Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

Manga the Week of 2/18

by , , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: A fairly subdued third week, with a lot of recurring series and one decidedly odd debut.

On the Kodansha side, Cage of Eden has another fanservice-tastic cover for its 17th volume, but hopefully will work in some more giant extinct animals and brushes with death as well.

And we get the final volume of over-the-top manga comedy Manga Dogs with Vol. 3.

Seven Seas has a fourth volume of Black Butl—sorry, of Devils & Realist. (Their plots aren’t all that alike, but they seem to share the same aesthetic.)

And we get a 2nd volume of superhero manga Lucifer & The Biscuit Hammer, with vols. 3 & 4. The end of the first omnibus got dark pretty fast – will we get new heroes?

ASH: I had no idea what to expect from the first omnibus, and I’m not sure where the second one will be going, but I’m rather enjoying the series’ quirkiness.

hitomi1

SEAN: Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary is a new Seven Seas series that looks to combine monsters from mythology and slapstick comedy. And given it runs in Comic Ryu, I expect a lot of fanservice as well.

Vertical has a 5th volume of shonen card-battle manga Cardfight!! Vanguard (the exclamation point placement is very important).

And a 3rd Witchcraft Works, with more witches and badass heroines.

ASH: Another delightfully quirky series that I’m enjoying. The artwork is quite nice, too.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has a 5th volume of dystopian action series Gangsta.

ASH: I’m actually behind in reading Gangsta, but I’ll definitely be picking up the new volume.

ANNA: I think I missed the fourth volume! I do really enjoy this series and am looking forward to catching up.

SEAN: Are you watching out for something this week?

MICHELLE: I am sad to say that literally nothing on this list particularly appeals to me. But! All hope is not lost, for there is more Boys Over Flowers on the horizon and that makes me cautiously happy!

MJ: I am sad to say the same. And I’m probably more skeptical about the Boys Over Flowers than Michelle is, so even that fills me with “meh.”

SEAN: Boys Over Flowers… so much influence, so many volumes, so much “WHY?!?!”

MICHELLE: I admit it has many flaws, but I love it anyway. I’m afraid season two will really suck, but that won’t keep me from checking it out anyway.

ANNA: I am super excited for this!

Gauntlet

by

GauntletAuthor: Ellery Prime
Illustrator: T2A
Publisher: Chromatic Press
ISBN: 9780993861123
Released: December 2014

Although Ellery Prime has been writing for years, Gauntlet, illustrated by the talented T2A, is her first original novel to have been published. Gauntlet is also the first novel to have both started and finished in Chromatic Press’ multi-media online magazine Sparkler Monthly before being released in print. Gauntlet began serialization in the very first issue of Sparkler Monthly in 2013 and was completed in 2014, after which it was revised and complied into a single volume. The finalized version of Gauntlet also includes additional material not found elsewhere: “Square One,” a short prequel to the main story, as well as a few amusing yonkoma-style bonus comics. Gauntlet has been very accurately described as a “survival horror romance novel” by the publisher. I’m actually kind of glad that I waited to read Gauntlet until it had been finished; the number of twists and cliffhangers would have made the wait between chapters torturous.

Twenty-two-year-old Clio has recently moved to the big city. Embarking on her new life as a responsible, independent adult, Clio is largely enjoying living on her own. After three months she has grown more and more comfortable as a resident of the city and with finding her way around its streets and alleyways, but that all changes when she makes a wrong turn and puts her trust into the wrong people. Suddenly Clio finds herself a reluctant participant in a game of survival, trapped inside the Gauntlet–an incredible and expansive system of interconnected buildings at the heart of the city. Clio doesn’t even know the rules she should be following, nor does she know who is responsible for the game or why she was chosen as a participant. Each person she encounters in the Gauntlet has their own reasons for being there, and many are playing by their own rules. Clio may be in even more danger than she realizes. The other players she meets are just as likely to manipulate or betray her as they are to help her.

Gauntlet -T2AOne of the things that makes Gauntlet particularly engaging and enthralling is its setting–the Gauntlet itself. The complex is logic-defying, a constantly changing labyrinth that presents very real survival concerns: finding food, clean water, and safe places to hide and rest, not to mention avoiding capture and falling into the hands or under the influence of people who, intentionally or not, mean harm. But the Gauntlet is also insidiously seductive. At first Clio desperately wants to find a way out and to escape, but there’s an underlying fear that she will lose her will to do so. Some people, perhaps most, never leave the Gauntlet after entering it even if they survive. Clio discovers many who are mindlessly shuffling through its halls and corridors as well as participants who have simply give up, content to be controlled by others. But most dangerous and terrifying are those people who have made deliberate, conscious decisions to remain within the Gauntlet’s depths.

The characters in Gauntlet are just as intriguing and complex as the novel’s setting. In the beginning Clio isn’t nearly as independent as she believes herself to be. Very early on she attaches herself to Britt, another young woman in the Gauntlet, which will have significant ramifications later on. Again and again Clio comes to rely on others and again and again she is taken advantage of by those very same people, all of whom have their own motivations and desires. But she grows and becomes stronger, impressively so. In some ways, Gauntlet feels like a dark homage to Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland–the Gauntlet and the people within it operate by their own logic with surprising, unexpected, and sometimes curious and peculiar results–and there are frequent nods to other stories and fairy tales as well. After finishing the novel, not only did I want more of Gauntlet, I also wanted to immediately read it again to see how all of its individual pieces fit together from the beginning. That, to me, is a sign of a great piece of fiction.

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 10

by

By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi. Released in Japan as “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai” by Media Factory, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Alive. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

There is always a certain level of frustration in a harem comedy, which its audience tends to want resolved immediately and its parent company tends to want to have it go on indefinitely. The author is usually caught in the middle somewhere. Harem fans love the romance to a point, but after around 6 or 7 volumes the voices start creeping in, wondering why the hero doesn’t understand that all these girls are all over him, why isn’t he going after (girl who is not the lead girl), why isn’t he manning up and showing all these girls who’s boss? (I will get into the inherent sexism of much of the harem manga fans at a later date.) Haganai has always been a bit meta about such things, and here the face of that fan becomes Rika, as she has finally had enough of Kodaka’s act.

haganai10

There’s actually a nice buildup to this the entire volume. Sena’s attraction to Kodaka has been obvious, as has her frustration, but Kodaka has been very good about hiding his desires for anything to go further with anyone. Now we see that he’s starting to become more obvious – ending up shopping with Sena on what is clearly a date, at least until she presses the issue of whether he wants a girlfriend or not. Later on, when Kate and Maria (look, if I say ‘Zoro’ and ‘Ryouga’ I’m allowed to say ‘Kate’ as well) show up at his house, and we get the inevitable full frontal nudity fanservice that seems to be this titles way of driving away any readers I might lead to it, Kate observes that she’s like to go after him, but it’s no real use – after all, he has Sena. His ‘huh?’ is used as the cliffhanger here, but when it’s followed in the next chapter by ‘I knew what she was trying to say’ we know that he’s started to stop lying to himself, at least.

The Friends Club is, to a degree, inhabited by people who are socially inept and have difficulty communicating in ways that society considers ‘normal’. This manifests itself on Kodaka’s end both by his desire to have the club stay together no matter what, but also his denial that he has any friends, the purpose of the club. Staying in a comfortable place where you can quietly hate yourself and hang out with friends without risking anything. If you admit you’re friends, then why have a club? If you admit you’re falling for Sena, then won’t everything fall apart? And is this club more important to someone like Yozora than it is anyone else?

This culminates in the maid cafe scene, where the girls all do their best to show why a maid cafe is a disastrous idea. For Rika this involves acting like a stereotypical ‘tsundere’ maid, but in reality it’s a way to work off some stress about Kodaka’s dumb act. Earlier in the volume, we heard her say out loud that no one can be that oblivious, and his response was, naturally, “What’s that?’. Readers of this series should know that’s almost a catchphrase by now, and it’s not because he’s hard of hearing. So when Rika ‘serves’ Kodaka as a maid, her service turns into 15 minutes of abuse and torture, which the others observe is a way to get her frustration out of her system. Kodaka admits to himself he knows what she was trying to do. But he still doesn’t say anything.

Can a harem comedy, especially these days, go on forever without making a choice? If Kodaka admits his feelings for Sena, will the readers abandon ship the way Yozora might? It’s a high-wire act that’s really hard to achieve, but a little meta makes it enjoyable.

Pick of the Week: Magi & more

by , , , and 3 Comments

potwMICHELLE: While I really do enjoy Say I Love You. and look forward to its sixth volume, I’ve been in a more shounen-y mood lately, and so must pick (again, and probably not for the last time) volume ten of Magi, which is, like, an adventure saga with heart.

SEAN: As for me, I only get to do it twice a year, so I will pick the 25th Hayate the Combat Butler, which still makes me laugh an awful lot, thus fulfilling its function as a comedy, and also makes me like a girl that the hero is never going to end up with, thus fulfilling its function as a harem comedy.

ANNA: I will have to go with Say I Love You. I do enjoy this series, but I’m a few volumes behind. Time to stock up!

ASH: There are several manga being released this week that I’m interested in, all the way from A to Z. (Seriously, from Ajin to Ze.) But I’m actually going to go off list for my pick and choose Netcomics. Over the last few weeks, Netcomics has been releasing much its back catalog digitally for the Kindle–including Let Dai and Black-Winged Love, some of my personal favorites–making it even easier to get into Netcomics’ comics.

MJ: I will copy Ash this week, because really, Let Dai on Kindle? Be still my heart! Netcomics has started releasing some print volumes again recently, too. More about that here soon!

What looks good to you this week?

New Shojo Beat Titles Announced

by

qqsweeperVIZ announced two new acquisitions: Kyousuke Motomi’s QQ Sweeper, and Arina Tanemura’s Idol Dreams. Both manga will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, and will debut in fall 2015.

Speaking of new licenses, Crunchyroll just added Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth: Side P4 to its manga line-up.

Never underestimate a ninja’s powers: volume 68 of Naruto ranked fifth on the Nielsen BookScan Graphic Novel Chart for January 2015. Other manga making the top 20 included the first volume of Attack on Titan and the omnibus of All You Need Is Kill.

Johanna Draper Carlson breaks down the numbers for DMP’s latest Kickstarter campaigns.

Erica Friedman compiles the latest yuri news from around the web.

Over at Nagareboshi Reviews, Sarah compares Soul Eater with its prequel Soul Eater NOT!

Ash Brown catalogs his January manga acquisitions, then posts some brief reviews.

Manga expert Helen McCarthy offers a sneak peak at her latest publication, How to Draw Manga Made Easy, due out in April.

Don’t click on an empty stomach! Ed Chavez shares some mouth-watering photos from the official What Did You Eat Yesterday? blog. Also at the Vertical Tumblr: a candid Q&A session about licenses, sales, and beer pairings (!) for shonen, josei, gekiga, and cat manga. Click here for part one; click here for part two.

What’s it like to work for Crunchyroll? Justin Stroman interviews software engineer Evan Minto about his transition from manga blogger to industry insider.

Police in Burrell, PA are investigating a fifth grade student for posting a Death Note-inspired message inside Stewart Elementary School last week. Local media outlet WPXI reports that the school has notified the parents of the six boys listed on the so-called “death note,” and is taking additional measures to address the situation. According to Anime News Network, this incident marks the seventh time that an American student has faced disciplinary action for imitating the hero’s actions in Death Note.

News from Japan: Katsumasa Enokiya’s Hibi Rock and Satol Yuige’s Ku – Neuntöte Vampire are wrapping in February and April, respectively. The final chapter of You Higuri’s Gakuen Heaven: Double Scramble will appear in the March 7th issue of Monthly Magazine BExBOY.

To mark the release of the first volume of Tsubasa: World Chronicle, CLAMP has penned a bonus chapter for the February 17th edition of Shonen Magazine.

Shojo manga-ka Io Sakisaka is having a busy year: in addition to writing an epilogue for the now-completed Strobe Edge, she’s also at work on a new series for Bessatsu Margaret. Look for the first chapter in the July issue.

Kazuma Kamaichi’s popular Heavy Object novels are getting the manga treatment again; look for Heavy Object A (Ace) in the February 27th issue of Dengeki Maoh. Million Doll, a manga about an idol otaku, is being adapted for television by Asahi Production for a July premiere.

Reviews: Put on your scuba gear–Shaenon Garrity devotes the latest House of 1000 Manga column to Daisuke Igarashi’s atmospheric Children of the Sea. Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman reviews Whispered Words, an all-too-rare example of yuri in English.

Sheena McNeil on vol. 13 of 07-Ghost (Sequential Tart)
Nic Wilcox on vols. 1-2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late-Night Tea Party (No Flying No Tights)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Deadman Wonderland (Comic Book Bin)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Girls Like Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Food Wars! (Comic Book Bin)
Nick Creamer on vol. 2 of Genshinken: Second Season (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Hakugin no Gymnasium (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Happy Marriage?! (Comic Book Bin)
A Library Girl on The History of the West Wing (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood: Part One (The Fandom Post)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 16 of Kamisama Kiss (Sequential Tart)
ebooksgirl on vol. 1 of My Neighbor Seki (Geek Lit Etc.)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 6 of Nisekoi: False Love (Sequential Tart)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 9 of No. 6 (ANN)
Matthew Warner on vol. 73 of One Piece (The Fandom Post)
Kayleigh Hearn on Sakuran (Deadshirt)
Josh Begley on vol. 5 of Vinland Saga (The Fandom Post)
Julia Smith on vol. 1 of Witchcraft Works (The Fandom Post)

My Week in Manga: February 2-February 8, 2015

by

My News and Reviews

A small variety of posts went up at Experiments in Manga last week. First up, the Cinderalla manga giveaway winner was announced. The contest was a tie-in to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival, so the post also includes a list of the featured creators’ manga available in English. The first in-depth manga review for February was Saki Nakagawa’s Attack on Titan: Junior High, a parody spinoff of the immensely popular Attack on Titan franchise. The series’ funniness can be somewhat uneven, but it can be absolutely hilarious at times. And posted over the weekend was January’s Bookshelf Overload, revealing the absurd amount of manga that came into my household last month.

Elsewhere online, Viz Media’s Shojo Beat announced two new licenses: QQ Sweeper by Kyousuke Motomi (the creator of Dengeki Daisy, which I rather enjoy) and Idol Dreams by Arina Tanemura. Organization Anti-Social Geniuses posted The Very Unofficial Guide to Discovering Manga in 2015, which is a nice overview of demographics, publishers, where to read and buy manga, and so on. Den of Geek has an interview with comics historian Graham Kolbeins, one of the editors behind Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It and The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of Gay Erotic Manga. Finally, Otaku USA interviews Patrick Macias about Hypersonic Music Club, his collaboration with artist Hiroyuki Takahashi and the first of Crunchyroll Manga’s original series.

Quick Takes

Sky LinkSky Link by Shiro Yamada. Like many boys’ love mangaka, before making her professional debut Yamada started by creating doujinshi (she seems to have been particularly fond of pairing Gintoki and Hijikata from Gin Tama together). Sky Link is Yamada’s first original manga and is currently the only work of hers available in English. The volume collects two unrelated boys’ love stories, the titular “Sky Link” and “You through a Kaleidoscope.” Unfortunately, neither of the short manga are particularly satisfying; while her artwork can at times be quite lovely (occasionally her characters’ eyes are unintentionally creepy), Yamada definitely has room to grow as a storyteller. “Sky Link” had too many disparate elements to it. It could have worked quite well as a longer series, but as a short story Yamada didn’t have enough time to effectively develop the plot or characters and everything is left frustratingly vague. Ritsuki is a first year college student with some sort of troubled past who has caught the attention and affections of one of his new professors who, it is later revealed, has a troubled past of his own. “You through a Kaleidoscope,” a fairly standard high school boys’ love romance, isn’t as ambitious but is more successful as a result.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Omnibus 1Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Omnibuses 1-2 (equivalent to Volumes 1-6) by CLAMP. I originally read the first few volumes of Tsubasa back when it was being released by Del Rey. Because I was borrowing it from the library and people had a tendency to steal volumes Tsubasa and its sort-of crossover series xxxHolic, I never got very far with the series. I’m glad that Kodansha is bringing Tsubasa back into print, because it really is an immensely enjoyable adventure tale. And because the setting is constantly moving from one dimension to the next, CLAMP is able to have a lot of fun with the clothing designs and worldbuilding from one short story arc to the next. The drive of the series is the search for Princess Sakura’s memory, pieces of which have been scattered throughout space and time, but the remembrances of her and the other characters form an important part of the story as well. I do think I’m enjoying Tsubasa a little more my second time trying to read it. I’ve now been exposed to more of CLAMP’s work, so I can better appreciate the references being made and the alternate-dimension versions of characters from the group’s other manga. (Seeing couples originally from X actually have a chance at happiness is both touching and heart-wrenching.)

UQHolder3UQ Holder!, Volume 3 by Ken Akamatsu. I enjoyed the third volume of UQ Holder more than I did the first two, but the series has yet to win me over. It seems as though the manga is starting to focus a bit more, which it desperately needed to do, but that may simply be because Akamatsu spends very little time on trying to develop a coherent plot and primarily sticks with the action sequences. The third volume is almost entirely devoted to a sequence of fight scenes. Right now the battles in UQ Holder are probably my favorite thing about the series. They are entertaining, exciting, and extremely energetic. And because immortals are involved, they can be pretty epic, too. The damage inflicted on both persons and property is impressive. Many of the characters, even the non-immortals, have superhuman powers of some sort. Incredible strength, quick regeneration, shape-shifting, and magic—either alone or in combination—are only a few examples of the over-the-top abilities found in UQ Holder. But as entertaining as the battles can be, from time to time the action is unclear. Something will happen and it will be extremely difficult to understand exactly what or how. I’m not even going to try to attempt to explain why Yukihime suddenly loses her skirt for seemingly no reason.

Bookshelf Overload: January 2015

by

Well, 2015 is off to a rather impressive start when it comes to the somewhat ridiculous amount of manga making its way into my household. Thanks to some gift cards, major sales at my local comic book shop (where I picked up a ton of out-of-print manga), and one of the biggest boxes of review copies that I’ve ever received, my wallet isn’t hurting nearly as much as it might initially appear. (Thankfully.) There were still quite a few preorders in January, though. I was particularly pleased to see the third volume of Black Rose Alice by Setona Mizushiro (which I believe was technically released in February and I just happened to end up with an early copy), as well as What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 6 by Fumi Yoshinaga and the debut of My Neighbor Seki by Takuma Morishige. Ken Niimura’s Henshin is another interesting, and rather delightful, release from January. (Review to come soon!) As for out-of-print finds, I was very lucky to come across a complete set of Museum of Terror, an anthology series from Dark Horse of some of Junji Ito’s horror manga. I was also able to fill in a couple of missing copies from my Tramps Like Us collection, which made me happy.

Manga!
Air Gear, Volume 32 by Oh!Great
Alice in the Country of Hearts, Omnibus 3 by Soumei Hoshino
Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit, Volumes 1-2 written by Owl Shinotsuki, illustrated by Delico Psyche
Apple and Honey: His Rose Colored Life by Hideyoshico
Attack on Titan, Volume 14 by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, Volume 3 written by Ryo Suzukaze, illustrated by Satoshi Shiki
Attack on Titan: Junior High, Omnibus 2 by Saki Nakagawa
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Omnibus 5 by Yukito Kishiro
Black Rose Alice, Volume 3 by Setona Mizushiro
Cage of Eden, Volume 16 by Yoshinobu Yamada
Does The Flower Blossom?, Volume 1 by Shoko Hidaka
Earthian, Volume 4 by Yun Kouga
Fairy Tail, Volumes 44-46 by Hiro Mashima
Finder, Volume 7: Desire in the Viewfinder by Ayano Yamane
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 4 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
Hands Off!, Volumes 1-8 by Kasane Katsumoto
Hands Off!: Don’t Call Us Angels, Volumes 1-2 by Kasane Katsumoto
Henshin by Ken Niimura
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 2 by Hiromu Arakawa
IC in a Sunflower by Mitsukazu Mihara
Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibus 7 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
Manga Dogs, Volume 2 by Ema Toyama
Missions of Love, Volume 10 by Ema Toyama
Museum of Terror, Volumes 1-3 by Junji Ito
My Little Monster, Volumes 5-6 by Robico
My Neighbor Seki, Volume 1 by Takuma Morishige
Noragami: Stray God, Volumes 2-3 by Adachitoka
Oishinbo, A la Carte: The Joy of Rice written by Tetsu Kariya, illustrated by Akira Hanasaki
Sankarea: Undying Love, Volume 10 by Mitsuru Hattori
Say I Love You, Volume 5 by Kanae Hazuki
R.I.P. : Requiem in Phonybrian by Mitsukazu Mihara
The Seven Deadly Sins, Volumes 5-6 by Nakaba Suzuki
Terra Formars, Volume 4 written by Yu Sasuga, illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana
Tramps Like Us, Volumes 11-12 by Yayoi Ogawa
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Omnibus 2 by CLAMP
UQ Holder, Volume 3 Ken Akamatsu
What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 6 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Whispered Words, Omnibus 3 by Takashi Ikeda
Will You Be My Cute Crossdresser? by Mitohi Matsumoto
Witchcraft by Yamatogawa
xxxHolic, Omnibus 4 by CLAMP
xxxHolic: Rei, Volume 2 by CLAMP

Manhwa!
Give to the Heart, Volume 2 by Wann
The Tarot Café, Volume 4 by Sang-sun Park

Comics!
Never Forgets by Yumi Sakugawa
Prince of Cats, Issue 6 by Kori Michele Handwerker
Starfighter, Chapter 3 by HamletMachine

Nonfiction!
Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan edited by Mark McLelland, Kazumi Nagaike, Katsuhiko Suganuma, James Welker
Infamy: The shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves

Anime!
Ai no Kusabi: The Space Between directed by Katsuhito Akiyama

Film!
Ping Pong directed by Fumihiko Sori

Music!
Aku no Sanka (Flowers of Evil soundtrack) by Hideyuki Fukasawa

Noteworthy Manga of 2015

by

In a recent poll, Japanese retailer Honya Club asked bookstore workers, “What manga should we read in 2015?” Topping the list of recommendations was The Ancient Magus’ Bride (which has been licensed by Seven Seas) and My Hero Academia. On the strength of the cover art alone, I’d love to see Takadaike no Hitobito licensed:

Takadiake_Cover

Is the end in sight for Golgo 13? Creator Taiko Saito has hinted that his long-running adventure series is entering the home stretch. Golgo 13‘s first chapter debuted in 1968–47 years ago!

Otaku USA interviews Patrick Macias about Hypersonic Music Club, a joint collaboration between Macias and Japanese illustrator Hiroyuki Takahashi.

Scott Green previews Happiness, a horror manga from the creator of Flowers of Evil.

Alenka Figa lists five anime and manga with solid, nuanced queer characters.

And speaking of queer manga, the Huffington Post interviews Graham Kolbeins about Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.

Wondering how to discover great new manga? Justin Stroman posts a comprehensive guide to the US manga market.

Heart of Manga host Laura M. lists the current serializations in YOU, a josei magazine for older female readers.

The Manga Bookshelf crew discuss next week’s new manga.

VIZ just announced two more digital license rescues from the CLAMP catalog: The One I Love, an anthology of short stories, and Wish, a four-volume series about a man who rescues an angel from a tree.

Stop the presses–Attack on Titan has been bumped from this week’s New York Times Manga Best Seller list by Akame Ga Kill!, Soul Eater, and Black Butler.

Reviews: If you haven’t subscribed to Sparkler Magazine, MJ’s enthusiastic review of The Ring of Saturn might just persuade you to give it a try. MJalso joined fellow MB bloggers Sean Gaffney and Anna N. in compiling this week’s Bookshelf Briefs.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 10 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Assassination Classroom (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan: Junior High Omnibus (Experiments in Manga)
Anna N. on vol. 3 of Black Rose Alice (Manga Report)
Megan R. on Boys Over Flowers (The Manga Test Drive)
Lori Henderson on vols. 43-44, 46-47 of Case Closed (Manga Xanadu)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Drug & Drop (ICv2)
James on Golgo 13 (Kotaku)
Ken H. on vol. 7 of From the New World (Sequential Ink)
Jocelyn Allen on How Are You? (Brain vs. Book)
Alex Hoffman on In Clothes Called Fat and Pink (Sequential State)
Nick Smith on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (ICv2)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part One: Phantom Blood (Manga Report)
Helen on vols. 1-3 of Millennium Snow (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Laura on Pearl Pink (Heart of Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 9 of Umineko: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Attack on Titan: Junior High, Vol. 2

by

Attack on Titan: Junior High, Omnibus 2Creator: Saki Nakagawa
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781612629186
Released: November 2014
Original release: 2013-2014

I was actually a little surprised by how much I ended up liking the first omnibus of Attack on Titan: Junior High. Created by Saki Nakagawa with input from Hajime Isayama (both of whom actually attended the same design school, though that fact is more of a coincidence than anything else), Attack on Titan: Junior High is specifically a parody spinoff of Isayama’s immensely popular manga series Attack on Titan. More generally, the series is also a parody of just about any manga with a school setting. Attack on Titan: Junior High is an odd mix of Attack on Titan and contemporary school life that actually manages to work much of the time. The second Attack on Titan: Junior High omnibus, released by Kodansha Comics in 2014, collects the third and fourth volumes of the series’ original Japanese edition, published in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Kodansha was kind enough to send me a review copy of Attack on Titan: Junior high, Omnibus 2 which, because I enjoyed the first omnibus, I was particularly happy to see.

Life isn’t easy for the human students of Attack Junior High. Not only do they have to worry about the normal sorts of challenges encountered at school–getting a passing grade in class, surviving the ire of upperclassmen, daring to ask another student on a date, ensuring their clubs aren’t suspended, and so on–they also have to worry about the rest of the student body, the Titans. It doesn’t help that Attack Junior High’s principal just so happens to be a Titan as well, meaning most of the administration looks the other way as the Titans terrorize the much smaller students, the victims of bullying and stolen lunches. But then there’s the beloved teacher Mr. Erwin Smith who on the surface seems to favor the Titans when in actuality he harbors a deep-seated hatred so intense that it rivals Eren’s. Considering Eren’s single-minded commitment to taking on and taking out all of the Titans, this is rather impressive.

There is no denying that Attack on Titan: Junior High is an utterly ridiculous manga series. In general, I think that overall I probably enjoyed the first omnibus slightly more. The novelty of the spinoff has worn off some, but the second omnibus still managed to make me laugh on multiple occasions. I do find that the series works best for me when it is directly riffing on the original Attack on Titan manga and its fandom rather than playing around with more generic story tropes. Granted, from time to time those parodies can be entertaining, as well. But ultimately Attack on Titan: Junior High tends to be rather uneven with its humor. Sometimes the manga can be absolutely hilarious, but just as often the attempts at comedy just aren’t very funny. Unsurprisingly, many of the jokes in the series require readers to already be very familiar with Attack on Titan to really appreciate them, but it’s those readers for whom the series is intended to begin with.

Attack on Titan: Junior High and its style of humor certainly will not appeal to everyone. It’s not particularly clever and much of the manga can only be enjoyed by readers who are already predisposed towards random, absurd, and frequently nonsensical comedy. The English translation and localization of Attack on Titan: Junior High is fairly loose in sections, adding a few jokes here and there and freely changing pop culture references to ones that will likely be more recognizable to Western audiences. I’m not sure how funny or effective some of the changes will be in a few years’ time since they often refer to recent events, but for now they are amusing. The best gags are those where Nakagawa takes the characters of Attack on Titan and emphasizes and distorts their personality quirks to extremes. One of the most appealing things about the original Attack on Titan is its ensemble cast, and that is true of Attack on Titan: Junior High as well. Fortunately, that’s something that doesn’t rely on timeliness.

Thank you to Kodansha for providing a copy of Attack on Titan: Junior High, Omnibus 1 for review.

Manga the Week of 2/11

by , , , and 2 Comments

SEAN: It’s Velentine’s Day week at Manga the Week of, and I wonder how romantic these titles are?

Ze from 801 Media has hit double digits, and is still the most popular manga among titles with two letters in them. (Sorry, ES).

MICHELLE: Tezuka’s MW: *kicks a rock*.

SEAN: I feel ashamed for forgetting about MW. All right, sorry, Ze. I have no jokes to make about you at all. Hang your head.

ASH: I was actually just thinking about Eternal Sabbath the other day…

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us more manly manga with a 4th Samurai Executioner omnibus.

A 6th volume of Say “I Love You” from Kodansha gives us more shoujo angst.

MICHELLE: Woot!

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle omnibus as well.

MJ: I think there’s a general feeling of “ho hum” regarding this omnibus release, but I’m really happy to see it. I read this series by way of library copies and volumes borrowed from friends, and I’ve been eyeing it as a way to finally collect it for myself. So, yay!

alice7

SEAN: Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus & Liar’s Game has been my favorite Alice spinoff, and I am sad to see it come to an end with this 7th volume.

ASH: I recently finished reading Alice in the Country of Hearts and really enjoyed it; this might actually be the spinoff I tackle next.

ANNA: I liked the main series but have never been able to get more than a couple volumes into a spinoff.

MICHELLE: Same here.

SEAN: Dragonar Academy has a 5th volume.

And we get the final volume of I Am Alice: Bodyswap in Wonderland, making this a double-Alice week.

Vertical has the 3rd volume of Ajin, which has demi-humans (are there panhumans?).

ASH: Demi-humans, pan-humans, omni-humans, in-humans, etc., etc.

SEAN: And another gritty title from Vertical, the 2nd volume of Prophecy, which continues to not feature a giant mutated bear. I suppose that’s not technically a flaw.

ASH: No, no bears, but still one of the best manga series that I’ve read lately.

SEAN: Viz has a quartet of titles, beginning with the 7th volume of Deadman Wonderland.

I reviewed Hayate the Combat Butler 25 here. Can it follow up from its recent dramatic turn?

And Magi has Vol. 10 arrive, which I anticipate will be awesome. Just a guess.

MICHELLE: And woot again!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 6th volume of the Tiger & Bunny manga, which likely has far more BL fans than actual BL titles like Ze.

ASH: And you didn’t think you had any jokes about Ze to make!

MJ: Ha!

SEAN: That’s actually not that much romance. What looks good to you?