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Season of Giving

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First of all, a quick link to a fantastic manhwa giveaway over at Good Comics for Kids! Five readers will each win a full set of the Kim Dong Hwa’s The Color of… trilogy from First Second Books. See this post for details!

brilliantblue1Secondly, I’m doing a holiday giveaway here as well! Thanks to the generous folks at DMP, I have extra copies of three boys’ love volumes, Tricky Prince, Love Knot, and (my personal favorite of the three) volume one of Brilliant Blue!

To win, send an e-mail to mj@mangabookshelf.com including your name and the name of one boys’ love manga or manhwa you think I should read. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. The giveaway runs from today through December 11th, 2009. Winners will be chosen at random and announced here on December 12th. All the suggested boys’ love titles will be compiled for posting as well!

Hooray for the season of giving!

Manhwa Monday: My Kingdom for a Copy of the Wall Street Journal

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yenplusnovToday’s featured review is Lori Henderson’s recent Comics Village write-up of the latest issue of Yen Plus which features many of Yen Press’ strong manhwa offerings each month and is a great starting point for those who’d like to sample a variety of manhwa, manga, and OEL titles. The manhwa titles in November’s issue include Pig Bride, Time and Again (which begins full volume releases in December), Jack Frost and One Fine Day. “These are all strong titles, making this side of the magazine most enjoyable,” Lori says about the OEL/manhwa side of the magazine. I’m personally a fan of both sides, but I’ll definitely agree that the manhwa in this magazine is strong.

I’ll start the linkage today by looking outside the online comics world where people are talking about manhwa in a couple of contexts. First off, Karl Urban talks about his role in the upcoming film adaptation of Priest (published in English by TOKYOPOP) with Jenna Busch at the Huffington Post. …

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Black Bird 2 by Kanoko Sakurakoji: B-

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blackbird2Misao is the bride of demon prophecy, and marrying her will bring her childhood friend Kyo, leader of the Tengu clan, prosperity. Misao is drawn to Kyo, but she resists this arrangement because she can’t be sure whether Kyo actually loves her for herself or because of the benefits she could bring him.

The answer to this question arrives in the form of Kyo’s eight vassals, a group of young men who’ve got intimate knowledge of Kyo’s past, his real feelings for Misao, and how hard he worked to become clan leader so that he could have the right to claim her as his bride. The original heir, Kyo’s older brother Sojo, also makes an appearance and nearly ravishes Misao, but not before allowing her a glimpse of her forgotten childhood memories.

The backstories of the characters are fleshed out nicely in this volume, and I’m pleased with the rate at which information is doled out to the reader. One confusing point, though, is that Kyo is shown in flashbacks and the testimony of the vassals to be a kind, nurturing guy, but his present-day treatment of Misao runs contrary to this assessment. Sure, he comes to her rescue as needed, but he also says things like, “Shall I shut your mouth for you?” and punishes her for being a flirtatious drunk. Worse is Misao’s reaction: she accepts his use of force as his way of communicating and finds that it makes his gentle moments that much more meaningful. That’s seriously disturbing!

Ultimately, I do enjoy this series but its creepy moments ensure I feel rather guilty doing so.

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

The Way To Heaven

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The Way To Heaven
By Yamimaru Enjin
Published by DMP

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Moriya is a former boxer whose eyes were so damaged in his first pro fight that it ended his career. Watase is a former yakuza whose partner was so moved by watching a boxing match (coincidentally, the very match that permanently injured Moriya) that he insisted on leaving the world of crime, taking Watase with him. Together, they are strangers who find themselves plucked from Earth at the instant of their deaths by an alien woman with the power to manipulate time. The alien wishes to use Moriya and Watase as subjects in an experiment she’s developed to determine if “recycling” methods used on her planet could be put to use in order to solve Earth’s energy crisis. “The human body is filled with energy,” says the alien scientist–energy that only need be extracted. For this purpose, she transforms Watase into a vampire whose mission is to collect vials of blood, and Moriya into a werewolf who must collect vials of semen (don’t ask me). For each vial collected, the two of them will earn 0.1 seconds “before impact.” In other words, they will gain back a tenth of a second of their lives before they both were hit by an oncoming truck.

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Oh! My Brother, Volume 1

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Oh! My Brother
By Ken Saito
Published by CMX

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Ordinary high school student Masago has always lived in the shadow of her charismatic older brother, Shiro. Things change suddenly, however, when Shiro dies saving Masago from being hit by an oncoming truck. Grief-stricken and unable to accept that Shiro died in her place, Masago is unable pull herself together even to attend his funeral service, but Shiro’s best friend Yasaka soon gets quite a shock when Masago turns up on his doorstep claiming to be possessed by her late brother’s spirit. Though they first speculate that Shiro’s unfinished business is the upcoming school festival he worked hard to put together, it eventually becomes clear that his true mission is to help his little sister live a full life (as long as that doesn’t include romance with Yasaka). Though Masago claims to be happy with the arrangement and in no hurry for her brother to leave, how long can she truly be content letting him live on her body?

Though Oh! My Brother‘s concept sounds like a lot of fun, its execution is uneven at best, mainly due to the lack of time taken with character development, especially of the story’s supporting characters. The relationship between Masago and Shiro is certainly intriguing enough to be a fine candidate for a body/gender-switch scenario (and I think I may be the only reviewer to date not creeped out by Shiro’s sister complex) and the artist does well giving them individual traits and mannerisms when one or the other of them is in control of the same body. What’s tragically underdeveloped at this point is other people’s relationships with Masago and Shiro and how those relationships are impacted by Shiro’s death, particularly in the case of Yasaka, who is the only person aware of Shiro’s remaining presence in his sister’s body. Everything after Shiro’s death moves so quickly, it’s difficult to believe most of it and though there are some strong moments (Shiro’s explanation of his circumstances to Yasaka, for example) they aren’t given enough weight to effectively drive the story.

With its playful concept and strong artwork, Oh! My Brother has potential, but it will have to come a long way in its second volume to see any of it through.

Rasetsu, Vol. 3

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By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

The volume begins with a mission to the home of Rasetu’s mother who is being haunted by a malevolent spirit of which she is blissfully unaware. Fortunately, Rasetsu easily sidesteps an attempt by the spirit to intimidate her by dredging up fears from her own mind, and as a bonus, Rasetsu finally finds out the truth behind the name she’s always blamed her father for (whether she’s ready to believe it or not). The volume’s second mission involves an old acquaintance of Yako’s, Dai Tendo, who is the little brother to Yurara‘s Mei (the boyfriend of the girl whose guardian spirit was Yako’s first love). His appearance brings back a wealth of sad (and not sad) memories for Yako and awakens some real jealousy in Rasetsu. This volume’s real treat, however, is a final side-story telling the tale of Aoi’s arrival to the agency and the development of his close relationship with its owner.

Fans of Yurara may be happy to see more of Yako’s story coming to the fore here, but the way his past with Yurara’s guardian spirit is brought up so blatantly again just after the previous volume has a bit of a gimmicky feel to it, or at best resembles flogging a dead horse. If Rasetsu is going to come into its own as a spin-off series, it’s going to need to rely on the here and now to keep readers interested. Though Yako’s past is surely sad and definitely a draw for fans of the previous series, perhaps this time would be better spent developing Rasetsu‘s original characters so that they have some chance of rising to that level. There are a few compelling moments in this volume, particularly some new hints at Kuryu’s true agenda, but overall the volume is only saved by the charming side-story at its end.

Though it may provoke protests from fans of the original series, the real key to making Rasetsu work is going to be letting it evolve a life of its own. Let’s hope this happens soon.

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

NANA, Vol. 19

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By Ai Yazawa
Viz, 194 pp.
Rating: Mature

The bit of future story at the beginning of this volume reveals a stunning amount of information about upcoming events and it’s not hard to see how things begin to derail as the volume continues. As Hachi focuses on getting Nana and Ren back together with the magic of Valentine’s Day chocolates, Reira abandons all her defenses in pursuit of her long-held love. Meanwhile, Ren is falling further into darkness all on his own. Shin is released on probation, but it’s a bittersweet moment at best as Nana lets out all her own anger and frustration out on him. Though Shin and Nana reach an inspiring agreement by the end, there’s a pervading sense that it’s all too late to change anything significant in their futures.

Fans of Hachi will have a lot of difficulty with this volume but since that is due only to Ai Yazawa’s incredibly insightful writing, it’s hard to complain even with the sensation of a rusty knife twisting in one’s gut. Also, even though it is an incredibly painful volume when viewed from Hachi’s point of view, there is also a sense of impending freedom if one can shake off the accompanying humiliation enough to get there. “No matter where Takumi went, even if he completely forgot about me when he was gone,” she says in one of the volume’s between-chapter narrations, “I thought I had to make a sanctuary for him to return to when he got tired. That’s the only way I could win.” It’s one of the saddest narrations in the series so far, and that’s saying quite a lot.

Yazawa is brilliant in this volume, capturing the feelings of each of these damaged characters as though they were all her. Even Yuri shows unexpected depths in this volume, as she’s finally face-to-face with a real break in her career which would upset the plans she’s made with Nobu. As painful a destination as everyone seems to be imminently headed for, this story remains so poignant and so real, it’s impossible to leave the road.

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

At PCS: NANA, Nora, & Rasetsu

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nora8Just a few quick links today to point out a few short reviews of mine over at Manga Recon this week. First of all, I checked out volume eight of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom for a bonus edition of Manga Minis on Tuesday. With the huge advancements in character development made over the last two volumes, this volume pales a bit in comparison, but it’s still a solid end to the Fall arc, making way for the possibility of something greater than what the series has offered up to this point. If Nora and Kazuma really can change their fate, that will be an exciting goal to pursue and will hopefully keep the series on the upward track it discovered a few volumes back.

I came in to Nora a bit late as a reader (something that is suddenly very much related to a recent Twitter conversation on the question of whether or not individual volumes of manga can/should be able to bring a new reader into a series at any point) and one thing I must give the series credit for is just how easy that was to do. The story’s characters are always exactly themselves–no more, no less–which not only makes them unusually hospitable to newcomers, but also makes it all the more thrilling to watch them grow. I look forward to seeing more of that as the series continues.

nana19Also, in today’s installment of On The Shojo Beat, I review the latest volumes in two series, the first being volume nineteen of NANA, a long-time favorite of mine as you all surely know. This was a rough volume for me emotionally, thanks to my strong identification with a particular character and the serious pain she’s got waiting on deck for her right now. I’m struggling to avoid spoilers here (I even tried a bit in the review itself, though it was pretty rough) so suffice it to say, “ouch.” There’s a strong sense of impending doom for everyone in the series at this point, one way or another, but Yazawa always avoids that hopeless soap-opera rut in which it is obvious at all times that nothing good can ever really happen for anyone. Along with the sense of impending doom is a small voice suggesting that perhaps, after everything has exploded and the dust has finally cleared, it might actually be a better world for the survivors of this little universe. The story may be dramatic and filled with tragic misfortune, but its characters are ultimately in charge of their own destinies and there is never a complete lack of hope for any of them.

rasetsu3Lastly, I review volume three of Rasetsu. I was a bit harsh on this volume, I’ll admit, but I really feel strongly that if it is going to survive on its own, independent of the series it spun off from, it’s going to need to cut the cord–the sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned. Though Yako is certainly doomed to carry around sadness over the loss of his first love for quite some time, it’s more important to develop the story’s new characters than it is to come back to that issue over and over. It can’t be allowed to drop, of course, but there are much more subtle ways of handing it than what we see in this volume. I have some level of fondness for this series so far, so I’m really rooting for it to come into its own. Hopefully we’ll see that happen over the next few volumes!

So, check out these reviews and more over at PCS’s Manga Recon!

Angel Diary, Volume 10

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Guest Review: Angel Diary, Vol 10
By Kara and Lee YunHee
Published by Yen Press

Review by Megan M.

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This volume concludes the conflict between Dong-Young, Bi-Wal, and Bi-Wal’s brother Ryung (who would be the King of Hell were it not for his white hair). I have read all the licensed series from this manhwaga team (the others being Demon Diary and Legend>) and Angel Diary is my favorite of the three, but I haven’t enjoyed the most recent volumes as much as I did the previous. I signed up for the story of the crossdressing Princess of Heaven who is hiding out on Earth to escape marriage to the King of Hell, her mysterious admirer, and all the otherworldly shenanigans that surround them. Recently, it’s been delivering less on that and more on “he’s not really an evil villain, he just does bad things due to an angsty past!” Unfortunately “he’s only bad because of his angst” characters tend to not work for me.

This volume seems to bring an end to that, however, returning the focus to the series’ more interesting characters. Namely Dong-Young, Bi-Wal, their friends, and Queen Hong. This volume has some real highlights, particularly Dong-Young’s rather ill-timed explanation of her relationship with Bi-Wal, and her rather limited idea of what a relationship between brothers should be like. I was annoyed, though, at the regular reminders that she isn’t very smart. Still, I like my love confessions in fiction to occur in the middle of battle and I’m glad that the series is letting her rescue both Bi-Wal and Doh-Hyun in battle. Bi-Wal also finally seems to be returning to his old outgoing and clever self, hopefully putting aside his more recent “silent, angsty, and inscrutable” act. Hopefully, the next volume will have more of the charm of earlier volumes, and will fully return the focus to the story’s principal characters.

Kara’s art, I suspect, leans a bit too close to the standard “cute” shoujo style, but I’ve always been fond of it, big eyes, pointy chins and all. Their (Kara is actually a team of two artists) lines tend to be clean, their character designs distinctive, and the layouts are easy to follow. It is, I think, very well suited to what is essentially a very fluffy approach to an epic, mythic romance.

Angel Diary may not be for everyone. It’s very lighthearted for a story about star-crossed love between the Princess of Heaven and the King of Hell, and rarely focuses on romance as much as one would expect for the setup. It also avoids falling into the territory of being a light comedy, and the seemingly conventional takes on genderbending mask rather unconventional roots. It’s always been right up my alley.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Honey Hunt 3 by Miki Aihara: B+

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honeyhunt3After being deserted by her celebrity parents, Yura Onozuka decides to best her mother at her own game: acting. After bombing several auditions, she’s landed the lead role in a commercial with a TV series tie-in and, after struggling through the first table read, manages to go back in and nail it thanks to the efforts of her friends Q-ta and Haruka Minamitani, a pair of fraternal twin pop stars, who both help by either encouraging her or smoothing things over with her less-than-impressed costars.

Yura has developed a crush on Q-ta and doesn’t realize that Haruka, one of those “kind on the inside, surly on the outside” types, has feelings for her. When he gets the idea that seeing him in concert will make her fall for him, he promises to answer all her questions about Q-ta if she’ll come to his shows. She does go, and is enthralled by his performance, but her mind’s still on Q-ta, forcing Haruka to finally make his intentions clear.

Honey Hunt is briskly paced and lighthearted, with Yura attracting near-instant notice in her career and in romance alike. It’s also completely engaging—the Minamitani boys are both genuinely sweet and Yura herself, though given to bouts of insecurity, is sensible and sympathetic. One thing I particularly like is that she always thanks those who’ve done nice things for her; too many shojo heroines get all embarrassed and feisty in similar circumstances.

If you’re in the mood for frothy fun, Honey Hunt would surely fit the bill. Too bad there’s a five-month wait for volume four!

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