Features & Reviews

Given my general tendency of loving fantasy shoujo series, it is no surprise that I’m thoroughly enjoying Yona of the Dawn. In the last volume Yona and her trusty guard Hak have a narrow escape from her pursuers and end up being cared for by a long-lost priest. I think pacing can be so essential for a good fantasy series. A more rushed storyline doesn’t fit in all the world building that is needed to make a series seem believable for the reader. Yona gets to know her rescuers, the priest Ik-Su, and his snarky companion Yun.

I appreciated that there was some time for flashbacks as Yun tells Yona the story of how he became Ik-Su’s helper. The unlikely combination of a street-smart orphan boy and a priest with an inability to focus on worldly concerns like the necessity of shoes is the foundation for a lifelong friendship. As Yun gets to know Yona, he begins to see that she isn’t the pampered princess he was assuming she was. Hak continues to make random flirtatious comments that don’t seem to register with Yona at all, so I’m assuming that any romance will be developing at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Yona has a new direction and quest, as she learns about the descendants of legendary dragon guardians who protected the Crimson Dragon King in the past. She sets out with Hak and Yun to search for these mystical warriors, and along the way she demands lessons in swordsmanship or archery so she can be of more use in a battle. Hak hands her a bow and she dedicates herself to practicing even though she isn’t very good at the start.

There’s something very cozy and reassuring about reading a volume of a shoujo fantasy series like this, being able to settle in and look forward to a long adventure with many volumes ahead to read. This is one of my favorite manga series of the past year.

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 volume sees the completion of the ‘Yuki and Kyo are mirrors of each other’ arc, as we finally get long flashbacks to Yuki’s childhood. We’d seen bits and pieces before, but now we truly see how wretched it was for him, and also how his own life interacted with Tohru’s as a child, and not just Kyo’s. One interesting thing is that we see, not a kinder gentler Akito per se, but an Akito who is at least less mercurial and violent. Sadly, it doesn’t last. Of course, there’s also another purpose to all of this, as the Yuki/Tohru ship is sunk here. I never shipped it, but if I had I’m not sure I would buy Yuki’s reasoning either. That said, we also start to get the setup of Yuki paying more attention to Machi, and also begin to see into her own tragic past.

In between tragic flashbacks we have what is no doubt the funniest arc in the entire series, as it’s the cultural festival and Tohru’s class is doing Cinderella. Of course, the casting is a bit… off, and so after attempting to get everyone to act against their better natures, the script is rewritten (and, my guess is, relies heavily on improvised dialogue). As a result, we have Cinderella-ish, in which Hanajima’s gloriously uncaring Cinderella goes up against her adorable and caring older stepsister Tohru and the grumpy Prince Kyo. Interestingly, this actually ties into Kyo and Tohru’s main story as well, as Cinderella accuses the Prince of being content to “lock himself away forever”, and this clearly strikes a chord with Kyo, who replies seriously, and Tohru, who breaks character to try to stop it.

The second half of the omnibus is mostly taken up with the backstory of Kyoko, Tohru’s mother. This serves several important purposes. First, it fleshes her out, shows us what Katsuya, Tohru’s father, is like (he’s sort of a kinder, gentler Shigure – don’t hurt me, Furuba fans) and how much his death devastates her, to the point where she’s considering killing herself. But more importantly, it serves to show us that Tohru has totally put her mother on a pedestal, and that Kyoko was not remotely the perfect all-loving mother she seemed – in fact, even after her recovery and desire to be a good mother to Tohru, she still seems to have the wild mood swings which have dogged her most of her life. And, once again, we see how the lack of love in a family can lead to things like this – as Katsuya tells Kyoko’s parents, parenting isn’t something that can just be abandoned when you find it too difficult. Something that most of the parents of the cast also need to hear.

There’s still a lot to resolve – the curse, Haru and Rin’s relationship, and whether or not Kureno will watch that DVD all come up in the last chapter – but I’m especially grateful that this is the last review I will have to play “hide the gender pronoun” for. Stay tuned for omnibus 9, containing the volume that broke Furuba fandom more than any other.

By NISIOISIN. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by Vertical, Inc. Translated by Ko Ransom.

As I mentioned in my prior review of Kizumonogatari, this volume originally came first, but at the request of the agent and author they decided to do Kizumonogatari, which is first chronologically, followed by this series if Kizu sold well. Which it apparently did, as we now have not only Bakemonogatari in 3 parts coming to North America, but also its sequel Nisemonogatari (in 2 parts). This release is in three parts to match the Japanese digital re-release, and contains the first two stories in the series, Hitagi Crab and Mayoi Snail. We are reintroduced to Meme Oshino, our specialist in the supernatural; Tsubasa Hanekawa, our specialist in being the perfect class president; and Koyomi Araragi, our specialist in tsukkomi… and also finding trouble and women.

There are a few surprises in this volume. First of all, we not only get references to what happened in Kizumonogatari, but also something that happened to Hanekawa during Golden Week, which has several hints (involving a “sex cat”) but no actual explanation. More importantly, if you’d only read Kizu you may have assumed that Hanekawa was the obvious girl that Araragi was going to end up with. Thus you may be thrown off to be introduced to Hitagi Senjogahara here, who not only manages to make a much bigger impact on Araragi from the get-go, but by the end of the volumes has confessed to him and become his girlfriend. Given that the Monogatari Series uses many, many common tropes of the harem series – most deliberately – it’s somewhat startling to see the “first girl win” immediately. But then, by sheer force of personality Senjogahara is amazing. She’s seemingly rude, uncaring and vicious, but her backstory certainly explains why that would be the case, and once things turn for the better, she’s still rude, but the uncaring and vicious are replaced by a surprising sensitivity.

The other story in this volume involves Mayoi Hachikuji, a young elementary schoolgirl who seems to be beset by a spirit that keeps her from finding her way anywhere. As with most stories in Monogatari, the truth is far more complicated. I’m not sure whether Nisio wrote this series from the start intending it to become an anime, but if he did it does not surprise me that he adds a “loli” character straight off the bat. That said, the series is a lot more overt about calling attention to Hachikuji’s young age and “developing” body – both in adding fanservice and showing off how creepy it really is. Nisioisin’s series have a large amount of having their cake and eating it too, and this is no exception.

If anything throws off the casual reader besides the token loli, it may be the crushing verbiage. Due to being split into three, this is a much shorter book than Kizu, but it still feels pretty long, mostly due to the endless dialogue which meanders on and off point at will, and is filled with subtle references, kanji puns, explanation of kanji puns, and boke and tsukkomi routines. It’s a credit to the translator that this rarely feels awkward or out of place, and a surprising amount of the original is kept, using a very deft touch. (Note to suspicious Americans: yes, Araragi did mention the 90s sitcom Full House in the Japanese version.) One exception that I think many people were looking for is the ‘tore’ confession response by Araragi, which is adapted into English somewhat awkwardly but I can see why there, you don’t want to kill the most heartwarming scene with more kanji discussion. Well, unless you’re a Nisio fan.

To sum up, if you like amusing characters, fun dialogue, and endless scenes of Araragi shouting comebacks, this is a great volume to get. You can also see just how much the anime cut out to make things fit – check out all the conversations we missed! And stay tuned, as Part 2 will introduce the perverse Kanbaru and the polarizing Sengoku.

By Satoko Kiyuduki. Released in Japan by Houbunsha, serialized in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

At last this 4-koma series devoted to both the study of art and the usual ensemble of cute girls has come to a close. You can tell it’s wrapping up by the final selection of color pages. In past volumes they’ve discussed color palettes or periods of art in history. Now we see how art can become a career, and how difficult it can be to make a living at it. Of course, our main cast are still first-years, so they won’t be graduating. But the secondary cast, including Awara and her best friend Mizubuchi, *are* graduating, and are beginning to realize that their future paths may not rely on them always being together as they have in the past. And what’s more, what’s to become of the Art Club?

There is, of course, still stuff to teach, as we learn with the girls about art patrons, and how being a designer means listening to your client as well as your muse. We get some backstory for Usami, the cute and insecure teacher, and we even manage to work in a love confession. (No, it wasn’t a yuri confession. Like manga Manga Time Kirara series, there is a level of yuri you can walk up to but not quite walk past.) Some are having trouble moving forward, like Miyabi, who has oodles of talent but whose future has been somewhat set in stone, so it’s difficult for her to fantasize. (This, naturally, leads to a dream sequence, which has been a common motif for GA volumes.) And some are wary of taking that big step, like Awara, who has an opportunity for a big art career move… but it means not going to college, something she finds rather difficult to confess, and we see why as it leads to a big fight.

Awara also has to decide what to do about the art club. She could give the club to the second years, but they’re clearly there to make up the numbers – none of them really understand WHY you would want to have an Art Club in a school that’s already devoted to art. Naturally, we do know one person whose love of art is strong enough that she would be the perfect successor. The scene where Kisaragi figures out what it is she wants to do going forward, and asks to join the art club, is one of the best in the whole series. And, because none of her friends would dream of letting her do this by herself (they all admit they’d be reluctant to join if it was any of the five of them EXCEPT her), they’re able to make up the numbers as well. We even get a look at the next generation, as the girl we saw during the last summer vacation seems to be on her way to becoming Kisaragi’s new kohai.

I know this series got a bit of flak over the years. It was too similar to Sunshine Sketch, or it prevented the artist from drawing the more critically acclaimed Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro. But I felt its combination of art education, cuteness, and character moments was just right, and it always filled me with a warm, sunny feeling. I can’t recommend it enough.

By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Melissa Tanaka.

In general, I try to give light novels full reviews on my site, as I’m sure regular readers have noticed. In fact, it’s almost become a light novel review site with manga interruptions. Most of the time this is very easy, as the average light novel has about 3-4 manga volumes worth of content, and so it’s easy to find things to say. Sometimes, though, you need to reach. Not because a title is poor – believe me, I have things to say about titles I don’t like. But sometimes there’s just not a lot of “there” there, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed the second volume of Asterisk War just as much as the first. It’s an easy read with likeable characters and cool action. And it is setting up future plotlines and investing in depth of backstory. Despite all this, however, the series FEELS very slight.

There’s a new cast member as well, and she gets the cover. She is, of course, a very obvious “harem manga” type, as are all the girls in this so far. This is the shy, polite girl who’s to repressed and reserved to really stand on her own but is finally able to do so with the help of our hero. And it also helps that Kirin is absolutely deadly with a sword – in fact, she’s so good she doesn’t even use a lightsaber… erm, excuse me, Orga Lux… but instead uses a katana. And she still manages to mop the floor with everyone, including our hero. Unfortunately, she’s also from an abusive family AND has a tragic past. Needless to say, she fits right in here. Oh yes, and in case you were worried, he manages to beat her by the end of the book. No fears, the guy is still the best in the series.

We also meet several other characters who are introduced in order to use as antagonists in future volumes. We get the childlike yet manipulative mad scientist girl and her more stoic partner. We also see the class presidents of almost all the other schools (one is out touring her new album and can’t join them), which helps to show off how each of the schools differ from each other, and also to emphasize why, if you’re interesting in following a standard light novel protagonist, Claudia’s school is clearly the one to choose. Claudia continues to be one of the best parts of the book – I always enjoy manipulative ojou-types who don’t bother to hide they’re doing it, and I’m sure if this series ever crossed over with Irregular at Magic High School that she and Mayumi would be polite at each other in the best way.

So it’s a good series. You’ll enjoy reading it. It just lacks that certain oomph that puts it over the top that other light novel series have. But I’d certainly recommend it as a read – probably on a beach for vacation, it’s about that type of a series.

By Akane Shimizu | Published by Kodansha Comics

Cells at Work! has a quirky premise, one that’s fun to describe to people in one’s life whom one may wish to bewilder.

Essentially, the setting is the interior of the human body and the characters are anthropomorphized versions of blood cells, lymphocytes, and other types of cells that work together to keep things running smoothly. None of the characters has an actual name—the pair of protagonists refers to each other as Red Blood Cell and White Blood Cell—and there’s not much of a plot.

Instead, the first volume is composed of episodic chapters showing how the body defends itself against various threats, including bacteria, viruses, and allergens. Along the way, information is relayed to the reader and almost immediately one starts learning things. For example, before I read this I didn’t even know the terms neutrophil and macrophage, but now I could easily talk about their functions, and that’s because I’ve got a vivid visual reminder. Also, Shimizu comes up with some clever ways to depict bodily functions. I was particularly fond of the concept of a sneeze as a missile onto which pesky germs are loaded for expulsion.

Cells at Work! runs in a shounen magazine, and I imagine its intent is to amuse and educate young readers. That said, it did take me a bit of time to accept that there weren’t going to be any story or character developments. That might change, but for now it just doesn’t seem to be that sort of manga, and that’s okay, too. It’s fun enough that I’ll keep reading!

Cells at Work! is ongoing in Japan, where it is up to four volumes. Kodansha Comics will release the second volume in English next week.

By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

This is, as the prologue suggests, not so much the second part of a 2-arc set as it is “what was going on behind the scenes” for Book One. Various questions we had are answered, various characters who seemed to arrive and vanish for no reason now get a fully fleshed-out backstory. And we discover the true identity of the Rail Tracer, whose presence alone makes this book much, much more brutal and gore-filled than the previous two. Last time we had some horrible violence, but a lot of it was “come across the bloody remains of corpses”, and in this book we see why they came to be that way. And whereas in The Rolling Bootlegs Ennis was the one with the hero’s journey, and in the first Grand Punk Railroad it was Jacuzzi, this book’s most fascinating character is one who doesn’t really make any journey at all, because he’s already ten times better than everyone else. Yes, let’s talk about Claire.

It’s a shame that the cover art for this volume is so bad, but it makes Claire look almost like a cardboard cutout of a human, and after following him though half the book, that’s not really an unapt description. He’s the dark mirror to Ladd – and given that Ladd is a psychopath who murders for fun, that’s really saying something. Claire talks a lot towards the end of the book about solipsism, the idea that he is the most important thing in the world, and that since he can’t imagine what it would be like to either die or lose a battle, he never will. And he doesn’t. He’s not a hero – make no mistake about it, Claire is a nasty piece of work, and makes his living as a killer for hire – but at the same time he’s saving the day here, taking out the black suits and the white suits, falling in love with one girl while cheerfully admitting if she rejects him he’ll go after the other girl he also sort of fell for, and generally making your jaw drop as you go “cooool!”. Oh, except perhaps when he’s torturing Czeslaw.

Of all the characters introduced in this volume, Czes is probably the most tragic. The idea that in among all the people in 1711 who gained immortality was a young boy is chilling enough on his own, but then to spend years being roundly physically, emotionally and mentally abused by one of his fellow immortals is the icing on the cake, and Narita really does milk it for all it’s worth. He’s not subtle, either – when Czes is trying to make a deal with Ladd to have the other passengers on the train killed off, it explicitly mentions that he’s channeling the very man who abused him. The scenes with Czeslaw and Claire are there, I think, to remind you not to see Claire as too awesome or wonderful – they’re utterly dreadful. Still, the whole thing does lead to Czes managing to find hope in trusting other people, even if it means he has to put his life in their hands. First Isaac and Miria, who are of course all-loving and think nothing of falling off a train just to protect Czes – and then Maiza, who is the reason he’s there today, and possibly the most dangerous immortal of all, but around whom Czes can finally be the child that even after 200 years he still is to a large degree.

It is, of course, not all about guys murdering other guys, though you so get a lot of that. There are some amazing female characters here who get a chance to shine. We met Chané in Book 2, but here we see what’s driving her – a love for her father, who may be a terrorist but still shows her more love than any of the other black suits. We also finally confirm that she’s mute, which also allows her character to be more visually expressive than a ‘type’ like her would otherwise be. And of course we get Claire falling for her – it’s not clear if they’ll ever meet up (as Claire says, “meet me in Manhattan” is horribly vague), but it would be nice. As for Rachel, she’s the seemingly “normal” character here, even though she can nimbly crawl across the bottom of trains and save the day by rescuing everyone from the terrorists. She’s normal as she has the most normal reaction to everything going on within the train – sheer terror. Even Isaac and Miria, when presented with a pile of corpses last time, felt like they’d seen this sort of thing before. Rachel, on the other hand, is us, and her heartfelt plea to Claire towards the end of the book to sacrifice herself to stop all the other killing is wonderful, and it’s the one thing the anime cut that is deeply missed. Lastly, there’s Lua Klein, who is… still something of a cipher, but given a bit of internal monologue and a chat with the Grey Magician (also cut from the anime, mostly as he does very little other than stitch people up and give advice), we can empathize with her life choices and why she and Ladd really are deeply in love with each other.

I’ve gone on more than usual, but that’s because there’s simply so much to talk about. This is a short book – possibly the shortest in the series – and yet it’s rich in its development. Those who are fans of the series will enjoy picking out little bits and pieces that we’ve seen before, or setups for the next book. And it also has Isaac and Miria deciding the best present to cheer up Ennis is a young boy to be her little brother. Baccano! is as chaotic as ever, but also richly rewarding. Just… be prepared for a lot of blood. A *lot* of blood.

By Shinobu Ohtaka. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz.

I haven’t actually given Magi a full review since its first volume; I love it to bits, but for the most part I could articulate those bits into a 150-word brief pretty well. This volume of Magi, which wraps up one arc and sets the stage for the rest of the series, though, requires more verbiage. For one thing, it solidifies more than anything else who the real hero of this story is. The first volume had Aladdin on the cover, and for the most part the mangaka made a good effort to keep Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana as a power trio lead. But in the end, Alibaba’s journey is the most profound and important, and this volume features both his highs and lows as he discovers what’s happened to Balbadd.

There’s also some romantic hints, and they may actually stick. For the most part, the first few volumes of the series didn’t really bother with romance beyond Aladdin loving the ladies in his own amusing way, and Alibaba occasionally being an idiot. The idiot part is highlighted again here, as he brags about having a girlfriend that he doesn’t have in order to make himself look impressive. Leaving aside the romance for a moment, this is exactly what makes the tension of Alibaba’s character so great. He spends much of the volume wondering why people like and respect him, thinking that he really hasn’t achieved anything, and even, yes, having people hook up in front of him, reminding him that he’s still basically a clueless virgin. Luckily, he has an even more clueless virgin with a crush on him, though Morgiana admits that she’s so not in touch with any of her emotions that she can’t really deal with it right now. This has the potential to be cute.

Less cute is Alibaba’s return to Balbadd, as we see exactly what a conquered country looks like. His visit to his former Fog Troop friends, who are getting by but suffering nonetheless, is chilling, and reminds you again of the dangers of right-wing totalitarian tactics (I wish this weren’t so relevant today). His visit to Koen and Komei Ren, who inform him that “agreements” have nothing upon power and brute force, is topped only by the fact that they want him to join them – again, it’s difficult at times to register how important Alibaba is because we always see things filtered through his poor self-image. People knows what’s up. As for what his response will be, I can guess, but that’s what the cliffhanger brings.

Of course, Aladdin is not totally forgotten here, and this brings up what may be the other major plot point to come, which is Sinbad. Sinbad so far has been portrayed as the “good guy” side of the power is everything coin, as opposed to the Koen kingdoms. That said, Aladdin has chosen Alibaba, not Sinbad. And we’re informed by Yunan that both Sinbad *and* Alibaba are classic examples of King’s Vessels – they draw people to them and history changes as a result. (In real life, this is called the “Great Man” theory, and thankfully does not have magic to back it up.) As for Sinbad, he’s the best at drawing people to him and getting what he wants – but is that really a good thing? What’s separating Sinbad from being a tyrant other than his good disposition?

There’s so much going on here, and like the best shonen series you want to read the next volume immediately. Thankfully, Magi is still bimonthly, so we only have to wait a little bit to see what happens next. Brilliant stuff.