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My Week in Manga: January 26-February 1, 2015

February 2, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

The Female Goth Mangaka Carnival wrapped up last week. In addition to my recent Spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara, I also contributed two other related posts. The first was Experiments in Manga’s latest giveaway. There’s still time to enter for a chance to win Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla. I also posted a review of Asumiko Nakamura’s manga Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist. It’s a dark and twisting tale, and one that I come to love a little more each time I read it. Completely unrelated to the Carnival, last week I also reviewed Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of the Mountain, a classic novel about growing older and family relationships.

Elsewhere online, Viz announced that it will be bringing Shotaro Ishinomori’s The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past back into print, which I’m looking forward to a great deal. Media scholar Henry Jenkins is posting lengthy, in-depth interview with Patrick W. Galbraith, “In Defense of Moe,” talking about manga, anime, and otaku studies (Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6). Digital Manga has launched its next Tezuka Kickstarter to publish Osamu Tezuka’s two-volume Alabaster with a stretch goal to reprint Swallowing the Earth (again). A recent update for Digital Manga’s Finder Kickstarter includes a link to a list of boys’ love titles that are currently in stock. Perhaps most importantly, it indicates which manga are available in limited quantities.

Quick Takes

The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 2 by Hiromu Arakawa. The particular weakness of the second volume of The Heroic Legend of Arslan is that while the battles and sieges are proceeding at a good pace–and Arakawa’s fight and action sequences are excellent–there is a relative lack of character development. Unsurprisingly, considering that the manga takes place during a time of war, there are important, dramatic deaths, but emotionally they aren’t especially effective since readers hadn’t had the opportunity to really get to know those involved before their demise. At this point, many of the antagonists and even a fair number of the series’ protagonists are missing complexity and nuance. Thankfully Arslan himself does show a little growth by the end of the volume, but attention is mostly given to the war being fought and some of the political intrigue behind it all. Granted, those are very important aspects of the series since they are what Arslan must overcome. However, I am hoping that future volumes will spend more time examining the characters as people. Intense, bloody battles are all well and good, but I want to more completely understand the motivation and drive behind them.

My Neighbor Seki, Volume 1 by Takuma Morishige. I was originally only vaguely curious about My Neighbor Seki, but after watching the absolutely delightful anime adaptation last year, I knew it was a series that I couldn’t miss. The premise is deceptively simple: Yokoi sits in the last row of seats in her classroom right next to Seki, a boy who is always goofing around at his desk. Yokoi finds this incredibly distracting, especially since the ways in which Seki amuses himself can be spectacularly elaborate. Often she’s astounded by Seki’s audacity, but on occasion she can’t help but to join in or interfere with what he’s doing. Of course this means she’s often the one in danger of getting into trouble with the teachers for not paying attention in class. The individual chapters in My Neighbor Seki may be short, but the sheer creativity displayed by Morishige, and in turn by Seki, is quite impressive. The original My Neighbor Seki manga is just as wonderful as the anime was; I’ll definitely be following the manga to its end. (In Japan the series is currently ongoing with six volumes having so far been released.) My Neighbor Seki is funny and charming and a marvelously entertaining read.

Secrecy of the Shivering Night by Muku Ogura. After reading the first volume of the short boys’ love series Castle Mango, I decided to seek out more of the artist’s work. Currently the only other manga of her’s available in print in English is Secrecy of the Shivering Night. Unlike Castle Mango, Ogura wrote the stories collected in Secrecy of the Shivering Night in addition to illustrating them. The volume includes four short boys’ love manga which, other than tending towards the more sweet or romantic and having slightly peculiar lead characters, are all unrelated. The setup for the titular story is perhaps the most curious and seemingly far-fetched–a young man who is afraid of bright lights and another young man who is afraid of the dark end up as dorm roommates–but the resulting relationship dynamic is surprisingly satisfying. Their opposite phobias, but even more so their opposite personalities, make them an adorable couple. Secrecy of the Shivering Night isn’t an especially outstanding collection, but the stories are generally cute and a little bit quirky, which are characteristics I happen to particularly enjoy, and Ogura’s artwork has a pleasant softness to it.

Terra Formars, Volumes 2-4 written by Yu Sasuga and illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana. If the first volume of Terra Formars largely felt like a stand-alone prequel, that’s because it was. The second volume begins twenty years later. An exceptionally fatal disease is becoming more prevalent on Earth which requires a new mission to Mars in order to research a cure. Shokichi Komachi, one of the two survivors from the previous Mars mission, leads a crew of one hundred men and women genetically modified to survive the conditions and lifeforms found on the planet. Terra Formars continues to be extraordinarily violent with an incredibly high body count, though considering the first volume I was actually surprised by how many people are left alive by the end of the fourth. It seems as though there might be an actual plot to Terra Formars, but it’s mostly just an excuse to show epic, over-the-top hand-to-hand combat between opponents with astounding, superhuman abilities. I still dislike the visual design of the humanoid cockroaches immensely, but at least there’s an attempt in these volumes to better explain their appearance. The portrayal of women in the manga has slightly improved, as well.

Princess Tutu directed by Junichi Sato. I picked up Princess Tutu more on a whim than anything else when I saw it on super sale. Although I vaguely remembered hearing good things about the anime, I honestly didn’t know much about the series. I’m very glad that I own it because Princess Tutu is marvelous. I do find it somewhat difficult to describe in a way that does the justice, though. The story follows a girl called Duck who really is a duck. She’s under an enchantment that allows her to not only take human form but to also become the magical Princess Tutu. Through the power of her dance she restores the shattered heart of a prince who had sacrificed himself to save others. That all might sound a little strange, and parts of the anime are admittedly weird, but the series is also very good. Stories are just as real as reality in Princess Tutu, and just as potent if not more so. Bits and pieces of classic ballets, operas, and plays can be found throughout the series all mixed together to form a unique work. I absolutely loved the anime’s use of orchestral works not just as background music but as meaningful additions to the story, emphasizing the significance of the characters and of their actions and, for those who are familiar with the pieces, even revealing some of the plot.

Manga the Week of 2/4

January 29, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Anna N, Michelle Smith and MJ 3 Comments

SEAN: Did you enjoy your quiet month? Good, cause February is back to business as usual, and every week has some chunky bites of manga. Let’s look at next week. FYI, Diamond Comics has every Viz title coming out 1-2 weeks earlier than usual, for some reason – I’m ignoring that. And JoJo’s was delayed.

ASH: Oh, no! JoJoooooo!

ANNA: I do not approve of this.

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 7th Blood Blockade Battlefront, which I understand has an anime coming out soon.

Seven Seas gives us a 5th volume of oddball slice-of-A Centaur’s Life.

And the 10th volume of Haganai, whose cast still doesn’t have many friends.

The rest is all Viz. We have a new Assassination Classroom, filled with attempted death and heartwarming lessons.

ANNA: Bring it on!

SEAN: We have a 3rd volume of Black Rose Alice, and I’d like to remind the Manga Bookshelf team that they can’t pick it two weeks in a row. :)

MICHELLE: I won’t, but I am still super happy to see it!

ASH: I’m happy to see it, too!

ANNA: I might pick it again! You can’t stop me!

MJ: Heh. I didn’t pick it last time, so it’s up for grabs!

SEAN: Bleach 63 features, I’m guessing, fights.

Food Wars 4 also features fights, but of a culinary kind. Save the Megumi!

MICHELLE: I have developed a serious fondness for Food Wars.

ANNA: I do not yet have a serious fondness, but I like it much more than I expected to.

SEAN: The 10th and final volume of Happy Marriage?! wraps up next week. It’s been a very up and down series, but overall I’ve enjoyed it.

MICHELLE: It’s not something I can picture myself rereading, but it has been entertaining.

ANNA: Me too. I’m glad to have read it, but I don’t think I’ll be rereading it.

SEAN: High School Debut has its 5th and final omnibus. The big news is that it has lots of material that never came out in print before – I believe Vols. 14 and 15 are unique to this volume! It’s also print-only, so go get it.

MICHELLE: !!!!!!!!!!!!1 (Heh, I swear that typing that 1 was legitimately an accident, but I’m leavin’ it!)

ANNA: Woah! I’ve got to pick this up!

MJ: Ooooooooooh.

SEAN: If you thought Honey Blood was over last time, well… it was. But Tale Zero is an epilogue, or prologue, or pilot. Or something? In any case, this is the last Honey Blood-related product.

MICHELLE: I have a vague memory of one of the author’s note sections during the series proper mentioning that this would contain the original oneshot. Not sure about that, though.

ANNA: I’d like to see more from this author eventually.

SEAN: We have the 25th and final volume of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. I enjoyed this a lot more than I’d expected, and probably more than it really deserved, but way to go, mid-range Shonen Jump title. You were licensed when many other 20-30 volume Jump series were not.

One Piece has its 11th omnibus. It’s in Water Seven now, one of its best arcs.

Spell of Desire hits Vol. 3, and I hope manages to resolve the rather icky cliffhanger Vol. 2 left us with.

Voice Over has its 9th volume, and seems to be slowly, very slowly, meandering towards its climax.

MICHELLE: Here’s another title I’ve grown to love unexpectedly.

MJ: I need to check back in with this series.

SEAN: World Trigger has Vol. 4, and is another on the list of ‘series I should know more about’.

Did you miss Yu-Gi-Oh! the first time around? Here’s an omnibus to catch up on.

And Yu-Go-Oh Zexal 6 gives you more Yu-Gi-Oh than human nature can possibly stand.

There’s a lot of ‘meat and potatoes’ shonen and shoujo here. What suits your fancy?

Manga Giveaway: Cinderalla Giveaway

January 28, 2015 by Ash Brown

It’s the end of the month which means it’s time for another manga giveaway! Because the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is currently underway (featuring the work of Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura) I decided to do a tie-in giveaway. This month you all have a chance to win a copy of Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla as published by Viz Media. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide! (However, you must be at least eighteen years old to enter.)

Way back in 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the Best Manga You’re Not Reading panel at the American Library Association’s annual conference. It was there that I was introduced to the work of Junko Mizuno, and specifically to her manga Cinderalla—a psychedelic retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella with zombies, yakitori, and pop idols added in for good measure. I had never seen anything like it before and I loved it. Mizuno’s brightly colored artwork in Cinderalla shows her mastery of a very distinctive and even beautifully stunning creepy-cute aesthetic. Quite a few of Mizuno’s manga have been released in English—and I’ve enjoyed many of them—but I will always remember Cinderalla as being my first.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Cinderalla?

1) Have you ever read anything by Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, or Asumiko Nakamura? If so, tell me what you thought in the comments below. (And if you haven’t, you can simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it. For this giveaway, each person can earn up to two entries and has one week to submit them. If needed or preferred, comments can also be sent directly to me via e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post them here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on February 4, 2015. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the Carnival!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Cinderalla Giveaway Winner

My Week in Manga: January 19-January 25, 2015

January 26, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week I posted a review of Chōhei Kambayashi’s award-winning novel Good Luck, Yukikaze. Because I had enjoyed Yukikaze, the first novel in the series, I was looking forward to reading its sequel. Sadly, although there is some tremendously thought-provoking material in Good Luck, Yukikaze, I found it to be incredibly frustrating as a novel. Also posted last week was my first (and what will probably be my most substantial) contribution to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival: a spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara. I’ve previously written a little about her manga series The Embalmer, but this time I took a brief look at all of her manga that was released in English and examined some of the recurring themes found in her work.

Speaking of the Carnival, the hosts at The Beautiful World posted an excellent introduction which includes biographical information of the featured artists as well as an overview of gothic fashion and literary themes. Elsewhere online, Mangabrog has translated a conversation between Hiroaki Samura and Masashi Kishimoto. Chromatic Press has some additional comments on making Sparkler Monthly back issues free to read. (Most importantly, the magazine needs 1,000 subscribers by the end of July 2015 to ensure it survives into its third year.) And some great news from France, Jiro Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura’s manga series The Summit of the Gods (a favorite of mine) is being adapted as an animated film.

Quick Takes

Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of Capricorn by Hugo Pratt. A portion of Corto Maltese, a seminal comic created by Italian artist Hugo Pratt in 1967, was previously translated into English, however that release was criticized for its use of altered and reformatted page layouts among other things. Under the Sign of Capricorn is technically the third Corto Maltese collection, but it’s the first volume to be released in the series’ new English-language edition from EuroComics, IDW’s newest imprint. The goal is to release the entire twelve-volume series using the original artwork and oversized format over the next few years. Under the Sign of Capricorn is a great looking comic, the high-quality paper and large trim size shows off Pratt’s superb black and white artwork. The titular Corto Maltese is a sea-captain who, though he claims to have no enemies and to live only for himself, frequently finds his life in danger as he tends to side with the underdogs in their battles against those who hold power over them. (He’s a fantastic character.) Under the Sign of Capricorn is a collection of connected adventure stories, many with a slight touch of the supernatural and a lot more humor than I was anticipating. I’m looking forward to reading more of the series.

Noragami: Stray God, Volumes 2-3 by Adachitoka. It took a little while for the first volume of Noragami to settle on its tone, but these two volumes have managed to achieve an excellent balance between the series’ humor and drama. They also explore more of the manga’s worldbuilding and delve more deeply into the mechanics of the gods’ relationships with their shinki. New characters and adversaries have been introduced as well. I initially thought that Noragami might be an episodic series–it certainly has a setup that would lend itself well to that format–but it looks like the manga will have an ongoing and increasingly complex plot. In a series about a low-level god of war who is trying to raise his status and gain followers, it’s not too surprising that other Japanese deities make an appearance in Noragami. However, some of them are portrayed very differently than their traditional counterparts. I was greatly amused by this, but then I already have some knowledge of Japanese religion and mythology. There are translation notes provided for readers who aren’t as familiar, but the delightful incongruities probably won’t be as effective without some prior understanding. However, overall enjoyment of Noragami doesn’t rely on esoteric expertise.

Tough Love Baby by Shiuko Kano. While it’s not an exceptional boys’ love one-shot, Tough Love Baby was actually fairly solid. This was a pleasant surprise, especially considering my frustrations with some of Kano’s other early works. (And Tough Love Baby is one of her earliest.) Another pleasant surprise–since I’m into that sort of thing–was the somewhat reversible nature of two of the characters. Despite being the secondary couple, I was actually much more interested in the relationship between Tamotsu and Sora than I was in the relationship between Yoshino and Sachi. This was mostly because I ended up particularly liking Sora. (Tamotsu can be a bit of a jerk, though on occasion he does try not to be.) Sora is diminutive throughout high school, but undergoes a tremendous growth spurt upon entering college. Even though he’s much taller than everyone one else, adorable is still the best word to describe him. In some ways, Sora’s story actually parallels Sachi’s. After a three-year absence, Yoshino returns to discover that the cute thirteen-year-old boy he had developed feelings for has grown up to become a juvenile delinquent. Tamotsu is one of Sachi’s friends and a fellow tough guy, but he happens to be in love with Sachi, too. Which brings the story back to Sora, who greatly admires and falls for Tamotsu.

Random Musings: Spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara

January 23, 2015 by Ash Brown

For the last two weeks of January 2015, the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is focusing on the works of Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura. While I’ve read and enjoyed manga created by almost all of those women, Mihara is the mangaka that I’ve read the most of and am most familiar with out of the group. (Granted, that may in part be due to the fact that of the five she has had the most manga licensed and released in English.)

The Creator

Sadly, there doesn’t actually seem to be very much information available in English about Mitsukazu Mihara beyond a few well-established facts. She was born in Hiroshima, Japan on October 17, 1970 and for a long time was based in Osaka. (I believe she may now be working out of Tokyo.) She made her manga debut in 1994 and has been writing and illustrating ever since. Mihara is often credited as being particularly influential in refining the Gothic Lolita sensibility and she frequently served as a featured illustrator for the Gothic & Lolita Bible magazine.

Between 2004 and 2007, Tokyopop released many of Mihara’s works in English, beginning with her series Doll. Mihara is particularly known for her short manga with twists–even her long-form works tend to be fairly episodic–and she frequently employs darker themes and includes heavy psychological elements in her stories. Her manga is influenced and inspired by the problems and issues that she sees in society as well as by her own personal traumas. As she states in an interview from 2008 in the debut issue of the North American edition of Gothic & Lolita Bible, “Often, my greatest work is born during the bad times.”

The Manga

Although IC in a Sunflower (1997) contains some of Mitsukazu Mihara’s earliest work, the volume was actually the last of her manga to be licensed in English. A collection of seven unrelated short manga, the volume includes her award-winning debut “Keep Those Condoms Away from Our Kids.” Another of the collected stories, “The Sunflower Quality of an Integrated Circuit,” would later be tied into her series Doll.

While there is some absurdity and black humor in R.I.P.: Requiem in Phonybrian (2000), the volume’s darker elements take precedent. The manga follows the angel Transylvanian Rose who has rescued the soul of a suicide, but he isn’t particularly happy about this turn of events, nor is he particularly interested in his new responsibilities of cleansing other souls. The manga starts out fairly episodic but quickly coalesces.

Beautiful People (2001) is another collection of Mihara’s short manga and includes six unrelated stories. The volume features a range of genres and sub-genres including science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, post-apocalyptic fiction, contemporary drama, and suspense. In general, like much of Mihara’s work, the manga included in the volume tend to be darker in tone, but there are moments of brightness as well.

The manga that Mihara is probably most well-known for, at least in English, is her six-volume Doll (2000-2002). The manga is a series of loosely interconnected stories of androids and angst that are tied together by the end of the final volume. Although the Dolls are an important part of the series, the focus of the manga is much more on the humans and their relationships to the Dolls and to each other.

Because it’s primarily a comedy, Haunted House (2002) stands out from the rest of Mihara’s manga available in English. Granted, it still has elements of horror in an Addams Family sort of way. Sabato Obiga is a teenager who desperately wants two things in his life: a girlfriend and a normal family. Unfortunately, the eccentricities and occult interests of his “death flavored” relatives would seem to make both an impossibility.

My introduction to Mihara’s work was through her series The Embalmer (2003-2013) and it remains my personal favorite of her manga. Sadly, only four of the series’ seven volumes were released in English. I’ve actually written a little about the series before, specifically in regards to the main character and the role of embalming in the story. Less fantastic than many of Mihara’s other manga, the series has a strong grounding in reality.

The Themes

There are many themes and variations upon them that appear and reappear throughout Mitsukazu Mihara’s work. One of the most prominent elements in Mihara’s manga is the inclusion of families. Even Haunted House, which is so unlike many of her other works, has a family at its core. The families in Mihara’s manga are often broken and in need of healing, but underlying all that turmoil and trauma is an understanding of the immense importance of family and the profound influence, both positive and negative, that a family has on its individual members.

Similarly, there is an intense longing for love and connection that pervades Mihara’s work. Her characters are searching for someone they can be close to, someone they can trust, someone they can reach out to. Sometimes this is found within their families, and sometimes they are forced to look outside of them to satisfy those needs. Love takes on many different forms in Mihara’s stories, and its potential to end in tragedy is just as real as its potential to end in redemption.

Maturer themes dealing with sex and sexuality have been present in Mihara’s work since the very beginning. Her debut manga “Keep Those Condoms Away from Our Kids” (collected in IC in a Sunflower Circuit) tells the story of a near-future Japan in which the birthrate has plummeted because younger generations have completely lost interest in sex. In the post-apocalyptic vision of “World’s End” (collected in Beautiful People), a peculiar twist of fate means that a lesbian and a gay man may be the only survivors. Perversion, fetishism, bondage, and sadomasochism can be seen in much of Mihara’s work as well, but perhaps most obviously in Doll.

Although frequently viewed through the lens of speculative fiction, Mihara isn’t afraid to look at the harsher realities of life and the darker sides of human nature. Abuse, obsession, sexual violence, and other harmful deviant behaviors can all readily be found within her work. Many of Mihara’s characters are suffering, whether from the actions of others or from their own personal demons and psychological disturbances. There is tragedy, sadness, and pain in both their lives and their relationships. Life isn’t always pretty, and Mihara doesn’t shy away from that fact in her manga.

People can be cruel and are capable of terrible things. As is seen again and again in Mihara’s work, it takes a human to be inhumane. The monsters in her stories are often the ones showing the most empathy and caring for others. Sometimes those monsters are literal–like the vampire in “Blue Sky” (collected in Beautiful People). Sometimes they are beings of human design–like the clones in “Alive” (collected in IC in a Sunflower) or the Dolls. And sometimes they are other people who are for one reason or another shunned, abandoned, or reviled by the rest of society. But there is some hope in humanity that remains–people are changed, often for the better, by their interactions with those “monsters.”

Death and dying are themes that frequently make an appearance in Mihara’s work, but at the same time an immense respect and reverence for life can always be seen. Matters of life and death are most realistically examined by Mihara in The Embalmer, the series focusing on those left behind to grieve the deaths of their loved ones. The characters must respond to that loss of life in a very personal way and their relationship with death is constantly changing as a result. Requiem in Phonybrian and many of Mihara’s short manga take a more fantastic approach to death and the afterlife, but emotionally it is all still very real.

Mihara’s manga deal extensively with dualities. This is visually epitomized in the Gothic Lolita aesthetic which Mihara frequently incorporates into her work, but it is also present in the narrative themes that she explores. Light and darkness. Beauty and ugliness. Innocence and perversion. Love and hate. Purity and corruption. Human and inhuman. Hope and despair. Life and death. They are pairs of concepts that are so closely intertwined that it is simply impossible for them to be separated from each other.

They are all also qualities that exist simultaneously within a single person or a single story. Although often viewed as positive or negative characteristics, Mihara’s work shows that they aren’t necessarily inherently good or bad. Rather, it’s a fixation on a particular ideal or other imbalance in those qualities that truly causes harm. Mihara’s stories, just like individuals, contain many complexities, contradictions, and layers. They can be shocking and surprising and may often have more depth to them than might first appear.

Manga the Week of 1/28

January 21, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, MJ and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: The final week of January, and a quiet, peaceful time for books. After last week, that’s a relief.

(Note: Diamond Comics is shipping some Viz stuff to me 1-2 weeks early; I’m assuming that’s them and going with the official release dates, so they’ll be in upcoming posts. I’m also getting Soul Eater late. Diamond gonna Diamond.)

Dark Horse has the 34th volume of Gantz, which despite my occasional mockery has done very well for them, as can be seen by their license of another series by the same author. Still no HEN, though. Or even Hen.

Kodansha has a new Fairy Tail, the 46th. After this one, we go from monthly to bimonthly, so the Fairy Tail catchup seems to have finally slowed down. Kudos to all who stayed caught up.

MICHELLE: Which wasn’t me!

SEAN: I didn’t think Whispered Words’ 3rd omnibus was coming out from One Peace books till late March, but it was shipped to me last week, so yay for early bird releases. I’ve already reviewed it here.

ASH: My copy arrived early, too! I’m looking forward to finishing the series.

MJ: This is definitely something to look forward to!

MICHELLE: I haven’t checked back in with this title since the first omnibus, so an early conclusion is definitely an incentive.

SEAN: One Peace also has the 3rd through 5th volumes of Raqiya also coming out, which I believe completes the series.

ASH: It does indeed.

SEAN: Lastly, Diamond Comics has started shipping print copies of the final volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion, so even though I highlighted in in November when it came out digitally I will mention it again here.

Do you see something here you want? Or are you taking the week off?

ANNA: I’m taking the week off! More of an opportunity to make some headway with all the stacks of unread manga piled up in my house.

My Week in Manga: January 12-January 18, 2015

January 19, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted two reviews at Experiments in Manga last week. The first review was of Manazuru, Hiromi Kawakami’s first novel to be translated into English. It’s a slightly surreal but moving work about memory, loss, letting go, and moving on. I had previously read and enjoyed some of Kawakami’s short stories, but Manazuru is her first long-form work that I’ve read. The other review posted last week was a part of my monthly horror manga review project. In December I took a look at took a look at Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare, Volume 1, but this month I started digging into Yuki Urushibara’s award-winning Mushishi, which happens to be one of my favorite manga series. (Next month will be After School Nightmare‘s turn once again, and I’ll continue to alternate between the series.)

On to other interesting news and reading! Sparkler Monthly has a new subscription model for the new year, which means even more of its content is now free. (But if you like what you see, please consider becoming a member!) Kodansha Comics announced several new licenses, including a new series from Blade of the Immortal‘s Hiroaki Samura among other intriguing manga. Amazon leaked Vertical Comics’ most recent acquisition announcement, Hajime Segawa’s Tokyo ESP. And speaking of Vertical, here’s a list of Vertical manga that may be going out of print in the near future. And completely unrelated, Gayumbos has an interview with Kazuhide Ichikawa, one of the creators featured in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.

Finally, I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival which is currently under way and will continue through the end of January. Hosted by the The Beautiful World, which previously hosted the Kaori Yuki Manga Moveable Feast, the Carnival is focusing on Fujiwara Kaoru, Kusumoto Maki, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura and their works. I have a few things in mind for the Carnival, including a spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara, a manga giveaway that ties into the Carnival, and a review of Asumiko Nakamura’s Utsubora. Assuming all goes according to plan, my Carnival posts should start showing up by Friday.

Quick Takes

Ani-Imo, Volume 1 by Haruko Kurumatani. I often enjoy body-swap manga, but I was somewhat wary of Ani-Imo. I’ll admit, the first volume actually wasn’t as terrible as I anticipated it would be. There were even parts of it that I legitimately liked. Still, overall I really can’t say that I enjoyed the manga. There’s a lot about Ani-Imo that frankly makes me uncomfortable. I’m actually not bothered by the potential incest itself (although the manga’s excuse that makes it not really incest seems awfully convenient and not particularly believable). However, I intensely disliked the doctor in the manga. He comes across as extremely predatory and unfortunately his bisexuality is used to emphasize that point. Also, the young women in the series, despite being high schoolers, look more like elementary grade students, which makes the sexual overtones of Ani-Imo even harder to take. Some of the manga’s creepiness I’m sure is intentional, but since the series seems to be trying to be a comedy. The balance of the series’ tone doesn’t seem quite right and the manga ends up being a bit off-putting.

Manga Dogs, Volume 2 by Ema Toyama. Since Manga Dogs is more of a gag manga than anything else, there isn’t really much of a driving plot to the series. Instead there’s the initial setup (a high school with a new, but abysmally supported manga program) and the introduction of the main players (Tezuka and the three classmates who have attached themselves to her, as well as a small handful of supporting cast members) which serve as the starting point for all of the hijinks in the series. I’m not really sure where Manga Dogs is heading, or even if it is heading anywhere, but I do find it amusing. Granted, much of the humor depends on a reader having a deeper interest in and understanding of manga and its creation than the casual fan might generally possess. The other major source of the series’ comedy are the goofball antics of Tezuka’s enthusiastic yet delusional devotees–Specs, Prince, and Dream Kid. But, surprisingly enough, although they’re usually air-headed idiots, every once in a while the three of them actually do exhibit some common sense.

Witchcraft Works, Volumes 1-2 by Ryu Mizunagi. Witches seem to be showing up in anime and manga more and more often these days, but I don’t have a particular interest in them. I almost passed over Witchcraft Works because of that. But since it’s a manga being released by Vertical Comics, I was a little more inclined to check it out. That and I generally liked the artwork; the cover in particular is striking, but the interior art looks great, too (even if some of the character designs tend to be absurdly buxom). So far, Witchcraft Works is a delightfully strange and quirky manga, it’s ridiculousness and weirdness making it a lot of fun. I’m especially enjoying the reversals in the usual gender roles–Honoka, the male lead, is the one who needs saving and protecting while Ayaka, the female lead, is the strong and stoic hero. (I also love that she’s at least a head taller than him.) Ayaka is an incredibly powerful fire witch which means many of the action sequences are done and over with before they’ve really had the chance to begin, but at least she puts an end to things with flair. And often literally with flare.

TaishoBaseballGirls Taisho Baseball Girls directed by Takashi Ikehata. Although I’ve discovered that I generally enjoy sports anime, I was particularly interested in Taisho Baseball Girls because of its historical setting. Not many series take place during the Taisho era, a time period in which Japan was becoming increasingly Westernized and there was some societal anxiety caused by that. Although the twelve-episode anime is based on an ongoing series of light novels written by Atsushi Kagurazaka, it tells a complete and very satisfying story. A group of nine high school girls band together to form a baseball team in order to challenge an all-boys team and prove that women’s place in the world shouldn’t be and isn’t limited to the household. The problem is that very few of the girls actually have any experience playing baseball. Taisho Baseball Girls is a charming and heartwarming series without being overly sentimental. Some of the girls’ family members, friends, and teachers oppose what they’re doing and their unladylike behavior while others are incredibly supportive of them and their hard work.

Manga the Week of 1/21

January 15, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Michelle Smith and Anna N 2 Comments

SEAN: Remember how I said that January was quiet? That does not apply to next week, which is simply a ton of stuff.

It’s even bigger as I missed some titles last week. Basically, I get street dates from Amazon, mostly. The exceptions are Dark Horse and DMP (and sometimes One Peace or Gen), which ship to comic shops 2 weeks before bookstores, so I use Diamond Comics’ street dates then. I forgot to check last week, and there was a pile of DMP stuff. So here it is:

There’s a sequel to Apple & Honey called His Rose-Colored Life.

Does the Flower Blossom? has its first volume. It seems to involve an ad man trying to get past a broken heart.

ASH: This series is from Blue Morning‘s Shoko Hidaka, so I’ll definitely be checking it out.

MJ: Oh, yes!

SEAN: In non-BL news, we have the 3rd volume of the quirky Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat.

Lastly, we have Murmur of the Heart, whose… sequel came out two weeks ago? In any case, it’s by the author of Blue Sheep Reverie.

Now, on to the giant pile actually out NEXT week. Kodansha has the 10th volume of addictive and frustrating shoujo potboiler Missions of Love.

ASH: So, so addictive.

SEAN: My Little Monster’s cast is equally screwed-up, but I scream at them a little less in the 6th volume. Only a little, though.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!

SEAN: And there’s a third volume of fantasy series Noragami.

ASH: I’ve been rather enjoying Noragami thus far.

SEAN: From Seven Seas, we have a third volume of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, whose gritty SF-ness has helped to overcome its ‘cute girls are battleships’-ness.

There’s a 4th omnibus of wacky pseudo-incest comedy I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!.

And a 2nd of the straight up horror of Magical Girl Apocalypse.

And the final volume of Zero’s Familiar Chevalier, which I suspect may be the last in the franchise given the death of its creator.

Speaking of final volumes, From the New World ends for Vertical with its 7th volume next week.

Viz has the 3rd omnibus of Urasawa’s Monster, which does not star either Godzilla OR Gamera. Human monsters are enough here.

ASH: Still very happy this series is getting a re-release.

ANNA: Me too! I need to finally read it.

SEAN: There’s a 2nd volume of the Resident Evil tie-in manga.

And a 4th Terra Formars.

A new series debuts from Yen, and if you’re tired of the ‘dark fantasy’ genre, well, you’re in a very small minority. Akame Ga Kill! isn’t a title I know much about, but it had a popular anime, and has a striking young woman with a sword on its cover. I look forward to checking it out.

ASH: I have yet to tire of dark fantasy, which means I’ll be giving Akame Ga Kill! a look.

We’ve mostly caught up with Black Butler in Japan, so a new release isn’t as common as it once was. Here’s the 19th volume.

MICHELLE: I always seem to read these, even if I’m not terribly enthusiastic about the series.

SEAN: Who likes Goong? Who wants a 17th omnibus? Is it you? It is!

MICHELLE: It’s meeeeeeeee!

ANNA: I WANT IT!

MJ: And me! Me! Me!

SEAN: Inu x Boku SS spent much of its last volume reinventing itself, and I’m hoping things start moving a bit faster with this 6th one.

I keep forgetting Kingdom Hearts exists – Amazon doesn’t code it with the other manga. They’re up to the 5th volume of 358 / 2 Days, which is not 179 for reasons that I’m sure would make sense if I read it.

I’m not sure how much longer The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan can keep toddling along, especially now that it’s gotten to Sasaki, but I’m always happy to see a new volume, as it’s simply funny – and better characterized than the main manga, oddly enough.

Milkyway Hitchhiking was a popular title when the first volume came out, so I suspect the Manga Bookshelf team is looking forward to Vol. 2 twice as much!

MICHELLE: I may actually (gasp) write a long review of volumes one and two!

ASH: The first volume was lovely!

ANNA: This was not on my radar too, but if it is good enough to get Michelle to write a long review, I want to read it!

MJ: I will be talking about this a lot, soon! I finally have my first volume and I’m already in love.

SEAN: Watamote hits its 6th volume, and I still really hate typing out its full title. Even Diamond just solicits it as ‘I’m Not Popular’.

Did you like Doubt? And Judge? Or do you just like people in animal masks? Well, you’re in luck! Secret will give you as much survival game as you want. It’d been coming out digitally in chapter form for some time, now here’s the first collected volume.

I can’t believe this 24th volume is the second to last Soul Eater. It’s been a fun ride. And hey, the covers are still pitch black.

Sword Art Online’s Aincrad was an awesome world, which makes it a shame that its plot was resolved in one book. That’s why we now have Sword Art Online Progressive, which goes back and retells the story at a more relaxed, in-depth pace. It also places far more emphasis on Asuna. This is Vol. 1 of the manga; the novel’s Vol. 1 ships in March.

Ubel Blatt Vol. 1, the 2nd omnibus of Ubel Blatt put out by Yen, collects the Japanese Vol. 2 and 3. I originally tried to make that more confusing for humor value, but really, it speaks for itself.

ASH: That it does.

SEAN: Omnibus #2 is the 3rd and last one for Umineko When They Cry: Alliance of the Golden Witch. Will Ange manage to save her brother in 1986 even though she’s in 1998? Don’t get your hopes up. After this, we’ll be halfway through the eight arcs!

And lastly, Omnibus #3 gives us another volume of Until Death Do Us Part.

MICHELLE: I liked the first omnibus more than I expected to, and I keep meaning to get back to it. One of these days!

SEAN: Surely there is something here for everyone. What’s for you?

The 10 Boldest Manga Predictions For 2015

January 15, 2015 by Justin Stroman 9 Comments

So 2015 has arrived, and the only thing I can think of this:

…What’s gonna happen to manga and the manga industry in 2015?

Like I’m sure somebody has said the past couple of years, this is a crucial year for the manga industry, in Japan and in the US of course. Pretty sure all of you are going to be keeping up with Manga Bookshelf and checking your Twitter feeds for any manga happenings and stuff, but I’m here to tell you that there’s no point. I have already seen the future, and I can tell you 10 things that’s going to happen regarding manga that you won’t have seen coming!

(Well, maybe 2 of my predictions will come true)

Anyways, this predictions list is entirely for fun, but for some of my entries, I’m aiming for seriousness. Please join me in making either true or outlandish predictions in the comments section, and by the end of 2015, we can all look back and laugh first at me, then at ourselves, for being so horribly wrong.

A major scanlation site is gonna shut down

Already starting this list off with a bang, I have no idea what that site will be, but with Japanese publishers “attempting” to derail scanlations and encourage people to support manga, and with manga seemingly achieving an upswing in attention (as sales went up), there will be one site that’s out there that’s gonna go down.

(Then maybe a billion more will pop up, but, small victories I guess.)

A major Japanese publisher will shut down

Not merely just a magazine, a big time publisher, one that’s been in the business before most of us were even born, will finally call it quits due to unstable sales and horrible titles in their magazine. Oh, and also the Bill 156 thing. I think it’s been in the works for a while that a company doesn’t find it viable to publish manga anymore, and we will see that happen this year.

Digital manga will finally establish itself as more valuable than print

Not even bothering to list new digital manga initiatives for 2015; I’m already expecting a few to emerge. And they’ll be much easier to read than in the past. Simply, there’ll be more ways to get digital manga, and with the advent of space being an issue (and money), more people will buy digital manga. And thus, it will make more money than print, as print manga will have an issue of finding bookstores in 2015.

…Maybe.

Older manga will be published in 2015

I mean really old, like 70’s, 80’s old. The power of digital is fierce! And most importantly, companies you wouldn’t expect will be publishing old stuff like hotcakes. And they will somehow sell.

Chihayafuru will be licensed

I swear somebody’s gonna do it. No, I don’t mean the anime, this is a manga predictions list!

US Shonen Jump will bring back Gintama by the time April arrives.

New anime season, Shonen Jump with the grand opportunity of having their property in their magazine with the anime starting (Shokugeki no Soma, Nisekoi, Gintama)… This is the perfect time for them to actually put Gintama back in the limelight.

There will be a controversial manga published by some company in the US

You’d think with Terraformars, Ubel Blatt, and Assassination Classroom that there’d be some unsuspecting being with no knowledge of comics see these works and go, “OMG this is horrible” and sound the alarm. Well, not so much! That’ll end in 2015. There will be a controversy from something. If it’s not Prison School, something will cause a storm, and I’ll be a distance away, laughing smugly as I predicted that this would occur.

Vinland Saga’s never coming back to the US

Get your tissues out Vinland Saga fans — all 10 of you (hey, whenever somebody says low sales, I think small ya know!) — Kodansha’s not bringing back Vinland Saga. It just won’t happen. History tells you that once a title is suspended, or removed, or delayed, you can bet it’s cancelled. So what if it’s nearly caught up with the Japanese editions? It doesn’t matter! It’s just not making money, and thus, because it’s not coming back, I’m gonna screw Kodansha USA and buy the Japanese editions.

…wait what–

A manga series gets discussed on TV — for good reasons!

…This clearly conflicts with the controversial manga part, but hey, there can also be another side to it! And this isn’t going to be on any TV channel — it’ll make its way on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the works! What that manga series is, who knows, but it will happen…and you heard it here first.

Beet The Vandel Buster’s gonna come back.

…No seriously, stop laughing! It-it’s gonna happen. Well, I think we can at least all agree that we hope this series will come back.

Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, a blog that looks behind the scenes of anime and manga. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him questions he’ll never answer.

Why, Why, Oh Waai!?

January 15, 2015 by Erica Friedman 3 Comments

Today, we come not to praise a magazine, but to eulogize it.

Western manga fans know the feeling of frustration when a publisher ceases to carry a title they like. Japanese manga fans know this feeling as well. Here we are, reading a delightful series, when suddenly on the last page of the magazine there’s a notice that “This is the final issue, thanks for reading!” And…that’s it. The series has ended, the manga magazine has shuttered its doors and the artists scramble to find other methods of distribution. (Yay for the Internet, which not only makes it possible for the artist to continue the series, bur also to collect it up in digital doujinshi, so those of us who can’t get to Comiket won’t have to miss out. Phew!)

Like western fandom, Japanese fandom is trendy. A manga or anime series, a creator, even a whole genre, will go in and out of fashion. When a fandom trend becomes very popular, a publisher may create a magazine to highlight the trend. As the trend fades, so do sales, and the magazine closes. This is perfectly typical in comic and manga publishing where teens stubbornly refuse to remain young, and wander away from the comic series they loved as kids, requiring publishers to develop a whole new market every couple of years or so.

Today we’re looking at one such recently deceased title, Waai! (わぁい！) .

Waai!, which was published by Ichijinsha, was dedicated to fans of “Otoko no ko”, which is to say, boys dressing (and sometimes passing,) as girls. I myself never managed to pick up a copy of Wai!. In October 2013 a friend reminded me I planed on reviewing it for this column, and I completely blanked on him, as we stood in front of the Waai! display in Animate in Tokyo. 6 months later it became moot, when Ichijinsha announced that Waai! was ceasing publication.

While it was running, Waai! included manga and prose fiction. The website was more informational, but did, on occasion, have sample chapters to read.

The Otoko no ko character may not necessarily be understood to be a transgender character – some are, some are not, it really depends on the series. and even in some where we, the readers, might recognize the character as being trans, such as Saito Chiho’s ongoing adaptation of the Heian classic Torikaebaya Monogatari, the character themselves may not identify as trans. Despite Waai!‘s suspension, the “Otoko no ko” is still an enduring manga stereotype and is carrying ongoing series like Minazuki Shinobu’s Himegoto (for which an anime is being announced on the above cover) or the popular Usotski Lily by Komura Ayumi, but after a few years of existence, Wai! itself has passed into the forest of magazines that bear no new leaves.

Waai! Magazine, from Ichijinsha, we hardly knew ye: http://www2.ichijinsha.co.jp/waai/

My Week in Manga: January 5-January 11, 2015

January 12, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Well, last week unintentionally became a week filled with gay-themed manga here at Experiments in Manga, not that that’s something I’m going to complain about. But, first things first, the WataMote manga giveaway winner was announced. The post also includes a list of otaku manga available in English for anyone looking for something to read in that sub-genre. And now, back to the gay manga! I posted two in-depth manga reviews last week. The first review was of Takeshi Matsu’s English-debut More and More of You and Other Stories, a collection of gay erotic doujinshi. It’s both a fun and funny volume, so I hope to see more of Matsu’s work translated in the future. Over the weekend, I also posted a review of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 5 by Fumi Yoshinaga. I continue to really enjoy the series’ mix of food and contemporary gay life. The sixth volume was actually released last week, so I’m a little behind in my reviews, but it’s still a great series.

Elsewhere online, Digital Manga launched its first non-Tezuka Kickstarter project, an effort to reprint and restock the first six volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder boys’ love series. (Like many of Digital Manga’s recent Kickstarter projects, I have mixed feelings about this one.) In licensing news, Seven Seas and Yen Press announced quite a few new titles on social media. Sean has a nice roundup of the licenses over at A Case Suitable for Treatment. For those who are interested in the history of manga or are more academically inclined, be sure to check out Ryan Holmberg’s most recent What Was Alternative Manga? column, “The Fukui Ei’ichi Incident and the Prehistory of Komaga-Gekiga” at The Comics Journal and the second part of Nicholas Theisen’s manga studies essay “Takeuchi Osamu and Manga Expression” at Comics Forum.

Quick Takes

Alice in the Country of Hearts, Omnibuses 2-3 (equivalent to Volumes 3-6) by Soumei Hoshino. I was taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed the first omnibus of Alice in the Country of Hearts and so soon found myself tracking down the rest of the series. I became a little less enamored with the manga the more I read, but in the end I still thoroughly enjoyed the series and I definitely plan on picking up some of the spinoffs. Because Alice in the Country of Hearts is based on a romance adventure game, it’s not too surprising that Alice is eventually paired off with one of the multitude of people who have expressed intense interest in her. However, I didn’t really like who it was she ended up with in Alice in the Country of Hearts because he’s a violent jerk. Granted, I can say that and not really spoil too much since so many of the guys in the series are violent jerks–they feel so strongly for Alice that more than one of them actually wants to, or even tries to, kill her. This certainly adds to the ominous atmosphere of Alice in the Country of Hearts, which is one of the things I particularly like about the series. What I was hoping to see and what the manga doesn’t quite deliver on was more explanation about the world itself and about the “game” that is being played. I suspect some of the other Alice series may expand on this, though.

Citrus, Volume 1 by Saburouta. I know quite a few people who were very excited for Citrus, Seven Seas’ most recent yuri acquisition. I didn’t know much about the series, but I’m always interested in seeing, and reading, more yuri in English. Yuzu is boisterous young woman whose life has been thrown into turmoil after her mother remarries. She has a new name, a new high school, and even a new sister. Mei and Yuzu don’t really get along that well and their relationship gets even more complicated when Mei suddenly kisses Yuzu, but not out of any sort of true affection. Yuzu’s not entirely sure what’s going on with her new sibling, but after the kiss she can’t get her out of her mind and begins to develop non-sisterly feelings for Mei. Quite a few things in the first volume of Citrus strained my suspension of disbelief–I cannot and will never be convinced that Yuzu’s mother completely failed to mention before they all actually moved into the same household together that as part of her remarriage Yuzu would be gaining a stepsister–but it is an intriguing start to the series. The manga has great potential for melodrama. Mei is somewhat of a mystery at this point, and I’m curious to learn more about her. She puts up a good front for most people, but she’s incredibly manipulative and Yuzu’s one of very few people who knows about and has seen that side of her.

Orphan Blade written by M. Nicholas Almand and illustrated by Jake Myler. After previewing some of Myler’s work in progress for Orphan Blade, I was really looking forward to reading the graphic novel. Unfortunately, while there were some aspects of the comic that I really appreciated (it’s nice to see a gay protagonist), overall I was disappointed with Orphan Blade, especially since it had such great potential. The setting is an alternate-universe, 17th-century Japan in which the world was overrun with kaijū. But now that most of the monsters have been destroyed, humans are once again at war with each other. Particularly coveted are Artifacts, weapons of immense power fashioned out of the bodies and bones of the defeated kaijū. Hadashi is a young man who comes into possession of one of those Artifacts, but it possesses him in return. For the most part, Myler’s artwork is excellent. The monster and character designs, while lacking cohesiveness, are great and I love the colors. Orphan Blade is surprisingly violent, bloody, and gruesome. There are plenty of dynamic battles, however the action is frequently confusing and difficult to follow which is particularly problematic since a large part of the graphic novel is devoted to fight sequences. I like the world and basic premise of Orphan Blade, but the story feels inexpertly cobbled together in places, which may be explained by the fact that Almand sadly passed away before the comic’s completion.

Manga the Week of 1/14

January 8, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, MJ and Anna N 2 Comments

SEAN: In between two fairly hefty weeks, we have a low number of titles out this week. Let’s take them one by one.

Kodansha has a 6th volume of its shonen fantasy The Seven Deadly Sins.

Vertical has a debut I’ve been waiting for ever since it was announced: My Neighbor Seki, from Media Factory’s Comic Flapper. The story of a girl who is constantly distracted in class by her next-desk neighbor’s attempts to… well, revealing more would spoil the surprise. It’s been nominated for awards, it’s had an anime, and it is really, really funny. Absolutely one to watch out for.

ASH: I’ve been really looking forward to this debut! The anime adaptation was absolutely delightful.

MICHELLE: I didn’t have this on my radar at all and then Vertical kindly sent me a copy. Researching it yielded cautious optimism and now I’m downright eager.

MJ: I am so ready for this.

ANNA: I also didn’t have this on my radar before, but it sounds interesting!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 53rd volume of Case Closed, and Shinichi… sorry, Jimmy… is still a kid.

MICHELLE: I have occasionally dabbled in Case Closed and found it entertaining enough, but I just can’t get excited about it.

SEAN: What (Seki) will you be buying (Seki) next week? (hint: Seki.)

My Week in Manga: December 29, 2014-January 4, 2015

January 5, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Happy New Year, everyone! Things are already off to a good start at Experiments in Manga. The last manga giveaway of 2014 is currently underway and there’s still time to enter for a chance to win No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Volume 1 by Nico Tanigawa. All you have to do is tell me a little about some of your favorite otaku. The honor of the first in-depth manga review of the year, and in fact the very first post of 2015, goes to Hiroaki Samura’s Vigilance, the thirtieth and penultimate volume of Blade of the Immortal. I still love the series after all this time, and this installment has some particularly nice fight sequences. Finally, December’s Bookshelf Overload was posted over the weekend as well.

There were a few interesting things from Vertical this week, including a roundup of the happenings of 2014 and what fans can look forward to from the publisher in 2015. Another enlightening read from Vertical’s Tumblr account tackles sports, sports fiction, and sports manga and the challenges it presents to the North American market. Also, in case you missed it, Vertical is now on ask.fm and is answering all sorts of questions there. Last but not least, thanks to the success of its release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vertical is looking into publishing more Gundam manga. If you’re interested and haven’t already, be sure to take Vertical’s Gundam survey which will be open through the end of today.

Elsewhere online, Khursten has made a manga resolution for the year to feature josei more at Otaku Champloo. Organization Anti-Social Geniuses debuted a new feature, Inside the Industry, with Inside the Manga Industry with Lillian Diaz-Przybyl. The Hairpin has an excellent interview with Anne Ishii who, among other things, is the translator and one of the editors of the newly released Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It (which I recently reviewed; it’s great).

Quick Takes

Blue Morning, Volumes 1-5 by Shoko Hidaka. I’ve been meaning to read Blue Morning for a while but have only now gotten around to it. The benefit of this is that I had five volumes that I could read all at once. The drawback, of course, is the long wait until the sixth volume is released. I loved Blue Morning. It’s a moody, slow-burning boys’ love series with beautiful, elegant artwork and well-developed, subtly nuanced characters. A dramatic period piece, the manga takes place during Japan’s Meji era in which the country’s social, political, and economic structures underwent great change. The story focuses on Akihito Kuze who, after being orphaned, is suddenly thrust into Japan’s peerage as a viscount at the age of ten. Tomoyuki Katsuragi, the Kuze family steward, becomes his tutor and guardian. As he grows Akihito ends up developing feelings for Katsuragi and their relationship undergoes an intense evolution and power reversal. The romantic elements of Blue Morning are important, but much of the plot is actually focused on the political maneuverings of both Katsuragi and Akihito to raise the family’s status, though the each of the men have their own reasons for doing so.

Knights of Sidonia, Volumes 10-12 by Tsutomu Nihei. I decided to save up a few volumes of Knights of Sidonia since they read so quickly and I wanted to enjoy a larger chunk of the story. But even though there are quite a few major developments in these particular volumes, including the introduction of an important new character, somehow it just feels like Nihei is stalling for time and that there wasn’t actually much forward movement in the series. Even so, it was still an enjoyable read and I still like the manga. Knights of Sidionia remains a rather peculiar series, a combination of horror, science fiction and, of all things, romantic comedy. Sidonia’s hero Tanikaze, despite being incredibly awkward socially, has managed capture the romantic interest of quite a few of the other characters, basically amassing one of the most unusual harems that I’ve ever come across in manga. And while he has all sorts of domestic challenges to deal with now that his house has five residents more or less living there, he’s also one of humanity’s best pilots in the fight for survival against the Gauna. The war is entering a new stage, new technology has been developed, and the Gauna continue to gain new abilities.

Say I Love You, Volume 4 by Kanae Hazuki. Four volumes in, Say I Love You continues to set itself apart from many of the other shoujo manga series that are currently being released with its very realistic approach to young adult relationships, romance, and sexuality. The characters show a believable mix of maturity and immaturity, at times handling themselves extraordinarily well and at other times ending up a mess of confused emotions. This volume also introduces a new character, Kai, whom I’m particularly looking forward to seeing more of. In the afterword Hazuki mentions that she believes that manga “isn’t just for showing the nice side of things,” a belief that I think comes through in Say I Love You. There are the wonderful moments between characters as they grow closer, but every relationship has its ups and downs and Hazuki isn’t afraid to show the emotional pain and turmoil experienced by her characters as part of that growth. Regret, jealousy, selfishness, and uncertainty all have a role to play as do happiness, affection, altruism, and confidence. None of the characters are perfect and they all make mistakes as they navigate new and sometimes surprising relationships.

Ping Pong: The Animation directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Taiyō Matsumoto’s breakout manga was a five-volume series from the mid-1990s called Ping Pong. I’ve become a fan of Matsumoto’s work and would love to read Ping Pong, but it’s probably unlikely to ever be licensed. However, the eleven-episode anime adaptation made me very happy. The style of animation is somewhat unusual, reminiscent of Matsumoto’s loose but deliberate lines and uses a variety of palettes ranging from monochrome to pastel to vivid colors. I was particularly impressed by the series’ sound design and effective use of music. Smile and Peco are close friends and the strongest members of their school’s table tennis club but they both approach the game very differently. On its surface, Ping Pong is a fairly straightforward tale about competitive table tennis, but the series has prominent psychological elements and more depth than it might appear at first glance. Peco and Smile aren’t the only important players in Ping Pong; the protagonists and antagonists of the series are in constant flux. I enjoyed the Ping Pong anime immensely; I’ll definitely be picking up the physical release this summer.

Manga the Week of 1/7

January 1, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and MJ 4 Comments

SEAN: January is a relatively quiet month for manga, usually, and this is a quieter first week of the month, though you might not guess it by the large number of titles coming out way. It’s COMPARATIVELY smaller.

CLAMP fans have been waiting for this one forever, and it’s finally here. The first volume of Drug & Drop comes out next week. The sequel to Legal Drug, which ran in the shoujo magazine Asuka, this runs in Young Ace, a seinen title. Despite that, I suspect the audience is still the same: CLAMP fans. Expect crossovers.

MICHELLE: *Kermit flailing*

ASH: Looking forward to seeing where things go!

ANNA: Yay!

MJ: This, this, this, this, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ME. Yes.

SEAN: There’s also a 7th omnibus of Lone Wolf & Cub.

ASH: I’m really enjoying the omnibus edition of this series.

SEAN: Digital Manga Publishing has a pile of new titles. KinokoInu – Mushroom Pup looks adorable, and its 2nd volume ships next week.

ASH: I was pleasantly surprised by the first volume of Mushroom Pup, but then I like quirky manga.

SEAN: The third volume of Lovephobia is not something I’d call adorable based on its cover, but hey, the inside might prove me wrong. (For the record, the series runs in ‘Comic B’s Log Kyun!’. I’m always wary of magazines with onomatopoeic sounds in their name.)

And A Waltz in the Clinic, which is the sequel to A Murmur of the Heart, seems to have sensuous hand-licking, judging by the cover.

Alice in the Country of Clover gives us The Lizard Aide, which I believe is the first volume in this series to have Gray as the love interest. So, Gray fans, this is for you! Sadly, the artist is the same one as the Nightmare Trilogy, so don’t read it for the prettiness.

Girls Und Panzer has taken its tankery games to much higher stakes with Volume 3, as Miho now faces expulsion from her family if she loses. How will she fare? And what will Yukari do, given she’s the ‘star’ of the manga series?

Strike Witches begins a new tie-in series with the first volume of One-Winged Witches. I’m trying not to be critical, but even its FANS say this 2-volume manga series is for lovers of panties and that’s about it.

Viz has a smaller but robust set of shonen and shoujo for us. 07-GHOST trundles along with Volume 14. There seems to be a woman on the cover! Wait, 07-GHOST has women in the cast? :)

MJ: Heh.

SEAN: Bleach and Naruto both have their 10th 3-in-1 omnibuses out next week.

Jaco the Galactic Patrolman is a one-shot manga from the creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump! I’m not sure if it was always meant to be this short, but in any case, more Toriyama is always nice to see, especially when he’s funny, as he seems to be here.

MICHELLE: I have yet to read Dragon Ball, and Dr. Slump! wasn’t my thing, but I have quite enjoyed Toriyama’s one-shots (especially COWA!), so I’m looking forward to this one a lot!

ASH: Oh, COWA! That was a delightful manga.

SEAN: Kiss of the Rose Princess has a 2nd volume. I thought the first was goofy fun, but a bit slight. Can it grab me further with this one?

MICHELLE: I am wondering that myself.

ANNA: It is fun, but I agree about the first volume being on the slight side. Still, nothing wrong with shoujo brain candy!

SEAN: Viz’s new shoujo debut is Meteor Prince, by Meca Tanaka. it’s another short one, only two volumes, and is likely far more acceptable than the student/teacher romance of her more famous series Faster Than A Kiss. Old-school fans will also recognize her as the author of Omukae Desu and Pearl Pink.

MICHELLE: Wow, what a premise on this one. “It’s hardly surprising then that a naked alien prince falls from the sky to tell her that out of all the girls in the universe, he’s come to Earth to mate with her.”

ANNA: OK, that sounds hilarious.

MJ: Agreed. Like, Moon Child hilarious.

SEAN: My Love Story!! was one of the most exciting releases of 2014, and the start of 2015 sees its 3rd volume. Will our lead couple progress in their romance, or is shyness the order of the day? (I can take an educated guess…)

MICHELLE: <3 <3 <3

ASH: Love this series so much!!

ANNA: Agreed!

SEAN: Nisekoi continues to be one of the better harem series I’ve seen in ages, and I am greatly looking forward to the 7th volume (which, yes, has been out digitally since March of last year).

And there’s One Piece, with its 73rd (!) volume. The last cliffhanger promised Rebecca would have a moment of awesome, but I admit I’m skeptical. Perhaps more important to its Western fans, will Doflamingo and Law square off?

MICHELLE: In the most recent volume of Magi, there’s a scene of happy islanders feasting on a giant sea monster and man, that made me crave more One Piece like whoa. I’m glad I won’t have to wait too long.

SEAN: I tend to skip the endless Pokemon releases when I talk about manga here, so I will guiltily note that we see the 26th Pokemon Adventures ship next week, along with the 6th Black and White volume.

Lastly, there’s a 6th Ranma 1/2 omnibus, and a new semi-regular, as Kuno and Kodachi’s father returns from an extended vacation, and he’s just as bad if not worse than his offspring.

What are you starting off the year with?

Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway

December 31, 2014 by Ash Brown

It may be the last day of December, but there’s still time for one more manga giveaway before the year is through. For this month’s giveaway, participants will have the opportunity to win the first volume of Nico Tanigawa’s manga series No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! as published by Yen Press. (From here on out, I’m just going to refer to it by its Japanese abbreviation WataMote). As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I enjoy reading manga about otaku. It’s a term that has a slightly different meaning in English than it does in Japanese, but generally speaking otaku refers to someone with an extreme or obsessive interest in something. Often this is assumed to be an interest in anime or manga, but it can really be a specific interest in anything. I myself could probably be considered an otaku, which is probably one of the reasons I like otaku manga–it’s easy for me to identify with many of the characters and the things they enjoy. Some otaku manga though, like Watamote, do occasionally make for uncomfortable reads. Watamote can be hilarious, but it can also be a bit painful since Tomoko is so incredibly and terribly awkward. I do like her, though, and find her endearing in her odd sort of way.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win the first volume of WataMote?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite otaku manga or favorite otaku from manga. (If you don’t have one, you can just mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

There it is! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway and has one week to submit them. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, entries can be sent directly to me by e-mail using the address phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. The comments will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 7, 2015. Happy New Year, everyone!

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway Winner