Features & Reviews

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

January 5, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

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

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

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

Quick Takes

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

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

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

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

Citrus, Vol. 1

January 4, 2015 by Sean Gaffney

By Sabu Routa. Released in Japan by Ichijinsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Yuri Hime. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

I was in a somewhat cranky mood when I read Citrus, so wasn’t as appreciative of it as I could have been. The cover makes it seem a bit more salacious than it actually is, though that may change later. The back cover copy tells us it’s reminiscent of Girl Friends and Strawberry Panic, which is certainly true in terms of genre. But as I read it, I realized it felt more like standard shoujo with a female lead who fights back against the system and changes in her life. If it weren’t for the yuri, this could have been written by Natsumi Ando. And thus the difference between this and, say, Girl Friends is the level of drama it brings to the table.

Yuzu has just moved to an all-girls’ school, and finds that the strict regulations pretty much demand she change everything about herself. Things aren’t helped by the class president, Mei, who appears to be rather uptight and straightlaced, but is apparently having a secret relationship with the teacher. She then returns home to find that her mother, who has recently remarried (the father is absent, and honestly the mother seems a bit not all there), has asked her new stepdaughter to stay with them. No prizes for guessing who it is. Then when Yuzu, who acts worldly but isn’t, talks about a magical first kiss, Mei shuts her up by kissing her.

I like Yuzu. She’s a good heroine, easily outraged, emotional and exasperated. She is perhaps portrayed as a bit too naive, but the whole “ah, so this is what love feels like” situation is a staple of shoujo manga. In fact, most of the situations we see here are staples of shoujo rather than yuri (though the genres overlap quite a bit): outing the sleazy teacher, the threat of expulsion for doing what’s right rather than following the rules, the jealous classmate catching the lead couple in the classroom and staring at the cliffhanger ending of the volume with an “I will DESTROY her” expression…

Mei is harder to like right away, but that’s because she’s the repressed, stoic one. Her kissing of Yuzu seems oddly out of character, and you get the impression she did it entirely to drive her away and shut her up rather than out of any lingering affection. The trouble is that she also lit a fuse in Yuzu, and now has to take responsibility for Yuzu’s turbulent feelings. (This makes up the other half of the cliffhanger in Vol. 1.) She’s not quite the Sachiko-type – not enough oneesama tendencies for that – but close, and I fear that dealing with Yuzu and all her extroversion will lead to Vol. 2’s crisis point.

So as I said at the start, Citrus is a decent shoujo potboiler of a manga. It’s not very original, but that’s not unusual. If you like dramatic shoujo, and don’t mind the leads both being girls, this is a title you may want to check out. If you like yuri, of course, you’ve probably already read it by now.

(Oh yes, and Harumin is fantastic. She’s the Tsutako of the series, and plays her role admirably.)

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 30: Vigilance

January 2, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616554842
Released: October 2014
Original release: 2012
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Vigilance is the thirtieth and penultimate volume in the English-language edition of Blade of the Immortal, the long-running and award-winning manga series by Hiroaki Samura. In Japan, the series was only thirty volumes long, but due to slight differences in how the manga was released early on in its English-language run, Dark Horse’s edition of consists of thirty-one volumes. Vigilance, published in 2014, is equivalent to the twenty-ninth volume of the series’ Japanese edition originally released in 2012. Blade of the Immortal is a series that has particular significance for me. It was one of the very first manga that I ever read and it was one of the first series that I decided to collect in its entirety. I have been reading and collecting Blade of the Immortal for years now. The previous volume, Beyond Good and Evil, marked the beginning of the series’ end and Vigilance brings it that much closer. I was very curious to see how Samura would continue to advance the series.

The final confrontation between the remnants of Anotsu Kagehisa’s Ittō-ryū and Habaki Kagimura’s Rokki-dan has begun. Numerous casualties have been incurred by each side and countless innocent lives have been caught in the fray as the two groups try to destroy each other. At one point they were fighting for their ideals–Anotsu striving to restore martial glory and the way of the sword to Japan while Habaki worked to prevent that from happening in order to maintain the dominance of the shogunate–but now they are fighting simply to survive long enough to crush the other. Even if they are successful in killing their foes they may not live to see the fruits of their victory. Habaki is challenging Anotsu head on while the Ittō-ryū’s strongest fighter, Makie, is left to face multiple opponents under Habaki’s direct command despite her failing health. And on the periphery of this all, Manji and Rin stand against one of Habaki’s most imposing men even though they, too, seek Anotsu’s demise.

At this point in Blade of the Immortal the series’ story is drawing very close to its ultimate conclusion. There is very little plot development in Vigilance, and there doesn’t need to be; the series has been building up to these final volumes. Instead, the focus of Vigilance is on the deadly battles currently in progress. Samura’s artwork has always been dynamic in Blade of the Immortal, conveying a tremendous sense of movement and drama, but the action sequences and fight choreography in Vigilance may very well be some of the series’ best. Makie’s fight against an entire team of adversaries is particularly impressive and breathtaking. Her talent is astounding and on full display. She is constantly in motion, with an acute awareness of her surroundings, using both her weapon and her body in tangent to strike and defend. While she may not have the brute strength that so many of the other fighters in Blade of the Immortal possess, her agility and martial skill far surpass any of them.

The other two battles being simultaneously waged in Vigilance are also well-developed and each has a different feel than Makie’s. Manji’s style of fighting has come to rely very heavily on his near-immortality, leading him to attempt feats that would otherwise be unthinkable. He is also able to put to good use in some rather curious ways the bizarre regenerative powers of his body. The manga’s horror elements are readily apparent in his fight. There’s even a hearkening back to the death mandalas of the early series, which is a particularly nice touch. The confrontation between Anotsu and Habaki is different still. Like all of the other fighters who have managed to survive this long they are both exceptionally skilled swordsmen, however tactics and strategy play a much more prominent role in their death match. The way they fight is both intelligent and refined. Manji, Rin, Makie, Anotsu, and Habaki are now locked into their final battles. It will be very interesting to see exactly how things will turn out in the series’ conclusion, Final Curtain.

Mini Manga Reviews and Links, 1/2/15

January 2, 2015 by Katherine Dacey

Did you receive an Amazon or RightStuf gift certificate this holiday? If so, this post is for you! Below, I’ve reviewed the first volumes of three series that debuted in 2014, offering a quick-and-dirty assessment of each. Already read Food Wars? Fear not—I’ve also rounded up reviews from around the web as well.

Food Wars, Vol. 1
Story by Yuto Tsukada, Art by Shun Saeki
Rated T+, for Older Teens
VIZ Manga, $9.99

Food Wars begins with an only-in-manga scenario: Soma Yukihira’s dad shutters the family’s greasy spoon restaurant and lights out for America, leaving his son behind. With no place to go, Soma enrolls at Totsuki Culinary Academy, a hoity-toity cooking school that prides itself on its wealthy alumnae, rigorous curriculum, and high attrition rate. Soma’s working-class background is a major handicap in this environment, but his can-do attitude and culinary instincts allow him to triumph in difficult situations, whether he’s salvaging an over-salted pot roast or wowing an unscrupulous developer with a simple potato dish.

In theory, I ought to hate Food Wars for its cartoonish characters and abundant cheesecake, two qualities I generally despise in a manga. But here’s the thing: it’s fun. Soma repeatedly shows up bullies and snobs with his ability to transform everyday dishes into haute cuisine, proving that good food doesn’t need to be fancy. Though Soma’s foes are stock types—the Busty Bitch, the Rich Mean Boy, the Teacher With Impossibly High Standards—Shun Sakei’s crisp caricatures make them seem like fresh creations. I wish I could say the same for Sakei’s abundant fanservice, which quickly wears out its welcome with porny images of women enjoying Soma’s cooking. These pin-up moments are supposed to be funny, I guess, but the heavy emphasis on heaving cleavage and bare skin seems more like a concession to teenage male taste than an organic part of the story.

The verdict: I can’t decide if Food Wars is a guilty pleasure or a hate read, but I’ve just purchased volumes 2-4.

Manga Dogs, Vol. 1
By Ema Toyama
Rated T, for Teens
Kodansha Comics, $10.99

Manga Dogs has a terrific premise: a teenage artist decides to enroll in her school’s manga program, only to discover that her teacher is inept, and her classmates are pretty-boy otakus with no skill or work ethic. When Kanna’s classmates discover that she’s actually a published artist, Fumio, Fujio, and Shota glom onto her in hopes of breaking into the business—even though her debut series is on the verge of being cancelled.

With such a ripe set-up, it’s a pity that Manga Dogs is DOA. Part of the problem is that the script panders to the reader at every turn, whether it’s poking fun at reverse-harem tropes or saddling the characters with pun-tastic names inspired by famous manga creators. The author spends too much time patting the reader on the back for “getting” the jokes and not enough time writing genuinely funny scenarios or imbuing her characters with more than one personality trait each. The other issue is pacing: the story and artwork are both frenetic, with characters screaming, jumping, and flapping their arms on almost every page. By the end of the third chapter, I felt as if someone had beaten me up for my lunch money while asking me, “Do you think I’m funny? No? Now do you think I’m funny?”

The verdict: Just say no.

Yukarism, Vol. 1
By Chika Shiomi
Rated T, for Teen
VIZ Media, $9.99

Yukarism combines the supernatural elements of Rasetsu with the historical drama of Sakuran, then adds a dash of gender-bending weirdness for good measure. The story revolves around Yukari, a best-selling author whose novels explore the history of Edo’s red-light district. Though fans attribute the abundant details in his writing to research, Yukari has an even better strategy for learning about the past: he visits it! When he returns to the 1800s, however, Yukari becomes Yumurasaki, a top-earning oiran (or courtesan) enmeshed in a web of political intrigue, lust, and violence.

Given the complexity of the plot, it’s not surprising that the first volume of Yukarism is a bumpy ride. The tone see-saws between broad physical comedy and brooding melodrama, making it difficult to know if Yukari’s plight is being played for laughs or sniffles. The script, on the other hand, is too pointed; manga-ka Chika Shiomi is so intent on telling us what Yukari is thinking and seeing that she forgets the old dictum about showing, not telling. The same kind of editorial interventions result in at least one character waxing profusely about how handsome and cool Yukari is, just in case we haven’t realized that he’s supposed to be handsome and cool. Now that the basic parameters of the story have been established, however, Shiomi can dispense with the heavy-handed dialogue and do what she does best: write sudsy supernatural romances with beautiful characters in beautiful costumes.

The verdict: Volume two should be a pure guilty pleasure.

Reviews: Here at Manga Bookshelf, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, and Anna N. post a fresh crop of mini-reviews. Further afield, Megan Purdy discusses est em’s Carmen, a swell-looking manga treatment of the Bizet opera.

Laura on vol. 1 of Ani-Imo (Heart of Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan: No Regrets (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Barakamon (Manga Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of A Bride’s Story (Manga Worth Reading)
Jenny Ertel on vols. 1-13 of Dorohedoro (No Flying No Tights)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 14 of Dorohedoro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Drug & Drop (Manga Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Garden of Words (Manga Worth Reading)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 25 of Higurashi: When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Milkyway Hitchhiking (ANN)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of Prophecy (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-6 of Strobe Edge (Good Comics for Kids)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Umineko: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Megan R. on vol. 1 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (The Manga Test Drive)

Manga the Week of 1/7

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

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

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

MICHELLE: *Kermit flailing*

ASH: Looking forward to seeing where things go!

ANNA: Yay!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MJ: Heh.

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

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

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

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

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

MICHELLE: I am wondering that myself.

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

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

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

ANNA: OK, that sounds hilarious.

MJ: Agreed. Like, Moon Child hilarious.

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

MICHELLE: <3 <3 <3

ASH: Love this series so much!!

ANNA: Agreed!

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

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

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

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

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

What are you starting off the year with?

A Bevy of Buffy

January 1, 2015 by Michelle Smith

Because I am a great big geek, one of my personal goals is to read all of the novels inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is the first in what will be a series of posts collecting reviews of these books in a somewhat shorter-than-usual format. In this installment: Afterimage, Bad Bargain, Blooded, Carnival of Souls, One Thing or Your Mother, and Portal Through Time. All are set during the show’s second season.

Afterimage by Pierce Askegren
I’m pretty sure Afterimage is set between “What’s My Line” and “Ted”—the former is a definite, despite the season being referred to as early autumn even though “What’s My Line” takes place after Halloween, but the latter is a guess based on a couple of thoughts Joyce has about needing to get out more, which the author (writing in 2006) might’ve intended as a lead-in to “Ted.”

The book gets off to a slow start and, in fact, not much seems to happen for the first sixty pages. Our heroes encounter some strange folks about town, and it’s pretty obvious to the reader that “Hey, these are characters from the movies being shown at the new drive-in!” but it takes quite a while for the characters to catch up. That said, around page 100 things begin to improve, which is right about where Jonathan appears. I knew he was in this, and was hoping for more of an active role. Sadly, all he does is go to the movies with Xander and then get afflicted by a mysterious sleeping sickness, along with 29 other Sunnydale residents.

Speaking of the drive-in, it occurred to me that this is totally a Sailor Moon plot. Creepy yet charismatic bad guy comes into town and advertises a free drive-in. The local residents swarm the place and then creepy guy feeds on their energy. Our heroine destroys the evil projector with her ~~tiara~~ machete, and the bad guy dissolves. He does not, alas, proclaim “Refresh!”

Still, this was a pretty enjoyable outing, and had some nice touches, like a glimpse at Xander’s bickering parents, a spot-on depiction of petulant Harmony, and Cordelia demonstrating her intelligence and leadership skills. In fact, while Buffy is important, I think Xander comes across more like the protagonist of this one, which is a nice change.

Bad Bargain by Diana G. Gallagher
Bad Bargain is set in season two (between “What’s My Line?” and “Ted” would be my guess) but written in 2006, three years after the end of the series, which allows author Diana G. Gallagher to use her knowledge of later events to color what would otherwise be a fairly dull tale of demonic critters infesting a rummage sale.

In another of her attempts to recapture a normal teen life, Buffy is volunteering at the school rummage sale to benefit the marching band. She’s roped Willow and Xander into participating, too, and this scintillating event has even come to the attention of Spike and Dru, who head to Sunnydale High for a spot of shoplifting. All goes awry when a spell to locate one kid’s missing amulet ends up inviting a host of microscopic Hellmouth beasties, who proceed to infect most of those present. The day is ultimately, of course, saved, though Willow theoretically suffers trauma from being parted from the cute-looking critter who beguiled her into becoming its protector. That part is kind of dumb (and I didn’t think Gallagher captured Drusilla’s mode of speech well, either).

What’s interesting, though, is that Andrew is in this. In fact, he and Jonathan have fairly prominent roles, which I thought was quite fun. In a nice bit of dramatic irony, Jonathan has become possessed by some demonic whip thing and subsequently angsts when he realizes that he nearly killed his best friend. In addition, Gallagher includes a few comments that suggest that these events spurred actions by the characters as seen in the show. For example, Oz muses about painting his van and, after the pests have been sent back where they belong, Princpal Snyder remarks, “Next year’s fund-raiser for the marching band will be something simple, like selling candy.” Hee!

Blooded by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder
It’s difficult to pinpoint the timeline for this one. Angel’s stint as Angelus is mentioned, as is the death of Jenny Calendar, but he was apparently able to regain his soul in a way that did not involve Willow. (This book was published in August 1998, and I have to wonder if Whedon wasn’t willing to give away the plot details for the season two finale, so Golden and Holder had to be super vague about it.) I do think this is the end of season two—despite what Wikipedia claims—because Oz and Willow’s relationship is still new, her hair is still long, etc.

Anyway, the gang goes to a museum for a field trip and Willow ends up freeing and being possessed by the spirit of an ancient Chinese vampire-sorcerer. She gathers minions, attacks Xander, and causes her friends to fret. Eventually, Xander gets possessed by a Japanese mountain god and there’s a big battle and spells and Giles wears a headband with a kanji on it. In the end the day is saved through teamwork (yes, really).

On the whole, this book is pretty boring. However, there are a few things to recommend it. For every two or three bits of clunky dialogue, there is occasionally one that is at least slightly amusing or which I can easily hear in the actor’s voice. It was also prescient about a few things. Cordelia’s lack of skill as an actress is mentioned, which will come into play on Angel, and she makes the comment, “I’ll never admit it if you tell her I said it, but I’d hate to think about what Sunnydale would be like if we didn’t have a Slayer in town.” This is interesting, because she is the one who allows us to see exactly that in season three’s “The Wish.” There’s also some good stuff here with Willow’s desire for power and strength, and how that made her vulnerable to the vampire-sorcerer dude. Most of the resulting darkness is played as his fault, but it dovetails nicely with her eventual character arc on the show.

In the end, there are far better Buffy tie-in books, but this wasn’t too bad.

Carnival of Souls by Nancy Holder
Carnival of Souls turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting. Wedged snugly between “Ted” and “Surprise,” the story is set around the episode “Bad Eggs,” which is a great place to put it because, hey, if the book’s at least moderately good, it’ll still be on par with that notoriously rather lame episode.

The premise is that a carnival has come to town, and its proprietor is some kind of devil demon thing that uses prisms to hypnotize visitors into giving in to the temptation of the seven deadly sins so that it might feed off of their souls. Our heroes are not immune, so Buffy becomes proud, Cordelia greedy, Xander gluttonous, Willow envious, Giles angry, Angel lustful, and Joyce slothful.

Really, the specifics of the carnival itself are not very interesting. What I most liked were the many scenes of the group all together, doing their investigation thing, and how good a lot of the dialogue was. Some of Xander’s lines are especially easy to hear in the actor’s voice, and I actually laughed at one of Buffy’s mid-slaying puns. Plus, I liked that they gave Jenny Calendar something significant to contribute.

All in all, I’d recommend it wholeheartedly if not for the matter of the kittens.

Early on, Giles acquires a pair of kittens with the intent to use them as payment to Clem in exchange for information, fully cognizant they’ll be used as currency in a demonic poker game. And as if that weren’t bad enough, when Angry!Giles summons a demon that destroys his apartment, no one asks what happened to the kitties, including Buffy and Willow, who were loving on them in a previous scene! Still worse, if you interpret the text in a certain way, you might conclude that Giles sacrificed them as part of the ritual. Ugh! Why?! It was absolutely not necessary to include them and taint this otherwise decent book.

One Thing or Your Mother by Kirsten Beyer
One Thing or Your Mother is the best Buffy tie-in novel that I have ever read. Well done, Kirsten Beyer! I’m sorry that, as this is also the last Buffy tie-in novel to be published, you never got to write another one.

Set between “I Only Have Eyes for You” and “Go Fish,” One Thing or Your Mother finds Buffy contending with several different problems. Aside from the recurring menace of Angelus, there’s the fact that Joyce has been contacted by the school about her daughter’s poor grades (with the end result that Buffy acquires a tutor), the disappearance of a young girl followed by sightings of a child vampire, and the strange behavior exhibited by Principal Snyder that ultimately imperils the whole town. True, none of these elements is particularly exciting, but each is competently executed, and done in a way that has bearing on what’s going to happen next in the series.

Where Beyer really shines is in capturing the characters—not just in dialogue, at which she admittedly excels, but in thought as well. Too many times to count, the thoughts attributed to Buffy and the others in these books have been downright insipid, but not this time. In addition, the scenes with the Scooby Gang together in the library are so spot-on they’re just about episode quality. Granted, this doesn’t match up to the very best of Buffy—a lot of which can be found in season two—but with a little reworking and simplifying, this could’ve made a solid episode better than the worst of Buffy—some of which can also be found in season two. I also thought Beyer did a great job with Spike.

Perhaps once I’ve completed this project I’ll have to come up with the Top Ten Buffy Novels for those who only want to read the cream of the crop. One Thing or Your Mother has definitely secured itself a spot on that list.

Portal Through Time by Alice Henderson
Set between “Bad Eggs” and “Surprise,” Alice Henderson’s Portal Through Time evidently takes place very early in 1998, because Buffy is still sixteen (she turns seventeen on January 19th) and Angel has not yet lost his soul. A vampire called Lucien has done a lot of research into time-traveling magic and recruits some assistants to help him with his plan: go back in time and kill four very famous Slayers so as to disrupt the line and allow the Master (of whom he is a devotee) to rise unimpeded. Angel gets wind of the plan, so Buffy and pals end up traveling to Wales in 60 C.E., to Sumeria in the time of Gilgamesh, to Tennessee during the Battle of Shiloh, and to Paris during the French Revolution.

Sometimes being a reviewer (or at least being one who sets geeky goals) means reading things so that others don’t have to. Such is the case with Portal Through Time. Although there are some things Henderson does well—I like her attempts to recapture the feel of the show by employing quick cuts between scenes to humorous effect, for example—the overall concept of a magical means to travel back in time is just not very well thought out.

For one, if such magic did exist, you can bet that Willow would’ve used it to wipe out Warren before he could do harm to anyone she cared about. And two, even within this book there are complications and possibilities that are not pursued. Near the end, for example, Buffy stakes Angelus and then reuses the incantation to go back in time to the same spot and keep that from happening. So why does everyone seem so secure that once they’ve thwarted the vamps in a given time period the Slayer is now safe? The vamps could just go back and try again!

On top of this, Henderson’s writing is frequently redundant, like when she reiterates several times that if the vampires arrive at their destination during the day they will have to wait until nightfall to take action, and sometimes just plain bad. During an interminable passage in which Buffy is creeping through the woods around the perimeter of Shiloh, she ends up getting shot in the leg and suddenly develops a fondness for deer. Behold:

She forced herself to focus on the grand trees and shadowed valleys, golden fields in which the deer gathered at dusk… She imagined the fields and groves of trees without the thousands of bleeding and broken soldiers, but instead full of foraging deer and black bear.

I should not be snickering when there are thousands of bleeding and broken soldiers in a scene. And maybe you see nothing wrong with that quote, but to me it sounds nothing like Buffy and is just the author clumsily inserting an anti-war message.

Sometimes it can be fun to read a lousy book, but in the end this one is just too long and boring for me to recommend doing even that.

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 8

January 1, 2015 by Sean Gaffney

Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Soichiro. Released in Japan in two separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Alliance of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Online. Released in North America by Yen Press.

This review is a couple of months late, partly as so many others things came out at the same time, but mostly as this particular Umineko arc is so hard to read. Like Higurashi’s third arc, the Curse Killing Chapter, this arc deals extensively with abuse, particularly child abuse. Ange is bullied at school to the point where she wishes out loud for death, and the “magic” that she was once able to manipulate is lost to pure despair. Likewise, Maria can’t simply paper over her relationship with Rosa anymore, and when her mother goes too far, Maria’s wellspring of rage threatens to overwhelm the entire book.

One of the key features in Umineko is ridiculous over-the-top melodrama, and for the most part it’s been well-balanced between ridiculous light-heartedness and Grand Guignol awful violence. This volume, though, like the previous one, alters the original visual novel’s structure. The first omnibus was almost all Ange, with Battler and Beatrice relegated to the very end. Here it’s Ange’s struggles in 1998 that are missing – you’d be forgiven for thinking that she had genuinely been transported to Battler’s game, as we see nothing of her search with Amakusa to find the truth of what happened 12 years earlier. While I realize that these manga are done with the approval and supervision of Ryukishi07 (though not as much as the heavily rewritten 7th and 8th arcs), I wish that they’d kept the timeline of the original work.

Thematically we get more examination of what Magic is and how it can help you… and when it can’t. One of the most important scenes in the book is when Ange, tormented by the constant bullying she gets at school, orders the Stakes to kill all her classmates. It’s up to Mammon to state the obvious – they can’t do it as Ange is unable to commit murder. Magic may be able to hide actions in some other guise, but the responsibility remains with whoever uses it. And this shatters Ange, whose struggle to avoid crushing sadness and loathing is lost here. Likewise, once Maria faces the severed head of Sakutarou, ripped apart by Rosa in one of her angry rages (speaking of which, I wish we had a better look at Maria seeing it as a human severed head Rosa is holding up – censorship, I suspect, but another lost opportunity), there’s nothing left for her but dark magic, the magic of murdering people. And the fact that she kills her mother over and over again in the magical world shows she has the killing intent Ange doesn’t.

The other very important scene here is the one between Ange and Lambdadelta. Lambda has been shown to be cruel when it serves her purpose, and she’s incredibly cruel to Ange here, but she’s also trying to tell her the truth, which Bernkastel is avoiding in order to make Ange the perfect pawn. Nothing Ange does here can affect her own future. This isn’t Higurashi, where everything snaps back each time. Even if Ange somehow arranges it so no one dies in 1986, the her of 1998 can’t go back. This Ange is essentially doomed, something Lambda gleefully points out, before offering her own deal – keep the game going forever, with no winner or loser. It’s a sign of how much Ange has lost that she’s sorely tempted.

Of course, there’s also the problem of October 4th, and Beatrice’s game. We get a new Truth introduced here, the Blue Truth (again, colored ink is expensive, so have a different font). It allows the game to move faster, but I suspect won’t end well for Beatrice. We also get more sacrifices, and a focus on George and Jessica, who have to fight to prove they can be family head, and also for their loved ones. (For those who were expecting a focus on Kyrie, while she does get more attention here, there isn’t nearly as much as there was on the other three mothers in the first three arcs. It’s almost suspicious…) Of course, this whole volume is devoted to cruel reality. And thus, we do not end with Jessica and George being awesome, but rather with their sudden death.

We’ve got one more omnibus to go (well, for this arc – fear not, End is solicited), and at this point it’s all up to Battler. He’s been given a lot of help, things have been made more obvious, but does he really have the desire to win? And does he know what winning will cost him? As for this manga adaptation, I’ve mentioned my reservations with this adaptation, but that’s mostly as I’ve read the visual novel. For new readers, they may not notice. In the end, this is a hard arc to read, but it’s essential to understand what’s going on.

(One last whine: the manga left out the ridiculous parody fight between Krauss and the Goat. I may never forgive it for that.)

Bringing the Drama: Master’s Sun

December 31, 2014 by Anna N, Nancy Thistlethwaite, Eva Volin and Emily Snodgrass Leave a Comment

ANNA: Master’s Sun is a drama from the nearly always excellent writing team of the Hong Sisters, who brought the world the beloved shows You’re Beautiful and The Greatest Love among others. Master’s Sun is the story of an incredibly sleep-deprived woman who sees ghosts, and the arrogant yet secretly vulnerable President of a mega mall, who happens to have a ghost repelling ability and an inexplicable affection for wearing cravats in confusing ways.

I absolutely adored Master’s Sun, from the opening credits to the last scene of the final episode! What are your thoughts?

EMILY: I was wary going into this drama because the Hong Sisters had a serious misstep with their previous drama, Big. However, after watching this, I can say that they’ve returned in top form. This was a great drama. The characters are all so warm and weird and flawed, and they all really grew and changed as the story progressed. So Ji Sub, who I haven’t seen in any sort of comedic role in – I don’t even know how long – was great, playing his part with a quirky restraint, which allowed the always delightful Gong Hyo-Jin to go all out and be more outgoing and expressive and clingy. And ghost repellent– what a delightful excuse to get all touchy-feely!

Perplexed by cravats!

EVA: As you know, I’m absolute crap when it comes to watching shows to the end. I bail at the first sign of boredom. But this time I was hooked. The characters had chemistry, the ghosts were scary (at least during the first few episodes — the horror scaled back quickly), and the side characters were appealing and never overshadowed the main couple. Even better, the plot holes (there are always plot holes) weren’t so deep that I couldn’t step over them on my way to the next episode. And the weirdly styled cravats! And the bad hair! And the impossibly high heels! And the overbearing relatives! Sigh. Oh, k-dramas, how I’ve missed you.

ANNA: I really loved the way the characters were so idiosyncratic. I do enjoy more predictable k-drama shows, but when a show stands out like this for the quality of the writing and character development, it reminds me just how good k-dramas can be! The main couple are both broken in different ways, and their relationship slowly starts them on the path towards change. I thought that that the bodyguard Kang Woo and spoiled model Tae Yi Ryung were also a great counterpoint to the main couple. I loved the way Kang Woo nonchalantly turned down all the attempts to ask him out.

EMILY: True, I do like shows where the female second lead is likable. So often K-dramas will go out of the way to make the male second lead extremely appealing (thus causing second-lead syndrome where fans like him better than the main guy) while the female second lead is stuck being a mean and nasty character. In Master’s Sun, while Yi Ryung was certainly not always friendly, she also had her really cute, sympathetic moments.

Scary ghost shenanigans!

EVA: Exactly! The only truly evil character was the actual villain (which I won’t name here because spoilers). Yi Ryung is a brat, but she’s not evil and doesn’t try to do evil things. Is she mean? Yep. Does she try to embarrass her nemesis? You bet. But it’s not like she tries to get Gong Sil run over by a truck.

ANNA: I thought the number of times she got turned down in her romantic conquests made her seem much more sympathetic than the typical female second lead. Really, the entire main cast of the show was so quirky and memorable.

I have to say I really enjoyed the way Gong Shil’s need for ghost repellent caused her to get handsy with Joong Won at every opportunity. It was an amusing relationship dynamic that we don’t see very much in kdramas.

EVA: I really liked the way Joong Won’s character developed over the course of the show. Gong Shil’s need for his protection forced him to interact with people in a way he hadn’t since his kidnapping. As a result he learned empathy, humor, and that not all people suck. I was absolutely delighted the first time he smiled. It wasn’t until then that I realized he hadn’t smiled at all (smirks don’t count) in the first, what?, twelve episodes?

ANNA: I also enjoyed the way Joong Won’s character developed! I also thought that the central mystery for the show with the truth behind Joong Won’s kidnapping was well done. I was a little bit disappointed that some of the development towards the end of the series for Gong Shil happened off screen, but she had changed so much already throughout the course of the series.

EMILY: I liked how Joong Won accepted Gong Shil’s eccentricities. Her problem is a bit unusual, but he rolled with it fairly well. In particular, I liked his relationship with that ghost in the mall that communicated via trash can. I also appreciated how blunt he was in admitting his feelings. There was a bit less denial and dancing around emotions in this show than in typical kdramas. Everyone felt things strongly and expressed it right away. I could have done without the obligatory kdrama amnesia plot, but even that was not dragged on for too long. All in all, this is another solid show from the Hong Sisters, who prove once again how good they are at taking a standard kdrama plot and tilting it just a bit to make it fresh and enjoyable.

Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway

December 31, 2014 by Ash Brown

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

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

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

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

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

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

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway Winner

Dorohedoro, Vol. 14

December 30, 2014 by Sean Gaffney

By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in a Shogakukan magazine to be named later. Released in North America by Viz.

I pretty much had my jaw on the floor through this entire volume, though halfway through it changed from boggling at Nikaido to boggling at Kai and company. As always with Dorohedoro, there’s a lot going on and it’s pretty unforgiving to those who don’t remember previous volumes, but that doesn’t stop it from being a stunning read every time. In addition, we get another reminder that behind all these masks, many of the main characters are female. Gender reveals of Nikaido and Noi occupied Volume 1, but Hayashida still enjoys doing it, so we get two more here (though I think we already knew them and I had forgotten).

A couple of vlumes ago I had discussed Nikaido dealing wht her past and childhood, and how the misuse of her magic led to her best friend being erased from existence. This in turn led to her suppressing her own powers. So now that her power is needed, we have to have some shock therapy to speed things along. I could have done without the attempted rape dream sequence, to be honest, but it is a dream sequence, and ends up being more about Nikaido confronting her own fears and demons. Once that happens, not only is she gaining the abilities (and looks!) of a devil, but her power is now kind of scary. We see this as she returns to her own past, and this time manages to save her childhood friend and set time right (sort of). Nikaido’s abuse of time powers was a powerful message in the earlier books, but it’s now come full circle, and I was stunned.

Meanwhile, most of the second half of the volume deals with Kai’s rampage against sorcerers, who he and his gang have been slowly killing off. Dokuga and company are feeling a bit uncomfortable with this, but “the boss” is still “the boss”. Natsumi has disappeared, though, and just isn’t answering her calls. There’s an air of something about to snap here, and it all comes to a head in Tanba’s restaurant (also providing a good excuse to put him on the cover), with a huge fight that ends with Kai getting his face literally cut off by Kirion… not that this stops him, as several more heads (apparently devil tumors?) arise from the wreckage, and now Kai seems to be Aikawa. The whole Kai/Ai/Caiman/Aikawa thing the series has been playing with is about as close to getting confirmed as possible here.

The remains of En’s merry band don’t get as much to do here, though they do send Fujita off on a reconnaissance mission to find En’s devil tumor. No one is more surprised at this than Fujita himself, but Sho informs him that he is “the one who loves En’s family the most’, which is really sweet. Oh, and in case you were wondering about Ebisu, she provides the best moments of humor, with her puppet conversations, and also a brief moment of heartwarming, as she wishes Fujita good luck after he’s left (because God forbid he should hear her or something).

When Dorohedoro finishes, it’s going to be one of those series that’s amazing to marathon in one whole sitting. Till then, we are grateful for getting these volumes at four-month intervals, and the next one can’t come fast enough.

Bookshelf Briefs 12/29/14

December 29, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Anna N Leave a Comment

This week, Sean, Michelle, and Anna check out recent releases from Yen Press, Seven Seas, Viz Media, and Kodansha Comics.

Barakamon, Vol. 2 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – I was a bit surprised at how fast this series went straight to ‘slice-of-life’ – while Handa’s devotion to calligraphy is present throughout, there aren’t as many scenes directly dealing with his struggles as before – r at least they’re more subtle. Riding the two middle schoolers about their own penmanship till they drop certainly speaks volumes. But mostly what we have here is ‘city boy learns life lessons’, in turns heartwarming and humorous. There’s also some otaku humor here, notably Tama’s repressed fujoshi fantasies, which Handa accidentally keeps inspiring. This is still enjoyable, but don’t read it for the plot – though that may change with the arrival of two new people from Handa’s past at the end. – Sean Gaffney

Girls Und Panzer: Little Army, Vol. 1 | By Girls Und Panzer Projekt and Tsuchii | Seven Seas – While Yukari is the star of the main manga adaptation, Miho is the star of the FRANCHISE, so it’s no surprise that she gets a spinoff here. This 2-volume series shows her as a more innocent elementary schooler, loving her tanks and her sister but already feeling a lot of family pressure, and not being helped by the new girl being a classic tsundere with a grudge against her family. Much of this is cute slice-of-life with tanks, as with the main series, but it’s refreshing to see an unbroken Miho here, even if the author promises the 2nd volume will be more serious. If you enjoy the main manga, and want to see more girls and tanks, this is a good choice – it’s not the fluff you’d expect. – Sean Gaffney

Happy Marriage, Vol. 9 | by Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – I’ve been feeling a little lukewarm about the past couple volumes of Happy Marriage because there were far too many contrived external events that were thwarting the happiness of Chiwa and Hokuto, but I enjoyed this volume so much more because it turned back to focusing on their developing relationship. Chiwa is being menaced and she suspects an ex-girlfriend of Hokuto’s. She and Hokuto end up confronting the woman together and in the process articulate their feelings for each other. A crisis in Hokuto’s family also brings them closer together as they finally deal with the issue of Hokuto’s succession to the family business. When I was reading this volume I was struck again by how much I like Enjoji’s art. She does a great job at portraying the nuanced meanings behind Chiwa and Hokuto’s exchanges as they slowly become a stronger couple. – Anna N

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 20 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – I have yet to encounter a bad volume of Kimi ni Todoke, but this is an especially good one. The story feels evenly spread across the characters, especially the three main girls, as they contend first with contemplating their future plans and next with the implications of giving home-made chocolates on Valentine’s Day. I love that Sawako has found her calling (and the great conversation in which she tells Kazehaya about it), but Chizuru and Ayane are even more fascinating to watch, as both are encouraged by their teacher to aim higher. Ayane, especially, has never had something to put her all into, and later wonders if she’s even capable of caring for her boyfriend Kento as much as she should. For the first time, I saw this as more of a coming-of-age manga than a sweet high school romance. Maybe it really could follow them into adulthood without sacrificing quality! – Michelle Smith

Sankarea, Vol. 10 | By Mitsuru Hattori | Kodansha Comics – As we head for the final volume, we’re getting lots of answers here, all being presented by Jogoro’s second wife, whose exposition dump is livened up somewhat by revealing she was sort of an eccentric when she was alive. Zombies finally dying is the order of the day, though – Otoki’s life ends after she’s helped Chizuru refresh his memories, and we learn that his mother crucified her zombie self so as not to risk her children. That leaves us with Rea, and honestly things aren’t looking good there – she’s gone on a rampage and even Chihiro may not be able to save her now. Can this series, which has had a lot to say about life going past the point it should, possibly have a happy ending? – Sean Gaffney

My Week in Manga: December 22-December 28, 2014

December 29, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

The end of the year is drawing near and because of the holidays I’ve been traveling quite a bit to see family. Despite being in a part of the country with less than ideal and spotty Internet access for most of the week (middle-of-nowhere Ohio), I still managed to post a few things. The honor of the final in-depth manga review of the year goes to Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, one of my most anticipated releases of 2014. Technically it’s more than just manga–the anthology includes photography, essays, creator profiles, and more. It’s a fantastic work, and highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in gay manga. Last week I also posted my list of notable releases from 2014. Massive is on the list, as are many other works, including comics and prose in addition to manga. It’s the second year I’ve done a list like this and I enjoyed making it, so I think it’ll probably become an annual feature.

One of the other notable manga that made my list was Makoto Yukimura’s marvelous Vinland Saga. Sadly, Kodansha Comics announced on Twitter that publication of the series has been temporarily suspended. No official explanation or reason has been given at this time (although there has been plenty of speculation), but Kodansha hopes to have more to say about the situation come the new year. Elsewhere online, Mangabrog has posted a lengthy translation of Brutus magazine’s interview with Hajime Isayama from its November 2014 Attack on Titan special issue. And although it’s not exactly manga news, the Smithsonian has begun putting the Pulverer Collection online–an impressive collection of Japanese illustrated books–along with related essays and videos. There were probably some other interesting things happening last week, but like I mentioned I’ve been traveling and visiting with family, so let me know if I missed something!

Quick Takes

Missions of Love, Volumes 7-9 by Ema Toyama. It’s been a little while since I’ve read Missions of Love, but it didn’t take me very long at all to fall back into the twisted relationship drama of the series. I’m actually glad that I had a few volumes saved up to read all at once since I tend to speed through the manga so quickly. Missions of Love is a series that has me easily turning page after page just to see how audacious the storyline can be without actually crossing the line into something blatantly indecent. The series is smutty and extremely suggestive. The characters are terrible people, selfish and manipulative. Their relationships are a twisted, tangled mess. But I can’t seem to turn away from the outrageousness of the series. Several confessions of love are made over the course of these particular volumes which only serve to complicate further an already complicated situation. And on top of that, Yukina’s preschool teacher, who unintentionally traumatized her when she was his student, is back in the picture which creates even more turmoil. Missions of Love certainly isn’t the most wholesome manga series, but it is an addicting one.

Punch Up!, Volumes 1-4 by Shiuko Kano. Although Punch Up! is a technically spinoff of Play Boy Blues, which was never completely released in English, knowledge of the earlier series isn’t necessary; Punch Up! stands perfectly well on its own. Kouta is a young but skilled construction worker who, thanks to a missing cat, ends up becoming the roommate of Motoharu, a successful and sought-after architect. Eventually, and not too surprisingly since this is a boys’ love manga, the two of them hook up as well. And since they both enjoy sex, it’s a frequent occurrence in the series. (One of Motoharu’s most prominent and amusing character traits is how horny he is.) Punch Up! also features a lengthy amnesia arc. Normally this isn’t a plot device that I’m particularly fond of, but it actually does provide for some interesting character development in the manga, so I’m a little more forgiving than I might otherwise be. Punch Up! has a fair amount of humor to it and a large cast of interesting secondary characters. And cats. For the most part I enjoyed the series, but there were a few things–like the treatment of Kouta’s older transgender sibling–that left something to be desired.

Silver Spoon, Season 2 directed by Kotomi Deai. It’s unlikely that Hiromu Arakawa’s award-winning manga series Silver Spoon will ever be licensed in English (although I would love to see it released), but at least the anime adaptation is available. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Silver Spoon and the second season is just as good if not better. Silver Spoon is a wonderful series. For me, part of the anime’s appeal is that it actually reminds me of home–I grew up in a small, rural farming community–and I can greatly empathize with the plights of the series’ characters and their families when tough decisions must be made. The importance of family is actually one of the second season’s particular emphases. Farming is not an easy or forgiving profession and deserves much more respect than it is often given. Silver Spoon doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh realities of agricultural work, but at the same time it isn’t overly pessimistic, either. There are humorous, cheerful, heartwarming, and even inspiring elements that nicely balance out the anime’s seriousness and occasional tragedy and sadness. Silver Spoon has great characters and character growth. I only wish that there was more of the series!

He’s My Only Vampire, Vol. 1

December 28, 2014 by Sean Gaffney

By Aya Shouoto. Released in Japan as “Junketsu + Kareshi” by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Aria. Released in North America by Yen Press.

In general, when I’m reading a manga I am looking for an entertaining story that draws me in and makes me want to read more. The originality of that story, however, is way down on my list of necessities. I don’t need a title to be different from all those other titles, I just want it to be well-told. So don’t take it the wrong way when I say that there really isn’t much that is original in this series at all. The author is quite familiar to these shores, as Kiss of the Rose Princess, which runs in Asuka, came out a month or so ago. This is a more serious story so far, though there are light-hearted moments. But for the most part, as I went through I was quite happy with what I was reading, even if I kept thinking “This reminds me of Vampire Knight” or “This is just like Millennium Snow”.

Kana is a tomboy-ish heroine, popular at school, who seems to be good at everything, to the point where she joins three clubs a day to help out, then just as swiftly leaves. Of course, this is actually the result of not one but TWO tragic pasts – as a child, she was in a fire that took the life of two twins she was best friends with, and later, while running track, a delinquent’s misfired prank (also involving fire) results in a broken leg AND ligament tear, ending her career. So she’s at a loss in regards to life. The delinquent is still around, trying to make amends as he clearly is starting to fall for her, but that doesn’t seem to be where this story is going. No, instead she runs into one of the twins, now alive – and a vampire!

I frequently joke about titles being licensed only because there are vampires in it, but they’re a popular fictional genre, allowing readers to indulge in forbidden sexuality and darkness. The scenes of Aki (said vampire) biting Kana are drawn sensuously, and you can tell that there’s more pleasure than pain at work here. There’s a certain amount of subservience here – Aki declares Kana is his thrall, and describes her as his “food”. But the narrative starts pushing back against that fairly quickly – he’s clearly acting distant to cover up his feelings, and when he gets into a fight with Jin (the delinquent I mentioned earlier), Kana shows that she will not be content to simply stand there. Actually, the way she stops the fight is really clever, and my favorite part of the book.

There’s a lot of plot hints dropped here that I’m sure will play out in future volumes. Jin transformed into a wolf-man hybrid towards the end (see why I mentioned Millennium Snow?), Aki’s twin Eriya seems to be alive but in some sort of stasis (or perhaps evil?), and we see someone who seems to be either Aki’s boss or enemy clearly dislike what he’s doing (because of course vampires have rules that cannot be broken.) That said, the series (just ended in Japan) is 10 volumes long, so I imagine we’ll get our answers soon. There’s a lot of stuff you’ve seen before in this series, but it’s told well, and for me that’s what matters. Recommended, particularly if you like supernatural romance.

Assassination Classroom Vol 1

December 26, 2014 by Anna N

Assassination Classroom Volume 1 by Yusei Matsui

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To be perfectly honest, I would have bought this manga for the title alone. The fact that it is a story about a mysterious tentacled alien teacher looking after a classroom of misfit teenage assassins is just a bonus. The premise of the manga is set up in an effective way, with some elements explained and others just left for the reader to simply accept and move on with the story. The manga opens as the happy face octopus stands in front of the classroom wearing an academic hood and gown. As the day opens the entire class leaps up from their desks with guns and begins to fire away. Their assassination attempts are fruitless, because their teacher can move at super speed and has amazing healing abilities. The assassination classroom is a room full of misfits held in the annex of a normal middle school. One day their teacher showed up, disintegrated a large portion of the moon and said that he would do the same to Earth in one year. Kuro Sensei inexplicably wants to spend a year educating the youth of Earth before he destroys it. The government has offered up a bounty to the member of class 3-E who succeeds in killing their teacher.

Assassination Classroom is filled with humorous elements interspersed with dynamic scenes of assassinations being foiled with ease. For poetry class, Kuro Sensei requires everyone to end their poem with the word “tentacles” and he is always using his supersonic flying power to randomly buy himself treats from around the world. The standout student is Sugino, who spends his days making careful observations of his teacher, slowly gathering intelligence that might eventually lead to a successful assassination. As the volume progresses, more members of the class 3-E are introduced, all of whom have unique abilities. The most amusing aspect of the volume is the fact that for all Kuro Sensei plans on wiping out all of humanity in a year, he is really dedicated to being an excellent teacher. He intervenes in the lives of his troubled students and actually does manage to teach them some useful life lessons. The uplifting aspects of the manga contrast with Earth’s imminent doom in an interesting way. The art is well-executed but somewhat generic. It is amusing to see the variety of expressions on Kuro Sensei’s face, and the unexpected ways his alien powers manifest. I think this series would really appeal to fans of Death Note. So far, Assassination Classroom seems like an ideal pick for people who enjoy manga with a healthy side of dark cynicism on the side.

Random Musings: Notable in 2014

December 26, 2014 by Ash Brown

Last December, for the very first time at Experiments in Manga, I made an end-of-the-year list of titles that were, for me, particularly notable in 2013. I enjoyed pulling the list together (which probably isn’t too surprising given my propensity for making lists), and so I’ve decided to make it an ongoing feature. It’s not exactly a “best of” list, and it’s not exactly a list of favorites either, but out of everything that I read over the last year, the following releases from 2014 particularly stood out for me in some way:

Inio Asano’s Nijigahara Holograph was the first work to really floor me in 2014. It’s a dark and disturbing manga that is both brutal and beautiful. Nijigahara Holograph isn’t an easy read, not just because of its heavy thematic content, but also because its ambiguous narrative structure is challenging and can be confusing. The manga is complex and layered. Open to multiple interpretations, Nijigahara Holograph is a work that holds up well to repeated readings.

It’s not a secret that I’m a fan of Moyoco Anno’s work but even if I wasn’t I still would have been hugely impressed by In Clothes Called Fat. In many ways the manga is an uncomfortable read, but it is also an extremely powerful examination of physical and psychological ugliness and beauty. While there is dark humor in In Clothes Called Fat, Anno doesn’t pull her punches, showing the obsessive extremes to which society and individuals subject themselves in order to obtain an arbitrary ideal.

One of my most anticipated releases for 2014 was Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It and I was not at all disappointed by the work. The groundbreaking collection is spectacular, introducing nine of the most influential creators of gay erotic manga through photography, essays, interviews, manga, and more. Anyone at all interested in the genre, its creators, or its history needs to read Massive. Fantagraphics and the team of editors did a fantastic job with the volume.

When it comes to 2014 manga with gay themes, I was also particularly pleased to see the release of the first five volumes of What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Fumi Yoshinaga which has one of the most realistic portrayals of an established contemporary queer relationship that I’ve come across in fiction. It’s also a food manga, which I love. Not everyone will appreciate the amount of attention the series devotes to very detailed food preparation, though; even I’m much more invested in the characters’ lives.

2014 was very a good year for interesting new shoujo. One of the most delightful was Kazune Kawahara and Aruko’s My Love Story!!. The series plays around with shoujo tropes and expectations and is both funny and endearing. The characters, too, are lovely and charming. I’m still not certain how long the series’ basic premise will be able to be sustained, but I’ll be following My Love Story!! until its end. Just reading the two volumes that have so far been released makes me incredibly happy.

Another shoujo that caught my attention was Setona Mizushiro’s Black Rose Alice. Now, vampires aren’t generally my thing, especially since they’ve been so overdone recently, but the vampires in Black Rose Alice really are very different from any other vampire that I’ve encountered before. After only two volumes I don’t understand everything that’s going on yet, but there is no question that the series is marvelously unsettling, creepy, and atmospheric. I desperately need to read more.

Tetsuya Tsutsui’s Prophecy was a manga that seemed to come out of nowhere for me, and I don’t think it’s on many people’s radars yet. It should be though. One volume was released in 2014, but I’m already very impressed by the series. Maybe because I work so heavily with electronic resources, I especially appreciate Prophecy‘s realistic take on information and cyber crime. The series deals with the implications of online anonymity and contemporary social issues in a very engaging way.

I have been thoroughly enjoy Makoto Yukimura’s epic Vinland Saga ever since its debut in 2013, but it wasn’t until the second omnibus was released early in 2014 that I absolutely fell in love with the manga. The second through fifth omnibuses were published over the past year which amounts to well over 1700 pages of content. Yukimura’s artwork seems to get more detailed with each passing volume and the attention given to historical detail in both the series’ art and its story is superb.

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is one of two manga that appeared both on last year’s and this year’s notable list. While I don’t have a particular interest in Gundam as a whole, The Origin continues to demand my attention. And not just because it’s one of the best-looking manga releases in English. The scope of The Origin is epic, but the attention given to characterization makes it all feel very personal. Volumes five through eight were released in 2014 and its good stuff.

Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son is the second manga to make my notable list two years in a row. To be perfectly honest, it will probably appear on every list of notable manga that I make. The series is incredibly important to me on a very personal level. Only two volumes were published in 2014, the sixth and the seventh. I wish the wait between each volume coming out wasn’t as long, but really I’m just extraordinarily happy that Wandering Son is being released in English at all.

I discovered Toril Orlesky’s Hotblood!: A Centaur in the Old West while at TCAF. It was a splurge purchase of a comic I hadn’t even heard of before, but it quickly became one of my favorites. Great artwork, great characters, great worldbuilding, just a great comic. I don’t follow many webcomics as they are released online. Hotblood! is one of the few exceptions–I read each update as soon as I possibly can. So far, the first two volumes have been completed and the third is currently being serialized.

At this point, I should probably just give anything written by Gene Luen Yang a try. Boxers & Saints was included on last year’s notable list and this year his collaboration with Sonny Liew, The Shadow Hero, made the cut. I wasn’t initially even going to read The Shadow Hero since I’m not especially interested in superheros, but that would have been a mistake. It’s an excellent comic with humor, heart, and history, inspired by an obscure superhero from the 1940s.

Yu Godai’s Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Volume 1 was another surprise. I didn’t initially know much about the series except that it was related to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. But then I read it and was immediately hooked, fascinated by its setting and atmosphere as well as the philosophical and psychological development of its characters. An absorbing work of science fiction, I’ll definitely be picking up the second volume of Quantum Devil Saga as soon as I can.

After two years of online serialization, 2014 saw the publication of Add a Little Chaos, the second volume of Tokyo Demons, a series of novels written by Lianne Sentar and illustrated by Rem. My obsession with all things Tokyo Demons is well-known, but the second book was phenomenal. Things get pretty dark and heavy, so the stakes for the third and final volume are incredibly high. I can’t even bring myself to wait for the last volume to be completed; I’m following the serialization this time.