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Manga at TCAF

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The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Lissa Pattillo files her con report on TCAF:

The event had two manga guests – Taiyo Matsumoto and Gengoroh Tagame. I didn’t have much personal interest in Taiyo Matsumoto’s work, but I was thrilled that Tagame Gengoroh – a pioneer in the bara genre – was being flown in to help promote his new book, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. I attended his panel and signings and enjoyed what a friendly and out-going individual he was, and how much fun he seemed to have talking about his work.

On the floor, it was exciting to see Chromatic Press‘s booth set-up with lots of goodies promoting their current and upcoming projects. Plus the staff are all completely charming and hard-working individuals who I have nothing less than well wishes for! I was sad that both rem and Jen Lee Quick – who work with the new publisher, and happen to be two artists whose work I adore – were unable to attend the event despite initial plans. Maybe next year?

And Scott Green takes a look at a new book I first saw in the wild at TCAF: Suehiro Maruo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, which was announced four years ago and is finally being published by Last Gasp.

With the Yumi Tamura Manga Moveable Feast in the offing, Anna N. rounds up her reviews of Tamura’s work, Chicago and Basara.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week in manga at Experiments in Manga.

Sakura Eries on vol. 12 of Dengeki Daisy (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on King’s Moon: The Life of Akechi Mitsuhide (Manga Xanadu)
Erin on vols. 4-6 of Otomen (Gagging on Sexism)
Erica Friedman on vol. 10 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (Okazu)

Cross Manage, Vol. 1

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

Note: this is only available digitally right now.

As I have mentioned before, sports manga and North American have a very iffy relationship, with none of the contenders really hitting the heights of Naruto or One Piece sales. That said, there’s a lot of sports manga out there, and I’ll give credit to Viz (and let’s be honest, it’s pretty much just Viz, unless I count Sasameke, WHICH I DON’T) for continuing to experiment with them. Especially as such series are HUGE in Japan, and tend to run and run. Slam Dunk was 31 volumes, Eyeshield 21 was 37. Kuroko’s Basketball is 20+, and continues to succeed despite terrorist threats (though it’s sadly not licensed here, possibly as Slam Dunk is still ongoing.) And of course we’ve had Cross Game on the Sunday side of the fence.

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And now we have Cross Manage, one of Viz’s ‘we’ll try a new weekly series and see if it dies in 2 volumes’ attempts they’ve had recently, and easily the most successful, given it actually seems to have survived the most recent round of cancellations in Japan. I particularly like the cover, which has Toyoguchi’s beaming face (and oh boy, does it beam – sometimes her face gets so happy it’s almost surreal) right in the foreground and Sakurai’s passive gaze in the background. Because this is about a female lacrosse team, and Sakurai is signed up/blackmailed into being their manager.

There’s a lot to love here. Toyoguchi is just great, being a perky, naive girl who looks like she could burst into a Disney song at any moment, but is also fueled by pure determination and smiles just as widely when threatening to tell everyone our hero accidentally groped her. She’s so relentlessly upbeat and caring that when Hayami shows up and attempts to guilt-trip Toyoguchi into letting Sakurai return to the soccer team (and her arms), not only does Toyoguchi not get it, but the other girl finds herself automatically trying to comfort and reassure her. That needs to be weaponized somehow.

Then there’s the team itself, which is made up of…. drum roll please… girls with all sorts of body types! Yes, the other main girl we get to know is the tall butch tomboy, but we also see pudgy girls, and tiny girls, and girls that sort of look like Sumiyoshi in Excel Saga. And they’re some of the best players. I like the fact that the team is not going to be used simply as an excuse to see a lot of hot girls changing constantly (imagine if the Cage of Eden artist drew this manga… *shudder*) and hope we get to know everyone better. And, of course, we have a classic Bad News Bears team – they’re newbies, with some ra2w skills, but mostly horrible, and they get curbstomped in their first match.

As for Sakurai, our hero, the goal of the first volume is to get him to rediscover the passion he lost to a knee injury, and mission accomplished. He’s a fairly subdued and diligent young man, which contrasts nicely with Toyoguchi’s perkiness and the hotheads and airheads that are also on the team. I think he’ll be an excellent manager, provided the soccer girl doesn’t pry him away. Not that she has any chance… she has ‘unsuccessful rival girl’ written all over her.

I’m pumped to see more of this series – its mood is pretty infectious, and it makes me want to learn more about lacrosse. Roll on Vol. 2!

Yumi Tamura Manga Moveable Feast

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I am very excited about the Yumi Tamura Manga Moveable Feast happening this week! Basara is one of my favorite manga, and I would love to see more work by Tamura translated into English. I’m planning on getting back on my Basara reread campaign that I let lapse previously, but I thought I would do a mini-roundup of some of my previous posts that covered some of her works.

Chicago – complete with cello technique critique!
Basara 1 and 2
Basara 3 and 4
Basara 5 and 6
Basara 7 and 8
Basara 9 and 10
Basara 11 and 12

I feel like I’m going to spend a portion of this week vainly wishing that someone would license Tamura’s 7 Seeds for English publication, but I will also put my slightly mournful feelings aside and dive back into Basara, which is always a rewarding reading experience.

News, reviews, and recommendations

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Over at MTV Geek I took a look at the past week’s new manga and other happenings, and I wrote a short review of Mario, the one-shot gangster manga by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto that ran in last week’s Shonen Jump.

The Manga Bookshelf team takes an advance look at this week’s new manga.

A A prime

Guest blogger Shaenon Garrity writes about Moto Hagio’s A,A’ for this week’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Erica Friedman has the latest yuri update in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao explains why he is thankful for fujoshi.

Lori Henderson discusses the digital-only title Japan Sinks in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu, and she brings in some related books as well.

Lissa Pattillo catches up with last month’s announcement from PictureBox of two new manga: Seiichi Hayashi’s Gold Pollen and Other Stories and Yuichi Yokoyama’s World Map Room.

MJ is thrilled at the news that manga-ka Kayuza Minekura is back at work on Wild Adapter after a three-year hiatus due to health reasond.

After many delays, the English edition of Suehiro Maru’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island is now available from Last Gasp. It’s true—I saw a copy on Ryan Sands’ table at TCAF. And so did Deb Aoki, who had the presence of mind to take pictures.

Viz’s yaoi imprint SuBLime has launched a new series, Blue Morning, “an intriguing new series about aristocratic drama and the intricate relationship between the loyal butler of a noble family and a young heir he is duty-bound to look after.”

News from Japan: Galaxy Express 999 manga-ka Leiji Matsumoto has revealed nine pages of Osamu Tezuka’s unpublished work, drafts for Metropolis and other manga. The pages will go on display at Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art this summer. Kami Minai’s “bishojo x violence” manga Needless is coming to an end. Black Bird creator Kanoko Sakurakoji has a new series in the works.

Reviews

Mark Thomas on vols. 13 and 14 of Arata: The Legend (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 19 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Mark Thomas on vol. 17 of Battle Angel Alita: The Last Order (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (I Reads You)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 7 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Erica Friedman on Cirque Arachne (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Kami no Kodomo (Brain Vs. Book)
Anna N. on vols. 1-6 of Kare First Love (Manga Report)
Sakura Eries on vol. 17 of La Corda d’Oro (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on Lone Wolf and Cub, Gunslinger Girl, and Golgo 13 (Comics Should Be Good)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Missions of Love (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 61 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 7-9 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sweetpea on Nobody Can Hear Me But You (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Helen on vol. 1 of Off*Beat (Narrative Investigations)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Otomen (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (ICv2)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)

Pick of the Week: Sunny & Other Stories

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potw5-20MJ: With the slew of Yen Press titles on Sean’s list this week, along with new volumes of series like Limit and Sailor Moon, it’d normally be pretty tough for me to choose a single pick. Fortunately Viz comes to the rescue with a title I absolutely can’t refuse, and that would be Sunny, the latest from mangaka Taiyo Matsumoto, author of Tekkonkinkreet and Blue Spring. This is one of my most-anticipated manga of the year so far, and a no-brainer as my Pick of the Week. I really can’t wait to read it.

ANNA: I’ll have to go with Sunny as well. I’m most excited about reading that.

MICHELLE: I’m going to award my pick to the low-key sci-fi charmer, Saturn Apartments, which comes to a close this week in its seventh volume. I’m somewhat behind on this tale of future window-washers and how their occupation affords them glimpses of the different strata of society, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how it turns out in the end.

SEAN: I’ll go with Sailor Moon once again. Of all the manga, these last two volumes are the ones I’m least familiar and comfortable with, and I seem to recall liking them less than the rest last time around. I look forward to finding new things to love about them in this new edition, as well as another visit with my favorite Sailor Senshi—which is to say, all of them.

What looks good to you this week?

Wild Adapter returns!

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wardDreams do come true, my friends—at least for fans of Kazuya Minekura’s Wild Adapter, which has been on hiatus since 2009 due to its creator’s health problems and rumored conflicts with the series’ original publisher, Tokuma Shoten.

It’s no secret that we’re big fans here at Manga Bookshelf, and we’ve been following the news of this series’ possible resurrection since its move to Ichijisha in 2011. Back in August of last year, it was announced that new chapters would begin appearing sometime this spring, and ANN has now reported that the relaunch has begun!

Fans on Twitter have questioned whether the series still has a large enough fanbase to successfully continue, and all we can say here is… DAMN, we hope so.

For more on why we feel that way, check out our Wild Adapter MMF archive, and these posts in particular:

What say you, readers? Any Wild Adapter fans still out there? Stand up and be counted!

Neon Genesis Evangelion Omnibus, Vols. 7-9

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By Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and GAINAX. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by Viz Media.

Well, the party’s over. As if it weren’t obvious from the events at the end of the previous omnibus, the light and fluffy ‘everyone is slightly more tolerable’ manga antics end here, as these three volumes are a brutal kick in the teeth reminding us over and over again that humanity is desperately fighting to survive… and that most of the people in charge actually have a different agenda OTHER than fighting to survive. And, just as we finally add our last major cast member, we also get the first of our major cast deaths. There will be more.

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The Evangelion fandom doesn’t use “I mustn’t run away” as a meme for no good reason. This volume sees Shinji in a constant cycle of attempting to flee from his destiny and the responsibilities being thrown at him, and constantly being drawn back as he’s unable to just let everyone else get annihilated. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he gets to accomplish anything here – he returns, but is basically “sat in the corner” by his father, who punishes him by having him watch everyone get annihilated without his help ANYWAY. The manga is less emotive than the anime, with characters at times seeming to underreact to horrible crises, but that’s unsurprising – the pace of the manga is such that there is a state of constant danger, and I imagine after a while the senses just get numbed.

There’s a lot of backstory here. Kaji’s is designed to make him both more likeable and more vulnerable. For all that we like to pretend that we wouldn’t crack under the threat of death, the reality is that we probably would. And so much of Kaji’s life has revolved around finding out the real reason that things happened the way they did – an attempt to expose what led to his own actions. Shinji at one point notes that Misato still loves him, and indeed he’s clearly in love with her, but these are two people, like the rest of the cast, who are unable to grasp at the happiness that could be theirs. As for the other flashback, Fuyutsuki seems to be the perfect “follower”, and Gendo seems even worse than we’d originally suspected. As for Yui, I suspect that she’s being idolized in the memories of both Fuyutsuki and Shinji when we see her, but I agree that it’s easy to see Gendo could have genuinely loved her.

And then there’s Asuka and Rei. I’ve said before that I find manga Asuka far more likeable, and the counter argument to that is that she’s involved in the manga plotline so much less than in the anime, so doesn’t get the time to be irritating. Asuka’s backstory is also shown to us, which is bad news for her, as backstory in this manga is always followed by trauma. Asuka’s attempts to take out the Angel are interrupted by it raping her – yes, yes, mentally, but given that she screams “don’t come inside me” at one point, I think the distinction is fairly irrelevant here. It’s the most horrific we’ve ever seen the Angel attacks, and she comes away from it basically comatose. Rei, meanwhile, is struggling with a distance growing between her and Gendo as she and Shinji grow closer. Ritsuko seems to realize that Rei is growing more human and less doll-like, something that nearly drives her to murder. This, naturally, leads up to the cliffhanger for this omnibus, showing Rei’s “last stand”.

As for Kaworu, it’s interesting that he arrives right as Kaji departs, given his presence as “the mole”. He’s shipped with Shinji a bit harder than in the anime, with Shinji’s “have some sense of personal space” going unheeded. And the scene with the kitten shows a somewhat unbreakable wall between his own value system and that of the First Child. Nevertheless, you can even see Kaworu getting caught up in the struggle against the Angels, and wonder if he’s oing to be a double/triple/quadruple agent the way Kaji was.

The plot may be going places I don’t want it to go, but the writing is still top notch, with a complete inability to put the book down. The news that the manga will end with Chapter 95 in June means that this is likely to be 5 omnibuses (14 volumes) long, and thus this volume begins the second half of the story. It’ll be hard to make things even more tense after this, but I’m sure we’ll find a way.

Random Musings: Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2013

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© Taiyo Matsumoto

I first learned about the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) in 2011 when Usamaru Furuya and Natsume Ono were invited to the event as featured guests. (As a side note: translations of their diary manga from the trip are included in the 2013 TCAF program guide.) It took me two years to finally work up the courage to attend TCAF myself and get my passport in order. 2013 marked TCAF’s tenth anniversary. This year’s festival featured over four hundred creators from nineteen different countries, including mangaka Taiyo Matsumoto and Gengoroh Tagame. While there were festival events throughout May, TCAF 2013’s main exhibition took place on Saturday, May 11th and Sunday, May 12th.

In order to keep the cost of the trip as low as possible, I crossed over the border into Canada from Michigan early Saturday morning along with my good friend Traci (who contributed a guest post here at Experiments in Manga not too long ago.) I arrived in Toronto in time to see The World of Taiyo Matsumoto, an exhibition at The Japan Foundation featuring original artwork by Matsumoto (creator of Blue Spring, Tekkon Kinkreet, GoGo Monster, and the recently released Sunny.) Matsumoto himself was in attendance for a special interview and artist’s talk. The turnout was huge—standing-room only and some people even had to be turned away. Matsumoto admitted that he never expected so many people to turn out to see him and that he was greatly honored. The event and exhibit, which focused on Matsumoto’s artwork, were marvelous. I certainly learned quite a bit: Matsumoto and Santa Inoue (creator of Tokyo Tribes) are cousins and they regularly talk about manga and help each other out; Tekkon Kinkreet was originally intended to be six volumes long, but ended after three since it wasn’t popular enough to continue (although Matsumoto said that he is satisfied with its conclusion and has no desire to revisit the story); in the beginning, Matsumoto was actually reluctant and even resentful working on Ping Pong, which became his breakout manga; and while Matsumoto has always been an innovative artist, more recent developments in printing technology have allowed him to experiment with different drawing materials and techniques, moving even further away from the use of screentone.

© Maurice Vellekoop

From The Japan Foundation, I headed over to the spotlight on Gengoroh Tagame, a highly influential gay manga artist. Joining Tagame were Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, and Graham Kolbeins to celebrate Tagame and his work and to discuss the recent release of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, which they all had a hand in bringing into being. The panelists were all very enthusiastic and had a great senses of humor. Because of this, the spotlight was engaging and entertaining in addition to being informative. Apparently, there was a rumor that Tagame did not want his work translated into English. He assured us all that this was not true. In fact, he was surprised that it took until now for a collection of his manga to be released in English. It is possible that the rumor may have had a chilling effect on the licensing of Tagame’s materials. Like so many other people (myself included), he is very excited about the publication of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. He is also unbelievably happy that others share enjoyment in his fantasies. Tagame is unusual in that very few gay manga artists in Japan are able to make their living on their artwork alone, most hold at least a second job. The panel ended with a very interesting conversation about gay manga and bara (manga typically geared towards gay men) and boys’ love and yaoi (manga typically geared towards women.) It’s difficult to generalize about the genres and the distinction between them isn’t always as clear as some people claim or would like; there can be considerable grey area, crossover, and overlap between the two. For a time, yaoi served as an outlet for gay manga before bara became more publicly acceptable and gay manga magazines were established. Tagame actually started out by submitting his work to yaoi magazines when he was eighteen and he continues to have a large number of female fans. In line for his signing after the talk were people of all (adult) ages, genders, and sexualities, which was wonderful to see.

After having my copy of The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame signed, Traci and I met up together again. We made our way down to The Beguiling Books & Art which is an astounding, award-winning comics store. If you find yourself in Toronto, I highly recommend stopping by The Beguiling. It has new comics, old comics, out-of-print comics, mainstream comics, alternative comics, independent comics, domestic comics, international comics (including the largest selection of manga that I’ve ever seen in one place), and more, more, more. And since the shop was across the street from Koreatown, Traci and I took the opportunity to chow down on some delicious Korean food before heading over to Church on Church to catch the tail end of the TCAF Queer Mixer. Unfortunately, we missed the reception and artist talks, but we still were able to see the exhibit Legends: The Gay Erotic Art of Maurice Vellekoop and Gengoroh Tagame which was well worth the trek across town. (Honestly, I was more interested in the art than I was in the mixer itself, anyways.) On a more personal note, I have never had the opportunity to walk around a queer neighborhood before. It was an awesome and somewhat surreal experience for me; it made me very happy just to be in the Church Wellesley Village area.

On Sunday, I attended the Comics Editing International panel which brought together four comics editors from different countries and backgrounds: Thomas Ragon from Dargaud (the oldest comics publisher in France), James Lucas Jones from Oni Press, Mark Siegel from First Second Books, and Hideki Egami from IKKI/Shogakukan. The group talked about the similarities and differences between their work as editors and the comics markets in their countries. The panel was fascinating. I love IKKI manga, and so was very excited to hear editor-in-chief Egami speak. IKKI is different from most magazines in Japan; it appeals to mangaka who want more control over their work and artistic vision as well as those who want to escape the factory-like system associated with so many of the other magazines. Egami mentioned that the manga industry in general is in decline in Japan, and so publishers are beginning to look outside of the country more and more where once they were almost exclusively focused on the domestic market. IKKI has even started to experiment by publishing left-to-right comics with horizontal text, hoping that they will be more easily adapted, translated, and distributed in other countries. I also attended Sunday’s Queer Comics panel which featured Zan Christensen (who is utterly delightful), Erika Moen, Justin Hall, Chip Kidd, and Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez. They talked about queer comics specifically and the representation of queer characters in comics in general, with a particular emphasis on non-binary and fluid sexualities and genders, which I personally appreciated. It was a great group and a great discussion.

My very small, TCAF haul

For the most part, I intentionally flew under the radar while at TCAF. I saw several of my fellow manga lovers around (Deb Aoki, Brigid Alverson, and Jocelyne Allen, just to name a few) and I know that there were even more of us there, too, but I tend to keep to myself and didn’t seek anyone out. I did, however, wander around the exhibitors’ area for a bit. Because I promised that I would, I made a point to introduce myself to the wonderful ladies of Chromatic Press and Tokyo Demons, which is one of my more recent obsessions. (I had been invited to the Chromatic Manga Mixer on Friday night, but I sadly wasn’t in town yet.) I also chatted with Alex Woolfson about  Artifice and The Young Protectors and stopped by Jess Fink‘s table long enough to awkwardly profess my love for her work. Ryan Sand’s new publishing effort Youth in Decline made it’s official debut at TCAF, so I picked up a copy of the first issue of Frontier to show my support. One of the best things about TCAF, other than the chance to see so many fantastic artists who I already follow all in one place (and there were a lot of them there), was the opportunity to discover creators who I wasn’t previously aware of. This is how I ended up bringing home Andrew Fulton‘s minicomic Pubes of Fire, Pubes of Flame which continues to greatly amuse me.

I really do not do well in unstructured, social settings; simply attending TCAF was a huge deal for me and a tremendous personal achievement. I largely consider my first TCAF experience to be a success. I am very happy to report that Traci and I both had a phenomenal time. After only a few hours of being there, I was already making plans for a return visit for next year’s show. Seriously, TCAF is amazing. There was so much going on that I had to make some extremely tough decisions about which programs to attend over others. I saw a ton of incredible work from incredible creators from all over the world and I still feel like there was more that I didn’t get to see. So next year, I’ll be showing up no later than the Friday before the main exhibition and preferably earlier. I’ll be scheduling more time to spend exploring every nook and cranny of the exhibitors’ area. I’ll also be carrying around some snacks with me during the festival; I was so busy and engaged by the programming and exhibits that I actually forgot to eat for most of the day. Next year, I hope to have the guts to actually introduce myself to everyone and maybe even socialize a bit more, too. (Please do not be offended if I didn’t say hello to you this year!) As long as there’s a TCAF, you can expect me to be there.

Kare First Love Vols 1-6

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Kare First Love Volumes 1-3 by Kaho Miyasaka

I was excited to see the first volume of Kare First Love pop up on Viz Digital. I thought this would be a good excuse for me to reread the series. I checked out most of Kare First Love from a library a long time ago, and since then I’ve been slowly acquiring my own copies. Kare First Love was a shoujo manga released before the Shojo Beat imprint came into being. In terms of content, it would skew a bit older than some of the titles in the Shojo Beat line, although Miyasaka doesn’t straddle the josei/shoujo line the way I feel Ai Yazawa sometimes does.

Kare First Love sticks fairly close to standard shoujo plots, but it executes them in an engaging and sometimes slightly more realistic way. Kare First Love also piles on the drama. While there are humorous moments, there’s much more angst as the protagonists navigate their budding relationship. Karin Karino is a shy girl who hides behind her glasses and doesn’t stick up for herself at school. She’s thinking slightly snarky thoughts to herself as she endures her morning bus ride when she’s approached by Kiriya, a handsome student from a nearby boys’ school who is interested in the photography book that she’s reading. A mishap on the bus leaves Karin thinking Kiriya is a pervert, and she slaps him and leaves her book behind. Like many shoujo heroines Karin’s outward actions contract with her inner thoughts, as she meekly gives in when her frenemy Yuka demands her class notes while thinking of what she’d actually like to say in response. All the mean girl shenanigans are deflated a little bit by Nanri, a girl in Karin’s class with a worldly and cynical air about her. Nanri holds herself apart from the rest of the class, but she points out to Karin that she does have the ability to stop being taken advantage of if she would only speak up.

As much as Karin would like to go back to her simple anonymous life Kiriya will not go away. He shows up at her school to return her photography book, and they immediately start bickering. Yuko decides that she’s going to use Kiriya’s odd interest in Karin to pursue him and his group of hot friends. Karin finds herself maneuvered into a series of awkward group dates, and it becomes apparent that instead of being obnoxious, Kiriya is almost saintly for a 16-year-old boy. He goes out of his way to look after Karin, maneuvering her through awkward social situations. Karin can’t believe that Kiriya is actually interested in her, but around him she actually says what’s on her mind without her customary filter of shyness.

As Karin and Kiriya start to spend more time with each other, she learns that he’s estranged from his family and supports himself by working a series of part-time jobs. His main ambition is to be a photographer. There are plenty of misunderstandings and incidents where Karin is swept off her feet while Kiriya says things like “Let me take care of you…or I’ll do something horrible like kiss you again.” Kiriya encourages Karin to rediscover her love for music, which is something that she dropped due to the extreme pressure her parents placed on her studying for school.

One of the things that sets Kare First Love apart from other shoujo manga is the way Miyasaka details the trials and tribulations associated with Karin and Kirya developing the physical aspect of their relationship. The manga goes into more detail than is typical, with Nanri sometimes functioning as a peer counselor for the Japanese equivalent for Planned Parenthood because she keeps handing Karin condoms to ensure that when she does have sex, it will be safe sex. Karin is as scared and timid as you would expect a socially isolated girl to be, and Kiriya is about as patient as one would expect a 16 year old boy to be, which is not very patient. One difficult element of the characterization that Miyasaka manages to pull off is that for several volumes Kiriya is basically pressuring Karin to have sex, but he doesn’t seem like a jerk. He might attempt more physical intimacy in their relationship, but he always backs down when Karin appears uncomfortable.

Teenage romance is always both intense and complicated, and in short order the couple have to deal with Kiriya’s tragic past (the most important accessory of any shoujo hero), Karin’s overbearing parents, Yuka’s bullying, interfering photographers, and Kiriya’s attractive older sister-in-law. In addition to these outside complications, Kiriya and Karin’s relationship turns stormy due to their own lack of communication and misunderstandings with each other. The dynamic of the main relationship in Kare First Love reminded me a bit of Fuyumi Soryo’s Mars, but with much less psychological torture.

Miyasaka’s art is attractive, but most fluid and natural when she’s drawing teenagers. Karin’s father often looks a tad on the robotic side, but that could also be a function of his less than great personality. Karin is believable as a stunning shoujo heroine when she takes off her glasses, and Kiriya’s larger frame and shaggy blond hair contrasts with her more conservative look. Miyasaka does a good job alternating between the outward action and Karin’s thoughts, making all the scenes of breaking up and making up dramatic enough to satisfy any shoujo fan.

I’m very happy that Viz is making their backlist available on digital platforms, and I hope this series finds a new group of fans!

Manga the Week of 5/22

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SEAN: As I try to wean this list away from just what Midtown Comics says and try to take in more alternate sources (mostly Amazon), I find myself sometimes missing books I should have mentioned. Last week was Dance in the Vampire Bund, this week it’s X, which apparently showed up today and I didn’t have on the MtWo list. So, X 3-in-1 5, which presumably has Vols. 13-15. And a picnic? Came out this week.

MJ: I’ve been really enjoying the X 3-in-1 releases. I didn’t enjoy this series much the first time I read it through, but the larger trim size is giving me a fresh appreciation for the artwork, which has really transformed my experience with the series. I’d recommend this new version to anyone who enjoys dramatic shoujo in all its glory.

SEAN: Meanwhile, in stuff coming out NEXT week, Kodansha has a trio of releases. I continue to buy and be entertained by Cage of Eden, even as it hits double digits. Honestly, its faults are the faults of almost have the titles that run in Shonen Magazine – the plot rambles on like a season of Lost without giving much info, and its female characters are all large-breasted nymphs for the males (and reader) to ogle. But – it’s fun snack food manga.

There’s also Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 4, which, I would imagine, stands alone. Robert Cormier’s Ghost in the Shell, coming soon.

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And Sailor Moon is in the home stretch, as Vol. 11 brings us the start of the final arc, Stars. Chibi Chibi is on the cover, and if you’re wondering who the hell she is, well, read on and find out!

MICHELLE: I continue to be sad that the Starlights never got a cover of their own.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a new debut in The Sacred Blacksmith, another title I vaguely recall was adapted into an anime a while back, and is no doubt based on a light novel, as that’s how Seven Seas rolls these days. It seems to feature a female swordswoman, which is a good start, and is fantasy-ish? And I hear this is another one where the anime takes great liberties with the heroine – not for the better. Let’s see if it impresses me like Zero’s Familiar did.

ANNA: This seems potentially interesting to me, but I think I’m going to wait until a few people I know read it.

MJ: I’ve become so skittish about Seven Seas. I’m with Anna on this one.

SEAN: Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game was one of the most psychological yet, and also took us closer to Alice finding out about her sister than ever before, so I really want to read Vol. 2.

ANNA: I did enjoy the first volume of this series and I plan on reading volume 2 as well. The first volume was not quite as good as Hearts, but not as bad as Clover, so I’m interested to see where this goes.

SEAN: Vertical has Vol. 5 of Limit, which features – shock and horror – a male on the cover. No doubt this is the volume where everything starts to turn around and go great. Aheh.

ANNA: I am feeling guilty that I am three volumes behind with this series! I plan to catch up though. It is always such a nice change of pace, if a Lord of the Flies type scenario featuring stranded schoolgirls could be described as “nice.”

MJ: I’ve been looking forward to this volume quite a bit!

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SEAN: Viz has a debut from the author of Tekkonkinkreet, Taiyo Matsumoto. It’s called Sunny, and is the manga to give your indie comics friends who hate manga to say “No, see? See?”

ANNA: I also feel guilt that I haven’t read anything by Taiyo Matsumoto. But this is on my to-read list, so hopefully my feelings of guilt will abate when I read it.

MJ: I’ve drooled over artwork I’ve seen from Blue Spring, and I’ve longed to read it ever since I read Kate’s article on the subject, so I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to experience some new Matsumoto along with everyone else.

SEAN: They also have the final volume of Saturn Apartments, one of the quieter Ikki series, but one that had a lot of fans who appreciated just those qualities. Every Ikki series that comes out here is worth it, IMO. Yes, even Bokurano, though I won’t read that.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to catching up on/concluding this one.

SEAN: And there is a GIANT PILE OF YEN, which I am getting in a week early, as my shop sometimes does. They will arrive just in time for me to go to Anime North. But it’s OK, as I can bring all my new manga up to Canada! And take it through customs! Hey, wait, found the flaw in my plan.

MICHELLE: Once again, you have made me snerk.

ANNA: I don’t know why, but there isn’t much that Yen puts out that’s on my radar. I need to catch up with A Bride’s Story and want to read Thermae Romae, but that’s about it. Perhaps my problem is that I’ve already read most of their graphic novel adaptations in prose form.

MJ: I’m deeply in love with several current Yen series, so a GIANT PILE OF YEN is always good news for me!

MICHELLE: Lately they’ve released several new action-ish series that I’ve found to be enjoyable, too. I look forward to volume three of Blood Lad, for example.

SEAN: Because the two bestsellers of last year were High School of the Dead and Alice in the Country of Hearts, the most obvious license ever would combine elements of the two in some way. This we have Are You Alice?, which seems to be about characters playing Wonderland ‘roles’ (like the other Alice), and murderous violence. I’m hoping this is more ‘psychological thriller’ and not ‘Saw’ with moe kids.

The 19th volume of Black God is out, and I believe that it is the final volume. It’s a manwha, so I will tag the others here.

MJ: I’ve been collecting this series all along, and I have a marathon planned now that the final volume is out. Look for more on this coming up!

SEAN: Blood Lad has proven to be my big surprise hit of 2013, so I’m really looking forward to the 3rd omnibus, whose cover is also very purple.

MJ: Oh, Blood Lad, how I adore you. I kinda can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s obviously true.

SEAN: And speaking of survival horror, we have the 2nd volume of BTOOOM!. The first didn’t grab me hard, but I didn’t dislike it, so I will give it a second volume.

MJ: I had moderate fun with the first volume, so I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

I’ve spent 3 volumes watching The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan sort of play around with being cute and moe, knowing that Vol. 4 would hit and be FAR more interesting. This is Vol. 4. It’s FAR more interesting.

And the second volume of Durarara!! Saika arc should be interesting as well, and feature a lot of slashing.

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One of Yen’s stealth announcements was the rescue/relicensing of the Kingdom Hearts books, with two volumes titled Final Mix coming out this month. I never read the Tokyopop ones the first time around, but I really should check them out, if only for Donald and Goofy.

MJ: This will be my first experience with the series, too, but I’m ready to check it out.

SEAN: Omamori Himari has hit ten whole volumes, which makes it a shame I know next to nothing about it except it has ‘cat demon samurai girls’. (What, no vampires?)

Soul Eater 14 has one of the most minimal manga covers I’ve seen in a while. Love it. As for the plot, hope you’re enjoying Baba Yaga’s Castle, we’re still there.

Thermae Romae has its 2nd omnibus come out, which will no doubt continue to look gorgeous. I’m hoping the storyline can keep it up as well – things were getting dangerous when we left off for our bathing hero.

MJ: I’m certainly interested in seeing where the story goes. It’s difficult for me to imagine how it’s going to hold up over the long term, but it’s lovely to look at, and that’ll take me quite a ways.

SEAN: Lastly, Umineko: When They Cry (the ‘they’ in this case being Seagulls, not Cicadas) starts its second arc, which is where things really begin to get very, very meta, if I recall correctly. Plus you have to love that insane grin on the cover.

Anything that you’d risk exposing to Canadian Customs?