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Manga the Week of 7/2

June 26, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Michelle Smith and Anna N 3 Comments

SEAN: It’s not QUITE as bad as last month’s pile, but there’s a ton of things out the first week in July. Let’s to’t.

Dark Horse continues to give us omnibuses showcasing Lone Wolf & Cub in larger trim size and far more pages. Here’s the fifth.

ASH: Excellent! I’ve been needing to do a binge read of Lone Wolf & Cub and the omnibuses make that much easier.

MJ: I’m always happy to see more of these!

SEAN: Six volumes is an awfully long time for a Blue Sheep Reverie from DMP. Maybe the sheep should come out of it soon.

MICHELLE: *snerk* I actually kind of liked this one—at least it tried to have a plot—but just sort of drifted away from it. I’m glad it continues to exist.

SEAN: And another ‘we’re not just BL!’ title from DMP, as they put out the first volume of seinen dog-focused manga Kinokoinu – Mushroom Pup, which runs in Comic Ryu (home of A Centaur’s Life), and involves a man who can’t get over the death of his pet dog.

MJ: That sounds… heartbreaking.

Seven Seas has a quartet of titles dropping. Knight’s Knowledge is a Country of Clover title from the Alice franchise. It stars Ace. I’ve found titles where Ace is supporting are much better than titles starring him, but maybe this will be different.

ANNA: It probably says something about me that Ace is my favorite because he is so murderous. I haven’t read any of his solo titles, maybe I will give this a try.

The new series from SS this month is Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which runs in Young King Ours, home of Excel Saga and Hellsing. I warn you in advance, this is another ‘sentient warfare/battleships shown as cute girls’ series. That said, I’ve heard this one is a slight cut above the usual fare, so we’ll see what it brings to the table.

Haganai is a popular series, both here and in Japan, so it makes sense that we’d see a few of the spinoff manga. Now With 50% More Fail is apparently filled with cute comedic one-shots that don’t impact the plot (such as it is).

Lastly, The Sacred Blacksmith continues to nudge its way forward towards its own main plot, here with Vol. 5.

Flowers of Evil 10 is a good 3 volumes over what I expected it to be, but hey, more creepy arty manga is always welcome, even if I dropped the series ages ago. Others here like it, right?

ASH: I do, indeed! The series seems to get better and better with each arc.

MJ: Indeed!

SEAN: The rest is Viz. They’re still giving readers of D.Gray-Man a chance to see it again, with the 4th 3-in-1 due out.

Demon Love Spell features what I believe is the 6th and final volume, and therefore I suspect will finally have a love scene that takes place in the *real* world, unless Mayu Shinjo has been corralled by the Margaret editorial department.

MICHELLE: Will Miko become more powerful than her dad and break his spell so she can get it on with her boyfriend?!

ANNA: I think this is the series where Shinjo effectively blends the sexy angst that was the trademark of her earlier series like Sensual Phrasewith the comedy stylings of Ai Ore. I’ve really enjoyed this series, and I hope Viz has another Shinjo series waiting in the wings.

MJ: I have fallen behind on this series, and am feeling very regretful!

SEAN: Midnight Secretary is almost over, this being the penultimate volume, so no doubt things will get far more serious and dangerous for our vampire and human couple.

ANNA: EEEEEEEE, Midnight Secretary!!!!!!!!

MJ: Heeeeee.

SEAN: Viz’s new shoujo series, My Love Story!!, is one I’ve been looking forward to. By the author of High School Debut, it’s about a guy who longs for a shoujo romance (and this is a shoujo title), despite looking like your typical big, burly, not bishonen at all guy. His struggle begins here.

MICHELLE: I am looking forward to this so much!

ANNA: This sounds great. Planning on picking this up!

ASH: My copy arrived early and I’ve already read it and I loved it and Takeo is the best!

MJ: I am so on board with this.

SEAN: Naruto hits Vol. 66. Be careful! That’s the Third Cousin Once Removed of the Beast!

Nisekoi drops the print volume of Vol. 4. Will it continue to juggle the girls it has, or add a new one to the mix? The eternal question of every harem title.

Phantom Thief Jeanne has Vol. 3, and I suspect things will get even more serious soon, given we’re just about halfway through this omnibus-ish rerelease.

MICHELLE: I’m enjoying this quite a lot.

ANNA: This is my favorite Tanemura series. I’m glad it is getting reissued with an updated translation.

SEAN: Speaking of omnibuses, though not ish in this case, Skip Beat! has its 8th omnibus pop up as well.

MICHELLE: Yay, Skip Beat! Now if only the next standalone volume would hurry up and come out!

ANNA: Skip Beat! is the best.

SEAN: Sweet Rein comes to an end with its third volume, ending inappropriately enough in mid-summer. Expect more Santa and reindeer antics.

ANNA: This was sweet and cute, if not very deep.

MJ: I can’t say that I’m sad to see it go. Does that make me a grinch?

SEAN: Lastly, there is a Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal 5, which I can’t even make jokes about. Here it is, Yu-Gi-Oh fans.

What’s tickling your fancy?

Manga Giveaway: Juné Manga Giveaway (Flutter)

June 25, 2014 by Ash Brown

The end of June is almost here, which means it’s time for Experiments in Manga’s monthly manga giveaway. And, because it’s June, I thought that I would hold a Juné manga giveaway. (I can’t help it, the wordplay amuses me.) This month (almost) everyone has an opportunity to enter for a chance to win a copy of Momoko Tenzen’s boys’ love one-shot Flutter! The giveaway is open worldwide, but if boys’ love and yaoi is illegal in your country, please don’t participate. (Sorry!) You must also be at least eighteen years of age for this particular giveaway.

Last year I received a request to do a Juné manga giveaway. I actually do take requests, for giveaways as well as for reviews, though it might take some time for me to be able to follow through. Still, a Juné manga giveaway was something that I was pretty sure I could make happen. Juné is one of Digital Manga’s boys’ love imprints, taking its name from Japan’s earliest boys’ love magazine June. It’s also one of Digital Manga’s largest imprints with currently over four hundred manga and novels in its catalog. Juné’s first title, Satoru Kannagi and Hotaru Odagiri’s Only the Ring Finger Knows, was released in August 2004, which means the imprint will be celebrating its tenth anniversary very soon. With so many Juné manga to choose from, and with so many that I’ve immensely enjoyed, I had a difficult time picking just one to give away. After putting some thought into it, I finally settled on one of the imprint’s newer one-shot manga that I’ve read recently: Momoko Tenzen’s Flutter. It’s an enjoyable volume with endearing characters and a slowly, quietly developed, slightly awkward romance between two grown men. Plus, one of them happens to be legitimately, and openly, gay. This isn’t particularly common in many of the boys’ love manga that have been translated, so it always makes me happy to see.

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

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

It’s as easy as that! For this giveaway, each person can earn up to two entries and has one week to submit comments. Entries may also be submitted via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if you prefer or if you encounter problems trying to leave comments. (I will then post the entry in your name.) The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on July 2, 2014. Good luck, and happy June!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, 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: Juné Manga Giveaway Winner

My Week in Manga: June 16-June 22, 2014

June 23, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Well, it wasn’t entirely intentional, but both of my in-depth manga reviews from last week featured manga released by Kodansha Comics. I managed to get my hands on an early copy of Hikaru Suruga’s Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Volume 1, the first installment in a short shoujo series focusing on Erwin and Levi and their pasts. It’s a welcome addition to the Attack on Titan canon and I enjoyed it a great deal. The second review was of Hinoki Kino’s No. 6, Volume 7 which may very well be the best volume yet in the series; it’s intense. I’d still love to read the original novels, but I’m glad that the manga adaptation is being released. I also had a bonus post last week–Random Musings: Cherry Bomb, Cinderseed, and Skyglass. Cherry Bomb is the mature imprint of Chromatic Press. Cinderseed was released through Cherry Bomb and is the prologue to the illustrated novel Skyglass which debuted earlier this month. I’m absolutely loving what I’ve seen of Skyglass so far.

And speaking of great stuff from Chromatic Press, I encourage everyone to check out its Kickstarter to release Gauntlent in print. As for other interesting things found online: The fifth part of Revealing and Concealing Identities: Cross-Dressing in Anime and Manga was posted at The Lobster Dance and focuses on Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son. Sean has a roundup of the recent license announcements from Seven Seas at A Case Suitable for Treatment. The UK-based comics publisher Breakdown Press is launching a series of classic and avant garde manga in translation, starting with Seiichi Hayashi’s Flowering Harbour in July. And last but not least, I discovered manga brog a newish site which already has some extremely interesting content, like a translation of a conversation between Taiyo Matsumoto, Inio Asano, and Keigo Shinzo.

Quick Takes

Click, Volumes 5-8 by Youngran Lee. The relationship dynamics in Click are exceptionally complicated, made more complicated by the fact that Joonha’s sex and gender are in flux. After spending sixteen years of his life physically and mentally as male, the fact that he now has a female body has presented some problems. Initially he tried to separate himself from those closest to him, but now they’re back in his life. For better and for worse, Joonha still hasn’t fully explained the situation or his peculiar genetic condition. Some people treat him as the boy he once was, others treat him as the girl he seems to be now. Surprisingly enough, Joonha seems to care less and less about gender, more or less ignoring it in order to focus on other aspects of life. (Which really is how it should be.) Click is extremely melodramatic, emotions run high, and the plot can occasionally take some absurd turns. Despite being somewhat of a jerk, most everyone seems to be in love with Joonha and those feelings are returned. As a result, the manhwa forms an extraordinary mess of romantic entanglements.

Crimson Spell, Volumes 3-4 by Ayano Yamane. The first two volumes of Crimson Spell were originally released in English by Media Blasters. I was thrilled when SuBLime rescued the license; Crimson Spell is my favorite Yamane series, and there are relatively few boys’ love manga set in a sword and sorcery fantasy world. On rereading the series, I realized that I had forgotten just how funny it can be, too. Granted, the third volume takes a fairly serious turn when Halvir is captured and Vald must go to his rescue. The plot is getting more involved, more and more characters are introduced, and Vald’s curse and the bond between him and his demon self are growing stronger. Halvir and Vald desperately need to sort out their feelings for one another, a particular thorny issue since Vald has now discovered that Halvir has been taking great pleasure in satisfying the carnal needs of the demon without Vald’s knowledge (or consent). Understandably, Vald isn’t particularly happy to learn this. With all of the drama, magic, and sword fights, and all of the smut to go along with it, I’m still loving Crimson Spell.

Eyeshield 21, Volumes 35-37 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. These last three volumes of Eyeshield 21 feel like an afterthought to the series more than anything else. The Christmas Bowl is over, but with the Youth World Cup about to begin Japan needs to pull together its all-star team. Basically this final arc amounts to an excuse to bring all of the favorite characters from the various Japanese teams together one last time. Despite it being a world championship, Eyeshield 21 seems to have lost the sense of urgency and emotional investment that was present during the battles in the Christmas Bowl. In part this is probably due to the fact that most of the members of the other national teams are new to the series, so any established rivalries or histories are missing. As expected, the championship game in the Youth World Cup comes down to Japan versus America. It’s a good game, but I found it to be rather anticlimactic in the end. Still, Eyeshield 21 is a lot of fun and as always Murata’s artwork is fantastic. I mean, the image of Ceasar riding a dinosaur? That’s some great stuff there.

My Little Monster, Volume 2 by Robico. I’m quite enjoying My Little Monster. I particularly appreciate the series’ quirky, offbeat characters–a group of misfits with varying degrees of social awkwardness, ineptitude, and obliviousness. Shizuku is currently struggling to find the balance between her accidental friendships, her feelings towards Haru, and her studying, which had been the only thing in her life that had been constant. As for Haru, he’s starting to become more comfortable at school and around other people. But, though he means well, his more violent tendencies still cause some problems. Haru’s older brother is introduced in this volume and some of Haru’s troubled family life is revealed as well, adding some mystery and ominous undertones to what is generally a fairly lighthearted series. I like Robico’s dry sense of humor in My Little Monster. So far, the series has achieved a nice blend of more serious and more comedic elements. There are certainly some uncomfortable moments, but at this point the series has avoided becoming too heavy. I’m looking forward to reading more of My Little Monster.

JJBATV1 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure directed by Kenichi Suzuki and Naokatsu Tsuda. The first season of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure television anime series covers the first two parts of Hirohiko Araki’s inter-generational action manga epic. Phantom Blood is adapted in a mere nine episodes but still manages to hit most of the major plot points and remains coherent despite its quick pace. The remaining seventeen episodes are devoted to the second story arc, Battle Tendency. While they both obviously belong to the same anime series, the individual parts have their own stylistic quirks in the music and animation that give each its own feel. Phantom Blood has a classically oriented soundtrack and palette while Battle Tendency introduces dubstep and bright, fluorescent colors. Some shortcuts were taken with the animation in order to keep to a budget, some of which are more effective than others. However, the story remains entertaining and engaging, a mix of horror, revenge, and intense battles and action with strong psychological elements. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure can be, well, bizarre and over-the-top, but I’ll gladly admit that I get a huge kick out of it.

Random Musings: Cherry Bomb, Cinderseed, and Skyglass

June 21, 2014 by Ash Brown

Back in April 2014, Chromatic Press announced Cherry Bomb, its new imprint for mature readers. The intent was to provide an outlet for Sparkler Monthly‘s creators to explore a sexier side of their already established characters and stories with a goal to include original, unrelated material in the future as well. Cherry Bomb’s coordinator Lianne Sentar probably sums it up best: “We want our erotica to be emotionally cathartic, with a purpose and meaning behind some smoking content. If it’s all smut and no context, that’s not good enough – we demand both!”

Personally, I was very excited to learn about Cherry Bomb. The imprint launched with five titles: two short stories from Tokyo Demons, which I had previously read and enjoyed (I’ve written a little about my Tokyo Demons obsession in the past); two short comics from Awake; a Gauntlet side story; and Cinderseed, the prologue to the then upcoming illustrated novel Skyglass written by Jenn Grunigen with art by Mookie.

I’m rather ashamed to admit that after the initial Cherry Bomb announcement, I actually completely forgot about Cinderseed. But then came the even more recent announcement for Skyglass, which made its debut in June 2014 in Sparkler Monthly, Issue 11. The prose series was described as “throwing Ai Yazawa’s Nana, a space opera, and a really fresh take on post-apocalyptic Earth into a blender.” With a line like that, I knew that I needed to read Skyglass. It was at that point that I was also gently reminded that Cinderseed existed, and the lovely folk at Chromatic were kind enough to send along a review copy to me.

Cinderseed opens with a girl floating through space, a fire elemental who has been ripped from the sun, her home, and confined within a human body. Understandably, she is somewhat confused and not particularly pleased by this turn of events and violently lashes out at the humans who would try to control her further. Soon after she meets Kri, who hopes that she would kill him, too. But as a Pleasure Intelligence, he doesn’t have much say in the direction his life is taking or even ownership over himself.

The two of them make an interesting contrast, similar to each other in some ways but vastly different in others. Neither are entirely human, but Kri has been designed by humans and his thoughts and behaviors are influenced by that. On the other hand, Phoenix’s actions and ways of thinking are often disconcertingly inhuman. (As they should be.) However, they both feel trapped, experience loneliness, and want to reclaim themselves and take control of their own lives. Phoenix, though, is much more likely to redirect her feelings towards revenge than Kri is.

Technically, while reading the prologue may not be absolutely necessary to follow what is going on in the novel proper, it does provide background information and additional insights into the world and characters of Skyglass, particularly the re/birth of Phoenix. Plus, it’s sexy. And hot, often literally so. (Phoenix is a fire elemental, after all.) Female-friendly, queer-friendly, and kink-friendly, too. The science fiction setting provides the opportunity for some particularly creative, audacious, and delightful, scenarios. And keeping with the intent of Cherry Bomb, the sex serves a purpose beyond titillation in Cinderseed; it’s integral both to who the characters are as people and to the plot itself.

One of the taglines for Skyglass is “Sex, elves, and rock ‘n’ roll.” The prologue covered the sex, but the elves (I promise, it makes perfect sense within the context of the story) and rock music don’t come into play until the first chapter with the introduction of the novel’s other main character Moss Wick—a half-human/half-elvish drummer who has…significant issues. And on top of those, Phoenix has attached herself to him. Unlike the prologue, which was written in the third person, the main narrative (or at least the initial chapter) alternates between Moss and Phoenix’s perspectives and is told in the first person, allowing the readers to get a very good sense of who they are. If Kri and Phoenix were opposites, Moss and Phoenix are even more so; their relationship should be quite interesting to watch unfold.

Even after only having read the prologue and the first chapter, I’m already loving Skyglass. The wait for the release of each new chapter will be torturous, but I’m definitely looking forward to reading more. The novel is shaping up to be smart and sexy and incredibly offbeat science fiction, with interesting and entertaining characters, a fascinating setting, and an engaging writing style. Personally, I think Cinderseed and Skyglass, not to mention the rest of the offerings from Chromatic Press, are well worth checking out.

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Manga the Week of 6/25

June 19, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown and MJ 2 Comments

SEAN: The final week of June, and the end of Manga’s Fiscal Year 13-14. There are a few interesting titles coming out.

It’s right about time for a new Vampire Hunter D novel, so Dark Horse has Vol. 21 all ready for us.

ASH: You know, I’ve read the manga adaptations, but have yet to actually read any of the novels. I should probably get around to that one of these days.

SEAN: There’s also a 31st volume of Air Gear. That is a lot of roller blading.

The volume Attack on Titan fans have been waiting for, here is the first volume of No Regrets, giving us some (not all) the backstory on Levi, along with a good look at Erwin too. It’s a shipper’s dream, even though they barely interact here. I reviewed Vol. 1; it’s a good ‘un.

ASH: I actually just posted my own review of the volume. I’m liking the series, too.

SEAN: The last Sankarea ended with our heroine being spirited away by the morally ambiguous teenage scientist. Will she end up dissected, and thus have this volume be the last? (checks) This volume is not the last, so I guess not.

Vertical has the 2nd volume of Cardfight!! Vanguard, which I have not really looked at whatsoever, so… cards? Fighting? Shonen excitement?

And we have June’s slate of Yen Press. There’s the 5th Are You Alice?, indicting that Alice has still not quite discovered the answer to this himself. Yes, him. It’s that sort of title.

MJ: Heh, I need to get back into this title, I think.

SEAN: I was a bit less enthused with the 2nd volume of Bloody Cross, but there’s still enough potential that I look forward to the third. It’s at its best when the two leads snark at each other.

A new volume of Judge, the 4th, means we are 2/3 of the way through this series, and therefore, what, 2/3 of the cast must be dead by now?

Madoka Magica has the 2nd volume of its Different Story, focusing on Mami and Kyouko.

I was fairly gushing about my praise of the first Sword Art Online manga/novel, to the point where I got several people telling me that it went way downhill with its second arc. Naturally, this makes me want to read the 2nd arc and find all the great things about it, because I am a contrary sort. Here’s Vol. 1 of Fairy Dance (no more omnibuses), where we find out what life is like after Aincrad.

MJ: I thought the anime had some issues in the second arc as well, but I still want to read the novel. Count me in!

SEAN: This Fairy Dance is the manga, actually. The novel ships in December, after the 2nd Aincrad novel in August.

Lastly, remember Tales of the Waning Moon? It’s been almost 2 years since the last volume, possibly as it runs in Houbunsha’s Cita Cita magazine, which only comes out quarterly. But rejoice! Here is Vol. 4!

MJ: This. I. Really, I can’t believe there is enough story left to tell for more volumes. I can’t.

SEAN: What titles make you want to spend your hard-earned cash?

My Week in Manga: June 9-June 15, 2014

June 16, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted two in-depth manga reviews at Experiments in Manga last week. The first was of Baku Yumemakura and Jiro Taniguchi’s The Summit of the Gods, Volume 3. It’s the middle volume of a five-volume, award-winning series and is a critical turning point for the story and characters. The Summit of the Gods is my favorite Taniguchi collaboration as well as one of my favorite manga series in general. And if manly mountain men don’t interest you, perhaps my review of Mari Okazaki’s out-of-print josei collection Sweat & Honey might entice you to track down a copy for yourself. The short manga included in the anthology focus on the close and often complicated relationships between women. The post is a part of my Year of Yuri monthly review project and makes the seventh installment. Only five more reviews to go!

Elsewhere online there were plenty of interesting things to read. Yen Press has a new set of license announcements. Organization Anti-Social Geniuses had two posts last week that I particularly liked: an interview with Cho, the founder of the site English Light Novels (which is an incredibly useful resource that I was previously unaware of), and a look at some of the reasons why people tell publishers they read illegal version of manga. Otaku USA has a nice interview with Helen McCarthy, whose newest book A Brief History of Manga will be released soon. The Lobster Dance has posted Revealing and Concealing Identities: Cross-Dressing in Anime and Manga, Part 4, with at least one more part to come. Lastly, the second manga studies column at Comics Forum is now available, focusing on the history of manga and Kitazawa Rakuten .

Quick Takes

A Centaur’s Life, Volumes 2-3 by Kei Murayama. The more I read of A Centaur’s Life, the more I like the series. It can be incredibly sweet and adorable, and Murayama’s world-building is fascinating. Not all of that world-building makes it into the series proper (at least not yet), but the extra material between chapters and at the beginning and end of the volumes. Is interesting, delving into the politics, history, and mythology of A Centaur’s Life. It’s obvious that a lot of thought has been put into the series to make it as realistic as possible; Murayama takes into account even the smallest details of everyday life and how things like cars, furniture, and buildings have to be modified to accommodate races with completely different anatomies. A Centaur’s Life is fairly episodic, but more and more recurring characters are introduced as the series progresses. These two volumes in particular frequently feature the youngest generation of centaurs and other folk. Like any kids, they can be hellions but they can be super cute, too.

Same Cell Organism by Sumomo Yumeka. Much like Yumeka’s later manga, The Day I Become a Butterfly, Same Cell Organism tends to be fairly quiet and subdued. Yumeka’s artwork is lovely, with a light, airy touch to it, though her character designs from one story to the next are similar enough to cause some brief confusion from time to time. Same Cell Organism is a collection of some of her earliest boys’ love manga. It’s a somewhat uneven volume, mostly do to the fact that one of the stories, “To Make an Angel” was never actually completed. All of the set up is there, but then it suddenly ends with no real conclusion. However, I absolutely adored the titular story “Same Cell Organism” and its subsequent chapters. The story follows two young men in high school who might seem like unlikely friends because their personalities are so different: Yokota is loud, enthusiastic, and outgoing while Nakagawa is much quieter and reserved and has a more difficult time expressing himself. However, their relationship develops naturally and is delightfully loving and sweet.

Say I Love You, Volume 2 by Kanae Hazuki. I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume of Say I Love You and so was very interested in seeing how the characters’ stories and relationships continued to develop in the second. I particularly like the leads, Mei and Yamato. Mei especially is marvelous; she’s confident enough in herself to avoid bad situations involving other people, which made me very happy to see. Yamato obviously cares for Mei and is very respectful of her. However, many of the other characters aren’t likeable at all, and much of the second volume is devoted to them. Hayakawa is a womanizer and an absolute asshole. His story arc in this volume is a bit uncomfortable–he gets his comeuppance, but he also gets the girl. (I worry about her, so I truly hope that his colors have changed having been redeemed by love.) Aiko, who apparently used to be a lovely young woman, is simply not a nice person at all anymore. She has her reasons, but she’s still not sympathetic. Say I Love You deals very honestly with sex and its emotional repercussions at such a young age. Some of the relationships in the series aren’t at all healthy, making the budding romance between Mei and Yamato refreshing in comparison.

Sherlock Bones, Volume 5 written by Yuma Ando and illustrated by Yuki Sato. Sherlock Holmes reincarnated as a puppy is still a rather silly premise, but I’ll admit that I’ve largely been enjoying the series. Occasionally there’s an unnecessary flash of underwear, but generally that’s fairly easy to pass over. The mysteries in the series are interesting with some very clever, though sometimes outlandish, twists. The artwork provides clues for readers to pick up on if they’d like a more interactive story experience, too. One of the things that I actually liked best about this particular volume of Sherlock Bones is that the story moves from Takeru being a high school student to his entry into the workforce. Unsurprisingly, coming from a police family and considering his recent work solving crimes with Sherdog, Takeru becomes a patrol officer. Already it’s proving to supply even more cases for him and Sherdog to investigate, and a few new characters are introduced as well. Sherlock Bones continues to be an entertaining series, and I look forward to reading the remaining two volumes.

Manga the Week of 6/18

June 12, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: It’s no Week 1, but the 3rd week of the month gives us a chunky pile of manga, which should have something for most everyone.

The Shinji Ikari Raising Project manga from Dark Horse has now reached the same number of volumes as the regular Evangelion manga, and I don’t think it’s finished. Will this lighter take on the Evaverse surpass its predecessor? …mmmm, probably not. But it’s fun.

I swear I’ve had Alice the 101st Vol. 4 coming out from DMP before this week. But in any case, here it is again, and I suspect I will be confused all the way to Vol. 101.

MICHELLE: I forgot this series existed.

SEAN: I enjoyed Vol. 1 of Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, which came out right before DMP’s print hiatus. Now that it’s back, I look forward to seeing what wacky comedy Vol. 2 can give us, especially since the anime has now come and gone.

Fairy Tail has hit its Jack Benny volume, and I am starting to fall behind. I believe this is one of the more serious volumes. Lotsa harsh battle scenes. (Vol. 39, for those of you who are wondering what the hell I’m talking about.)

There’s also the 7th volume of No. 6, which simply ruins the symmetry and makes me bitter. So bitter. Why must manga be numbered anyway? Manga should be free!

ASH: The beautiful symmetry may have been ruined, but this is one of the best volumes in the series yet!

SEAN: The 2nd xxxHOLIC omnibus has some really excellent stories, and a minimal amount of crossover with Tsubasa. Neither of those two will last.

ANNA: I feel sort of bad that I never finished either xxxHOLIC or Tsubasa, and then I remember how long they are and I feel OK with it all.

MICHELLE: I didn’t finish them either, actually. But I intend to one of these days!

ASH: And the omnibus releases make it easier than ever!

MJ: I feel somewhat out of place here admitting that I finished them both, and with great enthusiasm! I’m very happy to see these omnibus releases coming out.

SEAN: In case you thought Seven Seas had put out everything Dance in the Vampire Bund-related, here are some Forgotten Tales. Probably fell behind the desk or something.

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends hits the 7th volume of wacky comedy with Kodaka and the friends he insists he doesn’t have.

I’m a big fan of Morinaga Milk, author of Girl Friends, so am looking forward to the new series from Seven Seas, Gakuen Polizi. Which is not translated as School Police, for reasons why I do not know. I don’t think this one’s yuri, but I bet it’s cute.

ASH: I’ve enjoyed the other manga by Morinaga released in English, so I’m looking forward to this series’ debut.

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: The Sky That Connects Us is the next in the Strike Witches franchise, and will give you lots of cute girls and aerial battles, but less pants than most series.

Vertical’s deluxe release of Mobile Suit Gundam hits its 6th collection, which I believe may be the halfway point? In any case, still essential.

ANNA: So deluxe! I’ve been buying these as they come out but am a couple volumes behind. I see a Gundam reading binge in my future.

MICHELLE: Much mecha.

ASH: I believe this volume will once again feature a fair amount of Char, which pleases me greatly.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has the Battle Royale: Angels’ Border manga, which ran in Akita Shoten’s Young Champion and focuses on six girls who got short shrift in the main series.

ASH: As a fan of the original novel, I’ve been enjoying the recent Battle Royale releases from Viz, so I’m happy to see this one, too.

SEAN: Is there something here that appeals to you?

My Week in Manga: June 2-June 8, 2014

June 9, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Three posts last week! The first was the announcement of the Oi, Oishinbo! manga giveaway winner, which also includes a list of some of the food manga that has been licensed in English. And speaking of food manga, last week I reviewed Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 2. I’m really enjoying the series and am thrilled that it’s being released in English. I also reviewed Blade of the Immortal, Volume 29: Beyond Good and Evil by Hiroaki Samura, which is pretty much the beginning of the end of the series. I love Blade of the Immortal, so I’m interested to see how Samura will wrap everything up and who, if anyone, will survive its conclusion.

Things have been a bit hectic in my life lately, so I’ve not been able to pay attention to all of the news and announcements recently, but I did catch a few things on Vertical’s Twitter account. Apparently, its warehouse is down to the last 24 copies of Message to Adolf, Part 1 and it may or may not be reprinted. So, if you want a copy, you should probably grab it sooner rather than later. Adolf was my introduction to Osamu Tezuka, and it remains one of my favorite works by him. Also, Vertical was at AnimeNEXT and made a new license announcement—Dream Fossil: The Complete Short Stories of Satoshi Kon. Though it wasn’t perfect, I enjoyed Kon’s Tropic of the Sea a great deal, so am looking forward to this collection as well as the other Kon manga announced by Dark Horse a couple of months ago.

Quick Takes

Monster Soul, Volume 1 by Hiro Mashima. For readers intimidated by the length of Fairy Tail or Rave Master, Mashima’s two-volume Monster Soul sets a much lower bar for entry to his work. During the Human-Monster War, the Black Airs were an elite group of exceptionally powerful monsters. Now that the war is over, and the monsters have lost, they mostly try to keep to themselves. But with human poachers, a ghost with an agenda, and another monster picking a fight, trouble seems to find them anyway. Monster Soul is somewhat episodic, but Mashima does seem to be developing some sort of underlying plot. Since the series is only two volumes long though, it probably can’t be particularly convoluted or in-depth. That being said, I’m not entirely sure what direction Monster Soul will be taking. The story moves along very quickly, there are numerous fights, and the characters are boisterous. I wasn’t blown away, but the first volume of Monster Soul could be entertaining.

Otomen, Volumes 16-18 by Aya Kanno. I’m not sure that Otomen really needed to be eighteen volumes long, but I enjoyed every volume of it. The series just makes me so incredibly happy. It can be ridiculous and eyeroll-worthy at times, usually deliberately so, but I love it. The characters, while they don’t have much depth, are incredibly endearing. Kanno plays around with gender roles and expectations in Otomen, that’s one of the major points of the series, but never in a denigrating way. The not-so-subtle message of Otomen is that it is just fine to be whoever it is you are. These final three volumes find Asuka and many of the others in their last year of high school. They begin drifting apart for various reasons, the biggest being the influence of Asuka’s mother, and it is heartbreaking to see. Kanno has never hesitated to make use of well-worn tropes and plot developments in Otomen–frequently the series verges on parody because of that–but I was a little unsure about the memory loss arc. Ultimately though, the series ends in a very satisfying way.

The Seven Deadly Sins, Volumes 1-2 by Nakaba Suzuki. Back in my undergrad days I took a fantastic course that focused on the use and portrayal of the seven deadly sins in music and literature, and so Suzuki’s The Seven Deadly Sins manga immediately caught my attention. At first, I was a little uncertain about The Seven Deadly Sins. It took a few chapters to really grow on me, and when present Meliodas’ lecherous tendencies still seem more like a tired cliché rather than any sort of legitimate character development, but the series has great potential. The Seven Deadly Sins are a group of extremely talented warriors who may be the only ones capable of stopping the Holy Knights from destroying Britannia. It isn’t yet known why the group goes by “The Seven Deadly Sins,” or what sins the members have committed to earn their monikers, but I’m assuming that will be revealed sometime in the future. The Holy Knights are the ones being framed as the series’ villains, but the Sins aren’t entirely good, either, which I appreciate. With interesting characters and epic battles, I’m looking forward to reading more.

The Sleep of Reason: An Anthology of Horror edited by C. Spike Trotman. Edited by the same person who has been coordinating the new Smut Peddler anthologies, The Sleep of Reason collects twenty-six short horror comics. Some of the creators (like Jason Thompson and Carla Speed McNeil, among others) I was already familiar with, but there were plenty of other contributors whose work I was encountering for the very first time. That’s one of the things I love about anthologies like The Sleep of Reason–they introduce me to new artists that I want to follow. I also love being exposed to so many different styles of art and storytelling. There is some blood, death, and gore in The Sleep of Reason, but the collection isn’t a splatter fest and relies much more heavily on the psychological aspects of horror rather than on violence. As with any anthology, some of the stories are stronger than others. I’m not sure that I even completely understood some of them, but they all were eerie, disconcerting, and creepy. The Sleep of Reason is a great collection; definitely recommended for fans of horror.

Manga the Week of 6/11

June 5, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, MJ, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: After this week’s deluge, the six books coming out next week feel like a mild summer breeze in comparison. Makes me feel fine.

MICHELLE: Okay, Seals.

SEAN: Kodansha has the second volume of Say “I Love You”. It runs in Dessert, which is technically shoujo in the same way that Shoujo Comic is technically shoujo, but there really is an awful lot of nudity and sex in this volume, so it really edges towards josei a lot more than My Little Monster (which runs in the same magazine).

MJ: I haven’t delved into this series, but I’m interested. Though I can’t decide whether all the nudity and sex is a plus or a minus. :D

MICHELLE: I liked the first volume, and I have a feeling the second will wring all the dramatic potential out of its sex scenes. So… probably a plus. :)

ASH: I also liked the first volume and am interested in seeing where it leads.

ANNA: This series hasn’t been on my radar before, but now I find myself intrigued.

SEAN: SubLime has quieted down a bit, but they’re still giving us some top quality BL. Vol. 4 of Crimson Spell has almost the same cover situation as Vols. 1-3, and I like to imagine that the entire title is just 800 pages of one man slowly taking the shirt off of his lover and nothing else. With many stern, dangerous looks passing between them.

ASH: I need to catch up with Crimson Spell now that we’ve made it past what was previously released in English. I suspect more happens than just a loss of a shirt, though.

ANNA: I keep meaning to check this out. One day!

SEAN: There’s Vol. 18 of Arata the Legend, which is now in terms of length Watase’s most successful series, though I suspect it has a ways to go before it catches up to Fushigi Yuugi’s obsessive fanbase.

And there’s Vol. 3 of Deadman Wonderland, whose cover is trying to exude cool, but isn’t quite getting there for me.

MJ: Same here, though I’m still giving it a chance.

SEAN: Magi has Vol. 6, and has barely begun to mine The Arabian Nights for characters and plots, so we are no doubt in for a long ride. Can’t wait.

MJ: I’ve finally caught up on some of this series, so I’m looking forward to more!

MICHELLE: Whereas I am somewhat behind, but I really did like the first couple of volumes.

SEAN: Lastly, Tiger & Bunny 5 catches us up with Japan, which means the next one could be a while. That said, this fandom knows how to create its own content, so I suspect they’ll be fine.

What manga is blowing through the jasmine of your mind?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

My Week in Manga: May 26-June 1, 2014

June 2, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was a slower week at Experiments in Manga, which is just as well because I spent a long weekend with my family in Ohio for my youngest sister’s high school graduation. I was pretty busy with things there, but I was still able to post a few things here. The most recent manga giveaway, for example. There are still a couple of days left to enter for a chance to win Oishinbo, A la Carte: Japanese Cuisine, too. All you have to do is tell me a little about your favorite food manga (if you have one). May’s Bookshelf Overload was also posted. Interestingly enough, I think I actually bought more comics last month than manga. (I largely blame TCAF for that.) As for reviews, I took a look at Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Volume 5: Char & Sayla. Char happens to be one of my favorite Gundam characters, so it probably shouldn’t be too surprising that this volume is one of my favorites in the series thus far.

There were a few things that I found to read online last week that were particularly interesting, too: Manga Therapy is writing and hosting a series of posts for Mental Health Month, including Lauren Orsini’s article about Mushishi as a metaphor for mental illness. FanboyNation had an interview with Tokyopop. Brigid Alverson interviewed Akira Himekawa for Comic Book Resources. And finally, Revealing and Concealing Identities: Cross-Dressing in Anime and Manga, Part 3 was posted at The Lobster Dance. I’m sure there were plenty of other interesting articles and new to be found last week, but as I mentioned I was rather occupied with traveling, helping out at home, and visiting with family. If I missed anything major, please do let me know!

Quick Takes

Fujosports! by Various. The most recent anthology from the Love Love Hill collective, Fujosports! collects six sports-themed comics with a female-gaze. These aren’t necessarily the sports you might be expecting, though: logging competitions, roller derby, free-form rollerblading, Turkish oil wrestling, field hockey, and competitive dodge-ball. All of the stories tend to be generally upbeat and optimistic, but the artists’ styles are distinct. As might be expected from the “fujo” in the title, the anthology includes a bit of bromance and boys’ love potential, but there’s some girls’ love, too, and plenty of general team bonding. Each comic is followed by a short freetalk by the creators, which is a very nice addition and makes the stories even more personable Fujosports! is a cute, sweet, and humorous collection. Every contribution in the anthology left me with I huge grin on my face, or at least a smile. Simply put, Fujosports! is a lot of fun; I’m really glad that I picked it up.

Gangsta, Volume 2 by Kohske. I enjoyed the first volume of Gangsta so much that I immediately went out and preordered the second. The series is quickly becoming one of my favorite manga currently being released. Gangsta has plenty of action in addition to a wide range of interesting characters (both women and men, young and old), many of whom have dark, tragic pasts. More characters are introduced in the second volume, some of them even manage to survive to the end of it, and the larger, overarching plot continues to develop. The Three Laws binding the Twilights (should they actually choose to follow them) are directly lifted from Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, nearly word-for-word. While this certainly emphasizes the inhuman characteristics of the Twilights, I did find it to be an odd choice. Still, the Three Laws provide excellent narrative frameworks for robot and android stories, so I’m willing to reserve my judgement and wait to see how Kohske uses them Gangsta.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Volumes 1-2 by Akira Himekawa. After meeting Akira Himekawa at TCAF, I realized that although I was familiar with some of their work, I hadn’t actually read much of their manga. Granted, only The Legend of Zelda has been licensed for print release in English so far. I actually happen to be a fan of the Zelda video games, so I wasn’t surprised that I’m enjoying the manga series, too. Ocarina of Time was the game which inspired Himekawa to pursue The Legend of Zelda manga. The Ocarina of Time manga is accessible even to those who haven’t played the game, but those who have will be able to appreciate the nods to the original more. The manga follows the same basic plot as the video game, though Himekawa adds a few touches of their own. The Ocarina of Time manga is definitely an adventure story aimed at younger readers, there’s more action than there is nuanced character or plot development, but it’s fun.

K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces directed by Shimako Satō. K-20 is a live-action film based on the novels of Soh Kitamura (which sadly haven’t been translated into English) which were in turn inspired by the works and characters of Edogawa Rampo, specifically his famous detective Akechi Kogorō and his nemesis “Twenty Faces.” Akechi’s young assistant Kobayashi also has a role to play. It was because of this Rampo connection that I decided to watch the film in the first place, but even those unfamiliar with the references will be able to enjoy the movie. Packed with action and stunts, a little bit of romance, a great cast, and a large dose of humor, K-20 was extremely entertaining. The film is set in the late 1940s in an alternate history in which the Second World War was never fought but in which a strict hierarchical class structure is enforced. The story follows Endo Heikichi, an acrobat who is arrested for being the master thief K-20 after being set up, and his attempts to prove his innocence, basically by becoming as skilled as K-20 himself.

Manga the Week of 6/4

May 29, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Anna N, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: Are we ready? Deep breaths, everyone. Here we go. BUY ALL THE THINGS!

Dark Horse gives you the first volume of New Lone Wolf & Cub, in case you had finished all of the Old Lone Wolf & Cub.

ASH: I’m certainly interested in this one! (Confession: I actually haven’t finished reading the original yet…)

ANNA: I’m glad this is being translated! I only read a few volumes of the original series!

MJ: Count me in!

SEAN: Drawn & Quarterly is releasing the 2nd volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa, this one covering the Pacific War (Japan’s term for WWII), 1939-1944. Ending with a major cliffhanger, it’s amazing how so much dry description of battle and history can be so riveting and involving. I reviewed it here.

ASH: Showa is excellent! The second volume covers history that I’m more familiar with, so I’m curious to see what Mizuki does with the material.

ANNA: I feel like I should read this but I’m too distracted by the piles of shoujo manga I need to read to invest the time in it.

MJ: I wish I’d read the first volume. I need to make a commitment here.

SEAN: DMP has the fourth volume of Private Teacher, which I like to imagine has its own USA Up All Night-esque tag lines. “He’ll give you tutoring… in gay.”

Given we’re being buried in Alice spinoffs, it’s always nice to see a new volume of Circus and Liar’s Game, which I consider to be the best of the sequels. Vol. 5 lands next week.

A Centaur’s Life has been getting more slice-of-lifey and less creepy, which is a good thing, as its weird worldbuilding is the main reason to get it. Vol. 3 is out next week.

ASH: The worldbuilding in A Centaur’s Life really is interesting.

SEAN: If you like girls and tanks, then Girls Und Panzer is the series for you. Set in a universe where tank warfare is a martial art and done at high schools, it looks to be in the Strike Witches tradition, but with less anthropomorphism and I am hoping fewer panty shots.

MJ: Is it weird that I might consider reading this?

SEAN: Vertical has the 9th Knights of Sidonia volume, and I hope will not be killing off another likeable cast member.

MICHELLE: I have fallen a few volumes behind on this one, somehow. Must catch up!

ASH: Yes, you must!

ANNA: Me too! I will catch up! I do enjoy this series!

MJ: I’m always happy to see a new volume of this series!

SEAN: Everything else is Viz. Dengeki Daisy continues to try to balance thrilling suspense and its odd February/May romance. It’s top-of-the-line shoujo in my book.

MICHELLE: Or not-so-thrilling suspense, as the case may be. But the Teru/Kurosaki stuff is good!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but Dengeki Daisy is a series I really enjoy.

ANNA: Dengeki Daisy is the best.

SEAN: There is the 5th Dragon Ball 3-in-1 omnibus, because why not?

We also have the 3rd Dragon Ball Full Color book, which I think is actually Z, but I’m still not sure. In any case, want some color in your manga? Here you go.

We’re halfway through Happy Marriage?!, so things are bound to get fluffier and more lovey-dovey for our lead couple. Right?

ANNA: Viz is a champ for bringing out more commercial josei romance. That’s all I have to say.

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: We’re almost halfway through this list, by the way. How’s everyone doing? Need a break?

ASH: A break from manga? Never!

MJ: Maybe a small one? Hold on… okay, I’m good.

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss 15 is likely to stay stuck in the past, but that’s not a bad thing with this series, as it’s giving us tons of backstory.

ANNA: I love the character designs and the wandering yet interesting storyline in this series. I’m actually looking forward to a binge reread of this series. I tend to read each volume as it comes out, but I think it might be more fun to read 3 or 4 at a time.

SEAN: Kimi ni Todoke remains completely adorable and heartwarming, and I do not expect that to change merely because we’ve gotten to Vol. 19.

MICHELLE: Seriously, is basically EVERY Shojo Beat series (except Skip Beat!, alas) releasing a volume on June 3rd?!

ANNA: So adorable. So much blushing and teenage awkwardness.

SEAN: It’s been so long since the last volume of Millennium Snow, which got sidelined by the huge success that was Ouran High School Host Club, that Viz has decided to re-release the first two volumes as an omnibus, followed by the 3rd volume (which is new). Find out why we enjoyed the series when it first appeared 7 years ago!

MICHELLE: I look forward to seeing how this series is different now.

ANNA: I liked the first two volumes back in the day!

MJ: I missed this series originally, so I’m looking forward to going back for the first two volumes.

SEAN: Natsume’s Book of Friends is doing its best to make me very happy with its 16th volume, as my OT3 is on the cover! I wonder if they’ll be in the actual volume as well…

MICHELLE: <3

MJ: Here’s hoping!

SEAN: Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan continues to attempt to kill absolutely everybody we care about in horrible ways, and luckily has been failing so far. Will Vol. 21 be different?

One Piece is at Vol. 71. Really, what more is there to say? Only that it’s still one of the best shonen titles out there.

MICHELLE: Yep.

ANNA: I’ve only read the first 6 or so volumes and it was great, but I’m sort of terrified of a 70+ volume long shonen series. If only Glass Mask was this universally popular.

SEAN: In case you were unaware of this, here’s the 9th One Piece 3-in-1, which I think is up to the Skypeia volumes.

And let’s have another shonen manga debut! Seraph of the End, I feel I should tell everyone, has vampires in it. But it’s in Jump Square, so I’m not sure how pretty they will be.

ASH: I’m not sure either, but I have heard good things about the manga.

MJ: After reading Derek’s columns, I’m looking forward to seeing this for myself.

SEAN: After all this manga, I’m feeling very hungry, so I am gratified that we are now at the 22nd volume of Toriko.

And at last, we are done, as Viz has the 5th volume of Voice Over: Seiyu Academy, which has far less denseness than the author’s previous series S.A., but there’s still enough denseness to satisfy.

MJ: Denseness ftw?

SEAN: Buy *all* the things? :/

Manga Giveaway: Oi, Oishinbo!

May 28, 2014 by Ash Brown

May seems to have gone on forever for me and I’m really ready for it to be over. I’ve been traveling so much recently that all I really want to do is to curl up at home for a good, long manga binge. Happily, the end of May finally is approaching, which means it’s time for me to help someone else out by providing manga to read. For this month’s giveaway I offer you a chance to win a copy of Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki’s Oishinbo, A la Carte: Japanese Cuisine. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

With Vertical’s release of Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, I’ve recently been thinking quite a bit about food manga. And when I think about food manga (which, like food, I love) I think about Oishinbo–the long-running, award-winning series by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki. In fact, just a few weeks ago I brought the series up in my random musings about sake. (Also, Oishinbo specifically and food manga in general were the subjects of May 2012’s Manga Moveable Feast two years ago. There were some great posts, so I encourage you to check it out!) Oishinbo made headlines not too long ago, too: it’s publication was suspended due to the controversy over its depiction of health issues in the Fukushima area. It’s not the first time that the manga has made political or social commentary, either. I’m actually rather fond of Oishinbo. The series hasn’t and probably never will be released in its entirety in English (it’s already over 110 volumes long in Japan), but seven A la Carte volumes have been published by Viz Media. Basically, these are thematic, “best of” collections. Oishinbo, A la Carte was the first of these to be released in English and it makes a great introduction to Japanese food culture as well to Oishinbo itself.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Oishinbo, A la Carte: Japanese Cuisine?

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

There you go! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway and has one week to submit comments. If you have trouble leaving a comment, or if you would prefer, entries may also be submitted via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. (The comments will then be posted in your name.) The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on June 4, 2014. Bon appétit!

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Oi, Oishinbo! Winner

Sailor Moon, Episodes 1-4

May 26, 2014 by Anna N

I think one could easily write about Viz streaming the original Sailor Moon again with just four paragraphs of the word “SQUEE” and have that be a perfectly serviceable review, but having enjoyed watching the first few episodes of the series, I thought I would write about it a little bit. I’ve read some (but not all) of the Sailor Moon manga. I encountered the franchise first in the old Tokyopop editions, but I haven’t watched the anime that extensively before. I probably caught a few episodes of the dub when it was on TV before, and I’m quite fond of Tuxedo Mask animated gifs.

I haven’t watched the anime in order in subtitle format at all before, so I was quite happy that it was now available. The first four episodes firmly establish the character of Usagi/Sailor Moon, who starts out as a clumsy crybaby, and then becomes a clumsy crybaby with magical girl powers thanks to the intervention of the magical talking cat Luna. The clumsy girl who turns out to have extraordinary abilities is a very typical character type in both anime and manga, but Usagi manages to be a very appealing example of the type due to her inability to study for school, her devotion for naps, and her single-minded devotion to taking the easy path whenever possible. The first few episodes of the series follow the story elements of the manga fairly closely, as Usagi investigates the evil forces that seek to destroy the balance of the universe by capturing human energy through costume jewelry. Seriously the villains of Sailor Moon might have hit on something by appealing to the weak aspects of human nature, but they are surprisingly ineffective. Also, the balance of the universe often seems to be centered on struggles that take place very near Usagi’s neighborhood.

One thing that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would were the musical cues in the series. It is hilarious that whenever Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask makes an appearance, he brings with him the distant sound of castanets. I was also amused by the fact that Usagi’s crying sometimes acts like a sonic weapon. The first four episodes were fun to watch, but I find myself growing a bit impatient for the appearances of the other Sailor Guardians. Just as in the manga, there are references here and there to Sailor V, and I’m hoping that Mars and Mercury will show up very soon. I have a subscription to Hulu, so that’s where I’ve been watching Sailor Moon, but you can also watch it for free on Viz’s Neon Alley. I feel like Viz has kicked off the summer season by giving everyone a huge present, and I know I’m going to be looking forward to Mondays when new episodes are released!

My Week in Manga: May 19-May 25, 2014

May 26, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

After a week full of random musings comes a week full of reviews. Well, that is if you consider two reviews “full.” Either way, there were two reviews posted at Experiments in Manga last week. First up was Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill’s Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Originally released in 2012 as a hardcover, it is now available as a trade paperback. The volume is very approachable and makes an excellent overview of many of the aspects of the March 2011 disaster. As promised, I also reviewed the first omnibus of Takashi Ikeda’s yuri manga series Whispered Words. So far, I’m really enjoying the series (it even has karate in it!), but One Peace Books’ edition is rather disappointing in regards to quality control. Check out the review’s comments for more specific details.

As for other interesting things online: Oishinbo has certainly made some political and social commentary in the past, but the manga recently managed to get suspended amidst nuclear furor. The latest ANNCast features the return of the super manga pals Deb Aoki and Rebecca Silverman. The Gay Manga tumblr has a great post about how language impacts the way that sexuality is thought and talked about, looking at the terms “bara” and “gei” among other things. (The discussion reminded me quite a bit about my random musings on translation and queer theory.) Another fantastic post (well, series of four posts) is Revealing and Concealing Identities: Cross-Dressing in Anime and Manga over at The Lobster Dance. So far, Part 1 and Part 2 have been posted.

Quick Takes

Bunny Drop, Volume 10 by Yumi Unita. Oh, Bunny Drop. I love parts of the series while other aspects frankly piss me off. I personally don’t mind incest plotlines in my fiction (and technically there’s no incest in Bunny Drop), it’s just that it was handled so incredibly poorly. It’s been a while since a manga has gotten such a visceral reaction from me. But even though Bunny Drop left me seething, I was still looking forward to reading the tenth volume–a collection of short side stories as well as an extensive interview with Unita about the series and its anime adaptation. Most of the volume is devoted to when Rin and Kouki were small (including the story of how he got the scar on his forehead), which I enjoyed. I also rather liked the story that focused on Rin’s mother and the man who would become her husband. However, the final story takes place sometime after Rin and Daikichi are married–a development that I continue to be completely unconvinced by, a sentiment this final story does nothing to alleviate.

Carciphona, Volumes 1-4 by Shilin Huang. Another splurge purchase from TCAF, Carciphona is a self-published manga-style series of graphic novels which are also available to read online. It was Huang’s spectacular artwork that caught my eye. (Her artbook Toccata is simply gorgeous.) Though the interior art isn’t as stunning as the series’ covers, it is still excellent. Huang considers herself more of an illustrator than an comics artist; though it was fairly strong to begin with, her storytelling improves greatly from volume to volume. Occasionally Carciphona falls prey to infodumps in order to establish the setting, especially early on in the series, but the worldbuilding and characters are interesting. Carciphona is high fantasy with magic and religion, assassins and political intrigue, and tension between races. The story follows Veloce Visrin, a young, powerful sorceress living in a world where common magic–magic which relies on demonic spirits–has been prohibited. Her life has not been an easy or happy one, so she’s a bit surly (and understandably so), but she is also very loyal and protective of those who become her friends.

Devils and Realist, Volume 1 written by Madoka Takadono and illustrated by Utako Yukihiro. William Twining comes from a prestigious family and has done everything he can to meet, and surpass, all expectations so as not to disgrace his family’s name. He’s brilliant and at the top of his class…and recently lost most of his wealth due to his uncle’s bankruptcy. Perhaps even more problematic is that he’s somehow also responsible for selecting the next ruler of hell, despite being scientifically minded and refusing to believe in the demons right in front of him who are trying to bribe him. The artwork in Devils and Realist is attractive, though the more action-oriented sequences, while pretty, can be somewhat difficult to follow. It was amusing to see many of the demons introduced become transfer students at William’s school, but personally I’d like to see the story focus less on school antics and more on the struggle for control of hell. Then again, I actually did enjoy the sillier aspects of the manga. Devils and Realist has some potential; I’ll probably be giving it at least one more volume to see which direction it takes.

I’ve Moved Next Door to You by Fuhri Misasagi. There were two things that particularly appealed to me about I’ve Moved Next Door to You and which led me to pick up Misasagi’s boys’ love one-shot: the somewhat “reversible” nature of the characters and their polyamorous relationship. At least it’s described as being a polyamorous relationship–it’s really more of a pseudo-love triangle. Sadly, neither of those things could save this manga for me. With the aid of his secretary Kamoshida (who is in love with him), Takumi has recently moved into a rundown apartment after leaving his company. Up until now he’s led a very privileged and sheltered life and so has no idea how to live on his own. However, his new neighbor Renji is more than happy to help him out, which apparently also includes sexually harassing him any chance he gets. Even though the manga is supposed to be a comedy, tragic backstories are also added to the mess of unbelievable characters and plot. I’ve Moved Next Door to You isn’t sexy or romantic, and it’s not even very funny, though it does try very hard to be all of those things. I can’t say that I enjoyed the manga much at all.

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, Season 1 directed by Itsuro Kawasaki. A little to my surprise, I enjoyed the Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends manga so much that I decided to track down more of Sengoku Basara. I still haven’t gotten around to playing any of the video games, which is where the franchise started, but I have been happily watching the Samurai Kings anime. Sengoku Basara is based on the actual historic figures and events from Japan’s Warring States period, but it is delightfully irreverent and over-the-top with its portrayals. Honestly, Sengoku Basara is ridiculous and doesn’t at all take itself too seriously, but because of that it’s also a tremendous amount of fun. I mean, it has literal battle auras, impossible feats, absurd amounts of damage, nearly indestructible warriors, epic battles, and constantly shifting alliances, not to mention a healthy dose of improbable technology and anachronisms. I get a kick out of it all, though, and find Sengoku Basara to be highly entertaining. Samurai Kings might not be a series that I’ll watch over and over again, but I’ll definitely be checking out the second season.

Should Bookstores Categorize Manga By Genre/Demographic?

May 23, 2014 by Justin Stroman 19 Comments

Something tells me this image fits this post perfectly. Don’t know what it is though…

The basis of this post is much, much thanks to Deb Aoki of Manga Comics Manga & The Comixverse’s Zedric Dimalanta. It’s a simple question to ask: should bookstores start categorizing manga by genre/demographic?

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