Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

Lazy Monday

by

The Manga Village team gives their thoughts on the past week’s new releases, and the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss the relative merits of this week’s new manga.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss the end of 13th Boy in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri happenings in this week’s episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Tony Yao looks at the laziness of Nara Shikamaru (of Naruto) and how that can be a good thing.

Johanna Draper Carlson has a shopping tip that could save you money if you’re looking for vol. 1 of Wandering Son.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the monthly magazine Dengeki Bunko.

Congratulations to Ash Brown on two years of Experiments in Manga!

Reviews: New volumes of Ai Ore, Bunny Drop, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are among the short reviews in this week’s Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Bunny Drop (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Dragon Knights (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Hon no Sukoshi no Mizu (Brain Vs. Book)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Late Advent (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 10 of Oresama Teacher and vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 21 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Starting with a Kiss (I Reads You)

Pick of the Week: Ikigami, Gate 7, Itazura, Dorohedoro

by , , and 1 Comment

KATE: This week’s shipping list is heavy on Dark Horse and DMP titles, and light on just about everything else. I still have no idea what’s happening in Gate 7, and I lost patience with Itazura na Kiss several volumes ago, so my pick goes to one of Wednesday’s few VIZ releases: volume eight of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit. I have a hot-and-cold relationship with Ikigami: the artwork is terrific and expressive, and the premise is chilling in a good, thought-provoking way. At the same time, however, the stories are unrelentingly grim, and the tone so pessimistic that I can only read a few chapters at a time before needing a stiff drink. The other problem with Ikigami is that the overarching story — in which a “reaper” slowly begins to question his job — unfolds at what might be charitably described as a snail’s pace. Still, recent volumes have shown incremental progress in bringing Fujimoto’s crisis of conscience to the fore, giving me hope that the series is moving in a new and more dramatically satisfying direction.

MJ: It’s kind of an odd week for me, which is to say that there is a decent amount of new manga shipping in, with little of it to my taste. So I’ll make a rather optimistic choice this week and pick volume three of CLAMP’s Gate 7. While I joyfully declared volume one of this series to be “my kind of CLAMP,” its second volume’s onslaught of exposition and historical information left me a bit cold. However, having now discovered this tumblr full of guidance on Gate 7‘s historical matters, I’m ready to jump back in again for another try. If nothing else, Gate 7 offers me CLAMP’s latest take on their Watanuki-model character, which is pretty much bullet-proof for me, so that may get me through on its own. So, Gate 7 it is!

MICHELLE: Although I do intend to check out the latest volume of Ikigami and haven’t completely given up on Gate 7, I don’t feel enthusiastic enough about either to appoint one my pick of the week. I’m largely unfamiliar with most of the rest of the offerings on the list, though I confess to being slightly amused that I’ve Seen It All evidently involves love in a urology clinic. So, basically this is my exceedingly long-winded way of saying, yet again, that Itazura Na Kiss gets my vote.

SEAN: I have to know what happens! Will Caiman reunite with Nikaido? What about the new relationship between her and En, now that we know more about En’s past? I want to see more goofy humor between Noi and Shin as they casually kill people. I want more casual killing and gore from this cast of anti-heroes (or lovable villains). I want to be able to spot tiny little things in the background. I want more world-building and locations we haven’t seen before! I want to find out more about the head in Caiman’s mouth, who I think we finally have figured out. And I want more gyoza! Delicious gyoza! So yes, for all that and more, and to no one’s surprise, Dorohedoro is my pick this week.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/20/12

by , , and Leave a Comment

This week, Sean, MJ, Kate, & Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, VIZ Media, and Kodansha Comics.

Ai Ore!, Vol. 6 | By Mayu Shinjo | VIZ Media – It really is astonishing what changing magazines/publishers has done for this title. It still has its issues, but the way that it handles them is more acceptable and more mature. This is not to say that the premise is completely different, however. Akira is still trying to prove that he’s a manly man for Mizuki, Mizuki is still getting embarrassed and misunderstanding everything, and Ran and Rui trade off between being comedic creepers and serious creepers. At one point, Rui tries to seduce Misaki, to the point almost of sexual assault. But Misaki doesn’t buy it, and neither do we – unlike Vol. 1 of this series, the danger doesn’t feel genuine. You can argue this makes the series fluffier and less electrically charged, but it also makes Akira and Mizuki’s relationship far sweeter and more tolerable. –Sean Gaffney

Bunny Drop, Vol. 6 | By Yumi Unita | Yen Press – As the series continues with its new switch to Rin as its primary POV character, the story begins to revolve around Rin’s increasingly awkward relationship with her childhood friend Kouki, whose (supposedly) ex-girlfriend deliberately alienates Rin. Fortunately, this plotline is more nuanced than it sounds, deftly avoiding most of the “evil rival” territory common in manga for female readers. Unfortunately, Unita seems less comfortable writing Rin’s voice than she was writing Daikichi’s—or maybe Daikichi is just infinitely more comfortable than Rin herself—which means that there is often a noticeable distance between the reader and the series’ protagonist. On the upside, Rin’s evolving balance between dependence and independence creates unexpected difficulties in Daikichi’s own personal life, allowing us back (however briefly) into his somewhat more forthcoming mind. Though the series’ new direction seems to still be settling in, there’s enough solid ground left for nearly any fan to stand on. Still recommended. – MJ

Cage of Eden, Vol. 6 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – This really is the perfect series for 12-year-old boys, though I would not recommend it to parents of those boys. There’s far too much casual nudity, casual violence, and general skeevy fanservice. But it also has bears vs. wolves, in which our hero teams up with the wolf because of their similar roles in their groups. It’s almost pure shonen at its finest. We meet two more regulars here. I suspect Rei is there entirely to be a large-breasted woman (you know, in case there weren’t enough of those), but Maya seems to be more of an action girl, and backs it up. She seems a bit *too* eager for battle, though, and I wonder if she’ll last long. Then again, the only people in this series who seem to be killed are the irredeemable ones, such as manipulative Kotomi or stalker Ryoichi.-Sean Gaffney

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 13 | By Gaku Tsugano and Nagaru Tanigawa | Yen Press – I haven’t reviewed this series for a while, but since it’s moved on to stories that aren’t animated, it has managed to improve – finally, it can be 2nd best, rather than 3rd! It has a difficult job here, as Editor in Chief, the short story adapted for this volume, does not lend itself well to the visual. Still, it manages pretty well, and also throws in an original short story chapter, featuring Miyoko, the girl from Kyon’s story, arriving to ask the SOS-Dan to help her investigate a haunted house. It shakes things up by having Taniguchi and Kunikida there rather than Yuki and Mikuru, and also has an ending that undercuts the tension but still is nicely sentimental. The art is still only fair, and I’d rather read the novels, but this is now an acceptable alternative. –Sean Gaffney

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 7 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | VIZ Media – Ever since the end of volume one, the latest Tokugawa Shogun, Yoshimune, has been reading Chronicle of a Dying Day, which tells the story of how women came to rule Japan. Readers have followed along, and here in volume seven we finally return to the “present,” but not before realizing just how much scheming Yoshimune—or perhaps simply her ever-faithful attendant, Hisamichi—has engaged in to become the next Shogun. It’s just another lesson that nearly everyone in this tale, no matter how likeable, has sinned in pursuit of power, sometimes inflicting misfortune upon the innocent. Maybe it’s because of this that Ooku, despite being interesting and boasting some impressive art, doesn’t stand a chance of becoming my favorite Yoshinaga manga. Oh, I’ll keep following it, but Antique Bakery‘s place in my heart is secure. – Michelle Smith

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 2 | Story by Magica Quartet, Art by Hanokage | Yen Press – If your chief aversion to magical-girl manga is its earnest, perky wholesomeness, then Puella Magi Madoka Magica is for you. The series is dark and violent, using the magical-girl concept as a metaphor for adolescence in all its ugliness. In volume two, for example, we see the corrosive influence of jealousy, as Sayaka begins to regret wishing for her friend Kamijou’s full recovery. Sayaka’s rapid descent into anger and self-pity is one of the most astonishing developments in the volume — and that’s saying something, given the healthy sprinkling of fight scenes, dramatic confrontations, and plot twists. As terrific as some of these scenes are, Puella often feels rushed. Most of the fight sequences are too brief and too busy to make much sense; one gets the sense that the writers were trying too hard to cover all the major plot points of the anime, rather than tailoring the story to a different medium. That said, Puella has consistently surprised me with its ability to both faithfully observe and thoroughly subvert magical-girl tropes, and continues to grow on me with each volume. -Katherine Dacey

I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!, Vol. 1-2

by

By Kouichi Kusano. Released in Japan as “Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!!” by Futabasha, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Web Comic High!. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

People follow trends. It’s just a way of life. When something is popular, the first instinct of a business looking for profit, or writer looking for a surefire seller, is ‘what did it do and how can I use that to replicate it?’ And this is fine sometimes. I’ve known many derivative works that have been very good and sometimes even surpassed the original. But too often someone goes too far. Either they miss the original point that was being made, or they deviate in an unacceptable manner, or they add too many other, equally trendy things to make a giant stew of trends that all cancel each other out.

And incest as a sexual thrill is, god help us, popular these days. Especially in Japan. Naturally, *genuine* incest seems to be saved for the actual porn magazines, but there’s no end of manga and (more importantly) anime that feature guys crushing on their sisters, and girls worshiping their brothers. Usually at some point they find out they aren’t related after all. Other popular trends in anime these days include the tsundere type who says mean things and hits the object of her affection as she’s too embarrassed. And let’s not forget the pretty, reserved princess type who secretly turns out to be a stalker and pervert.

If all this sounds like a lot of moe animes seen in the past five years, it’s by design. I’ll be honest, I had initially confused this title with ‘My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute’, which comes out next month by Dark Horse, and has a somewhat better reputation. IDLYAA,BB!! features Nao, who loves her older brother a lot (the title may have given that away), despite his being a somewhat perverse non-entity in these two volumes. She goes to wake him up every day by hitting him (and giving him calculated panty flashes) and throws out anything in his porn doujinshi that it’s brother/sister incest. In fact, when told that she’s actually not related to him after all, this *depresses* her briefly, as it ruins the incest fantasy she’s been going for for so long.

This may seem rather hardcore for what’s meant to be a typical seinen title for horny guys, but rest assured there’s no actual sex, merely piles and piles of suggestion (though I note this is the author’s first ‘mainstream’ work after years of drawing adult titles). And to be fair, Nao’s obsession is treated in-story as immature and wrong. Then we meet our second heroine, Iroha, a long-lost childhood friend who meets Nao’s brother after all these years and proceeds to sexually assault him. This is actually one of the few interesting scenes in the book – it’s presented as incredibly disturbing (after all, we’re meant to root for Nao), and her brother’s horrified reaction to it, and realization that he may have led to her turning out this way, is a brief moment of soul searching that could be interesting… if it weren’t undone by Nao and Iroha’s determination to make sure that their man stays perverted and does not ‘turn over a new leaf’.

There’s a couple more things to like here – Nao’s two female friends are meant to function as a Greek chorus of sorts, and their reactions towards the end of the book at all the slapstick are well done – but to be honest, I have rarely seen a manga that seemed to calculated to hit as many fetishes as possible as this one. If you enjoy perverse moe harem comedies, well, I think you’ll get a big kick out of this, though even the most hardcore fan might finish the volume and say, “Erm, isn’t this a bit over the top?”

A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George

by

From the back cover:
A shocking murder calls forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife, Deborah, to an isolated island in the English Channel. An old friend of Deborah’s, China River, stands accused of killing the island’s wealthiest benefactor, Guy Brouard. There is little evidence pointing to China—and Deborah and Simon are certain that their friend didn’t murder the inveterate womanizer. But if China didn’t kill Brouard, who did?

As family and friends gather for the reading of the will, Deborah and Simon find that seemingly everyone on the history-haunted island has something to hide. And behind all the lies and alibis, a killer is lurking.

Review:
Every once in a while, a strange thing happens to me: I get an incredibly strong craving to read a mystery by Elizabeth George. This isn’t a bad thing, but I’ve only got five left now ’til I’m current, and I wonder what’ll happen then. Anyway, in the case of A Place of Hiding this craving was strong enough to trump the off-putting fact that this novel prominently features Deborah St. James, a character whom I dislike most intensely.

Before I get into the ways in which Deborah caused me to contemplate violence upon her fictional person, I should probably talk about the actual mystery, such as it is. Guy Brouard, wealthy war orphan and inveterate womanizer, has been killed on the island of Guernsey the morning following a party announcing his plans for a war museum. Among the attendees was China River, an American and old friend of Deborah’s, who has now been arrested for the crime. China’s brother, Cherokee, comes to London to enlist the aid of Deborah and her forensic scientist husband, Simon, in proving his sister’s innocence.

Simon’s credentials convince the local force to allow him to poke around, and he, as one might assume, soon discovers additional suspects with various motives. He also entrusts Deborah with an important piece of evidence, and when she fails to do with it what he requested, he gets chewed out about it by the local DCI, which obviously leaves him feeling rightfully irritated with her. Deborah fails to see how this is her fault, and indulges in repeated hissy fits about how Simon views his rational approach to the investigation (and life in general) as superior to her own “passionate, unpredictable” one.

This eventually culminates in Deborah idiotically interrupting a stakeout and, once again, making Simon look unprofessional in front of the local police. Elizabeth George tries so hard to make us sympathize with Deborah that she introduces characteristics in Simon that I had never before noticed, like a patronizing form of sexism. So now, not only do I hate Deborah, she’s making me start to dislike Simon, too! Great.

Some of the secondary characters are fairly odious, too, but honestly I am ready to put them (and this book) behind me. I will say, however, that this is the first Elizabeth George novel to ever make me cry happy tears (the last scene involving Paul Fielder), so it’s obviously not all bad.

JManga launches JManga7 unlimited-manga site

by

JManga celebrates its first birthday today by launching a new site, JManga7, that will carry a wide variety of manga by the chapter. The site will be updated daily, and as volumes are completed they will be taken off the site and made available for purchase on JManga. There’s no content up yet—that will be along in October—but you can pre-register now, which will enter you in a contest for a Nexus 7 tablet or a free subscription. I talked JManga business manager Robert Newman about the new site at Comic-Con, so check that interview for more details.

Also, if you sign up with JManga today, they will give you 600 points for free–sort of a reverse birthday present.

Volume 14 of Neon Genesis Evangelion will apparently be the last, according to the French publisher.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the classic manga Trigun in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Helen McCarthy takes a look at Charles Wirgman, who published the satirical magazine Japan Punch in the 19th century and helped shape Japanese cartooning forever.

I know we’re preaching to the converted here, but in case you need more reinforcement, Molly McIsaac explains why you should read manga.

News from Japan: Sakuran creator Moyoco Anno is working on a new series, set in France, and she will discuss the details in a lecture at Ikebukuro Community College in December. Kazuya Minekura will go back to work on Wild Adapter next spring, after a two-year break due to health reasons.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes a quick look at the newest releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 13 of Bakuman (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 44 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Anonymous on vols. 1 and 2 of The Flowers of Evil (Stumptown Trade Review)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of Genshiken: Second Season (ICv2)
Kristin on vol. 14 of Vampire Knight (Comic Attack)

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

by

Book description:
When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they’re leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong—horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured—including their families and all their friends.

Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: they can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.

Review:
It’s been several weeks now since I finished Tomorrow, When the War Began. Normally, I write a book’s review as soon as I finish reading it, but I feel like I’m still processing this one to some extent, trying to figure out exactly how I feel about it.

This is due in part to the fact that I have greatly enjoyed the other books by John Marsden that I have read, and so built this series up in my mind as something that was going to be jaw-droppingly amazing. And when it turned out not to be so, even though it’s still quite good in general and genuinely riveting in parts, I was kind of disappointed.

This is the story of seven Australian teenagers (later eight) living in the rural town of Wirrawee who go camping while their parents and most of the people in town are attending a fair. The kids return to find that a mysterious military force has invaded Australia and has imprisoned most of the townspeople at the fairgrounds, including their families. They must decide what, if anything, they’re going to do to help. Ellie Linton has been tasked with chronicling their story.

Large portions of the tale are pretty fascinating. The teens are resourceful and rise to the occasion, especially Ellie’s clown/daredevil childhood friend, Homer, who emerges as the group’s leader, and Fiona, a ladylike rich girl who proves to have unexpected reserves of courage. While Homer is the tactician of the group, Ellie seems to find herself trusted with the most dangerous missions, which require some quick, inventive thinking on her part in difficult situations involving things like exploding lawn mowers, demolition derby bulldozers, and exploding gas tankers.

I even liked the parts of the story where the characters talk about what they’re going to do—are we going to hide out here in our camping spot, or are we going to try to engage the enemy somehow?—and the various supplies they’re going to need from town, whether to keep chickens, etc. Where the story really bogs down, however, is with the introduction of romance.

Ellie has never considered Homer in a romantic way before, but begins to see him in a new light given his metamorphosis. Meanwhile, she’s also intrigued by Lee, the inscrutable Asian musician, and Homer has fallen for Fiona. Ellie dwells a lot on her confusion before ultimately deciding upon Lee, and then telling readers about all the making out they’re doing and how she has learned the things that make him groan, etc. I kept thinking how embarrassing all of this will be for Lee whenever he/anyone reads this official chronicle!

Anyway, it’s not that I am anti-romance or anything, but it’s just that these scenes really slow down the pace of the story. And maybe that is the point. Even if something as dramatic as an invasion has occurred, there will still be a lot of downtime if you’re hiding out in the woods, and a lot of time for more mundane things to be going on.

I guess what it boils down to is that my perception of the book has been hampered by my expectations. I am certainly going to read the rest of the series, and hopefully I will like it better now that I’ve reconciled myself to what it actually is rather than what I thought it was.

Additional reviews of Tomorrow, When the War Began can be found at Triple Take.

New manga, Viz digital, and Okazu’s first decade

by

Lissa Pattillo has the list of this week’s new manga—and her recommendations—in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and the Manga Villagers make their picks as well. Sean Gaffney, meanwhile, looks forward to next week’s bountiful list.

Kellie Foxx-Gonzalez lists ten licensed manga (well, nine licensed manga and one that we would all like to see, actually) that won’t make feminists want to tear their hair out.

Tony Yao looks at ten characters who smile through their tears at Manga Therapy.

Deb Aoki rounds up the digital news at Viz, including their new Android app and their 20% off sale on digital manga.

Congratulations to Erica Friedman on the tenth birthday of Okazu! Check out her blogiversary post, because Erica isn’t sitting still—she’s taking suggestions for the next ten years.

Reviews

Matthew Warner on vols. 1, 2, and 3 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (omnibus edition) (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Ambiguous Relationship (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 13 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on chapters 10 and 11 of Barrage (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 9 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 17 of Black Jack (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 12 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Blood Blockade Battlefront (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Cousin (Manga Widget)
Connie on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Slightly Biased Manga)
Chris Kirby on vol. 1 of Durarara!! (The Fandom Post)
Connie on issue 6 of GEN (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 6 of Kobato (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
John Rose on vol. 47 of Naruto (The Fandom Post)
Sean Michael Robinson on NonNonBa (The Comics Journal)
Brittany Vincent on vol. 1 of Oreimo (Japanator)
Kristin on vol. 11 of Otomen (Comic Attack)
Chris Kirby on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 20 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Connie on Sakuran (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jessi Silver on Short-Tempered Melancholic (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)

Manga the Week of 8/22

by

There’s quite a variety of things coming out next week at Midtown from various sources. Let’s leap right in.

Dark Horse is ready to explode with new releases, which I think have only been delayed once or twice before hitting shops! We have Vol. 24 of Gantz, which you either avoid like the plague or automatically seek out. It’s a pretty polarizing title, but very good at providing what its fans want. There’s also a new Gate 7, CLAMP’s new gig, which continues to mix Japanese historical figures with pretty young men and women in a very CLAMP way. And there’s a new volume of Oh My Goddess, finally free of the reprints and ready to go forward! Unfortunately, in this volume everything’s gone to hell. No, wait, everyONE’s gone to Hell.

Digital Manga Publishing has Volume 9 of Itazura Na Kiss, which I’m hoping continues the excellent character development we saw in the previous chapters. Meanwhile, there’s also some new yaoi titles, including I’ve Seen It All, which I just wrote three different jokes about only to delete them all as being too pornographic, so I’ll just say it’s about a doctor and has one of THOSE covers. For those who like less creepy looking BL, there’s Man I Picked Up, whose title doesn’t do it many favors but whose cover and synopsis (man takes a vagrant guy home and gradually grows closer to him) sound a lot better. Meanwhile, in Countdown 7 Days 3, Onigawara is definitely dead. Well, mostly dead. And Replica hits is final volume, with an action packed finale.

It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that Dorohedoro 7 gets my cover image. I love this series and its complicated universe more with each volume, and can’t wait to see how much trouble Caiman will get into. There’s also Ikigami Vol. 8, much to the surprise of many folks who thought it had been cancelled, and the 8th volume of the Tenjo Tenge omnibus, which brings us full circle, as Gantz and Tenjo Tenge really serve the same audience.

So what appeals to you this week?

Muggy day linkblogging

by

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of the week.

John Jakala examines the significance of Viz’s announcement that it will be releasing many of its books digitally the same day as print—and he has some questions, too.

Erica Friedman posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Jiro Taniguchi’s A Zoo in Winter has been nominated for the Ignatz Award for best graphic novel.

At Blog of the North Star (NSFW image at the link), Milo discusses X-Western Flash, a cowboy manga by the creator of Gon: “X-Western Flash is only three volumes long and filled with more gobsmacking moments than every licensed manga I’ve read in the last three years combined. It’s gorgeous, unpredictable, offensive, and hilarious.”

Reviews: It’s Bookshelf Briefs time again at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown stacks up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 10 of Black Butler (Kuriousity)
Kristin on vols. 40 and 41 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Erica Friedman on vol. 16 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on Sakuran (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Ultimo (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vols. 1-4 of Walkin’ Butterfly (Manga Report)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 19 of xxxHoLiC (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)