Michelle Smith

Bookshelf Briefs 3/12/12

March 12, 2012 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, Katherine Dacey and MJ 1 Comment

This week, Michelle, Kate, MJ, & Sean take a look at new releases from VIZ Media and Vertical, Inc.

Arata: The Legend, Vol. 9 | By Yuu Watase | VIZ Media – By now, I should probably be immune to such shounen staples as “hero’s weapon gets larger to signify an increase in power,” but I still always find it cool, and when it happens in this volume of Arata, it’s no exception. The first half of the book is mostly fighting, with a little bit of heartstring-pulling thrown in that is still affecting, even though it felt like Watase was ticking things off a checklist in a very business-like manner. The relationship angst ramps up a little in the final chapters, as Arata learns that not only is he the successor to a powerful king, but also that he will create a new world with a “chosen woman” by his side. I really like the overall tone of this series, and though it offers few surprises or innovations, it still consistently entertains me. – Michelle Smith

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 6 | By Kazue Kato | VIZ Media – There’s a lot going on in this volume, despite it being mid-arc. The plot regarding the stolen eyes, and the revelation about a traitor in the cast. Shiemi’s inability to get past her knee-jerk reaction to Rin’s background, which is contrasted with a cute short story showing how well the two work together with Yukio, both in exterminating evil and in being his conscience. But mostly this volume is about Bon, and what it means to have a father that you can’t respect. Or rather, Bon *wants* to respect his father, but everyone else’s attitude, plus his father’s own ambiguous attitude, make it next to impossible. This is the meat of the story, and makes the conflict with Rin (who also has father issues) very powerful. This is an excellent manga, even if you aren’t a Jump fan. – Sean Gaffney

GTO: The Early Years, Vol. 11 | By Toru Fujisawa | Vertical, Inc. – The first volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan was a pleasant surprise, a raucous comedy about an earnest but slightly dim homeroom teacher who wants to make a difference in his students’ lives. Given how much I enjoyed my introduction to the world of Great Teacher Onizuka, I thought volume 11 of GTO: The Early Years would deliver more of the same. Alas, I found it a crude cousin to the later series, with rough, uneven artwork and jokes that repeatedly fell flat. Vertical, Inc. has done a better job of packaging this series than Tokyopop did back in the mid-2000s, with a snazzy cover and a snappy translation that conveys some of the sexual chemistry between the characters, but even Vertical’s first-rate presentation can’t transform this sow’s ear into a silk purse. -Katherine Dacey

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 8 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I want to like Kamisama Kiss: it’s got a memorable hook, an appealing cast of supporting characters, and enough yokai intrigue for two Shojo Beat series. As I’ve dutifully read each volume, however, I’ve come to the conclusion that Julietta Suzuki has no real plan for how her story will end. Nanami doesn’t seem wiser or stronger than she was in the very first chapters of the book, while her relationship with Tomoe, the crotchety shrine guardian, has fallen into an irritatingly predictable holding pattern that offers few rewards for the loyal reader. Volume eight does little to dispel the sense of futility; even a detour into the underworld seems more a demonstration of how inept Nanami remains than an inspired subplot. Strictly for fans of supernatural romance. -Katherine Dacey

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 13 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – While Kazehaya and Sawako remain the stars – and seeing her meet his family is probably the cutest part of this volume – this focuses more on the group, which I appreciate now that the main romance has moved from ‘will they or won’t they’ to ‘so what now?’. Chizu is dealing with a rather attentive Ryu, who’s becoming more obvious – possibly by design. Meanwhile, Ayane is not only dealing with Kento finding her interesting (something which she seems to be ignoring, possibly as she doesn’t understand him as easily as she does everyone else), but with her own ideas of what love and dating are, which are not as ‘pure and innocent’ as her two friends. She agrees to go out with a guy who confesses to her near the end of the book, but I honestly can’t see it ending well. Also, terrific cover art. – Sean Gaffney

No Longer Human, Vol. 3 | By Usamaru Furuya | Vertical, Inc. – Though it’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of Usamaru Furuya’s inspired adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s classic novel from the beginning, as the rather unrelentingly optimistic type that I am, even I find this a bit surprising. Hopelessness has been assured far before cracking open Furuya’s final volume, yet it’s impossible to resist the need to follow Yozo’s journey to the end. Though this heartbreaking volume is remarkable on both dramatic and artistic levels, what I found perhaps most compelling were Furuya’s own notes at the end, describing his personal connection with Dazai’s work and how he came to write the adapation. Complete in three volumes, this series is a must-read for any grown-up manga fan. Highly recommended. – MJ

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 7 | By Izumi Tsubaki| VIZ Media – Another highly variable volume – I love this series, but the author still has issues with focus and pacing. At its best, we get chapters like the first one, where we learn about Takaomi’s motives. It’s good to see his character gain some depth, and you really begin to see how driven and goal-oriented he is – and how that inspires Mafuyu. Meanwhile, the ‘summer vacation’ chapters get progressively worse, with Mafuyu’s festival with Sakurada being quite funny, but the ‘haunted house’ chapter being possibly the worst we’ve seen this series – so confusing I had trouble telling who was who from panel to panel. Ah well. Hopefully she’ll get that out of her system soon and we’ll be back to school, where Mafuyu fares much better – as does the mangaka. At least we get plenty of silly faces. – Sean Gaffney

Off the Shelf: A bit of a mess?

March 8, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 11 Comments

MICHELLE: Hey, MJ! What did 0 say to 8?

MJ: I don’t know, what did 0 say to 8?

MICHELLE: Nice belt!

MJ: Buh dum dum *chick*

MICHELLE: Now that the obligatory bad joke is out of the way… read any good manga this week?

MJ: Well, yes… though not exclusively. I started the week with The Earl & the Fairy, a new shoujo title from Viz, based on a light novel series by Mizue Tani, with story and art by the single-named Ayuko.

Our heroine, Lydia, is a “fairy doctor,” which we don’t know much about yet, except that they seem to be humans who can see and communicate with fairies. Thanks to modern (Victorian England) skepticism, fairy doctors are a dying breed, but Lydia learned the craft from her mother and is determined to carry on the tradition, skeptics be damned.

On her way to London to visit her father, Lydia is kidnapped by two questionable personages in rapid succession—first, a good-looking man who may be a killer and whose name may or may not be Gotham (Or “Huxley,” depending on who you ask), and then a good-looking young man who may be a killer and whose name may or may not be Edgar (or “John,” depending on who you ask). Everyone wants Lydia to find a valuable fairy jewel for them, though supposedly nobody believes in fairies in the first place. And also, there have been some murders. Probably.

If this sounds like a bit of a mess… well, it is. And though I’ve never been opposed to messy manga, so far, Lydia is too generic a heroine to draw me in on just her own strength. Still, the art is pretty and Lydia’s fairy companion (who looks like a cat) is both cute and grumpy—irresistible qualities in a supernatural pet. So I’ll likely forge on.

MICHELLE: Oh, that’s disappointing. I always hate it when stories seem to have nothing better to do than employ multiple kidnappings. I’m reading a YA series right now with that same problem. But still, a cute and grumpy kitty pretty much guarantees I’ll at least give it a look.

MJ: Yeah, the “kitty” really is a pretty great hook, and I suspect you’ll have difficulty resisting it as well.

So, what have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: Well, like you, I suppose I will start with a title I’ll probably continue with, even though I’m not particularly enthused by it.

This week, I read volumes one and two of Gate 7, the newest series from manga powerhouse team CLAMP. In a nutshell, meek, spazzy, and Kyoto-obsessed high school student Chikahito Takamoto travels to his favorite city, where he runs into an androgynous kid named Hana and Hana’s two intimidating attendants, who are doing… something in a shrine. Ridding it of evil spirits, perhaps? This is all fairly straightforward so far, but then we find out that they’re employed by a guy who is the reincarnation (maybe?) of an important figure from Japan’s history, that other reincarnations exist, that they all have a blood contract with an oni whose powers they borrow, and that Nobunaga Oda had the most powerful oni and everyone else in the present is trying to get it.

Again, like The Earl & the Fairy, if this sounds like a bit of a mess… that’s because it is. Many elements of the plot are vague. Plus, I feel like I’ve seen so much of it before. Young, androgynous-looking character possessed of great power? Check! Spazzy student who moves in with supernaturally gifted people and proceeds to cook for them? Check! There’s even another nursery school/kindergarten. And the things that make the series somewhat different—all the historical references—just zoom right over my head. More than once they’ll be talking to someone and then there’ll be a full-page close-up during which the person’s identity as a reincarnated historical personage is dramatically revealed. Maybe I’m a dumb American, but I just don’t know who Yukimura Sanada is and it doesn’t mean anything to me when he makes his appearance.

That said, the art is very pretty. I am especially intrigued by Iemitsu Tokugawa, a very lovely bad guy who visually reminds me a bit of Nokoru from CLAMP Campus Detectives. I hate the idea of abandoning a CLAMP series, but this one may have just one more volume to start making more sense.

MJ: I’ll admit I have a soft spot for exactly this kind of CLAMP, and you probably recall that Gate 7‘s first volume lured me in pretty well, but by the end of the second volume, I was certainly feeling skeptical. I’ll probably give it a few more volumes (I did say I had a soft spot), but I can’t blame you for feeing discouraged at this point.

MICHELLE: I will say that the notes do a great job of explaining who these people are and their significance both historically and in pop culture, but feeling baffled by dramatic twists is not really much fun.

Anyways, I hope your second read served you better!

MJ: It most certainly did, and I know you’ll be happy to hear it!

I also spent some time this week with the new Skip Beat! omnibus. It’s a series I’ve been interested in for a while, but the idea of trying to collect it from the beginning so many volumes in just seemed too daunting. Obviously, these new editions are a great opportunity for readers like me to start from scratch. And honestly, I think it was a far more compelling read for me in a three-volume chunk than it ever could have been otherwise.

As pretty much everyone already knows, Skip Beat! tells the story of Kyoko, a sweet, devoted teen who thinks nothing at all of following her childhood crush, Shotaro, to Tokyo (at his behest!), to work her butt off supporting him as he shoots for stardom as a pop singer. Kyoko gives up her own schooling to work multiple jobs in order to pay for Sho’s food and housing, enduring his moodiness and cold demeanor all the way. When she overhears Sho badmouthing her to his (apparently) real show-biz girlfriend, she’s understandably heartbroken. She’s also consumed by the desire for revenge—a motivation that fuels her every action from that point forward. In a bit of cracktastic shoujo plotting, Kyoko inexplicably decides that her only shot at revenge is to become a greater star than Sho is, thus beginning a tireless pursuit of show business success worthy of the likes of Stage Door or 42nd Street. Yes, “the calla lilies are in bloom again…”

I mentioned before that I think this was a better read for me three at a time, and I really think that’s true. Despite Kyoko’s awesomely fierce personality, I’m not sure I would have had the will to move beyond the first (or perhaps second) volume if I’d had to purchase them one at a time. And I think there are probably a couple of reasons for this. First, as a former actor, I deeply disagree with the author’s thoughts on what makes good acting (rather than a desire to be loved by an audience of strangers, I’d argue that it’s actually a willingness to let those strangers see the parts of you that they really might not love, which is much, much harder). Secondly, I really do hate seeing a heroine devote her entire existence to a man, and obviously that’s what Kyoko is doing, at least at this point in the manga.

Fortunately, three volumes was pretty much exactly the amount of time I needed to be completely drawn in by her, so in the end, I’m definitely hooked. I get the idea that she’s going to discover that she’s got real talent of her own, and that there’s more to life than chasing after a dream guy. Bring it on!

MICHELLE: I’m glad you liked it! I don’t want to tell you too much of what’s coming, but you’re absolutely correct: Kyoko will discover she’s got prodigious talent and will start to pursue acting for her own sake and not for revenge. And I, too, had issues with the whole “you have to want to be loved” thing, but I choose to think of it as just another peculiarity of Lory’s and not any big statement. In time, the story will focus more on Kyoko’s jobs with only an occasional return to the Love-Me Section plot line. In fact, Nakamura-sensei starts to use it as a springboard for more crackaliciousness, so it turns out to be handy.

MJ: So as to not make too much of my issues with the “love me” thing, I will say that regardless of all that, I really do appreciate the story’s thoughtfulness regarding the extensive damage done to Kyoko’s ability to trust by Sho’s heartless betrayal, and I do think that’s something she’d need to work through in order to be really vulnerable to an audience. So the acting stuff isn’t all a sham. And of course I’m all for crackaliciousness when it’s done right, so I will definitely look forward to that!

So, what else do you have for us this week?

MICHELLE: The third volume of Psyren, a Shonen Jump series from Toshiaki Iwashiro.

At first, I was fairly underwhelmed by this series, in which typical Shonen Jump protagonist Ageha Yoshina becomes involved in a game wherein he and various (and often unwilling) others battle in a harsh realm called Psyren for the sake of the world’s future. In particular, I objected to the haphazard effort Iwashiro had put forth to develop a consistent personality for the female lead, Sakurako.

Happily, by the third volume, the depiction of Sakurako has evened out (and she even gets a couple of major badass moments) and the mystery of Psyren has ramped up. I am a sucker for dystopic science fiction, and I can’t help but love the fact that the third volume is comprised almost entirely of Ageha’s second trip to Psyren and his attempts to navigate the game now that he knows more about it, while simultaneously burdened with a crew of newbies, scarcely developed psionic powers, and a foe that used to be the friend of one of his companions. It feels like a real problem-solving series this way, and the pace at which answers are forthcoming is really satisfying.

I still get a little bit of a Bokurano: Ours vibe from it, but with a real shounen flare that makes it exciting rather than gloomy. I’m actually a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this volume and how avidly I’m looking forward to volume four. If you were turned off by the execution of volume one but at least a little intrigued by the premise, you might want to give the series another chance. I’m glad I did.

MJ: I’ll be honest, I haven’t had the slightest interest in this series, but you’re making it sound kind of intriguing. Hmm.

MICHELLE: Well, maybe it’ll eventually make its way to VIZManga.com (where so many of its Shonen Jump brethren are available) and you’ll be able to check it out for half the price.

MJ: That would be great!

Psyren, Vols. 1-2

March 7, 2012 by Michelle Smith

By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Published by VIZ Media

Ageha Yoshina is a first-year highschool student who channels his passion for fighting into helping people (for a fee). When classmate Sakurako Amamiya goes missing, he can’t just ignore it, particularly since she seems to know something about Psyren, a mysterious organization that recently issued Ageha a phone card when he answered a ringing public phone. The quest to find Sakurako leads Ageha to Psyren itself, which is not so much an organization as a place—a dangerous dimension where a chosen few (known as Psyren Drifters) brave the harsh landscape and murderous denizens to reach a particular gate, at which point they return home to be called again in the future, using the interval to learn more about Psyren and hone the psionic skills that Psyren’s atmosphere has infected them with.

I wasn’t sure what to think of Psyren at first. It starts slowly, and neither Ageha nor Sakurako are particularly distinct characters (Ageha because he’s so like every other shounen hero and Sakurako because Iwashiro-sensei is admittedly not aiming for any kind of consistency in her characterization). Once Hiryu—a formerly wimpy elementary school classmate who is now simultaneously hulking and thoughtful—arrives, however, things begin to improve. He provides a foil against which Ageha can be compared, which makes their psionic training sessions (in which Hiryu excels with concentrated effort and Ageha fails time and time again until he unleashes a powerful, uncontrolled burst) pretty fun.

It also helps that the concept of Psyren has elements that remind me of other series: the giant insectoid creatures and dire depiction of Japan’s future remind me of 7SEEDS, the cyborgish enemies remind me of BLAME!, and the contract by which unwitting participants are forced to risk their lives for some vaguely explained purpose reminds me of Bokurano: Ours. It remains to be seen whether Psyren will truly turn out to be as great as these other series, but it does have a dark edge—hinting that one’s performance in the game can somehow impact Earth’s future—that I appreciate.

To be sure, Psyren is not perfect. As mentioned, the main problem is Sakurako. She, quite literally, seems to change personality from panel to panel. At first, I thought that maybe this was happening because she’d used her psionic abilities so much that it had affected her mind, but after Iwashiro’s confession—“I was very careful when portraying [heroine of previous series]’s personality, but I’ve tempered that tendency, allowing for more of a kaleidoscopic view of Sakurako”—that doesn’t seem to be the case. Too, I feel like we’re supposed to find Matsuri-sensei, the concert pianist/biker chick who has beaten the Psyren game, cool and awesome, but she just makes me yawn.

Ultimately, Psyren is better than I thought it would be. It’s also, at sixteen volumes, not a sprawling epic that would require a huge commitment. At the moment, at least, I plan to continue for the long haul.

Psyren is published in English by VIZ Media. The third volume came out this week. The series is complete in Japan with sixteen volumes.

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Pick of the Week: decisions, decisions

March 5, 2012 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, Katherine Dacey and MJ 5 Comments

We’ve got an embarrassment of riches coming in this week at Midtown Comics. Check out picks from Michelle, Sean, Kate, & MJbelow!

MICHELLE: Decisions, decisions! I am definitely keen to read quite a few of the volumes on this week’s Midtown Comics release list, but ultimately I’m going to have to cast my vote for volume 61 of Eiichiro Oda’s masterful One Piece. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and “they” must be on to something, because I’m really eager to see the rest of the crew again after the past few volumes, which featured Luffy on a solo quest to save his brother, Ace. Not only that, we’re about to embark upon the current arc of the series, which is very exciting indeed!

SEAN: We do indeed have an embarrassment of riches this week. My pick goes to Vol. 9 of Dengeki Daisy. A lot of Betsucomi manga tend to have their heroines in constant peril, and indeed that’s exactly what happens in Dengeki Daisy. What makes it work is that Teru does not whimper and wonder why all this keeps happening to her – she’s a very active Penelope, so to speak. This series has been in the middle of an ongoing very serious arc, which has been disconcerting to those who loved the comedic antics between Teru and Kurosaki. But the action and drama has also been skillfully handled, and you keep hoping that all this intrigue will end well so that the leads can live happily – if abusively – ever after.

KATE: Oh, the dilemma! I’m tempted by the first volume of The Earl and the Fairy, even if it sounds like a forgotten Lawrence Olivier/Marilyn Monroe movie, and I’m delighted to see that VIZ is re-releasing the early volumes of Skip Beat! as an omnibus. The title that most excites me, however, is the King City trade paperback. You may remember King City from the days when TOKYOPOP had a robust line of OEL comics. Though widely praised, Brandon Graham’s sci-fi comedy wasn’t a particularly good fit with the rest of TOKYOPOP’s catalog; the humor was too weird and subversive, and the art didn’t strike readers as particularly “manga-esque.” TOKYOPOP put the series on hiatus in 2007, then allowed Graham to bring the series to Image Comics. The TPB collects the entire series — 400+ pages — in a tidy, economical package. If you missed it the first time around, it’s definitely worth a look.

MJ: Wow, it really is a tough choice this week! It’s hard not to go for the final volume of No Longer Human, Usamaru Furuya’s adaptation of the classic novel, which Michelle & I fawned over in a recent installment of Off the Shelf. There’s also a new installment of Chi’s Sweet Home, and this week’s new omnibus release of Skip Beat! finally gives me a chance to get into that long-running series. In the end, though, I guess I’ll be the one to go for The Earl & the Fairy, artist Ayuko’s adaptation of the light novel by Mizue Tani, out this week from Viz. I’m always a sucker for a new shoujo series, and this one looks intriguing. I haven’t always been a fan of light novel adaptations, but having been so thoroughly won over by last year’s The Story of Saiunkoku, and eager to give this one a try!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Off the Shelf: GTO, Twilight, Soulless

March 1, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 9 Comments

MJ: Well, hello there, my friend!

MICHELLE: For some reason I am inclined to respond to that with, “‘Allo, poppet!”

MJ: Well. That’s interesting indeed. I’ll admit I’m not quite sure how to respond to that. Perhaps, instead, I’ll change the subject. Read any good manga this week?

MICHELLE: I did. Kind of unexpectedly good, in both cases!

One of the things I read was the first volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan by Toru Fujisawa (published by Vertical, Inc.). I knew absolute nothing about the GTO franchise going into it, and therefore had no idea what to expect. The initial setup, which explains how ex-delinquent-now-teacher Eikichi Onizuka has to lay low for a while and decides to do so in his hometown of Shonan, caused me a bit of concern, since it involves the hapless protagonist getting into all sorts of trouble and a comedic sensibility that put me in mind of Detroit Metal City, which, as you know, was not my cup of tea.

Once Eikichi gets to Shonan, however, things begin looking up. He meets up with an attractive young woman named Ayame Shiratori, who was classmates with one of his coworkers. She’s heard that Onizuka has done wonders with his students and wonders if he’d help out at White Swan Children’s Home for a bit. Since he has no place else to go—and since he would like to roger Ayame—he agrees. Although the hostility of one of the students, Katsuragi, is immediate and rather over-the-top, I warmed to the series once Onizuka showed a real flair for getting through to miserable teens, each the victim of selfish parents.

He does it so naturally that it doesn’t feel like Fujisawa is imparting some Important Moral Lesson. Essentially, he treats them like people and instinctively understands how to draw them out. And he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is and defend them with everything he’s got when they are threatened. For kids who’ve come to distrust the sincerity of adults, an idiot—but a genuinely honest idiot—like him may be exactly what they need.

I’m not sure if I’m ready to track down the other GTO volumes that have come out in English, but I am at least looking forward to volume two!

MJ: Well, as Detroit Metal City decidedly was my cup of tea, I’m intrigued all-around! Like you, I knew almost nothing about GTO before Vertical announced this license, and I’ll admit I was initially hesitant, thinking it might be hard for a newcomer to jump in at this point. But it sounds like this is really not an obstacle.

MICHELLE: Not at all. Aside from a couple of brief appearances in the beginning, 14 Days in Shonan features an entirely new cast of characters. It’s interesting, too, that it’s kind of slipped into a two-week period of the main story during which most people assumed Onizuka was recuperating in the hospital.

So, what’ve you been reading this week?

MJ: Well, I didn’t fare quite as well as you, though ultimately it was a good week. I began with the second volume of Young Kim’s graphic novel adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. And while my reaction to the first volume was something along the lines of, “This was more readable than expected,” I’m afraid the second volume didn’t go down quite so easily.

To be clear from the get-go, none of my issues are Young Kim’s fault, and I expect I’m ultimately grateful to be reading this series in a less prose-heavy format than the original. And really, my biggest qualms about this volume aren’t even about the weirdly overt racism or the less-than-subtle lessons in sexual abstinence. What really made this volume so difficult for me to get through was my increasing anger over the fact that Stephenie Meyer did not see fit to grant her heroine even a single personal interest outside of her creepy, undead boyfriend.

Bella has no thoughts or desires that don’t revolve around Edward. She has no apparent interests in school. She doesn’t even have a hobby. Her entire existence—her very identity revolves around her feelings for a boy. And though there may have been times as a teenager when I felt utterly consumed by my feelings for whatever boy I was crushing on, those were just isolated (if intense) moments, scattered amongst the hours upon hours I spent reading, writing, playing music, arguing about politics, and thinking about the multitude of things that interested and/or enchanted me in the great wide world.

Honestly, even if this didn’t make me angry as an adult woman and a feminist, who longs to see a world filled with great, empowering fiction for girls, it makes me utterly unable to identify with Twilight‘s protagonist, even from the point of view of my distant teenaged self. Though I never like hearing female readers say they “hate” a female protagonist (because, seriously, it’s not the character’s fault she was so gravely shortchanged by her creator, is it?), I have to admit that Bella is the greatest obstacle standing between me and enjoyment of Twilight, even as a guilty pleasure. And that’s really a shame.

MICHELLE: I had a similar reaction when I read the book, in which Bella demonstrates some alarming passivity when she learns about the various creepy things Edward has been doing, including breaking into her house to watch her sleep. When I learned that a friend’s daughter was reading the series, I felt I needed to warn her parents so they’d be sure to give her the “if any boy ever does this to you, please know that it is not romantic” speech.

To address an issue specific to the graphic novel release… some folks were critical of the typeface in the first volume, I believe, as well as the placement of speech bubbles. Did you notice any discernable change in those areas?

MJ: The style of the second volume is the same as the first, in that it uses very non-comics-y fonts, and the way the speech bubbles look is also not what I’m used to in the comics I read. However, I never found this to be as problematic as a lot of critics did, and I rather like Kim’s art style, so I’m good with it. If anything, the artwork is one of the things I was able to enjoy in the book.

So, since we’re on the topic of Yen Press “manga” adaptations, shall we move on to a title we both read this week?

MICHELLE: Let’s do!

MJ: Well, when I read Kate’s review of REM’s new adaptation of Gail Carriger’s Soulless, I thought suddenly that it would be a great choice to read alongside Twilight. Both are OEL adaptations of popular novels, and both revolve around a heroine who lives in a world alongside vampires and werewolves. Unlike Twilight, I had very little knowledge of the details of Soulless, and though I expected I might like it more than Twilight, I was not really prepared for how much more.

Alexia Tarabotti is a 26-year-old “spinster” in Victorian London, a life complicated even more by the fact that she’s also a “preternatural,” a person without a soul whose purpose is to bridge the gap between the supernatural and natural worlds. Alexia’s London is filled with vampires and werewolves, most of whom are highly regarded (and highly organized) members of society. As the story opens, Alexia accidentally kills a vampire who attacks her at a party—an event that throws supernatural society into a bit of a tizzy. Fortunately, the tizzy also rather hurries along Alexia’s long-time flirtation with Lord Conall Maccon, a well-regarded werewolf who may actually be a match for her.

MICHELLE: I too knew nothing about Soulless going in and was pleasantly surprised by REM’s adaptation. Although I think I would probably enjoy the novel even more—while the relationship between Alexia and Lord Maccon is a lot of fun, the mystery plot involving missing and unaffiliated werewolves and vampires gets short shrift—the graphic novel is still tremendously enjoyable, with plenty of witty dialogue (seriously, all you need do to amuse me is mention hedgehogs), lovely supporting characters (Lord Akeldama and Ayame Sohma… separated at birth?), and a pair of strong leads whom I like and sincerely root for as a couple. I also enjoyed how enthusiastic Alexia was to make out with him once she had the chance.

MJ: Yes, it really is a treat to kind of adore both members of the story’s primary couple, isn’t it? I really do adore them both. And oh, Lord Akeldama… first of all, you’re on the nose with the Ayame Sohma (though Akeldama has the benefit of not being quite as self-absorbed), and secondly, I think one of my favorite moments in the entire volume was when Alexia, whose soulless nature allows her to render vampires and werewolves to their form closest to human with only her touch, grants his request to accompany him outside so that he can view the sunset.

I’ll also agree that reading this made me quite anxious to try the novel, and I’ll confess I’ve already bought the e-book to read on my iPad.

MICHELLE: And I’m going to buy the audiobook next time I get a new Audible credit!

There are a couple of key things that make Alexia a better protagonist than Bella. For one, to directly contrast what you said before, she actually has a life outside her love interest. We don’t see much of her hobbies, true, but she visits with a couple of friends and attends social events with her family. For another, she desperately wants to be useful, and suggests several times that she be allowed to help Conall with his work for the Bureau of Unnatural Registry. One gets the impression she’d be a rather kickass demon hunter if she weren’t living in Victorian England.

MJ: Yes, exactly, there’s a constant sense that Alexia is desperately oppressed by the constraints forced upon her, both by her place in society and her gender, and that she longs for opportunities to use her brains to really do something in the world. One of the things that makes her fiery relationship with Conall so appealing, is that they’re both characters who possess exceptionally strong will.

If there’s one issue I have with the graphic novel adaptation, aside from the lack of page time available for its non-romantic plotline, it’s that Alexia is repeatedly referred to as plain, yet is drawn by REM as a voluptuous beauty. Now, I’m not exactly complaining (she’s a voluptuous beauty that even female readers can appreciate), but it might have been a nice touch if she looked just a tad less like a comic book heroine, and more like an average woman. She’s an awesome enough character to be irresistibly attractive with or without being so conventionally gorgeous on the outside, and actually “plain” women are tragically underrepresented in comics.

MICHELLE: Yes, REM’s rendering of Alexia takes heaving bosoms to a whole new level. I was wondering how someone could remain a spinster so long with attributes like that! It’s almost like drawing Elizabeth Bennet with giant knockers, in that it makes the hero just a little less special for seeing in her what others don’t.

MJ: I think I could totally buy the heaving bosoms (let’s face it, in a corset, any woman not shaped like a stick is subject to heaving bosoms) if she’d been just a little chunkier and less dazzling otherwise. But overall, it’s a small complaint. This is the first of Yen Press’ novel adaptations that has grabbed me so immediately, and I’m not only looking forward to reading the novel, but to reading the second volume of the adaptation.

MICHELLE: Same here. And though it may be insanely early to call it, I have a feeling this will turn out to be the best novel-to-manga adaptation of 2012!

MJ: I suspect you may be right!

Bookshelf Briefs 2/27/12

February 27, 2012 by MJ, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and Katherine Dacey 3 Comments

This week, Michelle, MJ, Sean take a look at new releases from the Digital Manga Guild, Viz Media, Dark Horse Manga, and Vertical, Inc., while Kate offers up an unusual Tezuka find as she wraps up this month’s Manga Moveable Feast!

Ata | By Tamaki Fuji | Digital Manga Guild – I’ve reviewed quite a few books now from various groups in the Digital Manga Guild and most have been pretty good. And then there was Ata. It’s an absolute mess, with lousy art and mistakes galore. Releasing a book with an error on practically every page just goes to show that passing DMP’s proficiency tests is not sufficient to guarantee a quality product. But maybe it’s “rediculous” to expect them to be able to spell “speical” words like “fufilling,” especially when it’s “hard to breath” near the tree when it “bares” its fruit. You’ll note that I haven’t said anything yet about Ata‘s story, and that’s because I was so overwhelmed and distracted by the dozens upon dozens of easily preventable mistakes that I was unable to become invested in it. The shoddy work of this group ruined the manga for me. Avoid at all costs. – Michelle Smith

Bleach, Vol. 38 | By Tite Kubo | Viz Media – If there’s one thing Bleach seems determined to remind me, it’s that I’m not its target audience. And while this may seem like an obvious conclusion for a 40-something woman reading a shounen battle manga, the thing about Bleach is that originally I was. Tite Kubo won me over easily in the series’ early volumes, with well-developed relationships, a terrific sense of humor, and an ability to make readers care about a large cast of characters, both friend and foe. Though later volumes have devolved into increasingly tedious fight sequences featuring increasingly disinteresting enemies, he’s won me back, time and again, as recently as volume 36. Sadly, with this volume, he’s lost me again. Despite one short, dramatic scene revolving around the defeat of Ikkaku, the volume overall hinges on the reader’s interest in fights for their own sake. Unfortunately, that’s just not enough for me. – MJ

Gate 7, Vol. 2 | By CLAMP | Dark Horse Manga – Back in December, I described Gate 7 as “my kind of CLAMP,” and while I believe this still may well be the case, the series’ second volume doesn’t put in much effort to prove it. Volume one’s greatest weakness was a glut of exposition, and that trend continues here, as CLAMP introduces us to a whole slew of brand new characters before we’ve had a chance to fall for the ones we already have. The result is shaky pacing and glassy-eyed confusion, exacerbated by an onslaught of historical information likely to send most western readers thumbing their way repeatedly to the book’s (thankfully extensive) endnotes in the hopes of reaching solid ground. Though as a long-time CLAMP fan, I’m willing to grant the artists a few more volumes to create some emotional stakes worthy of my investment, many readers may find their patience waning by the end of this volume, and I’m not yet confident enough to urge them on. Not quite recommended. – MJ

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 7 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – There’s a lot of manga cliches going on here, honestly. Which is not always bad, but when I saw Nanami telling Tomoe that he had to stay behind while she went to the meeting of the Gods, I knew it was a classic “if only she’d explained” moment. Sigh. Other than that, this volume introduces a lot of new kami, as we delve into just how much prejudice Nanami has to fight to be accepted as a god herself. Of course, for those who want romance, there’s Chapter 38, which is almost a perfect ‘date’ chapter, and sure to warm the heart. Overall, though, this felt like a transitional volume of Kamisama Kiss, setting up the plots that will be taken care of in the next volume. Still good stuff, though. – Sean Gaffney

No Longer Human, Vol. 3 | By Usamaru Furuya | Vertical, Inc. – After enjoying the first two volumes of No Longer Human more than I’d expected to, I was really looking forward to the final volume, which seems an odd thing to say, given the extent of the extremely grim things that tend to happen in this series. We begin one year into Yozo Oba’s marriage to cheerful and innocent Yoshino. They’re happy together, but shortly after a friend points out that Yozo must eventually pay for his past crimes, something terrible happens to strip Yoshino of her trusting personality, and the change in her destroys Yozo’s happy fantasy. Forced to confront the awfulness of humanity, he spirals into drug abuse and madness. Furuya depicts Yozo’s descent into ruin with creative, effective imagery, which results in some odd moments where readers are admiring the art whilst something profoundly unsettling is actually happening in the panel. Dark and strange, No Longer Human may not be for everyone, but I still recommend it. – Michelle Smith

Nura: Rise Of The Yokai Clan, Vol. 7 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – This volume of Nura is neatly divided into two parts. The first deals with Yura, who is finding herself confused as to the true nature of the yokai… and is suspecting that Rikuo is involved somehow. What’s worse, her two older brothers show up, and explicitly state that there is no such thing as a good yokai. Anyone who says they see the world only in black and white morality is never going to be a good guy in manga, but these two are surprisingly well handled. And Yura gets some nice bonding with Rikuo (another potential romance? This isn’t getting harem-ey, is it?). The second half is mostly a flashback to how Nura’s grandfather met his grandmother, and interested me mostly for seeing Tsurara’s grandmother, a lot less perky and a lot more sultry in the Yuki-Onna department. As always, recommended for Jump fans. – Sean Gaffney

Otomen, Vol. 12 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – The best part of this volume, to me, was seeing the flashback to Asuka’s mother in school, which strikes me as an amazing story… which we don’t see. Indeed, Aya Konno explicitly says she wanted to draw more of it, but didn’t. Oh Otomen, why do you always sidestep my expectations? Instead, we get the expected resolution between Asuka and his father (if you hadn’;t guessed who it was, you weren’t reading hard enough), which is nice and sentimental but not as deep as I’d have liked. I hope we get more of his mother in future. The best part of the book was the final chapter, a terrific side story with Amakashi and a rather stoic high school girl, which did what I wanted the main story to do. Otomen seems to be heading into its endgame, so I hope we’ll see some better resolution of the main plotline. And more Ryo! – Sean Gaffney

Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga | By Philip Brophy | National Gallery of Victoria – This slim, handsomely packaged book is, in fact, the catalog for an exhibition mounted by the National Gallery of Victoria back in 2006. As such, it has all the virtues and faults of a museum product. On the plus side, the book contains immaculate reproductions of Tezuka’s work, from his very earliest stories — Metropolis, Crime and Punishment — to his final manga, Ludwig B. Editor Philip Brophy has paired these images with numerous statements by Tezuka about his characters and creative process — an impressionistic but effective strategy for helping the reader understand Tezuka’s artistry. On the minus side, the contextual essays run the gamut from very good to hopelessly vague; readers looking for biographical information will find Helen McCarthy’s The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga a more comprehensive introduction to the master’s life and work. – Katherine Dacey

Pick of the Week: Picks & anti-Picks

February 27, 2012 by Sean Gaffney, Brigid Alverson, MJ, Michelle Smith and Katherine Dacey 5 Comments

This week’s haul at Midtown Comics inspires both some enthusiastic picks (and a couple of emphatic anti-picks) from the Battle Robot. Check them out below!

SEAN: Can I make xxxHOLIC my anti-Pick of the Week? :) Seriously, though, even though Midtown isn’t listing it, my store is getting in the 13th volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei. Over the last several volumes, the manga has found its way, almost ceasing to be about any of the characters at all. I can’t even recall the last time Nozomu tried to kill himself. Instead, it devotes itself to a typical cliched behavior every chapter, and then picks it apart until it explodes. And if that means less attention to character development, well, the characters are exaggerations to begin with, so it’s less about deepening them and more about honing them into sharp, cutting blades. Which is why, in this volume, they proceed to butcher an entire prison full of guards. Want to learn why? Read the book!

BRIGID: Although GTO tempts me, I’m going with vol. 2 of Gate 7 as my first choice. Although the first volume had its flaws—storytelling that managed to be both unclear and repetitive, to be specific—the art is beautiful, and by the end of the book CLAMP had me firmly in their grip with the promise of a historical/supernatural story set in old Kyoto. CLAMP can be really terrible or really good, and I’m hoping that after a stuttering start, this book will fall into the latter group.

MJ: Well, Sean, I’m going to cancel out your anti-Pick by picking it! Yes, I’ve heard the same disheartening things about the ending of xxxHolic as everyone else has (well, without explicit spoilers—so please don’t spoil me now!) but I’ve loved this series for 18 volumes, and I’m longing to read its conclusion for myself. Unlike many readers, I’ve actually quite enjoyed the series’ post-Young coda (see my thoughts on volume 18 here). Watanuki was my reason for reading from the very beginning, and he remains so to this day. I just have to see how his story ends, for better or worse.

MICHELLE: Don’t spoil me on xxxHOLiC, either! I still need to finish Tsubasa! Anyway, I’ve probably picked this series before, and I’ll probably pick it again, but I must cast my vote this week for the seventh volume of Itazura Na Kiss. This series has its ups and downs, with moments both delightful and infuriating, but I still look forward to each double-sized volume. I’m especially keen to see whether Naoki gets any nicer or Kotoko any more competent, but somehow I doubt that will happen any time soon.

KATE: My pick is Tenjo Tenge…. NOT! (I chalk up that feeble joke to the lingering effects of Vicks Vapo-Rub and cough syrup.) While I second Michelle’s enthusiastic endorsement of Itazura na Kiss, I’m casting my vote for volume three of Border. Technically speaking, Border is yaoi, but it reads more like The A-Team than Bad Teacher’s Equation — well, if Murdock occasionally made out with Mr. T. I guess that doesn’t make Border seem very entertaining, but I really enjoyed the first two volumes’ mixture of melodrama, suspense, and teamwork. This is yaoi for readers who like a big dose of plot with their smut. Oh, and lots of handsome men in camouflage.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

February 24, 2012 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
P. D. James draws the characters of Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up to the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Review:
When I learned about this book on NPR, I was torn between trepidation and mad curiosity. The latter, as you can see, won out, mostly because I am a huge fan of P. D. James and if figured that if anyone could treat Austen’s material with respect, she could. And, indeed, her treatment of these beloved characters did not give any offense, but neither did it give anything near the delight inspired by Austen’s original work.

First, a brief summary of the plot. It is Autumn 1803. Elizabeth and Darcy have been happily married for six years and have two sons. On the eve of the annual ball at Pemberley, Elizabeth’s willful sister Lydia shows up unannounced (and uninvited), freaking out because she and the coachman heard gunshots soon after her no-good husband Wickham went into the woods after his friend, Captain Denny. A search party finds a drunken Wickham with Denny’s body, at which point he utters words to the effect of, “It’s my fault. He was my only friend, and I have killed him.” The local magistrate conducts his inquiries, there is a formal inquest, there is a trial, and then the full story is revealed.

As a Pride and Prejudice continuation, the book is not odious. It is, however, lacking any of Austen’s sparkle. Events leave Elizabeth and Darcy little time to be alone together, except at the very end, where James tacks on an epilogue in which Darcy, after six years, suddenly apologizes for some of his conduct in the original novel. It makes me wonder whether James believes readers could not surmise that Darcy would feel regret over his more snooty actions without spelling it out. Gone too are Austen’s sly and thoughtful observations upon society, except for one brief instance wherein chronic invalids are suddenly recovered sufficiently to attend church in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the Pemberley residents.

The result, therefore, is a book that is dreadfully dull. I was relieved to see that Elizabeth and Darcy do not suddenly become sleuths, but found the revelation of what really happened in the woodland to be rather vague and unsatisfying. While I cannot condemn the book for any particular sin, about the only praise I can muster is that James does provide some interesting fates for various characters and proposes an intriguing complication regarding Wickham’s attempted elopement with Georgiana Darcy.

Is it worth reading? No, not really. But I doubt anyone will feel the urge to hurl the book across the room in disgust, either.

Off the Shelf: Princess Knight

February 23, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 15 Comments

MICHELLE: As we occasionally do when the Manga Moveable Feast rolls around, MJand I have opted to dedicate this week’s Off the Shelf column to the topic at hand, which this month is the works of Osamu Tezuka. Specifically for our case, we’re going to be talking about Princess Knight, Tezuka’s shoujo manga about Sapphire, a princess who accidentally receives both a boy’s heart and a girl’s heart at the time of her birth, and who, when we pick up her story as an adolescent, has somewhat of an identity crisis while undergoing many wacky hardships/hijinks.

This is my first time reading the series. Whenever Ed Chavez from Vertical would solicit suggestions for Tezuka titles to license, I would always request Princess Knight. I wanted the series so much I even bought a few of the bilingual Kodansha editions. However, when I finally had both parts of the series in hand, I was content for a while to merely gaze upon them, content. And now that I have finally gotten around to reading it, I must say… I’m a little disappointed.

MJ: Well, as you may recall, I certainly had my issues with volume one, and these didn’t disappear when I read volume two. In some ways, I’d even say they became more pronounced. On the other hand, there were things I liked about it, so though I could characterize my experience as disappointing as well, I’m still glad I read it.

Should we get the least pleasant subjects out of the way straight off?

MICHELLE: Might as well. I guess my big problem with it is that it’s supposed to be so groundbreaking in terms of gender identities, but it actually does very little in this regard. When Sapphire has only a boy heart, she’s swaggering and brave. When she has only her girl heart, she’s weak and fragile. True, some of the growl-inducing comments do come from the villains or from those attempting to fool villains by approximating girlish behavior (“I suddenly want to take up cross-stitching and play the piano.”) but I do have to wonder how much of it Tezuka really believes, since he creates a swordswoman character, only to bedeck her armor with hearts and have her proudly admit that she’s entered a tournament to find a husband.

MJ: Yes, this was definitely the biggest hurdle for me as well. While I might have found it interesting to watch a character struggle with her gender identity in a society where clearly what you describe is set up as the standard for femininity vs. masculinity, that’s not really what Tezuka does here at all. Even when he has his chances to challenge these roles, he passes them up. For instance, the big female revolt that happens during the second volume seems to hinge mainly on the threat of the country’s men being left without anyone to clean their homes or look after their children. Even after it’s over, the only comment made by one of the defeated men is relief that his wife will come home and take care of the laundry that’s piled up.

I completely understand that both Tezuka and Princess Knight are a product of their time, but I’m genuinely confused as to why this seems to be held up as a great example of shoujo manga challenging gender roles.

MICHELLE: It seems very likely that Tezuka never intended it to be so, since so much of it takes a Loony Tunes approach to storytelling. Why, indeed, take a female revolt seriously? Instead, let’s play it for comedy by making the men out to be henpecked morons! That’s not to say there aren’t some darker aspects that I did like and wish could’ve been expounded upon. For example, while I don’t care about or believe in the “true love” that suddenly springs up between Sapphire and Prince Franz Charming, the characters set up as romantic rivals are actually interesting and meet tragic fates. It makes me wonder what kind of story Tezuka could’ve fashioned with Hecate and Captain Blood (aka Heinrich) as the leads!

MJ: Yes! Though I actually quite liked Sapphire, at least until she became completely consumed by her weirdly passive pursuit of Prince Franz, my favorite characters were Captain Blood and Hecate. I would have happily read entire books about them. I rather wished that Sapphire would ditch Franz and fall for Blood, but I suppose it was never meant to be.

MICHELLE: And, really, Hecate is probably the best example of a character who defies gender roles, since she’s perfectly happy defining herself for herself and has no wish to consume Sapphire’s girl heart (which her witch mother, Madame Hell, keeps trying to steal on her behalf) and take up some passive, “feminine” identity. She’s independent, level-headed, and one of the few truly good characters in the story. Plus, she can turn herself into a goat!

MJ: Speaking of all the heart-exchanging business, I’d say that probably the only time I actually appreciated it, was when Plastic ingests Sapphire’s boy’s heart, and suddenly becomes a decent man, instead of a selfish, sniveling boob.

MICHELLE: Oh yes, I quite agree! And he promptly begins championing women’s rights! This makes him the second character in the series (after Hecate) to go his own way and oppose the evil schemes of a parent. I wonder if this is Tezuka’s way of saying that the younger generation is going to get things right regarding equality whereas their parents are hopeless.

MJ: That may be a generous assumption, but I’ll give it to him if you will. You know, I think what’s most disappointing to me about Princess Knight is that I feel like I really could have liked it. Tezuka’s artwork is so much fun here, and so full of life. And I’m really fine with the “Looney Tunes approach,” as you so brilliantly put it. I think this manga could have been a lot of fun. But the gender issues are so profound, they kinda take over the whole thing for me.

MICHELLE: I’m not sure I could’ve liked it even without the gender issues giving me fits. The plotting is just so random sometimes. Early on, there’s a scene where Sapphire is letting herself be collected by Duke Duralumin’s men as a potential consort for his then-still-feeble-minded son, Plastic. And Franz rides in from, like, the next kingdom over to rescue her, and then rides back home again a few panels later. Or then there’s my favorite spot of wtf, the scene where Blood quickly escapes slavery by coercing a nearby beetle into chewing through some ropes. Everything’s so fast, furious, and madcap that poignant things aren’t given time to sink in.

MJ: Hee hee, yeah, it’s like that. Is it wrong that I find that fun? Or maybe I find it fun, because the poignant stuff doesn’t sit right. I can enjoy something that’s silly and madcap for that alone, and Princess Knight works better as that for me. Overall, I’d say I liked the silly, unbelievable parts the most. Also, I love every scene that Blood is in. Heh.

MICHELLE: It’s not wrong for anyone to like what they like! :) I’m just hard to please, comedy-wise, so many of the gags just left me blinking impassively at the page. I feel bad for being so down on Princess Knight, because now that it’s over I find myself growing fond of the idea of it again. And though it may not have lived up to its reputation for me, I nonetheless wonder if it wasn’t the origin of certain shoujo tropes, like, say, all of the guys instantly falling in love with the passive heroine, or the contingent of jealous fangirls.

MJ: As disappointed as I might have been with it, I really am grateful to have had the opportunity to read it. It may not be my favorite of Tezuka’s works (or really even close), but I’m quite enamored of his artwork, as always, and even now as I’m just flipping through, I’m struck by the beauty and flow of what’s on the page.

MICHELLE: Oh, I am definitely exceedingly grateful to the folks at Vertical for licensing the work and producing such a beautiful edition. I’m also pleased to note that I didn’t spot a single typo in their text, and found that the translation actually included some rather sophisticated words without any hint of awkwardness.

MJ: So thanks, Vertical, for giving us the chance to experience Princess Knight!

For more of this week’s MMF bounty, please visit the Osamu Tezuka MMF Archive, hosted by Kate Dacey at The Manga Critic!

More full-series discussions with MJ & Michelle:

Fullmetal Alchemist | Paradise Kiss | The “Color of…” Trilogy | One Thousand and One Nights| Please Save My Earth
Fruits Basket | Wild Adapter (with guest David Welsh)

Full-series multi-guest roundtables: Hikaru no Go | Banana Fish | Gerard & Jacques | Flower of Life

Pick of the Week: Soulless, Higurashi, Kizuna

February 20, 2012 by MJ, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith 2 Comments

Things pick up this week at Midtown Comics, just in time for Presidents’ Day. Though we’re a bit short-staffed at Manga Bookshelf today, MJ, Sean, & Michelle have some books they’re excited to buy!

MJ: I’m a bit torn this week, I have to admit. On one hand, I’d like to recommend the latest volume of Nabari no Ou—the only manga to ever get me even remotely interested in ninja—or perhaps volume four of Bloody Monday, which I can’t help liking, despite its unbelievable premise. But after reading Kate’s recent review of Soulless, I think it’s won my vote. An “agreeable mishmash of Young Sherlock Holmes, Underworld, and Mansfield Park, with a dash of Jules Verne”?? Where do I sign up? I’ll be the first to admit that Yen Press’ “manga” adaptations of popular novels have mostly missed with me, but this one sounds like it’s right up my alley. Definitely a must-buy!

SEAN: As I noted in my Manga The Week Of post, I always get happier when I see a new volume of Higurashi: When They Cry. A combination of harem manga, horror manga, and mystery, it’s the bonds of friendship elements that keep me coming back. One Piece fans popularized the Western use of ‘Nakama’, a word meant to convey a close bond between a group that’s not quite family or friends, but something deeper – something unshakeable. Of course, with the Higurashi series that type of relationship is a long and unstable process, and we’ve seen in past arcs how mistrust and paranoia can ruin everything. Rena’s friends have helped her hide a corpse in the last volume… but was that really the right thing to do? Gripping stuff.

MICHELLE: There are certain titles that, when I see them on this list, everything else just sort of falls away. So, while I am definitely very keen to read Soulless, I must seize the opportunity to recommend Kazuma Kodaka’s landmark BL series, Kizuna, now in its fifth (and presumably final) volume. Maybe the trials and tribulations of yakuza in love just isn’t your thing, but the way the stories are told and the unique artwork are things that every BL fan should experience.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Going Digital: February 2012

February 19, 2012 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and MJ 4 Comments

Welcome to the latest Going Digital, Manga Bookshelf’s monthly feature focusing on manga available for digital viewing or download. Each month, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers review a selection of comics we’ve read on our computers, phones, or tablet devices, to give readers a taste of what’s out there, old and new, and how well it works in digital form.

This month, we’ll take a look at VIZ Media’s new manga for the NOOK Color, as well as a couple of titles from JManga. Device, OS, and browser information is included with each review as appropriate, to let you know exactly how we accessed what we read.

E-Readers

VIZ Manga on the NOOK Color

In last September’s Going Digital column, I wrote about my experience reading manga on a Kindle. The review included such sentiments as “Wow, this looks like crap,” and ended with this pithy observation:

I guess paying $6 for a Kindle edition of a book I didn’t like very much is better than paying $13 for same, but my advice to those considering reading manga on their Kindle is simple: “Don’t.”

So, when I was presented with the opportunity to check out the titles VIZ has made available for NOOK devices, I was quite eager to see how the experience would differ. As it turns out, the NOOK vastly outperforms the Kindle in all areas but one, and that one is not a deal-breaker.

The loaner model NOOK Color I received came pre-loaded with a few VIZ titles, so I can’t comment on the ease of buying and downloading manga from the Barnes and Noble site, but it looks pretty straightforward to me. There’s a WiFi connection on the device, so you can shop directly from the reader, as well. Books are accessible in the Library, which displays a nice gallery of color covers instead of a plain text list of titles. Simply tap the cover of your book of choice to open, and you’re good to go.

The first offering I perused was volume 31 of Bleach, and when I saw its cover come up full-screen, so crisp and beautiful, I am pretty sure I uttered a “wow” aloud. The inner pages are just as sharp, with clean, white backgrounds and legible text. Navigation is easy—gently tap the right side of the screen for the next page (granted, this is a little counter-intuitive when reading manga, as normally you’d be turning to the left) and the left side for the previous page. Tap the middle and a menu pops up, where one can scroll amongst all the pages in the volume and manage bookmarks, which one sets by pressing the “+” icon in the top right of the screen, creating a little digital “dog-ear” effect on the page.

At this point, I still hadn’t figured out how to zoom—I’m definitely a late adopter where technology is concerned, so there was a bit of a learning curve with touch-screen navigation—so I thought I’d check out some shoujo, which is known for its teensy asides and author-talk sections with small text. I found examples of both on a page of Absolute Boyfriend, and personally found the text legible, but once I discovered the “reverse-pinch method” of zooming in, it was a definite improvement. The screen is larger than the Kindle, so a single page looks pretty good as is. The NOOK’s got an auto-rotate function, which means that the display will shift to landscape mode if you turn the device on its side. This is helpful when you want to enjoy the scope of a two-page layout from an artistic standpoint, but not really practical for reading that way, unless you want to stay zoomed in all the time.

There are only two complaints I have about the NOOK, and one is exceedingly minor. In most respects, the sensitivity of the touch screen is a good thing, but as I held the device, I somehow kept placing my thumb in such a way that caused the system to repeatedly alert me to my lack of new notifications, which was annoying. The second issue is more significant, and that is that the NOOK is pretty heavy. According to Barnes and Noble, the NOOK Color weighs 15.8 ounces, but mine (with protective cover) clocked in at 20.8 ounces, which is equal to three print volumes of manga. Obviously, this is not extremely heavy, and even the fact that the latest Kindle supposedly weighs less than six ounces could not ever induce me to recommend it over the NOOK Color where reading manga is concerned. – Michelle Smith

Web Browser

Morita-san Wa Mukuchi Vol. 1 | By Tae Sano | Takeshobo, Manga Life Momo | JManga.com | Windows XP, Firefox 10.0

Readers of print manga in North America will be very familiar with the type of manga we get with Morita-san. It’s what’s termed a ‘4-koma’ style manga. Basically the equivalent to American comic strips such as Peanuts or Beetle Bailey, They’re 4 panels, mostly vertical, with quick punchlines and gag humor. Yes, there are the occasional serious 4-koma series, but they are definitely the exception. We;ve seen the high school band series K-On!, the high school eccentrics of Azumanga Daioh, and even spin-offs of popular titles like Haruhi Suzumiya and Shugo Chara.

This series has a lot of the same types of ingredients. With the exception of a token male or two to get one-liners, the cast is almost entirely cute and female. It takes place in a typical high school. There’s no real plot to speak of – we follow our heroine and her friends through the school year, being amused at their comedy antics. However, despite all of this, I found Morita-san to be quite a fun and pleasant experience. It has a very good hook. The heroine, the titular Morita, doesn’t speak. Note that she *can* speak – she just never gets a good opportunity. Either she thinks too long about what to say and everyone moves on, or she gets flustered, or the timing is wrong… as such, she spends the volume as a sort of ‘silent support’.

Her friends, and this is another reason I found this fun, don’t really bring this up or hold it against Morita at all. It’s just a quirk, like her best friend Miki’s being boy-crazy, or Hana’s being shy. They treat her like a good friend, and don’t even mention the silence – they always ask her opinion on things and the like. And Morita herself is a likeable heroine, being nice and sweet without getting overly sappy. (Her parents help here – her mother vacillates wildly between sweet adoring wife and jealous harridan, and it’s noted Morita got her reticence from her upbringing.) There’s even some mild yuri tease here, involving the cool Student Council President who everyone loves, as well as an unnamed girl who keeps trying to stalk… um, strike up a conversation with Morita only to misread whatever situation is going on. If you’re going to read 4-koma, it should be as fun and likeable as this. -Sean Gaffney

Hyakusho Kizoku, Vol. 1 By Hiromu Arakawa | Shinshokan, Wings | JManga.com | Mac OS 10.7.3, Chrome 17.0.963.56

As most Manga Bookshelf readers will already know, I’m a huge fan of Hiromu Arakawa’s epic shounen series Fullmetal Alchemist. In fact, the series even made my personal top ten. I consider Arakawa to be a truly exceptional storyteller, so when I heard that JManga was offering something new from her, I immediately ran over to read it. I was not disappointed in the least.

From the pages of the eccentric shoujo magazine Wings, Hyakusho Kizoku is a series of humor-tinged manga essays detailing life on a Hokkaido dairy farm. Though, on the surface, Hyakusho Kizoku may seem to share little in common with a fantasy epic like Fullmetal Alchemist, fans of FMA will quickly recognize Arakawa’s easy sense of humor, as well as her ability to create compelling, recognizable characters with just a few deft strokes.

The series is openly autobiographical, filled with anecdotes from Arakawa’s childhood and teen years that cover everything from her father’s habit of visiting the cow shed in winter wearing only his underpants, to a bit of light authorial ranting on topics like pesticides, government demands, and why Hokkaido would be better off as an independent country. And though her humor is a highlight, it’s not the only way in which Arakawa shows off her strengths. One particularly haunting lesson about the fate of a sick, newborn calf had me tearing up as I read—a feat achieved mainly through just a few poignant strokes of Arakawa’s pen, as she drew her own mournful, childish face and that of the unsuspecting calf.

If I sound like a hopeless fangirl, well, perhaps I am. But it’s a devotion well-earned by any author who can entertain equally well with action-packed fantasy and facts about cow dung. And fortunately, JManga does their part as well, offering up a clean, readable adaptation that lets the series’ conversational style shine.

While Hyakusho Kizoku may not be every FMA fan’s cup of tea, it certainly is mine. Highly recommended. – MJ

Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

February 19, 2012 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
The police call Allison’s drowning a suicide, but her housemates at her University of Minnesota sorority insist it was murder. That’s when alumnae advisor Jane Lawless steps in to find out the truth.

Abetted by her irrepressible sidekick Cordelia, Jane searches for clues, and what she finds is as chilling as the Minnesota winter—for in those icy drifts, at a lonely vacation house, she risks everything to ensnare a cunning killer…

Review:
Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless has volunteered to serve as an alumnae advisor for her former sorrority, Kappa Alpha Sigma. One morning, while out exercising with her reluctant friend, Cordelia Thorn, Jane discovers the body of one of the girls, Allison Lord. When the local police are quick to dismiss Allison’s death as suicide (which they attribute to confusion over her sexuality), Jane decides to do a little investigating of her own, eventually concluding that she’ll need to set herself up as bait to catch the killer.

I didn’t outright dislike Hallowed Murder, but it does have some major problems. Most significant is the fact that the culprit is not a surprise, thanks to a brief opening chapter that reveals their motive. Other aspects of the mystery are less transparent, though, and Hart at least managed to make me briefly suspect other characters. And speaking of the characters…. Jane is okay, and I like the aura of sadness that clings to her after the death of her long-time partner, Christine, but her friend Cordelia seems to have just one mode—obnoxious. Jane’s brother makes a couple brief appearances, but he is utterly insubstantial. Then there are the victim’s three closest friends, one of whom we scarcely meet before she apparently drops out of the sorority off-camera. Again, it’s not exactly bad, but it’s all quite superficial.

The same can be said of Hart’s writing style. As I look now at the quotes I jotted down, they don’t look so objectionable, but while I was reading they were jarringly simplistic. Too much tell, not enough show. Here are a couple of examples:

The early morning mist had settled around the base of the old bridge, making it appear to float above the water. It looked like a stage set. A perfect setting for a murder. Cordelia shuddered at her own morbidity.

Jane looked around at the young man taking notes. She had never been interrogated by the police before and did not like her words being cast in stone on some stenographer’s pad.

That second one could’ve been “Jane looked uneasily at the young man taking notes,” and it would’ve communicated all of that without seeming so… prim. This was a common problem, with dialogue and character thoughts frequently coming across as stiff and unnatural. Characters were also exceedingly forthcoming with their prejudices. Now, true, this was published in 1989, so perhaps open homophobia was more common, but characters with these opinions don’t even try to disguise them, and generally have no other positive attributes that would make them more three-dimensional—they’re just being used as ignorant mouthpieces. Here’s a quote from Susan Julian, another sorority advisor, after she learns about Allison’s sexual preference:

Having allowed a—I even hate to say the word—lesbian in our midst would destroy our reputation. We can only hope it doesn’t make the papers. I mean, no one would feel safe joining.

I haven’t yet decided whether to read Vital Lies, the second Jane Lawless mystery. The excerpt included in the back of my paperback was not very promising, but some mystery writers do improve over time. And, of course, Hart earns bonus points for managing to mention both Richard III and Doctor Who.

Additional reviews of Hallowed Murder can be found at Triple Take.

You Can Draw in 30 Days by Mark Kistler

February 18, 2012 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
Drawing is an acquired skill, not a talent—anyone can learn to draw! All you need is a pencil, a piece of paper, and the willingness to tap into your hidden artistic abilities. You Can Draw in 30 Days will teach you the rest. With Emmy award-winning, longtime public television host Mark Kistler as your guide, you’ll learn the secrets of sophisticated three-dimensional renderings, and have fun along the way.

In just 20 minutes a day for a month, you can learn to draw anything, whether from the world around you or from your own imagination. It’s time to embark on your creative journey. Pick up your pencil and begin today!

Review:
I was somewhat dubious when I set out to complete Mark Kistler’s instructional book, You Can Draw in 30 Days. Despite his claim that drawing is a skill and not a talent, and that anyone can learn to do it, I had no expectation that I would emerge from the experience with the ability to create vividly realistic drawings. And, indeed, that did not happen. I did, however, learn some interesting and useful techniques, and if the goal has been merely to gain confidence and a grasp of some basic fundamentals, then I’d say it’s been achieved.

First, Kistler has students complete a pretest in which they draw a house, an airplane, and a bagel. Here’s mine. Please do not laugh at that pathetic airplane too much.

From there, students progress through a series of lessons designed to introduce and elaborate on nine “foundation elements,” which include concepts like overlapping, shading, and contour lines. These ideas are reiterated frequently throughout the book, and I enjoyed some more than others. For example, I got a little tired of drawing shadows all over everything, but the way that contour lines—here exemplified via figures Kistler has dubbed “contour kids”—can make objects appear to be in motion is extremely cool.

The first seven lessons focus on basic shapes—spheres, cubes, towers—but then Kistler begins tossing in some rather odd things like koalas, roses, scrolls, and rippling flags. Each lesson is still imparting some useful idea, but they do reveal that Kistler’s style is essentially cartoony. Here’s my koala, from lesson eight. The bonus challenge for that chapter was to draw some real-world koalas, and while my efforts look better to me now than they did originally, the fact remains that I did not (and still do not) feel well-equipped to actually faithfully reproduce a realistic-looking koala.

Beginning with lesson 22, Kistler focuses on drawing in one- or two-point perspective. I enjoyed these exercises a lot—possibly because I got to draw with a ruler, which made everything nice and crisp. Here’s my tower in two-point perspective, which looks pretty good despite a couple of minor flaws.

The final three chapters introduce drawing anatomy, and Kistler drops the ball here a bit. Instead of really trying to teach someone how to draw a face, he instructs students to trace an example, provides a few basic pointers, and then directs them to other books for more information. (Perhaps that’s why the included illustration of a student’s attempt is far less accomplished than other examples throughout the book.) Lessons on the eye and hand were better, though, and I’m rather proud of my results for the 30th and final lesson, “Your Hand of Creativity.”

On the whole, the progression of the lessons makes sense and I have few complaints. However, I must voice my objection to Kistler’s attempts to foment enthusiasm by asking lame questions throughout the book. “Are you inspired?” “Are you excited?” “Don’t you feel like a collegiate fine arts student?” This invites readers to say, “Um, no?” I get what he’s trying to do, but jeez. Enough is enough.

Ultimately, a better title for this book would have been You Can Draw Certain Things in 30 Days. I still don’t feel like I can draw well in general, but I think I’m a bit better than before. Certainly, I could apply these lessons to drawing everyday objects that fit the shapes covered in the book. So, if you ever need a picture of your loved one, don’t call me, but if it’s an open cardboard box you want, I’m your gal.

Additional reviews of You Can Draw in 30 Days can be found at Triple Take.

BL Bookrack: February 2012

February 18, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 11 Comments

Welcome to the February installment of BL Bookrack! This month, MJand Michelle take a look at two offerings from SuBLime Manga, VIZ Media’s new BL imprint, The Bed of My Dear King and Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies, as well as Rainy Day Love from the Digital Manga Guild. In Brief: volume two of Only Serious About You from Digital Manga Publishing’s Juné imprint, and volume one of Love Pistols from SuBLime.

The Bed of My Dear King | By Sakae Kusama | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – This is my first SuBLime title—one of the first batch of digital-only releases, in fact. It appealed to me because it was described as “a suite of emotionally resonant, romantic stories.” Plus, the description included the words “unexpected” and “poignant.” So, does The Bed of My Dear King deliver on its claims? Well, mostly. Although, instead of “emotionally resonant” and “romantic,” the first words I’d use to describe the stories herein would be “quirky” and “memorable.”

The title story is about an electrician named Koga who visits the isolated mountain home of an initially surly sculptor to make a repair. The sculptor, who eventually reveals that his name is Takashi Tohno, gets a little more friendly and helpful as Koga attempts to get to the root of the problem, and when a sudden snow storm traps them together, a bit of booze leads to a “let me feel you up for my art” kind of encounter. I love Kusama’s use of big panels to evoke the wide open spaces around Tohno’s home, and though the pair decide to date pretty durn swiftly, the result is still an unforgettable story.

“Cherry” is about Ueno, an overachieving student council member who only slows down once his glasses get broken, and Tama, a boy who’s friendly to everyone in class but treats Ueno more formally than the rest. Ueno’s near-blind state results in a terribly cute “I’ll take you home by bike” scene and a promise that they can kiss or something after the school festival. You wouldn’t think a bike scene would make a story stand out so much from its BL compatriots, but it does.

The third and final story, “Flowers,” is the weakest of the three. Kumon, a runner, is curious about Ozu, his classmate. Rumors begin swirling that Ozu has impregnated a girl, and when Kumon asks him about it, Ozu trades the details for gradually escalating intimacy. This story has the potential to deal with some weighty issues, but doesn’t delve too deeply, and the ending is just kind of dumb. Kusama writes in her notes that these stories were serialized at different times, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an earlier effort.

All in all, this is an intriguing collection of stories and I’m glad I read it.

– Review by Michelle Smith

Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies| By Noboru Takatsuki | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – I’ll be honest, here. Looking over the list of SuBLime Manga’s debut offerings, my initial reaction was one of disappointment. As a BL reader whose preferences lean towards thoughtful, carefully-developed romance and long-form storytelling, it was depressing to note that the imprint’s first few titles seemed to fall mainly into the categories of short stories, fluffy comedy, and gratuitous smut. Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies could be described as all three, but to a far more satisfying end than I ever would have imagined.

Oku is a bored office drone, whose single joy in life is fantasizing about Sudo, a local delivery man from a popular shipping company. In order to see Sudo as often as possible, Oku constantly orders things online, each time fantasizing about what might happen when his dream man arrives to deliver the package. Eventually, his orders extend to porn videos and sex toys, which he soon discovers are being sold to him by the company his neighbor works for. Once this discovery has been made, the neighbor, Yokoshima, drops by often, interrupting Oku’s fantasies with overly-exuberant friendliness and requests to try out new products. Though Oku initially finds this annoying, little by little, he finds himself warming up to Yokoshima. But can a real relationship ever live up to Oku’s fantasies?

There are a number of reasons why this manga really works, not the least of which is the fact that Oku’s (often hilarious) fantasies provide the opportunity for the author to include a whole lot of deliberately over-the-top, porno-rific sex scenes that actually serve the story. While even in the most serious romantic tales, sex sequences have a tendency to get in the way of the storytelling more than anything else, here they are actually a significant aspect of Oku’s character development, and even help to forward the plot. Even more surprising, is mangaka Noboru Takatsuki’s ability to write sexually-charged comedy that is actually funny, which is not something I generally associate with humorous BL manga. Takatsuki’s artwork is a highlight as well, serving the story’s comedy and erotica with equal skill.

Though SuBLime may not yet be satisfying my desire for epic, nuanced BL romance, they’ve managed to win me over with this charming bit of humorous smut. Surprisingly recommended.

– Review by MJ

Rainy Day Love | By Satomi Konno | Digital Manga Guild | Rated M (Mature)- One rainy day, Yuta Yoshizawa is working at his family’s senbei shop when Shizuno stops by. Graceful and handsome, Shizuno was a first-year member of the shogi club when Yuta was in his third year, and soon they’ve rekindled their friendship. In the blink of an eye, Yuta confesses his feelings, whereupon Shizuno reveals that he’s been in love with Yuta since sixth grade. After a brief interlude, during which these lovebirds realize that they don’t actually know each other at all, they start focusing their thoughts on consummating their relationship.

It’s not that Rainy Day Love is bad, really. It’s just really superficial. This is what I get for routinely judging BL by its covers—and this is a really nice one—but I somehow expected, from the title, more of a melancholy story. Instead, this is fast-paced and a little frivolous, with love confessions that are so abrupt and unconvincing that they made me go “Pfft!” and many scenes where super-deformed characters have dialogue like “Eep!” There is nothing wrong with a romance being silly—and there’s certainly something to be said for a story that doesn’t take its own drama seriously—but there’s nothing really compelling about it, either.

After Yuta and Shizuno manage to get it on, their story ends and the volume is rounded out with a couple tales about Yuta’s brother, Shoichi, and his friend Seigo, who’s been in love with him since elementary school. There’s really not much to recommend this, either, honestly. I guess if you like comedic BL about horndogs, then you might like Rainy Day Love. If you like more serious BL, like I do, then you’re probably going to be bored and disappointed.

– Review by Michelle Smith

In Brief:

Only Serious About You, Vol. 2 | By Kai Asou | Digital Manga Publishing | Rated YA (16+) – If volume one of Kai Asou’s Only Serious About You impressed me with its ability to craft a real, moving love story out of well-worn genre clichés, what’s most impressive about its second volume is its ability to make me forget that they were ever clichés to begin with. Though this volume’s primary conflict is divorced dad Oosawa’s struggle to maintain custody of his young daughter, the deeper issue here is his decision to accept his feelings for former playboy Yoshioka, and come out as his lover. Though the “only gay for you” syndrome is one of the genre’s least appealing tropes, here, it barely reads as a trope at all. On the negative side, Oosawa’s custody battle is resolved a tad too easily, but this is not nearly enough to sink a title this strong. Enthusiastically recommended. – MJ

Love Pistols | By Tarako Kotobuki | SuBLime Manga | Rated M (Mature) – Among the first four titles offered up by SuBLime Manga, Love Pistols would appear to be the closest to “my kind of BL,” at least on the surface. It’s a steamy, dramatic romance, told in multiple volumes (seven and counting), with some pretty complicated world-building and supernatural themes. Unfortunately so far, it’s also got a dull, controlling love interest, stunningly unappealing sex scenes, and just enough exposition to drown in. And while the tragic rarity of multi-volume BL ensures that I’ll give this series at least one more chance to win me over, there’s no denying the fact that reading its first volume was a distressingly unpleasant chore. Better luck next time, Love Pistols? Let’s hope so. – MJ

Review copies provided by the publishers. Cover art: The Bed of My Dear King © Sakae Kusama 2011, Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies © Noboru Takatsuki 2011, Love Pistols © Tarako Kotobuki 2004

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Other recent BL reviews from MJ & Michelle: I Love You, Chief Clerk! (JManga); Only Serious About You, Vol. 2 (Juné).

Pick of the Week: Longshots

February 13, 2012 by MJ, Katherine Dacey, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

Shipping slows down a bit this week at Midtown Comics, but the Battle Robot finds ways to spend their money, as always.

KATE: Though two of my all-time favorite shonen series appear on this week’s shipping list — those would be InuYasha and Kekkaishi, by the way — I’ll let another Battle Robot blogger sing their praises. My vote goes to The Art of The Secret World of Arrietty, a lovely coffee-table book featuring concept sketches, movie stills, and interviews with the creative team behind the Studio Ghibli film. Though the text is not as informative as it could be, the images are flat-out gorgeous; anyone who read Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, the book that inspired Arrietty, will be pleased at the way Studio Ghibli has brought her tiny characters to life. You’ll never look at a button or a thimble the same way again!

SEAN: This week seems to contain a lot of series that I’ve either never read or am so far behind on that a recommendation would be ridiculous. However, my own comic shop is getting a title that Midtown isn’t, the 3rd volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun. The second volume took a turn for the serious, which was greatly to its benefit, and I’m hoping that it will continue to keep up the pace. I’m also hoping for fewer tedious groping gags with the “lesbian” in the cast, but I’m fairly certain that I’ll be out of luck there. Still, give this Seven Seas series a try.

MICHELLE: I’m in a similar position to Sean this week: while I’ve been collecting Kekkaishi and 20th Century Boys, I am dreadfully far behind, and there’s no power on this earth that could induce me to read Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time. But there is one title on the list that I’ve read and loved, and that’s InuYasha. I can’t really comment on the VIZBIG editions themselves, having bought each volume of the series singly, but I love the warm, ensemble sitcom feeling of the series overall, and envy those who get to experience it through these editions for the first time, since the art is printed in its original orientation, which didn’t happen with the single-volume releases until some time in the late thirties. Notorious for meandering reptition, sure, but for me, InuYasha is manga comfort food at its finest.

MJ: I’m going to go off-list and into the digital only realm this week, to recommend volume one of Keiko Kinoshita’s You and Tonight, due out soon at eManga from the Digital Manga Guild. I was a big fan of Kiss Blue, a two-volume series from the same creator that was released on DMP’s Juné imprint, and I’m actually working on editing another of her short series for my reporter’s stint at the DMG. I’m consistently impressed by Kinoshita’s subtle humor and delicate touch (she’s even won me over to the dreaded BL Anthology), so when I saw that another group was working on You and Tonight, it immediately jumped to the top of my list of must-buy BL. I’ve always been a fan of the best-friends-turned-lovers trope, and given that this was also the premise for Kiss Blue, I’m gathering that it’s a favorite of Kinoshita’s as well. The first volume is already available for the Nook and Kindle, so I expect it’ll go live on eManga in just a day or two. Now the question is, will I be able to hold off until it appears for sale on the iPad? Only time will tell.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?