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Skip Beat!, Vol. 26

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By Yoshiki Nakamura. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz.

It’s been a while since I reviewed Skip Beat! in depth – the last two volumes were Briefs for the Manga bookshelf team. Since then, the Natsu arc has basically wrapped up, although Kyoko is still doing that show. In the meantime, Chaiki has now joined the Love Me team. And, as with Kyoko and Kanae, her cynicism and inability to “love” is her undoing, at least as far as Lory is concerned.

Lory may be an eccentric (the python is quite typical of him, complete with the pun), but you can’t say that he’s not trying his best for these girls. Not only is his “punishment” acting assignments most young people would kill for, but they’re tailored perfectly for each of the victims. Chiaki in particular is trying hard to rediscover her love of acting, and swallows her pride a little here as she is well aware of what she needs to do in order to open up. Sadly, we only hear a bit of what Kanae is going to be doing. But Kyoko is the star, and as always the focus is on her.

Kyoko is ordered to go meet a “scary person”, and I was amused at the reminder of how out of place she is in normal society, especially in the Love Me uniforms (which are given a nice cover image here). Kyoko just stands out, and given that the crowd are already creeped out by Cain Heel, it makes sense that the combination of his aura with that of Kyoko’s leads to fireworks. Speaking of Cain Heel, Cain is, of course, Ren, something that we and Kyoko recognize right away, though Kyoko immediately doubts herself. I do sometimes wonder if Ren is an ex-Love Me member, and if Lory still gives him assignments in the same manner that he does for Kyoko. Certainly Cain Heel is designed to hit several of Ren’s buttons.

Naturally, Kyoko is now paired with Ren again, and we get to see her take on another role – this one outside of the TV camera, as she’s playing Cain Heel’s spoiled sister, Setsu. Seeing Kyoko get into the role is probably the high point of this volume. Each time she’s had to play someone “different” from herself it’s caused problems, and this time is no different. Yet she seems to get a hold of Setsu’s basic nature much faster, and has become adept at looking into the character’s motivations. Of course, this can be very problematic when they’re forced to live together in the same motel room…

Though obviously not explicit, there’s an incestual subtext here. The Heel siblings are close to the point of obsession, and Kyoko accurately notes that Setsu’s love of her brother is a bit disturbing. And it goes the other way as well, of course, showing us Cain’s love of his sister intermingling with Ren’s feelings for Kyoko. Ren has always been about repression and masks, so seeing him losing it and cracking is a treat. He really desires Kyoko here, and we start to see the real reason that Lory paired Ren and Kyoko together. Of course, he regards his desires as deeply wrong, so we’re still not actually going anywhere, but…

This new arc promises to be a lot of fun, and is already mixing together humor, romance and drama in equal measures. It’s still running in Japan, so we’ll be seeing a lot of the Heel siblings in future volumes. For now, though, we’ll enjoy the comedy, be amused at the pseudo-romance, pretend not to notice Ren’s obsession merging with “Cain Heel”, and try to forget that terrifying panel of Ren’s huge hand reaching out to grab Kyoko and drag her into an alleyway, which would be genuinely horrible if we didn’t know it was him.

BL Bookrack: January 2012

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Welcome to 2012’s first installment of BL Bookrack! This month, MJand Michelle take a look at two offerings from the Digital Manga Guild, Love & Trap and My Sempai, as well as Men of Tattoos from Digital Manga Publishing’s Juné imprint.

Love & Trap| By Kotetsuko Yamamoto | Digital Manga Guild | Young Adult (16+) – High school student Mochida Masaki will do anything to keep himself safe from bullies, even if it means using his body to “trap” someone stronger or more powerful into becoming his protector. Having only ever used sex as a tool for persuasion, it’s a tremendous shock to Masaki when he finds himself experiencing real attraction to Aihara, the class loner whose family is rumored to be connected to the Yakuza. Are Masaki’s feelings real, or is he just gravitating towards his next target?

Building a romance manga around real societal or psychological issues is tricky business, especially when one of those issues is as serious as teen prostitution, which is essentially what Yamamoto attempts to tackle with Love & Trap. Regardless of the writer’s knowledge of the subject, it’s incredibly difficult to balance complex reality with the demands of the genre, without either trivializing the issue or doling it out with an insufferably heavy hand. This balance is even more challenging to achieve if one must do so over the course of a single volume (or less).

With all that in mind, it’s not surprising to note that Love & Trap leans towards the former. Despite the manga’s dramatic setup, Yamamoto quickly resolves issues that would take most therapists years to unravel, just in time to grant Masaki his genre-approved happy ending. She fares a little better with the book’s obligatory (unrelated) side-stories, “Love Blood,” a dreamy little tale of sexual awakening that reads like a light-BL letter to Penthouse Forum, and “We’re Blooming,” a breezy workplace love-triangle romance set in a florist’s shop.

Yamamato’s artwork is a highlight throughout, clean and expressive, with an almost-classic sensibility that reflects some impressive influences, including Moto Hagio, whose character “Jeremy” (from A Cruel God Reigns) was Yamamoto’s model for the lead in “Love Blood.” On the strength of this alone, I’d be interested in seeking out her other works. Fortunately, the DMG seems to have licensed quite a few, including Blooming Darling, a two-volume sequel to the charming “We’re Blooming.” Stay tuned!

– Review by MJ

Men of Tattoos | By Yuiji Aniya | Digital Manga Publishing | Mature (18+) – I have recognized in myself a fondness for yakuza-themed BL, so when Deb Aoki named Men of Tattoos her Best New Yaoi Manga of 2011 and described it as “strange, funny, heartbreaking and surreal,” I knew I had to read it for myself.

Deb was absolutely right in her description of the series. The first four stories feature yakuza and are interconnected in various unexpected ways. “My Katagi-kun” is the story of a pair of childhood friends who reconnect and become lovers, “Dog of the Ranunculus” is about a guy who’s relatively high up in the organization falling in love with the boss’s son, “Cinderella and the Mad Shark” is about getting revenge, and “Everyone’s Song” is about dreams that don’t come true. Probably the last one packs the biggest punch, but it needs the other three stories to put it into context.

Rounding out the collection are two stories about a pair of college students who keep having dreams about each other. It’s more interesting than it sounds—and fairly steamy besides—and functions like a mental palate cleanser, as it allows the book to actually end on a happy note.

Even if you’re not a particular fan of yakuza stories or of BL in general, I’d still recommend Men of Tattoos. Aniya does some clever things with storytelling that can be appreciated by any manga fan.

– Review by Michelle Smith

My Sempai | Hebiko Habuyama | Digital Manga Guild | Young Adult (16+) – In terms of premise, My Sempai doesn’t sound terribly unique. A fresh-faced teenager, Hajime Amemiya, is being hassled by some thugs when he is rescued by cool and intimidating Saburo Ninomiya, who turns out to be an upperclassman at Hajime’s school. Immediately, a comedic tone is set when Hajime proceeds to stalk Ninomiya, pouncing on him from time to time while absurdly declaring, “I am a love vulture!!” Saburo attempts to discourage his interest at first, but when faced when Hajime’s inextinguishable belief in his being a better person than rumors suggest, he relents.

The boys start spending time together on the weekends—seeing movies, playing video games—and gradually get closer. Saburo’s not a very communicative guy, so instead of volunteering information about himself, he tells Hajime that he can ask anything he likes. It’s tough for Hajime to do this, though, so he’s pretty uncertain about how Saburo feels about him, and also feels left out when one of Saburo’s obnoxious friends (my least favorite character by far) spills the beans about a post-graduation job offer in Okinawa. They do make a cute couple, though, so I enjoyed their interactions. In addition, the chaste, fade-to-black consummation of their relationship has to be one of the happiest-looking I’ve ever seen in BL.

Habuyama’s artwork takes a bit of getting used to, as screentone (and maybe everything else, who knows?) appears to be rendered by computer. Eventually, though, I discovered that her style is particularly suited for outdoor scenes, especially at night, and there were quite a few wide-shot panels with composition worth admiring. I’m always a sucker for drawings of buildings, and there’s a particular image of a dejected Hajime standing on Saburo’s shadowy front porch that I remember as especially striking.

While some elements of My Sempai are not exactly original, I still found it a pleasant and generally humorous read. Habuyama writes in her afterword, “All that matters is that you laughed and enjoyed yourself. I draw with that intention.” I did both, so I’d call that a success.

– Review by Michelle Smith

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast: An Introduction

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© Usamaru Furuya

Welcome, everyone, to the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast!

The first Manga Moveable Feast of the year begins today, January 22, and will end next Sunday, January 29. The Feast gives the manga blogging community an opportunity to explore and examine together a particular manga or creator. This month we will be focusing on mangaka Usamaru Furuya and his works and Experiments in Manga will be hosting.

Who is Usamaru Furuya?
Usamaru Furuya was born on January 25, 1968 in Tokyo. (That’s right! His birthday is Wednesday, so let’s throw a great Feast in his honor.) He made his manga debut in 1994 with Palepoli which was serialized in the monthly alternative manga magazine Garo.

Furuya was interested in creating manga since his childhood, even enrolling in Osamu Tezuka Manga Correspondence School and submitting to the portrait section of Shōnen Gaho. But in high school, his focus shifted to oil painting. He went on to study art at Tama Art University where he also developed an interest in drama, sculpture (particularly abstract three-dimensional figures), and butoh dance. For a time, Furuya was a member of the butoh performance groups Karas and Sankai Juku. After graduating from Tama Art University, Furuya worked as a high school art teacher before returning to manga, bringing his fine arts background with him.

Furuya has also worked a bit in the film industry. After creating the manga adaptation of Sion Sono’s 2002 cult classic Suicide Club, Furuya would play a role (“the man in the cafe”) in the film’s 2006 sequel Noriko’s Dinner Table. He also acted in another of Sono’s films, 2008’s Love Exposure, playing the part of Miyanishi. Furuya was also involved with the 2005 film adaptation of Otsuichi’s horror short story collection Zoo (which I have reviewed here). He was responsible for the screenplay, storyboard, and character design for the story “Hidamari no Shi” (translated as “Song of the Sunny Spot” in the English short story collection), the only animated short in the collection. There very well may be other examples, but these are the instances I am familiar with.

Blog: 古屋兎丸ブログ「ウサギ☆ひとりクラブ
Twitter: @usamarus2001

Furuya’s Manga in English
Usamaru Furuya’s official introduction to English-reading audiences was all thanks to Viz Media. First came excerpts from Palepoli in Japan Edge in 1999 and then in Secret Comics Japan in 2000. (Regrettably, the entirety of Palepoli has never been released in English, although the selections in the previously mentioned volumes are different from each other.) Furuya’s series Short Cuts was serialized in Viz’s now defunct manga magazine PULP before the two individual volumes were collected in 2000 and 2003, respectively.

CMX Manga announced in 2009 the licensing of Furuya’s 51 Ways to Save Her. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the company folded before any of the series made it into in English. The recent resurgence of Furuya’s manga in English began in 2010 with Viz Media’s publication of the first volume of Genkaku Picasso. The final two volumes of the series were released in 2011.

2011 also saw Vertical stepping up with some Furuya manga, beginning with the one-volume Lychee Light Club, based on the Tokyo Grand Guignol’s theater piece. (Vertical has also expressed interest in licensing the prequel Our Light Club.) Most recently, Vertical began the publication of Furuya’s No Longer Human, a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s novel by the same name (which I have reviewed here). The third and final volume is currently scheduled to be released next month.

Who knows what the future may hold, but I sincerely hope it includes more of Furuya’s works being licensed and released in English.

Feasting at Experiments in Manga
This is the first time that Experiments in Manga has hosted the Feast, so what should you expect? There will be new content related to the Feast posted every day. Mostly, the posts will consist of my own in-depth reviews of Furuya’s manga, so nothing too terribly exciting. I’ve previously reviewed Lychee Light Club, so for the Feast I’ll mostly be focusing on the first volumes of Furuya’s series. There should also be at least one guest post to look forward to! (Another first for Experiments in Manga.) Also, my monthly manga giveaway will begin on Wednesday and you’ll be able to enter for a chance to win Furuya’s Genkaku Picasso, Volume 1.

There will be three roundup posts during the Feast—one each on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday—as well as a final send-off on Sunday. These posts will highlight other participants’ contributions to the Feast. I will also be updating the archive page throughout the Feast. (I’ve already populated it with a ton of pre-Feast reviews and articles, so check it out.)

It will be very boring if I’m the only person posting content, so I encourage you all to take part in the Feast. Simply notify me of your contributions by e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com or through my Twitter account @PhoenixTerran and I’ll make sure that you’re included in the roundups and archive.

Please enjoy the Feast!

Tidbits: A Trio of Kodansha Shoujo

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I’m catching up on three of Kodansha’s currently running shoujo series, so I thought I’d group them all together here for a Tidbits post! First up are volumes four and five of Natsumi Ando’s suspenseful Arisa, followed by the second and final volume of Naoko Takeuchi’s Codename: Sailor V, with the second volume of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon bringing up the rear. Tidbit power, make up!

Arisa, Vols. 4-5 by Natsume Ando
Tsubasa Uehara continues to attend school in the guise of her sister, Arisa, as she endeavors to find the identity of the King who is fulfilling wishes from chosen students in dangerous ways. Her spirits flag when it seems she’s been unsuccessful in protecting the latest target, but when it turns out her efforts actually prevented the girl from sustaining permanent injury, her spirits rise. Alas, a friend’s betrayal is followed by an explanation of divided loyalties and the introduction of a pivotal new character with kind feelings towards Tsubasa but a burning hatred for Arisa.

So, there are several characters at this point who could be the King, but the strongest possibility seems to be Kudo, a transfer student who I had forgotten about entirely after reading volume three, so that tells you how memorable of a guy he is. Manabe doesn’t seem like the culprit, and neither does Arisa’s boyfriend, Midori, but it’s not out of the question. Mostly we see the King as a shadowy figure, grinning in a dastardly fashion as he does things like arrange for Tsubasa to fall off a cliff. (Side note: any time the female lead of a shoujo manga goes out into the woods at night, she is going to fall off a cliff. It’s, like, the law.) New character Shizuka seems like a potential candidate, until it’s revealed that the King is manipulating her into making wishes that will harm Arisa/Tsubasa.

All of this makes for a fast-paced and suspenseful read, but it does cause me to wonder whether Ando’s just making up all of this as she goes along. Does she really have a plan for who the King is, or is she keeping readers suspicious of everyone until inspired to take the story in a specific direction? I’m not exactly complaining—because, again, it is a fun read—but the lack of any kind of permanent gain is a little bit frustrating. I just hope there’s a satisfying and dramatic payoff in the end!

Codename: Sailor V, Vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
It’s rather hard to like Minako for the majority of this volume, as several of the stories play up her shallow side. First she gets fat by eating too much evil chocolate, then she must contend with a trio of animal-themed siblings who unleash energy-sucking cats, dogs, and mosquitoes upon the populace. Minako slacks off frequently and makes various unkind comments to her long-suffering feline companion, Artemis. She also meets the latest idol sensation, handsome and mysterious Phantom Ace, and becomes one of his biggest fans.

There’s not really a whole lot to recommend these chapters except more of Sailor V’s amusing speeches, like this one, which occurs as she’s foiling the enemy’s scheme to collect energy via blood donation:

You have used clever words to abscond with a precious tribute of blood from weakened hospital patients! That is your crime!

And to add to it, you have sullied a woman’s simple joy of collecting stamps!

Worse, you forgot to give me my reward for donating blood to the tune of 800cc! And that crime is grave!

Luckily, though the premise of the final two chapters is just as silly as what’s come before—Minako is ordered to win the part of Ace’s leading lady in his latest project, filming in China, so that she can observe his potentially evil production company—it doesn’t preclude genuine dramatic impact. Though Minako entertains fantasies of marrying Ace and retiring, when he professes his to love her, she realizes that it’s not what she wants. She loves being Sailor V and, furthermore, remembers making a promise to protect an important person. Eventually, her memories fully awaken and her Sailor V costume is replaced by one matching the design of the other senshi. It’s kind of goosebump-inducing.

Though I’ve read this series before (with translations), I had completely forgotten that Ace had any connection at all to Minako’s past life, so was pleasantly surprised by that revelation as well as by this awesomely grim quote:

Your love will never be granted, for all eternity… Your love or your duty… now you can live the rest of your life never having to worry about the tortures of deciding between them. Your fate is to battle on. Because your true battle starts now.

How could I have forgotten that?! Minako is a girl who is always falling (if superficially) in love, so she can’t welcome this news, but neither does she shirk from her destiny. Ever irrepressible, she ends the series on an upbeat note, poised to show (if I recall rightly) greater maturity and determination when she joins the others in the main series.

Ultimately, Codename: Sailor V is worthwhile despite its flaws. We never learn what the enemy was hoping to achieve, nor the identity of “Boss” (though the second volume of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon provides some insight on the matter), but we do meet a special, spunky girl as she comes to accept her unique destiny, and that can never be a bad thing.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
A lot happens in this volume, which I shall attempt to quickly summarize. When facing off against Zoisite, the girls are rescued by the timely arrival of Sailor Venus. Minako is now in her second year of middle school and comes across as very mature, competent, and serious about her duty. She’s been monitoring Usagi through the Sailor V game and has also been researching the enemy. She provides all sorts of information about the Dark Kingdom and also claims (well, Artemis claims) that she is Princess Serenity. Her proximity triggers some past-life memories in the others, as well.

However, Usagi starts having dreams that suggest that she was actually Serenity, and when Mamoru is injured protecting her from one of Kunzite’s attacks, one of her tears transforms into the Legendary Silver Crystal and her true identity is revealed. (The bit with Venus was evidently a ruse to direct enemy attacks onto a more experienced Guardian.) Mamoru is subsequently kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom and eventually used as Queen Beryl’s pawn, securing the crystal for her by volume’s end.

So, all of this is very dramatic and shoujo-tastic while it occurs and I honestly loved every minute of it. There are a couple of things that I found especially interesting, though. The first is how much information we get on the enemy compared to the dearth of intel provided in Codename: Sailor V. We see, for example, a flashback to the moment in which Beryl was “irresistibly drawn to” the North Pole, where she discovered the remains of the Dark Kingdom. This made me wonder… was Beryl reborn on Earth as a regular human, just like the Guardians? And did she waken to her past memories as the seal imprisoning Metalia faded?

We also learn a bit about the Four Kings of Heaven, who were generals to Endymion (Mamoru’s past identity) that were swayed into becoming Metalia’s devotees. I’m not exactly sure about this, but it seems as if their bodies had been converted into crystals and recently awakened into human form at Metalia’s whim, and that they can be revived as many times as necessary. Somehow this is sadder and more sympathetic than if they had just been some regular guys suddenly remembering their previous lives.

The second thing that struck me was how much certain elements of the story remind me of Please Save My Earth. Usagi and friends living on the moon in their past lives is the most obvious resemblance, but there’s also the fact that Usagi is troubled by questions of identity brought on by these recollections (“Am I becoming the princess? It’s like I’ve stopped being me…”) and that the residents of the Moon Kingdom were tasked with fondly watching over Earth and helping it to evolve in the best manner possible. They actually travel to the moon to listen to a computerized incarnation of Queen Serenity tell them about the tragic events of the past and how Metalia must be sealed away for good. (She was also responsible for waking Artemis and Luna from the stasis they entered after the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, which makes me suspect that she is “Boss.”)

I could probably go on for another five hundred words, which just goes to show how engaging this story is. It wouldn’t be a Kodansha review if I didn’t complain about the typos—seeing the word “it’s” used instead of “its” is even more painful when it’s part of genius Ami’s dialogue—but even their irksome presence does not detract from the enjoyment I derive from reading this series.

Manga Radar: 1 January 2012

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Database Additions for 01 January

A Bride’s Story 3 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 ::
Ar Tonelico Visual Book – Udon, Aug 2011 ::
At Full Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 ::
At Full Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 ::
Faraway Places (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Dec 2011 ::
Maihime!! (ebook) Tale 1 – Stren Publishing, Dec 2011 ::
My Boyfriend is a Vampire (ebook) 3 – Seven Seas, Dec 2011 ::
Oresama Teacher 7 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 ::
Oresama Teacher 8 – Viz Shojo Beat, May 2012 ::
Oresama Teacher 9 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 ::
Oresama Teacher 10 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2012 ::
Rin-Ne 8 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Mar 2012 ::
Sin (ebook) Chapter 1 – MangaMagazine, Sep 2011 ::
Spring Demon (ebook) 1 – Yaoi Press, Oct 2011 ::
Spring Demon (ebook) 2 – Yaoi Press, Oct 2011 ::
The Kneeling Butler (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Dec 2011 ::
Utsumi & His Yellow Glasses (ebook) – Stren Publishing, Mar 2011 ::
Vampire Knight 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 ::

Case Closed Casebook: An Essential Guide – Cocoro Books, Jul 2008 ::
The Pirate & The Princess (novel) 1 – Seven Seas, Oct 2007 ::
One Piece The One Piece Adventurer: A Treasure Trove of Trivia – Cocoro Books, Oct 2007 ::
Ogre Slayer 2 – Viz, Jun 1998 ::
Ogre Slayer 1 – Viz, Jan 1997 ::

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Notes:

At Full Moon is the sequel to Until the Full Moon, also from Kodansha; I’m currently considering how/if to list these as a single series in the database.

The Pirate & The Princess light novels were licensed by Seven Seas, and the first volume released but only via Scholastic bookfairs – when the major bookstore chains refused to buy it, Seven Seas cancelled it (with some regret).

Cocoro Books has transitioned from selling actual books that feed parasitically off of popular series, to ebook versions of the same that do so, only better. For those who are curious, here is the pull from the database, with current weekly rankings:

83. ↑273 (356) : Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues – Cocoro Books, May 2004 [113.5] ::
93. ↑288 (381) : Fruits Basket Uncovered: The Secrets of the Sohmas – Cocoro Books, Mar 2007 [103.8] ::
131. ↑263 (394) : Naruto Saga: The Unofficial Guide – Cocoro Books, Nov 2004 [84.1] ::
207. ↑573 (780) : Bleach The Bleach Breakdown: The Unofficial Guide – Cocoro Books, Oct 2007 [56.6] ::
475. ↑592 (1067) : Fullmetal Alchemist Archive: The Complete Guide – Cocoro Books, May 2010 [21.2] ::
776. ↑ (last ranked 13 Nov 11) : Death Note Fatally Fun Facts: Mysteries and Secrets Revealed – Cocoro Books, Sep 2007 [8.8] ::
916. ↓-202 (714) : Inuyasha The Inuyasha Experience: Fiction, Fantasy, & Facts – Cocoro Books, Jan 2011 [5.9] ::
976. ↑172 (1148) : Naruto Forever: The Unofficial Guide – Cocoro Books, Feb 2008 [4.8] ::
1206. ↑new (0) : One Piece The One Piece Adventurer: A Treasure Trove of Trivia – Cocoro Books, Oct 2007 [2.2] ::
1548. ↑new (0) : Negima! Reader: Secrets Behind the Magic – Cocoro Books, Oct 2007 [0.5] ::
1674. ↑new (0) : Case Closed Casebook: An Essential Guide – Cocoro Books, Jul 2008 [0.1] ::
. (last ranked 21 Nov 10) : Ghost in the Shell User’s Manual: A Wired Guide – Cocoro Books, Oct 2008 [0.0] ::
. (last ranked 2 Oct 11) : Mushishi Essentials: A Wanderer’s Handbook – Cocoro Books, Nov 2007 [0.0] ::
. (ref) : Blood+ Chevalier’s Handbook – Cocoro Books, Sep 2008 [0.0] ::
. (ref) : Eureka Seven Unlimited Answers: A Roadmap of Gekkostate and Beyond – Cocoro Books, Sep 2008 [0.0] ::
. (ref) : Haruhi Suzumiya Yearbook – Cocoro Books, Nov 2008 [0.0] ::

Since many of these series are not available as ebooks, is it any wonder that young fans casting about for any manga for newly-gifted devices end up buying these ‘guides’? Perhaps, even, by mistake? I’ll leave any conclusions [past my leading comments] to the reader, and to publishers.

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Top Preorders

9. ↑33 (42) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [336.5] ::
15. ↑3 (18) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [285.7] ::
26. ↓-2 (24) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [243.0] ::
44. ↑7 (51) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [188.8] ::
101. ↓-4 (97) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [99.5] ::
103. ↑8 (111) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [98.3] ::
128. ↓-6 (122) : Kannagi 4 – Bandai, Cancelled [84.8] ::
156. ↓-2 (154) : Toradora! 4 – Seven Seas, Apr 2012 [71.9] ::
172. ↓-8 (164) : Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 4 – Seven Seas, Mar 2012 [67.8] ::
181. ↓-10 (171) : Bamboo Blade 12 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 [63.0] ::

[more]

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 1 January

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Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

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Manga Bestsellers

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [460.5] ::
2. ↑1 (3) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [443.5] ::
3. ↑4 (7) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [432.5] ::
4. ↑2 (6) : Fullmetal Alchemist 27 – Viz, Dec 2011 [424.5] ::
5. ↓-3 (2) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [419.3] ::
6. ↓-1 (5) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [413.5] ::
7. ↓-3 (4) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [412.8] ::
8. ↑5 (13) : Ouran High School Host Club 17 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2011 [366.5] ::
9. ↑33 (42) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [336.5] ::
10. ↔0 (10) : Black Butler 7 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [329.6] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 89
Yen Press 76
Viz Shojo Beat 66
Kodansha Comics 42
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 35
Vizkids 23
Seven Seas 21
DMP Juné 18
HC/Tokyopop 14
Dark Horse 11

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,089.0] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [944.6] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Maximum Ride – Yen Press [791.5] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Black Butler – Yen Press [765.3] ::
5. ↑2 (7) : Fullmetal Alchemist – Viz [628.9] ::
6. ↑3 (9) : Ouran High School Host Club – Viz Shojo Beat [580.7] ::
7. ↓-2 (5) : Vampire Knight – Viz Shojo Beat [543.1] ::
8. ↓-2 (6) : Warriors – HC/Tokyopop [491.5] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : Pokemon – Vizkids [482.3] ::
10. ↑10 (20) : Black Bird – Viz Shojo Beat [470.7] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

3. ↑4 (7) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [432.5] ::
4. ↑2 (6) : Fullmetal Alchemist 27 – Viz, Dec 2011 [424.5] ::
5. ↓-3 (2) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [419.3] ::
7. ↓-3 (4) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [412.8] ::
8. ↑5 (13) : Ouran High School Host Club 17 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2011 [366.5] ::
16. ↑10 (26) : xxxHolic 18 – Kodansha Comics, Dec 2011 [285.4] ::
18. ↓-1 (17) : Bleach 37 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [276.5] ::
21. ↑38 (59) : Black Bird 12 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2012 [263.9] ::
23. ↑8 (31) : Blue Exorcist 5 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Dec 2011 [254.8] ::
30. ↑9 (39) : K-On! 4 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [217.2] ::

[more]

Preorders

9. ↑33 (42) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [336.5] ::
15. ↑3 (18) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [285.7] ::
26. ↓-2 (24) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [243.0] ::
44. ↑7 (51) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [188.8] ::
101. ↓-4 (97) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [99.5] ::
103. ↑8 (111) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [98.3] ::
128. ↓-6 (122) : Kannagi 4 – Bandai, Cancelled [84.8] ::
156. ↓-2 (154) : Toradora! 4 – Seven Seas, Apr 2012 [71.9] ::
172. ↓-8 (164) : Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 4 – Seven Seas, Mar 2012 [67.8] ::
181. ↓-10 (171) : Bamboo Blade 12 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 [63.0] ::

[more]

Manhwa

220. ↑344 (564) : JTF-3 Counter Ops (ebook) – RealinterfaceStudios.com, Mar 2011 [53.2] ::
305. ↑883 (1188) : Angel Diary 9 – Yen Press, Jul 2009 [38.6] ::
330. ↑ (last ranked 18 Dec 11) : Totally Captivated 6 – Netcomics, Feb 2009 [34.0] ::
369. ↑474 (843) : Bride of the Water God 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [30.1] ::
425. ↑262 (687) : Angel Diary 3 – Yen Press, Jul 2006 [24.8] ::
534. ↑905 (1439) : Angel Diary 13 – Yen Press, Dec 2010 [18.0] ::
545. ↑310 (855) : March Story 3 – Viz Signature, Oct 2011 [17.6] ::
573. ↓-254 (319) : Tarot Cafe 1 – Tokyopop, Mar 2005 [16.3] ::
578. ↑185 (763) : March Story 2 – Viz Signature, Apr 2011 [16.1] ::
668. ↓-73 (595) : March Story 1 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [12.3] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

54. ↑83 (137) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [156.1] ::
76. ↑2 (78) : Mr. Tiger & Mr. Wolf – DMP Juné, Sep 2011 [123.7] ::
80. ↑23 (103) : A Fallen Saint’s Kiss – 801 Media, Jan 2012 [120.6] ::
126. ↑14 (140) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [85.3] ::
139. ↑37 (176) : Finder Series 4 Prisoner in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Aug 2011 [79.1] ::
143. ↑271 (414) : Yakuza Cafe – DMP Juné, Oct 2011 [76.9] ::
145. ↓-11 (134) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [75.9] ::
163. ↑35 (198) : Seven Days Friday-Sunday – DMP Juné, Sep 2011 [70.1] ::
244. ↓-17 (227) : Only Serious About You 2 – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [46.5] ::
262. ↑117 (379) : Private Teacher 1 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [44.5] ::

[more]

Ebooks

54. ↑83 (137) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [156.1] ::
61. ↑5 (66) : Manga Moods – Japanime’s Manga University, Mar 2006 [141.2] ::
73. ↑412 (485) : Amazing Agent Luna 6 – Seven Seas, Sep 2010 [126.6] ::
74. ↑194 (268) : Vampire Cheerleaders 1 – Seven Seas, Mar 2011 [125.5] ::
78. ↑20 (98) : Manga Cookbook – Japanime’s Manga University, Aug 2007 [121.8] ::
83. ↑273 (356) : Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues – Cocoro Books, May 2004 [113.5] ::
89. ↑501 (590) : The Outcast 1 – Seven Seas, Sep 2007 [107.2] ::
93. ↑288 (381) : Fruits Basket Uncovered: The Secrets of the Sohmas – Cocoro Books, Mar 2007 [103.8] ::
97. ↑599 (696) : How to Draw Manga (ebook) Lesson 1 Eyes – Japanime’s Manga University, May 2011 [102.1] ::
112. ↑751 (863) : Amazing Agent Luna 1 – Seven Seas, Mar 2005 [92.0] ::

[more]

GTO preview, new yuri, and scary shoujo

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Lori Henderson has the list of this week’s new all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Good news for yuri lovers: JManga and ALC Publishing have formed a partnership to publish the yuri manga Poor Poor Lips on the JManga site.

Comics Alliance has an exclusive 20-page preview of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, due out soon from Vertical.

At Graphic Novel Reporter, John Hogan talks to producer Avi Arad about his new manga, The Innocent (published by Yen Press)

Deb Aoki has thrown open the floor to nominations for her 2012 About.com Manga Readers’ Choice Awards.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the autobiographical manga Doing Time in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey takes a peek at DJ Benny B’s manga library and also looks at some new manhwa available via Dark Horse Digital.

Manga Bookshelf has a new columnist: Philip of Eeper’s Choice, who will cross the gender divide to write a column titled Shoujo I’m Scared Of. And he jumps right in with a look at Sailor Moon in the very first column.

Erica Friedman takes a peek inside the pink-and-bubbly covers of the shoujo magazine Ribon.

Three Steps Over Japan, meanwhile, takes the boys’ side with a look at Weekly Shonen Jump.

Reviews: The review team catches up with some ongoing series at About Heroes.

Chris Kirby on vol. 1 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
Danica Davidson on vol. 2 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kristin on Crimson Cross (Comic Attack)
TSOTE on Gamble Fish (Three Steps Over Japan)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 10 of Genshiken (Japanese edition) (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna on vol. 7 of Kamisama Kiss (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 2 of Mister Mistress (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vol. 4 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sweetpea616 on Revolutionary Girl Utena (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 5 of Sakura Hime (Slightly Biased Manga)
Chris Kirby on Tesoro (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Tonight’s Take-Out Night (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kayden L on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 4 of Wild Adapter (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 17 of xxxHoLiC (Slightly Biased Manga)

Show Us Your Stuff: Benny B’s Old-School Manga Library

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This week’s contributor is Benny B, a DJ and real estate mogul-in-training. I won’t embarrass myself by using an old lady’s idea of cool slang to describe his collection, but I will say he has excellent taste in manga: what’s not to like about Barefoot Gen, Buddha, Bug Boy, or Sanctuary, I ask? – Katherine Dacey

I am a DJ living in New York City. I also work as an office manager for a real estate company that has a TV show. My number one interest is manga. I read it at least twice a day, in the subway to and from work, and before I go to bed. My favorite kinds of manga are seinen and classic. I recently got the iPad2 and I love it – it’s perfect for reading manga. Other than that, I like to go out to eat, collect music, and get new DJ gigs. Get in touch:

benny@djbennyb.com
djbennyb.com
soundcloud.com/thatdjbennyb/
Twitter: @djbennyb
Instagram: @djbennyb

How long have you been collecting manga?
I have been buying a very small amount since the late 80’s. I really got into it in the last five years, though. I wasn’t a true collector before then. At first I was just re-buying the stuff I had as a kid, but now I’m really into current stuff, too.

What was the first manga you bought?
I first started buying manga in the late 80’s and early 90’s. As a kid, I used to sell candy and work at a fruit stand, so I blew all my earnings on comics and records. My first manga was probably Akira, Legend of Kamui (still have some of these) or Ranma – I don’t remember.

My parents first bought me an X-Men comic when I was 8 years old and after that I was hooked on comics for good. My favorites were X-Men and Batman. At first I would buy them in hardware stores and bodegas, which had these revolving wire racks. (Comics were really popular in America then – this was before Nintendo.) After a while, I discovered comics shops, and I saw alternative stuff from Dark Horse, Epic and Viz. A lot of American comic creators were being influenced by manga at that time and I didn’t know the difference between something like Usagi Yojimbo or Ronin and something like Orion or Akira. I started buying manga in comic book form; unfortunately, I lost most of them.

There was one called Memories that was a one-shot about a giant rose in outer space — I think it was by Otomo. Anyway, I should see if I can get that again because it was a favorite of mine. – Editor’s note: Memories is indeed by Katsuhiro Otomo and was originally published by Epic in 1992. Click here for more information.

How big is your collection?
I guess it’s pretty small – you tell me? All the other manga collections that have been posted look great.

What is the rarest item in your collection?
I guess it would be Kosaku Shima. Kosaku Shima is a fantastic manga in the “salary man” genre which is pretty much unrepresented in English translation. It’s a genre about office workers and corporate stuff. Shima is a James Bond-type figure except he’s just a regular office executive. The stories consist of him climbing the corporate ladder and include romance and adventure. The only ones available in the US are actually bilingual books that were published to help Japanese speakers learn English, so these are pretty rare. I have a few other bilingual editions, and I was about to start dropping a few bills on the Princess Knight editions, but Vertical came through with the translations.

Although some companies are doing great work, there are so few translated manga for grown folks that tracking down rare stuff like Kosaku Shima is really important to me.

What is the weirdest item in your collection?
The weirdest item would be Bug Boy or another horror comic. Bug Boy is about a nice boy who turns into a bug and watches his life turn into misery. Other weird ones I own and love are Parasyte, Cat-Eyed Boy, Berserk, Mu Shi Shi and I’ll Give It My All Tomorrow.

How has your taste in manga evolved since you started your collection?
I still like a lot of the same stuff I did when I first got into manga, actually. About 5 years ago, I started making a little more loot and, for nostalgic reasons, decided to buy up a lot of stuff I read as a kid. After I had re-bought all my X-Men comics, I realized that the manga holds up a lot better and I still enjoy it, whereas I don’t really enjoy superhero comics anymore.

I mostly read seinen. My favorite genres are crime, cooking, slice-of-life, horror — really everything that doesn’t have long, drawn-out fighting scenes. Also as you can see, I am a Tezuka freak. My favorite comic of all time is Barefoot Gen.

Who are your favorite comic artists?
Naoki Urasawa is just amazing to me. All of his stories are fantastic. They are vast and intricate and don’t rely on long fighting scenes to fill up the stories. I love One Piece like everybody else, but half of it is fighting scenes. Sometimes I’ll skip right over the fighting scenes and feel like I didn’t miss anything. But with Urasawa, you have this master storyteller who creates incredible novels and on top of that he is drawing everything as well! He’s an incredible artist and is just as good as any American comic artist, if not better. I mean, is there anything on Earth that really competes with that?

Favorite artists currently working: Naoki Urasawa, Takehiko Inoue, Hitoshi Iwaaki, Yamamoto Hideo, Makoto Yukimura and Jiro Taniguchi.

Favorite artists from the past: Osamu Tezuka, Keiji Nakazawa, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Buronson, Ryoichi Ikegami

As far as Tezuka goes, here are my 5 favorite Tezukas translated into English:

  • Buddha
  • Phoenix
  • Adolf
  • Apollo’s Song
  • Black Jack

Astro Boy is cool and everything, but it’s really just for kids. I felt this way about Dororo the first 2 or 3 times I read it, but now I think it’s pretty good.

What series are you actively collecting right now?
It’s hard for me to answer this question because I read manga so quickly that I don’t remember! My subway ride is about 30-40 minutes and sometimes I’ll knock down 100-200 pages in that time, which makes it an expensive habit. That’s why my collection is mostly used books. But right now, I’m reading Real, 20th Century Boys, Black Jack and any old stuff I pick up. Real is so awesome and Inoue is pretty close to Urasawa’s level, although Vagabond has too much fighting for me. I also read Shonen Jump and many different ones online.

Do you have any tips for fellow collectors (e.g. how to organize a collection, where to find rare books, where to score the best deals on new manga)?
I can’t help anyone with organizing besides telling you to get a cool bookcase or a cool girlfriend who will help you organize it (my strategy).

The best place to find rare books is either online (Amazon or eBay) or at a used bookstore. The Book-Off store in New York City is the best place I know of for rare used books, and this is where I get most of my manga. I personally don’t care what the book looks like, I just want to read it. I will buy an old, beat-up copy or a book with a library sticker on it, so in that way I’m a lousy collector I suppose.

New manga I would buy from Amazon. Amazon is really great.

Show Us Your Stuff is a regular column in which readers share pictures of their manga collections and discuss their favorite series. If you’d like to see your manga library featured here, please send me an email.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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From the back cover:
You can’t stop the future. You can’t rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret… is to press play.

Clay Jensen doesn’t want anything to do with the tapes Hannah Baker made. Hannah is dead, he reasons. Her secrets should be buried with her.

Then Hannah’s voice tells Clay that his name is on her tapes—and that he is, in some way, responsible for her death.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening. He follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his small town…

… and what he discovers changes his life forever.

Review:
I finished Thirteen Reasons Why yesterday and I’m still not sure what I think of it. Oh, I was certainly captivated by it, but was that because it’s well written or was it because it deals dramatically with hot-button issues? Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

Hannah Baker is a girl tormented by a reputation founded on rumor. And this reputation is the first block upon which many successively crappy incidents build until Hannah is seriously contemplating suicide. First, though, she records a series of tapes elucidating the thirteen reasons why she is planning to kill herself and sends it to the first person on the list. Each recipient is to forward the tapes on to the next person featured, with the threat that a second set of tapes will be made public if Hannah’s wishes aren’t followed. When nice guy Clay Jensen gets the tapes, he’s baffled: what did he ever do to Hannah?

As I listed to Hannah’s story, I was torn between finding the momentous quantity of suck in her life unbelievable (not to mention occasionally self-inflicted) and feeling sympathy for someone who just seemed cursed. But maybe this is the point. Maybe we are supposed to feel simultaneously irritated and sympathetic towards her. Circumstances that are overwhelming for one person won’t necessarily appear that way to someone else, and so maybe it’s natural to think “why didn’t she do this or that?” and forget that she’s just a traumatized kid.

One thing that bugged me about Hannah is actually a sign of decent characterization, and that’s her tendency to say one thing but expect others to know that she didn’t mean it and to push for more honesty from her. She wanted a sign that people cared enough not to just accept her assurances that she was fine. And, yes, that’s manipulative, but this is a suicidal teenager we’re talking about here. As for Clay… this isn’t really his story. He reacts to Hannah’s story throughout, and is motivated by it to no longer ignore signs that people may be hurting, but he’s sort of along for the ride with the reader.

In the end, I liked the book enough to seek out more by Jay Asher. I also want to commend the narrators of the unabridged audio edition—Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman—for a job well done. Wiseman as Hannah initially came across as a little too snarky, calm, and strong for the part, but I liked her quite a lot by the end. In fact, audio is a great way to “read” this book, given that most of it is Clay listening to the cassettes. I do have to wonder how much of the target audience even know what those are…

Welcome, Derek & Phillip!

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As you may have noticed, we have two new columnists debuting this week at Manga Bookshelf!

First, Derek Bown (Burning Lizard Studios) joins us with his new weekly column, Combat Commentary, in which he will be discussing fights in manga, pulling from a variety of genres and demographic categories. He gets things started with a look at one of his favorite shounen battles, from chapters 12-15 of Naruto.

And Phillip Anthony comes to us from Eeeper’s Choice to give us a “blokey” perspective (as he described it in his pitch to me) of well-known shoujo series, in his new monthly column, Shoujo I’m Scared Of. He begins with the first volume of Sailor Moon, and he plans to make his way through the entire series (along with Codename: Sailor V) as well as other classic titles like Princess Knight. Check out his introductory post for more.

Please welcome Derek and Phillip on board!

We’ve got at least two more new columns in the works for you all, and I’ve very excited share them as well. Stay tuned!