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AKIRA, Vol. 1

October 22, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

akira_cover My first exposure to Katsuhiro Otomo came in 1990, when a boyfriend insisted that we attend a screening of AKIRA at an artsy theater in the Village. I wish I could say that it had been a transforming experience, one that had awakened me to the possibilities of animation in general and Japanese visual storytelling in particular, but, in fact, I found the film tedious, gory, and self-important. Little did I imagine that I’d be reviewing AKIRA nineteen years later, let alone in its original graphic novel format.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Otomo’s epic tale works better on the page than it does on the screen, though it’s easy to see why Otomo felt the lengthy motorcycle chases and fight scenes were swell fodder for a movie. Ditto for the setting: what artist wouldn’t want the chance to destroy and rebuild a city as complex and ultra-modern as Tokyo?

The story, however, demands the more intimate medium of print, as those chases and fights seem more urgent and surprising on the page than on the screen. The story’s setting works better in print as well; the city feels feels more claustrophobic when rendered in black and white than in color. The story’s length, too, is a factor; the movie compresses over 2,000 pages of material into two hours, trimming some of the manga’s more interesting subplots and secondary characters in order to accommodate the explosions and high-speed chases. More significantly, the film grossly simplifies the relationship between principal characters Tetsuo and Kaneda, reducing Tetsuo’s transformation from juvenile delinquent to god-like being to a mere plot device. The manga, however, gives each character more room to be, and not just react; as a result, Tetsui and Kaneda seem like real teenage boys, not generic action figures.

Plot-wise, AKIRA is still as topical as ever. Its paranoid vibe seems as resonant in 2009 as it did when the manga was first released in 1982, as does its message about the devastating consequences of weapons of mass destruction. Watching China prepare for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 — leveling shanty towns, silencing protests — suggested parallels with AKIRA‘s own Olympic subplot, both in the secrecy surrounding the facilities’ construction and in the government’s adamant denial of citizen opposition.

The artwork hasn’t aged quite as gracefully as the story; it’s the manga equivalent of a mullet, betraying its early eighties roots. Otomo’s backgrounds and weaponry look liked they’ve been traced from The Star Wars Storybook, exuding the same mixture of sterility and rust that was a hallmark of period science fiction, while his characters have thick bodies and pudgy faces, just like the heroes of Tsukasa Hojo’s manga. Yet it’s hard to deny AKIRA‘s visual appeal. Otomo is one of the few artists who can make a chase or an explosion seem like it’s actually happening on the page, thanks to his ability to convey the “geography” of the scene: how big the space is, how far apart the characters are standing. The sound effects are almost superfluous, as Otomo does such a superb job of showing us how the characters move through the space that one can almost hear the whoosh! and vroom! as they fly past.

If you didn’t finish collecting AKIRA when it was still a Dark Horse property, you can round out your set without compromising its appearance on your shelf; the Kodansha edition is virtually identical, save for the logo on the spine. (No, really: it’s the same translation, same trim size, same cover design, and same price as the 2000 version.) And if you haven’t read it yet? Well, now’s your chance to read one of the medium’s greatest sci-fi epics in a nice, oversized package. Recommended.

Review updated on October 5, 2010.

AKIRA, VOL. 1 • BY KATSUHIRO OTOMO • KODANSHA • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+) • 368 pp.

Picks for Right Stuf’s DMP Sale!

October 21, 2009 by MJ 5 Comments

Like many of you I’m a sucker for a sale and though I missed the recent sale on Vertical books while I was out of town (*snif*) I’ve perked up a bit over this week’s specials at rightstuf.com from Digital Manga Publishing, whose eclectic mix of titles (on sale through tomorrow, October 22nd) offers something for everyone. Taking a look at my review index, I realize I’ve actually reviewed very few of these, but my recommendations are as hearty as ever!

At the top of my list are a couple of titles from the brilliant Fumi Yoshinaga, Antique Bakery and Flower of Life, both wonderfully quirky series as only Yoshinaga can produce. She has a great gift for painting her characters through dialogue that is uniquely hers and it is this that draws me most to her work. Also, she’s funny–really, really funny, yet simultaneously poignant and frequently deep. If that alone is not enough to sway you, check out Michelle Smith’s lovely review of Antique Bakery and Shaenon Garrity’s hilarious overview of Flower of Life. As Shaenon says at the end of her write-up, “Thank you, Fumi Yoshinaga, for continuing to be better than everyone!” …

xxxHOLiC, Vol. 14

October 20, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

By CLAMP
Del Rey, 192 pp.
Rating: T (13+)

With a quiet life restored thanks to her wish, Kohane gives her mother the space necessary for her to gain an understanding of how she must change by moving in with the fortune-teller from volume two, who will also take the opportunity to pass on her craft to Kohane. While visiting, Watanuki teaches Kohane to cook and Doumeki reveals to Kohane the reason behind his friendship with Watanuki. As they walk home later that evening, Watanuki startles Doumeki with a confession (no, not that kind) of his own. Back at the shop, a new customer arrives—a young woman with a wish to obtain cooking lessons. Watanuki is (unwillingly) tasked with fulfilling her wish, which gives him some unexpected insight into both Doumeki’s eating habits and the individual nature of cooking.

Though this volume proceeds more quietly than the last, it is filled with wry humor and thoughtful revelation, two of the series’ best qualities. Also notable in this volume is a strong sense of warmth, something that has increasingly become a part of the series. This is particularly evident in each character’s relationship with Watanuki—from Yuuko to the fortune-teller—including even dry-humored characters like Doumeki and Mokona (with whom Watanuki shares an especially sweet moment in this volume). It is the connection between people that makes this series feel so rich, a point made stronger in this volume when Watanuki reveals that it is these connections that have inspired him to continue his own existence. As usual, this volume also provides enough mouth-watering discussion of food to send every reader running to the kitchen (or at least the nearest Japanese restaurant).

With its gorgeous artwork and philosophical tone, xxxHOLiC continues to provide a feast for both the eye and soul.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey: A

October 20, 2009 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
Confined to a hospital bed, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Grant is engrossed with a portrait of Richard III. How is it possible, he wonders, that such a sensitive-appearing soul could have been the odious villain, the Wicked Uncle responsible for the murder of his own nephews to secure the British crown for himself? Grant reconsiders 500-year-old evidence and brilliantly arrives at a compelling new answer to one of the most intriguing mysteries in history: who really murdered the Princes in the Tower.

“For truth is rightly named the daughter of time, not of authority.” – Sir Francis Bacon

Review:
After an embarrassing accident, Inspector Grant faces an extended convalescence in a hospital bed. Helpfully minded friends have dropped off some novels, but they hold no appeal. It’s only when Grant’s friend Marta, knowing his interest in faces, brings by a selection of historical portraits that the irksome prickles of boredom begin to fade. Particularly captivating is the portrait of Richard III, whose sensitive expression speaks more of illness and suffering than the villainy for which he is chiefly remembered. His police instincts roused, and together with a research assistant (also supplied by Marta) to do the necessary leg work, Grant sets about proving whether Richard III really did murder his nephews as history claims.

Ever since reading Sharon Kay Penman’s The Sunne in Splendour, I’ve had an interest in Richard III and, if pressed, would count myself among those who believe in his innocence. The Daughter of Time comes to the same conclusion, eschewing the hearsay accounts that fill the history books—often penned by historians from the Tudor years who did not like to write too favorably about the Plantagenets—in favor of contemporary sources and, when that isn’t available, a basic understanding of human nature. Taking it one step further, Grant examines the question of who had the most to gain by the princes’ deaths, and ends up making the case that Henry VII was ultimately responsible.

The wealth of historical information required to make these points is presented in a way that’s anything but dry; on the contrary, I found it fascinating. What makes The Daughter of Time so great, though, is that the storyline in the present is also fun. In what other novel does the protagonist spend the whole of the book confined to bed, his mind challenged and engaged but his body immobile? Anyone who ventures into Grant’s room is liable to be subjected to questioning on the topic of Richard III, and indeed, it’s a member of the hospital staff whose change in opinion regarding the much-maligned monarch is the first triumph of the inspector’s efforts.

Now that I’ve read something so pro-Richard, I feel the need to achieve a balanced view by reading an account that casts him as the murderer. Look, therefore, for a review of Alison Weir’s The Princes in the Tower in the near future.

xxxHolic, Volume 14

October 20, 2009 by MJ 6 Comments

Today I have a short review of xxxHolic, Vol. 14 in a special Tuesday edition of Manga Minis. This series is so wonderfully rich and there is much I might have said about this volume, given more space. I’ll try to include some of it here.

First of all, one of the things I discussed in my mini is the level of warmth this series has taken on. The “sweet” moment I mention between Watanuki and Mokona, for instance, is so adorable one could die, and when Kohane asks Doumeki why he remains with Watanuki, the image Doumeki calls forth–Watanuki by the river on a particular rainy day–is enough to break one’s heart. That this is followed by Kohane asking Doumeki to “Take care of Kimihiro-kun… please?” is truly the final nail in the coffin.

It is here, too, that I must mention CLAMP’s effective use of paneling, because it is not so much the dialogue that does the work here, but the imagery. Doumeki doesn’t respond to Kohane with anything more than the squeeze of a hand, but the way that moment is built up–with a flashback to Yuuko’s ominous words about hesitation, individual profiles (cut narrowly within wide horizontal panels) of Doumeki and then Kohane, then a single page consisting only of a larger, fuller profile of Doumeki followed by a close-up of his hand squeezing Kohane’s–draws out the moment perfectly, giving it enormous emotional weight. Similarly effective means are used in the story’s next scene too, in which Watanuki confesses his new resolve to remain in this world. The panels are clean and heavy on contrast as is usual for CLAMP (especially in this series) and this deceptive visual simplicity, much like simplicity of language, allows for stronger statements than could ever be made with more verbose visual language.

This volume is filled with foreshadowing, which I suppose is no different than the rest of the series to this point, but at this point the foreshadowing contains a sense of urgency and immediacy that has not been present before, at least to this extent. That a customer arrives in the middle of it all–something we haven’t seen for quite some time–might appear to break the momentum, but it actually seems to be a part of it somehow, with Watanuki taking on Yuuko’s usual role. A later scene with the voices (but not the bodies) of Maru and Moro only strengthens this feeling, and the book’s final scene sets an uneasy, anticipatory tone for the next volume, despite the unearthly calm of its participants. Will it be Watanuki who is able to grant Yuuko’s wish after all, just as he has hoped to do? It seems likely that we will find out soon.

What read as cold philosophy at the beginning of this series has become intimate personal drama fourteen volumes in, and even Yuuko can’t pretend to be detached from the story’s outcome, particularly as concerns Watanuki, whom she obviously loves. Though I think it goes without saying at this point that reading Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle has become an essential part of understanding this series, there is something deep at the core of xxxHolic that stands entirely on its own, and nowhere is that clearer than in this volume.

Click here to read my miniaturized thoughts on the subject (I’m not lying about the food thing; I made rice balls immediately after reading this volume). And please, read xxxHolic. It is truly a thing of beauty.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box

October 19, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box
By Yoko Kamio
Published by Viz Media

Buy This Book

Though Boys Over Flowers‘ main story finally concluded after 36 volumes, neither fans nor mangaka Yoko Kamio were quite content, thus the release of Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box featuring two side stories set after the series’ final volume. The first of these follows heroine Tsukushi Makino, now out of high school and working as a clerk in a real estate office to pay her family’s bills. With boyfriend Tsukasa still in New York, former love interest Rui has taken to visiting Tsukushi’s family regularly, becoming so familiar he even addresses her father as “dad.” When the whole group is assembled in Paris to witness the wedding of Rui’s former crush, Shizuka, Tsukasa clearly demonstrates his jealousy by asserting control and throwing money (and insults) at Tsukushi, as usual. The second story focuses on Rui, his uncertainty over his future, and his difficulty letting go long-held feelings for Tsukushi.

Unlike many fans, I felt quite satisfied with the way things were left at the end of volume 36, with true love finally settled (at least for Tsukushi and Tsukasa) but not so settled that the character’s futures were unnecessarily narrowed. After all, the story’s heroine was still in high school at the end of the series, and I think I’d have felt incredibly uncomfortable if things had been left any more certain than they were. That said, there is something decidedly comforting about sneaking a peek into Tsukushi and Tsukasa’s future lives and seeing them still bumbling along in their fiery-yet-conservative romance, as awkward and volatile as ever. Though it is disconcerting to see Tsukasa falling back into his worst, most controlling self at the first twinge of insecurity, demonstrating very little personal growth since the end of the series proper, if there’s one thing that has been made clear over the course of the series, it is that Tsukushi can handle herself regardless of his behavior.

Even nicer is the look into Rui’s world, something that remained largely mysterious throughout the series particularly in terms of his feelings for Tsukushi and, really, women in general. With its thoughtful, melancholy look at Rui and his place both in Tsukushi’s life and within the F4, this volume’s second story is quite plainly the best reason to buy it. I’d consider it a must-read for any fan.

Though this manga offers nothing on the level of Boys Over Flowers‘ greatest drama, that is perhaps the secret to its charm. Short but not too sweet, Boys Over Flowers Jewelry Box provides a nicely quiet postscript to this deliciously melodramatic epic.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Rin-Ne, Vol. 1

October 18, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

I read a Rumiko Takahashi manga for the same reason I watch an Alfred Hitchcock thriller: I know exactly what I’m going to get. Certain plot elements and motifs recur throughout each artist’s work — Hitchcock loves pairing a brittle blond with a rakish cad on the run from authorities, for example, while Takahashi loves pairing a female “seer” with a demonically-tinged boy — yet the craft with which Hitchcock and Takahashi develop such tropes prevents either artist’s work from feeling stale or repetitive. Takahashi’s latest series gives ample proof that while she may have a limited repertory, she’s the undisputed master of the supernatural mystery.

Sakura Mamiya and Rinne Rokudo, Rin-ne‘s oil-and-water leads, are a classic Takahashi pair: Sakura is a seemingly ordinary teenager with the ability to see ghosts, while Rinne is a hot-headed boy who’s part human and part shinigami. The two meet cute in Sakura’s tenth-grade classroom when Rinne arrives to claim his long-empty seat. “Looks like he made it,” Sakura whispers to a friend before realizing that she’s the only person who can see the tall, flame-haired boy in a fancy ceremonial robe. Sakura then watches Rinne attempt to banish an enormous Chihuahua demon to the afterlife — an exorcism that goes horribly (and comically) awry when the dog’s spirit merges with the spirit of a love-starved teen. Now forced to contend with an even more powerful, angry ghost, Rinne uses Sakura to lure it to the Wheel of Reincarnation, an enormous portal that separates the material and spirit worlds.

rinne_chihuahua

After their dramatic introduction, Sakura and Rinne forge a reluctant partnership. Sakura provides material assistance and ethical guidance to Rinne, while Rinne banishes the spirits that plague Sakura’s high school. Sakura soon learns that Rinne’s grandmother, a shinigami, fell in love with a young man whose spirit she was sent to collect. In exchange for extending his life by fifty years, Rinne’s grandmother agreed to “fulfill her shinigami duties at ten times her usual quota.” When she failed to reach that target, Rinne was forced to enter the family trade, operating on the fringes of both the human and spectral worlds with limited ability to function in either realm — hence his weak exorcism skills.

Where, exactly, Takahashi plans to take the story is still something of a mystery. As she did with InuYasha, she’s using the first few volumes to establish the premise, explain how the Wheel of Incarnation works, and develop the chemistry between her lead characters by subjecting them to a host of unhappy spirits. The first eight chapters have a pleasant, spook-of-the-week feeling, as Sakura and Rinne tangle with a ghostly cell phone caller, a damashigami (a shinigami who meets his quota by luring innocent people to their deaths), and an ochimusa (a disgraced warrior). At the same time, however, Takahashi is clearly laying the groundwork for a more extended storyline, introducing several supporting characters, leaving key questions about Sakura’s past unanswered, and creating space for a Naraku-esque villain to fill.

The first volume’s leisurely pace also allows Takahashi plenty of room to showcase her comedic talents. Though InuYasha, Mermaid Saga, and Rumic World have canted more strongly towards horror, Rin-ne is decidedly humorous, incorporating supernatural elements into everyday settings in delightfully absurd ways. Takahashi’s demon Chihuahua is a great example: the demon continues to behave like a nervous, short-haired toy even after it grows to enormous size, and remains susceptible to the savory appeal of milk bones. Rinne’s grandfather is another example of the supernatural made ridiculous; as Rinne’s grandmother wistfully notes, her husband was reincarnated as a mackerel — the destiny for which he was slated when she fell in love with him.

Though utterly enjoyable, Rin-ne has its flaws. Takahashi relies a little too heavily on interior monologues to cue us into what’s happening; Sakura is frequently called upon to mutter, “So that’s why no one can see him!” even when the illustrations make it plain that Rinne is invisible to humans when he dons his flame-patterned haori. Takahashi isn’t above recycling bits from other works, either; Rokumon, a familiar introduced in chapter six, bears a strong resemblance to InuYasha‘s Shippo in both appearance and plot function, comic relief in the form of a child-like animal spirit. Sakura, too, seems more like a Kagome clone than a character in her own right, though she’s a little edgier and more skeptical than her jewel-seeking predecessor.

Still, it’s hard to dismiss a manga that’s crafted with as much skill and good humor as Rin-ne. The story and characters may remind readers of other works in the Takahashi canon, but that strikes me as a good thing — yet another opportunity to spend time with the kind of spunky heroines, rash-but-kind heroes, and oddball supporting characters that give Takahashi’s work its distinctive flavor.

Review copy provided by VIZ Media, LLC. Volume one of Rin-ne will be available on October 20, 2009.

RIN-NE, VOL. 1 • BY RUMIKO TAKAHASHI • VIZ • 182 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)

Rin-Ne, Vol. 1

October 18, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

…

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross 10 by Arina Tanemura: C

October 16, 2009 by Michelle Smith

After resolving some convoluted-sounding subplots involving Haine’s family—featuring maternal amnesia, uncertain paternity, and mansions afire—The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross moves into the home stretch as Haine is pressed to finally choose between the identical twins with whom she is in love. Alas, just when she finally grasps the idea that the nice twin (Takanari) is probably a better choice than the scheming git (Shizumasa), he’s captured by his brother’s minions and imprisoned. Like any self-respecting shojo heroine, Haine vows to rescue him.

Being the penultimate volume of the series, volume ten offers a variety of dramatic moments and revelations, including arranged marriages, envelopes with surprising contents, and a tale of childhood betrayal that explains the current animosity between the twins. My favorite, though, is the surprise leukemia.

The end product of all these dire events tumbling one atop the other can be described as little else than a mess, and I was much more compelled to snicker at the ridiculous developments than sympathize with anyone involved. Still, I was pretty impressed by how easy it was to jump in and follow the story at this point and ended up liking Takanari, too, though I must question his taste in girls.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Rasetsu, Vol. 2

October 16, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

Marked by a demon as a young teen, tough eighteen-year-old Rasetsu Hyuga has two years left of her life before the demon claims her as his own, unless she is able to meet her own true love before her time is up. She is also a gifted exorcist who was taken in and nurtured by the head of the Hiichiro Amakawa Agency (a man referred to mainly as “Chief”), a company that offers exorcisms for a fee. Rasetsu is joined in her work by Kuryu, a master of koto dama, the power of words, and eventually by Yako, a former librarian with his own spiritual powers who was manipulated into joining the agency in the first volume. In volume two, Rasetsu’s terror of her fate shines through in a rare moment of vulnerability, prompting Yako to promise to be there for her on the fated day. Later, Kuryu plays around with his ability in an unusually insensitive way while also unintentionally revealing to Yako that he is much more powerful than he pretends to be.

Though the premise of this series is fairly unoriginal and its character development even less so, there is a certain comfort to watching its familiar scenarios play out that lends a particular charm and with the first volume’s exposition out of the way, Rasetsu is able to relax right into the task. It seems obvious that Yako is intended to be Rasetsu’s “true love” (Rasetsu even resembles his first love, guardian spirit Yurara from the series of the same name) and there are traces of this emerging already in volume two, at least on Rasetsu’s side. Kuryu, with his harmless, puppy-dog front hiding a potentially sinister power, is reminiscent of Tokyo Babylon‘s murderous veterinarian, Seishiro, casting a suspicious light on him immediately, especially after this volume in which he accidentally shows his hand. The series’ other characters, mysterious chief Hiichiro and cheerful office boy Aoi, are shojo staples as well, but quite fun and appealingly rendered, skipping off to enjoy rides at an amusement park while everyone else is working.

Fans of supernatural romance may not find anything new in Rasetsu, but tried-and-true formulas are alive, well, and downright agreeable here in its second volume.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.