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Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 1

July 8, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 1
By Karuho Shiina
Published by Viz Media

Sawako Kuronuma is a quiet, socially awkward girl with an unfortunate physical resemblance to “Sadako” from Ringu–enough so that her classmates call her by that name, either out of cruelty or (in many cases), ignorance. Though rumors persist that she sees ghosts, summons spirits, and places curses on those who are foolish enough to look her in the eye for more than three seconds, Sawako is actually an earnest, exceptionally kind girl who always volunteers to do the work nobody else wants to do and whose most heartfelt dreams involve helping her classmates understand their schoolwork. The only student in school who shows Sawako kindness is, inexplicably (to her), a popular boy named Kazehaya. He smiles at her and calls her by her real name–treating her no differently than anyone else, something for which Sawako is consistently grateful. What Sawako doesn’t realize is that to Kazehaya she is much different from everyone else, in a way she is honestly unable to fathom.

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Boys Over Flowers 26 by Yoko Kamio: B+

July 7, 2009 by Michelle Smith

boysoverflowers26 From the back cover:
Tsukushi struggles to understand her feelings for Tsukasa, her on-and-off boyfriend, and he struggles to not destroy Tokyo. Will the man who came between them step aside? The meddlesome F4 try their hand at forcing Tsukushi and Tsukasa together. All the while Tsukasa’s mother’s spies are hot on their trail!

Review:
If I were to give a one-word reaction to the events of this volume, that word would be “hooray!” Tsukasa intercepts Tsukushi at a bus stop with Amon and makes another attempt at convincing her to be with him, saying, “I don’t want anyone but you. It has to be you.” While moved by his plea, Tsukushi remembers what will happen to her friends’ families if Tsukasa’s mother finds out they’re dating, and so she gets on the bus. Moments later, there’s a terrific scene where she comes running back and, honestly, I have goosebumps just typing about it!

While the fangirl in me would’ve loved a big epic declaration of mutual feeling, that would be completely out of character for these two headstrong people. Instead, awkward tension ensues. Tsukushi is unable to express herself adequately and Tsukasa worries that he has misunderstood yet again. What’s different now is that Tsukushi realizes they’re on the verge of falling into their same old pattern and actually comes out and tells Tsukasa that she wants to be with him. The catch is that she wants their relationship to remain a secret. Amon has bought them some time by telling Kaede’s minions that he and Tsukushi are dating, but the problem of her threats has yet to be resolved.

It’s truly great seeing these two together, and even small things like hugs are so hard-won that they are elevated into monumental moments. Even though they still have to face Kaede—a looming obstacle that has Tsukushi thinking that their happiness is “like standing over water, on a layer of thin ice”—at least they’ll (presumably) be doing so together and seem to understand each other at last.

This volume also picks up the friendship between Sojiro and Yuki, spawned a few volumes back when he helped her get revenge on the boyfriend that betrayed her. I really like how Kamio is handling this subplot. I’ve read a few other series where the heroine’s friends get some attention (Kare Kano and Love*Com come to mind) but only in Boys Over Flowers does it feel like a well-integrated part of the main storyline. In fact, I am downright happy to let Tsukasa and Tsukushi remain united for a while and shift the focus to fleshing out some of the supporting characters. I’d also like to see some kind of resolution to Rui’s relationship with Shizuka, who at least gets a mention here after being off the radar for quite some time.

Lastly, I must spare a paragraph to compliment the cover to this volume. While Tsukushi’s face looks a little frenzied, I love Tsukasa’s expression and the colors are gorgeous.

Boys Over Flowers 25 by Yoko Kamio: B

July 7, 2009 by Michelle Smith

boysoverflowers25 From the back cover:
Tsukushi has an on-and-off romantic entanglement with a hothead named Tsukasa. Tsukasa has a sketchy relationship with his even more hotheaded mother, named Kaede. Kaede has hired a near sociopath to woo Tsukushi and destroy her son’s relationship with Tsukushi once and for all. Will Tsukushi fall for this?!

Review:
The fake “cousin” hired by Kaede, whose real name is Amon, is not my favorite character, but calling him a sociopath is pretty extreme. It turns out that, one his guise is dropped, he’s actually not a bad guy. Although he has a cynical outlook on love, and advises Tsukushi on several times not to go through suffering on Tsukasa’s account because their love can only last a maximum of a few years, he is still better able to understand her than most others and offers her a different kind of relationship, free from drama but also free from love.

While this whole idea of Tsukushi dating Amon seems mostly an attempt to postpone the inevitable moment when she and Tsukasa finally, irrevocably get together, it does still offer some worthwhile moments. Tsukasa has grown to see Shigeru as a friend, and has a couple of nice conversations with her, including one in which they finally seem to realize that their hyper-wealthy lives are not normal. Also, though he initially feels like there’s nothing he can do about Tsukushi dating Amon, he somehow (exactly how isn’t clear) resolves that he’s going to make Tsukushi his.

And, okay, yes, this is kind of an antiquated idea, but somehow I love Tsukasa for this unwavering devotion. If both of the lead characters were floundering and uncertain, this series would be a mess. With the looming threat to her friends’ families if she gets near Tsukasa, Tsukushi certainly isn’t going to make the first move, so it’s up to him to help this story go somewhere satisfying. Even though I’m well aware that he’s a fictional character, I still want to cheer him on.

News: CSBG NANA Project Debuts!

July 7, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

First, a quick link to a review of mine in yesterday’s Manga Minis, for volume six of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom from Viz Media.

Today’s real news, however, is the debut of the Comics Should Be Good NANA Project! Inspired by an unexpectedly passionate exchange in the comments of one of Danielle’s recent reviews, CSBG’s Danielle Leigh, Michelle Smith, and I have started a monthly roundtable in which we will discuss the manga in-depth. We’ll tackle two volumes a month with Danielle at the helm (no spoilers for future volumes!) and if this first installment is anything to go by, it is guaranteed to be fantastic fun, at least for us. :) Please come on over and join us in comments!

If you are not yet one of the converted, check out my post, Why You Should Read NANA for additional information on the series.

Bamboo Blade, Vol. 1

July 6, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

Dangerous Minds, Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, and To Sir, With Love all depict teachers who are heroic in their self-sacrifice, renouncing money, family ties, and even their reputations in order to inspire students. Kojiro Ishido, the anti-hero of Bamboo Blade, won’t be mistaken for any of these noble educators. He’s bankrupt, morally and financially, and so eager to dig himself out of debt that he’d exploit his students in a heartbeat.

Kojiro’s troubles begin when he enters a bet with his old friend and sparring partner Toryah, an accomplished martial artist. If Kojiro can lead his school’s kendo club to victory over Toryah’s, Toryah will provide him with a year’s worth of free sushi from a top-notch restaurant. If Kojiro fails, he must surrender a personal treasure: the trophy he won for defeating Toryah at the 26th annual Shoryuki High School Kendo Meet. Making Kojiro’s job more challenging is the fact that Toryah coaches an all-girls’ squad; Kojiro’s co-ed team has but one female member, so he must recruit at least four more girls in order to scrimmage with Toryah’s crew. The few students who aren’t scared off by Kojiro’s acute desperation include Kirino, the club’s captain; Eiga, a plump boy who’d rather play ping pong; Nakata, Eiga’s best friend; Miya-Miya, a beautiful ditz; and Tamaki, an experienced swordswoman who initially rebuffs Kojiro’s entreaties to join the club.

Whether or not they’ll come together to form a proper team remains to be seen, but readers will be forgiven for bailing out before that point in the story, as Bamboo Blade quickly sinks under the weight of stale jokes and one-note characters. Kojiro, in particular, is a repellent creation: he’s mean, loud, and dumb, utterly lacking in the self-awareness or humility that would make him a sympathetic figure. A skillful writer might have found a way to make Kojiro’s nastiness funny — say, by making him more sardonic, or by drawing a sharper contrast between his pessimism and Kirino’s relentless optimism. Instead, Kojiro comes across as a crashing bore, a bully who’s incapable of speaking at conversational decibel levels or thinking of anything but his growling stomach. (He subsists on instant noodles and student handouts.)

The swordplay isn’t much better. Artist Aguri Igarashi’s fight scenes are impressionistic at best, employing speedlines to such a degree that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s happening in many panels; if anything, these scenes look like a forgotten Giacomo Balla painting: Kendo Fighters No. 1. I wished Igarashi had been more meticulous in showing how, exactly, a fight unfolds, from where the opponents strike one another to how they move across the floor, as there’s very little information about kendo anywhere in the story or the translation notes.

Given how exciting it is to watch a real kendo match, I’m convinced there’s a great story lurking deep within Bamboo Blade; I’m just not sure that Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi are the right folks for the job. Sports junkies and fans of the Bamboo Blade anime may find something to like here, but rookies should avoid this team of losers.

BAMBOO BLADE, VOL. 1 • STORY BY MASAHIRO TOTSUKA, ART BY AGURI IGARASHI • YEN PRESS • 228 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)

Bamboo Blade, Vol. 1

July 6, 2009 by Katherine Dacey

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The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold: B+

July 6, 2009 by Michelle Smith

From the front flap:
Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers and found, in each other, love and loyalty. But even their strength and passion cannot overcome the bigotry of their own kin, and so, leaving behind all they have known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples.

But they will not journey alone, as they acquire comrades along the way. As the ill-assorted crew is tested and tempered on its journey to where great rivers join, Fawn and Dag will discover surprising new abilities both Lakewalker and farmer, a growing understanding of the bonds between themselves and their kinfolk, and a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.

Review:
After one book taking place primarily in the farmer world and another that focuses on Lakewalker life, Passage, the third book in The Sharing Knife series, finds Dag and Fawn working to bring those two worlds closer together. Having witnessed the loss of life caused by farmers’ ignorance of the warning signs of a forming Malice, and not willing to stay at a camp at which the validity of his marriage is questioned, Dag gives up his patroller life and decides to become an ambassador of sorts, explaining some of the most fundamental Lakewalker secrets to what farmers as will listen.

After a brief stay with Fawn’s family, Dag and Fawn (along with her brother, Whit) hit the road, visiting a few towns and eventually booking passage on the Fetch, a flatboat headed downriver to the sea. From there, they encounter a variety of (mostly) likable characters, like Berry (boss of the Fetch), Remo and Barr (a pair of disgraced young patrollers), and a bevy of other boatmen. Dag performs several impressive feats of healing, works out some finer details of groundwork, ponders some troubling questions, and makes a lot of rather repetitive speeches. The action picks up a little when Berry’s search for her missing father, brother, and fiancé yields some unexpected results, and Dag is ultimately forced to question whether farmers and Lakewalkers aren’t better off living separate lives after all.

Although parts of Passage are quite slow—like the speeches and the many discussions on the ethics of Dag’s developing abilities—it’s still my favorite of the series thus far, a factor I attribute mostly to the influx of new people. Suddenly, a series that has been almost exclusively about two characters has developed an ensemble cast, and I find it to be a big improvement. My favorite of the new characters is actually not so new—Fawn’s brother Whit has been around before, but really becomes a new person due to the things he sees and experiences on this journey.

Whit’s growth also serves a handy example for one of my favorite things about the series: women’s roles. Bujold manages to show women in positions of power—boat captains, patrol leaders—about as often as women living more domestic lives without making a judgment about which has more value. Whit, having grown up on a farm, is used to men being in charge, and early on accuses Fawn of being “just a girl.” Dag expertly turns this around to talk about all of the brave and valiant things his first wife, Kauneo, accomplished when she was “just a girl.” After witnessing Fawn’s practical cleverness on several occasions, and having his notions of gender roles challenged by Berry, with whom he falls in love, Whit comes to value Fawn’s input in a way that the rest of her family does not.

Despite enjoying Passage quite a bit, I find I have some trepidations about Horizon, the fourth and final volume in the series. I do like Dag and Fawn, but they weren’t the main attraction for me this time. I hope Berry, Whit, Remo, and Barr have significant roles in Horizon else I shall be disappointed.

Additional reviews of The Sharing Knife: Passage can be found at Triple Take.

Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom, Vol. 6

July 6, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

By Kazunari Kakei
Viz, 195 pp
Rating: T + (Older Teens)

This volume takes a dramatic turn as Nora and Kazuma are given a window into the past where they learn the truth about themselves, their destined roles, and the history of Fall, leader of the Resistance. Not that either of them are given much time to process this new information as immediately upon their return to the present, Resistance forces invade headquarters, covering the entire area in a force field and trapping the Dark Liege inside to face Fall alone. As the Dark Liege’s army fights their way through the barrier in order to save her (and maintain balance in the demon and human worlds), Nora also learns an important lesson about the value of friendship, though it comes at a terrible cost.

With Nora’s discovery of his true purpose and the real nature of his bond with Kazuma, this series takes a much-needed foray into darkness, providing exactly the kind of compelling, painful drama it has lacked up to this point. Though the series’ art is still unremarkable, the characterization has grown immensely in just a single volume. Though the primary villain, Fall, remains flat and uninspiring, both Nora and Kazuma have benefited measurably thanks to their greatly heightened stakes. Whether this new depth can be maintained remains to be seen, but it is a big step in the right direction.

Packed with new revelations and emotional drama, this volume may finally earn Nora its place in Viz’s Shonen Jump Advanced line.

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

Otomen, Volume 3

July 6, 2009 by MJ 3 Comments

Otomen, Vol. 3
By Aya Kanno
Published by Viz Media

Buy This Book

As this volume begins, Ryo asks Asuka to help her out at a nursery where she often volunteers. At first, Asuka is concerned that he must maintain a manly image, but the loneliness of a young boy in the group ends up bringing out Asuka’s feminine side, and in the end he wins the boy over with both his “girlish” skill in crafts (together they make adorable dolls from broken eggshells) and his “manly” physical prowess (he saves the boy from falling out the window). Also in this volume, Asuka takes Ryo to an amusement park hoping to get up the nerve to tell her his feelings; Juta is hiding more than just his career as a shojo mangaka; and Asuka finds out that his greatest rival in kendo keeps a secret of his own.

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Site News!

July 5, 2009 by MJ 3 Comments

I did some redesigning over the weekend, but most importantly, I added several new categories to the blog:

News: As you can see, this post is categorized as “news” which will apply to site news, linkblogging, and anything else that is not a review or feature article/essay. The front page will always display the most recent news post on top of the left-hand column.

Short Takes: In an effort to be able to cover more manga each week, I’ve started writing mini-reviews for some releases, especially later volumes of continuing series. The front page will always display the two most recent of these, below the regular “Review” section on the right-hand column (not the sidebar). My first two Short Takes are for Legend, Vol. 5 and Hikaru no Go, Vol. 16. Check them out!

Yaoi Corner: Since I’m going to be reviewing more yaoi in this blog, I thought I’d create a section just for those books. As you can see, the latest yaoi review will always be displayed at the bottom of the right-hand column, just below “Short Takes.” Please check out the first of these reviews, for the fantastic DokiDoki release, Color.

ETA: To make it easier to find what’s new, I’ve also added a “Recent Posts” widget to the top of the sidebar.

This week’s upcoming reviews include Kimi ni Todoke, Otomen Vol. 3, Hey, Class President! and more!