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My Week in Manga: January 30-February 5, 2017

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My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga the winner of the Please Tell! Me Galko-chan manga giveaway was announced. The post also includes a fairly comprehensive list of the full-color manga and manhwa that have been released in print in English. (However, I just now realized that I neglected to include manga like Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and Buronson and Tetsuo Hara’s Fist of the North Star which, while not originally illustrated in full-color, had some full-color editions released in English.) Otherwise it was fairly quiet week, but I am well on my way to completing an in-depth review for February. Happily, my goal to write at least one long-form feature every month so far seems achievable.

I wasn’t actually online much at all last week (things were pretty hectic at work and there are always a fair number of taiko and lion dance performances I’m involved in around Chinese New Year) but there were still a few things that caught my attention: Vic James wrote an essay for Tor.com about Yukio Mishima and Forbidden Colors–The One Book That Made Me Move to Japan. (Mishima fascinates me and was actually my introduction to Japanese literature; I’ve reviewed quite a few books by and about him.) The most recent issue of Words without Borders is devoted to international graphic novels. Also, Digital Manga’s Juné imprint announced two new print licenses (Psyche Delico’s Even a Dog Won’t Eat It and Choco Strawberry Vanilla) as well as its upcoming Kickstarter project to publish the first volume of Velvet Toucher’s Eden’s Mercy.

Quick Takes

Bloom into You, Volume 1Bloom into You, Volume 1 by Nakatani Nio. I’ll have to admit, recently I’ve grown a little weary of high school romances. Even so, I was still very interested in reading Bloom into You, one of Seven Seas most recent yuri series. Specifically, I was curious about the manga’s treatment of aromanticism, something which I haven’t seen many series address. Yuu has never fallen in love and so she is glad to meet Nanami, an upperclassmen who likewise has never felt that way about anyone before. Finally Yuu has someone she feels comfortable confiding in about it except that Nanami is now falling in love with her. One of the things that I really appreciate about Bloom into You is how considerate and respectful Nanami is of Yuu’s feelings (an exception being a stolen kiss). It’s also obvious that they both care about each other, even if Yuu hasn’t yet experienced the romantic spark that Nanami has only recently found for herself. The two of them actually communicate, too, so there’s none of the silly misunderstandings that plague so many other series that would easily be solved if the characters would simply talk to each other. I would definitely like so see how Yuu and Nanami’s relationship continues to develop from here.

Franken Fran, Omnibus 3Franken Fran, Omnibus 3-4 (equivalent to Volumes 5-8) by Katsuhisa Kigitsu. Despite what the cover illustrations would seem to imply, Franken Fran isn’t particularly heavy on fanservice. Granted, there is some nudity in the series, but it’s generally more discomfiting than it is titillating. Franken Fran is a manga that delights in making its readers uncomfortable. But although it is frequently gruesome and grotesque, the quirky horror is accompanied by a great deal of humor as well. Kigitsu uses actual medical and scientific phenomenon as inspiration but takes them to such logical and illogical extremes that they become almost unrecognizable. The horror in Franken Fran works as well as it does because there are these little kernels of truth underneath it all. For the most part Franken Fran tends to be episodic although the stories can largely be categorized by recurring types, settings, and characters. For example, there are numerous chapters based in Fran’s school as well as a set of quickly escalating stories about the supposedly superheroic Senitals. More characters are introduced as the series progresses, too, including Fran’s incredibly crass, vulgar, and homicidal older sister Gavril.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Omnibus 5Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Omnibus 5 (equivalent to Volumes 9-10) by Satoshi Mizukami. It’s been quite a while since the last omnibus of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer was released. I’m not entirely sure why it took me so long to finally get around to reading it though since there was so much about the series that I enjoyed. The ending of the series was pretty great. It was immensely satisfying to see the Beast Knights pull together for the final battle against Animus as a tightly knit team, surpassing everything that they’d previously accomplished. They are a group of troubled outsiders who have established a tremendous and lasting bond with one another despite, or maybe because of, their differences. As weird a manga as Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer can be–and it can be very weird (which is admittedly something that I like about the series)–it still manages to have a surprisingly deeply resonant core. If it wasn’t already clear, the conclusion of the series’ makes its theme explicit. Underneath the psychic powers and supernatural battles is a story about growing up regardless of how old someone actually is, about survival in the face of the worst that life can throw at somebody, and about forming meaningful connections with others.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/6/17

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Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 16 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – The Moon Festival continues, as does Yukihira’s attempt to outsell Terunori Kuga, a member of the Council of Ten with a popular Chinese food booth. There are a few chapters about Yukihira’s latest concoction being amazing, and at least one day where he comes out ahead, thanks to help from half a dozen friends, and then… the whole idea just kind of fizzles. Instead, we’re introduced to Erina’s uber-controlling dad who has managed to convince six members of the Council to appoint him the new dean of the school. He’s the one who taught Erina to have such a refined palette, but his techniques were akin to brainwashing, so the now-former dean enlists Yukihira’s help to save his granddaughter. It’s not that this isn’t interesting, but it was a really awkward segue. Didn’t he have something major on the line with that challenge? – Michelle Smith

FukuFuku: Kitten Tales, Vol. 2 | By Konami Kanata | Vertical Comics – In these turbulent times, it’s nice to take a mental break and just read about a kitten doing kittenish things. In this volume, FukuFuku opens doors with her face, gets brushed, tries to avoid getting wet, goes outside on a windy day, chases bugs, drinks from a drippy faucet, jumps on the counter, and gets irritated at her owner on a regular basis, particularly when she’s thwarted from attacking things that, frankly, the owner should’ve known better than to wave in her face. In fact, that’s the one frustrating thing about this series—owner, if you have a cat, why on earth do you expected the sliced fish you leave on your kotatsu to still be there after you leave the room?! But FukuFuku’s expressive reactions are definitely amusing enough to compensate, and an unexpected event at the end of the volume is welcome, too. I’m on board for volume three! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 8 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – The third set of the match against Aoba Johsai continues, and it’s a real nail-biter. Perennial bench-warmer Tadashi Yamaguchi finally gets a chance to step in as a pinch-hitter, but regrettably botches his chance. Still, Karasuno manages to tie up the game at 24 points each, and then tense and exhausting back-and-forth scoring ensues until, finally, Aoba Johsai takes the win. I’m reminded of Kuroko’s Basketball, which just did something similar, but this is the way to ensure growth in our heroes, and they’re all determined to work hard, even the third years, who have decided to stay on the team with the goal of participating in the spring tournament together. Individually, Kageyama has changed, too, throwing off his kingly mantle seemingly for good, and I’m pretty excited to see where the team goes from here. – Michelle Smith

My Love Story!!, Vol. 11 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | VIZ Media – We begin with Takeo and Yamato each on their school trip to Hokkaido, and the anticipation of finally getting to spend some free time together. When they do see each other, Takeo thinks he’s able to hide his lustful impulses from Yamato, but she not only knows all along, but purposefully gets close to him because she enjoys making him feel the same way she does. They finally communicate about their feelings and… share a single, chaste smooch in an unoccupied train station. Which I suppose is progress for them. As the volume ends, Sunakawa has evidently made a new friend, which makes Takeo a bit lonely, though the guy seems to be a creep and one wonders why Sunakawa is hanging out with him, when in the past he’d diss girls who insulted his large, good-hearted friend. Only two volumes left! Sad face! – Michelle Smith

My Pathetic Vampire Life, Vol. 2 | By Ishikawa Rose | Seven Seas – I was a bit underwhelmed with the first volume, and that feeling has not changed. To be fair, this may be another case of “I am disappointed as this was not what I expected,” but I still feel that there could be a lot more done with this sort of plot. Instead, it’s a relaxed, slice-of-life comedy manga with a few vampires in it. The odd joke manages to land, and there’s some good backstory for Koide as he talks about visiting his sister, which excites his classmates till they realize he means her grave. I also liked his analysis of cultural festivals and how they work, especially as it’s almost immediately subverted. Still, in this end, this title is merely OK. Fans of comedy supernatural manga may want to read it. – Sean Gaffney

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 15

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Hinase Momoyama. Released in Japan in two separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Dawn of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine GFantasy. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Warning: this reviews mentions the biggest spoiler in Umineko, which I have been dancing around until now. I won’t mention it in this first paragraph, but it’s hard not to review this final omnibus of the arc and discuss it, as it ends up being a major part of the climax. Before we get to that, though: I’ve talked before about how Ryukishi07 loves a good old fashioned shonen battle at heart, and a great deal of this book is just that. Various characters try to attack Beatrice and get blown away by various other characters, as you realize how ridiculously huge the cast has become by now. Erika finally loses, and judging by the “roll call” at the end of the book, seemingly abandoned to a watery grave by Bernkastel. And Ryukishi still can’t resist connecting Umineko and Higurashi, even though Featherine and Hanyuu are as alike as two very unalike things.

(I am very irritated with that front cover image, by the way. I know it’s not Yen’s fault, and that the Japanese licensor chose which cover to use and which to hide. But it makes me sad that the best cover in the series is relegated to the color page inside.)

For those trying to figure out what’s going on in Umineko, the manga has been a bit more obvious in its hints than the visual novel, even back in earlier arcs. For this particular arc, we’ve spent a long time debating why it is that Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice need magic in order to have their love fulfilled, and this volume explicitly says it’s because they are not a whole person. Meanwhile, as predicted in the last volume, Battler is trapped in a logic error of his own making, trapped inside the guest room till he can figure out how to get out without disturbing the chain lock, duct tape seals, or anything else. The answer ends up being that Kanon, being dead (Shannon won the big duel), can now come free Battler and take his place. And then “erase himself” by magic. There’s only one way for this all to work, and that’s by realizing that we’re talking about IDENTITIES when we discuss people on the island, not BODIES. Shannon and Kanon cannot both love without magic help as they’re the same person. And both are also a third person – Beatrice.

This works a lot better than you’d imagine if you think about what is “real” in the books and what takes place in an imaginary fantasy world. We’ve gone on and on about “magic” being a conceit, and that’s in full force here. It’s also what allows Fledgling Beato to take up the place of her old self and become the “real”, haughty Beatrice – though that mask slips much of the time, and there’s still some creepy incestual vibes between her and Battler that is the big downside of this arc and I kind of hate. In any case, we may have figured out the gimmick behind one of the biggest mysteries of Umineko, but we’re still completely in the dark as to the motive? What led to this? Was it Battler’s sin (remember that)? Was it because everyone needed a lot of money right now? What drove Beatrice, whoever she may identify as, to the events of 1986?

We will hopefully find out soon (though Yen hasn’t scheduled it yet) with the 7th arc of Umineko: Requiem of the Golden Witch. I’m sure it will be happy and filled with good times – after all, Bernkastel will be in charge of this arc. What could possibly go wrong?

Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear, Vol. 1

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By all rights, Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear should be interesting: it takes place in a rural village where talking bears and humans have peacefully coexisted for centuries. The story focuses on Machi, a priestess-in-training who’s learning the ropes from Natsu, her ursine mentor. Though Machi is determined to serve the village in her capacity as miko, she’s also determined to attend high school in a nearby city — something none of her predecessors have done.

While the set-up is ripe with potential, the execution is oddly flat. Part of the problem is that the leads feel more like ideas than characters. Machi, in particular, is a collection of quirks in search of a personality. In an effort to endear her to the reader, author Masume Yoshimoto makes her naive, ditsy, shy, and spazzy — a veritable catalog of manic pixie dream girl traits — but never reveals why she behaves so irrationally. Natsu is a little more fleshed out: he has wisdom to impart, and frets about Machi’s welfare. Worrying about another person, however, isn’t the same thing as having a personality, and here, too, Yoshimoto falls short. Natsu’s concern doesn’t suggest any deeper knowledge of Machi’s past or her reasons for wanting to leave the village; any reasonable person would worry about someone who seems as impetuous and dim-witted as Machi.

The only character with any presence is Yoshio, Machi’s pervy 25-year-old cousin. In one memorable scene, Yoshio gets so carried away describing the village’s history that he forgets his audience, accidentally regaling third graders with salacious details of a human-bear union. This scene might be funny, but the author wants to have it both ways, aiming for a mixture of titillation and tee-hees that’s just plain uncomfortable; I’m with the little girl who declares, “Sexual harassment!” before covering her ears.

If any of the other five stories had left as vivid an impression as “Village Legends,” I might cautiously recommend Kuma Miko to fans of off-beat slice-of-life comedies, but the rest of volume one was vanilla in comparison. Competent but undistinguished artwork and sluggish pacing pushed the title further into the “No” column for me; if I’m going to read about talking bears, dammit, I’d like to see a little more imagination on display.

KUMA MIKO, VOL. 1: GIRL MEETS BEAR • BY MASUME YOSHIMOTO • ONE PEACE BOOKS • NO RATING (SOME SUGGESTIVE MATERIAL; THIS TITLE IS BETTER SUITED FOR READERS 13+)

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 1

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By Hiro Ainana and shri. Released in Japan by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

For all that we talk about the cliche of the “transported to another world” genre (‘isekai’ in Japan), we haven’t actually seen too many pure examples of the genre itself in the light novels we’ve had translated. There have been slight variations – DanMachi essentially works on the same principles, only Bell is not from another world. SAO and Log Horizon have people trapped in literal game worlds. We’ve seen deconstructions, like Re: Zero and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. And next month we’ll see an outright parody with KonoSuba. Even this series I’m reviewing today, which comes closest to the original form, has a variation in that the hero is a late-20s salaryman in his old teenage body, and thus his thoughts are more of an adult’s. And honestly, there’s a reason we haven’t seen too many of the ‘standard’ types of isekai novels: they’re standard male wish-fulfillment.

Our hero is Satou, a game designer who falls asleep after a rough coding session and wakes up in a desert-like area where he’s about to be killed by lizard people. He thinks he’s dreaming and imagining he’s in a game, mostly as he can see his stats on a screen in front of him. So he tries the stupidly overpowered move that he and his boss were discussing earlier, which causes a giant meteor shower to take out the enemy. And then a bigger one to take out a dragon god. Doing this levels Satou up to absolutely ridiculous levels, and since he also has a Bag of Infinite Holding and a giant pile of money… even most self-insert fanfics don’t go this far. He goes to the nearest city, which is battling wyverns and demons and such, and slowly learns about the world he’s now in. Very, very slowly.

The difficulty with these male power fantasy books is that the hero is meant to be one that the reader can just swap out and substitute with themselves, and as a result can’t have too many signifying traits that might differ from said reader. This means that the novel’s big weakness is Satou, who is a giant yawning void where a protagonist should be. Since he’s got a teenage body but his mind is that of his old 29-year-old game developer self, he’s rather calm and stoic about things like love. And since he WAS a game designer, he can handle most of the cliches that come his way to try to kill him, especially as he’s got his God Stats, his Unlimited Items, and his Unlimited Money. Stoic emotionless heroes can work in the right context – Overlord and The Irregular at Magic High School have similar types. But there needs to be something behind them, something other than “well, here’s a monster, splat, OK, next?”. Also, he needs to stop telling everyone he’s not a lolicon every other line, or folks are going to get suspicious.

As for the rest of the book, well, it was all right. I never thought I’d say this about any work ever, but: this book is crying out for a tsundere to get angry with the hero. The female knight Satou saves falls for him immediately, and the three slaves he takes on (Satou is against slavery, but circumstances are such that he can’t do much about it) are all fairly meek and willing to do anything he says. If there is one bright light in this book, it is the stat updates that accompany Satou whenever he does anything, which range from the practical to the hilarious, and are easily the best part of the book. If you want to see what a garden variety isekai work is, you may want to give Death March a try. Everyone else is better off sticking with the subversions, deconstructions and parodies, though.

The GGK Project, Part 1: The Fionavar Tapestry

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For over a decade, I would’ve named Guy Gavriel Kay as my favorite author. And yet, I have never reviewed any of his books here. Having failed to love The Last Light of the Sun when I read it back in 2004, I think my enthusiasm for him just waned, and though I bought his subsequent novels, I hadn’t felt particularly compelled to read them. Now, though, I am determined to tackle GGK’s full bibliography, from old favorites that I’ve reread before (like my most-beloved The Lions of Al-Rassan) to one that I somehow only read the once when it came out twenty-plus years ago (A Song for Arbonne) to the newer books I haven’t yet read. But I will start, as is customary, with the very beginning.

When Jordan moved in across the street from me in the late ’80s, she really did influence my life in some significant ways, not the least of which was introducing me to “GGK” through his first series, The Fionavar Tapestry. My love was deep and abiding and, because of that, I definitely had some trepidation about revisiting the trilogy. My genre preferences have evolved over the years, for one thing, and I no longer read as much fantasy as I used to. More, though, I remember this as the first series to make me cry my eyes out. Would it still have the same effect on me after all this time? As it happens, I shouldn’t have worried, because now I apparently get verklempt at the drop of a hat.

Spoilers ahead.

summertreeThe Summer Tree
We begin with a conference at the University of Toronto where a group of five students is invited to meet afterwards with one of the lecturers. To their surprise, he reveals himself to be a mage named Loren Silvercloak from a world called Fionavar, sent to bring guests from our world to a festival for the High King of Brennin. What he doesn’t reveal, while feeling guilty for the deception, is the fact that Brennin is in turmoil (a punishing and unnatural drought, an ailing and elderly king, the return of some nasty creatures, an evil god imprisoned under a mountain…) and that he feels they are needed there somehow.

The five quickly decide to take Loren up on his offer and the story’s scope widens considerably once they arrive in Fionavar. In addition to meeting one of my favorite fictional characters ever, seemingly frivolous Prince Diarmuid (more on him later), the Canadians are swiftly swept up in events, changed by their experiences as they discover individual destinies even Loren had no inkling of.

Perceptive Kimberly Ford, for example, becomes the new Seer of Brennin, inheriting the knowledge of her predecessor and destined to be the one to call “The Warrior.” Witty Kevin Laine is accepted as part of Diarmuid’s band of men, though there is more to come for him down the road. Paul Schafer is grappling with tremendous guilt after surviving a car accident that killed the woman he loved, yet an experience in Fionavar allows him to finally see that it wasn’t his fault. Emotionally guarded Dave Martyniuk finds a place he belongs among the Dalrei, the nomadic hunters of the plains, and begins to open up to friendship. And Jennifer Lowell, proud and reserved, yet not unkind, is captured by the evil god (Rakoth Maugrim) and mentally and physically violated before Kimberly is able to rescue her.

I admit Jennifer’s fate does trouble me a little. Of the five, she probably receives the least attention in this first installment before undergoing a terrible ordeal at the end. Rakoth has already issued a dramatic proclamation of his freedom and war is at hand by the time her friends learn of her fate, so it’s not as though her rape is solely responsible for spurring them into action, but they are extra motivated because of it. I do still think, though, that this plotline is ultimately about Jennifer and the choices she will make going forward.

Lastly, I’ll note that Guy Gavriel Kay’s writing style might not be for everyone. Occasionally it can be portentous, namedropping legendary figures, and maybe a little too poetic at times, but overall I still love the wistful, languid, and bittersweet feeling of his prose. There’s so much emphasis on what events mean to the characters that I got sniffly over and over again. (I found Dave’s arc especially moving.) At this rate, I will be a puddle by the third book!

wandering_fireThe Wandering Fire
Although there are many important things that happen in The Wandering Fire, I think what I like best is the continuing character development for the five Canadians. This time, it’s Kim whom we don’t see very much of, and that’s honestly fine by me, since she had so much of the focus the first time around. We spend a lot of time with Paul, whose survival of the summer tree has given him the ability to compel the lesser gods of Fionavar, and with Dave and Jennifer, too. (And I am indeed happy to report that she ends the volume much stronger for having endured all that she has been through.) But shining above all of them is Kevin.

After Kim brought them home at the end of The Summer Tree and everyone saw what had been done to Jennifer, Kevin declared, “To this I will make reply, although he be a god and it mean my death.” When they returned to Fionavar, however, and he saw how effective Dave was in battle, how everyone else had something to contribute, he felt terribly useless and bitterly derided himself for his proclamation. And then he accompanies a group on a journey to the territory of Dana, the goddess, to try to discover how Rakoth Maugrim has caused the unnatural winter that plagues Fionavar. There, he awakens to his fate as Liadon, lover and sacrifice to the goddess. It is fitting that when Paul went willingly to the tree, he needed to properly grieve the loss of the woman he had loved, and thus brought rain, and now bright and warm Kevin is the one responsible for bringing spring. It’s not his death that makes me sniffle, but the fact that he found the thing he was meant to do, and struck an enormous blow against the dark in the process. He was very far from useless.

So, too, do I love the reactions of the others to what has happened to Kevin, especially Dave, who mourns Kevin, with whom he never got along in school, to a degree that surprises him. I like to think his grief was colored with regret for so much time wasted when they could’ve been friends. My one complaint, though, is that we never see inside Diarmuid’s head. He liked Kevin, and we can tell he is upset, but we are not privy to his thoughts, nor indeed to the love he evidently discovered he feels toward Sharra, to whom he proposes. Every time Diarmuid does something brilliant and brave, which is often, my heart swells a bit with love of him, but he still remains somewhat of an enigma. The same is true for his brother Aileron, actually. For the most part, we follow the points of view of outsiders.

There’s more sorrow yet to come in the final volume, and I must ready myself to face it.

darkest_roadThe Darkest Road
In this concluding volume of the trilogy, the armies of the Light and the Dark have their final confrontation. Our heroes taste defeat, bittersweet victory, loss, glory, and pain. I am pretty sure this was the first book to ever make me cry my eyes out over a beloved character’s death, and it did so again this time. Hiding his serious hatred of the Dark under a flippant facade, Diarmuid is the first of two characters to willingly sustain a killing blow in order to deliver one. The way Kay describes this scene playing out is so cinematic, I’m left desperately hoping this’ll be the next fantasy epic to be adapted for television.

Contrasting Diarmuid’s end, where he passes surrounded by loved ones and is given a proper farewell (another vivid image is Aileron, devasted by grief, cradling his brother’s body to his chest as he carries him from the field of battle), poor Darien dies alone and uncomforted in Maugrim’s crumbling fortress, never knowing whether anyone will know what he achieved. Thankfully, they do know and the bravery of his deeds and the choice he made is celebrated in song.

Revisiting this series as an older, more attentive, reader has been an interesting experience. Only at the very, very last do we get a glimpse inside Diarmuid’s head. I doubt younger me even noticed that. Nor, I think, did I notice that alongside the three central Arthurian figures reliving their fate, another takes the part of the Lady of Shalott. Lastly, and most significantly, I have a greater appreciation for the statement Kay is making about free will. Obviously, the roles some characters play are tied to destiny, but the importance of Darien’s freedom to choose between the Light and the Dark is repeatedly emphasized, Paul chose to take the king’s place on the summer tree, Jennifer chose to have Darien and refuses to attempt to influence his decision, Diarmuid chooses to take on an impossible foe, Kim chooses not to conscript an ancient power that would surely have been an advantage, and more. I hope that I will find more to love about Kay’s other works—maybe I’ll even like The Last Light of the Sun more next time!

Stay tuned.

Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition, Vol. 9

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By Natsuki Takaya. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

This review contains spoilers that everyone knows. If you don’t know them, you can stop reading here.

At the time that Fruits Basket was first coming out, both in Japan and North America, it had a sizeable BL fandom. In fact, one might very well argue the BL fandom was far larger than the het fandom for this particular title. Not really a surprise – the series is filled with pretty boys, and some of them even play up to this stereotype (Shigure, Ayame, I’m looking at you). And BL fandom at the time (and to a certain extent today, though maybe not as much?) tended to demonize and bash any female character that got in the way of their pairings (not Tohru so much, but Rin got hit REALLY hard with this) as well as praise the “bad boy”. Which of course in Fruits Basket was Akito. Akito was a hot guy, so could be forgiven a little abuse here and there, right?

So with the revelation that Akito was actually a girl, raised as a boy (her gender is a secret to most of the cast as well as the reader), the fandom sort of exploded into bits. Half of it reacted much like Tohru did in this book, dropping to her knees and breaking down until Hanajima comes to her rescue (one of my favorite scenes in the entire manga, particularly Hana providing her own fanfare). The other half reacted with rage that Takaya-san would do this to their beloved Akito, who… was no longer as beloved as a girl. In fact, the fandom started to turn on her a bit. Reading it now almost ten years later, I am similarly torn, though admittedly not for the BL. Akito is clearly also part of this giant family of abuse, and we see a lot more of her mother Ren here – indeed, Ren kickstarts the plot that occupies much of the latter half of the book. On the other hand, Akito is still a spoiled, entitled brat, and lashes out in panic whenever anyone shows the slightest sign they’re going to leave her. It’s hard to read, but worth it.

Then there’s Rin and Haru, who’s plots get mostly resolved here. Rin suffers somewhat from being a dark mirror to Tohru, and so her quest to break the curse was always doomed to end in failure. Also, don’t trust the obviously untrustworthy woman, Rin. But Akito’s reaction to finding her opening “the forbidden box”, and her subsequent punishment, is nightmarish – you sense that if Kureno hadn’t found her, she would literally have died there. (Kureno has to talk a terrified maid into helping him, and judging by the head maid’s disparaging words after the fact, I suspect that said maid may have gotten fired after all.) Speaking of dark mirrors, the light side is Haru, who realizes he wanted to possess Rin more than he wanted to protect her. The dark side is Shigure, who wants Akito all for himself and is happy to shatter her preconceptions to do so – in fact, he has to do so due to the nature of the curse.

I admit these two volumes, as well as the first half of the next edition, are where I realized Shigure would always be my favorite. His possessive monologue about wanting to “crush Akito to a pulp”, as well as his dull-eyed stare as he thinks it, is some of Takaya’s finest work in he entire manga. And as if that wasn’t horrifying enough, his conversation with Rin right at the end implies he may have known about her fate and done nothing about it. Shigure can be both fascinating and completely awful, and I could analyze him all day. But I will instead say that this volume of Fruits Basket and the one after are, in my mind, the high points of the entire series. Even if they did crack the internet in half at the time.

Manga the Week of 2/8/17

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SEAN: Sooooo much Viz. So much. Almost every single Viz title I follow has a volume out this week. Oddly, though, absolutely no new title debuts.

Before Viz, though, Kodansha gives us a 2nd volume of Fire Force, which seems to be Soul Eater’s attempt to do Fairy Tail.

Say “I Love You” is ending soon, but I’m not sure if 17 is the final volume or not. We shall see.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I don’t know either.

ASH: This series has been consistently great. I’m glad that Kodansha brought it over.

ANNA: I’m so far behind on this series, I’ve almost given up on getting caught up, but I’m also glad Kodansha brought it over.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a 2nd volume of My Pathetic Vampire Life, which I did not enjoy as much as I expected.

And a 2nd Please Tell Me, Galko-chan!, which I enjoyed more than I expected.

ASH: I really enjoyed the first volume, too! It was surprisingly bright and cheery.

SEAN: Titan Comics has been releasing the manga version of Sherlock in pamphlet form over the last year, and now we finally get the first volume collected as A Study in Pink. Assuming there are Sherlock fans left after that last season.

MICHELLE: I liked the middle one!

ANNA: Ah, maybe it will be pleasantly nostalgic?

SEAN: Kitty! A 2nd volume of Fuku Fuku: Kitten Tales from Vertical Comics.

MJ: More kitties are always welcome!

MICHELLE: Yay!

SEAN: And now. Viz. So much Viz. A 14th volume of Assassination Classroom, which is not quite at THAT spoiler yet. Next time.

Black Clover has improved slightly with each volume, to the point that I am prepared to call the 5th volume “pretty good”.

Bleach has an 18th 3-in-1, which I assume is in the middle of some long arc.

Hungry? Good. Food Wars! 16 will make you want to eat (or go to a school festival).

Don’t eat volleyballs, though. But the 8th volume of Haikyu!! should be excellent.

MICHELLE: Very excited about more Food Wars! and Haikyu!!.

ASH: I’m also looking forward to more of both series.

ANNA: Haikyu!! is consistently good.

SEAN: The 3rd arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure did not grip me as immediately as the first two. I’m hoping that changes with the 2nd Stardust Crusaders hardcover.

ASH: It’s such a weird series. It almost becomes a travelogue at some points. Granted, a very bloody one with lots of punching and mind games.

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss continues its final arc with its 23rd volume.

ANNA: I’ve got 4 volumes to read to get caught up, but in a way that’s fine because the series is so enjoyable.

SEAN: How will Kuroko’s Basketball’s 4th omnibus deal with the CRUSHING DEFEAT from last time? My guess? Friendship and Training.

MICHELLE: A solid bet.

SEAN: Maid-sama! has Vol. 13-14, which means it’s actually nearly over. I assume Misaki will protest quite a bit throughout.

MICHELLE: It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re actually going to see the conclusion of this one.

SEAN: And a 7th volume of superhero school manga My Hero Academia.

ASH: I’ve really been meaning to read this series; I’ve heard great things about it.

SEAN: Yay! My Love Story!! 11 is here! Please always be adorable.

MICHELLE: Here’s one that’s almost over, too. (Volume thirteen is the end.)

ASH: I continue to love My Love Story!!(!)

ANNA: How could it not be adorable?

SEAN: One Piece’s 81st volume makes me very happy, if only as I don’t have to say Dressrosa anymore. What’s up with Sanji, though?

MICHELLE: Man, you weren’t kidding about nearly everything getting a new volume!

SEAN: So Cute It Hurts!! gets an 11th volume, though the exclamation mark joke’s time has passed.

Toriko is in its final arc with the 37th volume, but I think it’s still got a ways to go.

MICHELLE: Finally, I’m about to embark on reading Toriko!

SEAN: Yona of the Dawn has a 4th volume, and cannot come out fast enough for me.

MICHELLE: I am excite.

ASH: I’m more than ready for my next dose of shoujo epic fantasy!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 9th Yu-Gi-Oh! 3-in-1, because Yu-Gi-Oh will never die.

MJ: Wow, when I see a list like this, it makes me feel like I’m not reading anything at all. I swear I am!

SEAN: What’s keeping you happy in this cold and gloomy February?

Kagerou Daze VI: Over the Dimension

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By Jin (Shinzen no Teki-P) and Sidu. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

For all that I’ve joked about the Kagerou Daze light novels being short – and they really are, they’re easily the shortest books that Yen is putting out right now – that’s not a complaint about their quality, which has steadily improved with each volume. Kagerou Daze does not really give the reader a lot of information directly, so one can get very easily confused reading the first three books. As we move on, though, and discover backstories and connections between characters, everything starts to come together as we realize that there is an overarching plot here, we have a main villain, and we almost know what the villain is doing, though not why. It can also help flesh out previous books, and no volume does that more than this new one, which is a mirror to the second book, A Headphone Actor.

In that book we had the POV of Takane, the eternally angry high school girl who likes her tall, airheaded classmate Haruka but can’t do anything but take shots at him, because hiding embarrassment, etc. A tsundere with very little dere. This new book gives us Haruka’s perspective of the same events, and we can see that he does actually sort of like Takane, but unfortunately due to her actions he doesn’t think that she likes him much at all. If you’re going to haev a stereotypical angry anime girl, it’s always nice to show off how it can work against them in the long run. As for Haruka himself, he’s a bit shy, straightforward, nice… and dying, something that he’s known about for some time but hasn’t really told anyone about. The knowledge that he’ll be dead in a year informs many of his actions, especially as he begins to open up to both Takane and his new friends Ayano and Shintaro.

Shintaro is a bit of a revelation here, as from Takane’s perspective in Volume 2, he was quite different back in school from the emotional hot mess we know and love. Here we see Shintaro slowly open to to Haruka’s aggressive overtures of friendship, and we can see that the emotional turmoil is not all that far from the surface. There’s lots of bits in this book that work because we know the cast and their pasts from previous books – when Ayano walks in on Haruka and begins to act in a completely non-characteristic way, it’s easy to see that it’s really Kano. We also see the start of Momo’s idol career, and the fact that literally everyone but Shintaro can see how gaga Ayano is over him. Of course, Ayano is dead in the future, which also makes this a bit tragic as well.

In fact, the book ends darkly, as not only do we see Haruka and Takane getting turned into Konoha and Ene from his perspective, but we also see that Konoha seems to be somewhat possessed by evil, and also that Shintaro is possibly dead as well. Given that we’ve seen time loops in this series before, I highly doubt this is meant to be permanent, but our heroes still have a long way to go to fix things. Definitely worth a read, even if you’re not a fan of the songs.

Deathtopia, Vol. 1

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It’s never a good sign when you enjoyed the Baka-Updates thread about a manga more than the actual manga, but that’s the case for Deathtopia, a title that scores a hat trick for being gory, exploitative, and boring. Part of the problem is the story: it’s the umpteenth example of an ordinary teen discovering that he’s been chosen to save the world. Koh Fujimura, the hero of Deathtopia, is the only person who can detect the presence of “Them,” a group of super-human predators that commit sadistic, stagey murders. Aiding him in the quest to ferret out these menaces are Maya Hoshimiya, Yui Kisagari, and Saki Yagami, a trio of buxom special agents who favor bustiers and short skirts over traditional uniforms. (Call me crazy, but where do you holster a gun if you’re not wearing any pants?)

All of this would be easier to swallow if manga-ka Yoshinobu Yamada had bestowed any personality on his characters, or supplied them with motives for the work they do. None of the cast, however, show any traces of wit or curiosity; all of them behave like well-programmed robots, dutifully marching from one grotesque crime scene to the next. Yamada allows Koh a few moments of fear and confusion, but these beats land with the emotional force of a Linux manual since we know almost nothing about him. Even the character designs are generic: there’s a pretty girl with short hair and hot pants, a pretty girl with a pony tail and a school uniform, and a pretty girl with long hair and a suit. (Actually, she’s the only one who looks like a law-enforcement agent, since she’s wearing comfortable shoes.) The bad guys, by contrast, are so uniformly and cartoonishly ugly it’s a wonder that Koh, Maya, Yui, and Saki can’t identify them at 50 paces.

Perhaps the most telling sign that Yamada is more interested in cheesecake than plot is that he draws the female characters’ breasts with more individuality than their faces. Yamada further diminishes his female characters by reducing them to types — the psychopathic bitch, the aloof older woman — and making his teenage male hero miraculously “better” at monster-hunting, despite his young age and lack of training. The only evidence of Maya, Yui, and Saki’s superior skill is supplied by Koh himself in the form of a voice-over; he muses that “These women are amazing! Even I can tell that their every move is calculated,” although that statement is undermined by the way Yamada stages a subsequent shoot-out.

The manga’s best gambit is shamelessly pilfered from John Carpenter’s They Live! (1988). In this Reagan-era cult classic, sunglasses enabled the hero to see that aliens were living amongst us, using subliminal messaging to subdue and control humanity:

In Deathtopia, Koh gains a similar ability after eye surgery: he sees the monsters as humans with scribbly, mouthless faces, drifting unnoticed through Tokyo streets. Only when Koh dons glasses does he lose sight of “Them”; in an original touch, glass blocks his monster vision. For all the promise this idea holds, however, Yamada makes no attempt to explore its allegorical potential, instead lavishing most of his attention on dismembered corpses and topless girls. Carpenter, by contrast, used They Live! to explore the evils of consumerism and conformity and deliver one of the longest, goofiest, and most admired fight sequences in B-movie history.

In sum, Deathtopia is the sort of manga you might think was cool if you hadn’t read any manga, or were just hoping to steal a glimpse of naked girls. Anyone who’s read Alive: The Final Evolution, Bloody Monday, Death Note, Platinum End, or even Yamada’s Cage of Eden, however, won’t find much to distinguish Deathtopia from these other teenage male fantasies, as it lacks the verve, polish, and imagination of the best examples in this genre.

DEATHTOPIA, VOL. 1 • BY YOSHINOBU YAMADA • KODANSHA COMICS • RATED M, for MATURE

Murciélago, Vol. 1

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By Yoshimurakana. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Christine Dashiell.

Before I get to the actual review, please be advised that when you see the Parental Advisory warning on the cover, it’s not kidding. This series is explicit in both its sex and violence, and in particular those who don’t like gore would do well to avoid it. It’s also another one of those “everyone in the cast is a sociopathic monster” series, where empathy is really hard to come by and you simply have to shrug your shoulders and read it as if it was a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Once you do that, you’ll realize just how much fun Murciélago is, particularly its mass murdering protegonist, Kuroko. Though I also have to warn you that if you also read One-Punch Man, Kuroko will remind you much of the time of a busty female Saitama.

The premise is that Kuroko is on death row for, well, murdering so many people, but is offered a job by the government as a killer-for-hire to take out the really difficult to capture psychos. Since this will allow her to do whatever the hell she wants legally, she agrees to it straight away. She’s partnered with Hinako, a high school girl (though her normal personality reads more like a ten year old) with an insane ability to drive her car anywhere, including across cityscape roofs. Together the two of them take on an ex-wrestler whose drug habit has led him to a murderous hallucination-driven rage, and some really unfortunate robbers who try to hold up the restaurant they’re eating in. Along the way we also meet Miyuki, a seemingly innocent young girl who somehow ends up roped into Kuroko’s world. Seemingly probably being the right word, though we don’t have much beyond one evil grin yet.

One other thing that bears mentioning is that Kuroko is a lesbian, something we see very explicitly throughout. We meet Kuroko scissoring her lover, the book ends with an online date that turns to sex pretty quickly, and she’s all over every single woman we meet in the book, though Hinako thankfully doesn’t seem to really react to it much. It’s rather refreshing to see a lesbian in mainstream manga portrayed as this blatantly sexual, and I’m sure the only reason it can get away with it is that Kuroko is the “antihero” sort of hero, and is therefore allowed to be as outrageous as possible. That said, honestly the best part of this manga may be the way Kuroko moves and reacts. She seems to be made entirely of limbs at times, does what has been dubbed the “SHAFT head tilt”, and her facial expressions are worth the price of the book alone.

Basically, if you enjoy over the top violence and action with a strong female lead, and don’t mind that everyone in this world except for one rookie cop is completely looney tunes, Murciélago is right up your alley. Fans of Black Lagoon should also enjoy it, though Black Lagoon attempts to have a moral center that Murciélago never bothers with. Great gore-filled fun.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/30/17

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Alice in Matchaland | By Mosoko Miyatsuki | Manga University – This slim volume is both picture and cook book, offering readers a playful riff on Lewis Carroll’s most famous work as well as recipes for matcha-infused snacks. For tween manga lovers, the button-cute character designs, Technicolor palette, and gentle pokes at manga cliche may be enough to justify purchasing Alice in Matchaland. Anyone intent on making Matcha Energy Bites, however, will need a conversion table handy, as the recipes freely mix teaspoons with grams and milliliters. The book doesn’t offer any tips for procuring matcha powder, either—a curious omission, since many Americans won’t find it on the shelves of their local grocery stores. A little more attention to the recipes would have made this book less of a stocking stuffer and more of a must-buy for tea-drinking manga enthusiasts. (The publisher provided a review copy.) -Kate Dacey

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 3 | By Bisco Hatori | VIZ Media – It’s not that Behind the Scenes!! is awful, but that every chapter is essentially filler. In this volume, there’s the one about the bratty child actor whom the team helps emote, the one about protecting a group filming in a park, the one about fundraising through shrinky dinks (yes, really), and the one about creating a haunted house. At times, attempts are made to flesh out the other members of the art squad, but it’s never building on character traits previously established and then paying off in a satisfying way. It’s always Ranmaru noticing on one page that Ruka gives in too easily and then on the next page encouraging her not to give in because shrinky dinks (yes, really). Probably it’s time to accept that this series is just not for me and move on. – Michelle Smith

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 3 | By Bisco Hatori | Viz Media – There isn’t a ton of plot or character development in Behind the Scenes!!, but it does reliably deliver a pleasant escape in the adventures of a college art club that supports various film projects. The first story line in this volume deals with the redemption of a child actor who at first seems spoiled, then there is detour into the value of crafts as the gentle rich girl Ruka stands up for herself. The gang also has to fine tune a haunted house, when they make it dangerously realistic. Even if this series isn’t the most memorable thing Hatori has created, it still is diverting in the moment. I enjoy the interactions between all the characters, and this volume also featured several bonus one page manga at end. – Anna N

Horimiya, Vol. 6 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – I said last time that Hori and Miyamura hadn’t quite taken the next step in their relationship yet. They do that here, but blink sand you’ll miss it—unlike most manga of this type, their first time—while sweet—is not earth-shattering and does not really change either of them. Indeed, Miyamura is far more concerned about the required swimming event, mostly as it could get him expelled. We also see Hori being jealous again, but she’s at least cognizant of how annoying it is, and it’s funnier when she uses her anger against other people, like Miyamura’s old teasing classmates from junior high. This is not particularly going anywhere, even with the sex, but it’s still a well-written leisurely ride. – Sean Gaffney

Interviews with Monster Girls, Vol. 2 | By Petos | Kodansha Comics – This is sort of a harem series—there’s certainly enough students and one teacher in love with Takahashi-sensei. But it feels so laid-back and leisurely, and he’s so non-sexual in general, that I can’t really define it as a classic harem comedy. At heart, it’s about the girls and their monster issues—though the best chapter in the volume has the teacher pointing out that you can’t just think of them as monsters OR girls, but you have to balance both sides. Much of the volume deals with a yuki-onna who worries she may live up to her stereotype, and she’s just as sweet and cute (and somewhat boring) as the other girls. This is a nice series, and monster girl fans will like it. It is, however, not a book that will get your pulse racing. Leisurely. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – At last, a volume of Liselotte I can honestly say was excellent throughout. The bargain that she has to strike to save Engetsu’s life essentially resets things to square one, but that’s really for the best, as I think the baggage was crushing them both a bit. We also get more flashes to what Lise was like before the rebellion, and it’s rather sad and also a bit eerie. There’s also still some comedy, mostly coming from Alto and Anna, though the return of a witch from the previous volume also helps. I suspect things may not stay comedic for long, though, as it appears that Lise is not going to be allowed to be merely exiled for much longer. The less fluffy this gets the more I like it, though the fluff is still fun. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | VIZ Media – Man, I can already tell that it’s going to be pretty painful when Liselotte goes on hiatus after two more volumes. Although some of what happens in this installment feels like things I’ve seen before—the heroine who unhesitatingly hacks off her own long hair, the love interest who loses his memories of the heroine, the determined optimism and welcoming spirit—there are some unique things about this story, chief among them the reveal in the final pages that someone has been watching Liselotte and reporting back to her brother, who is being pressured to do something about her. It’d be an interesting development if her world were to get a bit darker; the Akito vibes I got from the tree spirit in this volume were pretty fantastic. – Michelle Smith

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 2 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – I have to say, so far this is currently at the top of my “most surprising new series” list, as the second volume is just as strong as the first was. Even as it appears that Mugi and Hanabi may have deeper feelings for each other than they expected, it is shown over and over again how bad this relationship really is, and how much they’re hurting from it. Of course, not having the relationship would not ease the source of the hurt. Meanwhile, we also meet Ebato, Hanabi’s friend who turns out to be in love with her, something that gets revealed a lot more than she’d like at a sleepover, and ends just as ambiguously as you’d expect. This is a fantastic car crash of a romance manga, where even the omake extra is tragic and sad. Well-written and brutal. – Sean Gaffney

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 2 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – After making a brief appearance in volume one, a lot of this volume focuses on Hanabi’s only female friend, Ecchan, who has been in love with her ever since the day they took the entrance exam. When she’s invited to a sleepover, she’s unable to contain her feelings anymore and confesses, but more importantly gets Hanabi to confirm that she doesn’t love Mugi. Ecchan offers to be the surrogate herself, but by volume’s end, Hanabi’s in bed with Mugi, seemingly ready to have sex with him. One thing I particularly liked about this volume is though her relationship with Mugi might seem twisted and strange, in a way she’s more pure than other classmates, because she’s acting out of love and not merely juggling two guys, trying to decide who has more to offer her. Looking forward to volume three! – Michelle Smith

My Week in Manga: January 23-January 29, 2017

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My News and Reviews

The end of the month is approaching which means it’s time for Experiments in Manga’s monthly giveaway. The winner of the most recent giveaway will be announced on Wednesday, so there’s still a little time left to enter for a chance to win the first volume of Kenya Suzuki’s delightful full-color manga series Please Tell Me! Galko-chan. Speaking of manga giveaways, there’s also an opportunity to win a copy of the first omnibus in Kei Sanbe’s Erased over at The OASG.

Elsewhere online, I came the Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2017 Great Graphic Novels for Teens. As usual, the list includes a fair number of manga along with all of the other excellent comics. Ichigo Takano’s Orange (which was also one of my notable manga from 2016) even made the top ten list. Out of the many other manga included as part of YALSA’s larger list, I have in-depth reviews of Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu and Akiko Higashimura’s Princess Jellyfish, Omnibus 1, both of which I loved.

Another list I came across recently was BookRiot’s feature on Japanese speculative fiction in translation. Overall, I think it’s a great list–I’ve previously reviewed three of the books included (Miyuki Miyabe’s The Book of Heroes, Yusuke Kishi’s The Crimson Labyrinth, and Taiyo Fujii’s Gene Mapper) and most of the others I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time or were already high on my list of books to read in the near future.

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned Kickstarter projects here, but there are a few campaigns for print comics that have caught my eye lately: Maya Kern is looking to print the second volume of the adorable webcomic Monster Pop; Amanda Lafrenais is campaigning to release the second Titty-Time print collection of erotic comics; and Deandra Tan is hoping to release a print edition of her graphic novel Love Debut!.

Quick Takes

Aoharu X Machinegun, Volume 1Aoharu X Machinegun, Volume 1 by Naoe. I picked up the first volume of Aoharu X Machinegun more on a whim than anything else but I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected. On the surface there are a few things about the beginning of Aoharu X Machinegun that are oddly reminiscent of Ouran High School Host Club–Masamune works in a host club and Hotaru, who is often mistaken for a boy, gets wrapped up in his schemes after she needs to earn some money for damaging the club’s property–but the similarities mostly end there. Hotaru has an overly-strong sense of of justice and has a tendency to get into fights because of it. Masamune is the leader of a competitive survival/war game team and has decided the Hotaru should become its third member after her aggressiveness leaves a distinct impression on him. Initially, the team’s second member Tooru, who also happens to be well-known hentai mangaka, is less than thrilled about this. They’re both completely unaware that Hotaru is a girl, too, which could cause some trouble later on. Aoharu X Machinegun is kind of ridiculous but fun. I enjoyed its action and sense of humor and this point would be interested in reading more.

Bakune Young, Volume 1Bakune Young, Volumes 1-3 by Toyokazu Matsunaga. I’ve been meaning to read Bakune Young for quite a while now but the short series is long out-of-print and can be somewhat difficult to find. (Fortunately, it turned out that my library actually owns a complete set.) Reading Bakune Young is quite an experience to say the least. Matsunaga’s artwork, while it’s frequently and deliberately grotesque and at times could even be described as ugly, is tremendous. The story itself is nearly nonsensical, but it does manage to have a bizarre sort of logic to it. The series opens with the titular Bakune Young in a pachinko parlor before he begins targeting yakuza in a killing spree. His rampage quickly escalates and eventually not only the yakuza, but Japanese police, a ninja assassin from the French Foreign Legion, psychics, and even the American military all become involved as the death count increases exponentially. Bakune Young is certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s incredibly violent, viciously dark, and legitimately absurd, but assuming one isn’t bothered by all that, it can also be extraordinarily funny. I suspect Bakune Young is a manga that readers either love or hate without there being much middle ground.

The Encyclopedia of Early EarthThe Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg. I recently read and absolutely loved Greenberg’s The One Hundred Nights of Hero and so immediately made a point to seek out more of her work. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth was Greenberg’s first graphic novel and received great acclaim when it was published. The comic’s premise is simple: a nameless storyteller as travels the world in search of a missing piece of his soul. The graphic novel shares some obvious similarities to The One  Hundred Nights of Hero in its structure, themes, artwork, and setting. Both comics take place in the pre-prehistoric Early Earth and utilize the same mythologies, cosmologies, and pantheons. Both comics, in addition to love, are also about the importance of stories and storytellers; they find inspiration in and retell existing folktales while intertwining them with those of Greenberg’s own making. Otherwise, the two comics aren’t directly related. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth feels less politically-charged than The One Hundred Nights of Hero which may make it more palatable to some audiences but as a result it isn’t nearly as powerful a work overall in comparison. Even so, The Encyclopedia of Early Earth is wonderful.

Wolf MagicWolf Magic by Natsuki Zippo. So far, Wolf Magic is the only manga by Zippo to have been released in English. As far as I can tell, Wolf Magic is also Zippo’s first professional work. Especially considering that, it’s a very strong collection of boys’ love manga, and I’d certainly be interested in seeing more from Zippo translated. Wolf Magic opens with “The Water of Love for the Withered Flower” which is about Hanasaki, a florist whose severe appearance is at complete odds with what most people would associate with his profession. However, he still manages to unintentionally catch the eye of Hata. The manga then turns to the various “Wolf Magic” stories which follow Nagase, a young gay man, as he falls in and out of love during high school and then continues to look for “the one” in college. In the process, he develops a surprising relationship with Higuchi. While the two story arcs are unrelated and are quite different from each other, thematically they are very similar. Both Hanasaki and Nagase are searching for love and acceptance and both ultimately find it in unexpected places and ways. Overall, with its attractive artwork and excellent characterizations, Wolf Magic is quite well done.

United States of JapanUnited States of Japan by Peter Tieryas. I’ve often heard United States of Japan described as a spiritual sequel or successor to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. In some ways that is certainly true–Tieryas’ novel probably would not have existed were it not for Dick’s and makes multiple references to The Man in the High Castle–but the two novels are drastically different from each other in tone and style. The underlying premise, however, is the same. Emerging victorious from World War II, Japan now controls a significant portion of what was once the United States of America. The grim cyberpunk alternate history presented in United States of Japan (complete with mecha battles and graphic torture) can be extraordinarily brutal and gruesome. The lead characters aren’t exactly the most likeable or sympathetic people, either, though they become slightly more so as the novel progresses. Captain Ben Ishimura, whose only talent seems to be hacking and programming, is a censor who comes to the attention of Agent Akiko Tsukino when an illegal video game which imagines America winning the Second World War threatens to embolden resistance against the rule of Japan.

Decapitation: Kubikiri Cycle

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By NISIOISIN, illustrations by take. Released in Japan as “Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregototsukai” by Kodansha. Released in North America by Vertical, Inc. Translated by Greg Moore.

I had thought that I had reviewed this volume when it first came out almost ten years ago from Del Rey books. But no, I hadn’t quite begun my blog yet, though I have reviewed the second (and sadly last) book in the series. But of course that was almost ten years ago. Since then I’ve gotten obsessed with Medaka Box, and I finally joined the herd in getting obsessed with the Monogatari series. So I was ready to revisit the first in Nisioisin’s Zaregoto series, which is finally getting an anime in Japan after so many years. (It also never had a manga, except for an original story spinoff.) If you’re familiar with Nisio’s later works, you’ll find much here that’s familiar, particularly the idea of what “geniuses” are. But those works lack the most important element of these books, and that’s the narrator, Ii-chan.

Nisio loves to take his main characters and have them disparaged, either by the narration himself or by other characters. But usually it’s the other characters that get all the attention. In Medaka Box Medaka is not remotely the most popular character with fans, and I doubt you’ll find many Monogatari fans saying Koyomi is “best girl” either. Zaregoto is all about Ii-chan, though. His seemingly deadpan narration, his seeming stoicism, his seeming need to not care about anything that happens to him or what anyone thinks of him. Seeming being the repeated word, because it’s pointed out repeatedly by the entire cast just how much nonsense his entire attitude is. Which is, of course, the point: he is the “nonsense user” of the subtitle, and at times he almost seems to utter it like a mantra, usually when it’s becoming too apparent that’s he’s slipping out of character.

Ii-chan (real name never given throughout the series, much like Kyon) is the friend and minder of a technological genius, Tomo Kunagisa, who’s been invited to a remote island by an eccentric ex-heiress who likes surrounding herself with these sorts of types. Of course, if the words “remote island” seem suspicious to you, you’ve probably guessed that someone is murdered while they’re there. Now Ii-chan, who is merely a normal boy among all these geniuses, must solve the crime. And that’s a lie as well, as we’re told that Ii-chan himself went to an exclusive school in America just for geniuses, though he maintains that it doesn’t count because he dropped out. Also, despite professing a bad memory and ignorance of many basic principles, he’s quoting obscure philosophy and literature throughout. He is a lying liar who lies, and by the end of the book you can see why many in the story are disgusted with him. He won’t try. He refuses to strive. He goes with the flow. Except of course that is not completely true either. He just wishes it was.

There is a lot of backstory given here, some of which comes up again later in the series and some of which does not. Ii-chan talks about a child who was not allowed to have any contact with the outside world for the first ten years of their life, but it’s unclear if he means Kunagisa or himself. Certainly Kunagisa seems to suffer from a case of arrested development – she’s supposedly the same age as Ii-chan, who’s about to start college, but looks and acts about eleven years old. She’s also the head of a former cyber-terrorist group that terrified the world while also advancing its tech beyond most people’s wildest dreams. And she and Ii-chan are clearly used to corpses and investigating – one of the funniest parts of the book is their blank disbelief at why Yayoi is so upset and edgy – after all, it’s just a murder.

Honestly, the murder mystery is possibly the least interesting part of the book – again, not uncommon with this author, where frequently you read things for the dialogue or narrative tone rather than what’s actually happening. I’d actually say it’s overly complex, with two too many twists and turns at the very end – I think Nisio agreed with me, as around the 3rd book in the series he simply stopped making the books mysteries at all. That said, I still love and highly recommend the book, if only for its fascinating and frustrating narrator. And I’m hoping it does well enough that Vertical might put out the second in the series, which is even better.

Happiness, Vols. 1-2

by

The first chapter of Happiness reads like a teenage boy’s answer to Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Makoto, the principle character, is doing his best to cope with the indignities of being fourteen: he’s bullied by the popular kids, pestered by his well-meaning but clueless mother, and embarrassed by his lustful reactions to pretty girls. Though he has one friend — the equally uncool Nunota — Makoto spends most of his time alone.

A nighttime trip to the convenience store, however, jolts Makoto out of his routine. In a dark alley, a female vampire tackles and pins him to the ground, offering the following ultimatum: “Do you want to die like this, or do you want to be like me?” With tears and snot streaming down his face, Makoto whimpers, “I don’t want to die,” thus beginning his transformation from ordinary teen to bloodsucker.

If Makoto thought that wet dreams and wedgies were awful, he soon discovers that they pale in comparison with the first stages of vampirism. He suffers from an unquenchable, almost violent thirst and finds direct sunlight blisteringly painful. Worse still, his sense of smell is now so acute that he swoons and sweats in the presence of bloody noses, cuts, and girls, a symptom that sends him into an even deeper spiral of shame. The only potential upside to his condition is his supernatural strength: though he still looks like a 100-pound weakling, he can leap from great heights and deliver a lethal karate chop when the scent of blood is in the air.

Given Makoto’s age, it’s not surprising that author Shizuno Oshimi treats his hero’s transformation as a metaphor for puberty itself. In the manga’s earliest scenes, Oshimi frankly documents Makoto’s efforts to cope with hormonal surges and maternal helicoptering, capturing Makoto’s discomfort in his own skin. As Makoto begins turning into a vampire, however, his increasingly urgent thirst for blood amplifies the very aspects of puberty that most embarrass him — his keen interest in sex, his inability to conceal his arousal from others — making him feel even more powerless.

To capture Makoto’s turbulent emotions, Oshimi employs a variety of artistic styles. Some panels are rendered in smudgy pastels, suggestive of a foggy evening, while other panels are rendered in swirling, pulsating lines reminiscent of The Scream. These visual interludes last only a page or two, but vividly capture the nausea, pain, and confusion Makoto experiences in the grips of bloodlust.

Perhaps no scene is as evocative as that first encounter between Makoto and the female vampire. Oshimi uses rapid shifts in perspective and a few fleeting images — a shadowy figure plunging through space, a dark smear of blood — to indicate what’s happening. The extreme close-ups and feverish pacing neatly mimic Makoto’s growing sense of panic as he considers the possibility of dying in an alleyway — and not just any death, but a potentially humiliating one. (And really, what could be worse than that from a fourteen-year-old’s perspective?)

The pacing, like the artwork, is expertly handled. Oshimi has a knack for lulling readers into a false sense of security that Makoto will transcend (or master) his vampirism and silence his tormentors. Then — bam! Oshimi inserts a twist or introduces a new character who contradicts our sense of how socially maladroit or invulnerable Makoto really is. The appearance in volume two of a new bloodsucker, for example, reveals the extent to which vampires pose an active threat to one another — something that Makoto in his solipsistic misery never considered when he agreed to become a vampire himself.

And speaking of volume two, Oshimi does an excellent job of expanding and developing the cast of characters. By volume’s end, there’s more at stake than Makoto’s desire to escape humiliation; Makoto must decide whether to become a full-fledged vampire or fight for his humanity, a decision complicated by his budding friendship with a female classmate. How Makoto resolves this dilemma remains to be seen, though his struggle should provide plenty of dramatic grist for volume 3 (available February 14th).

The bottom line: Happiness is a rare vampire manga with bite: it’s smart, stylish, and unsettling, drawing readers into Makoto’s world with an honest look at the horrors of being fourteen. And what could be scarier than that?

HAPPINESS, VOLS. 1-2 • BY SHIZUNO OSHIMI • KODANSHA COMICS • RATING: OT, for OLDER TEENS (16+)