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Pick of the Week: Gundam All Around!

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gundam2SEAN: Um, Gundam the Origin, pretty much. As for why, see my Manga the Week of post.

MICHELLE: Yep, Gundam: The Origin for me, too. With the exception of Fairy Tail (and I’m so far behind on that), nothing else this week interests me.

ANNA: Gundam: The Origin forever!!!!!

MJ: I’m right there with you. This week, it’s all about Gundam, and really it’s not due to the lack of competition. Though I wish the series was a bit more character-driven rather than plot-driven, its stunning artwork is enough to keep me coming back for more.

What looks good to you this week?

Bookshelf Briefs 6/24/13

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This week, Michelle, Sean, and Anna look at recent releases from Viz Media, Seven Seas, and Yen Press.

bloodlad3Blood Lad, Vol. 3 | By Yuuki Kodama | Yen Press – Blood Lad remains the frontrunner for the “Surprise Favorite of 2013” award in my book. True, I could not possibly be less interested in the machinations of Staz’s dastardly older brother, Braz, but there are plenty of characters that I unexpectedly like quite a lot, including Staz’s little sister, Liz, who is like the Yotsuba of the demon world, and the slouchy, laid-back dragon in this volume, who ends up steering our leads onto a new and intriguing path. And true, the fanservice is not my style, but the humor usually is. Also, I especially like that the series goes places I don’t expect—we begin the volume with Fuyumi (the ghost of a human) having been kidnapped, and I was all set for some demon power struggle to ensue, but that is actually not where things go at all. I look forward to more! – Michelle Smith

demon3Demon Love Spell, Vol. 3 | By Mayu Shinjo | Viz Media – I have to admit, Shinjo is doing a really good job making me sympathize with the incubus here, particularly in the first half of this volume. In particular, the confrontation between Kagura and Miko regarding her semi-arranged marriage is one of the best scenes so far, really laying out how conflicted Miko is, but also that how she’s handling it is absolutely the wrong way to go about things. As for Kagura, while he admits to pretending to be weaker than he is so that he can get more from Miko, he’s actually being fairly considerate given his creator. I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing his “human” self again, though. The second half is less interesting, but still pretty solid, and shows why these two haven’t gone further in their relationship – Miko’s feelings are still too fragile. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai3Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 3 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – This volume exists pretty much to introduce the rest of the main cast. Maria, the 10-year-old nun who’s somehow supposed to be their faculty advisor, is there to be adorable and brattish, just like a typical 10-year-old, and piss off Kodaka’s little sister. That said, I am so grateful Kadota continues to treat both his sister and Maria as cute little kids rather than the manga getting into lolicon areas. Well done. Then again, with a new character like Rika, is more sexual talk really needed? Adding her to the cast is like throwing a bomb into a room, and while she’ll best be remembered in this volume for the mech-on-mech BL doujinshi she shows the others (which is indeed the highlight of the volume), I’m more interested in what her presence will do to Kodaka, Sena and Yozora’s friendship. – Sean Gaffney

librarywars10Library Wars, Vol. 10 | by Kiiro Yumi | Viz Media – This volume wraps up the somewhat silly banned words storyline and sends Kasahara on a mission in her hometown to protect freedom of expression in an art exhibit. There are catty librarians and subverted organizational hierarchies to deal with! In addition, Kasahara’s secret of being a combat member of the Library Defense Force may be exposed to her family. The feelings between Kasahara and Dojo are growing, and it is fun seeing how capable and mature Kasahara has become as she manages to handle a bad hazing incident all by herself. This was a solid volume in the Library Wars series, with a bit more emotional depth than usual. – Anna N

nura15Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 15 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – The good news it it looks like the Kyoto arc will wrap up with the next volume. The bad news is that it’s still going on in THIS one, meaning there’s a lot of fighting, and a lot of minor villains whose faces I struggle to remember. That said, there is one very interesting thing going on here: the villains appear to be winning. Even if they may not destroy Kyoto, I’m pretty sure they’re going to pull off their resurrection no matter how much Rikuo tries to get Hagoromo-Gitsune to remember who she really is. As for the fights themselves, they look OK, but can be pretty chaotic – and honestly, I’m not reading Nura for the fights. Let’s finish up the equipping and fearing and get back to more slice-of-life yokai plots, as this arc is trying my patience. – Sean Gaffney

tigerbunny2Tiger & Bunny, Vol. 2 | By Mizuki Sakakibara, et al. | Viz Media – Although it feels nearly as much like a Saturday morning cartoon as the first volume, the second installment of Tiger & Bunny at least gives readers a few welcome glimpses into the life of a corporate Hero and fleshes out its supporting cast a little bit. Unfortunately, I find practically all of the supporting cast more interesting than the lead characters—veteran Hero Kotetsu (a.k.a. Wild Tiger) and his newcomer partner Barnaby (unwillingly nicknamed “Bunny”)—and their relationship, which is characterized by much repetitive bickering and questioning whether their company-mandated partnership can really work. Even giving Barnaby some dead parents and a shadowy organization to seek out can’t make him compelling, but maybe it means we’re in for a storyline deeper than “Oh noes, a gang of thieves stole a diamond from a museum!” Here’s hoping. – Michelle Smith

toriko16Toriko, Vol. 16 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – As opposed to Nura, Toriko’s arcs are usually just about the right length: Mellow Cola wraps up here, after a suitable amount of fighting and cooking, and we’re off on new adventures. I like the way Komatsu, despite remaining a non-combatant, is being worked into the fights in ways that don’t involve him just constantly being rescued. His use of the ancient cookbook to tell Toriko and Zebra how to stop the Salamander Sphinx. That said, the lack of major females in this series tends to mean that Komatsu serves that purpose as well – it’s hard not to hear Toriko and Zebra arguing about who’ll partner with him and not think of various BL answers. Still, Toriko and Komatsu are more concerned with the return of Starjun, and what evil he’s going to be bringing to the table. Not the best, but still good. – Sean Gaffney

Higurashi: When They Cry, Vol. 22

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Karin Suzuragi. Released in Japan as “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Matsuribayashi-hen” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Joker. Released in North America by Yen Press.

And so, finally, welcome to the Good End, as well as the longest of the arcs – it’s 8 volumes, or 4 omnibuses. We’ve come a long way to get to this point, seeing most of the main characters at their worst, and then later seeing them at their best. Well, mostly. The adults in Higurashi haven’t really gotten a good backstory yet. Particularly the villain of the piece. We knows that she’s insane and sociopathic – witness her face at the end of the Massacre Arc, as well as the plot she’s cooked up – but “she’s evil like that” is not a motivation, and Ryukishi07 has gone to great pains in previous arcs to show us how important someone’s past and the way their life unfolded can be to the actions they may take in the future. So, what’s Miyo Takano’s past?

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Well, it starts with a little girl named Miyoko Tanashi. That’s her on the cover, isn’t she a cutie? She lives with a loving mother and father, and her hobbies are collecting flags of the world from a local restaurant chain. She is living a great childhood. Then… there’s a train accident. Miyoko went out to play with her friends instead of going shopping with her parents. From that, comes one of the most horrific childhoods we’ve seen in all of Higurashi, even managing to top Satoko and Rena’s. Miyoko’s father, before he dies, tries to get Miyoko to contact a researcher friend of his, but to no avail – Miyoko is sent to the local orphanage instead.

Orphanages in fiction are usually never a good deal, but this one goes above and beyond. (I have no idea if this is what orphanages in Japan were like in the early 60s – I hope it’s heavily exaggerated for dramatic effect.) It’s a prison camp for children, with daily beatings and abuse. Then comes the most striking scene of the volume, where Miyoko and her three other friends make an escape attempt from the orphanage – led by Eriko, who has heard there’s another orphanage a few miles away that’s loving and happy. What follows is… bad. They don’t escape – indeed, the whole “other orphanage” doesn’t seem to even exist. They are taken back. Eriko is tortured and killed by having her unconscious body tied down and covered in chicken feed, so she is basically pecked to death. I mention this as a spoiler because it’s so grotesque and graphic – everyone who reads the manga remembers this. The other two girls are rolled into a mat (which is then beaten with sticks) or put into a metal shower cage (and then beaten with sticks till they go deaf).

As for Miyoko, before capture she was able to accomplish a few things. First, she found a phone and managed to call her father’s friend. More importantly to the story, though, she screams at God to kill her, and a lightning bolt then comes down… directly behind her, missing her body. She takes this as a sign. It doesn’t go into effect right away – I won’t spoil her punishment, except that it’s the ugliest of the four, and the only reason she isn’t killed is that her father’s friend, Hifumi Takano, shows up to adopt her. (Note there is no suggestion the orphanage is ever shut down or stopped – only Miyoko is saved. I am reminded of the fact that everyone accepts Mion will be a yakuza head when she grows up. Morality in Higurashi can be starkly realistic when it wants to be.)

So, ten points to Hifumi for rescuing Miyoko, who changes her name to Miyo Takano. However, just putting her in a loving home and having her help with his research into brain parasites is not going to do the trick. Miyo clearly has post-traumatic stress disorder – we see her reliving the events of the orphanage more than once – and really should be getting therapy that she never gets. As a result, the PTSD will never really leave her, and drives her actions and descent into madness. Especially when the government mock and ridicule his research into parasites, and this drives him into deep despair. And so Miyo makes it her life’s dream to prove her father’s research is correct and that he was right all along. His research… into Hinamizawa Syndrome.

That leads us to the second half of the omnibus, where an adult Miyo is putting all her pieces into place. She’s not going to be stopped by some nasty old government officials – indeed, at one point, she believes that bullets won’t kill her (flashing back to the lightning bolt missing her as a sign). She delves further into his research, and also makes connections, showing that she’s an up-and-coming woman whose drive is not merely frivolous. (We briefly see her fighting a bit of “but gosh, why is a girl interested in parasites?” male doctors.) And finally, she gets what she wants – a research facility in Hinamizawa, with a helpful doctor in Kyousuke Irie, and a liaison in Jiro Tomitake. she notes Tomitake looks like an easy sucker, something that does not bode well for their relationship.

Irie is more complicated, though, and our sympathy shifts to him in this second half as Takano starts to slip deeper into madness. Turns out Irie, due to his parent”s crumbling marriage after his father had a head injury, has made it his life’s work to study brain injuries. Unfortunately, he was doing this around the time lobotomies were discredited, and therefore his career was somewhat ruined. Here in Hinamizawa, he’s trying to start over – being a nice helpful doctor, encouraging a young and stress-out Satoshi to take an interest in baseball – while also researching Hinamizaqwa Syndrome and trying to stop it. He’s a good guy, mostly.

Then they bring in a live specimen. The murderer of the dam construction manager, who is at Level 5 and trying to claw out his throat. And Takano blackmails Irie into dissecting his brain – while he’s alive. This really doesn’t bode well for Satoko Hojo, as she’s also showing signs of Hinamizawa Syndrome, and her parents fell off of a bridge just now in a very suspicious manner. Miyo isn’t too bothered – more live dissections! – but with Irie draw the line and cutting open a little girl?

As you can see, there’s a lot of backstory here, but it’s presented with a lot of dramatic effect – indeed, one might argue too much at times. This is really over the top grotesque in places, and the images of Eriko, and later the live dissections, are some of the more nightmare inducing of the entire series. That said, I think we can now see how Miyo Takano got to be the way she is, even if we can’t sympathize with her. Irie’s role in the series expanding is also a good thing, taking him away from “comedy lolicon doctor” and into a man trying to hold onto his ethics while still doing surgery FOR SCIENCE.

Karin Suzuragi did the Keiichi and Rena arcs, and her art is back as well for the final arc. It’s not my favorite of the artists, but it’s pretty good – although she’s not good at showing younger versions of our leads. Satoko in 1980 looks exactly the same as Satoko in 1983, and given that’s going between age 8 and age 12 or so, I’m not sure I buy that. Overall, though, for an omnibus whose job is to pour out backstory and explanations, this remains an amazingly gripping read, though of course I only recommend it for fans who’ve read the other books.

Adventures in the Key of Shoujo: Sailor Moon, Vol. 8

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sailormoon8Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 8 | By Naoko Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics | Rated: T (13+)

And the hits just keep on rolling in this volume. After the hellfire brought down by the destruction of, well, the whole district, the Sailor Senshi find themselves facing down the remains of Hotaru’s body as it takes on the form of one of Pharaoh 90’s creatures. Meanwhile Chibi-Usa’s body remains in a critical condition. If they’re not going to be destroyed by this creature, then the newest member of the Senshi, Sailor Saturn, will finish them off.

On one hand, I’m fine with this volume because we finally get to end the ridiculous Pharaoh 90 story arc. I know I should expect these arcs since they are the meat and potatoes of the whole gig. But I find myself trying to invent reasons to be excited about them. I suspect it’s the fact that, after eight volumes, I want something else to happen. I want some kind of overarching villain to appear; I want some kind of “There’s a reason all of this is happening.” But every time, the Senshi just battle just another group who want to suck the energy/emotions/blood/flesh or whatever other substitute the story requires out of people to go to Valhalla/Eden/7-Eleven or whatever other substitute the villain requires. I swear to Jiminy nobody even says out loud that it’s awful suspicious that all these groups keep attacking the girls and don’t seem to have an overarching agenda.

I don’t know, readers, I feel like I am not skilled enough to figure out the appeal of watching the same fight happen to the same team in every volume. Yes, the appeal is that the gang gets to have an adventure, but it’s getting kind of repetitious. I want to know more about the team—yes, even Usagi. We do get snippets, but for the last few volumes there seems to be some kind of attempt to answer the question of what happens when Chibi-Usa goes back home to the future? Takeuchi is going for an idea of domesticity between Mamoru, Usagi and Chibi-Usa. But it only comes out when there’s no fighting going, so you can pretty much guess how often this happens.

What is weird about reading this volume, and indeed the rest of the volumes, is that I want something closer in tone to Codename: Sailor V than what’s presented here. In Sailor V, when Minako had to fight a different foe, at least it wasn’t relentless. Foes, who are about as thin as anything that Sailor Moon comes up with, were dispatched, sure. But at least it was over and done in two volumes. This has been going on in Sailor Moon for eight volumes and I really hope that things change in the run up to the end.

So at the halfway point in the volumes, am I happy? Well, yes and no. On the one hand, I’ve gotten to watch as Takeuchi paints a pretty epic canvas taking ordinary girls and making them responsible for people’s safety, even those they don’t know. I never get a sense that they don’t take their duties seriously. As they struggle to beat every adversary that stands against them, they have their moments of indecision but they always overcome them and find inner resolve to succeed. I’m a sucker for story dynamics like these. Plus for all her insufferable points, Usagi is a good leader who cares about her flock.

Where the series lets her down is when she reverts back to type and becomes an airhead after saving the world. I could buy that for the first couple of volumes but now I have to wonder if the author is deliberately sabotaging her lead because if she became more confident then there wouldn’t be much tension. The only way to stop that would be if the author actually wanted to make the kinds of changes that would simultaneously improve and ruin the tempo already set. Heaven and hell, I suppose.

On the other hand, the series seems to be incapable of letting the story go out on a limb and have more serious stakes. When the characters risk their lives, I’m never in any doubt they will make it through. When Mamoru was facing against his old friends, there was a real sense of danger and the gang had to fight to save themselves from being destroyed. But now it’s become so par for the course that I’m not even worried about them.

The team really must work on their tactics because they get hit again by the bad guys and spend a good portion of the initial battle—you guessed it—knocked unconscious. I shouldn’t be surprised, but still I have to stare at the page and say “What, again?” The promise of the Outer Senshi returning for the next volume intrigues me as their departure from the roster is not done with any finality, but in a manner that suggests when they do return it will be interesting to see how the Inner Senshi treat them.

Again, I find myself locating genuine problems that I have with the series, but they are not enough to stop my enjoyment of the proceedings. My worry is that when the final volume comes, it will be another cases of fighting yet another unknown boss and then that’s it, we’re out of time here folks.

Manga the Week of 6/26

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SEAN: Given that I got in Yen books this week but the rest of you get it next week, my own Next Week list is somewhat short. But not without interest.

dissociationFirst, I forgot this last week, but the 9th light novel of the Haruhi Suzumiya series, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya, is out this week. This one is part of a 3-book set (Books 10-11 are coming out here as one big book around Thanksgiving) that revitalized the franchise, giving the series a shot in the arm, as well as a new rival for Kyon’s affections… or is she? Good stuff.

MICHELLE: I think I read the first one of these a long time ago, but never managed to continue.

MJ: I’d like to read these light novels, because the manga adaptation has mostly not done a lot for me. Maybe I’ll like it better in its original form.

SEAN: Now on to 6/26 proper. Dark Horse has the third volume of OreImo. With Haganai, coming out via Seven Seas, it managed to be just interesting enough that I continued it despite its skeeziness. This title is just skeezy enough that I dropped it despite its interestingness.

MICHELLE: Ugh.

MJ: So much skeeze these days, it seems. What’s up with that?

SEAN: Kodansha is still speeding up Fairy Tail. Vol. 26 ended with out heroes in a bad spot. Will they continue to get the crap kicked out of them here as well? Oh, probably, this arc is 7 books long and this is only Book 4 of that.

MJ: This is one of those long series I keep thinking I’d like to try (Hiro Mashima is such a charming guy!) but I’m perpetually intimidated by its length. Should I start it anyway?

SEAN: There’s also a new Negima omnibus for those who missed it, this one taking us into the Magic World arc that proved to be much better than anyone was really expecting.

MICHELLE: An omnibus cannot tempt me to read Negima.

MJ: What she said.

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SEAN: Lastly, and most important, we have the 2nd volume of Gundam the Origin. Vol. 1 blew me away with how cinematic it looked, how easy it was for a Gundam newbie to get into the story, and how much care went into its design – this is a gorgeous book intended to stay on shelves for long periods. Get it now, it’s also a limited item.

MICHELLE: Finally, something to look forward to, and I agree with you completely, Sean. My only complaint is the focus on plot over characters, but that’s not enough to dissuade me from picking up volume two.

MJ: Same here. I thought the artwork in the first volume was absolutely stunning. I’m looking forward to more!

ANNA: I agree, Gundam the Origin is the only thing I’m excited about this week. Given the limited print run for this special edition, I’d advise fans to pick up their copy sooner rather than later.

SEAN: What manga makes you go three times faster just to get it?

Manga Bookshelf Survey Results

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A number of readers have expressed interest in seeing the full results of our recent reader survey, so here we are! We’ll talk a bit about what it all means in a moment, but first, the results:

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Enough with the graphics! What does it all mean?

A general overview of the survey paints the following picture of the average Manga Bookshelf reader:

You’re most likely to be an adult woman: 90% of our readership is adults over the age of 22 (past college undergraduate age), and 48% are over 30. 65% are women and girls—that’s nearly twice the amount of our male readership.

You buy a lot of manga: Over 75% of our readers report buying between 1-20 volumes of manga a month, with 16% buying more, and just a few reporting that they don’t buy any at all in a typical month. Some readers reported that they borrow most of their manga from the library, or that they tend to buy sporadically, in binges, or mainly at conventions. One reader admitted to reading scanlations because manga isn’t available to buy in her home country (Pakistan).

You’re not yet sold on digital: Digital manga is a sadder tale, with over 60% reporting that none of their purchases is likely to be digital, though the number of digital buyers is still at 35%. Some “other” responses included readers who mainly buy their manga in print but go digital for other comics, and some who said that they don’t buy any now, but had JManga accounts before the site closed. Some are waiting for their favorite out of print manga to turn up digitally.

You’re probably not buying Naruto: In terms of manga demographic categories, shoujo and seinen are readers’ top choices, both beating out shounen manga, which tends to include the mainstream powerhouses (Naruto, Bleach), while categories like josei, boys’ love, and yuri all make strong showings as well. “Other” responses included classic manga, gekiga, “fifth column” and manhwa.

You probably are buying from Vertical: Publisher preferences skew pretty closely to the number of releases, with prolific companies like Viz Media and Yen Press coming out on top. Though it’s notable that Vertical, a relatively small publisher, is heavily patronized by our readership (and actually ranked above Kodansha Comics for quite a while over the course of the poll). One major omission on our part was Drawn & Quarterly, which received a number of “other” mentions, along with a few mentions of companies like PictureBox and Udon, some defunct North American publishers, European publishers like Carlsen and Tokyopop Deutschland, and imports straight from Japan.

It’s probably not surprising that our readership differs significantly from that seen in the recent poll at Comics Should Be Good, at least in terms of gender demographics, given our manga-specific focus and our female-heavy roster of contributors. It perhaps naturally follows that our readers are less hooked on the most mainstream manga series (shounen) than CBR/CSBG’s readers are on the closest western comics equivalent (superheroes), though clearly we’re all slow to take to digital distribution.

Did you miss out on participating in our reader survey? Do you have thoughts about the results? Leave your comments below!

The case of the vanishing scanlations

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Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Kuriousity.

Laura posts the Monday and Tuesday roundup of posts for the Skip Beat Manga Moveable Feast at Heart of Manga.

Erica Friedman takes a look at the josei magazine Flowers, home of Moto Hagio’s latest series, and she also posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Lori Henderson rounds up the latest manga news and checks out a couple of new releases in this week’s Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Chinese fans are not happy that scanlations of Shueisha properties such as Naruto and Gin Tama are disappearing from the web, after internet giant Tencent signed a licensing deal with Shueisha earlier this year.

News from Japan: Hayate x Blade has ended in the most recent issue of Ultra Jump.

Reviews: Carlo Santos deconstructs the latest releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of Children of the Sea (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 8 of Cross Game (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Flowers of Evil (The Fandom Post)
Melissa M. on Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink (Okazu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 37 of Negima (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 38 of Negima (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Onna no Ko no Sekkeizu (Okazu)
Ken H on vol. 8 of Rurouni Kenshin (Comics Should Be Good)
Ken H on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (Comics Should Be Good)
Bruce Pregger on YuriTetsu ~ Shiritsu Yurigasaki Joshikou Tetsudobu (Okazu)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Weekly Astro Boy Magazine (Manga Report)
Connie C on xxxHoLiC, Pet Shop of Horrors, and Nightmare Inspector (Comics Should Be Good)

Blood Lad, Vol. 3

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By Yuuki Kodama. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press.

I’d mentioned in my previous review that Blood Lad had become a very solid shonen series (that runs in a seinen magazine, yes). I’ll go further with Vol. 3: this is really excellent. The previous volume showed us the main characters being quite clever, something which continues here. But this volume also shows us the writer being very clever. Kodama has crafted a plot that makes me want to dig deeper, with no elements so far dominating the others. The internal power struggle for the demon world, the Frankenstein monster corpse-robbing from last time, and Staz’s quest to restore Fuyumi to life all get about the right weight, with few pointless side journeys. Best of all, we have Fuyumi’s backstory, which I’ll delve into further.

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I knew coming in that Fuyumi’s family was going to somehow be connected to the demon world, given all the hints we’d had in the previous book. And indeed, that turns out to be exactly the case. But there’s no secret adultery or trips to the demon world here. Instead, there’s a very clever (and fairly creepy) use of doppelganger legends to show how Fuyumi is related to Bell and her brother while still remaining completely human. What’s more, it actually plays out what happens after with Bell and Fuyumi’s fathers, and shows us that the demon world is not the only one to have scary guys. This is easily my favorite part of the book.

Of course, Fuyumi’s reaction to this is pretty much the same as it’s been since the start of the series: dull surprise. This is actually lampshaded in the series, as she notes after discovering her mother’s real identity that she’s been too overwhelmed by events to process anything since she came into the demon world, and seems to have been fairly mellow even before her death. Still, it can be frustrating, especially given how often she’s meant to be fanservice for the reader, how passive she is. Her stepfather gives Staz two very important conditions to satisfy before he’ll let Fuyumi put herself in danger by journeying with him, and both of them amount to the same thing: give Fuyumi agency to decide things herself.

Which is good, because while Staz is not your typical shonen ‘rush into fights’ dolt, he has not really given much thought to what Fuyumi wants, something else pointed out to him. He has to stop treating Fuyumi like an object (and then, perhaps, the manga itself will stop doing the same thing). Staz is already suffering from the fact that, as a vampire, he’s almost trained since birth to see himself as an evil person. So his desperate attempts to restore Fuyumi, without asking her what she really wants to do, are indicative of this. He thinks that this is something that makes him evil, and that, by listening to Fuyumi and doing what she really wants, he can become a hero for her. (This also brings up the question of whether they love each other – everyone except the two of them seem to think this is the case.)

Staz is, of course, already a hero, and I hope that this change of lifestyle for him does not involve more charging ahead and less cunning in fights. (The fanservice this volume went to Bell, by the way, and the fight between her and Staz is a great example of how to combine Staz’s intelligence and cunning and his complete lack of awareness when it comes to women’s feelings.) How all this plays out, though, is something I really am desperate to find out. Though I may have to wait a while: we’re caught up with Japan, at least as caught up as Western publishers like to get. In the meantime, read this series.

Weekly Astro Boy Magazine Vol. 1

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Weekly Astro Boy Magazine Vol. 1

I was intrigued when Emanga.com announced that they would be releasing an Astro Boy magazine. I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for manga magazines at this point, with the demise of print anthologies. I’ve read some Tezuka, but I’m definitely not familiar with all of his works. The magazine format for Tezuka works very well, because his art and storytelling style varies so much with the titles presented in the magazine, it is interesting to compare and contrast the differences between his different titles in this format.

I haven’t read much Astro Boy before, but the storyline for inclusion in the first issue of this manga magazine is a strong one, as it is “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” where the robot Pluto created to battle all the other great robots that exist, until he is hailed as the supreme robot. This storyline is what Naoki Urasawa used for his manga series Pluto. Astro Boy tangles with Pluto for a little bit, but his creator calls him off. Astro Boy responds to the existence of the new robot by requesting an upgrade of his own power. Astro Boy really displays the virtue of simplicity. The robot designs are so distinct, and the action in Astro Boy is so clear and easy to follow, it makes me think that some of the detail and opaque action in modern manga has really missed the mark.

Phoenix is the next title featured in this magazine, and this is a real treat because I believe some of the print volumes released by Viz are now out of print. The story comes from the fourth volume of Phoenix, called Karma. It is easy to see why Phoenix is often called Tezuka’s masterwork. This chapter featured the story of a boy who was injured just after being born, becoming a monster due to the harsh treatment from his fellow villagers. He encounters a sculptor in the woods and damages one of his arms. The sculptor finds refuge in a temple and begins to reach a different stage of consciousness as he attempts to take up art again. Reading Phoenix itself is a bit of a philosophical experience, as the characters encounter each other in this fable-like story, with stylized depictions of nature inter cut with both action and personal reflection.

The rest of the book is rounded out by shorter chapters for Dororo and Black Jack. It was a bit difficult for me to get a handle on Dororo just due to the small page count. Black Jack, I automatically read with feelings of affection, because the two-fisted surgeon is one of my favorite Tezuka characters. Overall, I really enjoyed the opportunity to read different Tezuka works back to back. It is a bit different than diving into a full volume of manga, but it really gives the reader an appreciation for the variations in art and theme that is expressed in Tezuka’s manga. This is definitely worth checking out if you don’t have an extensive Astro Boy collection and especially if you want an accessible way of reading Phoenix.

Electronic access provided by the publisher

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: June 3-17, 2013

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June 17 CoverBig news this week, Nisekoi will be getting an anime. Perhaps a bit early, but I think we’ve got enough stories to cover several episodes, and at the very least this means Nisekoi isn’t going anywhere. It’s a big milestone for the series, considering how many new manga can’t last in Weekly Shonen Jump. Fingers crossed that the anime is well made and Nisekoi keeps going strong for however long Komi Naoshi wants.

Because of schedule conflicts the past two weeks I wasn’t able to get around to reviewing the latest manga chapters. Rather than have three reviews go up in close proximity to each other I decided it might be better to go ahead and combine them into one. To keep things simple I’ll be writing about the last three weeks’ together.

Nisekoi Ch. 076–078
Taking three weeks before commenting on any of the most recent chapters has actually worked to my advantage as far as Nisekoi is concerned. When Haru, Onodera’s younger sister, was first introduced I thought that she was the kind of character who was typically annoying but in this case was handled well enough in order to not be annoying. Three chapters later, I found that she was fine for two chapters, but in the third chapter she became quite infuriating. I blame most of this on the fact that she’s been the sole focus of this series for three chapters in a row, and I have not been able to read much of anything about any of the characters I’ve grown attached to.

Nisekoi

Chapter 78 was particularly egregious in this regard because none of the other characters besides Raku makes anything but a token appearance. Granted, it was interesting to see the situation from the point of view of an outsider, but three chapters focusing on one character alone is a bit much—especially when that character is brand new to the series. Ultimately I think the biggest problem is that Haru has been around for most of a month and we haven’t seen any change in her. She’s just as frustrating as she was in the beginning. She has a few small moments, but after three weeks of putting up with her it’s not nearly enough. And of course, character development takes time, but I would prefer to have that time be split between chapters featuring the characters I already like.

Bleach Ch. 539-541
Bleach is an interesting example of a retcon that in a strange way is actually working. I had a lot of questions about the retcon in chapter 541, but ultimately I found those questions answered by the chapter itself. And granted, I don’t buy for a second that Kubo planned the reveal regarding Zangetsu any earlier than maybe a year or two ago. But he is able to manipulate his story well enough that the new elements slide into place where we didn’t even realize a piece was missing. Could the story have worked without that missing piece? Absolutely. But what we’ve learned the past three chapters fits well enough that it doesn’t disturb the overall story too much. And considering how low Bleach has dropped at times, even mediocre heights achieved later on seem better by comparison.

Bleach

Ultimately, Bleach hasn’t been amazing or even great by any stretch of the imagination these past few weeks. But it’s been a lot better than it was during the climactic battle against Aizen, or even the Fullbringer arc, and sometimes when you’ve been hurt enough even the absence of more pain feels like kindness.

What I’m trying to say is that I think Bleach gave me Stockholm Syndrome. And speaking of Stockholm Syndrome…

Naruto Ch. 632-634
I think the biggest problem with the last three weeks is how it feels like we’ve gotten payoff we never deserved. Or the story is trying to elicit a response it hasn’t done the groundwork for. I admit that I enjoyed the combination attack in this week’s chapter. But I can’t help but imagine how much better this would be if more time had been spent actually redeeming Sasuke, rather than making him worse and worse before finally having him flip flop back to the side of good.

That continues to be the biggest problem I have with Naruto. Sasuke’s turn feels more forced than ever. This should have been a good moment because it’s been a long time coming. But rather I feel that, like his powers, Sasuke has once again been given something he did not work for. His eyes give him all his power, his natural aptitude gives him his fighting prowess. And the author just hands him his redemption without making Sasuke suffer for it. If someone turns bad, really bad, to the point where they’ve not only attempted murder, but actually succeeded on more than one occasion, then they need to work in order to redeem themselves in the eyes of the other characters. But when such a character has spent an inordinate amount of time making sure the readers were well and pissed at him, then he needs to work doubly hard to make any kind of redemption actually be satisfying. I for one continue to be of the opinion that Sasuke is an awful character who is made worse by the fact that he hasn’t had to work for any of the good that’s happened to him, and he’s as bland as bland can be.

Sai’s reappearance reminded me how much better a character he was. I just wish Kishimoto could actually see when he makes good characters and when he doesn’t. Ultimately, though, most of these chapters are about action and the action is a lot of fun. Even Sakura gets to do something. Which hardly seems like a fair trade. I’d rather she have been doing things the entire series. But even then she reverts back to her pre-time skip personality the moment she starts ignoring Naruto in favor of Sasuke. It’s a real shame to see a character that had grown so much in the early chapters after the time skip revert back to the infuriating character she was before.

But, as I said, Stockholm Syndrome, these chapters weren’t the worst this series has thrown at me. And some of the action really was awesome.

Naruto

One-Punch Man Ch. 018-020
These three chapters emphasize that One-Punch Man isn’t just about comedy. It’s about great comedy and a world that is actually really interesting. The latest chapter especially emphasizes that the people in this series act like real people. Monsters constantly attacking? Time to move away. It stands out as a subtle bit of satire of the superhero genre while posing as world building. Even just the simple act of turning what should be an exciting adventure into the equivalent of a day job is hilarious in its own way. Not the funniest chapters of One-Punch Man, but still worth a read.

World Trigger Ch. 016-018
World Trigger manages to introduce some interesting elements, but ultimately it fails to engage. Those interesting elements should have been introduced more than a dozen chapters ago, at this point I can’t see the series surviving much longer. Characters are confusing, motivations are confusing, the whole conflict is confusing, and ultimately Jin is the most interesting character but with this cast that’s not hard.

Toriko Ch. 235-237
The amusing thing about these past three chapters of Toriko is that while a good chunk of it was action as normal, the other chunk made me really think about gender roles in manga. Were Komatsu a woman, there would be an outcry over the way he is treated in the story. He’s there to be saved by Toriko, there to give him strength. Since he’s a guy that’s an odd, yet new and interesting approach. If he were a woman it would be the same tired old trope. And while I’m amazed at how obvious the “Not Gay”s are in this series, I get a chuckle at the homoerotic subtext that refuses to be the sub in this relationship.

The fighting is pretty standard, but I was amazed how an entire chapter was dedicated to a new fighting technique for Toriko. That concept did not need that much space. Ultimately I feel that the fight is par for the course, and might be buying for time in a few places. But, events unfold that promise some much better chapters later on.

Toriko

Cross Manage Ch. 035-037
If anyone doesn’t think this series is amazing then I’m afraid we might have to take a look at your “Can Recognize Amazing Entertainment” gland——don’t wiki this, just trust me, it’s a real gland. Not only are we left in the dark as to the outcome of this match, but in the latest chapter we get what is possibly one of the best scenes in any manga I’ve read in months. At first it may be confusing, but once you read over it you slowly start to get it. The confusion you felt at the awkward transition mirrored the confusion the characters felt as they noticed more and more people were looking away from where the ball was in play. Then the moment of horrified realization, emphasized by the perfect rendering of the expressions on the characters’ faces. It’s been a long time since anything in a manga sparked such an emotional reaction from me.

Cross Manage

And then, once you’ve had a moment to sit back and take in what happened, an event that came out of nowhere, you realize that since chapter one this eventuality has been foreshadowed.

Though it does feel a bit like a desperate gambit to get people interested in the series. Because after what happened this chapter, there is no way the series could end within the next few weeks and actually be satisfactory. Before now a win or a lose could have led to a satisfying early conclusion. Kato could have played it safe, written in a way to end the series safely. Instead he decided to go for broke, give us an event that needs far more than just a few chapters to be concluded satisfactorily. I pray that the risk he took resonates with readers and we are able to see this series go on for many more chapters.

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 017-019
With these chapters the long training arc came and went. Ultimately I feel I can’t comment on them that well because they’ve been in my brain for so long I can’t really muster up any kind of initial reaction. Ultimately I’d have to say that these chapters are good, but not amazing. There’s a definite sense that were Dragon Ball Z being published today it probably wouldn’t last for very long. But, one can’t analyze it like that since this series has been around for so long that it’s unfair to comment on it as if it were a contemporary of current series. This was one of the series that a lot of shonen manga owes many elements to. And in a lot of cases they improve on those elements. But, in the end, I’m glad we finally get to the actual fight against the Saiyans—s lot faster than we would have gotten to it in the anime too.

Dragon Ball Z

One Piece Ch. 710-711
Chapter 710 of One Piece was okay. It wasn’t amazing, but it was at standard One Piece quality. After such a long break it was wonderful to finally get a new chapter. Chapter 711 (heh) on the other hand was a lot more fun. From the twist at the very end, to the scene with Zoro and the hint that maybe these toys aren’t quite what they seem. Or, Rebecca has a bit of an interesting kink. Either is possible really.

But the standout of this chapter was how little time it took for me to make a boob joke to myself after discovering that the name of the little people was “Tontattas”. Yes, I’m a terrible person, but I would like to point out that Oda decided to name them this after he had them climbing all over Robin, who I might add has been pinned to the ground with her…tontattas (sorry)…prominently displayed. I know there was no way for him to realize that both “ton” and “tattas” were a proper word and slang respectively, so let’s just call it an act of providence that provided us with the best unintentional pun in all of One Piece.

Also, is it just me, or does anyone else think that Oda might have macrophilia? First we have Aphelandra the amazon using her bossoms to block Luffy’s escape, then we have Luffy using Shirahoshi’s…great reefs…as a trampoline, and now we have Robin sewn to the ground in a scene reminiscent of a much sexier Gulliver’s Travels, while the Tontattas climb all around the inside of her dress. And that’s not even getting into all the other woman of larger size than normal. Or the fact that “normal size” is incredibly subjective in One Piece. Think I’m wrong? Discuss in the comments section. Let’s start the weirdest discussion this website has ever seen.

One Piece

Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter
What can I say? This project felt unnecessary, it messed with established material that was already good on its own. But in the end the worst crime is that apparently even a teenage girl can survive a sword through her chest as long as it misses her heart. Never mind the fact that she’d have bled to death by that point. AND she only managed to survive because the way her would-be assassin held his swords was stupid. I’m not sure if it’s some weirdly meta commentary about style over substance and practicality in manga, but Watsuki pointed out why his idea was stupid all on his own. At least this manga did one thing right, it made me realize that maybe I don’t want a sequel to Rurouni Kenshin like I thought I did. I dread how much more ridiculous an actual in canon sequel would get. Once you have a skinny business man lifting and firing a gattling gun you’ve got nowhere else to go but down.

I’d really only intended to put this off for two weeks, but it ended up being three. My schedule is a lot more hectic that I realized. I’ll be sure to keep these posts up to date, and hope that this momentary lapse in publication remains isolated to these past three weeks.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives. Or go directly to the last three episodes, Episode 049 – May 27, 2013 – Why Hiramaru and Aoki’s Relationship Sucked | Toriko Vol. 5, Episode 050 – June 3, 2013 – When the Main Characters Sucks! | Toriko Vol. 6, and Episode 051 – June 10, 2013 – Why Doesn’t Oda Kill Characters? | Bakuman Vol. 1.