to make up for it.

Online access provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Skip Beat 25 and Seiho Boys' High School 8

September 28, 2011 by Anna N

Skip Beat Volume 25 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Skip Beat is so great. For all the gangly limbs and oddly proportioned characters that Nakamura draws she is an absolute master at nuanced facial expressions, as evidenced in a series of confrontational scenes in this volume of Skip Beat!. I was happy to see some events happen to propel the slowly developing relationship between Ren and Kyoko forward at last. Sho, the evil pop idol and former target of Kyoko’s obsession and revenge shows up with an elaborate bouquet and engineers a dramatic kiss right in front of Ren and some of Kyoko’s co-workers. Since Sho is a spoiled brat who can’t abide not being the focus of Kyoko’s attention, he has decided to steal her first kiss and act obnoxious in the hopes that she’ll start thinking about him again. Ren goes from amazed, to annoyed, to dangerously furious as he watches this scene play out. Kyoko is left in hysterics about not getting her first kiss back and Ren chooses to deal with the situation in the best way possible; he appeals to her professionalism. When he notices her unglued he points out that it isn’t anything to get wrapped up over and that “What feels like your first kiss counts as your real first kiss.” He can’t maintain his impartial facade for long and warns her that he doesn’t want to see a repeat of the situation and Kyoko’s response is “I shall risk my life to preserve my purity!”

Kyoko and Ren dance around their emotions, not willing to admit anything to each other yet. Ren’s reactions and the way he behaves towards Kyoko are carefully calculated, not because he’s manipulative but because he doesn’t want to cause her any more emotional damage. His measured approach and awareness of her emotional fragility stands in stark contrast to Sho, whose innate selfishness ensures that he’s never going to be a good match for her. Kyoko has Ren on such a high pedestal, that she isn’t capable of entertaining the thought that he has feelings for her. It is a rare series that manages to rack up so many volumes and still keep me entertained when the romantic protagonists have barely kissed, but Skip Beat always manages to be both fun and interesting in the way the relationships between the characters continue to play out.

Seiho Boys’ High School Volume 8 by Kaneyoshi Izumi

This was a not-so-guilty-pleasure series for me, because it was much better than I expected a shoujo manga set in an all boys high school to be. The romantic issues of the main characters get a certain amount of resolution in this final volume, but the well worn plot device of misunderstandings serving to drive some of the couples apart makes me glad that the series stopped when it did. Maki is hearing that his girlfriend Takano has been hanging out with school heartthrob Kamiki. At first he resolutely denies the possibility, but then runs into Takano and Kamiki on the beach. Kamiki and Takano are only talking. She’s going through some changes in her life that she’s hiding from Maki and Kamiki warns her “Once you figure out that I can’t make you less lonely, talk to Maki.” Maki sees them together and abruptly breaks up, but Takano was hiding the fact that she’s headed overseas from him. Maki and Takano manage to get a little bit of resolution, but Kamiki is left to deal with his own problems.

Kamiki’s white knight tendencies are coming in the way of him actually getting to develop a real relationship with Miaji. She calls him out on this personality trait, saying “I don’t want your pity, I want your love.” She rejects his help and enters into a stressful project – taking care of a stray dog with Maki. Kamiki ends up helping anyway, saying “I wanted an excuse to talk to you, Miaji. Pretty sneaky of me, huh?” The series ends with the general sense that the main characters are all going to be ok. Having a shoujo series with a more male centric point of view was refreshing, and Izumi’s art has an element of clarity that ensures it is easy to read. The one thing that threw off my enjoyment of this manga was the back-up story called “Reverse Guilt” that has an extremely icky twist ending that contrasted with the more peaceful conclusions of the main story.

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume 1

September 21, 2011 by Anna N

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Volume One by Naoko Takeuchi

Sailor Moon is back in print! When I was reading these new editions from Kodansha I decided to start chronologically, so I read Sailor V first and Sailor Moon second. It is interesting seeing the contrasts in character present from the first few pages. In Sailor V, Mina gets in trouble for attempting a daring gymnastics move. In Sailor Moon, Usagi is running off to school with tears in her eyes from dismay at being late. Usagi is presented as the typical not very bright, somewhat ditsy shoujo heroine that most manga readers will be familiar with. But part of the reason why I like Sailor Moon so much is that Takeuchi does manage a couple subtle spins on the well-worn formula that she’s working with.

Usagi has a fateful encounter with a mysterious cat, then goes to school for a typical day. She gets punished and gossips with her classmates about Sailor V. She visits the jewelry store belonging to the family of her friend Naru. Outside, she throws one of her abysmal school papers into the face of a boy wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses. She thinks he’s a pretentious jerk for being so dressed up during the day, and he tells her to “study harder Miss bun-head!” IT IS TRUE LOVE! Later that evening the mysterious cat Luna visits Usagi and tells her that she’s been chosen to be a guardian. She gets her magical girl accessories and the phrase that triggers her transformation sequence (Moon Prism Power Make Up!) and she is off to fight the forces of evil at the jewelry store. This first chapter shows how Takeuchi’s storytelling has improved in contrast to Sailor V. By starting out with an enemy that could be directly hurting one of her friends, there’s more dramatic tension in Sailor Moon as opposed to the endless progression of pop idols that Sailor V fights. Of course, Usagi as Sailor Moon barely fights at all on her first outing. She halfway thinks that she’s dreaming and is surprised that she’s getting hurt, then she reacts to the fight by throwing a tearful temper tantrum. Fortunately her tiara boomerang vanquishes her enemy, and she finds out that she’s being watched by a mysterious man who introduces himself as Tuxedo Mask and says “Sailor Moon, I’ll certainly take note of you.”

Now that Usagi’s general situation is set up, she has to deal with Luna’s demands that she train and gather allies. There are other sailor scouts out there and Usagi has to collect them all (like Pokemon!) while struggling with her feelings for Tuxedo Mask and her own ineptitude. Usagi’s companions are generally in some way more capable than her, but you can see how their different personality traits would contribute to the formation of a good team. Sailor Mercury is a teen genius. Sailor Mars has the moral certainty of a shrine maiden. Sailor Jupiter is strong and brave. The sailor scouts are going after the “Legendary Silver Crystal”, as are their mystical enemies and Tuxedo Mask. Usagi is uncertain if Tuxedo Mask is an enemy or an ally, because while he certainly seems to appear often if she’s in the need of a rescue his motivations are unclear.

Takeuchi’s art seems to have grown a bit smoother when comparing Sailor Moon with Sailor V. The paneling is slightly more complex, although it is still a manga the focuses most on the faces of the characters without much attention paid on setting scenes or background images. The battles and team building in Sailor Moon seem to owe a lot to shonen manga, but being as girly as it is the battles involve costume changes and awesome battle cries instead of violence. While it might be pretty silly for girls to don sailor suits to fight evil, there’s a certain exuberant girl power vibe about the scenes when Sailor Moon and her allies line up to announce that their enemies are about to be punished. I do not know how it is possible not to love a manga that features a girl yelling “You will refrain from underestimating women! And with Mars Power, you will burn! These high-heeled legs will deliver your punishment!”

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Codename: Sailor V Volume 1

September 20, 2011 by Anna N

Codename: Sailor V Volume 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

I’ve had Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V in my house for a week, but even though I’ve read them for some reason I am still having a hard time believing that they’re real. Since Sailor Moon has been the holy grail of out of print manga series, it just seems wonderfully surreal that this series is finally getting a decent omnibus style release with a new translation. Sailor V was the prototype series for Sailor Moon, and Sailor V appears in Sailor Moon at first as a shadowy mentor figure. So many of the storylines that are explored more fully in Sailor Moon are introduced in Codename: Sailor V, which might not have as much depth but is still fun.

Like most shoujo heroines, Mina (short for Minako) is an aggressively average student. She prefers athletics and nursing crushes on unobtainable boys to her schoolwork. Her life changes dramatically when she meets a talking cat named Artemis who informs her that she’s been chosen as a protector of Earth. Once she’s equipped with some magical accessories she announces what she has become, “Champion of Justice! The Pretty Guardian in a Sailor Suit! Sailor Venus has arrived!” One of the things that I enjoy about magical girl manga is that although there’s certainly an element of makeover fantasy in the transformations, part of story also is all about power. When Mina transforms for the first time she says “I feel liberated! I’m overflowing with power! I’m struck with the urge to act!”

Unfortunately for Mina, the action she’s presented with gets repetitive. There seems to be an unending supply of demonic idol singers who are out to enslave the Japanese populace and feed off their energy, and Sailor V must battle all of them. In this way, Codename: Sailor V resembles a very simple shonen manga, except for the battles here are always needing to involve lots of cosplay and battle cries instead of actual punching. Still, there are flashes of humor on display that make the overall experience of reading the book a lot of fun. Mina seems to be very protective of governmental regulations, as when she’s battling one of her many rounds of evil idol singers she remarks that brainwashing is bad and “these are horrendous business practices and the Japanese Tax Office will not stand for it!” Later on when she’s talking to her mysterious boss about an enemy she encounters during a vacation she flies into action after the comment “I don’t know who he is, but I do sense a deep-seated grudge regarding Hawaii.” People with grudges regarding Hawaii must be punished!

One of the things that enlivens Codename: Sailor V is the supporting cast. As Sailor V grows in notoriety she is starting to get noticed by the police. The female Inspector General nurses her crush on V with giant posters in her office, and she arbitrarily orders around her more skeptical male sidekick. Mina gets an eye rolling reaction from one of her enemies to her proclaimed title of “Pretty Guardian.” I tend to grade magical girl shoujo for what it is. If there’s humor, costume changes, and a little bit of action I’m a satisfied reader. While I don’t think that Codename: Sailor V has all the elements that made Sailor Moon such a long and successful series, it was fun getting a glimpse of Sailor Moon’s origin and more of the origin of Sailor V.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Kamisama Kiss Volume 5

September 13, 2011 by Anna N

Kamisama Kiss 5 by Julietta Suzuki

I’m having a bit of a stressful week so I was happy when the fifth volume of Kamisama Kiss arrived at my house. This manga blends a mystical fish out of water story about a human girl taking on the role of shrine deity with whimsical character designs, producing a perfect comfort reading manga. Nanami is having trouble dealing with her fox spirit helper Tomoe and his new rival the white snake Mizuki. They all attend a summer festival at another shrine and Nanami gets so frustrated at the constant bickering that she squeezes the bickering spirits’ hands together and says that they have to hold hands forever unless they make up. Mizuki and Tomoe are now forced to have an actual conversation, and it is clear that Mizuki’s obnoxiousness stems from his loneliness after being stuck at an abandoned shrine for so long.

The festival at the neighboring shrine makes Nanami think that she has to do something to bring visitors to her own shrine. It has the reputation of being creepy, but she’s determined to put on her own festival to bring the worshipers back. Since it is unusual for a human to be a shrine deity, Nanami has to learn how to do the proper festival dances the hard way. Tomoe is initially discouraging of her efforts, but ultimately comes around to support her. One of things I enjoy about this manga is that minor characters keep reappearing in later chapters, making it easy to picture the odd new social circle Nanami now has surrounding her. Nanami gets help from the swamp deity Himeneko and even the tengu disguised as human idol singer Kurama stops by. Kurama is amazed to see how Nanami’s power as a shrine deity has grown even though she isn’t really aware of it. Tomoe comments to him “she doesn’t realize it herself…but she’s not an ‘ordinary girl’ anymore.”

Suzuki’s manga are always a visual treat and blending the world of shrines and modern day life give plenty of room for her to showcase wonderful costumes and quirky character designs. I liked Karakuri Odette so much that I didn’t think I’d be captured in the same way, but Kamisama Kiss is really growing on me. This manga has all the easily read episodic charm of her other series, but I’m hoping for a bit more of a romantic payoff at the end.

Review copy provided by the publisher

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Wandering Son Volume 1

September 10, 2011 by Anna N

Wandering Son Volume 1 by Shimura Takako

I’d procrastinated reading Wandering Son when it first came out. I figured it would be good, just from reading other bloggers’ reviews, but I was wondering if the manga’s premise of a boy who wants to be a girl meeting a girl who wants to be a boy would be a bit ABC Afterschool Special in execution. Fortunately Shimura Takako is a master at portraying subtle events in a slice of life story about adolescence that never feels didactic.

Nitori’s shyness and manners cause him to be mistaken for a girl. He stars the school year by befriending the tomboyish girl Takatsuki. He visits her at her house and she notices his reaction to a dress she has hanging on her closet. She holds the dress up to him and says “It looks good on you. Your face says you want to wear it.” Nitori isn’t able to articulate what he wants and he makes a vague protest that the idea is crazy. Takatsuki says “Don’t you think buying your kid stuff she hates is some kind of harassment?” Nitori takes the dress home to his sister, but he’s left with a heightened awareness of feminine clothing and an idea in his head that he’s afraid to articulate.

One of the things I like about Wandering Son is the way many of the events in the book are simultaneously safe and filled with dramatic tension. As Nitori begins to take tentative steps to express himself, he’s met with acceptance for the most part. His parents seem supportive, but he’s being pushed to experiment with gender before he’s ready. A girl in his class named Chiba figures out Nitori’s attraction to feminine things and gives him an outfit he decides he can’t accept. She arranges for their class to do a gender-swapped class play. Weather she’s trying to help Nitori or merely attempting to collect and manage him as a curiosity is unclear. Takatsuki’s brash behavior causes her to be more bold with experiments as she attempts to pass as a boy in public, and she forces Nitori to go along with her. This might be a good thing, as he wouldn’t necessarily take steps like this on his own.

Like the storyline, Shimura’s art is simple but nuanced. Objects like a headband or a dress take on a symbolic weight for Nitori. His reserved but embarrassed body language portrays the way he’s not comfortable in his own skin, while Takatsuki’s more forthright mannerisms are the posturing of a girl who has to portray herself as outwardly self-assured no matter what she might be feeling on the inside. There’s a great scene of Nitori and Takatsuki getting haircuts together, which is one of the more memorable episodes of the book. He only wants a slight trim so his hair stays long, and Takatsuki demands a haircut as short as his. They end up with almost identical hair and the style that is slightly girlish on Nitori reads as manly on Takatsuki.

As you’d expect from Fantagraphics, the production quality for Wandering Son is excellent. I hope that more manga is on the horizon from them. While I’ll happily read more cheaply produced manga, it is nice to have a variety of options. Carefully curated manga like Wandering Son is a treat.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED

Black Bird Volumes 9 and 10

September 6, 2011 by Anna N

I know Black Bird is wildly popular, but I have a hard time getting into it. I read the first couple volumes and couldn’t get into all the weird wound licking, although I suppose demonic wound licking is at least a twist on the whole vampire romance trope. My main problem with this manga is that I find both of the main characters unappealing. Misao is basically the ultimate trophy bride, since she is a human girl who gives extra powers to whichever demon claims her. The demonic Kyo is just generally unsympathetic.

In Volume 9 Misao and Kyo deal with the aftermath of her allowing herself to be “claimed” by Kyo. Now that she’s Kyo’s woman officially, all the demon clans are on the prowl after her. Kyo’s clan wants Misao for the healing properties of her blood and the other demon clans are fighting back because they don’t want to support the sudden imbalance of power in the demon world. As a result other humans are targeted in the demonic civil war. Innocent humans are possessed by demons and sent after Misao, and Kyo has to fight them off. Misao is filled with guilt, but her response to the situation is to have a nervous breakdown instead of doing something more productive. Kyo is as contradictory as ever, as he orders Misao to “choose humanity” and throws her at demon hunter Raikoh only to suddenly appear and put on a big show by asking Raikoh if he wants to watch him rape her. Now, I’m pretty forgiving of the horrible sexual politics in manga just because I’m willing to forgive a lot for a story that is either humorous (Ai Ore, Butterflies, Flowers) or has a certain over the top soap opera tone (Hot Gimmick). But Black Bird doesn’t have this lighter touch which is why I find myself utterly unengaged in the story after scenes like that.

Volume 10 starts off a little more promising as Kyo’s estranged father pops up to give Misao the lowdown on Kyo’s tragic family past. The wars between the demon clans start to get more serious and it turns out that Kyo’s evil brother is alive and wearing an eyepatch (so you know he is extra evil). Kyo continues to act weirdly schizophrenic as he brings Misao to tears by telling her that she can’t come with him on his mission to restore order to the demon village only to suddenly change his mind and say “Just kidding….silly.” Seriously, Ryoki “You are my slave!” from Hot Gimmick seems like Prince Charming compared to Kyo.

Sakurkoji’s art is fine, with distinct character designs and interesting yet easy to follow panel layouts. I actually liked her short two volume series Backstage Prince, so I just wish that she’s hit it big with a series featuring characters that aren’t acting like jerks or spineless wimps all the time.

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Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus Volume 2

August 31, 2011 by Anna N

Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus Volume 2 by Clamp

I finished this volume and I immediately felt frustrated that the third Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus from Dark Horse doesn’t seem to be scheduled to be released anytime soon. I’m feeling a little frustrated with some of the more modern Clamp series – they just seem to either go on for far to many volumes (Tsubasa) or lean towards the insipid (Kobato). But since I’ve only read a couple scattered volumes of Cardcaptor Sakura I am happy to enjoy it from the beginning in all of its pink magical girl glory.

The opening storyline of this omnibus shows Sakura struggling to master the Clow card “The Maze.” She’s aided by her enigmatic Mizuki, who has an alarmingly direct way of dealing with her students being trapped in a maze that automatically adjusts itself to create more confusion. Syaoran is immediately suspicious of Mizuki, but it turns out that she used to know Sakura’s older brother. The question of Mizuki being helpful or having some other agenda runs through much of this omnibus, because she seems determined to remain mysterious. Sakura doesn’t really care because Mizuki makes her feel “floaty inside,” but Syaoran is constantly trying to figure out what Mizuki is up to. Other episodes include a scary class trip and a class play put on by selecting roles without considering gender, with the result that Sakura ends up playing the Prince and Syaoran the Princess. Crossdressing Syaoran is pretty hilarious in the way his dialog is portrayed at being flatly shouted and peppered with exclamation points.

While magical girl activities are the general focus of the book, there’s also a nice summer vacation episode when Sakura and her father go on vacation and she befriends the old man next door who turns out to be her estranged great-grandfather. Having the card battles interrupted by occasional school event or family interaction helps keep Cardcaptor Sakura from feeling too quest-focused. The end of this omnibus is a giant battle as Sakura has to prove herself worthy of the cards she’s collected. One thing I was surprised about was that by the end of this omnibus Sakura has collected all of the Clow cards, so in six volumes the first stage of her quest is complete. I somehow thought the card collecting aspect of the manga went on for much longer, but as you might expect when Sakura masters one challenge she is set up to face new tests in the next volume.

As always from Dark Horse, this omnibus features plenty of color pages and nice paper quality. It might take them forever to release these volumes but they are a treat for Clamp fans. Now, when is volume 3 coming out?

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Otomen Volume 11

August 28, 2011 by Anna N

Otomen Volume 11 by Aya Kanno

I’d collected a fair amount of Otomen when I stopped feeling the need to keep preordering it. I like it, but the episodic nature of the book means that most of the volumes revolve around the same conflict – will Asuka’s secret talents for feminine pursuits like knitting and baking be revealed and destroy his facade of manliness? The 11th volume is pretty much the same, but it wasn’t very hard for me to pick up on what was going on after skipping several volumes and Otomen is consistently funny.

Asuka is on a class trip/feudal Japan reenactment when he and his friends find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Asuka’s enigmatic and tomboyish girlfriend Ryo promptly starts foraging, while Asuka decides to lift everybody’s spirits by constructing lovely origami flowers. Ryo gets stranded in the woods and ends up cheerfully and capably rescuing Tonomine, who comments to Asuka “She may be a girl…but she’s a true samurai.” Other episodes in this volume includes Asuka attending secret baking lessons for men and a showdown at school over Valentine’s chocolate between Asuka and “Pheromone Prince” Suzaku Oji, the school nurse. Kanno’s sense of humor really comes through in her character designs, as Oji is drawn with flowing hair and a ruffled shirt worn under his white labcoat. He makes pronouncements like “come to me, my kittens,” and all the teenage girls swoon.

Asuka’s better nature begins to make inroads against the strict gender roles enforced by his school, but things are about to take a turn for the worse when his mother comes back from overseas. My major complaint with this volume was that there wasn’t enough focus on Ryo and mangaka Juta Tachibana. A bonus story of “Love Chick” the manga Juta wrote based on Asuka and Ryo with their genders swapped was included in the back of the volume. This was fun to see, since Kanno drew it in a deliberately more simple and insipid style.

Review copy provided by the publisher

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Butterflies, Flowers Volume 8

August 28, 2011 by Anna N

Butterflies, Flowers Volume 8 by Yuki Yoshihara

This is the final volume! I’ve enjoyed this series, which I tend to think of as “stealth josei” because even though it was released under the Shojo Beat imprint it skews a lot older. This series about a rich woman working in an office under the direction of a former servant to her family who she winds up dating might seem incredibly frivolous, but it ends up being enlivened by Yoshihara’s offbeat sense of humor and the caring exhibited in the relationship between Choko and Masayuki.

After dating for some time, Choko and Masayuki face the ultimate test when Choko goes on an arranged marriage meeting and Masayuki appears to be doing nothing to stop it. Of course he reveals his objections in a dramatic and hilariously crude manner, but will this odd couple be able to take the next step in their relationship? Choko resorts to hiding marriage registration papers around the office, trying to get Masayuki to sign the documents in a moment of distraction. When Masayuki finally comes around and asks her to marry him, he’s unable to call her by her first name because he’s so fully internalized their master/servant relationship. Choko wants a relationship of equals, and wants to move forward but Masayuki seems pathologically unable to see her as his equal. There isn’t really any doubt that the couple will get together, but despite all the weird master servant jokes, otaku Gundam references, and random crossdressers, there’s a certain level of sweetness present when Choko and Masayuki are able to move on from their roles as lady and servant.

I wish more series like Butterflies, Flowers would be published over here. I don’t mind plenty of high school romance shojo, but it is nice to have a little bit of variety in the settings of romance manga. I hope Viz licenses more Yoshihara manga because her quirky sensibility makes this series unique and weirdly endearing.

Review copy provided by the publisher

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Dengeki Daisy Volume 6

August 24, 2011 by Anna N

Dengeki Daisy Volume 6 by Kyousuke Motomi

I have to admit after six volumes, the storylines in Dengeki Daisy are getting a bit predictable. Fortunately Motomi is such a skilled author that I don’t really care! The slowly developing relationship between plucky orphan high school student Teru and grumpy janitor/hacker Kurosaki is still moving forward at a glacial pace. Teru and Kurosaki are both pretending that she hasn’t discovered that he’s her mysterious guardian known as Daisy. I think one of the reasons why I tolerate the slower plot developments in Dengeki Daisy is that Teru and Kurosaki’s inaction about their relationship is tied in to their emotional states. In more predicatable shoujo manga, there would be plenty of outside forces popping up to prevent a couple getting together such as the sudden appearance of a long-lost fiance or an evil male model. Teru and Kurosaki both aren’t in an emotional place to deal with being honest with their feelings, so everything goes unsaid even as they face danger yet again.

I have learned now through this manga that school nurses are even more dangerous than male models. Teru investigates the possible guilt of Arai in a stabbing incident centered around the ex-school nurse Ms. Mori. It turns out that while Arai is guilty of some things, he’s really being set up as a patsy. Teru places herself in danger yet again, but she trusts that Daisy will be able to save her. While this scenario might make it seem like Teru’s a typical captive heroine, she does actually fight back and continues to use her cell phone strategically in summoning help. When I was reading this I was struck again by how well Motomi conveys the vastly different moods of the characters. There’s cynicism, playfulness, repressed emotion, and gloom. Teru and Kurosaki seem to go through so much in this volume, but their relationship is summed up in a scene where she’s perched on the monkey bars at school and he coaxes her to jump down in to his arms. Kurosaki thinks about the guilt he bears over her brother’s death and how much better off his life is with Teru in it. She thinks he’s acting strangely and wonders if he’s drunk, and he makes a crude joke about her youthfulness. So in just a few panels we go from reflection and intimacy to reinforcement of the teasing that keeps a safe distance between the couple. Scenes like this, with so much packed into a few panels are why I continue to enjoy reading Dengeki Daisy.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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Ichigenme: The First Class is Civil Law

August 18, 2011 by Anna N

Ichigenme: The First Class is Civil Law Volumes 1 and 2 by Fumi Yoshinaga

For the Manga Moveable Feast I wanted to read something I hadn’t read before by Yoshinaga, and since I’ve read most of her other series already, the only thing left was some of her yaoi titles. I decided to go with Ichigenme: The First Class is Civil Law.

Tamiya joins a new zemi (seminar group) for law school. Although he’s a hard-working student, he’s ended up in a peer group full of rich kids who devote their time to goofing off. As part of a hazing ritual for third year students Toudou, a long-haired spoiled son of a politician performs an elaborate striptease for his fellow classmates. He winds up by giving Tamiya a kiss in order to distract everyone from making Tamiya strip too. Tamiya’s classmates make casual plans to go to Hokkaido to ski for the weekend. When they invite him along and offer to pay for him, he says that he’ll go along with them if it is something he can pay for but “I don’t want anyone paying for something I can’t pay them back for.” Tamiya’s seriousness and integrity provide a stark contrast to the attitudes of his classmates, and Toudou decides that Tamiya is “pretty cool.”

The first volume centers on the growing friendship between Tamiya and Toudou. When his father is caught up in a political scandal, Toudou is ostracized by all of his classmates except Tamiya. While Toudou is comfortable with his sexuality, Tamiya isn’t quite willing to admit that he’s gay even though he’s never been attracted to women. This manga is one of Yoshinaga’s earlier works, but her facility for creating compelling slice of life stories is in full effect. The students get drunk, avoid studying, have unfortunate run-ins with faculty, and in some cases slowly grow up. Toudou and Tamiya’s relationship progresses slowly, and while they do get physical Toudou is left wondering if Tamiya only wants him to stay over due to the elaborate breakfasts he prepares the next morning. When Tamiya turns down a classmate’s advances saying that he doesn’t think he could ever be with a woman. She says “I’ll…have to tell people, okay?” Tamiya replies that he doesn’t care, and his expression switches from blank to peaceful. He says to himself “Somehow…I feel much better.”

The second volume shows Tamiya and Toudou in a more established relationship. Toudou is breaking away from his family’s expectations and working at a games development company and Tamiya has become a teacher. They struggle with having enough time to spend with each other. Toudou’s younger brother is also the focus of some of the stories in this volume, as he takes up with a professor. The first volume of Ichigenme had a few sex scenes, but was more focused on character interaction. The second volume flips the formula, with sex scenes punctuated by occasional glimpses of the characters going out to dinner, struggling with pressure from work, or dealing with the aftermath of a new haircut.

As a whole, I liked Ichigenme more than most of the yaoi I’ve tried. It doesn’t have some of the problematic genre elements that tend to annoy me in many yaoi titles, like a reliance on rape scenarios or the insistence that the men in the story aren’t really gay, they’re just “truly in love.” Instead Yoshinaga creates stories about believable people who fall in love with each other.

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