Michelle Smith

This week, Sean, Kate, & Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Dark Horse, and JManga.

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 7 | By Kazue Kato | VIZ Media – With this volume, we catch up with Japan, so it will be a while before we get 8. Which is a shame, as there’s once again lots to love here.Blue Exorcist being in Jump Square means it gets 35-40 pages per chapter rather than 20, which I think really helps its pacing. The bad guy is definitely on the rise now, as the true moles have been ferreted out (though the sympathetic one is already regretting her actions). Meanwhile, it seems only Rin can save them – but Rin doesn’t trust his self-control, so is useless. Luckily, Shiemi, in her best scene to date, helps him realize that he’s more than just ‘Satan’s kid with fire that kills’. There’s nothing really original here (this is Jump, let me remind you), but the pieces combine very well, and the action and infodumps do as well (though a few too many flashbacks). This is a solid series that rewards the reader. Now to wait for Vol. 8. –Sean Gaffney

Bono Bono, Vol. 1 | By Mikio Igarashi | JManga – I’m on record as being an animal sap, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that I snapped up volume one of Bono Bono, an award-winning manga about a sea otter and his woodland pals. (No, that’s not a typo. More on the squirrels in a minute.) Much as I like the *idea* of a cute animal comic, however, I didn’t like the comic itself; I felt as if the jokes and philosophical musings were tepid at best. The characters, too, were a disappointment. I don’t mind an artist taking creative liberties with his talking animals, but the juxtaposition of forest- and ocean-dwellers is never rationalized; you’d be forgiven for thinking that Mikio Igarashi settled on bears and chipmunks because he couldn’t muster a decent sea lion. About the best I can say for Bono Bono is that Igarashi’s primitive-cute style has genuine charm; he draws his characters as outlines, rather than fully realized, three-dimensional objects, imbuing the stories with a child-like quality. -Katherine Dacey

Cage of Eden, Vol. 5 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Perhaps I’ve just gotten used to it, but it felt like there was less blatant fanservice this volume. Of course, it could be that there was simply no time for that sort of thing – half the volume is spent trying to escape a cave filled with murderous teens, and the other half showing that pretending that everything’s the same as always isn’t going to work. More to the point, however, the three focus characters here are all male. Seeing Akira’s bond with Kohei makes the reality that much more tragic (and I appreciated that they noted Kohei could not be forgiven for the murders he’d committed, just understood), and Yarai shows off his utter badass nature while finally being impressed with what Akira can do. His suggestion is a good one – they need a home base, a “country” – and I wonder if it will be taken up in the future. Still good adventure manga writing, if overly focused on the busty female form. –Sean Gaffney

Oh My Goddess!, Vol. 41 | By Kosuke Fujishima | Dark Horse Comics – This volume is back up to a normal page count, but still feels like it’s over too quickly. Of course, that’s because we’re in the middle of a Journey to the Center of Hell – there’s no time for stopping to take in the sights. Keiichi continues to be the brains behind the three goddesses’ brawn, and while I could have done without Belldandy’s “apologize for now saying how awesome Keiichi is” near the end, he has shown himself to be more than just Bell’s morality chain. I also very much liked Thrym, who is a huge powerful bodybuilder girl, and her strength is shown in loving detail. Fujishima’s love of powerful machines extends at times to powerful goddesses/demons, and you can see he had fun drawing Thrym – who, like most of the ‘evil’ cast, is not *really* evil. Recommended for Oh My Goddess readers only, of course. –Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 27 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – What a gold mine Yoshiki Nakamura hit when she created the character of Lory Takarada, the eccentric (and that’s putting it mildly) president of the talent agency to which Kyoko and Ren belong. With his quirks well established, it’s perfectly in character for him to dream up kooky schemes to pair up the two leads, and with his position of authority, they can’t exactly refuse. His latest idea is for them to masquerade as a pair of punk rock siblings (in preparation for Ren’s latest role), which involves them living together in a hotel room so that Kyoko can make sure Ren remembers to eat. Ren, predictably, soon starts coming undone with all this close proximity, and in some unexpected ways that offer hints about his past. Kyoko is oblivious as usual, but perhaps not quite as much as she lets on to Ren. It’s good stuff! – Michelle Smith

This week, MJ, Michelle, Kate, & Sean look at new releases from Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, and Seven Seas.

Bakuman, Vol. 10 | By Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata | VIZ Media – Tension is high as this volume begins, with Mashiro and Takagi’s career on the line—or at least their future with Weekly Shonen Jump. Developing their latest series for a win-or-die serialization meeting dominates the bulk of this volume, and the overwhelming intensity Ohba and Obata are able to bring to this process is a prime example of Bakuman at its best. Volume ten is irresistibly compelling, in exactly the way its protagonists are struggling to achieve with their own work, making it pretty much the perfect meta-manga. Even its personal relationships—usually the series’ weak point—hold up fairly well in this volume, especially those between the two protagonists and their rivaling editors, Miura and Hattori. I’ve had some shaky moments with this series, but even I couldn’t put this volume down. Rock on, Bakuman, rock on. – MJ

Itsuwaribito, Vol. 5 | By Yuuki Iinuma | VIZ Media – Oh, Itsuwaribito, you had such promise! Your hero travels in appealing company. He tangles with villains of every stripe, using verbal acrobatics to defeat them. And he has a compelling reason for using his unique verbal gifts. Unfortunately, Utsuho’s story has proved oddly unengaging; as the fifth volume of Itsuwaribito demonstrates, author Yuuki Iinuma has a tin ear and terrible sense of pacing. These tendencies come to the fore whenever he introduces a new character: Iinuma can’t resist giving every villain, hero, and traveling companion a Tragic Past that needs to be explained in excruciating detail. The result is a story that’s fitfully engaging, roaring to life only when Utsuho and his companions stumble into a new situation. – Katherine Dacey

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 13 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – As much as it has been truly wonderful to see Sawako and Kazehaya finally become a couple, I’ve lately become fascinated by Sawako’s friend, Ayane Yano, and wanted to know more about her. I seem to be getting my wish, as volume thirteen finds Ayane agreeing to date a boy she wasn’t even previously aware of, partly to have fun on the school trip to Okinawa and partly, perhaps, in hopes of making a connection that isn’t as easy for her to make as it is for others. Her reaction when Sawako assumes she must’ve liked the boy for a long time is priceless and highlights how different she is from her friends and many shoujo heroines. Ayane isn’t openly emotional and pure-hearted. Instead, she’s private and considers herself to be calculating, even though she acts in her friends’ best interests time and time again. You’ve got to love a series with such a complicated secondary character! – Michelle Smith

Negima! Magister Negi Magi Omnibus, Vol. 4 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – These three volumes of Negima – Vols. 10-12 – are when fandom really began to explode in North America, and it’s not hard to see why. The school festival is where everything starts to come together – the tournament shows off Akamatsu’s desire for shonen fighting, there’s still plenty of cute girls being nearly naked all the time for his old-school fans, and the plot kicks into overdrive with Asuna’s past, the appearance of “Ku:nel Sanders”, and most of all the revelation of Chao as this arc’s big villain. Plus it has the return of Chisame, who is my second favorite character, doing what she does best – boggling in disbelief that everyone is accepting this. A terrific read, provided as always you don’t mind Akamatsu getting his “fanservice” chapters in every once in a while. –Sean Gaffney

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, Vol. 9 | By Hiroyuki Asada | VIZ Media – I stand by initial assessment of Tegami Bachi: it’s one of the best-looking titles in the Shonen Jump line, even if the story isn’t on par with, say, One Piece. The latest volume introduces a conspiracy theory that adds a badly needed element of complexity to the central narrative. As Lag is dismayed to learn, his old hero Gauche Suede has become an outlaw and adopted a new name. Lag rescues Gauche, only to discover that the government is intent on removing Gauche from Letter Bee headquarters. The battle scenes that follow are beautifully staged, striking a fine balance between action and reflection; only Niche’s aversion to underpants spoils the mood. After several ho-hum volumes, volume nine reaffirms the promise of the very first chapters — a fancy way of saying that I’m officially hooked on Tegami Bachi again. -Katherine Dacey

Toradora!, Vol. 4 | By Yuyuko Takemiya and Zekkyo | Seven Seas – I have to hand it to the authors, they really know how to take Taiga’s frustratoin and ramp it up to eleven. Everything that she’s dealing with goes wrong here – her issues with her small, undeveloped body; her growing feelings for Ryuuji (“RYUUJI IS MINE!”) and jealousy of Ami wanting to ‘take him’; and of course her ability to be angry at everything, whether deserved or not. It’s a miracle that she’s sympathetic, but of course she is, and that’s what gives this manga its heart. There’s less Minori this time around (except for a priceless final gag regarding underwear choice), but I can deal with that. The only downside continues to be Ryuuji’s mother, who is meant to be a stereotypical ‘blonde bimbo’, but is so utterly stereotypical that she gets on your nerves – and not in the good way that Taiga does. –Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 9 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | VIZ Media – In terms of plot, this is an entire volume of shonen battle. Of course, this being Toriko, half of the ‘battle’ is against thee environment – it’s rather startling how many deaths we see here just form the cold conditions. Of course, that’s not to say there’s no fighting at all. Tommyrod and Bogie are possibly the creepiest villains we’ve seen yet, and the artist is determined to make you squirm, especially if body horror is not your thing. Of course, this is still a Jump title, so there’s plenty of humor as well – the new guy, whoever he may be, is a stitch when talking to himself – and even a cute mascot of sorts as Komatsu bonds with a baby penguin. Still, overall this volume was very much ‘get closer to goal while stopping to fight people who want to stop us getting to goal’, like many well-done shonen manga. I wonder if we’ll reach the goal next time? –Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, Michelle, and Kate look at recent releases from JManga, Viz Media, Dark Horse, and Vertical, Inc.

Ekiben Hitoritabi, Vol. 2 | By Jun Hayase | JManga – If you read volume one of Ekiben Hitoritabi, then you know what to expect from volume two. In this volume, middle-aged bento shop proprietor Daisuke Nakahara continues to travel around Japan by rail, acquiring two new companions who are initially reserved but eventually succumb to his relentless enthusiasm for railway facts and train station bentos. It’s fairly formulaic, but the panoramic vistas and detailed food drawings are still enjoyable, and dialogue like, “This whole shrimp is pretty lavish! It’s large and filling” inspires indulgent amusement rather than mean-spirited snickering. I even got a little verklempt during the chapters where Daisuke takes a boy on the train journey promised by his now-deceased father. It may not be the most exciting manga ever published, but it’s certainly got its own unique, leisurely charm. Thank you, JManga! – Michelle Smith

GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, Vol. 2 | By Toru Fujisawa | Vertical, Inc. – After unexpectedly enjoying the first volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, I was really looking forward to the second. Happily, it did not disappoint. In fact, I liked it even better than the first as, aside from a gag wherein our protagonist’s nether-regions are the target of a swarm of ants, it’s more serious, focusing on Onizuka’s attempts to not only rescue Miki Katsuragi, the rebellious teen who’s caused him so much trouble, from a kidnapper but to get her police chief dad to realize that she’s been acting out in a desperate bid for his attention. Because we are privy to Onizuka’s more bumbling moments, his clear-eyed, rule-defying pursuit seems even more impressive and heroic by comparison. Okay, maybe there’s a little blatant heartstring-pulling here, with the whole “all of us worked as one” search party, but you know what? I don’t care. It’s effective. Bring on volume three! – Michelle Smith

GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, Vol. 2 | By Toru Fujisawa | Vertical, Inc. – For all that GTO can be moralistic in its “life isn’t as bad as you think it is” ways, there’s no denying that it shows life can be pretty damn bad. These kids aren’t just cynical teenagers with no worries – they deal with abuse, gang culture, and as we see here, kidnappers drugging them into online prostitution. That said, the basic theme of “children act up as the adults have abandoned them” reappears here, and we see how “The Girl Who Cried Wolf” isn’t as much fun when taken seriously. Luckily we have Onizuka, who can be a complete idiot much of the time but has the strength to back it up, both physically and mentally. Gang culture is so omnipresent in Onizuka’s world as it’s the closest thing to family for most of these kids, and seeing that family rally to save one of their own is heartwarming. Plus, car chases! –Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 8 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – The beauty of Karakuri Odette was twofold: it was a medium length series of six volumes, and its romantic focus was small. These end up being a weakness, unfortunately in her new series. Much of the recent volumes of Kamisama Kiss have been taken up with wondering how long we can drag out the on-again, off-again romance/servant relationship between Nanami and Tomoe. It can be frustrating. On the up side, we do see Nanami’s cleverness here in escaping the World of the Dead, and she has improved greatly as a God. The big emotional drama in this volume, though, is saved for the end, where Nanami meets Mikage once more, who shows us why Tomoe has gaps in his memory – and why he wants Nanami to fill them. If you accept this is taking forever, it’s a good fantasy romance series.-Sean Gaffney

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Vol. 12 | Story by Eiji Otsuka, Art by Housui Yamazaki | Dark Horse – In the latest volume of KCDS, the Embalming Gang — as I like to call them — enter Second Life in search of a corpse, match wits with a girl who can leave her own body, and help a dollmaker say good-bye to the sister he lost during the 1945 Tokyo Fire Raids. The first story is the weakest of the three. Though Eiji Otsuka makes a game effort to explain how the gang’s powers work in virtual reality, the material never gels; the story feels like an grab bag of plot points from The Matrix, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and a furry snuff film. The other two, however, are more successful, offering just the right mixture of morbid jokes, spooky surprises, and poignant moments between the living and the dead. As always, Carl Horn’s exhaustive editorial notes are a boon to the curious reader, explaining cultural references, in-jokes, and sound effects in detail. –Katherine Dacey

The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol. 6 | By Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino | Viz Media – As you would expect, just because Shurei has passed the exam to become a civil servant (which she does, in a quickly elided few pages) doesn’t mean that she gets accepted by one and all. Resented for being female, she is quickly assigned to the worst tasks in the ministry go to her (we’re talking cleaning the toilets here), and those who were bullied in school may find this volume disquieting. Like most Japanese manga dealing with bullying, it rides a fine line between “she must get stronger on her own” and “why aren’t we stopping this?”. On the bright side, I like the relationship between her and the Emperor more and more, and his sneaking off to ‘be her bodyguard’ is very clever – especially since it’s becoming harder and harder to see her otherwise. With this series, the long, drawn-out romance is justified by history and events.-Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, MJ, and Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media, Yen Press, Kodansha Comics, and SuBLime Manga.

Bamboo Blade, Vol. 12 | By Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi | Yen Press – There’s a lot of silly fun in this volume, and most of it requires you to be familiar with the sentai genre. North American fans would best think of Power Rangers. Given that, there’s some hysterical mocking of it here, as well as some great poses. Most of the volume, though, serves two purposes: giving Usra a reason to return to kendo (which is not the “oh, wait, I love kendo all along” reason everyone thought it would be), and giving Tamaki a genuine challenge. We’ve seen TV savant Erina set up to be good at anything she does, so the cliffhanger shouldn’t be surprising, but we were all expecting Tamaki vs. Ura, so it is anyway. Everything is set up for the big finale, but will it be the finale we were expecting? Recommended to fans of sports manga and fun comedy.-Sean Gaffney

Cage of Eden, Vol. 4 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – We have slightly less fanservice in this volume – which still means more fanservice than almost any other manga on the market, mind you – but that’s probably because things take a darker turn here, and the body count starts to pile up. There’s murder, attempted murder, rape, attempted rape, and more murder in these pages, which have more of a Lord of the Flies feeling than ever. Unlike Lord of the Flies, though, the adults on the island can be just as mercenary and villainous as the teenagers. In the end, though, it comes down to Akira – shonen hero extraordinaire, thinking on his feet and protecting the others – vs. Kohei, who panicked under pressure and is now sliding further and further into darkness in order to cover that up. It’s violent and servicey, but still a riveting thriller.-Sean Gaffney

Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 3 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – Visitors from a neighboring kingdom bring Princess Nakaba some new inter-palace strife, but they’re also responsible for the introduction of an enigmatic new character who so far provides more genuine intrigue than either of Nakaba’s current love interests. Furthermore, both Nakaba’s heritage and her supernatural ability are finally gaining some real dramatic traction, and even the story’s royal politics have begun to be interesting. Though the series’ romantic trajectory still remains pretty much standard, its plot and characterization have now taken the lead—never a problem for this reader. I described volume two as “tentatively recommended,” but I’m happy to report that this recommendation has now become more solid. – MJ

A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 2 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – Following up on a strong first volume, A Devil and Her Love Song catapults from “good” to “great” here, as “Devil” Maria struggles with both a desire to reach out to her evolving circle of friends and her inability to gauge the impact of her own words on the brave few willing to stand with her. It’s refreshing to read a modern shoujo manga in which everyone is truly, deeply flawed, and no amount of “doing their best” can fix it. Even better, mangaka Miyoshi Tomori manages to do this while deftly avoiding both the syrup and cynicism that alternately pervade stories about high school “mean girls.” Happily, too, Tomori’s supporting characters continue to be just as interesting as her lead, including passive classmate Tomoyo, whose emerging backbone offers the promise of some awesome female friendship—one of my very favorite elements in shoujo manga. Definitely recommended. – MJ

Devil’s Honey | By Isaku Natsume | Published by SuBLime – Tasked by his superiors with reigning in a gang of punks at the school where he teaches, Toshimitsu Sugaya is surprised to learn that their leader, Yoshino, has not only been unfairly judged, but is also willing to obey his instructions without any argument. Turns out that a few years before, Sugaya inspired a runaway Yoshino to return home and stay out of trouble, and Yoshino has regarded him as a hero ever since. This being BL, these feelings become love soon enough, and after some token resistance due to the teacher-student taboo, the two get together. Honestly, there’s not a whole lot here that’s out of the ordinary, but that doesn’t stop it from being a pleasant read. It also seems to be one of the tamer offerings from VIZ’s new SuBLime imprint, if that’s more your speed. – Michelle Smith

Fairy Tail, Vol. 18 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – I wasn’t as enamored with Fairy Tail 17 as I have been of the series in the past, and while 18 suffers from some of the same problems – Mashima’s battles just don’t excite me as much as they should – this is still a definite improvement, mostly due to the concentration on character relationships. Natsu and Lucy get some excellent scenes together (and some ship tease too, even lampshaded), the villains get a bit more development, and even Leo and Aries get to be cute yet angsty. Best of all, though, is Erza, dealing with Jellal back before her eyes and amnesiac to boot. Her angry exhortation that it is better to live with the pain and guilt than taking the easy way out via death. Which, of course, she knows from personal experience. Still not sure where this is going, but it’s picked up again. –Sean Gaffney

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, Vol. 5 | By Puyo and Nagaru Tanigawa | Yen Press – One of the best reasons for Haruhi fans to read these gag comics is that the character suffer great humiliation in ways that really only Mikuru seems to in the original. Seeing Haruhi so flummoxed by cats and crows, to the point of tears, is fantastic. Even better is the bodyswap episode, which gives us an opportunity to see Yuki acting like Haruhi. But best of all is the sheer lunacy of seeing Koizumi, off on an enforced vacation, being replaced by Arakawa-san and getting away with it. From the start, as he quickly turns the entire SOS Brigade into his disciples, to the ending parodying uber-serious 70s anime, it’s things like this that make me come back to this series over and over. Still better than the manga adaptation it’s parodying.-Sean Gaffney

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Vol. 4 | By Kenji Kuroda and Kazuo Maekawa | Kodansha Comics – Despite being comedic, the original Phoenix Wright games all revolved around murder, and could get quite dark and depressing at times. So here we have a story of a daughter accused of killing her father, and she’s shown to have endured a life of abuse – we see her father hitting her in the head with a kendo sword, and it’s shown that she wears a head bandage constantly. That being said, there’s some real mood dissonance here, also very common in the original series – the actual way that the father was murdered is so silly it almost undercuts the entire story. The second case, which we only get half of here, has fewer high points but also fewer moral ambiguities. Fun fluff for fans of the games, but not recommended otherwise.-Sean Gaffney

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 4 | By Naoko Takeuchi | Published by Kodansha Comics – You know, I think this might just be the best volume of Sailor Moon yet. Not only do we meet a new guardian in the form of Sailor Pluto, we also learn a little bit more about Sailor Jupiter’s daily life and watch as Sailor Venus gets frustrated trying to figure out the enemy and starts actively seeking answers. Various secrets and enemy motives are revealed, and though the majority are familiar to a long-time fan like me, there were some surprises, too, as I had completely forgotten that, in the manga, Tuxedo Mask has, like, actual powers! Even some awkward dialogue and a sigh-inducing “it’s” instead of “its” could not mar my enjoyment. At least they fixed “Sparkling Wide Pressure!” – Michelle Smith

Psyren, Vol. 3 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro| Viz Media – This series is probably never going to be in anyone’s list of top Jump properties, mostly due to it relying on hitting the basic shonen points. At the same time, those basic shonen points are the equivalent of eating beef stew – it’s not glamorous, but it fills you up. So we get a villain who is actually someone that Hiryu knew from before, now supposedly betraying them. We also get a volume filled with battle, as we’re back in the Psyren world for virtually the entire volume. People’s psychic powers are awakening, because that happens. And our hero and heroine get a chance to be badass and capable, which is always enjoyable. Honestly, there’s nothing here that will convince me this is great, but it’s not mediocre enough that I want to stop reading it. It’s good at what it does.-Sean Gaffney