Ash Brown

Wandering Son, Vol. 5

October 23, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Takako Shimura
U.S. publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 9781606996478
Released: September 2013
Original release: 2006

The fifth volume of Takako Shimura’s manga series Wandering Son was originally published in Japan in 2005 while the English-language edition of Wandering Son, Volume 5 was published by Fantagraphics in 2013. The entire series is being released in English as beautiful hardcovers; Fantagraphics’ treatment of the manga is simply lovely. Wandering Son is a series that has come to mean a tremendous amount to me on a very personal level. I am very grateful to Fantagraphics for pursuing the manga in English. Wandering Son is a wonderful story about growing up and personal identity with a very sincere and sensitive look at gender and sexuality. The series started out strong and it continues to be a powerful work. Although reading it can sometimes be traumatic for me because the story touches on issues that hit so close to home, I always look forward to reading the next volume of Wandering Son. I wish I didn’t have to wait for so long between volumes, but it’s always worth it.

With the beginning of seventh grade students are faced with a new school, new teacher, new classmates, and maybe even a few new crushes. In some ways junior high is a chance for a new start, but some problems are carried over from middle school. Shuichi’s close circle of friends has started to fall apart as romantic feelings get in the way and cause a fair amount of tension within the group. The rift between Takatsuki and Chiba has grown particularly wide. It seems as though the two of them may never be able to make up, despite the pain that their falling out has caused for the rest of their friends. Though they are still very close, things have become rather awkward between Shuichi and Takatsuki as well after Shuichi declared having feelings for Takatsuki and Takatsuki gently rejected them. Fortunately, Shuichi has Mako as a source of comfort and reason. It’s a good thing, too, as junior high and puberty have their own challenges; having someone to commiserate with is invaluable. Making new friends doesn’t hurt either, although sometimes that just complicates matters even further.

While the focus of Wandering Son, Volume 5 is still on Shuichi and Takatsuki and their families and friends, it’s interesting to see part of the manga being told from the perspective of their new teacher Manabu Saisho. It actually happens to be his first year teaching. He’s inexperienced and easily flustered, and his eagerness may end up getting him into trouble, but so far I (like Mako) find him charming. But as volatile as junior high and his students can be, I do worry for him a bit. And I worry for Shuichi and the others as well. Adolescence is upon them as are all the changes that entails, most of which cannot be ignored. Mortified after being publicly called out by the basketball coach, Takatsuki is faced with the embarrassing prospect of bra shopping while Shuichi and Mako are trying to come to terms with the fact that their voices will soon be changing. Even seemingly benign statements such as “they’ve grown taller again” are painfully bittersweet reminders of what is in store for them as they continue to physically mature.

Shimura does a fantastic job of layering the textual narrative of Wandering Son with its artwork. The manga’s composition is excellent. There is a particularly effective scene fairly early on in the fifth volume that takes place during the academic year’s opening ceremonies–the commencement speaker expresses the desire for everyone to talk together and encourage one another while the illustration clearly shows that Shuichi and the others can hardly bear to look at one another and that some of them aren’t even on speaking terms. Wandering Son is filled with deceptively simple moments like these in which the artwork and the text express far more together than they ever would alone. Wandering Son is told in such a way that it comes across as a sequence of closely related impressions or vignettes rather than a single, rigidly structured storyline. It’s quite effective in conveying the manga’s more emotive and introspective qualities. I continue to be impressed by Shimura’s work in Wandering Son and look forward to the next volume a great deal.

My Week in Manga: October 14-October 20, 2013

October 21, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

It was another two-review week last week. My Blade of the Immortal review project continues with Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal, Volume 26: Blizzard. The volume includes the conclusion to the battle between Manji and Shira and it does not disappoint. The second review posted last week was for Tomoyuki Hoshino’s novel Lonely Hearts Killer. It’s not easy reading, and I didn’t like it quite as well as Hoshino’s collection of short fiction We, the Children of Cats, but I found it to be an intriguing work.

Last week I also had the opportunity to attend a fascinating lecture on queer theory, Japanese literature, and translation. I decided to share some of my random musings on the topics. So far the post seems to have been well received, which makes me pretty happy.

There were a couple of particularly interesting posts by Erica Friedman over at Yuricon last week. Her New York Comic Con report includes more information about One Peace Books’ licensing of Takashi Ikeda’s yuri manga Whispered Words. (I’m looking forward to the release of Whispered Words a great deal.) Also interesting was her post A Very Important Thing About Licensing Manga Fans Don’t Really Understand which explains a few of the complexities involved in licensing manga for English-reading audiences.

Quick Takes

Children of the Sea, Volume 5 by Daisuke Igarashi. In Japan, the fifth and final volume of Children of the Sea was released three years after the fourth volume was published. The English-language edition of the series likewise followed suit. But the end is finally here! I was actually surprised that the fifth volume was the conclusion of the series. To me it felt as though Igarashi had much more in store for Children of the Sea. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding the series’ end, but I am a little sad that he wasn’t able to develop it further. However, almost everything is tied up satisfactorily plot-wise and the series’ sense of mystery and awe remains intact. Children of the Sea is like modern myth. There is relatively little dialogue and narration in the fifth volume; Igarashi’s artwork really carries the manga at this point. And that artwork is absolutely beautiful. The attention given to the realistic details of the water and sea-life is stunning.

Devil’s Infirmary by Aco Oumi. Asakura is a physician at an all boys’ school who is not above accepting sexual advances from the students. Things get a little more complicated when Higurashi walks in on Asakura getting a blow job, but Asakura has a few compromising photographs with which to blackmail Higurashi into keeping quiet about it. Supposedly Asakura is in love with Higurashi, but I’m really not convinced. Their relationship is a very inappropriate one and Asakura, though he has a few redeeming qualities, is actually kind of creepy. (But Higurashi’s pretty cute.) At the same time, there are some legitimately funny and occasionally even hilarious moments in Devil’s Infirmary, too. One of Higurashi’s closest friends has a “sparkle problem” that unfortunately brings him unwanted attention from a few of the other students. It’s rather entertaining to see Higurashi try to pose as his boyfriend to deflect some of that interest. And then there’s Asakura’s mother who bribes her gay son into buying her yaoi manga.

Eyeshield 21, Volumes 24-27 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. By this point I am no longer surprised that I enjoy Eyeshield 21. I still don’t have a particular interest in American football (and I doubt I ever will even considering the number of years I spent in marching band), but the characters, comedy, and art in the series are great. These four volumes are devoted to the Kanto Tournament game between the Deimon Devil Bats and the Ojo White Knights, both teams fighting to advance one step closer to the Christmas Bowl. The Devil Bats are considered to have one of the best offenses in the tournament but the White Knights are considered to have the best defense. The White Knights also have Seijuro Shin–as perfect a player as there can be. The game ends up being very close, and therefore very exciting; Inagaki keeps the readers guessing right up to the very last second. Murata’s dynamic artwork continues to be one of the highlights of the series. His creative imagery is a little more restrained in these volumes, focusing more on the action of the game and slightly less on its psychological impact, but it’s definitely still there.

Fairy Tail, Volume 30 by Hiro Mashima. With these volumes, Fairy Tail launches into a new story arc. The technique that Mashima uses–a time skip–isn’t all that unusual for a lengthy shounen manga series. What makes it different, and something that I personally haven’t encountered before, is that only part of the cast jumps ahead while most of the main characters are stuck in time. It makes it a little more interesting when returning after seven years that they have to come to terms with the fact that so many of their friends (and enemies) have changed and grown more powerful. The time skip also serves the purpose of “resetting” the story–Fairy Tail is once again one of the weakest guilds and has to fight its way back to the top. But instead of facing off with evil wizards and guilds, this time they’ll be competing in the Grand Magic Games. Honestly, I’m not quite as interested in this particular turn of events, but at least there should be some entertaining trials and competitions as a result.

The Spectral Engine by Ray Fawkes. I am not especially familiar with Ray Fawkes–an award-winning and frequently award-nominated Canadian creator–and so I was unaware of the upcoming release of The Spectral Engine. Happily, a review copy unexpectedly showed up in the mail. Otherwise, I would probably have completely missed it and that would have been a shame. The Spectral Engine is a great graphic novel and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it. The artwork in particular is excellent, using dark, dripping lines and ink spatter reminiscent of the smoke and grime of the titular engine to effectively create an unnerving atmosphere appropriate for the ghost stories being told. The Spectral Engine weaves together thirteen tragic historic events from many different time periods and locations across Canada. These retellings are paired with their related modern-day hauntings and reports of unexplained phenomena. In many cases the names and lives of the dead have been forgotten, but their stories and legends live on.

Akagi Akagi, Episodes 14-26 directed by Yuzo Sato. While the first half of Akagi had several different mahjong matches, the second half focuses on one: Akagi Shigeru versus Washizu Iwao. It also features a very special and slightly terrifying version of mahjong in which three-quarters of the tiles are transparent (which are beautifully animated). This reveals more of the players’ hands and greatly changing the dynamics of the game. (Though initially a fictional game, Washizu Mahjong sets now really do exist.) The game with Washizu also provides Akagi with something that he’s been looking for–a literal death match. Instead of money, he’s gambling with his blood and therefore his life. Akagi is a fearless and fearsome player and the game is ridiculously intense as a result. There’s skill, and there’s luck, but even more important are the psychological attacks used to provoke and manipulate the other players. Even when most of the tiles can been seen there’s still plenty of room for bluffing . I love mahjong and unsurprisingly I loved Akagi, too.

Pick of the Week: Juicy Cider, No. 6, Summer Wars

October 21, 2013 by Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Sean Gaffney and MJ Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: There’s not a lot to choose from this week, but I think I’m going to go with Juicy Cider. Yes, the plot sounds generic, but I have enjoyed other BL works by Rize Shinba (most notably Intriguing Secrets), so I suspect it will be better than it seems.

ASH: I think I’m going to have to go with No. 6 this week. I would describe the manga as a “traditional” dystopia and there doesn’t seem to be very many examples of these in English. Plus, I’m really enjoying watching the relationship between Rat and Shion develop.

SEAN: Summer Wars for me. The characters look cute, the premise is intriguing, and I haven’t seen the movie it’s based on, so am relatively unspoiled. For once.

MJ: I’m rather torn this week, though not from an abundance of choices, but rather from a lack of them. Still, I feel pretty confident going with Summer Wars. I greatly enjoyed the filmmakers’ earlier work, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, as well as Vertical’s demonstrated taste in manga adaptations, namely 5 Centimeters Per Second, so I’m optimistic, for sure. This book is definitely on my list.

What looks good to you this week?

Random Musings: Queer Theory, Japanese Literature, and Translation

October 20, 2013 by Ash Brown

I recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture by J. Keith Vincent, a professor at Boston University whose primary research interests include queer theory, Japanese literature, and translation. The lecture he presented was “Out Gays” or “Shameless Gays”? What Gets Lost, and What is Gained, when U.S. Queer Theory is Translated into Japanese?. The talk is a work in progress and was the third version of the presentation that he has given. In this case, it was tailored for an audience that already had a background in both queer and Japanese studies. I found the lecture to be absolutely fascinating and wanted to share a few of my thoughts.

At this point, queer theory is at least twenty-three years old and can be traced back to as early as the 1990s in the United States if not before. In Japan, queer theory has only become prominent within the last ten years or so. Queer theory continues to develop and evolve and it still has a tremendous amount to say about sexuality, language, and power–subjects that are very important in literature as well. Because language plays such a critical role in queer theory and sexual politics, it makes sense that by extension translation also has a significant role to play when introducing concepts from one culture or language into another.

Vincent makes the argument that the very act of translation is in itself a queer practice. While the original work will always remain the same, new translations provide new interpretations, analyses, and contexts. Natsume Sōseki’s novel Botchan, which has had no less than six translations in English, is one example. As times and ways of thinking change, translation is something that is always in process and can never really be declared definitive–it’s more of an art than a science, which is not to say that there cannot be poor or inaccurate translations. This impossibility of translation can be seen as a metaphor for the impossibility of identity in queer theory.

When dealing with queer sexuality in translation–whether in works of fiction or nonfiction–there are several things to take into consideration. Though hopefully not as common now as it once was in the past, queer sexuality was often left out of translated works or otherwise altered during the domestication of the text. On the other hand, translation may actually erase the homophobia (or other phobias) that exist in a text if the translator is worried about its offensiveness. This, too, is problematic. Probably one of the most difficult tasks for a translator is to accurately convey the tone of the original in another language.

In some cases, translation warps or distorts queer sexuality, especially when there are words or concepts which don’t have a direct correlation from one language to another or which don’t carry the same cultural context when translated. For example, the use of term “queer” is becoming more common in Japanese (written in katakana), but the word doesn’t have the same history or negative connotations that it does in English. Similarly, Japanese terms like “nanshoku” or “okama” don’t have an exact one-to-one English equivalent. Word choice in translation is critical and those choices can completely change the meaning, interpretation, or nuance of a work.

While the focus of Vincent’s lecture was on queer theory and literature in translation, both into and from Japanese, the issues encountered when attempting to translate queer sexuality are also encountered when dealing with other topics. A great translation requires that the translator has fluency in all of the languages and cultures involved as well as a strong understanding of a work’s history and subject matter. Simply put, translation, like identity, is complicated.

Lonely Hearts Killer

October 18, 2013 by Ash Brown

Author: Tomoyuki Hoshino
Translator: Adrienne Carey Hurley
U.S. publisher: PM Press
ISBN: 9781604860849
Released: November 2009
Original release: 2004

After reading Tomoyuki Hoshino’s collection of short fiction We, the Children of Cats, I knew that I wanted to read more of his work. And so I turned to the novel Lonely Hearts Killer, Hoshino’s first and currently only other volume available in English. Lonely Hearts Killer was originally published in Japan in 2004, making it a later work than most of the stories collected in We, the Children of Cats. Adrienne Carey Hurley’s translation of Lonely Hearts Killer was released in 2009. She initially had a difficult time finding a publisher for the novel. However, like We, the Children of Cats, Lonely Hearts Killer was ultimately released by PM Press under its Found in Translation imprint. Because We, the Children of Cats left such a huge impression on me, I was especially curious to read a long-form work by Hoshino.

When a young and popular emperor unexpectedly dies with only his sister to succeed him, the country is left stunned and directionless. Some people are so affected by his death that they are “spirited away,” a phenomenon which leaves them in a near catatonic state. Shōji Inoue is not one of those people. A young and privileged experimental filmmaker living off his parents, he is fascinated by society’s reaction to the emperor’s death. When he learns that Mikoto, the boyfriend of Iroha–a former classmate, fellow filmmaker, and friend–is among the group of people to have suffered a breakdown, he is intensely curious. But Inoue and Mikoto’s meeting triggers an even greater tragedy and Iroha is left behind to deal with the aftermath. Years later Iroha is working at a remote lodge owned by her friend Mokuren, away from the prying eyes of the mass media which blames her in part for the epidemic of suicides and murders that have swept the country. At the same time, the mass media is one of her only remaining ties to the rest of the world.

Lonely Hearts Killer is told in three parts by three different narrators, each building on and critiquing those that precede them. “The Sea of Tranquility” is seen from Inoue’s perspective, “The Love Suicide Era” is Iroha’s response, and Mokuren’s commentary concludes the novel in “Subida Al Cielo.” Each chapter leads further away from the initial incident in both time and association while simultaneously providing more information about it and capturing the escalation of fear and death. Lonely Hearts Killer is a chronicle of the end of an era; the world is turned upside down and society’s values are inverted. The novel can be both disconcerting and disorienting. People become so consumed by a culture of fear that they come to rely and depend on it. Any challenge to the system is seen as dangerous and the media’s role in its perpetuation is largely ignored by the general population. Things become so twisted around and perverted that it is those who would try to refuse to participate in the violence around them who are deemed abnormal and deviants by society at large.

In addition to the novel itself, the English edition of Lonely Hearts Killer also includes an introduction by the translator and a newly written preface by the author as well as a question and answer session between the two. I found this material to be particularly valuable in putting the work into a greater context. The death of an emperor and the demise of the emperor system is a rare topic in Japanese literature. Lonely Hearts Killer is a very political work although much of its message is left up to the readers’ individual interpretations. The novel has the potential for multiple analyses, including both anarchist and pacifist readings. I personally appreciate this ambiguity; it’s one of the reasons that I find Hoshino’s work as a whole to be so interesting. As I’ve come to expect, Hoshino’s writing requires active engagement and thought on the part of his readers. The novel isn’t particularly easy reading, but the ideas, concepts, and themes that Hoshino deals with in Lonely Hearts Killer are incredibly unsettling, intriguing, and fascinating.

Manga the Week of 10/23

October 17, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, MJ and Ash Brown 2 Comments

SEAN: Be thankful for the small amount of manga coming out this week. The three weeks after this are absolutely brutal, with over 15-20 titles each week from various companies. But this week — lull!

We welcome back Digital Manga Publishing with some new BL fare. Unfortunately, Juicy Cider’s synopsis sounds so mind-numbingly generic that I can barely stay away to get through its four lines. There’s childhood friends, unrequited crushes, and from the looks of the cover one quiet and serious boy in glasses and one happy go lucky boy. Which sounds nothing like any other BL title ever.

Priceless Honey is the other DMP offering, being a collection of short stories that are “steamy”, and where the happy go lucky boy has been replaced by a smirking, slightly older guy.

MICHELLE: I wish I had something to say about either of these two, but alas, I do not.

MJ: I admit they don’t look promising to me. Not promising at all.

ASH: Like Juicy Cider, it would appear that Priceless Honey has a megane danshi as well. Shiuko Kano has had a lot of her manga released in English by multiple publishers, so I assume that she has at least a small following.

SEAN: I probably should not mock DMP’s yaoi given that I’m still enjoying Kodansha’s Missions of Love. It’s such a guilty pleasure – Volume 5’s cover looks more like softcore porn than any of the previous ones, making me continue to boggle that this runs in Nakayoshi. But as long as the cast continues to be unlikeable, I’ll continue to be fascinated. It’s like the opposite of everything else I enjoy.

No. 6, Vol.3 continues to confuse numerologists and bookstore shelvers everywhere. It’s also Kodansha. Between this title and Disgaea 3, my ability to make World Cup jokes will live on forever.

MICHELLE: I didn’t hate the first volume, but I somehow never managed to buy/read volume two.

ASH: I’m actually rather fond of No. 6 and its leads. I found the second volume to be better than the first, so I hope the trend continues with the third!

SEAN: Lastly, Vertical debuts another manga based on a movie, with the first volume of Summer Wars, from the creators of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Vertical had a lot of success with 5 Centimeters Per Second, so it’s no surprise they’d get this. I personally hope it’s less melancholy.

MJ: I’m looking forward to this for sure. I loved The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and though I wasn’t necessarily crazy about the manga adaptations of the same story, the fact that I haven’t actually seen this movie may help me on that front. And y’know, I trust Vertical. I really enjoyed the manga adaptation of 5 Centimeters Per Second, so I’m counting on their good taste to bring us a winner.

SEAN: Taking a week off before the deluge? Or trying out something new?

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 26: Blizzard

October 16, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616550981
Released: March 2013
Original release: 2009
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Blizzard is the twenty-sixth volume in the English-language edition of Hiroaki Samura’s long-running, award-winning manga series Blade of the Immortal. Dark Horse originally released Blade of the Immortal by story arc rather than by number of chapters, so the volumes in the English-language release are slightly different from those in the original Japanese edition. Blizzard was published by Dark Horse in 2013 and is equivalent to the twenty-fifth volume of the Japanese series which was released in 2009. Blizzard takes place during the final major story arc of Blade of the Immortal and includes one of the series’ most important climaxes. I consider Blizzard to be a companion volume to the previous collection Snowfall at Dawn which leaves off partway through the battle between Shira and Manji. By the end of Snowfall at Dawn things aren’t looking at all good for Rin and Manji, so I was anxious to read Blizzard.

With Manji and Rin sunk beneath the pond’s freezing surface, Shira returns to the roadside where he left Magatsu incapacitated. Shira is not yet through with Manji, but he wants revenge against the young Ittō-ryū fighter as well and intends on making the most of their chance meeting. Magatsu is surprised to see Shira, too, having previously sent the sadistic killer plummeting from the top of a cliff during their last encounter. Shira once again finds himself interrupted when he is challenged by Meguro, one of Habaki’s shinobi. She has little hope of defeating Shira, especially now that he is semi-immortal, but her attack serves as a distraction. Shira isn’t aware of it, but back at the pond Meguro’s companion Tanpopo is doing all that she can to rescue and revive both Rin and Manji. At this point Manji is the only person who has even a slight chance of stopping Shira, but as Manji’s condition continues to deteriorate his success seems increasingly unlikely.

The beginning of Manji and Shira’s confrontation in Snowfall at Dawn was relatively subdued, focusing more on the psychological aspects of Shira’s attack and less on the physical combat. The conclusion of their battle in Blizzard is what I was really expecting and waiting for from their showdown. With two near immortals battling it out the damage that they inflict on each other is tremendous. Others can only look on astounded at the viciousness and brutality of the bloodbath occurring in front of them. Describing Manji and Shira’s final fight as intense would be putting it very mildly. At times it is difficult to see through all of the blood and guts as the two opponents literally rip each other apart. Samura’s artwork is unflinching and captures the entirety of their exceptionally violent battle as well as its bloody aftermath. Blizzard is extreme and gruesome and even those who make it through to the end of the volume barely survive.

While the duel between Shira and Manji is certainly the focus of Blizzard it isn’t the only important development in Blade of the Immortal to occur in the volume. I was happy to see Tanpopo and Meguro take on a more active role in the series. Up until this point in the manga they have generally been part of the series’ comedic relief–Meguro in particular frequently comes across as rather ditsy–but the women are shown to be quite capable martially in Blizzard. Another important development in the volume has to do with Renzō. His father, a member of the Ittō-ryū, was killed fairly early on by Manji in Blade of the Immortal. Since then Renzō has led a very difficult life, eventually becoming a broken and damaged young man partly due to the abuse he suffered at Shira’s hands and partly because he can’t forgive what happened to his father. His struggle isn’t over, but his story does begin to find a satisfying resolution in Blizzard.

Pick of the Week: Spheres & Spirals

October 14, 2013 by Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and MJ 1 Comment

ASH: There are plenty of great manga releases to choose from this week. But as happy as I am to see Junji Ito’s Uzumaki receiving the deluxe treatment, my pick unquestionably goes to Takehiko Inoue’s Real. I honestly consider it to be one of the best series currently being released in English.

MICHELLE: Yep, I’m going to have to award my pick to Real, too. I love Knights of Sidonia, but I’ll have several more chances to pick it in the coming months whereas Real seems to be yearly these days. If you thought sports manga was goofy and formulaic, Real will change your mind.

SEAN: I’ll go with Uzumaki, then. A terrific re-release, showing people who may have missed it the first time what a completely creepy and fascinating story it is. Another “I don’t normally like horror, but…” title.

MJ: And I actually do like horror, at least some of the time, so despite my own deep love for Real (and that love is pretty deep), I’ll also go with Uzumaki as my pick for this week. I am one of those people who missed it the first time around, and it’s been raved about by readers and my fellow bloggers alike. I simply can’t miss it again! Plus… I like spirals. I just do. I’m all in for Uzumaki.

What looks good to you this week?

My Week in Manga: October 7-October 13, 2013

October 14, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted two in-depth reviews last week, one manga and one not. The first review was for Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga, Omnibus 1. I was trying coordinate my review with the manga’s release, but unfortunately there was a delay through some distributors so not all of the books have yet arrived where they should. I’ve been hoping that Vinland Saga would be licensed in English for years. I wasn’t disappointed by the first omnibus and am looking forward the next one a great deal. The second review posted last week was for Laura Joh Rowland’s The Shogun’s Daughter. The novel is the seventeenth volume in her series of Tokugawa-era mystery and crime novels but the first one that I’ve actually read. I was annoyed by parts of the novel but the use of actual Japanese history is quite clever in The Shogun’s Daughter.

As for fun things found online, the most recent column of The Mike Toole Show, “Tiles Against Humanity,” focuses on mahjong anime and manga, particularly Akagi and Kaiji. I’ve professed my love of mahjong here at Experiments in Manga, so I’m always happy to come across others writing about the subject. This past weekend was the New York Comic Con and there were quite a few announcements to come out of it. My Manga Bookshelf cohorts have write-ups of the panels they attended: MJ’s can be found under the NYCC tag and Sean’s are listed in the NYCC/NYAF category.

Some of the licenses at NYCC that particularly caught my attention include (but are certainly not limited to) Black Rose Alice by Setona Mizushiro, Terra Formars, and the Battle Royale side story Angels’ Border from Viz (which should go nicely with Haikasoru’s recently announced Battle Royale materials); Kodansha picked up two Attack on Titan spin-offs, Before the Fall and No Regrets (yup, the shoujo one) in addition to the Attack on Titan Junior High gag manga and the guidebooks; Vertical is also getting in on the Attack on Titan action, picking up the Before the Fall light novel series, and has also licensed Moyoco Anno’s manga In the Clothes Named Fat.

Quick Takes

Nana, Volumes 19-21 by Ai Yazawa. Wow, this is one heck of a place for Nana to leave off–the tragedy that has been alluded to for so long has finally occurred and it is absolutely devastating. More and more of the series has actually been devoted to the incident’s aftermath and how it continues to affect the characters even years later, but the twenty-first volume is all about its immediate consequences. Heartbreaking only begins to describe it. Nana is a phenomenal series with fantastic characterizations. After Shin’s arrest, both the Black Stones and Trapnest begin to fall apart and the band members’ individual problems start to spin out of control. It’s very dramatic but the progression of the story feels natural and the characters’ development, reactions, and behaviour are all believable. Even if the series is never finished, Nana is well worth reading. I continue to be extremely impressed by Yazawa’s work. I wish her all the best as she continues to recover her health.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Short Stories, Volume 1 by Naoko Takeuchi. Though it is not my favorite series, I enjoy Sailor Moon and am happy to see it doing so well. Kodansha released the main series in twelve volumes and is collecting the related short stories and bonus manga into two additional volumes. That being said, the short stories don’t really stand on their own very well. Fans of Sailor Moon will definitely be interested in them, but their appeal probably won’t extend very far beyond that. The stories in the first volume all tend towards the sillier, more lighthearted side of the series, focusing more on the characters’ everyday lives and less on their monumental confrontations with those who would destroy humanity. Although, there is a some of that, too. And the Sailor Guardian’s daily lives can be pretty hectic. I found the first volume of short stories to be mostly entertaining, but I would sigh a little bit to myself every time there was a dig at someone becoming “chunky.”

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-2) by Yak Haibara. I tend to be fairly wary of video game manga and so I ended up enjoying the first omnibus of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends far more than I ever expected. Samurai Legends is based on Sengoku Basara 2, the second game in the Sengoku Basara series, but no prior knowledge of the franchise is needed to enjoy the manga. Inspired by prominent historical events and figures of the Warring States Period, the story begins with the death of Oda Nobunaga at the burning of Honnou Temple and then follows the resulting power struggle. With marvelously over-the-top and dynamic battles and duels, humorous anachronisms, larger-than-life characters, and attractive artwork and designs, Samurai Legends is a tremendous amount of fun. There’s even a tiny bit of legitimate history, too. Samurai Legends is pretty great; I’ll definitely be picking up the second and final omnibus.

Yuri Monogatari, Volumes 3-4 by Various. Although it was the third Yuri Monogatari collection that was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, out of these two volumes I actually much prefer the fourth. Yuri Monogatari is an anthology that collects short, lesbian-themed comics from Japan, America, and Europe. I am glad to have discovered Yuri Monogatari for no other reason than the series has introduced me to the work of Althea Keaton–whose contributions continue to be some of my favorites–but I enjoy the other comics included as well. I was particularly fond of Tomomi Nakasora’s “Kissing the Petal” which not only features an endearing lesbian couple but also their close friend Chii, a transman who’s looking for a girlfriend. Yuri Monogatari has a nice mix of speculative fiction as well as pieces that are based in reality. The artwork isn’t always the strongest, but the stories are consistently engaging. Some are sweet while others are more sorrowful, but they’re all generally positive in tone.

Attack on Titan directed by Tetsurō Araki. I’m not at all surprised that Hajime Isayama’s manga Attack on Titan was selected for an anime adaptation–it almost seems to be begging for it. For people who can’t get past the varying quality of Isayama’s artwork but who are still interested in the series’ story, the anime makes a good alternative and the animation is much more consistent. Some of the events are revealed in a slightly different order–the anime tends to be more chronological and employs fewer extended flashbacks than the manga–but otherwise the anime series is a very faithful adaptation of the original. Established fans of the manga will find things to like, too. It’s very cool to see the three-dimensional maneuvering gear in action, which something that the manga can’t convey to the same extent. The music in the Attack on Titan anime is also suitably epic with sweeping orchestral and choral pieces effectively increasing the drama of the humans’ confrontations with the titans.

The Shogun’s Daughter

October 11, 2013 by Ash Brown

Author: Laura Joh Rowland
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 9781250028617
Released: September 2013

The Shogun’s Daughter is the seventeenth volume in Laura Joh Rowland’s mystery series set in Tokugawa-era Japan and featuring Sano Ichirō as a main protagonist. Despite my interest in Japanese history and my enjoyment of mystery and crime fiction, somehow it wasn’t until I received The Shogun’s Daughter through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program that I became aware of Rowland’s Sano Ichirō novels. The series made its debut in 1994 with the novel Shinjū. Over the years, a few of the individual volumes in the series have been nominated for major genre awards for mystery and crime fiction. The Shogun’s Daughter was released in 2013 by the mystery and suspense imprint of St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books. (Minotaur also happens to be the publisher for Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo series in English, which I enjoy.) Even though I hadn’t previously read any of Rowland’s Sano Ichirō mysteries, I was still looking forward to reading The Shogun’s Daughter and giving the series a try.

In late 1703, a massive earthquake and accompanying tsunami devastated Edo, killing thousands of people. A few months later another death would also have a tremendous impact on the city. Tsuruhime, Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s only child, dies of smallpox. However, some members of the government are convinced that her death wasn’t entirely natural. With Tsuruhime’s passing, the shogunate’s chain of succession has become even more precarious. The Shogun finally feels compelled to name his heir–Yoshisato, a young man claiming to be his long-lost son although many suspect that he’s actually the son of the official Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Yanagisawa is now in a position to control the shogunate through Yoshisato and it doesn’t take long for him to purge the government of those who would stand against him. Among them is Sano Ichirō, who once served as the Shogun’s right-hand man. But if Sano can prove that Yanagisawa is somehow connected to Tsuruhime’s death, he stands a chance of regaining his status and revealing Yanagisawa’s plot for power.

As Rowland has sixteen novels worth of material to cover, the beginning of The Shogun’s Daughter is understandably a little slow going. Those who have never read a Sano Ichirō mystery will be at a slight disadvantage, but the most critical points of the characters and their backstories are quickly established. It’s obvious that they all have quite a history with one another, though, particularly Yanagisawa and Sano with their ongoing rivalry. Occasionally an unclear reference is made to something that occurred earlier in the series, but generally The Shogun’s Daughter stands reasonably well on its own. The only major exception to this is the side-plot dealing with Hirata, one of Sano’s chief retainers, which feels terribly out-of-place with the rest of the novel. It contains the only supernatural elements to be found in The Shogun’s Daughter–Hirata is practitioner of the “mystical martial arts”–and has no direct impact on the main story. It seems to be a plot line carried over from the previous novels, and it leads into the next, but in The Shogun’s Daughter it mostly serves as an unwanted distraction.

It may take The Shogun’s Daughter some time to find its flow, but once it does the novel and mystery move along at a fairly rapid pace. Sano isn’t the only one who is involved with the investigation into Tsuruhime’s death–his wife, son, and even Hirata’s young daughter all help, making it something of a family affair. Their logic is a little shaky in places, but this can usually be explained by the younger characters’ inexperience, the stress of the situation as a whole, and government intrigue and political maneuverings. What I appreciated the most about The Shogun’s Daughter is how Rowland has used historical figures and events as a framework to craft her story. Sano and his family may be fictional, but many of the people they deal with, including Yanagisawa, are not. The natural disasters and recovery efforts as well as the trouble with the Tokugawa succession are all based on actual events. Unfortunately, the dialogue and some of the terminology used feels too modern and would throw me out of the setting. Otherwise, the time period is nicely established and Rowland quite cleverly weaves her characters and mystery into Japan’s history.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy of The Shogun’s Daughter for review.

Manga the Week of 10/16

October 10, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, MJ and Anna N 3 Comments

SEAN: Things are getting busy here with NYCC happening this week, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tell you about all the manga coming in once it’s over.

Kodansha has the 8th volume of Animal Land. I dropped this quickly due to its somewhat juvenile mood, but I’ve heard tell that I was wrong to do so as it matures later on. I should try to catch up.

ASH: Animal Land is such a quirky series. It took a volume or two for it to really grow on me, but I ended up quite liking it. Animal Land is cute, but it can also be very, very dark.

MJ: I tried getting into this and initially failed. Given Ash’s reaction, I wonder if I should give it another shot?

SEAN: By now Negima’s omnibuses have caught up with the translator changes, so the best reason to get this 8th volume is if you missed the series the first time around.

Seven Seas has its October titles coming out this week. First off, Alice in the Country of Joker has the 3rd volume of Circus and Liar’s Game, one of the more interesting spinoffs it puts out.

MICHELLE: I’ve reached my Alice saturation point, methinks.

ANNA: I still mean to get caught up on a couple of these series.

SEAN: Speaking of franchises, we have Dive in the Vampire Bund, a side story to Dance. Both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are out this week.

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends is the title I’ve called the best by default of last fall’s otaku-oriented licenses, and I still enjoy it despite it still pandering much of the time. The 4th volume is already out digitally, but print waits a week.

Speaking of which, it’s fall again, so it’s time for a new series of Seven Seas licenses that make me raise an eyebrow. First of all, gotta love that cover for Love In Hell, with a demon in scanty leathers looking like she’d rather be anywhere but on the cover of this book. The synopsis notes it stars a regular guy who meets a whole bunch of crazy girls. What can I possibly say to top such originality?

And there’s also the first volume of Monster Musume, which is about a hapless regular guy and all the crazy sexy supernatural women who make his life… wait, did I get this mixed up with Love in Hell? No? Right, moving on…

MICHELLE: *snerk*

ASH: With Love in Hell, Monster Musume, and A Centaur’s Life I think Seven Seas has a corner on cute monster girl manga.

SEAN: I have occasionally been taken to task for forgetting that manwha exists, so best to note that there’s a new Jack The Ripper: Hell Blade (Vol. 5) from Seven Seas, as well as a new Omnibus of the Witch Buster, containing Books 5 and 6.

MJ: I only wish we were seeing more manhwa releases! (Or perhaps I should say, more manhwa releases I like.)

SEAN: Flowers of Evil has reached Volume 7, which means the cover design is all new. Not so sure if the content is less dark and seedy. I doubt it.

ASH: I think we get a time skip to go along with the new covers this time, too!

MJ: I’m looking forward to it!

SEAN: Knights of Sidonia 5 is out as well. I keep waiting for this to be the volume where I drop it for being too depressing, but it’s keeping me hooked.

MICHELLE: Yay for Sidonia!

ASH: I’m hooked on Sidonia, too.

MJ: What they said!

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: I’ve long since lost track of Afterschool Charisma, but it’s quietly reached Vol. 8, and is an Ikki title, so I automatically respect it. Has it run out of celebrity clones yet?

MICHELLE: I sincerely mean to catch up on this, but haven’t done so yet.

ANNA: Me too. I enjoyed the first few volumes.

SEAN: It’s also time for Vol. 12 of Real, the basketball title for those who think Slam Dunk is too cute and girly.

MICHELLE: Super yay!

ASH: Real! One of my favorite series and I’m not even all that into basketball.

MJ: Mine, too! I’m so happy that it’s time for a new volume!

ANNA: You can never go wrong with Inoue.

SEAN: Lastly, the big re-release this week is an omnibus containing all three volumes of Uzumaki, by horror manga author Junji Ito. You’ll read it, you’ll love it, and the spiraling shape will make you go insane.

MICHELLE: Go on, give it a whirl!

ASH: Yes, do!

MJ: Indeed!

SEAN: That’s a lot of manga! Getting any of it?

Vinland Saga, Vol. 1

October 9, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Makoto Yukimura
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781612624204
Released: October 2013
Original release: 2005
Awards: Japan Media Arts Award, Kodansha Manga Award

Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga is a manga series that I have been hoping would be licensed in English for years. Understandably, I was thrilled when Kodansha Comics announced that it would be publishing the series. Not only that, Vinland Saga is Kodansha’s first foray into deluxe, hardcover manga. Kodansha’s edition of Vinland Saga uses a larger trim size than its other manga, contains color pages, and is being released in an omnibus format. The first volume of Kodansha’s Vinland Saga, published in 2013, collects the first two volumes in the original Japanese edition of the series, both of which were released in 2005. Vinland Saga is a critically acclaimed, award-winning manga. In 2009, Yukimura earned a Japan Media Arts award for the series. Even more recently, Vinland Saga won a Kodansha Manga Award in 2012. Even if Vinland Saga wasn’t already so well received, I would still want to read it. Yukimura is a the creator of Planetes, which I love, and I also happen to have a particular interest in Iceland among other things.

When he was only six years old, Thorfinn’s father was killed before his very eyes. Thors was a great man and a great warrior, but that was a life he tried to leave behind in order to live with his family in peace in a small Icelandic village. Thors’ past is inescapable and ultimately leads to his death, but in the process he is able to protect what is most dear to him. Even at such a young age Thorfinn vows to avenge his father. Ten years later he has grown into a hostile and stubborn young fighter serving under the very man who was responsible for his father’s death. Askeladd is a shrewd and cunning leader, his band of mercenaries willing to take on any job for the right price. Their battle prowess is fearsome, relying not only on their sheer strength and power but on underhanded strategies and their willingness to be utterly ruthless. Askeladd and his men may be uncouth, but they are also a terrible force to be reckoned with.

Vinland Saga is historical fiction and the series is inspired by actual events and people as well as by Norse sagas. The great adventurer Leif Ericson plays a significant role in the first omnibus of Vinland Saga and Thorfinn himself is loosely based on another explorer–Thorfinn Karlsefni. Considering that the manga deals with eleventh-century warfare and Vikings, a northern Germanic group of seafarers notorious for raiding and pillaging, it’s probably not too surprising that Vinland Saga can be rather violent. The battles in Vinland Saga are particularly well done. Some of the physical feats may be astounding or even slightly exaggerated–there are some very good reasons that Askeladd’s mercenaries are so feared–but the flow of the battles are very realistic as are the resulting deaths and injuries. Yukimura hasn’t forgotten the use and limitations of technology and tactics in Vinland Saga and they are appropriate for the era being portrayed. In general Yukimura’s action sequences are very exciting and leave quite an impression.

Vikings are often depicted as savage, bloodthirsty invaders in fiction but this portrayal misses some of the nuances and complexities of the historical reality. Yukimura notes in the afterword of the first volume of Vinland Saga that he wanted to show more than just a stereotypical representation of Vikings in his story. I think he is very successful in that. Much of Vinland Saga, Omnibus 1 focuses on brutal skirmishes, battles, and duels, but the development of Thorfinn and his family–particularly his father, but his mother and sister, too–as well as their Icelandic village and the other people who live there is also very important. The exceptional events surrounding the outbreak of war may be some of the major driving forces behind the story but the more mundane affairs of everyday life, such as the concerns over the changing weather and the coming winter and disputes over land for grazing, provide additional depth and realism to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first Vinland Saga omnibus and am looking forward to the release of the second.

Pick of the Week: Vinland Saga & More!

October 7, 2013 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Anna N and MJ Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: Confident that someone else will pick the Nordic (is it Nordic?) elephant in the room, I’m going to kick things off by picking the second volume of Magi: Labyrinth of Magic. I liked the first volume, but the second is even better. It’s sort of a textbook example of balancing interesting and likeable characters with an intriguing setting with bits of humor and adventure and yet making it not feel like a balancing act or textbook in any way. In fact, it feels pretty refreshing and unique. I may have a new shounen favorite!

SEAN: My pick of the week is Vinland Saga. As for why, see here: Vinland Saga, Vol. 1

ASH: I’m finding it very difficult to limit myself to only one manga this week (I’m very excited to see more of est em’s work being released in print), but ultimately I think I will also have to choose the first omnibus of Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga. I have literally been wanting this series to be licensed in English for years and it is finally here!

ANNA: I’m going to have to go with Vinland Saga as well. I’m very excited to read this.

MJ: Since Vinland Saga already has a strong showing, I’ll pay a bit of attention to SuBLime Manga and the second (and final) volume of Kano Miyamoto’s Sleeping Moon. This series’ first volume put me in mind of a favorite novel from my teens, Mary Stewart’s Touch Not the Cat, with its mix of supernatural mystery and cousinly romance, and that’s always a plus for me. Though I wish this story had more time to play out, it’s enjoyable to the end.

What looks good to you this week?

My Week in Manga: September 30-October 6, 2013

October 7, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

It’s the beginning of one month and the end of another, which means it’s one of the slower weeks here at Experiments in Manga. I announced the winner of the Arisa manga giveaway. The post also includes a list of some of the manga available in English that feature twins. For those of you who are interested in the absurd amount of manga and other related materials that make their way into my home, September’s Bookshelf Overload was also posted. Finally, the honor of the first in-depth manga review for October goes to Satoshi Kon’s Tropic of the Sea. I thought it was fantastic. Hopefully it does well and more of Kon’s manga will be able to be released in English.

For anyone looking for more anime and manga blogs to follow, CryMore.Net (formerly known as Whiners.Pro) has put together the most comprehensive list of active sites that I’ve seen. (And yes, Experiments in Manga is included.) If you’re interested in yokai, Matthew Meyer recently launched a Kickstarter project for his most recent artbook/guide The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits. It’s already met its goal (and I was one of the people to support it), but it’s still worth checking out if you like yokai. I reviewed Meyer’s previous book (also funded through Kickstarter) The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: A Field Guide to Japanese Yokai and really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing more of his work in print.

Quick Takes

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Volume 18 by Yukito Kishiro. I could be wrong since I haven’t read the entire series, but I believe that the eighteenth volume of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is the first volume to prominently feature Figure Four (the burly dude on the cover). A love interest in the original Battle Angel Alita manga, up until this point in Last Order he’s been mostly relegated brief references. The eighteenth volume concludes the fallout from the ZOTT combat tournament with the series’ titular chapter “Last Order” before jumping nearly a year back in time to follow Figure for the rest of the volume. He’s hard at work training in anti-cyber martial arts when he learns that Alita may be dead and so goes searching for both her and the truth. Sechs makes a brief, but important appearance in the volume, which made me happy since Sechs is one of my favorite characters in the series. And as a side note, Kishiro designs some really creepy cyborgs.

Dengeki Daisy, Volumes 9-12 by Kyousuke Motomi. It’s been a while since I’ve read any of Dengeki Daisy. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy the series. Dengeki Daisy is kind of a strange manga, mixing rather mundane school life with hackers and cyber espionage, but I am consistently and highly entertained by it. I really like the quirkiness of characters in Dengeki Daisy. Motomi calls Dengeki Daisy a love comedy, which I suppose in the end it is, but in addition to being funny and occasionally romantic, the series also has a lot of action and drama. Kurosaki’s past and his guilt over it continues to be a major driving force behind the story. His disappearance is resolved fairly quickly, which surprised me, but that fact emphasizes how much he cares for Teru and how much Teru and the others care about him. Motomi has a tendency to use stereotypical shoujo plot devices but then completely turns them on their head. The fake-outs are both effective and refreshing.

Incubus, Volumes 1-3 by Yayoi Neko. The mythology in Incubus is fairly complex and the comic’s exposition can be somewhat long-winded, but I overall I’m liking this yaoi series. It has humor and drama, and I’m rather fond of the two leads–a college student named Judas and the surprisingly endearing half-demon Lennial. Judas’ dream sequences are great. In them, the different sides of his psyche try to make sense of what is going on around him as he is repeatedly confronted by demonic powers. The results are often amusing, but his emotional struggles can be heartbreaking. Judas has a very troubled past and what little good there was in it has been torn from him. Not everything has been revealed about his and Lenniel’s history together, but Neko seems to have a firm grasp on the series’ direction. Incubus is currently on hiatus due to the creator’s health–the first three volumes only cover the first half or so of the story–but I look forward to reading more of it if she is ever able to continue the series.

Sickness Unto Death, Volume 1 written by Hikari Asada and illustrated by Takahiro Seguchi. I didn’t know much about Sickness Unto Death before picking it up, but I’m willing to give anything released by Vertical a try. Emiru is a frail young woman suffering from despair–a sickness of the spirit that is causing her body to fail. Kazuma has recently enrolled in college to pursue a career in clinical psychology. When he meets Emiru he not only wants to do all that he can to help her, but he falls in love with her as well. I found the manga’s basic premise intriguing, but in the end I was largely disappointed with the first volume of Sickness Unto Death, though I can’t seem to quite pinpoint why. However, I am still interested in reading the second half. The big reveal as to the cause of Emiru’s despair has been set up and I am very curious about it. I’ll admit that don’t have a lot of confidence, but I am hoping that it will be worth it and that it won’t be something too absurd or overblown.

Free!: Iwatobi Swim Club directed by Hiroko Utsumi. I really enjoyed Free!, finding it to be both a fun and funny series. At times it even manages to be rather touching. The anime has a lot of self-aware goofiness in addition to a decent story and great animation. The swimming in particular is beautifully animated and, for the most part, realistically portrayed. (This also means that there are plenty of muscles to appreciate.) Although it is an important part of the series, Free! is actually less about swimming than it is about the relationships between its characters and their personal struggles and doubts. They all have their own reasons for swimming, but ultimately what brings them together is their desire to connect with one another–swimming just happens to be the way they go about doing it. A second season has been hinted at for the series; I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing more of Free! I’d also love to see it licensed for a physical release.

Tropic of the Sea

October 5, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Satoshi Kon
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130068
Released: September 2013
Original release: 1990

Satoshi Kon is probably best known as a phenomenal writer and director of anime, especially in the West, but he started his career working in manga. Tropic of the Sea, serialized in Young Magazine in 1990, was Kon’s first long-form manga. Vertical’s release of the English-language edition of Tropic of the Sea in 2013 marks the first, and hopefully not the last, of Kon’s manga to be translated into the language. The volume also includes an afterword by Kon excerpted from the ninth anniversary edition of Tropic of the Sea published in Japan in 1999. Vertical’s edition of Tropic of the Sea is actually based on an even later Japanese release of the manga from 2011. Already a fan of Kon’s work in anime, I was thrilled when Tropic of the Sea was licensed. I was even more excited for the manga’s release when I saw the absolutely gorgeous and captivating cover. Added to that the manga’s focus on legends and the sea and I was sold.

For generations, the small fishing village of Ade has been blessed by calm seas and bountiful catches. This good fortune has been attributed to a promise made between a mermaid and a priest–the village receives protection and in return he will worship the sea and care for the mermaid’s egg for sixty years before returning it to begin the cycle anew. But times are changing and very few people believe the old legend to actually be true. Yosuke Yashiro’s family is responsible for guarding the egg and its shrine, but his father does the unthinkable and reveals the secret of its existence to the world. The sacred relic has now become a draw for tourists, only the most recent example of the increased commercialization of Ade. Although there have been some good things to come from the village’s development, many people are upset with the extent of the changes that have been made and what they may be losing in exchange.

At first the pacing of Tropic of the Sea is fairly leisurely, appropriate for a story that takes place in a quiet seaside village, but as the manga progresses the pace steadily quickens. The role that Ozaki, Ade’s most prominent commercial developer, plays as the manga’s villain is somewhat predictable–desiring the mermaid’s egg for his own purposes while claiming to be interested in the good of humanity–but he does have slightly more to him than first appears. One of the greatest things about Tropic of the Sea from beginning to end is Kon’s artwork. A tremendous amount of attention has been give to the backgrounds and landscapes, granting the manga a very real sense of place which is crucial for the story. The illustrations also convey a feeling of mystery and wonder, awe and foreboding, surrounding the mermaids and the sea. Some of the scenes involving water are simply stunning, the realism strikingly rendered. The artwork in Tropic of the Sea is wonderful.

What impressed me the most about Tropic of the Sea, though, is how subtly complex and deceptively simple the narrative is for such a short work. Thematically, Tropic of the Sea has many overlapping layers and the story can be viewed through a number of different lenses. Tropic of the Sea explores generational dissonance, familial disputes, the values of modernity and tradition, the tension between science and religion and skepticism and belief, the human struggle both with and against nature, the power of legends and their impact on reality. (And that’s just to name a few of the many elements in play.) Any of these aspects of Tropic of the Sea can be focused on individually but they are all interconnected and influence one another to form an engaging story with a surprising amount of depth. Out of the various conflicts portrayed, no one side is ever entirely in the right. I enjoyed Tropic of the Sea a great deal. It may be an earlier work, but Kon’s talent was already evident.