Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 8/13

August 7, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Anna N and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: If there was a quiet week in August, next week would be it, with a mere nine titles.

Dark Horse has the 2nd of its Samurai Executioner omnibii, for those who can’t get enough of samurai, manliness, and manly samurai.

ASH: Surprisingly enough, I haven’t actually read any of Samurai Executioner. This would probably be a good time to change that.

SEAN: Kodansha gives us a double shot of Hiro Mashima, with the 41st volume of Fairy Tail (which starts a new arc) and the 2nd volume of Monster Soul (which wraps up).

SubLime has an entry, as the 5th volume of Crimson Spell is out. Listen to them. Crimson. Pff. It’s f**king Red. (Sorry, got caught up in the meme there.)

ASH: Speaking of getting caught up, I believe the fifth volume means we’ve caught up with Japan, too.

SEAN: Vertical has the 5th volume of Wolfsmund, whose cover may not be red but whose contents I expect will at least have a bit of blood.

ASH: I suspect that you’re right.

SEAN: Viz has recently said that Deadman Wonderland is its breakout hit of the last year, so it will please people no end that Vol. 4 is out. Also, clearly this means we need more license rescues. (Kidding, kidding…)

MICHELLE: I never kid about license rescues! Of course, whatever momentum the TOKYOPOP series that I most love(d) had is probably long-dissipated by now, but I can continue to hope that one day, I’ll get to read Silver Diamond in English in its entirety.

ANNA: I am pausing a moment to contemplate the lack of an ending in English for Shinobi Life, Demon Sacred, and Sky Blue Shore.

SEAN: We also have the 12th volume of Itsuwaribito, which I still haven’t really read. Anyone?

The 12th volume of Loveless will no doubt generate a bit more excitement from my other Manga Bookshelf colleagues.

ASH: I’m looking forward to it!

MICHELLE: I am positively asquee!

MJ: Okay, yeah, I’m in the middle of production week, but I have to take at least a moment here to say: LOVELESS!!! <3 Oh, happy day.

SEAN: Lastly, we get a 7th volume of the Arabian Nights series Magi, which I enjoy quite a bit.

MICHELLE: I vow that I will finally get caught back up with Magi!

SEAN: Getting something here? Or catching up with the week before?

Manga Giveaway: Mecha Manga Giveaway Winner

August 6, 2014 by Ash Brown

And the winner of the Mecha Manga Giveaway is…Elliot!

As the winner, Elliot will be receiving a copy of Mohiro Kito’s Bokurano: Ours, Volume 1. For some reason, I never think I’m going to enjoy mecha manga, but then I do. And so, as part of this giveaway, I was interested in learning what mecha manga other people had read and enjoyed. There have been a good number licensed in English, though this is only a small fraction of what’s available in Japan. As many of the entrants pointed out in the giveaway comments, sometimes an anime gives the mecha genre a little more oomph, but manga can be enjoyable, too.

Some of the mecha manga licensed in English:
Bokurano: Ours by Mohiro Kito
Broken Blade by Yunosuke Yoshinaga
Code Geass by Goro Taniguchi (and various)
Eureka Seven by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou
Full Metal Panic! written by Shouji Gatou, illustrated by Retsu Tateo
Gurren Lagann by Kotaro Mori
Kannazuki no Miko: Destiny of Shrine Maiden by Kaishaku
Knights of Sidonia by Tsutomu Nihei
Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
Mobile Police Patlabor by Masami Yuuki
Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel by Haruhiko Mikimoto
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing by Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino (and various)
Nadesico by Kia Asamiya
Neon Genesis Evangelion by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
RahXephon written by Yutaka Izubuchi, illustrated by Takeaki Momose
The Vision of Escaflowne by Aki Katsu
The Voice of a Distant Star written by Makoto Shinkai, illustrated by Mizu Sahara

The above list is only a small selection of the mecha manga that have at one point or another been released in English. I was a little surprised to see how much of it has gone out of print. But there are still some great titles like Knights of Sidonia, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, and the various incarnations of Neon Genesis Evangelion that are still going strong. Mecha will still be around for a while, I suspect. And thank you to everyone who shared your favorites with me!

Pick of the Week: Black Rose Alice & more!

August 5, 2014 by Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Sean Gaffney and MJ Leave a Comment

ASH: As is often the case with the first week of the month, there are a good many manga releases hitting the shelves. But, there is one manga that I’m particularly curious about: the debut of Setona Mizushiro’s Black Rose Alice. It’s shoujo horror from the creator of After School Nightmare and I’ve been assured it’s not your typical vampire story.

MICHELLE: I’m really looking forward to Black Rose Alice, and Spell of Desire was enjoyable, too, but I can’t pass up my yearly opportunity to plug Kaze Hikaru. It’s really good, I swear! Thank you, VIZ, for continuing to release it.

ANNA: I was preparing myself for some mental anguish because I love Black Rose Alice, Spell of Desire, and Kaze Hikaru all so much! So I’m glad that Ash and Michelle have picked 2 of my favorites so I can highlight the frothy witchy fun of Spell of Desire. Since Demon Love Spell just concluded and Midnight Secretary is also about to wrap up, I am very happy I have another fun josei supernatural romance to read.

SEAN: Given what everyone’s already picked out, I’ll spotlight the 46th volume of Oh My Goddess!. We now know that the series will end with Vol. 48, and so Fujishima is allowed to pull out all the stops and do the things he had put off doing for twenty years, like plot and character development. I kid, but this volume is touching and heartwarming, as the entire arc has been, really.

MJ: I probably should choose something like Knights of Sidonia, since everyone else has avoided repeats here, but I can’t possibly pick anything this week other than Setona Mizushiro’s Black Rose Alice. I absolutely adore After School Nightmare, and after losing her glorious BL epic Dousei Ai to JManga’s demise, I’m pretty thrilled to finally see something else from her on the shelves. This is my must-buy item for the week!

What looks good to you this week?

My Week in Manga: July 28-August 3, 2014

August 4, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Another week, another few posts at Experiments in Manga. First up was my most recent manga giveaway. Tell me about your favorite mecha manga (if you have one) for a chance to win the first volume of Mohiro Kito’s Bokurano: Ours. (The winner will be announced on Wednesday, so there’s still time to send in comments!) The first in-depth manga review of August went to In Clothes Called Fat, the most recent manga by Moyoco Anno to have been released in English. I honestly believe it to be one of the best comics of the year. (Well, at least out of those that I’ve read so far.) I also posted July’s Bookshelf Overload over the weekend for those of you who are interested in the manga that I purchase or otherwise receive over the course of a month.

Elsewhere online, Sparkler Monthly is celebrating its first year of publication by offering a free sampler download that includes the first chapter of all of its series–prose, comics, and audio dramas. Deb Aoki has a nice overview of some of the manga happenings at this years San Diego Comic Con over at Publishers Weekly. Jamie Coville has also posted audio for some of the SDCC panels, including a few focusing on manga. (Actually, there are a ton of manga related files on that page from past comic events, too.)

August 1 was 801 Day (aka Yaoi or Boys’ Love Day), and though probably not technically related the most recent Manga Studies column at Comics Forum focused boys’ love research in Japan. (Did you know that Guin Saga‘s Kurimoto Kaoru was also a BL author, editor, and scholar? Now you do!) There have been a few new Fujojocast episodes posted recently, including one specifically for 801 Day. I found episode seven, Give what’s due to Saezuru, which talks about translation, adaptation, and frustrations over publishers’ quality and quality control to be especially interesting. SuBLime made a “new” license announcement–it has gained the digital rights to couple of series that were previously print-only. The announcement is particularly noteworthy because it seems to indicate that SuBLime was able to do this because the Japanese publishers are beginning to trust that fans won’t abuse digital downloads.

Quick Takes

Cowboy Bebop, Volumes 1-3 written by Hajime Yatate and illustrated by Yutaka Nanten. Of the two Cowboy Bebop manga that were released (Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star being the other), Nanten’s series is the one that is most similar to the anime. This makes a fair amount of sense considering that both the anime and the Cowboy Bebop manga were written by the same group of creators, whereas Shooting Star was really its own thing. The Cowboy Bebop manga is closer in tone to the anime’s more humorous episodes, though there is some seriousness as well. The overarching plot dealing with Spike’s feud with Vicious is largely missing, however the other character’s backstories are all filled in a little bit more. The manga, like the much of the anime, is generally episodic. Most of the stories wouldn’t have been too out-of-place with the anime itself, though for the most part I didn’t find them to be as strong as their televised counterparts. The manga will likely appeal most to those who have seen the anime and would like a chance to spend some additional time with the characters; the manga feels like bonus material and deleted scenes rather than anything substantial.

Deadlock, Volume 1 written by Saki Aida and illustrated by Yuh Takashina. Though technically a boys’ love series, not much has happened in the way of romance after the first volume of Deadlock. However, there is a good deal of plot to be found, and I think that it’s a more interesting manga because of that. Yuto Lennix is a drug investigator who was framed for the murder of his best friend and partner. Incarcerated in the Californian state prison system, he has been given the chance to reduce his sentence by helping the FBI to determine the identity of terrorist leader who is believed to be a fellow inmate. That of course is assuming he doesn’t get himself killed first. It’s a somewhat idealized version of prison–everyone is very good-looking for one–but the portrayal of the racial tensions within the system is surprisingly realistic and generally avoids using stereotypes. So far, Deadlock has a fairly large cast. The social dynamics between the prisoners are a very important part of the manga as Yuto learns his place in the hierarchy while he carries out his investigation. Deadlock is currently an ongoing series; I sincerely hope that future volumes will be licensed when they’re released as well.

Madara, Volumes 1-5 written by Eiji Otsuka and illustrated by Shou Tajima. Apparently, Madara was one of CMX’s debut manga. I’ve been discovering some fantastic series from CMX. Sadly, Madara is not one of them. I initially became interested in the series because the creators are also responsible for the extraordinarily dark and graphic MPD-Psycho. The premise of Madara also appealed to me–a young man prophesied to be king fighting demons to restore the body that his father tried to destroy–but that’s probably because it’s so similar to Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo. Except that Dororo is actually good. Madara comes across as a fairly generic sword-and-sorcery RPG more than anything else. (The series actually did go on to inspire several video games, and even an anime.) It also seems as though Otsuka and Tajima are just making things up as they go. There’s not much of an ending, either. Small glimmers of Tajima’s stunning art style (which I love) can be seen, especially towards the end of the series, but the illustrations in Madara are tragically lacking in comparison. Granted, it is a much earlier series. Here’s a fun fact about Madara, though: the series was created in a left-to-right format.

Sonny Leads, Volume 1 written by Richard Mosdell and illustrated by Genshi Kamobayashi. Sonny Leads holds a black belt in karate but he’s unsatisfied with his progress and so has come to Japan to further his training. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does, and he’s in for a bit of a culture shock, too. Both Mosdell and Kamobayashi are karateka and instructors. Their knowledge of and passion for karate definitely comes through in Sonny Leads. I especially like Kamobayashi’s artwork. Particular attention is given to the proper and realistic presentation of karate forms and stances as well as to more subtle details like the appearance of the knuckles developed and used for punches and strikes. As with most of Manga University’s publications, there’s also a strong educational element present in Sonny Leads–it’s possible to learn a bit of Japanese language and culture while reading it. A very interesting essay about high school karate clubs as well as a directory to the various karate organizations in Japan are also included in the volume. I’m not sure that Sonny Leads will have much general appeal, but as a karateka myself I’d be curious to see more of the series.

Bookshelf Overload: July 2014

August 3, 2014 by Ash Brown

Okay! So, I would consider July to be a fairly reasonable month for manga (and other) acquisitions. (I did pretty well in June, too, so hopefully this is a trend that continues.) I’ve gotten to the point that most of my purchases nowadays tend to be preorders, but there were a couple out-of-print things that I picked up (most notably Minako Narita’s Cipher). I also picked up Animal Land, Volume 9 by Makoto Raiku, which I missed getting when it was first released. Particularly exciting in July was that Flowering Harbour, a newly translated manga by Seiichi Hayashi, was released by the UK-based Breakdown Press. As for other preorders that I was happy to see arrive in July: Moyoco Anno’s In Clothes Called Fat is one of the best comics I’ve read this year (which I reviewed very recently); Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 3 continues to endear the series to me (I have a review of that one, too); and Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga, Omnibus 4 is fantastic (no review yet, but there should be one soon). You should also expect a review of Jami Lynn Lano’s The Princess of Tennis, a memoir of her time spent as a manga assistant for Takeshi Konomi, in the near future, too.

Manga!
Animal Land, Volume 9 by Makoto Raiku
Anomal by Nukuharu
Cipher, Volumes 1-11 by Minako Narita
Deadlock, Volume 1 written by Saki Aida and illustrated by Yuh Takashina
Flowering Harbour by Seiichi Hayashi
Flowers of Evil, Volume 10 by Shuzo Oshimi
In Clothes Called Fat by Moyoco Anno
Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibus 5 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
Madara, Volume 5 written by Eiji Otsuka, illustrated by Shou Tajima
No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Volume 4 by Nico Tanigawa
One Is Enough by Love
Sonny Leads, Volume 1 written by Richard Mosdell, illustrated by Genshi Kamobayashi
Terra Formars, Volume 1 written by Yu Sasuga and illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana
Vinland Saga, Omnibus 4 by Makoto Yukimura
What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 3 by Fumi Yoshinaga

Comics!
Chaos by Philippe Druillet
Dicebox, Book 1: Wander by Jenn Manley Lee
A Distant Soil, Volume 1: The Gathering by Colleen Doran
Forming II by Jesse Moynihan
Hana Doki Kira by the Year 85 Group
How to Be Happy by Elenor Davis
Pinoy Komiks edited by Adam Pasion and Zon Petilla

Novels!
Seikai: Crest of the Stars, Volume 1: Princess of the Empire by Hiroyuki Morioka

Nonfiction!
A Brief History of Manga by Helen McCarthy
The Princess of Tennis by Jamie Lynn Lano

Anime!
Baoh directed by Hiroyuki Yokoyama
Hetalia, Season 5: The Beautiful World directed by Hiroshi Watanabe
Mononoke directed by Kenji Nakamura
Sengoku Basara: The Last Party directed by Kazuya Nomura
Short Peace directed by Shuhei Morita, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hiroaki Ando, Hajime Katoki

In Clothes Called Fat

August 1, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Moyoco Anno
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130433
Released: July 2014
Original release: 2002

There is a select group of mangaka whose work I will buy without question or hesitation no matter what it is. Out of those creators, Moyoco Anno is one of my favorites. She works in multiple genres for multiple demographics and I have never failed to have been impressed by her manga. Anno’s work has been in print in English since 2003, first by Tokyopop and then followed by Viz Media and Del Rey Manga. Most recently, Vertical has been responsible for releasing more of Anno’s manga in English with superb editions of Sakuran, Insufficient Direction, and now In Clothes Called Fat. I was thrilled to learn that In Clothes Called Fat had been licensed. Collected in a single volume in Japan in 2002, the manga originally began serialization in 1997. Vertical published the English-language edition of In Clothes Called Fat in 2014, including a few pages of Anno’s color work which is always nice to see.

Noko Hanazawa is a young office worker under a fair amount of stress. She doesn’t get along very well with her coworkers and is frequently criticized by her superiors. There are, however, two things that bring uneasy comfort to Noko: Saito, her boyfriend of eight years, and food. Because Noko eats to alleviate her anxiety, she has also gained a significant amount of weight. Some of the other women in her office, especially Mayumi, bully her for being fat. Men either despise her or fetishize her because of how she looks. Noko eventually convinces herself that all of her unhappiness stems from being overweight and unattractive and that the only solution to her problems is to become skinny. While others urge her not to lose her fat, all for their own selfish reasons, Noko is determined to do anything she has to in order to drop pounds, exchanging one unhealthy relationship with food for another. Unfortunately, weight isn’t the only thing that Noko stands to lose in the process, something that she may only realize after the fact.

Obsession with appearance and the pursuit of happiness, identity, confidence, self-worth and self-esteem are all themes that frequently recur in Anno’s work. In some of her manga, such as Flowers & Bees, they are used for purposes of black comedy. While In Clothes Called Fat isn’t without humor–Vertical calls it a “dark comedy of manners,” which is very apt–Anno’s approach to the themes in the manga is more honest and bleak. It’s the brief moments of dark humor and slight absurdity that make the tragic tale bearable. In Clothes Called Fat is a tough read; there isn’t much happiness to be found in the story or its characters. However, the manga is an extraordinarily compelling and searing work. Noko and her struggles may be the focal point of In Clothes Called Fat, but she isn’t the only person in the manga who is forced to face some very harsh and hard truths about themselves and who they are as people. Some of them are able to eventually cope with reality while others will continue to try to live in denial.

As much as In Clothes Called Fat is about outward appearances, it’s even more about the characters’ internal turmoil and states of mind. Noko and the others use her weight as an excuse. She blames her unhappiness on her size and they torment her because of it, but that’s only an attempt to make themselves feel better and to assuage or avoid their own anxieties. The fixation on weight is merely a symptom of much more problematic underlying issues. Anno’s artwork in In Clothes called Fat emphasizes both the inner and outward conflicts of the characters. Backgrounds tend to be fairly minimal; the focus of the manga is very much on the people themselves: their facial expressions, their interactions with one another, and perhaps most importantly their body language. In Clothes Called Fat explores the extremes of ugliness and beauty, both physical and psychological, in appearance and in action. In Clothes Called Fat is a powerful work and easily one of the best manga–one of the best comics–that I’ve recently read. It can be uncomfortable, but it is also exceptional in its depth.

Manga the Week of 8/6

July 31, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and MJ 5 Comments

SEAN: There is so much manga out in August it beggars belief. Over 50 different titles in the month. And the first week is the biggest. So buckle up.

ANNA: I can see myself undergoing some major psychological trauma trying to choose between titles for Pick of the Week.

SEAN: Dark Horse has nearly wrapped up Oh My Goddess, but it’s not there yet, so here’s Vol. 46.

There’s also the 4th Trigun Maximum omnibus, for those who want to be confused by the artwork over longer periods of time.

Seven Seas has the July title I discussed earlier, D-Frag! On the August end, so far so good, as we have a couple titles there as well. Alice in the Country of Joker: Nightmare Trilogy intrigues me, mostly as I wonder if we’ll see Joker, who hasn’t ventured much outside his one book.

There’s the third Dragonar Academy, which is a thing that exists.

There’s also a new series debuting, Kokoro Connect. As with D-Frag!, I’ve heard this is better than it sounds, and look forward to seeing how it stretches its basic high school comedy with the twist that is at the heart of its plot.

ASH: I’m actually rather curious about this one.

SEAN: And there’s another Witch Buster omnibus, for the manwha inclined.

Speaking of Manga-ish things, Udon Entertainment have out the first of their “Manga Classics” adaptations, in this case Pride & Prejudice and Les Miserables. The artists seem to be Chinese (I think?), but the style is certainly pure shoujo. I’ll be interested to see how compressed these adaptations are.

Vertical hits double digits with the 10th volume of Knights of Sidonia, which hopefully will not end with a third straight cliffhanger putting Izana in danger.

MICHELLE: I really will catch up with Knights of Sidonia, I swear!

ASH: Poor, poor Izana. Hang in there, you’re my favorite!

ANNA: I need to catch up too, it is a great series!

MJ: Yay! That’s all I have to say.

SEAN: Hope you like Viz! Let’s start with the first of three debuts this week, the shoujo horror title Black Rose Alice. I understand it has vampires!

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one! It’s by the creator of After School Nightmare.

ASH: Me, too! I’m a little burned out on vampires, but I’m making an exception for Black Rose Alice.

ANNA: I have read this and the vampires in Black Rose Alice are very different from the vampires people may be used to. As much as I love goofy vampire romance manga, I really enjoyed the surreal and odd elements of this title.

MJ: I’m very much looking forward to this, mainly on the strength of After School Nightmare, which is a long-time favorite of mine.

SEAN: Bleach hits Vol. 61, and I don’t think has had real vampires yet, though I’m sure we’ve seen the equivalent somewhere in its Rogue’s Gallery.

It was 2012 when we saw the last D.Gray-Man that wasn’t an omnibus. Rejoice! Vol. 24 is here!

I reviewed the first volume of Food Wars! when it came out digitally, noting the fanservice was appalling but the basic plot as quite fun. The print volume releases this week.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for the print release to give this one a try.

SEAN: The 7th Happy Marriage?! continues to test the validity of that title.

ANNA: Yay, more josei!

SEAN: And the third High School Debut 3-in-1 omnibus is more pure shoujo fun in a bargain package.

MICHELLE: Read it, y’all!

ANNA: I love this series, especially the fact that the hero Yoh always looks chronically sleep deprived.

SEAN: The Excel Saga of shoujo, Kaze Hikaru, has its annual volume release! This is an awesome series that deserves more love, so I hope everyone goes out and buys it, if only so we can see it more than once a year.

MICHELLE: I concur 3,000%.

ASH: Kaze Hikaru is a great series.

ANNA: In a perfect world it would come out quarterly and dominate the manga best sellers list. It is wonderful.

SEAN: Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan gets ready for its final arc as Vol. 22 arrives.

Yet another series that’s been a long while since a volume, Rosario x Vampire II gets lucky Vol. 13.

The last of our debuts this week is Spell of Desire. Midnight Secretary ends next month, so I suppose it’s a perfect time to bring in a new josei series by the same author (heavily disguised as shoujo).

MICHELLE: I liked the first volume of Spell of Desire more than I expected to. Maybe because the hunky guy is kind to kittens.

ANNA: I am delighted by this series, and the hilarious contrivance that results in the male lead having to make out with an innocent witch in order to control her magic.

SEAN: Toriko’s Vol. 23 continues to see our four young heroes pitted against deadly, world-destroying monsters. Also, there’s food.

Lastly, the 6th Voice Over: Seiyu Academy makes us wonder if we’ll ever get back to the supposed hero of the series.

Is this too much manga? Or not enough?

ASH: Never enough! (Also, never enough money…)

Manga Giveaway: Mecha Manga Giveaway (Bokurano)

July 30, 2014 by Ash Brown

It’s the end of the month and therefore the start of another manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga! For July’s giveaway you all have a chance to win the first volume in Mohiro Kito’s manga series Bokurano: Ours as published by Viz Media. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I don’t know what it is about mecha manga and anime. For some bizarre reason, I never think that I’m going to like it, but I almost always end up enjoying what I pick up. Maybe my reluctance comes from the feeling that there’s just so much of it, giving the impression that the genre has been overdone and is lacking in originality. That’s a somewhat unfair train of thought on my part. Most well-established genres have the problem where a great deal of the media just isn’t very good or particularly notable, but they all have their gems.

Anyway. I recently started reading Mohiro Kito’s Bokurano: Ours, Volume 1, which is one of the more unusual mecha stories that I’ve come across. Granted, I haven’t gotten very far into the series yet, but I am liking its dark atmosphere and prominent psychological elements. Plus, it ran in IKKI, a magazine that publishes some manga that I really love. (And which sadly recently announced that it will be suspending publication in September.)

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Bokurano: Ours, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite mecha manga, if you have one. (Never read mecha? Simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there it is! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. As usual, everyone has one week to submit comments. If you prefer or have trouble with the comment form, entries may also be submitted via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. (I will then post the entry in your name.) The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on August 6, 2014. Good luck to you all!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Mecha Manga Giveaway Winner

Pick of the Week: Kodansha-fest

July 29, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s still hot and muggy, and I now have poison ivy on top of it. I don’t need quality. I need manga pixie sticks. Ergo, there’s one obvious choice for my pick of the week: Missions of Love. Betcha can’t read just one. And feel good about yourself the next day.

MICHELLE: It’s true; even I read the first two volumes. My pick of the week goes to the third volume of My Little Monster, which has impressed me with the characterization of its lead and by making the traditional romance beats feel refreshed. I’ve really been enjoying it so far.

ASH: I’ll stick with the Kodansha theme and pick the fourth omnibus of Vinland Saga, one of my favorite series being released right now. I liked the first omnibus but loved the next two, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how the characters and story continute to develop.

ANNA: I have to agree with Ash! Vinland Saga is easily the standout title for me this week too.

What looks good to you this week?

My Week in Manga: July 21-July 27, 2014

July 28, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

It wasn’t entirely intentional, but last week Experiments in Manga ended up being full of Vertical reviews. (And by full, I mean that two reviews were posted.) The first was of Fumi Yoshinaga’s gay slice-of-life and food manga What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 3. With each volume that is released, I fall in love with the series a little more. I also reviewed Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Volume 6: To War which continues to delve into the pasts of the characters and the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. The volume also features Char quite a bit. (I’ll admit, that made me happy.)

Elsewhere online, The Lobster Dance posted the seventh and final part of “Revealing and Concealing Identities: Cross-Dressing in Anime and Manga.” Kathryn Hemmann, the co-author, has a nice roundup and summary of the multi-part essay, and Leah has some final comments of her own as well. San Diego Comic Con was last week, which means the winners of the 2014 Eisner Awards were named (spoilers: Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki were honored) and new manga licenses from Drawn & Quarterly, Kodansha Comics, and Udon Entertainment were announced. Also, the list from the Best & Worst Manga panel has been posted, with more commentary on the choices planned to be posted at a later date.

Quick Takes

9 Faces of Love by Wann. As can probably be gathered from its title, 9 Faces of Love is a collection of nine short manhwa dealing with themes of love and the meaning of love. 9 Faces of Love is the second volume in Netcomics’ Manhwa Novella Collection series which is meant to feature short works by prominent Korean creators. I hadn’t previously read any of Wann’s works, but I’d definitely be interested in reading more; I really enjoyed 9 Faces of Love. It’s an excellent collection of short manhwa selected from Wann’s work between 1998 and 2005. Most of the stories deal with romantic love, but a few of them also deal with friendship and familial love. I initially picked up the volume for the android story “Automaton,” which happily ended up being quite good. While they deal with similar themes, there is a nice variety to the stories in 9 Faces of Love. Many incorporate science fiction, fantasy, or horror elements while others are more firmly grounded in reality. Some are sweet, some are sad, and some are actually somewhat disconcerting.

All You Need is Kill adapted by Nick Mamatas, illustrated by Lee Ferguson and Fajar Buana. A few years ago I read Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill light novel and greatly enjoyed it. So I was rather curious when Haikasoru announced a graphic novel adaptation, the release conveniently timed to coincide with the Hollywood film adaptation Edge of Tomorrow. (Granted, I was much more interested in Takeshi Obata’s All You Need Is Kill manga which has now also been licensed.) Sadly, I was rather disappointed with the graphic novel. I’m not sure that anyone who hasn’t read the original would be able to follow the comic very easily or make sense of the importance of some of the scenes that were included. For example, I loved the umeboshi eating contest in the novel, but in the comic it’s difficult to realize that that’s what’s going on or why it matters. Romantic elements are introduced at the end more as an afterthought in an effort to neatly tie things together, but it’s a little too late by that point. For the most part the artwork was decent, but the battle suit design left something to be desired. I did like the color palette used, though. My copy of the graphic novel also had a printing error. At least I’m assuming it was an error—one of the signatures was repeated. Though, I suppose that does emphasize the plot’s time loop.

Crimson Wind by Duo Brand. A follow-up to White Guardian, Crimson Wind starts out as a sequel but really ends up being more of a prequel. The majority of the manga explores the backstories of General Sei and Baron Touri and their relationship with each other. Except for his attractive character design, I didn’t like Touri much at all in White Guardian and I like him even less in Crimson Wind. He’s a rapist and possessive, resorting to drugging the object of his desire when coercion and force isn’t enough to get what he wants. It’s not at all romantic even though Sei ends up falling for him. Most of the court intrigue and politics that made White Guardian interesting have been dropped in Crimson Spell; only the dubious love story remains. I would have much rather have seen the tale of how Sei became disillusioned and unhappy with the kingdom he pledged his life to protect. I may not have enjoyed the main story of Crimson Wind, however I really liked the short side story “Never Ever” which concludes the volume and features two completely different character who actually care for and respect each other.

Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944 by Shigeru Mizuki. With this volume of Showa: A History of Japan the manga begins to cover history that I’m a little more familiar with—the Pacific War. While the factual recounting of the events that led up to the war and the war itself is well told, what makes the series particularly engaging is the incorporation of Mizuki’s own experiences as a student and eventually as a drafted soldier during the time period. The artwork in Showa: A History of Japan easily slips between photorealism and more stylized drawings to very good effect. Mizuki’s illustrations of naval and sea battles are particularly impressive and he uses some very interesting two-page layouts for many of them. He conveys the reality of war but doesn’t glorify it or the numerous deaths, treating the combatants of both sides of the conflict with respect. Mizuki’s Eisner-winning, semi-autobiographical Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (also available from Drawn & Quarterly), which deals with a similar time period and story, makes an excellent companion to this volume of Showa: A History of Japan.

Terra Formars, Volume 1 written by Yu Sasuga and illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana. I have a peculiar love for Mars, and so when a manga has anything to do with the planet, however slight, it immediately catches my attention. I was looking forward to Terra Formars and really liked its basic premise. Efforts to terraform Mars using moss and cockroaches over hundreds of years has largely been successful, but now humans have a bit of a bug problem to deal with seeing as the cockroaches have evolved into a sentient race. Genetic experimentation has also allowed human and insect DNA to be combined, creating humans with bug-inspired superpowers. (Admittedly ridiculous, but kind of cool.) Terra Formars is an extremely violent and action-heavy manga requiring a tremendous amount of suspension of disbelief from it readers. There were parts of the manga that I loved, like the fight sequence paired with biblical verses about locusts. However, I really dislike the design of the cockroaches (inspired by Homo erectus), and not just because they’re unintentionally reminiscent of racist caricatures. They seem more mammalian than insectoid and feel out-of-place art-wise. At this point I’m torn over the series, but I’ll probably give it another volume or two to see what direction it takes.

Gin Tama, Episodes 50-74 directed by Shinji Takamatsu. It’s been a while since I’ve watched any of the Gin Tama anime, but I do like the series. I was in the mood for some absurd humor and antics, and so ended up binging on the first half of the second season. Like the manga which it more-or-less follows, the anime is mostly episodic. Occasionally there will be a set of episodes that form a larger story arc, but generally once someone is familiar with the characters and recurring jokes it doesn’t much matter in which order the anime is watched. Gin Tama is a series rife with parodies of and references to other pop culture media. (Mostly but not exclusively Japanese pop culture.) I’ve always been highly amused by Gin Tama, but the more manga that I read and the more anime that I watch the more of references I catch and appreciate. My interest in Japanese history has come in handy, too, since there are plenty of nods to historical figures and events in Gin Tama as well. For a comedy series, at times Gin Tama can also be surprisingly touching.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 6: To War

July 25, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Original story: Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130204
Released: June 2014
Original release: 2010

While I don’t necessarily consider myself to be a fan of the massive Gundam franchise as a whole, I do think that it’s safe at this point to call myself a fan of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s manga series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. This actually doesn’t surprise me too greatly as I already knew that I enjoyed other manga by Yasuhiko. The Origin is a retelling and expansion of the original 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam which Yasuhiko also worked on. Part of The Origin was initially released in English by Viz Media, but the series is now being published by Vertical in a deluxe, hardcover format based on the Japanese collector’s edition of the manga. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Volume 6: To War was originally published in Japan in 2010 while the English translation was released in 2014. Due to licensing restrictions, the bonus content in this particular volume is fairly limited–only two color pieces by Yasuhiko, one of which is the basis for the cover art. Otherwise, To War easily meets the high standards of quality set by the previous volumes.

After the death of the anti-Federation leader Zeon Zum Deikun the political situation on Side 3 was thrown into turmoil as House Zabi and House Ral maneuvered for dominance. Caught up in the power struggle were Deikun’s two young children–Casval and Artesia–who ultimately were forced to live in exile, hiding who they really were. But now Casval has taken on another identity in order to seek his revenge against House Zabi, enrolling in Zeon Academy’s Space Force Officer Training School as Char. While at the academy he manages to befriend Garma, the youngest scion of House Zabi, the two of them becoming rivals in the classroom as well as out in the field. At the same time, tension continues to mount between Side 3 and the Earth Federation, the cries for independence growing louder and more violent. As the situation becomes more volatile all-out war between the two factions becomes increasingly more likely. House Zabi has already begun developing mobile suits for use in battle; the Federation is steadily falling behind technologically in the arms race which will determine the fate of humanity.

By this point in The Origin it has been well established just how incredibly capable Char is, both physically and mentally. He is extraordinarily calculating and a master manipulator, taking advantage of events as they develop and influencing the people around him, often without them realizing entirely what is happening. Char’s relationship with Garma is one of the main focuses of To War. Although it is already known that it will end very poorly for Garma, it’s interesting to see the complexities of their friendship–if that’s what it can really be called. There are moments in To War when Char seems to exhibit genuine kindness and affection towards Garma, but at the same time he never wavers from his ultimate goal and desire for revenge, aiming for the complete destruction of House Zabi. Perhaps what Char is really showing is arrogance and pity. Either way, the scenes are striking because there are no witnesses to Char’s actions; they serve as examples of the very few incidences in which Char’s behavior has not been carefully and completely crafted and calculated for a very specific purpose.

Though they are certainly an important part of The Origin, the developing relationship between Garma and Char and Char’s personal vendetta and war against House Zabi are actually small pieces of a much larger story. Yasuhiko’s multilayered approach to The Origin–showing how the private struggles of the individual characters dovetail with the more far-reaching events and the unstoppable progress of the war–is one of the things that makes the series so effective. In addition to the continued characterization, Yasuhiko also pays close attention to technological advances and weapons development in The Origin and what those mean for the impending war. To War also includes the first mobile suit battle between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, a critical turning point in its crusade for independence and domination. The gears of war will continue to turn and the personal and political machinations behind it will continue to advance in the next volume, Battle of Loum, as more is revealed about the characters and their pasts.

Manga the Week of 7/30

July 24, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, MJ and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: A 5th week of the month is usually sparse, but we do have a few interesting things due out at the tail end of July.

Gen Manga offers you a choice of Indie Manga. Either you will think that One Is Enough, or perhaps you’d rather be with an Anomal. Choose wisely. (They do both look intriguing.)

ASH: You’re making me choose between boys’ love and yokai?! Sean, now that’s just mean.

MICHELLE: Wow, it occurs to me I haven’t read any boys’ love in ages.

MJ: Same here, and this needs to be rectified.

SEAN: If you prefer your manga a little more insane soap opera-ish, Kodansha gives you the 8th Missions of Love volume.

ASH: I’ll admit to actually enjoying Missions of Love. So much drama!

SEAN: They also have the third My Little Monster manga, where the heroine will no doubt stick to her promise to herself not to get involved with love. Aheh.

MICHELLE: This is the one thing from this week that I’ll definitely be picking up.

SEAN: And there’s also the 4th volume of Vinland Saga, which I suspect may get a lot of people excited, because Vikings make everything better.

ASH: I’m excited!! Vinland Saga is easily my favorite series being released by Kodansha at the moment.

ANNA: Vinland Saga is great. This reminds me that I need to read the copy of volume 3 that I’ve been saving for a day when I need to read about violence and Vikings.

SEAN: Seven Seas has been having a bad July in terms of ship dates. I mentioned Devils and Realist 2 earlier this month, it’s actually been moved back to next week.

ANNA: The first volume was pretty good. I’m curious to see if the main joke in the book gets a bit repetitive in the second volume.

SEAN: Lastly, Vertical has the 5th volume of sci-fi thriller From the New World.

What manga goes best with hot dogs and sauerkraut?

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 3

July 23, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Fumi Yoshinaga
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130402
Released: July 2014
Original release: 2009

As a fan of Fumi Yoshinaga’s manga, food, and stories with a queer bent to them, I was extraordinarily happy when her series What Did You Eat Yesterday? was licensed for release in English. The third volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday? was originally published in Japan in 2009 while the English-language edition was released by Vertical in 2014. I have been thoroughly enjoying the series so far and its mix of gay slice-of-life and recipes, so I was very much looking forward to reading the third volume. Personally, I like the series best when Yoshinaga focuses on the characters, but I would be lying if I tried to say that I didn’t also like all of the food found in the manga, too. What Did You Eat Yesterday? is most effective when Yoshinaga is able to combine and balance those two major aspects of the series. The ideal balance isn’t always achieved, but even when it isn’t What Did You Eat Yesterday? always has intriguing characters, delicious food, and just the right touch of humor to accompany it all.

With his father recovering from an illness, Shiro finds himself spending more time with his family than he has in a long while. Though it’s better than when he first came out to them, his parents are still coming to terms with their son’s homosexuality and their relationship can sometimes be a little strained. Granted, some of that uncomfortableness has very little to do with the fact that Shiro is gay and more to do with the fact that the entire family is made up of people with strong personalities. While Shiro is out to his family and close friends, he’s still closeted at work which, along with his incredible self-consciousness, occasionally gets him into trouble. Things are a little easier for him at home in the kitchen where he can relax and focus on what he really loves: cooking gourmet meals on a tightly kept budget. His boyfriend Kenji, who is much more open about his own sexuality, is always an appreciative audience for Shiro’s meals. It’s a good thing, too. The two of them have been living together for a few years now and food usually helps to smooth over some of the bumps in their relationship.

Generally in What Did You Eat Yesterday? the kitchen is Shiro’s domain. Kenji will gladly help out when asked and given direction, acting as a sort of sous-chef, but for the most part it’s all Shiro. However, in the third volume Kenji gets to take the lead for a chapter while Shiro is off visiting his folks for the New Year. He makes instant ramen. (Granted, with a bunch of extra trimmings.) In a delightful twist, it’s treated in the manga as though he’s having an affair. Instant ramen actually happens to be one of my comfort foods, but I’ve only recently begun trying to dress it up a bit. In addition to the food and its preparation being sumptuously drawn, one of the great things about What Did You Eat Yesterday? (at least I think it’s a great thing) is that the recipes included in the stories are detailed enough that they can be followed and produce results. After only three volumes there are already plenty of recipes that I’m interested in attempting from the series. A variation on Kenji’s ramen has been added to that growing list.

Food is certainly an important part of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, but so are the characters and their relationships. Family is a particularly prominent theme in the third volume. Shiro is on fairly good terms with his parents, but very little is actually known about Kenji’s family at this point. It’s unlikely that the two of them will have their own kids which will have implications for them later in life, something that is made all the more clear as Shiro deals with his parents as they age. What Did You Eat Yesterday? has one of the most realistic portrayals of a devoted, long-term gay couple that I’ve encountered in a manga (or comics in general). Honestly, when it comes right down to it, Kenji and Shiro’s relationship isn’t all that dissimilar from the heterosexual couples in the series, though they do face some particular challenges unique to their situation. Like any pair, they have their disagreements and small spats, but they also care about each other a great deal. Shiro in particular isn’t always the most overtly demonstrative with his affection, but often it’s the little things that really make a relationship work.

Pick of the Week: Almost Unanimous

July 21, 2014 by Ash Brown, Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N and MJ Leave a Comment

ASH: Every once in a while a week comes along that, despite there being plenty of manga to choose from, there’s one particular title that stands out for me. Any other week that might have been the most recent volume of MPD-Psycho since it’s been three years since the last one was released, but no. Without question, this week my pick goes to Moyoco Anno’s In Clothes Called Fat. Anno is an incredible creator; I’m thrilled that Vertical has been releasing more of her work in English. After seeing some previews, I have high expectations for this one.

SEAN: Tempted as I am by Accel World and the start of a new Umineko arc, I will instead go with: What Ash said.

MICHELLE: I’ll undoubtedly read this important work, but, if I’m honest, my heart belongs to the latest volume of Blood Lad, which has shown up unexpectedly soon. I never would’ve guessed that I’d enjoy this series as much as I do.

ANNA: I will also have to throw my support towards Moyoco Anno’s In Clothes Called Fat. Anno’s works always end up surprising me, and I’m happy that Vertical is bringing out such a great variety of her titles now.

MJ: I’d love to back Michelle up here, since I do love Blood Lad, or at least throw some page time to my beloved Pandora Hearts, but I really can’t choose anything but In Clothes Called Fat. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this release since it was first announced, and I’m thrilled to see it hitting the shelves this week. I can’t possibly pick anything else.

My Week in Manga: July 14-July 20, 2014

July 21, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Two reviews were posted at Experiments in Manga last week, one of a manga and one not. The first review was part of my Year of Yuri monthly review project. I took a look at Milk Morinaga’s Gakuen Polizi, Volume 1, which is quite different from her other work currently available in English. The first volume at least is less of a romance and more of a buddy cop story, but it’s still fairly entertaining. (She does promise that more of the drama in the second volume will be romance-related and less crime-related, though.)

My second review last week was of Tokyo Demons, Book 2: Add a little Chaos, a novel written by Lianne Sentar with illustrations by Rem. In case it isn’t clear from the review, I absolutely adore Tokyo Demons. It can get pretty dark and heavy, but it’s a fantastic series. The second volume should be available as an ebook later this month and the print edition is currently scheduled for release in October. (Tokyo Demons is one of Chromatic Press and flagship series, so in the meantime it can also be read online at Sparkler Monthly.)

Once again I wasn’t actually online much last week, but I did catch a few things that other people may be interested in: Over at Comics Forum, Martin de la Iglesia writes about Early manga translations in the West. Kate at Reverse Thieves explains How the Library Became My Go-to Place for Manga and Comics. (I posted a bit about finding manga at the library a little while back, too.) And on Twitter, manga scholar and translator Matt Thorn hints that a project with Moto Hagio is in the works. Let’s hope so!

Quick Takes

Honey Darling by Norikazu Akira. After reading and enjoying Beast & Feast I decided to track down more manga by Akira available in English. This led me to picking up Honey Darling. The manga isn’t the most realistic or believable, but it is cute, delightful, funny, and very sweet. Chihiro is a young man without any real goals in his life until he takes in a stray kitten. When Shiro falls ill, Chihiro ends up working as the live-in housekeeper for Kumazawa, the vet who treats her, and helping out in the animal clinic. Honey Darling has a lot going for it: nice art, a sense of humor, adorable cats and dogs, amusing and ttractive leads, likeable side characters (including women!), and so on. Ultimately Honey Darling is a boys’ love manga, though. As might be expected, Chihiro and Kumazawa become more than just roommates by the time the manga ends, but the development feels more like Akira fulfilling a requirement of the genre rather than being something that was necessarily called for by story itself. Still, I did enjoy Honey Darling a great deal, the two of them made me happy as a couple, and the manga frequently made me smile.

Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibuses 1-2 (equivalent to Volumes 1-5) written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima. One of the first manga to be translated into English, Lone Wolf and Cub wasn’t released in its entirety until Dark Horse picked up the license. Sadly, the first Dark Horse edition was tiny and, while extremely portable, was difficult to read because the text was so small and crowded. Additionally, those original twenty-eight volumes have steadily been going out of print. Thankfully, Dark Horse recently started releasing Lone Wolf and Cub in an omnibus format with a larger trim size. Though quite hefty (each omnibus is around 700 pages and collects about two and a half volumes or so), the reading experience is much improved overall. Lone Wolf and Cub is an excellent series, so I’m very glad that the manga will remain in print for a bit longer. The series is fairly episodic, following the titular Lone Wolf and Cub: Ogami Ittō, who once served as the Shogun’s executioner but who has become an assassin-for-hire out of revenge over the destruction of his family, and his young son Diagorō.

Mail, Volumes 1-3 by Housui Yamazaki. Summer is the time for ghost stories in Japan, so I felt it was appropriate to finally get around to reading Mail. I came across this short series thanks to The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service which shares the same illustrator. Reiji Akiba–detective, exorcist, and the protagonist of Mail–actually briefly appears in the fourth volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service as well. One of the things that particularly struck me about Mail is how often the stories incorporated modern technology such as cell phones and computers. It’s as though traditional ghost stories and urban legends have been updated for a contemporary audience. Occasionally Akiba will present a sort of prologue to the individual chapters, giving the stories an almost Twilight Zone feel to them. Mail can be legitimately creepy and at times a bit bloody, but gore is not at all the focus of the series. In general Mail is episodic, although the final volume adds a recurring character who becomes Akiba’s assistant as a sort of homage to Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack.

Stone Collector, Book 2 written by Kevin Han and illustrated by Zom-J. I want to like Stone Collector more than I actually do, but at this point I can’t really say that I’ve been enjoying the manhwa much at all. It’s not all bad. The artwork in particular has moments when it can be impressively dynamic. The character’s facial expressions are great. Even the basic premise of the story isn’t terrible. As a whole though, Stone Collector just isn’t working for me. Though it moves along quickly, the plot is thin and the characters are underdeveloped, almost as if it’s an outline or draft than a finished product. The second half of the second volume of Stone Collector of is devoted to a side story, “Land of Ice.” I was more interested in “Land of Ice” than the main story more because of its tundra setting than anything else, but it still frustrated me and had many of the same problems that Stone Collector proper has. November 2013 was the last time there was a Stone Collector update. I’m not sure if there are plans to release more (it may simply be that “more” doesn’t exist yet), but the story clearly hasn’t reached its conclusion yet.

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, Season 2 directed by Kazuya Nomura. While I was entertained by the first season of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, I really enjoyed the second season. While there are still fantastically outrageous fights and action sequences, there’s also more focus on the characters and their characterization and on battle strategies and tactics. Personally, I appreciate the added context this gives the series. The characters, who continue to be magnificently and ridiculously overpowered, come across as a bit more human since their pasts and motivations are clearer. Their confrontations carry more emotional weight because of this as well. Miyamoto Musashi makes an appearance in this season, too. I was greatly amused by the fact that he fights with a giant oar. (Legend has it that Musashi once forgot to bring a sword with him to a duel and so carved a bokken out of the oar he used to get there; this why his weapon choice in Samurai Kings is simply perfect.) Samurai Kings is a tremendous amount of fun. Based on a video game that’s nominally based on actual events and historic figures, it’s wonderfully absurd and irreverent.