Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Misanthropy & Other Stories

February 18, 2013 by Michelle Smith, Anna N, Sean Gaffney and MJ 2 Comments

MICHELLE: Wow, pickings sure are slim at Midtown this week. If you’re not interested in the latest Evangelion tie-in, volume 30 of Wallflower, or the paperback reprint of Ayako, you are out of luck. Of these, Ayako would be the one I’d choose (if I didn’t already own it in hardcover)—it may be misanthropic, but it’s definitely worth reading.

ANNA This is somewhat sad. So sad in fact that I’m going to pick something that isn’t even manga at all! It looks like the 10th issue of Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples’ Saga is coming out this week. I enjoyed the first trade paperback of this series very much, and it is nice to see more nifty titles coming out from Image Comics. I’m looking forward to the second volume of this adult space opera.

SEAN: Sheesh, I do all I can to expand Manga The Week Of, and everyone then proceeds to stick with Midtown’s paltry offerings. My pick this week is therefore the second Umineko omnibus, which wraps up the first arc. Less heartwarming than Higurashi so far, its grand guignol over-the-top style appealed to me, and you gotta love those screaming faces (from those still alive, that is).

MJ: I’ll admit that I feel hesitant about choosing from Sean’s lovely selection of Yen titles, as even online retailers list their release dates as yet a full week away, but I guess I’ll take this opportunity to highlight a series that rarely makes it into our Picks. That series would be Nabari no Ou—you know, the other ninja manga. I’ve been a fan of this series from the start and though I’ve fallen behind, now that its penultimate volume has arrived, I feel the time for a marathon is now. I’ll be setting up a “book club” marathon in the forums later today. Come join me?

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Manga the Week of 2/20

February 14, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 2 Comments

SEAN: Third week of the month, which is starting to traditionally mean that Diamond Comics ships Yen Press stuff a week early to me. So this Midtown list is augmented by the Yen stuff my shop will be getting.

Dark Horse has run out of Evangelion spinoffs, so is dipping into the well of doujinshi anthologies, a type of manga we’ve previously seen over here with the Code Geass: Knight and Queen manga. They’re put out by real publishers, so don’t expect anything over 18 rated, and are by various artists and writers. I’m going to guess the majority will be humorous, but who knows?

MJ: Possibly this will put me on many fan hate lists, but… I’ll admit I’m tired of Evangelion. I loved the anime series (like everyone) and I’ve read some of the manga adaptation, but if it’s come to publishing doujinshi, can we just admit that there’s nothing left here to milk but fanfic? Which is fine—I’m pro-fanfic, but I kind of expect that to remain in fan circles. Am I being a big fuddy-duddy here?

MICHELLE: Not at all. I’ve consumed even less of Evangelion than you have and I’m still weary of it!

SEAN: Kodansha Comics has Volume 30 (yes, 30) of The Wallflower, which is to shoujo harems what Hayate the Combat Butler is to shounen harems. It will never ever resolve, and no one will have their character developed. But – funny things will occur! Love those funny things.

MICHELLE: Yeah, this is just not my kind of shoujo series. I wish I could like the funny things, but the lack of evolution wears me out after a while. Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei is another example of that happening.

SEAN: Seven Seas (like Yen, shipping via Diamond but not to Midtown) has the 2nd Dance in the Vampire Bund omnibus. The first one is still sitting in my to-read stack, so I can’t really tell you much about it. Maybe someday…

MJ: This series’ fanbase has made me reluctant to try it out, but I should probably look past that, shouldn’t I?

SEAN: Another softcover re-release from Vertical, this one of Tezuka’s Ayako. It’s still a brick, but may weigh a bit less.

MJ: Ayako has its issues, but it’s well worth reading. If you missed the hardcover, this is a must-buy.

SEAN: And now it’s time for a giant pile of Yen to hit comic shops. The Betrayal Knows My Name has hit five volumes. I guess the betrayal’s knowledge isn’t enough to end the series all that fast, so there must me more to the protagonists than just the name. (You can always tell which of the series I discuss I don’t read, can’t you?)

MJ: I featured this volume in my latest My Week in Manga, so I can make up the difference. :D

MICHELLE: I haven’t read any of this either, but I will someday!

SEAN: We have a new action series that will likely appeal to the Battle Royale/High School of the Dead crowd, this one with the compelling title of BTOOOM! The covers may have been changed to avoid lawsuits, but the contents inside still scream survival game.

MJ: Michelle & I discussed this in Off the Shelf last week. I found it unoriginal but decidedly fun.

MICHELLE: It looks uncomplicated, which is actually a compliment.

SEAN: The Misfortune of Kyon and Koizumi is the second doujinshi anthology we’re talking about this week, oddly enough. This one’s based off of the Haruhi Suzumiya series, and features the two guys in the main cast. I’m not actually sure how BL-heavy it’ll be – Haruhi‘s fandom still skews very male. But we shall see.

MJ: I’m going to contradict myself and admit that I’m actually kinda interested in this one. So Evangelion fans can start throwing heavy objects at me now.

MICHELLE: Not me. I avoid all manga iterations of the Haruhi story.

SEAN: I’ve long since lost track of what’s going on in Nabari no Ou, but this is the penultimate volume, and would seem to be flashback-tastic. Recommended to ninja fans who can’t stand Naruto.

MJ: That’s me! :D Seriously, though, I love Nabari no Ou. I’m behind on the series as well, but I plan to catch up soon!

MICHELLE: I don’t love Nabari no Ou, but I’ve still managed to read nine volumes so far, and will probably finish it. I don’t hate it, but it just doesn’t seem to stick with me.

SEAN: Pandora Hearts, of course, is nowhere near finishing, even as it reaches 14 volumes. I don’t follow this one either, so I’ll just note that the serious guy on the cover looks very serious indeed. I’d do what he says if I were you.

MJ: This series totally owns me. It’s a perfect example of how deeply I can love something that’s flawed. I love Pandora Hearts with my whole heart.

MICHELLE: Again, I am stopping short of admitting that I love this series, but I am happy when I see new volumes of it.

SEAN: Triage X has managed to get out a 2nd volume. I’m not certain if its cover is as appalling as the first volume, but it certainly tries hard. Meanwhile, nurses, guns, motorcycles, and explosions.

MJ: Ugh.

MICHELLE: Double ugh.

SEAN: Umineko: When They Cry has hit the end of its first arc with this 2nd omnibus. I’m pretty much expecting everyone to die horribly, because that’s what this author does. But will they die horribly in a fascinating and endlessly debatable way? Oh, I hope so. A bit less uuu-uuu would be welcome, though.

MICHELLE: Gah, that “uuu!” crap was so annoying. I will probably read this, since I read the first half, but I am not anticipating loving it.

SEAN: Lastly, in the 3rd omnibus of Until Death Do Us Part, our hero and his charge go on the run from innumerable assassins and other killy things. Luckily, they’re the stars. That counts for a lot in a manga series.

MJ: I still haven’t tried out this series, but I’m thinking about it. Thoughts?

MICHELLE: I actually kind of like this series, but I find that I can’t really give a coherent explanation. I like the premise, I guess, and the supporting organization that helps the hero, etc.

SEAN: Omnibus? Doujin anthology? What’s your poison?

Bookshelf Briefs 2/11/13

February 11, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

This week, Sean, MJ, and Michelle look at recent releases from Kodansha Comics, VIZ Media, and Vertical, Inc.

Fairy Tail, Vol. 23 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – This volume can pretty much be summed up by: cool things happen. Seemingly every five pages. We’re still in the middle of the battle in Edolas, and we see Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy combine their dragon powers to take on the insane king; Erza fighting her doppelganger while also plummeting from a great height; Edolas Fairy Tail showing up just in time to be Big Damn Heroes and prove their mettle. In the middle of all this is Mystogan, aka the Edolas version of Jellal, who has a cunning plan to save Edolas that, much to my relief, is immediately exposed as being mind-numbingly stupid. And since the best way to combat stupid is with stupid, it’s up to Natsu to save the day. There’s a lot of fighting going on here, but it’s certainly never dull. And the next volume should finally wrap up this arc.-Sean Gaffney

The Flowers of Evil, Vol. 4 | By Shuzo Oshimi | Vertical, Inc. – Though on the surface this series appears to be getting darker, for Nakamura and Takao this volume offers up the opportunity for a kind of camaraderie that hadn’t previously been possible. Where this leaves poor Saeki is another question, but though Takao and Nakamura are clearly headed down a perverted path, the tone is decidedly jubilant as this volume comes to a close—for better or worse. In a way, it just feels like their story is back on track, though I think it needed to fall apart in order to get there, and especially to put Takao and Nakamura on something closer to equal ground. Either way, I can’t deny that I’m more intrigued by this story than ever at this point, which indicates that things are going very much right. Readers who found the first few volumes a bit too dark to handle will not see any relief here, but for the rest of us, this volume is a must-read. Still recommended. – MJ

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 12 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – A new arc starts here, as Nanami is abducted by the servents of a spoiled-brat yokai who is engaged to marry Himemiko. The trouble there is Himemiko is already in love with a human boy, Kotaro. Of course, she hasn’t actually told him who she really is. There’s some examination of the huge gulf that exists between kamis and humans, and why most people regard Himemiko’s affair as a mere fling. Nanami doesn’t, though, and she continues to be the best part of the manga simply by being herself. Laying the smack down on the spoiled yokai while trying to espouse the virtue of true love, it’s almost as if she has some other reason for wanting Himemiko’s marriage to a human to happen. There’s a lot of romantic angst here, as we try to resolve a minor subplot that’s been simmering for far too long…-Sean Gaffney

Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations, Vol. 4 | By Kenji Kuroda and Kazuo Maekawa | Kodansha Comics – And so the second series of Phoenix Wright manga volumes comes to a close, with two more fairly typical cases. These have been good reads for those who merely want to see more of Edgeworth being cool, or Gumshoe being dumb. But they’re frustrating for anyone wanting long-term character development, as they can’t change (or even mention) their original source material, the games. The best chapter in this series was the one where Ema Skye returned from America, simply as it was a connection to past and future games we were being allowed to see. Most of the series, unfortunately, didn’t have that, leaving it as a series of cute one-shot crimes with little to no emotional content. Also, Phoenix makes a much better protagonist. Sorry, Edgey.-Sean Gaffney

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 9 | By Naoko Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – I firmly believe that there are no bad volumes of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, but this is an especially good one. The aim of the villainous Dead Moon Circus is to turn people’s dreams into nightmares, and so each of the “inner senshi” gets a chapter to herself in which she triumphs over an enemy attempting to instill doubt (and the notion that she should just find a nice boy and settle down) in her, earning a new attack phrase in the process. It’s great to spend some quality time with the girls individually, and there are some truly rewarding moments (especially concerning Artemis), but the best chapter is about the “outer senshi” and the little family they’ve become in the six months since they made a pledge to raise baby Hotaru. All in all, a truly great volume. My only complaint is that the Amazon Trio are vanquished so quickly! Tiger’s Eye in particular is barely a blip. Sniff. – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 30 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Lory’s school of Enforced Method Acting to sure his proteges’ deep inner traumas has always been for everyone, not just Kyoko, and here we once again see the effects it’s having on Ren, who’s forced to relive the past that he’s been blocking out. Ren is not doing a particularly good job at this, and is starting to lose himself in the role – something that Kyoko is all too familiar with. And it’s not just the serial killer character of BJ, either – Ren and Kyoko’s roles as Cain and Setsu are blurring together as well, and the intentional incestual subtext is getting to be a bit too much to bear for both of them. Things seem to be reaching a boiling point, though I’ve said that before, and this series has now gone 30 volumes with no sign of romantic resolution. Still, maybe a kiss? Hrm? Sadly, no kiss here. Still great stuff, though.-Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Butlers & Knights

February 11, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: Given I can barely move my arms after digging out from over 3 feet of snow, I’d better have a comfort manga for my pick of the week. So let’s go with the biannual release of Hayate the Combat Butler. Yes, its art is moe and pandering, and yes, it’s a harem genre of the most brutal kind. But I admire its ability to never take itself seriously, and (when it doesn’t feature Athena) it’s really, really funny. Every single character, even the minor ones, has the ability to bring the funny to any situation. It may sell poorly, but that just makes each new volume a cherished treat. Well, unless lack of romantic resolution upsets you. Then this is the WORST MANGA EVER, as that is its main bread and butter. Not resolving anything.

MJ: I’m in similar pain today, but instead of comfort manga, I will opt for just immersing myself in something really compelling and go with Tsutomu Nihei’s Knights of Sidonia, arriving at Midtown this week from Vertical. Michelle and I read this for Saturday’s Off the Shelf, and I am not sure I’ve gone more than five minutes since without it on my mind, at least lurking around in the background. I found it incredibly engaging and visually stunning to boot. And though I’m anxious for the next volume, for the time being I’ll settle for re-reading the first. It’s that good.

MICHELLE: A big “me too!” on the Knights of Sidonia front. More human and accessible than BLAME!, Knights of Sidonia is still pure Nihei, both visually and in the particular, mysterious feeling reading his works evokes in me. I loved it without reservation.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Off the Shelf: Explosions, Missions, & Mecha

February 9, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 3 Comments

MICHELLE: Hey, MJ! I’d make a joke here, but after viewing various pictures of startling amounts of snowfall, I just hope you’re staying warm!

MJ: I am! We may be buried in snow, but at least we have electricity! We’re very lucky.

MICHELLE: That’s good! I presume having some electricity means that you’re up for talking about some manga this morning!

MJ: I am indeed! Though it’s possible that the snowstorm is at least partly responsible for today’s choice of reading. As I perused my stack of books to review this morning, I was immediately drawn to Junya Inoue’s BTOOOM!, a debut series from Yen Press with a decidedly survivalist feel.

Ryouta is a “loser,” according to the book’s marketing materials, and while I think that characterization may be a little harsh, for the moment we’ll go with it. He’s an avid gamer with dreams of working in the video game industry, but with these dreams yet to be fulfilled, he’s essentially a freeloader living off his mom while rejecting her efforts to secure him some kind of paying job. He’s especially skilled at an online game called “BTOOOM!,” in which players fight each other only with a variety of small explosive devices. Having defeated the game’s entire pool of Japanese players, he’s ready to move on to world domination, but the world apparently has other plans.

One morning, Ryouta wakes up to find himself hanging from a parachute on a remote tropical island. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got there, but through a series of (occasionally deadly) encounters, soon discovers that he’s been placed into a sort of real-world rendering of “BTOOOM,” in which he must kill other real-life players in order to escape the “game.” As other players help him put the pieces together (or try to blow him to pieces, depending on their dedication), Ryouta battles his own conscience and sense of humanity as he struggles to survive.

As you may have already determined from reading my description, there’s nothing remotely original about BTOOOM! or its hero’s inner struggle, at least not so far. Stories like these are so common and so evenly spread across every storytelling medium in existence, that it’s impossible for me to even identify Inoue’s specific influences. That said, I can’t deny that I had a good time. Setups like these become cliches for a reason—when done well (or even passably), they work, and BTOOOM! is no exception. Even as I rolled my eyes at the series’ premise, I found myself becoming engaged in Ryouta’s story, and chances are I’ll tune in for more.

MICHELLE: Yeah, as I was reading your description there were various other stories that kept springing to mind, but I agree—this one looks potentially interesting. I like the cover, too. I’m not sure why little boxes with timers on them look cool, but they do, so just go with it, I suppose!

MJ: Exactly! Sometimes familiar-but-fun is exactly enough to satisfy, and I feel like the cover conveys the truth of that pretty well.

So what have you got for us today?

MICHELLE: This week I decided to check out the first two volumes of Ema Toyama’s Missions of Love (published by Kodansha Comics). Despite generally enjoying Toyama’s I Am Here!, I was fairly skeptical about this one, largely due to its Japanese title (Watashi ni XX Shinasai!) translating more or less to “Do XX to me!” I was expecting something smutty, an impression that the cover images seem to wish to reinforce. As it turns out, though, there’s really no smut in sight.

With her icy glare, third-year junior high student Yukina Himuro is known to her classmates as the “Absolute Zero Snow Woman.” Little do they know that she’s actually the famous cell phone novelist, Yupina, and the reason she always seems to be staring at them is that she’s gathering material for her stories. One student who has never been able to inspire her is the most popular boy in class, Shigure Kitami, who always maintains the same smiling, pleasant demeanor. When Yukina learns that her fans would prefer more love scenes, she’s troubled, since she’s convinced she’ll never be able to experience love herself and will therefore not be able to write about it convincingly. Luckily, she promptly stumbles upon proof that Kitami is not what he seems and uses this to blackmail him into doing things like holding her hand, clutching her to his manly bosom, etc. so that she can produce updates to her story that make her fans’ hearts skip a beat.

By the end of volume two, Yukina and Kitami seem to be on the path to developing real feelings for each other, but there’s still a lot of contention and distrust in their relationship. He has discovered her secret weakness—it’s pretty dumb—and uses this against her, but feels bad when she ends up hurt by what happens. Meanwhile, Yukina’s cousin and only friend, Akira, reveals that he loves her and wishes she’d use him for boyfriend experience instead of Kitami the creep.

Honestly, I am not sure what I think about Missions of Love at this point. The leads are struggling between their real selves and their facades, and as a result, sometimes they’re likeable and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes Yukina is smart—she skillfully deflects several of Kitami’s attempts to trip her up—and sometimes quite dense, especially when pondering such shoujoriffic concepts as “This pounding in my chest… what does it mean?” Akira has potential to stir things up, but so far his primary character trait is that he’s always snacking. There must be something to this series—after all, it won a Kodansha Award last year (for best children’s manga, while here it’s rated for older teens)—but so far the only things tempting me to continue are the brief glimpses of the story Yukina’s writing and the idea that eventually Kitami is going to give up his disguise (which has already begun to slip) and face the consequences.

MJ: Hm. Well, so far it sounds like it possibly could benefit from some of that smut its title promised. Well, maybe not for you, but I’m feeling the tediousness of the heart-pounding revelation pretty keenly here. Also, I’m already anticipating the pain of Guy #2. Am I way off-base on that?

MICHELLE: Not even a little. This is about as clear-cut a case of Guy #2 as there could ever be. Kitami might be a jerk, but he’s the one. Here’s a scene in which Yukina describes why Akira’s not suitable for her experiment:

Yukina: Akira is my cousin; he means a lot to me. I could never do to him what I’m doing to you.
Kitami: So you can’t use him, but you can use me?!
Yukina: Of course I can use you!! You’re the one that makes my heart skip a beat!

Of course this is said while clutching the back of his jacket in the way shoujo heroines do.

MJ: Poor Guy #2… sigh.

MICHELLE: Yep.

But now for something completely different! I am really eager to talk about this one, but I’m curious to see how you’d describe it, so you wanna introduce it for us?

MJ: Sure! So, our mutual read this week is volume one of Knights of Sidonia, a new science fiction series from Vertical, created by Tsutomu Nihei, the author of Blame! I’ve never read Blame! nor seen the anime adaptation, but after getting this taste of Nihei’s work, I can’t deny that I now want to.

Nagate has lived his whole life in the “underground” of an enormous space ship, with only his now-deceased grandfather for company. Though it was grandpa’s wish that Nagate never leave their isolated environment, hunger sends Nagate on a quest for rice that ultimately brings him to the attention of the ship’s larger human society. Things have changed drastically since grandpa’s days, with most humans now possessing the ability to photosynthesize for sustenance and some bred from both human and animal species. Humans have also officially developed beyond the gender binary to include people who are neither male nor female and who can reproduce with either (or even just by themselves).

Human evolution aside, however, there is at least one aspect of Nagate’s lifelong isolation that has made him a real asset to his new human community. With little else to occupy him, Nagate logged an enormous number of hours in a battle simulator designed to train humans to operate a type of mecha known as “Garde”—the humans’ only defense against the alien Gauna who wiped out human life on Earth centuries ago. Nagate’s skill earns him the right to pilot Tsugumori, an older Garde with legendary status, much to the dismay of at least one other young trainee. Though piloting mecha and fighting the Gauna are the focus of Knights of Sidonia‘s plot, the story’s real drama so far really comes out of Nagate’s attempts to navigate a new social environment that still holds a lot of mystery for him.

MICHELLE: I am not going to be coy. I pretty much loved Knights of Sidonia with every fiber of my being.

I have read BLAME! (and really liked it), so I can’t help but approach Knights of Sidonia with an eye for comparison. It’s true that BLAME! had many story elements that weren’t fully explained to the reader, but so far, there is less of that with Sidonia. On a few occasions, readers are propelled into scenes without explanation, but Nihei’s very good about filling in the details in a timely fashion. The characters are more accessible—more human, despite whatever evolution they’ve undergone—and the overall tone and look is lighter.

But oh, that look. I’m not the greatest connoisseur of manga art, but there’s just something about Tsutomu Nihei’s style that pushes my buttons in a big way. I LOVE the labyrinthine feel of the place, which reinforces Sidonia’s immensity. Doors, pipes, tubes, stairs, deep dark abysses… I simply cannot get enough. I even love the mecha, and the fact that the chapter title page illustrations constitute a gallery of random spots around the ship is just icing on the cake.

I feel like I should probably comment on Nagate’s attempts to adapt—and don’t get me wrong, I loved all of that, too—but I’m so rarely bowled over by art that I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to wallow in it a bit.

MJ: Wallow away! This manga earns it. I can get right on board with your admiration of Nihei’s artwork, too. It’s detailed and mysterious—much like the story itself. But while there is still a lot of mystery still for readers (as well as for Nagate) at the end of the first volume, that sense of the unknown is far from overwhelming. I’ll admit that I had to read the book twice in order to feel that I really understood it, but I honestly don’t consider that a negative in any way. I’m a fast reader, but it’s not too often that a single volume captures me so easily that I’m really happy to re-read it immediately afterwards, just to catch more of its details.

I’m also really anxious to find out more about some of the series’ mysteries, both in terms of the sci-fi plotline (What are the Gauna? What really happened back on Earth? Why does Nagate seem to possess inhuman skill?) as well as the already-complicated human relationships (What’s Izana’s story? And what’s the deal with Kunato?). I’m very much on the edge of my seat at this point.

MICHELLE: Me, too! And that’s why it delights me to report that this series is at nine volumes in Japan and still ongoing. This is longer than Nihei’s six-volume Biomega (recently released by VIZ and which I now feel an urgent need to finally read) and likely to be longer than BLAME!, which has ten volumes. A story like this needs as much time as possible to really unfurl its layers. Happily, it looks like Vertical has scheduled volume two for April, so maybe we’ll get regular bimonthly releases!

I did want to note… even though mecha stories certainly aren’t new, and even though there were a few scenes (like the assembly wherein the awesome and capable captain informs everyone about the threat) that reminded me of Battlestar Galactica, Knights of Sidonia never once felt derivative to me. I think the details and careful world-building are largely responsible for that.

MJ: Agreed all-around! Knights of Sidonia is a real treat, and I’m anxious for more!

JManga the Week of 2/14

February 8, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

SEAN: The danger of doing a weekly column like this is that you run into weeks where nothing that inspires you is coming out. For the print manga column, that’s somewhat rare, and it’s been more common but still rare for JManga as well.

Next week, we have a 7th volume of PoyoPoyo’s Observation Diary, and the third Tsumanuda Fight Town.

…I got nothing. Look forward to them, fans of those series!

MJ: Yep.

MICHELLE: *nods sagely*

Manga the Week of 2/13

February 7, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, MJ and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

SEAN: I had forgotten that Midtown, for some odd reason, hates Seven Seas and doesn’t get their books in for ages. So I’ll add the books that came out via Diamond this week to next week’s list.

So what is on that list? Dark Horse has a short story collection by Hiroaki Samura, creator of Blade of the Immortal, entitled Emerald And Other Stories. It will come as no surprise that these stories are about Samurai in some way, shape or form. Sounds similar to the recent Kaoru Mori collection, only with samurai replacing maids. Fun!

ANNA: I have the first few volumes of Blade of the Immortal but never got into it as much as my beloved Vagabond. I think I have room in my heart for only one long-running samurai series. That being said, I might check this out because I did really enjoy Samura’s short story collection of college life, Ohikkoshi.

MJ: I can’t decide if I’m interested in this. I don’t love samurai or short stories, but I have always wanted to try Blade of the Immortal, and maybe this would give me the push I’ve needed to dig in.

MICHELLE: I read the first volume of Blade of the Immortal and thought it was awesome, but somehow I have never continued with it. I think it’s ‘cos I have to brace myself for the gore I might encounter, which is why I’ve not continued with Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, either, despite liking the first volume.

Anyway, Emerald and Other Stories sounds pretty interesting and not too full of samurai, if Amazon’s description is to believed. I might have to check this out!

SEAN: Kodansha has what I believe is the final volume of Deltora Quest, the manga adaptation of Emily Rodda’s books that ran in one of Kodansha’s younger titles, Comic Bom Bom.

MICHELLE: I read the first volume of Deltora Quest, which was sufficient to convince me that I didn’t need to read any more volumes of Deltora Quest.

SEAN: Coming out this week via Diamond and Amazon, and sometime whenever via Midtown, Seven Seas has a new Alice series debuting. Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game is a much darker take on a series that can get pretty dark already, and pays more attention to the mystery of Alice’s older sister.

ANNA: I didn’t enjoy Cheshire Cat Waltz very much, but I still have a certain amount of affection for the franchise and would probably read this if some other reviewers think it worthwhile.

MICHELLE: I had no idea there was a Country of Joker incarnation! I think I have at least sampled all of the versions, but this one sounds more promising than most.

SEAN: There’s also the 2nd volume of Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends. Of Seven Seas’ three moe titles this fall, this is the only one I bothered to get a second volume of. It’s on probation, however, so we’ll see if it improves any.

SubLime has Vol. 3 of Awkward Silence, featuring that ever-popular BL cover of a smug guy forcing himself on an angry nervous guy. As seen in everything forever. (As also seen in a lot of shoujo and josei, with the uke replaced with a girl. The pose is equal opportunity.)

MJ: I’m really trying to give Awkward Silence the benefit of the doubt, mainly because of its author. But I’ll admit that volume one did not give me a lot of confidence that this series will transcend its cover art. Anyone want to offer me some hope here? I’ve got both volumes two and three sitting here staring at me.

MICHELLE: I found the first volume to be really generic, if not outright terrible, and was surprised that Takanaga’s been able to sustain the premise for multiple volumes. So, I guess I’ve no hope to offer you.

SEAN: Vertical has the debut of a new sci-fi manga from the creator of Biomega and Blame!. It’s called Knights of Sidonia, and the advance buzz on it has been excellent. It runs in Kodansha’s Afternoon, but is probably not very much like Oh My Goddess! at all.

ANNA: Is there a bear with a machine gun in this manga? That’s my main question. I will pick this up, because I want to support Vertical on principal but not all of their titles appeal to me. Anything from the person that created Biomega is something I am interested in for sure.

MJ: I am totally there. This looks really interesting to me.

MICHELLE: I really enjoyed Nihei’s grimly compelling BLAME!, so I was predisposed to be interested in this, but the phrase on the back cover that really clinched it for me was “the spaceship’s cool-headed female captain.” Sign me up!

SEAN: Viz time. It’s been half a year, so it’s time for a new volume of Shonen Sunday series Hayate the Combat Butler. I love this series and no one else on Manga Bookshelf touches it, so I’ll just say I’m happy to see it and move on. :)

ANNA: I read the first volume and liked it well enough, but it didn’t inspire the kind of loyalty I would need to feel to keep reading such a long series.

MJ: I’ve wanted to try this series for years, so you keep on supporting it, Sean! I’ll fall in line eventually!

MICHELLE: I have to admit, it’s the artwork on this that keeps me away. It looks fairly moe-tastic.

SEAN: And Inu Yasha continues to get its VizBIG re-release, with Vol. 14 covering volumes…. um… (does math) 40-42 of Takahashi’s most popular (in North America, calm down, UY fans) series!

MICHELLE: Yay, InuYasha! I actually still need to read the final ten volumes of this; I’ve sort of been hoarding them until I’m ready for it to actually be over after all this time.

SEAN: So what’s your Valentine manga?

Pick of the Week: Mid-series favorites

February 4, 2013 by MJ, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and Anna N 2 Comments

MJ: There’s a lot to choose from at Midtown Comics this week, yet even with so many lovely choices at hand, I’m going to risk sounding like a broken record and cast my vote once again for the latest volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan. I just can’t help it! This series has charmed me so completely and unexpectedly that it easily grabbed a spot at the top of my list of favorites in 2012. Volume seven comes out this week, and I can’t wait to read it!

MICHELLE: I picked Sailor Moon last week, so I’ll pick something else. Man, there is a lot of good stuff on that list, but like MJ, I am going to have to go with an old favorite.

Skip Beat! in its 30th volume still feels fresh to me, and it’s a series that I am already looking forward to rereading and it’s not even done yet. That doesn’t happen to me very often!

SEAN: Indeed, lots of stuff I could pick, but I keep coming back to Devil and Her Love Song. It’s a rare shoujo series where I want to see the villain redeemed as much as the heroine, but that’s where I’ve ended up with this one, where I find myself really hating what Anna is doing while desperately wanting someone to break through to her. And that’s not even getting into the giant mess that Maria’s life is. Combine that with a wicked sense of humor at times, and it’s almost enough to get past the fact that their horrible teacher is STILL THERE.

ANNA: I’ll go with Dawn of the Arcana, Vol 8, a rare shojo series that focuses more on interesting world building and political machinations than romance.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Off the Shelf: Three from JManga

February 2, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

MJ: Good morning, Michelle!

MICHELLE: Good morning! I’m fixin’ to eat some corn chex!

MJ: That sounds delicious! Any manga to share this week along with your corn chex?

MICHELLE: As a matter of fact, yes!

So, you might remember that in a BL Bookrack column from a year ago, I praised Yuiji Aniya’s Men of Tattoos. When JManga recently acquired another one-shot of hers, DROPS, I knew I had to read it. (I do note, however, that there’s no BL in this volume at all.)

Like Men of Tattoos, DROPS is a collection of interconnected short stories, this time about the members of the Matsuno family. The first, “A Taste of First Love” stars the youngest Matsuno, grumpy and chubby 15-year-old Shizuku, as he realizes that his first love has feelings for his pervy friend (and as he is utterly oblivious to the feelings another girl has for him). Subsequent chapters focus on Shizuku’s four older sisters and their romantic lives, while Shizuku himself grows older in the background. There’s a chapter about the twins, Kaede and Momiji, who are in search of a man they can share. One about Tsubaki, the rebellious second-oldest sister who has finally found a reason to stay at home. And one about Hisagi, the responsible eldest sister, who finally gets the chance to be selfish and irresponsible. By the time the final chapter rolls around, Shizuku is a 22-year-old hottie attending his friends’ wedding.

It’s probably Hisagi’s story I like best, as Aniya likens her life—slowly brewing, but becoming more delicious—to sake, but each is pretty entertaining in its own right. I like Aniya’s omniscient narration and some of the over-the-top comedy, and though there are quite a few sexual situations, they’re all light-hearted and character-driven. Also, I simply must share these panels from Tsubaki’s story, because they’re just so silly and awesome.

Ultimately, this was quite a fun read and one that probably didn’t have much chance of making it as a print edition. It’s very much a comedy, but one with thoughtful moments, too. I think I am officially a Yuiji Aniya fan.

MJ: I never read Men of Tattoos, and now I’m regretting that even more. This sounds like exactly my kind of short manga! I’m not a big fan of short manga in general, as you know, but interconnected stories are much more attractive to me, and I’m loving the sound of these. Also, those panels are delightful!

MICHELLE: These may be short stories, but as a whole they form something satisfying, so they don’t feel as skimpy as they otherwise might. I do think you’d like them! Join me on the Aniya bandwagon!

Anyhoo, I suspect you’ve got some manga you’d like to talk about, too!

MJ: I do, though my experience wasn’t nearly as satisfying!

Normally I’d save this for BL Bookrack, but I have a pretty full docket this month, so since we’re all about JManga this week, I thought I’d talk about it here. After discussing the cute cover a few weeks ago, I decided to check out Pochi and Tama, a recent BL one-shot from Libre Publishing, created by Fumiko Shusai and Yura Tamaki.

Tama and Pochi have been a couple for six years, and they’re finally taking the big step of moving in together. They’ve been calling each other by the names “Tama” and “Pochi” since the very first time they were introduced, thanks to their cat and dog-like natures, respectively. Domestic life has its challenges—mainly Tama’s concern that Pochi is always taking care of him (and their apartment) without receiving any help from him—but mostly they’re a sweet, happy couple whose biggest worry is whether one of their womanizing friends might try to hit on Pochi’s refined little sister, Kana.

And… really, that’s it. Though I’m generally a fan of the rare variety of BL manga that focuses on established relationships over first love, without any significant conflict or some other catalyst for real character development, there’s just a bit too little going on to make this a satisfying story. Tama and Pochi are adorable, Pochi’s sister is adorable, and even the womanizing friends (who, in true BL form, end up having a thing for each other in the end) are pretty close to adorable, but there’s not much more to say about any of them. The most interesting moments in the whole manga are the one or two brief appearances by Tama’s awesomely straightforward female friend Mariko, which gets the book off to a strong start. Unfortunately, things peter out shortly after her exit from the page. Also, on a perplexing note, though the authors make much of the characters’ cat and dog-like personalities—a not-uncommon theme in BL manga— here in Pochi and Tama, it seems to be all talk. Neither of them displays any significant characteristics of these animals that I’m familiar with, making the whole theme of the thing feel very much on the surface.

I realize it sounds here like I hated Pochi and Tama, and that’s really not true. It is a perfectly pleasant manga filled with perfectly pleasant people, and there are some genuinely cute moments. But I’ll admit, I hoped for more.

MICHELLE: Oh, that’s too bad. It definitely looked really cute, but maybe it’s too cute, not enough substance. Because the characters have been in a relationship for a while before the story begins—and because of the kitty references—I wonder if you were expecting something as great as My Darling Kitten Hair.

MJ: You know, I might have been. And probably that’s unfair to Pochi and Tama, given how much I love My Darling Kitten Hair, but I can’t deny that I was disappointed.

So, would you like to introduce our mutual read for this week?

MICHELLE: Sure!

One of the many good things about JManga is their commitment to releasing yuri series. This week, MJand I read the debut volume of one of the most recent—Akiko Morishima’s Hanjuku Joshi, which seems to translate into “soft-boiled girls/women.”

Yae Sakura and Chitose Hayami are first-years at an all-girls high school. Without any boys around, the atmosphere there is quite relaxed and the first time we meet Chitose, she’s casually topless in the classroom. In contrast to boyish, uninhibited Chitose, Yae doesn’t like herself. She’s frustrated with her girly hobbies and feminine appearance and this results in her not seeming to enjoy herself much at school. Seeing this, Chitose decides to take Yae under her wing and help her have a bit more fun.

Friendship pretty quickly turns into chest aches and warm feelings, and after a promiscuous upperclassman accuses Yae and Chitose of merely playing at love, things start to get more serious between them. From this point on, the girls’ progressing physical relationship—and, indeed, it’s mostly physical, as when conflicts arise they’re swiftly resolved so that the making out can resume—is intercut with scenes of the upperclassman getting it on with a prim teacher.

I didn’t dislike Hanjuku Joshi or anything, but it’s not exactly emotionally subtle or complex yuri.

MJ: You know, I think I had the same reaction as you did for about the first half of the manga, but I actually really appreciated the second half, which delved more deeply into both relationships—that between Yae and Chitose and that between the teacher and the upperclassman, whose relationship is made more complicated by the men in their lives and the upcoming wedding of the teacher’s first love (also a woman). The teacher’s story is particularly poignant, as she comes to terms with the fact that, unlike her first love, she’s simply never going to be happy with a boyfriend. Fortunately, her new lover feels the same way, and though their relationship was first based on only sex, there’s obviously much more potential there.

The older characters (especially the teacher) are also openly envious of the two freshman, whose lives have not been complicated yet by the expectation that they’ll pair off with boys, and I felt like the juxtaposition of these two primary relationships is what made this particular yuri series feel to me like it’s written for women rather than solely as fanservice for men. Sure, there are a lot of sexy scenes in Hanjuki Joshi, but there’s also some real exploration of the characters’ actual sexuality and what it means for them in their lives.

On a personal note, I also really appreciated Yae as a character for her discomfort with her feminine traits—both physical and personality-wise. It’s something I struggled with myself a lot at her age, and it’s not something I’ve seen addressed often in fiction. You see “tomboy” characters all the time, but rarely girls who are something less neatly defined. Probably that alone was largely responsible for my enjoyment of this manga.

MICHELLE: You know, for all of its steamy scenes, I also never got the feeling that they were written purely for a male audience. And I too identified a lot with Yae and her body issues.

So even while it seems you liked this more than I did, I still liked it enough that I plan to read the second volume when it comes around.

MJ: Count me in for that as well!

JManga the Week of 2/7

February 1, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: 3 new volumes next week, two of which are my own pets so… First of all, Vol. 4 of The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer (yes, yes, Hoshi no Samidare), which, like Viz’s recent license One-Punch Man, seems to me to be an attempt to do Western-style superhero drama. Its combination of friendship and nihilism is quite addicting.

MJ: You make that sound oddly alluring.

MICHELLE: Indeed.

SEAN: I’ve reviewed both volumes of Wonder! to date, and will no doubt be reviewing this one as well, as it has one of the absolute best qualities of any manga series: the ability to make me talk and talk at length about it. I do wonder if it will pick up the slight bombshell dropped at the end of Vol. 2, but suspect that may be another “Oh, Japan…” moment.

MJ: Well, now I feel like I should read it, too! I do like to talk.

MICHELLE: We could make it one of our tandem reads for a future Off the Shelf.

SEAN: Lastly, those first two series come out once in a blue moon, whereas we’ve already had 3 volumes of Crime and Punishment: A Falsified Romance in two months. This one’s on the fast track, and I suspect is a publisher favorite. Not sure if that’s JManga or Futabasha, though.

MJ: There are several series I’d like to see come out a bit faster at JManga—generally long shoujo or BL epics that inspire in me the urge to marathon. I suppose that isn’t the smartest way to put things out, but I wish they’d hit the fast track as well.

MICHELLE: I’m really grateful about the ones I follow that are on that track, but yeah, I am waiting on updates for some as well.

SEAN: Short but sweet. What are you downloading (or is it clouding)?

Manga the Week of 2/6

January 31, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, MJ and Anna N 6 Comments

SEAN: I knew there would be a pile this week, and indeed there is a pile. I already talked about the Kodansha stuff last week, as I anticipated this, so to sum up: Fairy Tail 23, the third and final Genshiken omnibus, the last Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations, the penultimate Negima, and a new and fantastic Sailor Moon.

Meanwhile, that still leaves a lot. Dark Horse has Vol. 26 of Gantz, which no doubt is filled with latex, boobs, and blood-soaked gore. I like one of the author’s other works a whole lot, but this series just never grabbed me.

MICHELLE: I was kept away from this one by reviews, and will probably be staying away.

MJ: Same here. It’s sad, too, because I generally like to support Dark Horse manga. I wish I thought I could like it.

SEAN: Udon has a title that is not via Capcom (to my knowledge), but still seems to be video-game based: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends Vol. 2. It’s like Son Goku, only with an e! And… probably not a lot like the shoujo manga Basara at all.

MICHELLE: Probably not.

MJ: Heh.

SEAN: Vertical has Vol. 7 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, which is now in its last third. The twins arc may be wrapped up here, but that doesn’t mean things are back to normal. In fact, we may be getting even more serious than before.

MICHELLE: I am several volumes behind on this now. Bad me.

MJ: My eyes are filled with little hearts as I read this. Oh, GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, how I love thee! Thankfully, my crush on Eikichi Onizuka is slightly less embarrassing than the one I had on Morimoto Rockstar.

SEAN: And the rest is GIANT PILE O’ VIZ. First off, Vol. 8 of Ai Ore!. The series apparently doesn’t end here, but as Mayu Shinjo is busy with many other projects, it’s on hold right now, so this will be the last for a while.

MICHELLE: Oh, really? Crap. I was hoping I could be finished with it once and for all.

MJ: Some nightmares never end.

ANNA: I feel like the lone apologist for Ai Ore!, but really the later volumes of the series that I’ve read have been pretty funny. And Demon Love Spell is a hoot. I seriously wish more Mayu Shinjo titles were translated over here. Oh! Maybe Viz will put Sensual Phrase on the iPad, that would be awesome.

SEAN: I generally like Ai Ore more the more that it comically abuses its hero. As for Sensual Phrase, I suspect it’d get M-rated off the tablet devices, unfortunately.

Bleach has an omnibus of Vols. 10-12, which if I recall are right in the middle of the Soul Society arc, so should be a lot of fun.

MJ: Oh, I really miss those days!

SEAN: Bleach also has Vol. 55 of its current run, which is the start of this current arc, I think. Kubo said a while back this would be the last arc, but that doesn’t mean he’s not taking his own sweet time about it as always.

Dawn of the Arcana hits Vol. 8, meaning I’m farther and farther behind. Ah well. At least digital manga doesn’t go out of print. (Yet – I don’t want that thrilling new trend anytime soon.)

MICHELLE: I’m planning to get caught up on Dawn of the Arcana this week, as a matter of fact.

MJ: I’ve suddenly gotten hooked on this series, so I’m quite happy about this!

ANNA: I like the way Dawn of the Arcana seems to be a bit more concerned with world building and geopolitics than romance, it makes it a little different from the average shoujo title.

SEAN: Devil and Her Love Song 7 its right in the exact middle of the series, and so things are clearly only going to get worse for our heroine. I do hope Anna sticks around, though, as I know there’s a good friendship with Maria buried somewhere deep deep DEEP down in there.

MJ: This is also a shoujo series I can’t seem to get enough of, though of course it’s very different.

ANNA: Always good to see another volume of this quirky series!

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss hits a dozen volumes, twice that of Karakuri Odette! This one’s still going strong, though, and apparently features cutie Himemiko, who finds dating is even harder when you’re a yokai.

MICHELLE: Here are a couple more shoujo series that I like but am behind on.

ANNA: Yay! Kamisama Kiss is one of my never-fail feel good shojo reads.

SEAN: Naruto also has a 3-in-1 with Vols. 10-12, which I’m sure I will catch up with ANY DAY NOW.

And as for Naruto 60, well, Sasuke’s back. That pretty much sums it up. Talk amongst yourselves.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan left a lot of things hanging last time, and this volume… at least gets a little closer to them. Don’t expect the arc to end here, though. Shiibashi is no Kubo, but he’s still slow.

One Piece is one omnibus ahead of its fellows, as we get Vol. 13-15, which is starting the Baroque Works arc. These volumes have Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week, two of my favorites from that group of villains. As well as Vivi, of course.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Platinum has hit 7 volumes, and I still know nothing about it.

And Skip Beat! has hit Vol. 30! Does this make it the longest running shoujo series from Viz? Red River was only 28… In any case, the danger of method acting rears its ugly head again.

MICHELLE: Nope. Boys Over Flowers was 37 (including Jewelry Box).

MJ: I can’t believe I read the whole thing…

ANNA: I do not regret reading 37 volumes of Boys Over Flowers and I will not regret reading 30+ volumes of Skip Beat!

SEAN: Do you realize there are only 6 more volumes of Slam Dunk to go? How has this snuck up on us all?

MICHELLE: I am all too aware of it! I like to save the series up and read it in chunks, so when I finished volume 26 for last week’s briefs I realized that the next chunk would also likely be the last chunk! I’m already going through withdrawal.

SEAN: Stepping on Roses has come to a close with Vol. 9. One day I will get an awesome shoujo manga series about a girl who is forced to chose between two men and shogi, and chooses shogi. This is not that day.

MICHELLE: Oh, I forgot about this one! It’s pretty dumb, but I might as well finish it.

MJ: I gave this series up ages ago, and I don’t regret a thing! I am sad to hear, however, that it never turned into a shogi manga.

ANNA: I am sad that Stepping on Roses wasn’t as good as Tail of the Moon, because I love that series so much.

SEAN: Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee adds Volume 12 to its arsenal, and I add another shonen series I never really kept up with to my long, long list.

MICHELLE: I have a bunch of volumes I intend to read one of these days.

SEAN: Tenjo Tenge hits is final omnibus with Vol. 11, meaning it’s finally completely out uncensored. Though I suspect most of the guys who complained about CMX are merely clutching their scanlations to their bosoms and muttering “But the font wasn’t the right type! BOYCOTT!”

MJ: This seems certain.

SEAN: Lastly, Vol. 14 of Toriko introduces a new pretty boy into the cast – one who’s really good with knives! There’s something a bit strange about this pretty boy, though…

MICHELLE: …. aaaaand the same thing I said about Tegami Bachi applies to Toriko as well.

SEAN: Isn’t that a lot of manga? What’s in your pile?

Bookshelf Briefs 1/30/13

January 30, 2013 by MJ, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

This week, MJ, Sean, and Michelle look at recent releases from VIZ Media, Yen Press, and Vertical, Inc.

Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 6 | By Rei Toma | VIZ Media – I’m sadly behind on this series, but fortunately it’s turned out to be something that’s worth savoring. After a couple of relatively slow sections (perked up mainly by the introduction of more Ajin who are, frankly, damn cute), volume six begins with some real payoff, as Princess Nakaba finally learns why her ability to see the future is something likely to cause her tremendous grief and regret. This kind of internal struggle (by which I mean one that is finally more complex than just choosing between love interests) with its rather terrifyingly high stakes and potential for personal turmoil is exactly what Nakaba needed in order to become the best kind of shoujo heroine, and I’ll be forever grateful for it. What was once a casual read now moves to must-have status. Recommended. – MJ

Limit, Vol. 3 | By Keiko Suenobu | Vertical, Inc. – Despite being incredibly angsty and no doubt corpse-filled eventually, this series continues to keep my interest simply by being really well-written. I admit I’m not wild over the new guy showing up, mostly as he hasn’t really been developed beyond ‘he’s a nice cute guy in class everyone likes’. But I’m sure later volumes will show his inner turmoil too. Speaking of which, Morishige’s backstory is incredibly horrible, and definitely explains much of her behavior. The goal here seems to be about surviving while not losing whatever humanity you have, as well as re-evaluating what true friendships are (something I wouldn’t wish on teenagers). As for the cliffhanger ending, I was hideously unsurprised, but I wasn’t really meant to be, and it looks like after a volume with some hope, things are going to go bad fast in Vol. 4. Definitely recommended.-Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 30 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – I hope no one’s tired of me talking about new volumes of Skip Beat! as they come out, ‘cos here’s another one. And, actually, it’s quite a bit different than most. Kyoko and Ren are still acting as the Heel siblings, but when Ren ends up breaking character in a rehearsed fight against a co-star who used to be a thug himself, Kyoko starts really worrying. What’s worse is that Ren didn’t realize that he’d done it at first, and subsequently spends a lot of time worrying if Kuon is just going to take over (as if he’s a completely different personality). The tense and freaky atmosphere of “something’s really wrong with Ren” is riveting and how Kyoko handles the situation has got me positively antsy to have the next volume ASAP. I didn’t think I’d be surprised by the thirtieth volume of a series, but with Skip Beat! I guess I should’ve known better. – Michelle Smith

Slam Dunk, Vol. 26 | By Takehiko Inoue | VIZ Media – The Shohoku baseketball team has advanced to the second round of the national championships, where their opponent is last year’s victors. Although the opposing team is largely forgettable—seriously, I could not remember any of their names despite reading them over and over—the volume’s still a really satisfying one, since Coach Anzai’s strategy involves letting different players on the team have the spotlight for a time. It starts with Mitsui, who deserves some glory after toiling in the background for a while, but then Anzai makes the radical decision to let Sakuragi take the lead and Sakuragi doesn’t screw it up. No, he hasn’t suddenly gotten mature or anything, but he’s been working so hard that he surprises everyone with his skills. I’m just a sucker for these sorts of sports manga “progress moments,” I guess, and having Sakuragi as someone the team can truly depend on makes me feel kind of sniffly. – Michelle Smith

Soul Eater, Vol. 12 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Yen Press – There’s not as much weird art and architecture in this volume, which ends up being good as it makes me focus on the plot and characters a bit more. And remember a few more names! (Hi, Kilik!) And it’s a good plot,k too, as our heroes finally start to storm Arachne’s fortress… with their new adviser, Medusa. Which is as screwed-up as it sounds, and no one remotely trusts her a bit. They even remind us that she’s still possessing the body of a 5-year-old with her mind-snake things. Grlk. I also appreciate that no matter how dark and creepy tings get, there’s always an amusing gag just a few pages along – even from the villains. Especially from the villains. Yen seems to be releasing this series a bit faster now, which is good, as I really am starting to get addicted to it.-Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Guardians, Schoolgirls, & Brides

January 28, 2013 by MJ, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and Anna N Leave a Comment

MJ: Midtown’s list this week includes a mix of genuinely new releases and a few Yen Press titles that most stores received a while ago, and I’m going to use that as an excuse to once again take up the call for Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story, volume four of which is hitting Midtown’s shelves this week. This is a particularly fun volume, featuring two new characters who contribute considerable pep to this generally quiet series, without compromising any of its wistful charm. As a result, this is probably the series’ warmest volume so far—which is always a draw for me. And of course, it’s beautiful to look at as always.

MICHELLE: Because I am a terrible person and haven’t even started A Bride’s Story, I’m going to go off-list and note that Amazon lists volume nine of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon as coming out this week. And can I ever resist the chance to pick Sailor Moon? No, I cannot.

SEAN: Yeah, given that this and Vol. 10 are my favorite parts of the Sailor Moon manga entirely, there’s no way I’m not picking it. It has chapter focuses for each of the Inners, and tops it off with a chapter devoted to the Outers that is flawless and perfect (it was so perfect the anime had to put it in the Stars anime sort of retroactively as it was simply impossible to not adapt). And it has the Amazoness Quartet, some of my favorite mini-villains. It is simply fabulous, you will all buy it.

ANNA: I’ll just go with Limit #3. Since volume two ended on a bit of a cliffhanger I am particularly anxious to see what is going to happen next to the schoolgirl bush crash victims.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

The CMX Project: Land of the Blindfolded

January 27, 2013 by Michelle Smith and Karen Peck

MICHELLE: Welcome to the first installment of a new feature called The CMX Project. Back in October, Karen Peck and I talked about the CMX series Canon for that month’s Manga Moveable Feast, and had such fun that we decided to start a recurring feature focusing on some of the other series they released during their all-too-brief time with us. For the most part these will be shoujo works, but not exclusively so.

Hi, Karen! Do you want to introduce our featured title for this month, or shall I?

KAREN: I’ll go!

Land of the Blindfolded, or Mekakushi no Kuni, is a nine-volume shoujo manga series by Sakura Tsukuba. It was one of CMX’s debut titles back in 2004, along with some classic titles like Swan and From Eroica with Love. Land of the Blindfolded originally ran in Hakusensha’s LaLa and LaLa DX magazines, and CMX would later go on to pick up another one of her series, Penguin Revolution. Besides these two works, her other series is the Christmas-themed Yoroshiku Master. The rest seems to have been mostly one-shots in different Hakusensha magazines—too bad I missed the two she did in Melody!

Kanade Outsuka sees a world full of people wearing “blindfolds.” But every once in a while, for her, that blindfold “slips” and she gets to see what others can’t—in her case, she can see a person’s future. Having a big heart and a determined spirit (as any good Hakusensha heroine should), Kanade will try to intervene if the future she sees will cause someone harm—even if the person she helps thinks that she’s just being weird. Two boys come into her life—Arou, who can see the past and carries around the heavy burden of his own past—and Namiki, who can also see the future but has a very different attitude about it than Kanade does. A sweet romance develops between Kanade and Arou… and I wouldn’t say “hijiinks ensue;” this title is entirely too gentle for much of that.

Michelle, what were your impressions?

MICHELLE: Initially, I was torn. There were certain elements of the story that I liked—the fact that Kanade and Arou become a couple with minimum fuss, Kanade’s spunky best friend (Eri), the neat side abilities that Arou’s power gives him…—but the first few volumes are very episodic and feature chapters with plots like “a plucky abandoned puppy is rescued from his doom during a rainstorm by an angsty boy affected by the protagonist’s shoujo heroine powers.”

The stories begin to take a more interesting turn in volume five, when Arou first uses his power in a new, freaky way to track Kanade after she’s swept away at the beach. And then shortly thereafter, he’s reunited with a classmate from junior high who wants him to use his powers to benefit society by helping to solve murders.

The rest of the volumes are all pretty good, though I’m most fond of volumes six and seven. I note, though, that Kanade really gets the short shrift after a while. She truly is the least interesting character of the bunch, and there is much more time devoted to the traumatic pasts suffered by Arou and Namiki than anything involving Kanade (excepting her decision to come clean to Eri about her ability).

KAREN: It is very episodic, and for me that’s what lead to my assessment of this as being very “gentle”—when stories wrap up each chapter, nothing really seems that dire. Instead, we get a series of ordinary events—the school festival. A clash with student government. The class trip. Hot springs hijinks (okay, so there is a little hijink-ing). The summer festival. And so on.

However, the banality of these events is contrasted with the very unordinary main characters. Here we have a girl who can see the future, but like any other girl her age, she worries about the very ordinary things—will people like the real me? Will I fit in? Can I tell my best friend all of my secrets? It’s this relatability that I think really speaks to the reader. Everyone has insecurities, even these “special” kids.

The “plot” really does pick up later on. I was kinda hoping that Arou’s uncle would be more of a revolutionary character—he seems to have some rather dark intentions—but that fizzled out. I’m not sure if that was a red herring or Tsukuba sending off signals that she didn’t mean to.

I do agree with you, Michelle—Kanade seems to downright disappear in some of the stories, and I wish she had more of a presence. I also like that the coupling happens without a lot of drama—and while the back cover tries to play up the triangle, Kanade and Arou only have eyes for each other. Poor Namiki. At least he got a puppy.

MICHELLE: And possibly the world’s most adorable turtle!

I did find it interesting that although Land of the Blindfolded does include some stock shoujo scenarios—in addition to the ones you named there’s a trip to the amusement park, a trip to the beach, Christmas—they didn’t really annoy me as much as they do in series like, say, Ai Ore! Probably the likeable characters are responsible for that.

And yes, it’s largely the disclosure of the leads’ insecurities that make later volumes more compelling. Learning about Arou’s painful past wherein he was feared and shunned for his abilities makes the present where he is warmly liked and trusted by his classmates that much more significant. Now we can see how much it really means to him. And, too, we learn how scarred Namiki was by his mother’s timidity, and how this contributed to his rather jaded attitude when we first meet him. My absolute favorite scene in the whole series occurs between Namiki and Kanade’s mother, in which she tells him he’s a good boy and he starts to cry. I’m getting a little sniffly just thinking about it, actually.

Yeah, the Sou thing did rather fizzle out, but it all played in to the warm and fuzzy “you are not alone” ending, so maybe that was all Tsukuba intended.

KAREN: That turtle was cute. And the pet-sitter bonus chapter was very cute.

I think it’s because Arou and Namiki had those much heavier pasts that Kanade gets lost. Well, she did see a vision of her grandfather’s death, but she’s from such a kind and accepting family that it becomes something to be overcome rather than something creepy that results in her ostracism. I agree with you, Michelle, about how affecting that one scene with Namiki and Kanade’s mother is—it’s really a moment when this story works. It’s a message that would work for any child that was rejected—that you are good. However, if every chapter/story in Land of the Blindfold was this emotionally wrenching, we wouldn’t be able to get through this review!

Of the secondary characters, I also liked Kaicho-san, the student council president. Her attraction to Arou was handled well, and I’m glad that it didn’t devolve into a Marmalade Boy-style Love Dodecahedron. I did like that it was hinting that Kaicho and Namiki might perhaps hook up, but it that was played well, and I think realistically. They would be good together, but for now they still have their hearts somewhere else. By not rushing them together, Tsukuba didn’t compromise their characters and what they had been about.

The other beta couple, Eri and Ezawa, were presented as the Doomed Couple, but turned into something else, and so much of it was done in the background, as their story would pop in and out, showing their evolution as a couple.

I did want to say one thing about CMX’s presentation—I remember comments at the time about the tightness of the bindings, and wow, the first three volumes were very hard to read. I’m glad that they worked that out for later volumes so I didn’t have to worry about ruining the book when I opened it. The art… works, if that’s a way of putting it. Sakura Tsukuba isn’t one of the great shoujo artists, but her work is expressive and the humorous moments were very cute.

MICHELLE: I liked Kaicho a lot, too (though we eventually learn her last name, we never learn her first one), and was totally bracing for an eventual pairing off with Namiki. I think she could’ve been the heroine of her own manga series, actually.

We don’t learn too much about the inner workings of Eri and Ezawa’s relationship, but I definitely like that he became more interested in her once she showed she wasn’t going to fawn over him mindlessly like everyone else. She basically learns quickly that attempting to change yourself for someone never works, and then they turn out to be a stable couple from then on. Also, Tsukuba makes a few suggestions that they’re doing more than kissing while still keeping the content within an “E for Everyone” rating.

And yes, those fiendish bindings! I actually have the first five in that style and was desperately sick of them and so relieved when volume six came around. I hadn’t realized it, but I guess I hadn’t read any of the really early CMX volumes before this, so I didn’t know how terrible they were.

I don’t seem to have too much to say about Tsukuba’s art, actually. There were a few sequences that I quite liked, but that was more about what was happening in the scene than her skills. She does mention repeatedly how much she loves drawing animals, and adorable critters did seem to be her strong suit.

KAREN: I caught that too with Eri and Ezawa. And how it totally flew over Kanade’s head.

Like most CMX series, Land of the Blindfolded is long out-of-print but easily and inexpensively obtainable on the secondary market. The infamous tight bindings vary—Michelle’s go up to volume five, mine only up to three, but they’re still readable. It’s a good title for the younger YA reader, because there’s nothing objectionable and it is such a sweet story—no questionable misogyny, for example. This is the sort of title that CMX did so well—and something that’s very much missed in the current market. (I’m sure there’s many YA librarians who agree!) Thankfully, though, they did manage to get so many titles out during their time—I’m looking forward to the next title we’re going to cover!

MICHELLE: Which is… drumroll please… Cipher, by Minako Narita! I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, so I’m really excited about next month’s column.

Thanks for joining us this month, and we hope you’ll be back next time!

JManga the Week of 1/31

January 25, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

SEAN: No new series on the last day of January, but we do get a new volume of a series I adore, even if I am seeing it for a 2nd time.

Joshi Kosei, aka High School Girls, hits Vol. 5. Given that I’m reading more and more manga digitally these days, I am very pleased to see this series come out in that format. It’s big doofy fun, always prepared to sacrifice what little dignity the characters have for comedy, and reveling in female friendships.

MJ: I really should check this out, shouldn’t I?

SEAN: Yes. :)

Elemental Gelade hits Vol. 3 on JManga, which reminds me that Elemental Gelade has also hit Vol. 12 on Comixology. I guess they’re digitalizing the Tokyopop license? Different translations, I assume, but it’s quite weird to see the first digital vs. digital competition.

MJ: The Digital Manga Guild also has this, and I’m not sure if they’re all the same or not!

SEAN: Madame Joker, another in a long line of ‘Manga JManga is putting out that I should read as I’d love it but don’t have the freaking time as they’re putting out piles’, has hit Vol. 4. Madame Joker, AIALLO’MJMIPOTISRAILIBIDHTFTATPOP’ for short.

MICHELLE: I have benevolent feelings towards Madame Joker but I too haven’t found the time to read it. I feel bad having such a lackluster response to next week’s offerings, when I found so much this week to be grateful for, but that’s how it is, I’m afraid.

SEAN: And we also have Vol. 4 of Recorder and Ransell, which I’m sure is adorable and cute and moe, but I simply can’t get past the fact that its premise creeps me out.

So what’ll you have? (Pabst Blue Ribbon: The Manga.)