Features

My Week in Manga: January 20-January 26, 2014

January 27, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week I declared it to be Usamaru Furuya Week here at Experiments in Manga. Ostensibly, it was to celebrate Furuya-sensei’s birthday, but mostly it was just an excuse for me to finally get around to reviewing more of his manga. I have now written an in-depth review of all of Furuya’s manga currently available in English. As for last week’s Furuya reviews, I have for your reading pleasure Short Cuts, Volume 2 (the final volume of one of my favorite gag manga), the second and third volumes of Genkaku Picasso (probably the most accessible entry into Furuya’s English manga), and the second and third volumes of No Longer Human (an excellent adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s novel No Longer Human). I’d love to see more of Furuya’s work translated. Although there are no immediate plans, I know that Vertical has expressed interest, so I am hopeful that someday we’ll see more.

Elsewhere online, manga translator and scholar Matt Thorn has an excellent piece Regarding Inio Asano’s gender identity. (He also talks a bit about his own gender identity.) And speaking of the complexities of gender, sexuality, and translation, a few months back I attended the lecture “Out Gays” or “Shameless Gays”? What Gets Lost, and What is Gained, when U.S. Queer Theory is Translated into Japanese? and posted some random musings about queer theory, Japanese literature, and translation. Well, the video of the lecture was posted earlier this month and is freely available to view. The most recent ANNCast, Vertical Vortex, features Ed Chavez from Vertical and included a license announcement for Takuma Morishige’s comedy manga My Neighbor Seki. In other licensing news, Seven Seas has acquired Kentarō Satō’s horror manga Magical Girl Apocalypse. Also, Seven Seas will soon be announcing licenses for a new yuri manga and a doujinshi (which is very unusual in English). Finally, Shawne Kleckner, the president of Right Stuf (one of my favorite places to find manga), recently participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything.

Quick Takes

The Drifting Classroom, Volumes 1-3 by Kazuo Umezu. An award-winning horror manga from the early 1970s, The Drifting Classroom is a series that I’ve been meaning to read. After a bizarre earthquake, Yamato Elementary School along with more than 860 students and staff disappear, leaving behind an enormous hole in the ground and very few clues as to what has happened. From the students’ perspective, everything outside the school has been turned into a wasteland. The situation they find themselves in may be extreme and unbelievable, but the consequences that follow are terrifyingly probable. The series’ setup allows Umezu to freely explore humanity’s darkness. The Drifting Classroom isn’t frightening because of the unknown; the true horror comes from how people react out of fear to the unexplainable. There are immediate concerns for survival, such as the lack of food and water, but even more problematic is the violence the erupts among the school’s survivors. The Drifting Classroom is an intense horror and survival manga with extremely dark psychological elements. I’ll definitely be reading more.

Missions of Love, Volume 6 by Ema Toyama. I started reading Missions of Love in the middle of the series. Although there is some background information that I am missing, I was still able to pick up on the major plot points fairly quickly. I really should go back and read the earlier volumes, though, as I’m enjoying the series much more than I anticipated. None of the characters are particularly nice people; their relationships are a twisted and tangled mess because of how they are all manipulating one another. And in the process, they’re confusing their own personal feelings as well. Missions of Love is intentionally scandalous and deliberately suggestive. However, it’s not exactly what I would call fanservice since it is meant more for the story and characters’ sakes rather than for the readers’. There are intimate moments and scenes of extreme vulnerability that challenge appropriateness but never quite cross the line, although Toyama frequently pushes the limits. I’m just waiting for something really terrible to happen. At this point, I can’t imagine that any of the characters in Missions of Love will be able to make it through the series unscathed.

Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi. Another manga from the early 1970s, originally serialized in the alternative manga magazine Garo, Red Colored Elegy is only one of two volumes of Hayashi’s work available in English. The story follows Ichiro and Sachiko, two young animators in love and living together, but who are struggling to make ends meet as life slowly drives them apart. Hayashi’s artwork is deceptively simple and often free of backgrounds, placing the emphasis on the characters and their tumultuous lives and relationships. He conveys a tremendous amount of emotion through a minimalist, almost stream-of-conscious approach. Hayashi’s style in Red Colored Elegy can make it feel a bit disjointed from page to page, as though it were a collection of closely related vignettes rather than a single continuing story, but the overall melancholic mood created by the manga is consistent. Red Colored Elegy is about falling into and out of love and about pushing through life’s tragedies, both small and large. Emotionally compelling and beautifully crafted, Red Colored Elegy stands up to multiple readings.

Yowamushi Pedal, Episodes 1-14 directed by Osamu Nabeshima. The Yowamushi Pedal anime series is based on an ongoing manga by Wataru Watanabe. Sakamichi Onoda is an otaku trying to revive the anime club at his new high school, but he quite unexpectedly finds himself caught up in the bicycle racing club instead. He has some natural talent at cycling–his frequent 90 km trips by bike to Akihabara probably didn’t hurt–but he has had no formal training. That’s about to change, though. The series so far has mostly focused on Onoda and the Sohoku High School racing club. The other teams that they will be facing have only been shown briefly. However, now that Onoda has started to get the basics of cycling down, the other cyclists are becoming more prominent in the story. I particularly like Yowamushi Pedal‘s casting; all of the characters have very distinctive speech patterns and voices which are very entertaining. I’m enjoying the series a great deal. Although I never was a racer and I don’t cycle as much as I used to (once upon a time, it was my primary mode of transportation), Yowamushi Pedal makes me want to get my bike out again.

Manga the Week of 1/29

January 23, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: Next week is the last week of the month, and as ever this means few titles arrive (unless you get stuff from Diamond – all this week’s missing stuff is arriving next week). But not without worthy things to discuss.

Dark Horse really hit on a winner when they licensed Gantz from Shueisha (leaving aside the amazing fact that they licensed something from Shueisha and were not named Viz). It’s been a consistent seller for them, particularly among the ‘comic shop buyer’ fan. And now it’s hit Vol. 30.

MICHELLE: Wow, I had no idea Gantz went on for so long.

ASH: Yup, it ended last year in Japan with thirty-seven volumes. It’s been quite a while since I’ve actually read any of the series, though.

SEAN: DMP’s Deflower the Boss seems like one of those BL titles that I’d expect to do quite well simply due to the title alone. Also, just by giving you the title, you can likely guess the plot. I’m hoping it’s at least fun and silly.

MICHELLE: …

MJ: What she said.

SEAN: Lastly, Kodansha’s Attack on Titan finishes its speed-up with Vol. 11. It now lines up with Japan, meaning we’ll see Vol. 12 in April. That said, get a Crunchyroll subscription and you can read right up to this month’s magazine chapter.

ASH: I’ve gotten so used to new volumes of Attack on Titan coming out every month that April now seems to be very far away.

SEAN: What manga are you deflowering this week?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

My Week in Manga: January 13-January 19, 2013

January 20, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

There were three posts at Experiments in Manga last week, only two of which were mine. First up was my review of Negi Banno’s S.S. Astro, Volume 1, a yonkoma manga about a group of young, twenty-something high school teachers. Sadly, the series was canceled before a second volume could be released. The review is the second manga for my Year of Yuri review project. My other post last week is a part of my continuing efforts to track down manga podcasts. Discovering Manga: Podcasts, Part 3 takes a look a three ongoing podcasts that started in 2013. Also last week, I was happy to welcome Jocilyn Wagner as a guest to Experiments in Manga with her review of Hiroki Ugawa’s Shrine of the Morning Mist, Volume 1.

On to interesting things found online! Alexander Hoffman posted a Lessons from the Crater Project over at Manga Widget, which is a great summary of the events surrounding the Kickstarter project for Osamu Tezuka’s The Crater. The Daily Dot has an excellent overview of the debate over Zoë Hange gender in Attack on Titan, which has apparently become rather heated in some circles. Opening Ceremony took time to talk to the wonderful folks behind Massive–New-to-OC Brand MASSIVE on Husky Gay Asian Erotica. I also particularly enjoyed reading Tony Yao’s post The Beautiful Negativity of Seinen over at Manga Therapy.

One last thing: Usamaru Furuya’s birthday is on January 25. In honor of that, I’m declaring this week Usamaru Furuya Week at Experiments in Manga. Basically, it’s an excuse for me to get around to reviewing the rest of his manga, which I’ve been meaning to do ever since I hosted the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast a couple of years ago. So, I’ll be posting a whopping five reviews this week! I hope you enjoy.

Quick Takes

Arisa, Volume 12 by Natsumi Ando. Since its beginning Arisa has gone through so many disconcerting twists and turns, how is it possible that the twins look so utterly happy on the cover of the final volume? For the most part, I was satisfied with the ending of Arisa. Things aren’t resolved as happily as the cover might imply, which I find appropriate considering the darker aspects of the story. And I wouldn’t want everything to be tied up neatly. Once again though, some of the plot twists are a little ridiculous and over-the-top. I’m all for heightened drama, but I also like it to at least make some logical sense. Admittedly, Arisa can be a bit of a mess. Even so, I really enjoyed reading the series. Also included in this volume is a rather silly side story that takes place before the events of the main series. In this case it’s Arisa posing as her sister instead of the other way around. The results are amusing though not particularly believable. Granted, at this point I’m not expecting Arisa to be particularly believable anyway.

Eyeshield 21, Volumes 28-31 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. I’ve discovered that, for some reason, I really like sports manga, even when that sport is something that I’m not particularly interested in in real life. For example, American football. Yet here I am thoroughly enjoying Eyeshield 21, completely caught up in the Deimon Devil Bats’ fight to reach the Christmas Bowl. And a fight it is. These volumes focus on the game between the Devil Bats and the Hakushu Dinosaurs with an emphasis placed on football as a combat sport. (I’ve actually never really thought of football that way before, so that was an interesting take on the sport for me.) The Dinosaurs have a habit of intentionally sending their opponents to the hospital, so it’s a fairly rough game. The face-off between the two teams also shows just how far Sena has come as a player since the beginning of the series. Once a weakling pushover, he’s now become much more confident in his abilities and in himself. I’m very excited to read more of Eyeshield 21.

Hetalia: Axis Powers, Volumes 4-5 by Hidekaz Himaruya. I know just as many people who absolutely hate the Hetalia franchise as I do people who absolutely love it. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a rabid fan, but it is a series I follow. I do, however, generally prefer the anime adaptation over the original manga. For some reason, even though the anime and the manga both make the same jokes, I find the anime to be funnier. There are times that I just can’t seem to figure out what the punchline is supposed to be in the manga. The manga still can make me laugh, though, and I even occasionally learn a bit of history in the process, which I appreciate. The number of countries involved in Hetalia continues to grow with these volumes, including more female personifications which is nice to see. The Netherlands in particular seems to get a fair amount of page time this time, too. Hetalia does rely heavily on stereotypes for its humor, but I don’t get the feeling that they’re being used maliciously or to be deliberately offensive.

White Brand by Youka Nitta. Although I didn’t realize it until reading the afterword, apparently White Brand was Nitta’s first collection of boys’ love short stories. I’ve now read several of Nitta’s manga, but it seems that they tend to be fairly hit-or-miss for me. Despite Embracing Love actually being one of my favorite yaoi series, none of Nitta’s other works have really grabbed me. That hasn’t especially changed with White Brand, though I did like it more than The Prime Minister’s Secret Diplomacy. White Brand collects five short boys’ love manga. I’m not sure if it was an intentional or not, but a recurring theme throughout most of the stories is opposites. “White Brand” is about cousins with different color skin tones. “Teal End” is about two men from different countries. “Exhibition Painting” features men from very different classes and walks of life. “One Size Fits All” is somewhat frivolous story about a tall model and a much shorter man. “Hasta la Vista, Baby” is the only story that this play on opposites isn’t immediately obvious.

Mushishi: Sun-Eating Shade directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. I won’t lie–I love both the Mushishi manga and the anime. I was very excited when the special episode was announced and thrilled when Crunchyroll picked it up so that I could actually watch it. Although about twice as long as the individual episodes of the anime series, Sun-Eating Shade matches the tone, atmosphere, and ambiance perfectly. I was very happy to see that the same animation style was kept for the special episode. The backgrounds are still gorgeous, the music is still haunting, the pacing is still relaxed and unhurried. Mushishi has always been a rather episodic series, but I liked how Sun-Eating Shade made references to and loosely tied together several stories adapted in the first season of the anime. If someone didn’t enjoy the original anime series, there is nothing in Sun-Eating Shade that will change their mind. But established Mushishi fans (like me) probably won’t be disappointed with the special episode. I’m looking forward to the second season of Mushishi a great deal.

Shrine of the Morning Mist, Vol. 1

January 19, 2014 by Jocilyn Wagner

I am very pleased to introduce Jocilyn Wagner to readers of Experiments in Manga. Jocilyn doesn’t currently have a platform of her own, but she was still interested in occasionally writing about manga. And so, I’m happy to offer up some space here and welcome her to Experiments in Manga as a guest.

Greetings and Salutations! Some of you might know me from my love of yuri and occasional manga and light novel translations, but that’s not what I’m doing this time. Instead… I thought I’d introduce you to some of the most forgotten and/or unappreciated (usually for good reason) manga I own, which have, in all likelihood, never before been reviewed on a Manga Bookshelf blog!

* * *

I’d like to begin with a title that was so under-sold and under-appreciated it literally debuted at number 92 in graphic novel sales. The year was 2006; it was the end of an era. I’d just wrapped up my undergrad and year-long stint as president of the Western Michigan Anime Addicts and my heart was still full of some of the incredible anime we’d enjoyed: Paradise Kiss, Madlax, Last Exile, Read or Die, the list goes on. In my youthful vigor and utter boredom I was working on one of the many anime subtitling teams (in the days before Crunchyroll a great many of these existed if you can believe it!) editing scripts for #Ishin, when I was asked to finish up work on a silly series no one was watching. It was bizarre, ugly and ridiculously cute, and the episodes were so short it would be a breeze. I’m speaking of course of Asagiri no Miko (朝霧の巫女). You may now groan and pinch your noses in despair and hopefully save yourself the trouble of reading the following review of TokyoPop’s 2006 edition of the series they called “Shrine of the Morning Mist.”

The name has always been something of a sticking point with me since a literal translation would be closer to “shrine maiden of the morning mist” but then, I suppose TokyoPop didn’t want to confuse people with the bull in a china shop, Kannazuki no Miko, for which they’d already used the term (never mind the fact that the miko in Asagiri no Miko actually resemble real miko and Himeko and Chikane are rather infamous, but not for their pious purity), but I digress.

Ugawa Hiroki’s story is usually seen as a seinen action comedy, but I always thought of it as a supernatural slice-of-life romance. In the fine tradition of early 2000s dating sims, the story revolves around a loner teenage dude (Amatsu Tadahiro, usually referred to as Hiro) who returns to the home of his childhood and some of the girls he left heartbroken in his wake. In this case, the brokenhearted is his cousin Yuzu who is painted to be a fiery but loveable tsundere, as well as his closest childhood friend. Yuzu is the middle child of three girls: Kurako, the eldest, is quiet, thoughtful and spiritually driven and has made it her goal to bring the two star-crossed lovers back together. She reminds me of a cross between Belldandy and Toudou Shimako. Yuzu’s younger sister Tama-chan is the fun rascal who dotes on “Hiro Onii-chan” but often speaks with a maturity beyond her years. Actually she very closely resembles Yukino’s sister Kana from Kare Kano, except she isn’t a manga geek. Their father, in his insane knee-jerk reactions to everything, sketchy behavior and extreme unpopularity could easily be mistaken for Shimura-sensei of Azamanga Daioh! fame. A chapter or two into the series, we’re introduced to the girls’ mother Miyuki. I’m not at all sure how to describe Miyuki since she isn’t given a lot of dialogue in this volume. She’s really rather unlike other manga moms: she arrives on the scene with a samurai-like speed, agility and appearance, wielding a bouken and saves Hiro from becoming breakfast to a giant cyclops. The reader’s told she’d been sent to Izumo, so one might infer she’s a gifted Shinto priestess, but it’s not at all clear at this point. Finally, we’re introduced to Koma-san, a mysterious short-tempered but otherwise solemn woman who claims to have known Hiro’s father, though he had died before Hiro was born and this woman looks to be in her mid-to-late 20s. The way Koma is drawn, I can’t help but be reminded of Yumura Kirika, except Koma is endowed with some rather annoying feline qualities. No doubt inspired by a little known game at the time, Tsukihime.

The plot is tragically somewhat thin. Hiro has been traveling, searching out his way in life and has finally come home to the quiet town of his childhood (Miyoshi, in Hiroshima Prefecture). His cousins, the Hieda sisters put him up for the night but are hesitant to let him go since it’s obvious Yuzu still has feelings for him. From the moment he arrives, Hiro is hellhounded by a mysterious sorcerer who wears a tengu mask and summons a host of cruel-intentioned spirits to eliminate Hiro and his spiritual potential before it upsets the balance of something or other. Tengu-san and Hiro have many annoying random encounters in which Tengu-san is always easily defeated by the sisters, and a thoroughly incompetent yet nevertheless unappreciative Hiro is saved from certain doom in the nick of time. One might compare Hiro to Morisato Keiichi, except Hiro’s not all that nice or mature. He’s also unmoved by Yuzu’s total red-faced embarrassment (which comes into play whenever he’s around), though he obviously remembers what transpired between them five years ago. Yuzu’s mom and sisters are constantly trying to push Hiro and Yuzu together. That’s basically the entire plot.

Tune in next time for another segment of The Manga That Time Forgot/Was Hoping To Forget. ~jocilyn

Discovering Manga: Podcasts, Part 3

January 17, 2014 by Ash Brown

Over the last few years, I’ve made an effort to track down podcasts that feature manga. I haven’t found that many that focus on manga exclusively, but there are anime and comics podcasts that address manga at least on occasion. A few months ago I posted Discovering Manga: Podcasts Redux which was a quick update and overview of podcasts that I had discovered and written about in the past. The post also included a list of podcasts that I was aware of but hadn’t written about yet. And so, as promised, here is a quick look at a few of the podcasts from that list, all of which happen to have started in 2013.

The first episode of the Manga Dome Podcast was released in April 2013. The podcast generally updates weekly around Sunday and is the work of Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu, a manga blog that I’ve been following for a few years now. The blog has written posts as well, but nowadays the focus seems to be on the podcast. Generally, Manga Dome is a one-person show although recently the podcast had its first guest. Each episode is around ten minutes or so in length and features news, reviews, and other commentary. As might be implied by its name, the focus of Manga Dome is on manga. Lori knows her own taste in manga quite well but is still willing to try manga that might be out of her comfort zone. She doesn’t tend to enjoy manga with heavy ecchi elements, nor is she a particular fan of horror and gore. Shoujo, mysteries, and fantasy are more to her liking. What I probably appreciate most about Manga Dome is Lori’s emphasis on digital manga. It’s nice to be able to get a quick rundown on the digital landscape as well as other manga news.

Another podcast devoted to manga is the Weekly Shonen Jump Podcast which started in May 2013. This podcast is put together by a crew of manga editors and others who work for Viz Media. It provides an insider’s look into Viz’s digital Weekly Shonen Jump and includes a recap of the most recent issue. Released on Mondays, each episode is around an hour in length and generally follows the same format, starting out with introductions (which is handy as different people participate each week), followed by news, the Weekly Shonen Jump review, and ending with questions from listeners (gathered from the show comments, Twitter, Facebook, and surveys.) Although the focus of the Weekly Shonen Jump podcast is on Weekly Shonen Jump, it’s also about manga in general. I particularly like listening to the Weeekly Shonen Jump podcast to learn more about the publishing side of the manga industry, but everyone participating are fans as well. Since there is a group involved the podcast’s style tends to be somewhat conversational, which I enjoy.

As part of August 2013’s 801 Manga Moveable Feast, Otaku Champloo’s Khursten Santos invited two of her fellow fujoshi to talk with her about boys’ love manga. It went over very well and she had so much fun that the Fujojocast was born. Fujojocast doesn’t have a set schedule and there have only been three episodes so far, all over an hour in length. Despite some sound and microphone issues, I’ve enjoyed them all. Fujojocast features fans, translators, and academics from all over the world who share an unabashed love for boys’ love. I appreciate the women’s enthusiasm and intelligent conversation immensely. As the host, Khursten sets the episodes’ themes and leads and organizes the discussions. Fujojocast isn’t always about manga specifically, and it’s not always strictly about boys’ love, either. Other topics discussed include anime (the second episode is all about Free!: Iwatobi Swim Club, for example), conventions, merchandise, shipping, and general fujoshi fandom. I’m definitely looking forward to future episodes, whenever they might come out.

Manga the Week of 1/22

January 16, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Anna N and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: Here is a list of what everyone except me will be getting next week in manga. I will not be getting any of this because Diamond Comics never met a street date they didn’t hate. And yes, I am incredibly bitter.

Dark Horse, which is the exception to my Diamond whining, has Blade of the Immortal 28 coming out. We’re getting near the end of this series, I believe, though I’m not sure how near.

ASH: We are indeed getting near the end. Assuming Dark Horse continues as it has been recently, there should be three more volumes after this one.

SEAN: Kodansha gives us the 12th and final volume of Arisa, which was a good attempt at combining shoujo with a mystery thriller-type story. Also, twins!

MICHELLE: Arisa gets a little ridiculous as it progresses, but I still plan to read the ending!

ASH: The series does get a little ridiculous, but I’m really curious to see how Natsumi Ando wraps everything up.

SEAN: Kodansha also has the 2nd hardcover for Vinland Saga, which hopefully will be a bit easier to order from Amazon than the first was. It has Vikings, and bloodshed.

ANNA: I love vikings and bloodshed! Really looking forward to this!

ASH: As am I! I really enjoyed the first omnibus.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us the 5th Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, one of the winners from the recent otaku-friendly licenses, mostly as it tends to go light on the obvious fanservice and heavy on the friendships and comedy.

There’s also Love In Hell 2. I was somewhat ambivalent about the first volume, but we’ll see if this can improve as it goes along, as many series I am ambivalent about do.

Vertical has the 2nd volume of From the New World, its dark science-fiction manga with fanservice. It’s done pretty well for them, so fans should be pleased to see more.

ASH: I loved the dark science-fiction aspects of From the New World. I was less enamored with its gratuitous fanservice.

SEAN: Viz has Vol. 9 of Ooku, which has slowed to the Japanese release schedule, meaning it comes out once every blue moon. On the bright side, this makes every new volume a bigger deal.

MICHELLE: Yay, Ooku. This inspired me to check and see when Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday? comes out. The answer is March 25!

ANNA: I’m behind on Ooku, but looking forward to getting caught up one day. Also looking forward to What Did You Eat Yesterday?!

ASH: More Fumi Yoshinaga manga in English is always a good thing in my book!

MJ: This is one my few highly-anticipated releases this week. I’m such a fan of this series. And I, too, am anxious to see What Did You Eat Yesterday?!

SEAN: Yen has a huge giant pile of stuff, made even higher by a few omnibuses. First we have the 16th volume of Black Butler, which must be looking at Attack on Titan and thinking “You know, I remember when I used to own 5 of the 10 places on the NYT bestseller list. Kids these days…”

MICHELLE: The recent arc, in which Ciel goes undercover at a public school and must curry favor with prefects and such, is actually rather fun.

SEAN: The final volume (of the main series; future short story collections are possible) of Book Girl is coming out, with Book Girl And The Scribe Who Faced God, Part Two. Will Konoha finally get it together? Let’s find out.

ASH: I’m behind with Book Girl, but I like the volumes that I’ve read.

SEAN: Durarara!! is another series caught up to Japan, hence the 8-month wait before we got this 3rd volume in the Saika arc. I expect a lot of red eyes and possessive swords.

MICHELLE: I didn’t expect to like Durarara!!, but I do!

SEAN: There is no Pandora Hearts this month, to the collective sadness of the MB team. However, we do get the 14th volume of Goong, that should make them happy.

MICHELLE: Very happy indeed! I’m so grateful that they started releasing this again!

ANNA: Hooray for Goong! . Is Amazon still listing the kindle volumes with the single volume numbering next to the print omnibus versions? That being out of sync is really confusing.

MJ: Yes, yes, YES!! I love this series so.

SEAN: Higurashi: When They Cry is nearly complete (barring any side-story licenses) with the 3rd Festival Accompanying Arc omnibus, as the plot to defeat Takano switches into high gear, and everyone goes from ‘horror manga’ mode to ‘shonen ACTION manga!’ mode.

Inu x Boku SS, like Haganai, proved to be far more interesting than I had expected from what looked like ‘moe yokai’. I am looking forward to the 2nd volume.

WataMote Volume 2 (OK, it’s technically No Matter How You Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! Volume 2) will continue to test the resolve of its readers who war between finding its heroine funny and finding her desperately horrifying.

ASH: The first volume was simultaneously one of the funniest and most depressing manga that I’ve read. I’ll definitely be picking up the second volume.

SEAN: Omamori Himari has hit its 11th volume, and I must admit I still don’t actually know what the hell it’s about. One day I will remedy this.

Soul Eater is at Volume 18, and will hopefully continue to pay off the excellent genderbending setup that the 17th volume left off with.

Triage X reaches Vol. 5, and yet still has enough fanservice to fill 50 more volumes without blinking an eye.

Lastly, Umineko: When They Cry returns with Banquet of the Golden Witch, which also sees the artist from the first arc return. (If you like her, you’ll be happy to hear she’ll also be back to wrap up the series when we get to Arc 8 in 2018 or so.) This arc focuses more heavily on the adults, particularly Eva, the sharp-tongued and bitter woman who graces the front cover.

Assuming you don’t order from Diamond Comics, what are you getting this week?

Ciao, For Now

January 13, 2014 by Erica Friedman Leave a Comment

In previous posts, we’ve discussed two of the best-known Shoujo manga magazines, Ribon and Nakayoshi. So many popular manga series have come from these two magazines, it’s almost certain that any western manga fan will have at least seen their names. But, of the three most popular girls’ manga magazines, these are #2 and #3. The best-selling girls’ manga magazine in Japan is Ciao (ちゃお).

How much more popular? According to the Japanese Magazine Publisher’s Association data for 2011-2012, where Ribon sells about 225K copies a month and Nakayoshi about 171K/month, Ciao sells 620,000 copies a month. In a market that shrinks a little bit with every passing year and better technology, this is a significant number of young girls reading actual print copies of a manga magazine.

While most of the Ciao titles familiar to a western fan are those that we might consider “for children”—Pocket Monsters (Pokemon,) Hamtaro and some of the Di Gi Charat series—at least one series that developed an older following, the Chiho Saito and Be-Papas collaboration Revolutionary Girl Utena, ran in Ciao. Based on my Twitter feed of manga artists and fans the number one series running in Ciao right now is Aikatsu!, the manga for a popular anime/collectable card game/video game franchise about girls in a idol academy.

At 540 yen per issue, ($5.23 at time of writing) for about the same number of pages, Ciao is a good buy. Ciao Land, the website for the magazine, is filled with colorful shininess and a number of tools that create audience engagement without breaking barriers between creators and readers. Reader diaries and messages from authors let each feel connected to the other. Like Ribon and Nakayoshi, Ciao‘s print edition comes bundled with toys such as accessories, writing sets, and phone and calendar stickers.

While any given issue of Ciao will be filled with typically passive shoujo manga female protagonists waiting for romance, from time to time, Ciao escapes from the shoujo manga stereotype. And when it does, as in Utena, Bloody Lily or Waza-ari Kiwami-chan, the result is not at all what you might expect. Ciao heroines have the potential do amazing things.

Ciao magazine from Shogakukan: http://www.ciao.shogakukan.co.jp/

My Week in Manga: January 6-January 12, 2014

January 13, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Two reviews were posted at Experiments in Manga last week! The honor of the first in-depth manga review of the month (and of the year, for that matter) goes to Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki’s Oishinbo, A la Carte: Fish, Sushi & Sashimi. I love food, I love manga, and so I love Oishinbo, too. I happen to really like fish and sushi as well, so I particularly enjoyed this volume. I also posted a review for Edogawa Rampo’s mystery adventure The Fiend with Twenty Faces which is the first novel in his series The Boy Detectives. I’ve read some of his stories and essays written for adults, but this was his first work for younger audiences that I read. It’s a lot of fun.

As for news and other interesting things found online: The English translation of Toh EnJoe’s Self-Reference Engine (one of my most notable release of 2013) has been nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award. The University of Michigan will be hosting an international conference on Natsume Sōseki from April 18 through April 20. (If you happen to be in Michigan around then, it’s be free and open to the public!) After months of no news, it looks like those who supported the Kickstarter for Osamu Tezuka’s The Crater may actually receive their rewards. And finally, Joe McCulloch takes a look at some of Suehiro Maruo’s most recent work over at The Comics Journal. Now if only more of his manga would be licensed in English!

Quick Takes

Basara, Volumes 6-10 by Yumi Tamura. I love this series so much! It really is a shame that Basara is going out-of-print in English, but at least Viz has begun to release it digitally as well. The story is epic and engaging and the characters are complex and multi-layered. These particular volumes of Basara include the Okinawa story arc, which I especially enjoyed. It’s very interesting to see how Tamura is using events and politics from throughout Japan’s history to inform her post-apocalyptic world and culture. There are definite echos from the Warring States period, World War Two, and so on. Just as it was historically, in Basara Okinawa is a separate country from Japan that maintains its own traditions, relies heavily on trade, is largely at the mercy of foreign military influence, and is beset by natural disasters. Also, it’s the homeland of karate, which plays a part in some of the battles. (As a karateka myself, I couldn’t help but appreciate this.) I’m really looking forward to reading more of the series.

Entangled Circumstances by Kikuko Kikuya. I ended up enjoying Entangled Circumstances much more than I thought I would. I found the first chapter or so to actually be a little boring, but by the end of the volume Entangled Circumstances had managed to turn itself into a rather funny, and even a little sweet, boys’ love story. Actually, bonus chapters after the main story were the funniest and probably the favorite part of the manga for me because of that. Shibui and Himeko were once college classmates, but now they work at the same advertising agency. Himeko’s been in love with Shibui for a while now, but after a past awkward love confession, things have been strained between the two men. Often they seem to act like high schoolers rather than full-grown adults, so it’s difficult to take Entangled Circumstances completely seriously. It’s a lighthearted and fluffy sort of manga. The manga is nothing extraordinary, and I don’t know that I will necessarily need to read it again, but it was quite enjoyable.

Zoo by Andy MacDonald. I haven’t read the original novel Zoo, a science fiction thriller written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, but MacDonald’s graphic novel adaptation somehow came into my possession, so I figured I’d give it a try. Since I haven’t read the original, I can’t definitively say how the graphic novel works as an adaptation, but I get the impression that MacDonald has been very faithful to the source material. The Zoo graphic novel can be somewhat text-heavy and some of the plot lines are a little compressed (though not exactly rushed) but I was never confused as to what was going on. Even so, I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the plot’s development and some of the rather predictable “twists.” Unfortunately, Zoo just doesn’t have that original or great of a story to begin with and I had a difficult time suspending my incredulity. The ending in particular was rather disappointing. Zoo starts out as a fairly action-packed, and bloody, doomsday scenario, but its heavy-handed moral can be a bit much.

Meganebu! directed by Soubi Yamamoto. I already knew that I enjoyed Yamamoto’s visual style from her previous work and so I wasn’t disappointed by Meganebu!‘s brightly colored and slightly eccentric animation. Even so, it took a few episodes for the series to really grow on me. There’s not really much of a plot to Meganebu!. There are the members of the Glasses Club and their continuing efforts to create a pair of glasses with X-Ray vision (with some very unexpected and explosive results) but mostly the series just follows their daily lives and the trouble they all get into. Once I got over the fact that Meganebu! is fairly pointless, I could sit back and enjoy its peculiar sense of fun. As a glasses wearer myself, I could particularly appreciate all of the humor surrounding eyeglasses. To the members of the Glasses Club, glasses are more than just a fashion accessory. Neither are they simply used to correct vision. Glasses have the power to change the world. Meganebu! is an absurd anime, but I’ll admit to enjoying it.

Manga the Week of 1/15

January 9, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, MJ, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and Anna N 2 Comments

SEAN: This is it, folks! The 27th and final volume of Excel Saga ships next week! There will be laughs! Romance! Resolution! … Perhaps less resolution than we would like, but hey! Everyone in the entire world will be buying this volume!

MJ: Or we will at least pretend to, in order to keep you smiling.

SEAN: So, what are you reading this week?

…

Oh right, there are other releases as well, which are being nice enough to share their release date with the majesty that is the final volume of Excel Saga, so I suppose I should discuss them.

Kodansha has the 6th volume of Missions of Love, which keeps riding the edge between trashy good and trashy bad, but as long as it keeps riding that edge, I’ll keep reading.

ASH: As will I!

MICHELLE: I read the first couple of volumes last year and just never went back to it.

SEAN: There’s also the 3rd Sherlock Bones volume, combining mysteries and cute dogs as only Japan can.

And for those who enjoyed Tokyo Mew Mew and wish it had a followup, well, here’s Tokyo Mew Mew A La Mode in one omnibus. It is not controversial at all, and is beloved by all TMM fans. Really. Trust me.

SubLime has the 6th volume of His Favorite, whose cover is slightly less silly looking than previous ones, but which hopefully is still just as much fun for BL fans. I’ve heard good things about this series.

MJ: I’ll be looking forward to see how well this series wears, six volumes in.

SEAN: A brief reminder that NONE of these series are Excel Saga. Ask your local bookseller for EXCEL SAGA 27 by name. Accept no imitations!

SubLime also gives us a short story collection with the oddly capitalized title NightS. The S stands for… who knows. Seme? Sadist? Saucy?

ASH: I have no idea, but I do know I love Kou Yoneda’s work. I’ve been looking forward to this release.

MICHELLE: Me, too. I really liked No Touching At All.

MJ: Apparently, it stands for $. I’ll be picking it up, too.

SEAN: Vertical has the 3rd volume of Medieval manga Wolfsmund, which I have no doubt will continue to be depressing as hell, but I know some others on the Bookshelf enjoy it.

ASH: Yeah, that would be me. The first two volumes were extremely dark and intense to say the least.

SEAN: Viz has the 8th volume of 07-Ghost, still packed with ghosts, gods, and bishops, and still featuring heavily in my “I need to catch up with that” list.

MICHELLE: And mine, as well.

MJ: And mine!

ANNA: Mine too. I need to schedule a catch up with 07-Ghost day, because I did really enjoy the first few volumes, and the subsequent volumes keep piling up.

SEAN: And there’s Vol. 49 of Case Closed, which began in Japan in 1994, and thus manages to be the only series on this list older than Excel Saga. It is also 22+ volumes longer than Excel Saga. And it also has some very well written mystery and suspense… which, by the way, Excel Saga also had, to the surprise of those expecting what the anime gave them.

So, to sum up, Excel Saga. Final Volume. Get It. And some other stuff. What are you getting next week (hint: Excel Saga)?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

MJ: Yep. Totally Excel Saga. Yep.

ANNA: What is this about? I’m assuming it is about office workers and spreadsheets.

SEAN: You will all be first against the wall when Il Palazzo conquers the world. Hrmph.

My Week in Manga: December 30, 2013-January 5, 2014

January 6, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week I announced the 4-Koma for You Winner. In case you’re looking for something to read, the post includes a list of yonkoma manga that have been released in print in English, too. I also posted December’s Bookshelf Overload last week, for those of you interested in following my adventures in buying way too much manga and other media. Finally, over the weekend I posted a review of Delavier’s Mixed Martial Arts Anatomy. This is one of the most tangentially related reviews I’ve written at Experiments in Manga. Why is it here? Simply because I’m a karateka and found it to be a useful book. It’s a great strength training resource for any martial artist. Plus, it has lots of illustrations.

I’ve more or less been on vacation for the last two weeks, so I haven’t been online much except to make sure that things were updated here at Experiments in Manga. Even so, there were two things in particular that caught my eye recently. First and foremost, the Massive anthology of gay manga originally scheduled to be published by PictureBox has been picked up by Fantagraphics! Right now, it looks like we should see the release sometime in October 2014. The other news that I was excited to hear about is that we’ll be getting a second season of the Mushishi anime nearly ten years after the first season aired. I loved Yuki Urushibara’s original manga (which is now unfortunately out-of-print in English) and I loved the first anime series so I’m looking forward to the second season a great deal.

Quick Takes

A Bride’s Story, Volume 5 by Kaoru Mori. The art in A Bride’s Story always blows me away. Mori’s illustrations are so beautiful and detailed that it’s no surprise that there’s such a long wait in between each volume’s release. Most of the fifth volume of the series is devoted to the wedding between the twins and their husbands-to-be. The best word that I can think of to describe this volume is “joyous.” Mori shows the preparations that both families make for the happy occasion–a celebration that lasts an entire week. There’s dance and song, levity, plenty of food, and numerous guests. It’s extremely satisfying to see the entire community’s participation in the event. The manga as a whole is a gorgeous work, but the wedding itself is quite lovely. I enjoyed seeing the twins’ story develop. Their outgoing personalities might be annoying for some readers, but in the end I found the two of them to be quite endearing. Now begins the long wait for the next volume of A Bride’s Story.

Castle Mango, Volume 1 written by Narise Konohara and illustrated by Muku Ogura. Despite what the cover and title page of Digital Manga’s release indicate, Konohara wrote Castle Mango while Ogura was responsible for the artwork. Konohara is the same author who wrote About Love, which I quite enjoyed, so I was interested in reading Castle Mango. Both manga are slightly atypical boys’ love stories. Instead of being straightforward man-meets-man romances, the stories are more layered. There is an emphasis on well-developed characters and actual plot; it’s not just about getting guys into bed with each other. The leads of Castle Mango are rather unusual as well. Yorozu’s family owns and runs a love hotel while Tagame is a well-known porn director. Yorozu more or less blackmail’s Tagame into a relationship in order to keep him away from his brother, but he doesn’t even really like the older man. Their story is concluded in the second and final volume of Castle Mango. I’m very curious to see how things unfold, so I’ll definitely be picking it up.

A Centaur’s Life, Volume 1 by Kei Murayama. One of several “monster girl” manga recently released by Seven Seas, A Centaur’s Life is far less ecchi than the other titles. Plus, this one includes plenty of monster boys in addition to the monster girls, which I greatly appreciate. The manga is definitely centered around the series’ young women, though. The titular centaur is Kimihara Himeno; the manga is mostly a slice-of-life story which follows her and her other high school friends. (As a side note, I adore Himeno’s wild mass of hair on the cover.) Some people might find reading the first chapter a little uncomfortable as the story revolves around the girls’ privates, but following chapters are much less questionable. Overall, the manga was rather charming. And I am interested in learning more about the world that Murayama has imagined; it seems that some significant thought has been put into it. Although not the focus of the series, politics, law, cultural differences, disputes between races, and history have all been taken into consideration.

Ranma 1/2, Volumes 15-20 by Rumiko Takahashi. It’s been so long since I’ve read any of Ranma 1/2 that I had forgotten how much I love the series. After the main characters and basic premise are established, the manga becomes fairly episodic so it’s easy to pick up part way through the series and still know what’s going on. I find Ranma 1/2 to be hilarious and particularly enjoy the absurd martial arts that Takahashi comes up with. These particular volumes feature martial arts based around eating food extremely quickly and cheerleading, just to give two examples. I like the characters and I like the story, as silly and superfluous as it can be. Akane and Ranma seem to be no closer to getting married than they were at the beginning of the series. They argue quite a bit, but there are moments of genuine affection, too. Granted, those moments are frequently interrupted and don’t tend to last very long. The series’ off-the-wall comedy won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for me Ranma 1/2 is highly entertaining and a lot of fun.

Otome Yokai Zakuro directed by Chiaki Kon. The Otome Yokai Zakuro anime is based on an ongoing manga series by Lily Hoshino (which hasn’t been licensed in English.) The story takes place in an alternate version of Japan’s Meiji Era in which yokai and humans coexist. The office of Spirit Affairs is created in order to improve relations between the two groups. It’s made up of a small contingent of military officers and half-spirit girls who team up to work together. I’ll admit, I liked the first part of the series which explored the concerns over Japan’s Westernization and loss of traditions through the conflicts between humans and yokai much more than I did its end. Seeing as the opening has a bit of a spoiler in it, the series’ major plot twist was clearly planned well in advance, but it just didn’t seem to flow well as a whole as the narrative suddenly changes direction. The romantic subplots are broadcast from the very first episode–it’s obvious who will be falling in love with who–so none of those developments were particularly surprising or unexpected, either.

Manga the Week of 1/8

January 2, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Anna N and Michelle Smith 3 Comments

SEAN: Well, the holidays are over. HOPE YOU LIKE MANGA. We have, between Amazon and Comic Shop sources, 26 titles coming out this week (some of which have already shipped from certain distributors, yes). Buckle up, folks, we’ll be here a while.

ASH: Excellent. I happen to love manga.

MJ: Yes, yes, yesssssss.

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 2nd Trigun Maximum omnibus. I’m hoping that in larger form the art will somehow make more sense.

Digital Manga Publishing has had a slow return from Print Hiatus, but they seem to be back with a vengeance this week. First we have A Century of Temptation, a vampire/barista romance. The author is best known here for Brave 10 (from DMG) and Sengoku Basara (from Udon).

ANNA: Wow, vampire/barista romance? I am somewhat intrigued.

ASH: Indeed! I had somehow missed that particular detail.

MJ: Well, huh.

SEAN: Volume 2 of Depression of the Anti-Romanticist wraps things up, hopefully with less depression and less anti-romance. Given its BL demographic.

Mr. Mini-Mart certainly wins the cute cover of the week award. A NEET shut-in tries to hold down a job at a convenience store, but must deal with his loud, outgoing coworker. Will romance develop? (Spoiler: yes.)

MICHELLE: Heehee. I approve of the presence of a kitty. I wonder if it figures into the story?

MJ: I’m completely on board with this. I almost don’t care what’s inside.

SEAN: Also with a cute cover, President Momoi-kun is, I inform my fellow Manga Bookshelf writers, an Opera manga. It also looks to be very silly indeed, with lots of funny gags in among the BL. Intriguing.

MICHELLE: I like that the lead dude is crushing on an older, married coworker!

MJ: Anything from Opera deserves a look, so count me in!

SEAN: And in DMP’s one non-BL title, we have – finally – Volume 1 of Takasugi-san’s Obento, which feels like it was pushed back about eight times. A grad student has to take in his cousin after her mother dies, and they learn to bond through cooking. The cousin is twelve, so I think this is meant to be more of a family bonding. It’s 7+ volumes in Japan, and runs in one of my favorite magazines, Comic Flapper, so I definitely want to try this out.

MICHELLE: Me too!

ANNA: I read this when it was available digitally, and liked it! We get food manga so seldom, titles like these are a treat.

ASH: More food manga is always a good thing.

MJ: I’m so glad to see this in print!

SEAN: Fantagraphics shipped the 6th volume of Wandering Son when I wasn’t looking, so most of you may have it already. We’ve talked before about why this should be a must-buy title for all of you.

MICHELLE: I am so dreadfully behind on Wandering Son. Catching up will be one of my resolutions, methinks.

ANNA: Ugh, me too! Too much manga!

ASH: I am still eagerly waiting for my copy to arrive. I can’t wait!

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: Kodansha has Fairy Tail 34, still in the Grand Magic Games arc. I’m falling behind on my Fairy Tail, need to catch up.

Seven Seas expanded greatly in 2013, and this shows no sign of stopping now that it’s 2014. We start with the 2nd and final volume of Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late-Night Tea Party, which continues the romance between Alice and Blood Dupre.

Dictatorial Grimoire has the 2nd in the Snow White arc, featuring its Alice in the Country of Hearts genderswap-esque plot. I was more interested in Vol. 1 than I expected, so will check the 2nd out.

ASH: I haven’t read the first volume yet, but I am tempted.

SEAN: Monster Musume was a giant hit, and everyone except me seemed to love it. Proving, if nothing else, that I do not drive the taste of most manga readers. Vol. 2 should make even more people happy.

ASH: Monster Musume was a huge success for Seven Seas! I had no idea it was such a popular series.

SEAN: Zero’s Familiar wraps up with the 3rd omnibus, containing Vols. 6-7. Fear not, though, the sequel has been licensed and is coming in the spring.

Flowers of Evil has gotten to Volume 8. Is it still just as twisted? I’m curious.

ASH: The cover art for this story arc is absolutely beautiful.

MJ: I’m still pretty well engaged with this series, so bring it on!

SEAN: And there is the traditional Pile Of Viz. Bleach has a 7th 3-in-1 omnibus, getting towards the end of the Soul Society arc, which many people feel it has never bettered.

Hana-Kimi also gets its 7th 3-in-1. If I recall, it should wrap up with the 8th. Bleach, not so much.

ANNA: I love Hana-Kimi!

SEAN: I adore every single volume of Kimi ni Todoke that comes out, even now that it’s at Volume 18. The cast start to think about their futures around this point, as graduation is near.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one, too. It’s a definite favorite.

ANNA: Viz does great shoujo.

SEAN: Midnight Secretary 3 continues to combine office lady romance with vampire romance, and is doing a damn fine job of it. I expect more intrigue to happen here.

ANNA: I do enjoy this series.

MJ: As do I.

SEAN: Oh look, another 3-in-1 Volume 7. This is Naruto.

Natsume’s Book of Friends 15! Another series I always love to read. I wish it had more Taki in it, but I’m happy to accept whatever gentle, melancholy yokai antics it will give me.

MICHELLE: Another definite favorite!

SEAN: I reviewed Nisekoi Volume 1 when the digital volume hit, and it’s now coming to print. It’s a fairly typical Shonen Jump romantic comedy, which will appeal to those who like tsunderes, yakuza, and lots of shouting.

MICHELLE: Which is not me, I’m afraid. I found the premise and characters tiresome.

MJ: I’ll be checking this one out for sure, despite Michelle’s reservations.

MICHELLE: I look forward to seeing what you think of it!

SEAN: Otomen 17, completing a trilogy of addicting shoujo I always read first whenever the new volumes come out. Last time we had a nasty cliffhanger, are things going to get worse?

MICHELLE: Someday I will catch up on Otomen.

ASH: I’ve been saving the last few volumes to read in one go; I really enjoy this series.

SEAN: Psyren 14 barrels on to its finale, and will presumably be bringing all the major players together back in the Psyren World for a big battle royale.

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration has now fulfilled its purpose of advertising the recent movie, so it can end with Vol. 2, which indeed it does.

MICHELLE: Ha! Really? I wonder if it was always intended to be so short! Does this mean it doesn’t attempt to rewrite the Kyoko Arc, which needed no rewriting? I am relieved!

ANNA: I didn’t realize that it was going to be so short either, but it makes sense. The original manga was so good, it didn’t really need a reboot.

SEAN: Strobe Edge is nearing the end of its run with Vol. 8, and so surely the two leads will finally start to work out their angst and get closer… no, huh? Oh well.

MICHELLE: Soon!

ANNA: I hope so! I do enjoy this series, but am ready for it to wrap up.

MJ: This series continuously surprises me with its ability to keep me engaged… but I do hope we’ll see some movement here, finally.

SEAN: Lastly, Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal 4 does whatever it is Yu-Gi-Oh volumes do these days. It could have become a wacky 4-koma about high school girls for all I know. :)

How much of this pile appeals to you?

My Week in Manga: December 23-December 29, 2013

December 30, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week I posted a review of Hinoki Kino’s manga No. 6, Volume 4. The series has been getting better with each installment and things are starting to get really good. I also wrote a little bit about some of the manga, comics, and fiction releases that for me were particularly Notable in 2013. It’s not exactly a “best of” list, and it isn’t exactly a list of my favorite manga of the year, either. Basically it’s a list of interesting releases from 2013. And speaking of 2013, there’s still time to enter the last manga giveaway of the year! Check out the 4-Koma for You manga giveaway for a chance to win the omnibus edition of Kiyohiko Azuma’s yonkoma manga Azumanga Daioh.

Quick Takes

Fairy Tail, Volume 33 by Hiro Mashima. It’s the second day of the Grand Magic Games and it’s still not looking good for the two Fairy Tail teams, although some of their members have surprising victories. Unfortunately, considering their prior string of defeats, it’s not enough to make much of a difference this early in the tournament. There are some great battles and moments of humor in this volume, but I still don’t find the tournament arc to be as compelling as the arcs that came before it. New characters continue to be introduced; I particularly enjoyed the addition of Bacchus, a powerful wizard from the Quatro Cerberus guild. Personality-wise, he can be a bit of a drunken jerk and isn’t always particularly likeable. What caught my interest is that his style of magic is based on Piguaquan, a legitimate Chinese martial art. Not too surprising considering his name, Bacchus combines this with Zui Quan, or “drunken fist.” Granted, it’s the fictionalized version of drunken fist that requires the practitioner to actually be intoxicated, but this is fitting and meshes well with the existing magic systems in Fairy Tail.

Smuggler by Shohei Manabe. Originally released in English by Tokyopop, Smuggler is now available in a new edition from One Peace Books. I missed the manga the first time around, and since it also received a live-action film adaptation, I was particularly curious to read it. Kinuta is a failed actor who has accumulated a fair amount of debt. In order to pay back what he owes he has been smuggling and illegally dumping cargo outside of Tokyo. What he didn’t initially realize was that he was helping to transport and dispose of dead bodies for the yakuza. And now that he does know, Kinuta owes the mob his life as well as his money. When a job goes terribly wrong and an extraordinarily dangerous assassin escapes on his watch, Kinuta suddenly finds himself pulled even deeper into Japan’s underworld. Smuggler is a dark and violent manga, quickly paced, and unrelenting. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Smuggler held my interest, and there were some marvelously gut-wrenching scenes, but in the end I can’t say that the manga left much of a lasting impression on me.

Swan, Volumes 4-9 by Kyoko Ariyoshi. I am still completely in love with Swan and am astounded that it has taken me this long to actually get around to reading it. The series is incredibly well done–it’s just so intense and passionate, not to mention beautifully drawn. I’m also learning a bit more about ballet and its history as I read, which I count as a bonus. There are quite a few themes being addressed in these particular volumes. One of the themes that is especially prominent deals with sacrifice and what people are willing to give up in order to pursue what the truly love. It’s not always an easy decision. As someone who was deeply involved in the performing arts (in my case music, not dance), it’s a conflict with which I can personally identify. The characters in Swan all have to struggle to find the balance between their lives as dancers and their relationships with other people. Matters of love and romance complicate things greatly, but they also serve as a source of inspiration for creative expression. Swan piles on the drama and it’s fantastic.

Wolfsmund, Volume 2 by Mitsuhisa Kuji. While the first volume of Wolfsmund was violent and intense, the second volume is arguably even more so. In response to the rebellion gaining strength and numbers, the questioning of those trying to cross through the Wolf’s Maw at Sankt Gotthard Pass has become even more invasive and thorough. The gate’s overseer Wolfram–who is almost always shown with a terrifyingly pleasant smile on his face–seems to take particular delight in this. In order to get the information he needs, he’s more than willing to order the death or torture of a person no matter who they are. Cruelty isn’t limited to Wolfram. Even the rebellion’s heroes are capable of terrible deeds. I am a fan of dark historical manga, so Wolfsmund is right up my alley. Wolfsmund is definitely for mature readers. Considering its brutal nature (women and girls in particular suffer greatly in this volume) it’s not a series that I would recommend to just anyone. That being said, I am looking forward to the next volume.

Random Musings: Notable in 2013

December 28, 2013 by Ash Brown

Despite having written at Experiments in Manga for over three years, I have never once attempted to create a “best of the year” list and I’m not about to start. However, I thought it would be interesting to write a post reflecting on what I have read in the past year. This isn’t a best of list. It’s not even necessarily a list of my favorite releases of the year (although, some of them certainly are). Instead, it’s a collection of manga, comics, and fiction from 2013 that, for one reason or another, were particularly notable for me.

I’ll start out with Moto Hagio’s The Heart of Thomas. Fantagraphics released the entire series in a beautiful, hardcover omnibus. Technically, I think it was published at the end of 2012, but I wasn’t able to get my hands on one until 2013. I adore Hagio’s manga and wish more of it was available in English. The Heart of Thomas in particular is a historically significant work and one of the precursors to the boys’ love genre. Plus, it’s a wonderful work in its own right.

The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of Gay Erotic Manga probably couldn’t be more different from The Heart of Thomas, but I anticipated its release just as much. Tagame is an incredibly influential gay comics artist. The volume was not only the first collection of his work to be released in English, it was also the first collection of bara manga to be released in print. Happily, it won’t be the last. More of Tagame’s manga is already scheduled to be published.

I have become increasingly interested in yokai over the last few years. And so I was thrilled when Drawn & Quarterly released Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki. The volume collects stories from the first few volumes of Mizuki’s GeGeGe no Kitaro which is the yokai manga that started it all and which continues to influence creators to this day. I found Kitaro to be utterly delightful and can understand why it’s so well-loved. I hope more of the series will be translated.

I picked up Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin for one reason–it was written and drawn by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. I’m not at all a Gundam fan, but I am a fan of Yasuhiko’s work. Even so, I didn’t anticipate how much I would enjoy The Origin. The manga ended up being an extremely well done space opera. It doesn’t hurt that Vertical’s edition of the series is one of the highest quality manga releases available in English, either. I’m still not a Gundam fan, but I am a fan of The Origin.

Another manga that I was pleasantly surprised by was Osamu Tezuka’s Unico. As much as I appreciate Tezuka’s work, I will admit to have grown a little tired of it. (I wish that other classic manga received the same amount of attention in English.) I approached Unico more as a curiosity than anything else; the full-color artwork and unusual page layouts had caught my attention. It turned out to be an endearing manga that is both heartbreaking and charming.

After years of delay, Suehiro Maruo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island was finally released by Last Gasp in 2013. The manga is an adaptation of Edogawa Rampo’s novella Strange Tale of Panorama Island which, coincidentally, was also released in English in 2013. I cannot think of a more perfect artist to adapt Rampo’s work; Maruo’s exquisite, sensual, and erotically charged illustrations with hints of the macabre are an ideal fit. The Strange Tale of Panorama Island was worth the wait.

As for continuing series in 2013, Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son remains a manga that is incredibly important to me on a very personal level. I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned it before, but Wandering Son has quite literally been life-changing for me. In addition to that, I simply think it’s a wonderfully sensitive and sincere look at personal identity. Fantagraphics released both the fourth and fifth volumes of Wandering Son in 2013; I’m looking forward to reading more of the series great deal.

2013 also saw the release of Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss, Part 3–the third and final volume in Vertical’s edition of the series. I missed out on the manga when it was originally licensed by Tokyopop and I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to read it. Over the last year, I have been extremely impressed by Yazawa’s work. I don’t have a particular interest in fashion, but the complex characters and complicated relationships in Paradise Kiss were extraordinary.

The One Trick Rip-Off + Deep Cuts is a fantastic anthology which collects fifteen comics by Paul Pope, including those he created for Kodansha while in Japan. The volume makes a great introduction to Pope’s comics, exhibiting a nice range of styles and stories selected from nearly a decade of his work. The influence of manga can be seen in the collection, but Pope definitely has his own approach to comics. I’ve become very fond of his work and the quirkiness of his stories and characters.

Written and illustrated by Gene Luen Yang with colors by Lark Pien, the Boxers & Saints duology is honestly one of the best comics that I read in the past year. It’s a powerful retelling of the Boxer Rebellion–a violent uprising in China that began in the late 1800s–from two different sides of the conflict, neither of which were entirely in the right. Yang put a tremendous amount of research into the work, making it historically accurate while still maintaining a very human element to the story.

I already knew that I enjoyed Toh EnJoe’s short stories and essays and so I was excited for the release of Self-Reference Engine, the first book-length work of his to be translated into English. It’s not quite a novel, and it’s not quite a collection of short stories, but whatever it is it’s good stuff. I expected Self-Reference Engine to be intellectually stimulating as well as entertaining, and it was, but I wasn’t prepared for how funny and mind-bending it would be.

Manga the Week of 1/1

December 26, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: Attack on Titan 10.

Thoughts?

(sorry, couldn’t resist)

(Happy Holidays all)

MICHELLE: *snerk* Same to you!

ASH: I have thoughts! I have lots of thoughts!

MJ: I see that the manga gods have taken this opportunity to remind me how out of step I am with the world, having let this series go after the first volume. Perhaps I’ll rectify this in the new year?

Manga Giveaway: 4-Koma for You (Azumanga Daioh)

December 25, 2013 by Ash Brown

2013 may be nearing its end, but there’s still time for one more manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga before the year is over! For December’s giveaway, you all have a chance to win a copy of the Yen Press omnibus edition of Kiyohiko Azuma’s yonkoma manga Azumanga Daioh. The entire series collected in one convenient volume! As always, the giveaway is open worldwide.

If I recall correctly, Azumanga Daioh was the first yonkoma manga that I ever read. Yonkoma, or 4-koma, is a four-panel format frequently used for gag manga. I know several people who consider Azumanga Daioh to be one of the best examples of yonkoma manga currently available in English. Yonkoma tends to be fairly hit-or-miss for me, but I was consistently entertained by Azumanga Daioh–it’s a goofy yet charming series.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of the Azumanga Daioh omnibus?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about a four-panel manga that you have read and why you did, or didn’t, like it. (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).

And there you have it! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. As usual, there will be one week to submit comments. Entries may also be sent via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 1, 2014. Good luck and a Happy New Year, everyone!

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: 4-Koma for You Winner