Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 10/19

October 13, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: You thought this week might be lighter than the others? Ha! You fool!

Dark Horse has an anthology of works based on Oreimo. Unlike the anthology I’m about to talk about, it’s Japanese creators. It should be cute and incestuous, like its source.

Attack on Titan’s Anthology, a collection of works by Western creators based on the manga, has been the most anticipated title of the year. I reviewed it here, and it does not disappoint. Must buy.

ASH: It really is great!

SEAN: Kodansha also has the 3rd volume of Fairy Girls, which is not as exciting as the Attack on Titan Anthology, but probably has more nudity.

ASH: Fairy Girls is probably my least favorite Fairy Tail spin-off; a shame because the basic premise had such potential.

SEAN: There’s a 5th Inuyashiki, from the Gantz creator.

And a 7th L♥DK, still trying to give us its bad boy love.

And a 10th Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle omnibus. Didn’t this end? Is it eternal? Am I buying a cursed book?

Somehow, Rise of the Shield Hero has become The Rising of the Shield Hero. Still from One Peace, and this is the 5th manga volume.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of Magical Guy series Battle Rabbits.

Their first debut this week is Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, another in a long line of monster girl works which permeate our world today. It runs in Manga Acton from Futabasha, which is at least not Comic Alive. The author has several works adapted to anime, including Miss Komori Can’t Decide and I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying. I expect it will fall on the ‘goofy’ end of the scale, rather than ‘porn-ey’.

ASH: I am actually a little curious about this one.

SEAN: A 4th Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation defies my ability to say anything about it.

I do enjoy My Monster Secret, though, and so a 4th volume is welcome. See? Not all monster girl titles make me sarcastic!

The other new Seven Seas title is complete in one omnibus. Tokyo Undead is part of a smaller trend Seven Seas has picked up on – zombie horror with lots of gore. It ran in Akita Shoten’s Play Comic. Don’t expect cuteness.

Also not cute is the 8th volume of Ajin, though I don’t know, given Japan’s current trends, we could get a high school AU Ajin 4-koma spinoff soon.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Viz has another gorgeous Miyazaki artbook coming out, with The Art of Castle in the Sky. AKA Laputa, dropped from the title for reasons that should be obvious.

Tokyo Ghoul 9 gives us additional zombies, and we also get…

Tokyo Ghoul: Days, a prose short story collection about the “everyday lives” of the cast.

Is this enough for you?

MICHELLE: I am literally not buying any of these things. Not even the Attack on Titan anthology.

ANNA: This is one of those weeks where I’m glad I’m not interested in anything, because it gives me some time to catch up on all my other unread manga.

Bookshelf Overload: September 2016

October 13, 2016 by Ash Brown

Normally manga far outweigh the other types of comics that I acquire in any given month, but in September there wasn’t much of a difference between the two. I also picked up more anime than I usually do and my artbook collection continues to steadily increase. Anyway, probably the most exciting thing that I’ve read so far from September was the Attack on Titan Anthology, an excellent collection of Western comics inspired by Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan. (Granted, the anthology’s official release date was in October, but I was fortunate to get my hands on an early copy.) It was also a good month for omnibuses such as the final volume of Kaoru Mori’s Emma (technically released at the very end of August, but I picked up my copy late), the most recent volume of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, and Wataru Watanabe’s third Yowamushi Pedal omnibus among others. As for series that debuted in September, I’m particularly interested in and looking forward to reading the first volumes of The Prince in His Dark Days by Hico Yamanaka and Welcome to the Ballroom by Tomo Takeuchi.

Manga!
Blame!, Omnibus 1 by Tsutomu Nihei
Boyfriend in Heat by Sakria
The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Volume 6 by Aya Shouoto
Don’t Rub Yourself Against My Ass by Sakira
Emma, Omnibus 5 by Kaoru Mori
Franken Fran, Omnibus 3 by Katsuhisa Kigitsu
Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 3 by Inio Asano
Haikyu!!, Volume 3 by Haruichi Furudate
Happiness, Volume 1 by Shuzo Oshimi
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 4 by Hiromu Arakawa
Hey, Class President!, Volumes 2-3 by Kaori Monchi
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear, Volume 1 by Masume Yoshimoto
Mr. Mini Mart by Junko
One-Punch Man, Volume 8 written by One, illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Persona 3, Volume 1 by Shuji Sogabe
The Prince in His Dark Days, Volume 1 by Hico Yamanaka
Sailor Men by Sakira
Welcome to the Ballroom, Volume 1 by Tomo Takeuchi
Wild Boyfriend by Sakira
Yowamushi Pedal, Omnibus 3 by Wataru Watanabe

Comics!
Acid Monday by Lucid
Agents of the Realm: Semester 1, Volume 1 by Mildred Louis
Attack on Titan Anthology edited by Ben Applegate and Jeanine Schaefer
Avialae, Chapter 2 by Lucid
From Under Mountains written by Claire Gibson and Marian Churchland, illustrated by Sloane Leong
Mirror: The Mountain written by Emma Ríos, illustrated by Hwei Lim
Mooncop by Tom Gauld
My Car’s a Spaceship, and My Spaceship’s a Boy! by Kris Mukai
Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill
Someone Please Have Sex With Me by Gina Wynbrandt
Soulless, Volumes 1-3 written by Gail Carriger, illustrated by Rem
Spider-Man/Deadpool, Volume 1: Isn’t it Bromantic written by Joe Kelly, illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Trying Not to Notice by Will Dinski
Turning Japanese by MariNaomi
The Usagi Yojimbo Saga, Omnibus 5 by Stan Sakai
Virus Tropical by Powerpaola
Vixen by Danielle Keller

Artbooks!
10: Illustrations, 2006-2016 by Tomoko Yamashita
The Art of Jo Chen Illustration Collection by Jo Chen
Space Beside: Selected Illustrations, 2014-2016 by Loika
Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano

Novels!
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
A Riot of Goldfish by Kanoko Okamoto

Anthologies!
Red Roofs and Other Stories by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki

Anime!
Black Jack directed by Osamu Dezaki
Black Jack: The Movie directed by Osamu Dezaki
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie directed by Morio Asaka
Doukyusei directed by Shouko Nakamura
The Eccentric Family directed by Masayuki Yoshihara
Otogi Zoshi directed by Mizuho Nishikubo

Pick of the Week: More Kitaro

October 10, 2016 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown and Anna N 1 Comment

MICHELLE: This is the part where I’d normally pick Magi, but I’ll switch things up this time and go with volume sixteen of Say I Love You. The gang is moving on past high school and I’m very interested to see how the series evolves as a result.

SEAN: Gotta be the new Kitaro for me. Mizuki is the master for a reason.

ASH: Same here! I’m absolutely loving the new English-language release of Kitaro and can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume.

ANNA: I have the first volume of Kitaro sitting around in my to-read stack. I’m still going to pick the second volume to highlight, just because it seems like the most important release of the week.

My Week in Manga: October 3-October 9, 2016

October 10, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga, the Yona of the Dawn Giveaway Winner was announced. The post also includes a list of a variety of shoujo fantasy manga available in English that have compelling female leads. That was about it from me last week other than the usual My Week in Manga post, but I am currently working on a feature for Ichigo Takano’s Orange and a review of Are You an Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko which I should hopefully be ready to share soon.

In licensing news, Viz Media will be releasing Yuhta Nishio’s After Hours yuri manga and has announced the acquisition of Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul:Re, Matsuri Hino’s Vampire Knight Memories, and Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy (which is the one I’m most interested in). Kodansha Comics announced a whole slew of licenses at New York Comic Con: Regarding My Reincarnation as a Slime by Fuse, Fairy Tail: Rhodonite by Shibano Kyouta, Kigurumi Defense Squad by Lily Hoshino, Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight by Rin Mikimoto, Waiting for Spring by Anashin, Love and Lies by Musawo Tsumugi, Ahogaru: Clueless Girl by Hiroyuki, Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty by Mei Morino, Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki (the creator of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, so I’ll definitely be trying the series), and Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa.

As for Kickstarter projects, Digital Manga announced that Under the Air and The Crater will be part of it’s upcoming Osamu Tezuka project, though I’m not sure when that will actually take place. As for a few projects that are currently underway that have caught my eye there’s the contemporary comics essay zine Critical Chips, the Johnny Wander omnibus Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us, and the second volume of O Human Star, which is a fantastic science fiction comic with queer themes.

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan Anthology edited by Ben Applegate and Jeanine Schaefer. While I wouldn’t consider myself to be a diehard of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan, I do largely enjoy the series. One of the things that I actually find most interesting about the series is how it has become a worldwide phenomenon. Attack on Titan Anthology is a prime example of that, bringing together works by numerous Western comics creators which explore the world and characters of Isayama’s original Attack on Titan. There are some pretty big names among the contributors from both mainstream and independent comics. The result is spectacular and even better than I expected. I love the variety found in the works included in Attack on Titan Anthology. The stories range from darkly comedic to deadly serious (Asaf and Tomer Hanuka’s “Memory Maze” actually almost made me cry), and each work is different from the others in both style and tone. Some take place directly in the world that Isayama has created while others parody or completely reimagine it. Attack on Titan is an exciting and engaging collection. As someone who is a fan of both Western and Japanese comics, I greatly enjoyed seeing some of my favorite creators tackle Attack on Titan in their own unique ways. I suspect the anthology will appeal most to people who are already familiar with Attack on Titan, but others might be drawn to it simply due to the specific creators involved. Either way, Attack on Titan Anthology is simply fantastic. The volume’s production-quality is probably the best that I’ve seen from Kodansha Comics, too.

Avialae, Chapters 1-2 by Lucid. Every once in a while, I pick up a comic knowing nothing about it other than the fact that I really like the cover art. That’s how I came to find out about Avialae–I saw the first chapter at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival in 2016 and had to read it. Avialae is actually a webcomic, the second chapter of which was just recently released in print. The artwork in the series is absolutely gorgeous, easily on par with the cover illustrations, and is able to effectively convey both body horror as well as erotic encounters as demanded by the story. The comic follows Gannet, a gay high school student who suddenly, and quite painfully, grows a pair of wings. Initially his next-door neighbor and classmate Gilbert is the only one who knows about Gannet’s transformation. As a result, their relationship undergoes some significant changes, too, and eventually becomes rather intimate. As far as sex goes, the first chapter is fairly tame while the second is much more explicit, easily earning the comic its 18+ rating. Avialae is marvelously sex-positive, the steamy scenes are entirely consensual, the sex is loving, and there’s plenty of communication between those involved. I find both Gannet and Gilbert to be endearing and I’m enjoying seeing how their relationship develops both physically and emotionally. Actually, all of the characters and their relationships, whether familial, romantic, or platonic, are incredibly well-realized in Avialae. Also, much to my delight and surprise, Avialae includes a transguy and his portrayal is excellent.

Complex Age, Volume 2 by Yui Sakuma. The first volume of Complex Age surprised me. Since I don’t have a particular interest in cosplay which is a major part of the manga’s premise, I was completely taken aback by how much I was able to identify with the series and Nagisa, its main character. Complex Age is about cosplay and reading the manga has even been somewhat educational, but to an even greater extent the series is about adult fans who have hobbies that many people feel are more suited to a younger age group. It’s about women in fandom and about keeping up appearances. It’s about finding a balance between work, family and friends, and personal interests and happiness. The first volume of Complex Age also included the Sakuma’s original one-shot manga “Complex Age” which deals with similar themes. It wasn’t initially clear exactly how or if the series would tie into the original. I was very happy to discover in Complex Age, Volume 2 that the one-shot and the series actually are directly related to one another–Sawako (from the one-shot) is in fact Nagisa’s mother. I’m excited to see Sawako’s story explored more in Complex Age. It’s interesting, and in some ways a little heartbreaking, to see the impact her decision to let go of her hobby has had on her life. Now that Nagisa knows more about her mother as a person I wonder how the knowledge of Sawako’s past will influence Nagisa’s own decisions in regards to her pursuit of cosplay. Complex Age continues to surprise and impress me; I’m looking forward to reading more.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volumes 4-5 by Hiromu Arakawa. Neither the characters or the story of The Heroic Legend of Arslan are especially nuanced and they come across as fairly standard for the genre, but the series is nevertheless engaging and the battles are exciting. That and I’ll always glad to see more work by Arakawa (and in this case by proxy Yoshiki Tanaka) available in English. At this point in the series, Arslan and his small group of allies are fighting for their lives as they try to reach what remains of the Parsian forces along the border hoping to find reinforcements. They must face the Lusitanian invaders, confront Parsians with dubious loyalties, and contend with unknown powers working against them from the shadows. Not only that, the legitimacy of Arslan’s claim to the throne has been called into question. I enjoy historical fantasies which incorporate court and political intrigue, and The Heroic Legend of Arslan certainly has plenty of that. The forces of both Pars and Lusitania are fragmented and suffer from betrayals and infighting. The chaos this causes makes the situation increasingly dangerous and unpredictable; it is difficult know exactly what will happen next as alliances are made only to fall apart again. The Heroic Legend of Arslan can actually be pretty brutal–death, whether from battle or assassination, is a frequent occurrence. Arakawa’s artwork, while not being overly grotesque or gruesome, does still show enough blood carnage that there’s no question as to what is happening. The horses have a very rough time of it, too.

Manga the Week of 10/12

October 5, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Anna N and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: Ah, second weeks. Always the most unpredictable. Will there be a hidden treasure? Or will the team all pick Magi again by default? Let’s see what we’ve got next week.

ASH: Let’s!

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of the prequel everyone seems to like better than the original, Fate/Zero.

MJ: Maybe I should try this.

SEAN: They also have the second omnibus release of zombie favorite I Am A Hero.

ASH: I’m very curious to see the direction the second omnibus takes.

ANNA: I still need to read the first volume.

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly make me very happy with the second volume in their Kitaro collection, Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon. No, not the one from Shonen Jump.

ASH: I am beyond thrilled that we’re getting more of Kitaro in English!

SEAN: Kodansha has a 5th volume of Maga-Tsuki, which defies my ability to remember anything about it.

And a 16th volume of Say “I Love You”. Will the series be able to survive graduation?

MICHELLE: I am cautiously optimistic.

ASH: As am I.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts a new series. It’s called How to Build a Dungeon. It has a half-naked woman on the cover. It’s from Comic Valkyrie. It should sell like hotcakes. I would review it but I fear it would burn my flesh if I touched it.

And a 5th Magika Swordsman and Summoner, which is much the same sort of thing.

SuBLime gives us the 5th volume of The World’s Greatest First Love. That’s a lot of hype to live up to.

ASH: I’ll admit, I’m more interested in the series portrayal of the shoujo manga industry than I am in its romance.

SEAN: And Vertical has a 6th Ninja Slayer volume. EXCITING NINJAS!

Viz has reached the 60th volume of Case Closed. I tip my hat to them.

And Magi has its 20th volume, which will hopefully answer the burning question: Where the Hell is Morgiana?

MICHELLE: Heh.

ANNA: Where? What’s happening!!! One day I will get caught up on Magi.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has a 4th volume of Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter.

Yokai, ninjas, zombies… no vampires, though. What are you getting?

Manga Giveaway: Yona of the Dawn Giveaway Winner

October 5, 2016 by Ash Brown

And the winner of the Yona of the Dawn manga giveaway is… Kate!

As the winner, Kate will be receiving a copy of Yona of the Dawn, Volume 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi as published in English by Viz Media. As someone who tends to love epic shoujo fantasies, I was very excited for the release of Yona of the Dawn. For this giveaway, I asked participants to tell me a little about their own favorite shoujo fantasy manga, epic or otherwise, but I was specifically interested in works with a compelling female lead Be sure to check out the giveaway comments for everyone’s detailed responses! The list below includes the favorites mentioned and more.

Some of the shoujo fantasy manga with great female leads available in English:
Alice 19th by Yuu Watase
Basara by Yumi Tamura
Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP
The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto
Dawn of the Arcana by Rei Toma
From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa
Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden by Yuu Watase
Immortal Rain by Kaori Ozaki
Kamisama Kiss by Julietta Suzuki
Kobato by CLAMP
Liselotte & Witch’s Forest by Natsuki Takaya
Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
Please Save My Earth by Saki Hiwatari
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit’s Tale by Ryo Mizuno
Red River by Chie Shinohara
Revolutionary Girl Utena by Chiho Saito
Romeo x Juliet by Com
St. ♥ Dragon Girl by Natsumi Matsumoto
The Story of Saiunkoku written by Sai Yukino, illustrated by Kairi Yura
Time Stranger Kyoko Arina Tanemura
Tsubasa: Those with Wings by Natsuki Takaya
Two Flowers for the Dragon by Nari Kusakawa
Vampire Game by Judal
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

Viz Media seems to have a pretty good corner on the shoujo fantasy market, especially when it comes to epics, but other publishers have released some great manga, too. And, of course, the above list certainly isn’t exhaustive. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their personal favorites with me! I hope to hear from you all again.

My Week in Manga: September 26-October 2, 2016

October 3, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Although it is now October, there is still time to participate in September’s manga giveaway. This time around everyone has a chance to win Yona of the Dawn, Volume 1, the beginning of Mizuho Kusanagi’s shoujo fantasy epic! I came across a few interesting things online last week that I’d like to share: “Strip!”: The Manga Art of Anno Moyoco” at Nippon.com (once upon a time, I hosted the Moyoco Anno Manga Moveable Feast); The Lobster Dance posted The Sparkling World of 1970s Shojo Manga, Part 8 which focuses on the influence of The Rose of Versailles on Ouran High School Host Club and Haken no Osukaru; and Anne Ishii, manga translator and one of the founders of Massive, was featured on the fifteenth episode of Hey, Cool Job. There were a couple of license announcements from Viz Media that caught my eye, too: Ryoko Fukyuama’s manga Anonymous Noise will be released by Shojo Beat, and Haikasoru will be publishing the next three novels in Yoshiki Tanaka’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes!

Quick Takes

Goodnight Punpun, Omnibuses 2-3 (equivalent to Volumes 3-6) by Inio Asano. The first omnibus of Goodnight Punpun was tremendous and left a huge impression on me. Likewise, the second and third omnibuses are incredibly well done. Goodnight Punpun is not always an easy series to read and can actually be pretty depressing and emotionally devastating. The direction of the story can often be anticipated simply by expecting that the most awful thing will happen at any given point. There are moments of joy, but for the most part the manga is a surreal and incredibly dark coming-of-age story. The worldview is extraordinarily pessimistic and bleak; most of the characters are miserable or broken in some way, and more than a few are frankly terrible people. And yet, I continue to find Goodnight Punpun to be a remarkable and compelling work even while it’s deliberately uncomfortable and heart-breaking. I find that I can empathize and even identify with most of the characters in at least some small way, which can actually be a little terrifying. Although Punpun is the series’ lead the second omnibus of Goodnight Punpun spends a fair amount of time delving into his uncle’s unfortunate past and one of the major perspectives explored in the third omnibus is that of his mother. Artistically, Asano portray’s Punpun and his immediate family more abstractly than the other characters except for during the more sexually-charged scenes, making them even more unsettling than they already are. I’m not entirely sure where Asano is going with the series or what sort of point he will ultimately make with all of the philosophical gloom, but I am willing to find out.

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill. Originally released online as a webcomic, O’Neill’s Princess Princess (not to be confused with Mikiyo Tsuda’s manga Princess Princess which is a completely different work) has now been collected in its entirety along with a new epilogue by Oni Press in a slim but beautiful hardcover edition titled Princess Princess Ever After. The comic is an absolute delight, suitable for younger readers but still enjoyable for adult audiences. After the dashing and daring Amira rescues from a tower the kind and thoughtful Sadie (with her permission first, of course), the two princesses travel together on an adventure aiding those they come across are in need of a bit of extra help. Eventually they must confront Sadie’s older sister who is the one who locked Sadie in the tower to begin with and who is an even bigger challenge than the ogre they faced while on their journey. Princess Princess Ever After is an incredibly sweet, adorable, and charming comic. Although Sadie and Amira encounter plenty of danger along the way, there really isn’t any question that they’ll get their happy ending. The comic is a lighthearted fairytale with a number of lovely twists on some of the standard tropes, most notably the romantic pairing of two princesses, neither of whom is the stereotypical damsel-in-distress, but there’s more to the story than just that. O’Neill’s artwork in Princess Princess Ever After is colorful, energetic, and cute, fitting the tone of the comic perfectly. While it’s nice to have a self-contained story, it’s almost a shame that the comic is so short and moves along so quickly; I would love to read more about Amira, Sadie, and their adventures together.

That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 1 by Yoko Nogiri. Though it’s not necessarily a new trend, ayakashi and yokai seem to be fairly prominent in many of the supernatural shoujo manga that are being licensed of late. I’m not especially bothered by this since I have a particular interest in yokai and tend to enjoy the subgenre. The presence of pretty spirit boys doesn’t hurt anything, either. But when I can easily name a half-dozen ongoing series with a similar elements (not to mention those that have already been completed), I do start to wonder what a new series has to offer that is different or unique. One of the most recent examples of a series of this type is Nogiri’s That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! from Kodansha Comics. After only one volume it hasn’t really set itself apart from other manga with ayakashi themes and it seems fairly typical for the genre, and yet it’s a very enjoyable beginning to a series. The story plays out pretty safely in the first volume and there are no real surprises, although there are hints that things might be more than they initially seem. The characters are generally likeable and endearing as well; I’m especially fond of the titular wolf-boy and his easygoing nature. While many of the characters are close to being “types,” they do have a bit more depth to them than may first appear. However, I would like to see a bit more development in the characters and their relationships as the series progresses. I do suspect that Nogiri will deliver, though. So, while I wasn’t blown away by the beginning of That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! by any means, I did like it. The manga is off to a good start and has potential. Even if Nogiri doesn’t move beyond well-worn tropes, I’m still interested in reading more of the series.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu. My introduction to the work of Liu was through his short story “Mono no Aware” which was collected in the anthology The Future Is Japanese. That story was enough to convince me to seek out more of his work. This turned out to be a wise decision as his debut novel The Grace of Kings was one of my favorite books from 2015. However, at least for the moment, Liu is probably best known and recognized for his shorter works which frequently earn him awards and accolades. Although The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is Liu’s second book to be published, it is his first compilation of short stories and novellas to be released. It’s an exceptional and well-thought out collection, bringing many of Liu’s award-winning stories together with some of his personal favorites. Normally when it comes anthologies of short stories I find that their quality and strength can significantly vary from one to the next. However, all fifteen examples of Liu’s work in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (which includes “Mono no Aware”) are excellent. Some are certainly more powerful pieces than others, but they are all engaging, meaningful, and thought-provoking. One of the things that particularly impressed me about The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is Liu’s ability to work in a variety of styles and genres. As a whole the collection tends to be fairly serious in tone and can be broadly described as speculative fiction, and Liu frequently incorporates aspects of Chinese and Asian culture and history, but there is still tremendous range among the individual stories. Even the stories which share common elements or themes are ultimately different from one another, offer fresh perspectives, and are each remarkable in their own way.

Manga the Week of 10/5

September 29, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Anna N and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: It’s the first week of October, so time for a BIG PILE O’ VIZ! But first:

Dark Horse has the first of what may be several Hatsune Miku manga tie-ins, Mikubon.

Seven Seas has a 5th volume of Golden Time, the one that’s not Toradora.

Magical Girl Apocalypse 9 continues to prove that kids love cute stuff being brutally slaughtered.

The debut this week is My Pathetic Vampire Life, which I know very little about besides that it runs in Futabasha’s Manga Action and hey, vampires.

Since Persona 4’s manga has done pretty well for Udon, it’s no surprise we’re now seeing the debut of Persona 3. It’s a Mediaworks title form Dengeki Maoh.

ASH: I’ve actually played Persona 3, so I’m curious to see how it’s adapted.

SEAN: Since we’ve caught up with Japan, the 8th volume is the first My Neighbor Seki in a while from Vertical. It’s very welcome.

ASH: My Neighbor Seki continues to be a delight.

MJ: Indeed!

SEAN: And now for Viz. Assassination Classroom has its 12th volume, which I believe has a heavy dose of Irina.

And a third volume of Black Clover. What will it be imitating today?

There’s a 6th volume of The Demon Prince of Momochi House.

ANNA: I really like this series, it just keeps getting better and better.

SEAN: And a 14th Food Wars!, which may be starting a new arc?

Haikyu! has a 4th volume. It’s coming out so fast you’d think it was monthly.

ASH: … There may be a reason for that.

ANNA: I haven’t read volume 3 because my kids keep stealing it from me.

SEAN: And there’s a 4th volume of Honey So Sweet.

ANNA: Looking forward to this!

SEAN: I always love a new volume of Kamisama Kiss when it comes out, even now, at the 22nd volume.

ANNA: This is so great. There is totally room in my heart for two shoujo series with handsome male spirit people running around.

Kuroko’s Basketball has a 2nd omnibus, ensuring it remains caught up with Haikyu! despite being bimonthly.

ASH: Speaking of catching up, I still need to dig into Kuroko’s Basketball.

ANNA: I really liked the unconventional hero.

SEAN: Guess what’s hit double digits but is still adorable? My Love Story!!, that’s what.

MICHELLE: Each of the last seven is on my list!

ASH: I love this series so much.

ANNA: It is just excellent.

SEAN: Naruto has a 16th 3-in-1, even though ninjas are so 2006.

And if you enjoy getting One Piece in massive box sets for Christmas, there’s a 3rd one here for you.

The debut this week is Platinum End, a new manga from the creators of Death Note and Bakuman that runs in Jump Square. I hear it’s more towards the Death Note end of the spectrum in terms of seriousness.

MICHELLE: I’m not generally interested in angels, but I’ll give this a shot.

ASH: I’m always willing to give a manga illustrated by Obata a try.

MJ: You know I’m on board for this, for the artwork if nothing else. Obata 4evah.

ANNA: I will try it for the art alone for the first couple volumes, even if I don’t care for the story.

SEAN: 7th Garden has a 2nd volume, which means only 5 more till I get to make an obviously lame joke.

A 9th So Cute It Hurts!!. It must be cute if it’s that long a series.

ANNA: It is pretty cute, but maybe a bit too long?

SEAN: And a 6th Twin Star Exorcists. This month is big on series I don’t read, alas.

Lastly, a series I do read, the 2nd Yona of the Dawn. Love love love this.

MICHELLE: The second volume is even better than the first.

ASH: I’ve actually got a giveaway for the first volume going on right now. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second one!

MJ: Well, I’ll have to check this out!

ANNA: EPIC FANTASY MANGA FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!

SEAN: Is there a series here for you?

Manga Giveaway: Yona of the Dawn Giveaway

September 28, 2016 by Ash Brown

The end of September is almost here, which means it’s once again time for Experiments in Manga’s monthly giveaway. This month everyone participating has the opportunity to enter for a chance to win the first volume in Mizuho Kusanagi’s manga series Yona of the Dawn as published in English by Viz Media. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I generally appreciate a good epic fantasy, but I seem to particularly enjoy those with compelling female leads. Some of the Japanese novels, manga, and anime that I love the most fall into this category, such as Nahoko Uehashi’s Moribito, Fuyumi Ono’s The Twelve Kingdoms, and Yumi Tamura’s Basara to name just a few. One of the most recent manga of this type to be released in English is Mizuho Kusanagi’s Yona of the Dawn which, like Basara, is even more specifically a shoujo fantasy epic. And so, it’s probably not too surprising that I’m looking forward to reading the manga series, and there’s an anime adaptation to watch, too!

So, you may be wondering, how can you win Yona of the Dawn, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about one of your favorite shoujo fantasy manga with a great female lead. (Haven’t read one? Simply mention that instead.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

That’s all there is to it. Those participating can earn up to two entries for the giveaway and have one week to submit comments. Comments can be sent directly to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if you have trouble using the comment form or if you would prefer. I will then post those comments here in your name. The winner of the giveaway will be randomly selected and announced on October 5, 2016. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, 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: Yona of the Dawn Giveaway Winner

Save

Pick of the Week: Ballroom Blitz

September 26, 2016 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, MJ, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: There are three Kodansha titles that have been in my Amazon cart for at least a week now: the second volume of Sweetness & Lightning and the debut volumes of The Prince in His Dark Days and Welcome to the Ballroom. I am legitimately excited for all three, particularly the debuts, but given my enduring penchant for sports manga, it’s probably no surprise that it’s Ballroom that really has my curiosity piqued!

SEAN: There’s a pile of things I’m interested in next week. Franken Fran introduces my favorite character, Youth Romantic Comedies go Wrong (as I often appreciate), and there’s a new Umineko to read and grind my teeth at the irritation that is Erika Furudo. But yes, the pick this week has to be Welcome to the Ballroom. It’s won the Manga Taisho award, it’s filled with shonen spirit, but most importantly, it’s a ballroom dancing manga. You had me at that. (Just… no magical weightloss plots like the last dancing manga, OK?)

MJ: Welcome to the Ballroom! Welcome to the Ballroom! Welcome to the Ballroom! And that other stuff sounds interesting, too.

ASH: Kodansha Comics definitely has my eye (and wallet) this week, especially with its trio of debuts. I’m immensely curious about The Prince in His Dark Days, but like everyone else I can’t seem to resist the allure of shonen ballroom dancing. And so Welcome to the Ballroom it is!

ANNA: I didn’t realize that Welcome to the Ballroom is coming out, but now that I have that knowledge it is the only possible pick for me!

My Week in Manga: September 19-September 25, 2016

September 26, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga I posted an in-depth review of Human Acts, an incredibly beautiful, tremendously powerful, and absolutely devastating novel by South Korean author Han Kang. (Some may recognize Kang as the author of The Vegetarian which has earned her a fair amount of international attention and acclaim.) Human Acts is one of the best books that I’ve read in quite some time, but it’s a chilling and challenging read due to its subject matter. The book focuses on the violent Gwanju Uprising and its long-lasting aftermath, however it’s not at all necessary to be familiar with that particular incident to understand and appreciate the novel.

Elsewhere online, there was some very exciting licensing news: Pantheon Books will be releasing Gengoroh Tagame’s My Brother’s Husband! The impending English-language release has been hinted at, but now it’s official and I’m absolutely thrilled. Digital Manga’s Juné imprint also had a few licensing announcements from Yaoicon: Velvet Toucher’s Eden’s Mercy, the third volume of Yoneda Kou’s Twittering Birds Never Fly, and Junko’s The Prince’s Time. And over the weekend Yen Press slipped in an announcement for the acquisition of Tsukumizu’s Shojo Shumatsu Ryoko. A few other interesting things that I came across last include a video of Viz Media’s SDCC 2016 Panel, the Comic Book Resources feature “20 Years Ago, Dragon Ball Z Came to America to Stay,” and Otaku Champloo’s BL Manga Starter Kit. Also, a couple of recent queer comics Kickstarters caught my eye: Ngozi Ukazu’s already massively successful campaign to release Check Please!, Year Two and a project to raise funds for the final volume and omnibus edition of Jennie Wood’s Flutter.

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volume 19 by Hajime Isayama. For a while there I was starting to become a little weary of the sheer number of plot twists in Attack on Titan. Instead of renewing my interest in the story, I started to lose confidence in it. However, the more recent volumes of the series have regained some focus. The story developments and turns in the story are more exciting because of it, even if there are still a few major mysteries which have yet to be fully explained. The nineteenth volume of Attack on Titan is an exciting one as a massive confrontation between a contingent of intelligent Titans and the decimated Survey Corps begins. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the rest will have to directly face off against the Armored Titan and the Colossus Titan, knowing that the humans controlling them were once their comrades. It’s a kill-or-be-killed situation with very little room for negotiation. The action sequences in the nineteenth volume are dramatic and well-done, but the most notable aspect of the manga is probably the psychological impact that the battle for survival against one-time friends has on the characters. Also, for Attack on Titan fans who are interested in Levi and Erwin, the special edition of the nineteenth volume comes along with the second and final part of the No Regrets OVA anime adaptation. I haven’t had a chance to watch it myself yet, but I am glad that it’s available and am looking forward to seeing it.

Curveball by Jeremy Sorese. Although I’m only now finally getting around to reading Curveball, I’ve actually been meaning to for a while now. The comic was first brought to my attention when it became a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for best LGBT Graphic Novel. And then at TCAF 2016 I had the opportunity to hear Sorese talk about Curveball specifically and queer science fiction in general. There are two things in particular that I especially love about Curveball. The first is the inherent queerness of the characters and worldbuilding. Numerous genders are represented in the comic and relationships, romantic and otherwise, occur in a multitude of combinations. The main character, Avery, is non-binary and there are a fair number of others who are genderqueer or genderfluid as well. This isn’t at all a big deal in the comic, it’s simply a natural and unobtrusive part of the setting. The second thing that I particularly enjoyed about the comic is Sorese’s use of color. The illustrations in Curveball are primarily grayscale except for the use of an extraordinarily vibrant and literally fluorescent orange to represent technology, and more specifically energy. The effect is very striking. Curveball is mostly about relationships, but the characters are also dealing with a developing energy crisis. The fluorescent orange and the occasional lack thereof is a constant visual reminder of this.

The Seven Deadly Sins, Volume 15 by Nakaba Suzuki. The stakes can’t get much higher than they are at the moment in The Seven Deadly Sins seeing as the fate of the entire world is in grave peril now that the extraordinarily powerful demons known as the Ten Commandments have been released. Granted, just about everyone and everything in The Seven Deadly Sins is extraordinarily powerful, so it’s sometimes difficult to get a good feel for the grand scale of the series; the shock and awe is frequently lost. Despite the tremendous abilities that everyone has and despite the massive amounts of damage dealt to both people and property, it ends up coming across as common rather than impressive. Recently Suzuki has resorted to having Hawk actually announce the combat classes and magic levels of the various characters are, but that just seems superfluous when there is effectively no difference between a class level of 3,370 and 5,500 on the page. Even so, the fight scenes and battle sequences somehow still manage to be engaging and entertaining and are honestly one of the best things about the series. The fifteen volume of the manga sees the Seven Deadly Sins starting to fight off the Ten Commandments on two separate fronts. First they must try to fend off the Commandment’s minions and are largely successful, but eventually one of the demons appears to confront them directly. By the end, things aren’t looking good for the Deadly Sins.

Yona of the Dawn, Volume 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi. Even if it wasn’t for the fact that I tend to enjoy epic fantasy series with strong female leads, the amount of excitement surrounding the anime adaptation and the licensing announcement for the original manga series in English would have been enough for Yona of the Dawn to catch my attention and interest. Admittedly, Yona spends a large part of the series’ first volume in shock and barely able to function. The reason is understandable–she has witnessed the murder of her beloved father the king at the hands of one of the people she most loved and trusted in the world. The unexpected betrayal leaves her stunned; the only reason she avoids a similar fate is that her personal guard whisks her away from the palace. However, the very beginning of the volume implies that Yona will take control of her own destiny. That’s the story that I really want to read. I want to see Yona overcome her tragic circumstances, to find the strength to protect herself and those she loves. If the manga is able to deliver its promise (and I suspect that it will), Yona of the Dawn will indeed be a series well-worth following. While Yona comes across as weak and helpless for a significant portion of the first volume of Yona of the Dawn, showing Yona at her lowest does provide the necessary setup required for dramatic story and character developments. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of Yona of the Dawn.

Save

Manga the Week of 9/28

September 22, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Michelle Smith and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: Duck and cover, folks.

Kodansha gives us a 3rd Colossal Edition of Attack on Titan, which no doubt still remains a potent blunt instrument as well as a good way of catching up.

ASH: These volumes truly are colossal.

SEAN: And a 56th volume of Fairy Tail, which had one of my pairings become canon recently, and apparently other stuff is happening as well.

The first of three debuts from Kodansha next week, Happiness is from the creator of Flowers of Evil (and Inside Mari, and Drifting Net Café, for those who want to be reminded that there are iffy things the author has done too). It seems to combine school bullying and vampires, and runs in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

ASH: I’m not especially interested in vampires, but I’ll definitely be checking out this series.

MJ: I’d give this a look.

SEAN: The Prince in His Dark Days is an Aria title, so file it under shoujo-ish. This seems to involve some gender bending, and the author is better known for her BL. We’ll see what it’s like.

MICHELLE: This is already in my Amazon cart!

ASH: I’m very curious about this series!

ANNA: I’m curious too, but I will wait until you guys read it.

MJ: I’m absolutely on board for this!

SEAN: Sweetness and Lightning may have just finished its anime, but the manga goes in, with Vol. 2 coming out next week.

And Welcome to the Ballroom is from Weekly Shonen Magazine, and from what I can tell may be a sports manga, only the sport is ballroom dancing. Of the three debuts, this one excites me the most.

MICHELLE: And so are both of these!

ASH: It’s a strong week for Kodansha debuts; I want to read them all.

ANNA: BALLROOM DANCING MANGA! I am amazed.

MJ: So excited!

SEAN: Franken Fran has an omnibus of Vol. 5 & 6. It’s not for everyone, as many have discovered, but I do love its combination of excessive horror and excessive humor.

ASH: As do I.

And there’s a 7th volume of Servamp, which… OK, look, there’s a LOT of vampire titles this week. I have to save my bad jokes for other vampire titles down the list.

And Vertical has a 3rd volume of Devil’s Line. See what I mean? It’s just awash with vampires around here.

Yen Press takes up the rest of this list, but trust me, we aren’t almost done. First, there’s the digital line, with 6th volumes for Aphorism, Crimson Prince (not vampires, but demons), and Sekirei.

Yen On time. The 7th novel of Accel World will hopefully involve the nasty cliffhanger from the last volume, but will we really be free of the constant threat of the corrupting armor? And will Haru get actual self-confidence?

Since the last volume of Kagerou Daze was delayed, that means we get this 5th volume sooner than expected. This one should explain how Shintaro’s dead not-quite-girlfriend, Ayano, is connected to all this.

At last, we have the debut of Yen On’s first light novel series with no fantasy elements, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected. You can tell it’s a light novel by that wordy title, just call it OreGairu. It comes highly recommended, I will see what the fuss is about.

MJ: I will check this out as well.

SEAN: And a 2nd volume of Overlord, as we continue to see how ‘trapped in a game’ works if you’re a villain.

And there is a 4th volume of Strike the Blood, which I continue to find very generic but enjoyable despite that.

On to Yen Press proper. We get a 3rd volume of Akame Ga KILL! preview ZERO.

And we get the final volume of Aldnoah Zero First Season. The Second Season is not yet licensed, as far as I can tell.

There’s a 2nd volume of the manga adaptation of The Boy and the Beast.

As you might guess from the cover, A Bride’s Story 8 will be focusing on Pariya, our favorite tsundere, and her own marriage – assuming she does not blush herself to death first.

ASH: Looking forward to seeing more of A Bride’s Story on my shelf.

MJ: This, always.

SEAN: Chaika the Coffin Princess is also ending with its 5th and final volume.

And if you like fanservice, have a 2nd volume of Demonizer Zilch.

There’s also a 5th volume of the heartwarming and sometimes creepy First Love Monster.

Fruits Basket’s collectors Edition gives us 2 more volumes with its 5th omnibus, and a new zodiac, of course, of course.

MICHELLE: And a nice Ayame pic on the back cover!

MJ: These are so beautiful, I could not be happier.

SEAN: He’s My Only Vampire has ended in Japan, but still continues here with Vol. 8.

Now that I’ve read its source, I expect The Honor Student at Magic High School’s 4th volume to make 100% more sense.

And speaking of LN adaptations, there’s the 2nd My Youth Romantic… I’m not typing that out again.

Of the Red, The Light, and the Ayakashi is adapting a game, but still intrigues me as we hit Volume 4. I’m in it for the savvy little sister.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued, as well.

SEAN: Overlord’s 2nd manga is coming out the same day as its 2nd light novel. That’s never not confusing!

And Space Dandy wraps up with a 2nd volume. This is the trouble with anime tie-ins.

Strike the Blood has a 4th manga volume, coming out the same day as… see my entry on Overlord.

Triage X may be up to a 12th volume, but on the bright side, we’ve caught up with Japan.

Ubel Blatt has a 6th omnibus that is really its 7th. Still bitter.

ASH: Understandably so.

SEAN: And lastly, Erika Furudo continues to RUIN EVERYTHING as we get a 2nd Umineko: Dawn of the Golden Witch omnibus. Can we get a happy ending with Battler controlling things? Don’t bet on it.

Are you buried under the weight of all of this? If not, what are you getting?

Human Acts

September 22, 2016 by Ash Brown

Author: Han Kang
Translator: Deborah Smith
U.S. Publisher: Hogarth Press
ISBN: 9781101906729
Released: January 2017
Original release: 2014
Awards: Manhae Literary Prize

Over the last few years South Korean novelist Han Kang has gained a fair amount of international attention. Of particular recent note, her second novel to be translated into English, The Vegetarian (which I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time now), was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 after being met with great acclaim. Kang isn’t a stranger to awards–her work, while at times controversial, is well-regarded and has earned her many honors and accolades both in South Korea and abroad. Human Acts is Kang’s third novel to receive an English translation. The book was originally published in Korea in 2014 (under a title that more closely translates as The Boy Is Coming) and won Kang the Manhae Literary Prize. Deborah Smith’s English translation of and accompanying introduction to Human Acts was first published in Great Britain in 2016 and is scheduled to be released in the United States in early 2017.

After the assassination of South Korean president Park Chung-hee in 1979, the political climate of the country became increasingly perilous. The student demonstrations calling for democracy and the protests against the government which began during Park’s rule when he implemented authoritarian policies and martial law continued even after his death. In 1980, in the southern city of Gwanju, one such demonstration was engulfed in violence when a group of citizens supporting the students’ efforts was attacked and killed by government forces. The protest in Gwanju quickly escalated into an uprising involving thousands. The incident only lasted a few days–ultimately the civil militias were defeated by the government troops–but the uprising and accompanying massacre would deeply impact South Korea and its people for decades to come, leaving a wound that has yet to completely heal.

Human Acts focuses on the aftermath of the Gwanju Uprising and the personal costs, pain, and suffering of the people involved. The novel unfolds in seven parts told from seven different perspectives. It begins in the midst of the uprising itself in 1980 and ends in 2013 with its lingering influence. Human Acts opens with the story Dong-ho, a middle school student working in a gymnasium which had been hastily converted into a temporary morgue in order to accommodate the tremendous number of casualties. There he helps to care for and identify the bodies. After he himself is killed during the uprising, Dong-ho becomes the touchstone which ties the disparate parts of the novel together. In addition to Dong-ho, Human Acts contains the accounts of the soul of his friend who also lost his life, two of the women who worked in the morgue with him, a protestor who witnessed his death and who was later arrested, imprisoned, and tortured, his mother, and the writer who retells their stories.

Human Acts is a beautifully written novel, the translation is elegant and at times even poetic, but the subject matter is horrific and tragic and Kang doesn’t shy away from that fact. The story, based on truth, is filled with death, brutality, and violence. Human Acts is extraordinary though it certainly isn’t light reading; it can be a very difficult, affecting, and haunting read. The text slips in and out of a second-person narrative which draws the reader directly into the story. The technique is surprisingly effective and disconcerting, helping to turn the novel into something that’s akin to both a eulogy and a denunciation. While Human Acts focuses on a specific historical event, its themes are universal, exploring the lasting changes that the past has on the present and how people as individuals cope with the trauma that has been experienced. Human Acts is an intensely personal, political, powerful, and devastating work and is honestly one of best novels that I have read in a long while.

Thank you to Hogarth Press for providing a copy of Human Acts for review.

Pick of the Week: Seinen Extravaganza

September 19, 2016 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: Nothing really knocks it out of the park for me this week, but having just read it, I’m going with the 8th volume of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which has a few surprising reveals, and one reveal that isn’t so surprising, but it’s nice to see confirmed. I enjoy this military thriller with cute girls.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely going with volume two of Complex Age this week. Volume one was indeed complex, and informative to boot. I’m looking forward to seeing how the story develops.

ASH: I’m intensely curious about the second volume of Complex Age, too, but my pick this week goes to the third omnibus of the incredibly surreal and at times devastating coming-of-age story that is Goodnight Punpun.

ANNA: I’m for sure most interested in Complex Age, I’m sure mostly because I haven’t yet read Goodnight Punpun yet. I could see it being a hard choice between those two titles!

My Week in Manga: September 12-September 18, 2016

September 19, 2016 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga I posted the Bookshelf Overload for August. I picked up some great out-of-print (or soon to be out-of-print) manga and comics last month in addition to some highly-anticipated new releases. I was particularly busy with work and taiko last week so I wasn’t online much, but there is one thing that I’d like to draw attention to–the thirty-eighth and most recent issue of Sparkler Monthly. In it is the first part of a Skyglass side story written by Jenn Grunigen and illustrated by Mookie called “The Mud God” which, in addition to being adorably cute, is partly my fault as it’s related to another Skyglass commission that the author is working on for me. (Hopefully that one will be able to be shared soon, too!)

Quick Takes

Inuyashiki, Volume 4 by Hiroya Oku. The fourth volume of Inuyashiki begins immediately where the third volume ends, with the devastating and gruesome aftermath of Inuyashiki’s confrontation with an powerful organized crime group. It then turns to follow Shishigami’s story again. One thing that I found to be particularly interesting about Inuyashiki, Volume 4 is the character development of the two main leads. Since the beginning of the series, Inuyashiki and Shishigami have been opposites, using their newly-granted powers in vastly different ways. Though they both are mechanical monsters with many of the same abilities, Inuyashiki has focused on helping others, whether that be by curing major illnesses or fighting on behalf of those who are weaker, while Shishigami has been going on killing sprees for his own selfish reasons. Inuyashiki abhors violence, even when he is a willing participant; Shishigami delights in it. But the fourth volume of Inuyashiki sees some of that change. Inuyashiki is learning to consciously use and control his more deadly powers, specifically in order to put an end to Shishigami. He still considers it to be a necessary evil, though. As for Shishigami, his mother’s illness inspires him to use his abilities for less destructive purposes, but it’s still difficult to sympathize with him since he shows very little regret or remorse for the suffering he has wrought in the recent past.

One-Punch Man, Volumes 4-8 written by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. I continue to be greatly impressed by both the artwork and writing of One-Punch Man although the series is not without its flaws. The manga plays around with many of the tropes of the superhero genre and makes use of plenty of stereotypes in the process. Unfortunately, that means the introduction of an unquestionably gay hero and the perceived threat of his sexuality is intended to be comedic, resulting in an uncomfortable setup in which implied sexual assault is treated as a joke. Personally, I didn’t find this to be particularly funny. However, other than that glaring misstep, the humor in One-Punch Man is fantastic. A slew of new heroes and villains have been brought in; their powers are frequently over-the-top and frankly ridiculous, fitting the overall tone of the series perfectly. Murata’s artwork can be absolutely stunning and is incredibly dynamic, shifting from simplified illustrations to those that are nearly photo-realistic depending on the needs of the story and humor. The action sequences are great, filled with intense battles between absurdly powered opponents and accompanied by a suitably tremendous amount of destruction. It’s not at all surprising that One-Punch Man has been adapted into an anime series–the manga as a whole but especially the visual components seem to beg for it.

Queen Emeraldas, Volume 1 by Leiji Matsumoto. Older manga are not often released in English, so I was very excited to learn that Kodansha Comics would be publishing a classic series. I was even more interested when I found out that series would be Matsumoto’s space opera Queen Emeraldas which takes place in the same universe as his Captain Harlock stories. Although the hardcover English-language edition is based on a Japanese release from 2009, Queen Emeraldas was originally serialized in the late 1970s. The story largely follows a young man by the name of Hiroshi Umino, a runaway from Earth who crash lands on Mars in a spaceship he cobbled together himself. The titular Emeraldas is charismatic and enigmatic woman, a living legend who metes out justice as she wanders the stars. She takes a particular interest in the boy, repeatedly aiding him in his struggle to survive in space. Initially her concern seems to emerge from the fact that his story shares so many similarities with her own although later it is implied that she may have a deeper connection to him. However, like much of Queen Emeraldas, the nature of that connection is still a mystery. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying Queen Emeraldas. The manga is moody, atmospheric, and melancholic with a Western frontier flair. The characters are ambitious, seeking a life of freedom in a world that is harsh and unforgiving.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Volume 9 by Miki Yoshikawa. It’s fairly common for bodyswap manga to incorporate a fair amount of fanservice, especially when different genders are involved, and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is no exception to that trend. Generally, the fanservice in the series doesn’t bother me that much especially considering the context, but every once in a while it’s more of a distraction than anything else. A case in point is a completely inexplicable panty shot in the ninth volume which completely threw me out of the story; it served no purpose for either characterization or plot, and even how the scene was illustrated didn’t make any sense. Usually, Yoshikawa is much better than that. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the ninth volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. There are some interesting twists and revelations as Yamada tries to find a way to return everyone’s missing memories. I’m not always very fond of amnesia plotlines in stories simply because they can be a lazy way for creators to write themselves out of a corner or cause unnecessary drama, but in the case of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches it actually works really well. At it’s very heart the series about friendship and overcoming isolation. Yamada, intentionally or not, was the one who brought so many of the characters together in the first place and he will do everything that he can to bring them together again.