Sean Gaffney

By Hidekaz Himaruya. Released in Japan by Gentosha, originally serialized as an online webcomic, then in Comic Birz. Released in North America by Tokyopop in association with Right Stuf, Inc.

After a long wait, Tokyopop and Right Stuf bring us not one but two volumes of Hetalia just in time for the holidays. As you’d expect, there’s lots of historical in-jokes, wacky 4-koma humor, and stereotypes galore. You’d think that this would get tired eventually, but I’ve found myself enjoying the series even more, especially as the cast has widened from the main eight. Indeed, the back cover of Vol. 4 shows that Himaruya has done his best to add more female countries in order to balance things out – Hungary is a major player, of course, and Ukraine, Belarus, Belgium and Liechtenstein have had substantial roles. But in these two volumes we see Seychelles, Monaco, Vietnam, Taiwan, and even the Principality of Wy, though that last one may drive you to Wikipedia.

There seems to be a return to World War II after the previous volume, with many strips detailing the battles in Africa. These are all done with a light touch, of course, but there are historical facts sprinkled throughout – Italy’s poorly-designed tanks, Germany not realizing how hot Africa would be, and America barreling in ready to win at everything and getting his ass handed to him. There’s also examinations of prior military skirmishes, as Austria is forced to make a very dangerous decision when he’s on the verge of losing the Seven Years war and ask Russia and France to ally with him. And in the “Battle of the Ice”, a young Russia encounters Prussia and realizes that he is far too stupid to be allowed to live.

As you’d expect, there’s a lot of modern-day stuff as well. In fact, we get an alternate universe high school section in both volumes, based on the Hetalia otome game that came out in Japan a while back. Don’t worry, BL fans, Seychelles isn’t the star here. It has our three Axis Powers as the newspaper club, trying to do an article about the various school clubs and finding that almost all of them are eccentric and weird. In the 5th volume, we also get an examination of horror movies in many of the major countries, which vary greatly in mood and scare tactics.

There are two serious chapters in here, and strangely they both involve France, who is normally one of the most flamboyant of the Hetalia cast. In Volume 4 he runs into a young tourist visiting Paris, who is hinted to be a reincarnation of Jeanne D’Arc, France’s lost love. In the 5th, a construction worker meets France, and is somewhat taken aback by the fact that his grandfather had also met him, but France hasn’t aged a day. France has come to terms with it, but the man’s wife points out how sad it would be to never age while you watch your loved ones dying, and for a moment we understand the inner tragedy of what it must be like to be the personification of a country. (Himaruya has stated that Prussia lives on, by the way, first as ‘East Germany’ and now basically just as Prussia in modern times, living in Germany’s basement. I wonder how the nations face the death of a country.)

As long as there is history to be mined, there will still be Hetalia coming out, most likely. We get some development of Netherlands here as well, an amusing look at Southern Italy’s relationship with Spain, China dealing with a rebellious Hong Kong asking for more freedom, and Taiwan attempting to give Vietnam a makeover. There are character profiles which detail each nation’s flag, as well as the reasoning behind the design and colors of that flag. There are cute sidebars explaining weird laws in various countries, and a look at various foods. And we see Hungary forcing Austria to wear cat ears for Belgium’s festival, which satisfies the shipper in me. Those who find the premise rubs them the wrong way won’t want to pick this up, but fans of the series will find lots to love here. Definitely recommended.

By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

The majority of this volume of One Piece is composed of running around and fighting, as we tend to get when we’re 2/3 of the way through most story arcs in this series. Everyone is coming together from various disparate points (or, in the case of Luffy, getting dumped way the hell away from everyone) to try to stop Caesar Clown, who is upset that he has to kill them all in his secret base rather than out on Punk Hazard’s surface. We also get to see more of the fighting styles of minor villains Monet and Vergo. And thankfully we also get lots and lots of silliness.

One thing that gets a bit more attention this volume is the way that trust works in the world of One Piece. Luffy is, let’s face it, a man who inspires devotion and loyalty in his crew, but he’s not the only one. Most of the pirates, marines and mooks we see here are all fiercely proud and supportive of their leader, to the point almost of mindlessness. This is where Luffy’s crew stands out, of course – being real characters, they’re allowed to disagree with him or tell him he’s being stupid. The nameless marines and villains, however, don’t have that option, so they remain trusting and gullible to an extreme. When it’s someone like Tashigi who inspires them, that’s fine – she would never tell them to do something stupid, and indeed tries to protect them by stating that their foe is not the real Vergo. When it comes to Caesar, though…

Let’s face it, Caesar is a terrible, terrible liar. His “I am a good guy trying to help you all” act is pathetic, and it doesn’t say much for his mooks that they buy into it wholeheartedly. At least the little kids have the excuse of being too young to really understand. (though kudos to the one kid who sacrifices herself for the others, after Chopper finally convinces her what’s really happening). Caesar is not quite as scummy as, say, Spandam, but it’s still very satisfying to see Luffy beat the ever-loving snot out of him here.

There’s also Zoro and Tashigi, who get a lot of spotlight here. Tashigi’s character has always been fairly problematic, and it doesn’t really get any better here, as her compassion wars with her fierce competitiveness and her belief that Zoro is holding back whenever he’s near her because she’s a woman. Zoro, of course, is not about to tell her the real reason, and in any case is so far beyond her skill level now that he can take out Money, let her get in the final blow, and then agree to have her take the credit for it. Makes no difference to him, as that sort of thing is irrelevant when you’re on the level he is. In short, their relationship is still just as amusing yet awkward to read about as ever. (I did love her nerding out about his new sword as he carries her away from the gas, though.)

So overall another solid volume. The crew get chances to show off (Even Nami, whose weather control works well briefly against someone like Monet), and the collective treatment of Brownbeard is a comedic masterpiece. I am, however, looking forward to this arc being done in a volume or two.

By Atsushi Ohkubo. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

One of the most enjoyable things about Soul Eater is the way that the author balances out the seriousness and humor throughout the story. A lot of shonen fighting series tend to have long serious parts, then chapters that are pure goofy. Ohkubo, though, simply lets the humor come in anytime he feels like it, even if it’s in the middle of a pitched battle for everyone’s life. This is not to say that there aren’t pure comedy bits here (the middle chapter, which features Maka’s dad trying to be sympathetic and failing spectacularly – again) but the fact that you can find a goofy face or a silly moment anywhere actually helps add to the mood of the overall work. Soul Eater has always thrived on being one step off the edge, leaning slightly into madness.

The converse of this, of course, is that any silly moment can turn on a dime to become serious. Thus Black*Star’s self-aggrandizing has a serious point – the reason why he can push back Crona so easily is due to his own self-confidence and ego, while Crona is simply filled with hatred and loathing. Crona’s “I DON’T KNOW WHO MAKA IS!” is a cry of anguish that once again makes you realize that Crona’s entire life (the manga may choose to say he, but I prefer to be awkward – Crona is genderless on purpose) has been mental torture and abuse by Medusa. Speaking of Medusa, she’s back to being a mad scientist, and is perfectly content to justify her actions by noting she is a witch – not that all witches automatically stand against our heroes, but as Kim has shown us, they are generally assumed to be evil until proven otherwise.

As for Kid, once again we get the goofy stuff – his obsessive-compulsive disorder comes to the fore in a very funny way, as you realize that the one who’s really best at torturing Kid is Kid himself – followed by an unnerving scene where Kid meets another one of the Great Old Ones whose presence has made this world what it is – and is seemingly taken over by it, as the cliffhanger shows. Soul Eater does star Maka and Soul, but has been excellent at giving Black*Star and Kid enough character arcs and development that they also feel like co-stars.

And then there’s the gender-bending. Rule 63 has been around the Internet forever, but has appeared in actual canonical works less so. As such, it’s highly amusing to see the cast transformed into their opposite-gendered selves (though I do have a little niggle with the explanation why – it makes it sound like gays and lesbians don’t exist), particularly as Maka and Soul have to deal with the thing that most annoys them about the other – Maka’s male body is tempted by the succubus, and Soul bemoans the fact that it’s “just big boobs” that turn men on. Judging by the previous, this swap won’t take up too much time, but it’s fun to see.

In the end, this is why Soul Eater is one of the best shonen titles coming out here. It’s fun, but with a tinge of madness that never quite goes away. It skitters at the back of your brain.

By Quin Rose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru, based on the game by Quin Rose. Released in Japan as “Clover no Kuni no Alice – Cheshire Neko to Waltz” by Ichijinsha. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

(Note: this reviews mentions THAT Alice spoiler later on. You know the one.)

Now that this series has finally come to an end, I think it’s a good time to take a look at it in a larger context. Volume-wise, it’s the longest Alice series to date. However, many of these volumes were bloated up with side stories – some featuring Alice and Boris, some not – to the point where I suspect the actual content would struggle to make it to 5 volumes if put together on its own. Overall, I think the series was successful, but its tendency to meander and focus on the romance over the darker themes make it perhaps midrange in overall quality. Let’s see if we can pin down what it did best.

First off, the premise of the Clover world spinoffs (as opposed to Hearts) is that Alice has been there longer and is finding love with someone she already has a friendship with, as opposed to a sudden passionate love. I think it does a pretty good job of that here – much as I’m not a fan of the romance part of this series in general, the author does a good job of showing us Alice and Boris’ friendship, and how that’s affected by their growing love. It also shows off dealing with Boris’ cat-like tendencies – he can wander off, or seem aloof, and is quite changeable – as well as Alice’s mood swings and anger issues. And, of course, jealousy. It didn’t really knock me out, but as a romance it’s perfectly sweet.

The other thing I think this manga did very well is the attention that it gave to the ‘faceless’ inhabitants of Wonderland. Our view of this world has almost entirely come from Alice and the 12 ‘role-holders’, all of whom are naturally drawn to her by their very existence. The faceless are meant to be bodies filling out the story, so unimportant they don’t even get eyes. And yet Alice can tell then apart, something that mildly astounds everyone else. What’s more, here they are shown to have goals and lives beyond support of the heroes and heroine. Some are plotting a takeover against the hatter, some are jealous of Alice’s ability to get someone to love her whether she likes it or not, and some are just doing a job, even if it means their death. I’m still not certain about the faceless overall, but I have a much greater understanding of them after reading this.

And then there’s Lorina. This is the second book we’ve seen recently where Alice is shown abandoning the real world and staying in Wonderland with her love. I’ve discussed how this makes me slightly uncomfortable, something I think is entirely intentional on the author’s part. Cheshire Cat Waltz is not as dark and twisted as, say, Joker and Liar’s Game, however, so we see Alice, who’s having another post-traumatic breakdown, visited by Lorina’s spirit, who reassures her that it’s OK to forget and move on, and that her death (looks, it’s been 15+ books, I am now prepared to reveal the horrible secret of the Alice books) was not Alice’s fault. So her stay in Wonderland is couched in terms that make it look less like escaping from reality and more like accepting this is her new reality. How you feel about that depends on how you view the Alice series as a whole, I think.

As for the major drawback of the series, well, it meanders. It meanders even more than my reviews do. And just when each volume seems to be leading up to an exciting bit, the story ends halfway through so that we can get either side-stories of Alice and Boris in the Hearts world, or even worse, Crimson Empire side-stories that have nothing to do with this world at all. Read all at once, it must be more tolerable. Read over the course of a year, it’s a mess.

Still, overall, I’m pleased to have read this. Alice and Boris are cute, and it fleshed out the personalities of the non-Hatter cast a lot more. (The Hatter cast got a lot to do as well, but they always do.) It’s a good read for fans of the series. Just be prepared for the story to start and stop a lot.

By Sakura Tsubasa. Released in Japan as “Yoroshiku Master” by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine LaLa DX. Released in North America by Viz.

It’s rare to find a manga series with so many things I’m wary of and so many things that I love in the same package. Sweet Rein manages to hit all my buttons, both the good and bad ones. It’s fortunate that it’s only a 3-volume series, as I suspect this isn’t sustainable in the long-term, but as a short romantic comedy, it’s quite readable. Even the unrelated short story at the end manages to be deeper than I thought while also briefly appalling me. Sweet Rein pulls in about ten different directions.

The first thing that surprised me is the degree to which this is a magical girl series. Animal companion (who is also the romantic lead, but let’s save that for another paragraph) finds a somewhat melancholic girl dissatisfied with her life and shows her that she can bring happiness to the world. In this case, the animal companion is a reindeer who is actually a young man named Kaito. His entire family is reindeer (on his mother’s side), and when he meets our heroine, Kurumi, it’s love at first sight. In fact, it’s more than that. The Japanese title of this series translates as “Hello, Master!”, and it becomes clear that Kaito is bound to Kurumi, both physically and emotionally. This doesn’t bother him at all, but gives her some difficulties. What part of his feelings are his own heart, and what is the magic “making” him love her?

Because this is a magical girl series deep down, I was a bit more forgiving of some of the more ridiculous plot contrivances, though the Spirit of Christmas curing cancer was a bit much even for me. It’s far more fun to focus on Kurumi, who is a more down-to-earth and practical person than many shoujo heroines, and doesn’t even crack a smile till towards the end of the first chapter. Her background will be familiar to readers of this genre – mother long dead, father works long hours to support them so he’s never home, all her friends out with guys for Christmas. The Japanese reading of Christmas as being “Love + Santa” really comes into play here, with little to no religious subtext. (And thank God for that.) As for the reindeer thing, it would seem that Kaito’s body is ‘default human’, so I can deal. They do make a cute couple.

The side story is unrelated to the main action, being a one-shot about an immortal vampire (who looks like a cute young man) being saddled with a daughter from a woman that he had bedded some time ago. Most of the chapter is actually decent, with a good look at what it’s like to be an immortal and watch everyone you love die, and a nice vampire mythology that basically makes “turning” someone pot luck – either they die or they become vampires, they usually die, and it’s not controllable. Unfortunately, the entire thing is nearly upended by a very unfortunate choice at the end, where the art and storyline dovetail in exactly the way I was hoping they wouldn’t the moment this little girl showed up. Bleah.

Overall, though, I think the good parts of this manga outweighed the bad. It’s the sort of series that I suspect you shouldn’t think too deeply about, which makes it a bad fit for me but a great choice for anyone looking for some Christmas escapism.