Features & Reviews

Bookshelf Briefs 8/25/14

August 25, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, MJ, Anna N and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

This week, Sean, MJ, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Seven Seas, Viz Media, and Vertical, Inc.

Devils and Realist, Vol. 2 | By utako Yukihiro and Madoka Takadono | Seven Seas – Much of the first volume of this series was the lead character being shown various demonic and fascinating things and simply refusing to accept them, attempting to find a rational example for everything. He’s still doing that to an extent here, but this volume is mostly dedicated to showing him that no matter how he defines what’s happening around him, the trouble is that everyone either wants him dead or making a decision for them. As such, there’s a lot more Devils than Realist here, and even the priests can’t be trusted. I’m hoping that starting soon William will find a way to introduce his own brand of rationalism into the demon world instead of shutting it out. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 8 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – A lot of this volume is devoted to characters who are unable to have normal friendships managing to find something similar by pretending they are bitter rivals. Kobato and Maria, Maria and her sister Keito, who is also a Sister – a nun has some bad habits, so to speak – and between Sena and Yozora, which Kodaka realizes when he enters Sena’s room, which looks more like a shrine to Yozora than anything else. So much of Haganai is friendship via conflict that when we start to see the softer side of things – such as Kodaka and Sena’s growing attraction to each other, which comes to a head at a karaoke party – we also feel we don’t want to break up the chemistry of the group. Luckily, we’ve a ways to go. – Sean Gaffney

Happy Marriage?!, Vol. 7 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – The conclusion of the previous volume found Chiwa feeling like she and Hokuto were finally “walking together at the same pace,” but they soon discover that even though they love each other, there’s one thing they can never agree about: Hokuto’s father. Hokuto is convinced his dad is responsible for the death of his mother, and refuses to visit his dying father in the hospital. Chiwa can’t bear to see Hokuto so heartless, and he ends up moving out for a while, but they soon realize that though they don’t know how to solve this problem, they still love each other. I thought this was actually a rather insightful thing for a couple to be fighting about in a manga, and though Happy Marriage&! certainly relies heavily on well-trod tropes for its drama, it’s occasionally a pleasant surprise. I’m glad I revisited it! – Michelle Smith

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 10 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – There’s so much I could talk about with this volume of Sidonia. The ongoing oddball harem formed around Tanikaze, which is fine feeling like a family but gets very jealous when it comes to the man himself. There’s also the somewhat disastrous attempts to replicate what’s been done with Tsumugi, which almost ends in tragedy. There’s Izana’s ongoing relationship with her grandmother, who looks so similar to her they could almost be identical twins. Yet what I will most recall from this volume is seeing Tahiro, whose possession so disturbed me five volumes ago, blowing her brains out now that her usefulness to Ochiai is at an end. There’s still a good deal of horror left in Sidonia’s quiver. – Sean Gaffney

Library Wars: Love and War, Vol. 12 | by Kiiro Yumi and Hiro Arikawa | Viz Media Sometimes the key emotional moments in a series seem to have more resonance if more time has been spent building up to them. Library Wars could be a bit hit or miss in earlier volumes, but I always loved the premise of an action oriented series about paramilitary librarians. This volume will be very satisfying to long-time readers, as Iku and Dojo finally go out on a date. Seeing Dojo’s calm and restrained reactions as Iku spazzes out a bit was quite adorable, but the part of this volume that made me want to stand up and cheer was the romance between Tezuka and Shibasaki. Shibasaki does a bit of traditional shoujo gender role switching, with stellar results. On the library side of things, the team is charged with protecting an embattled author, and there might be some more promising developments with Tezuka’s brother thanks to Shibasaki’s intervention. This continues to be a fun series. Anna N

Loveless, Vol. 12 | By Yun Kouga | Viz Media – One of the downsides of consuming something in bulk, is that it’s difficult to top that kind of immersive experience, or even come close to matching it. This is certainly the case with Loveless, with which my own series of omnibus binges could best be described as a soul-consuming love affair. After all that, how could any single volume possibly live up? It couldn’t. It doesn’t. I’d be lying if I suggested otherwise. What the series’ twelfth volume does offer, however, is proof that the series can hold up even without the fervor of new love. While the volume contains a bit more non-linear fluff that I’d ideally prefer, it also provides a lot of substance, especially as regards Ritsuka’s supposed personality change and Seimei’s controlling relationship with his fighter, Nisei. These sections are honestly riveting, and I’m left desperate for more. Just as it should be. Still recommended. – MJ

Spell of Desire, Vol. 1 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – There’s a lot that’s swirling around the first volume of this new josei-only-not series from the creator of Midnight Secretary. Repression and control as both a positive and negative thing, and when it feels all right to give in to your passions, especially when you haven’t ever had to deal with them before. Tying this into witchcraft helps to make it at least a bit more metaphorical, and while the male lead hasn’t really done’ anything for me yet, I do quite like Kaoruko. The premise of the series seems to hint that we’ll eventually meet her missing mother as well, which promises to deliver some thrills. This first volume still feels a bit incomplete in the end, however. I hope future volumes will give it some solidity. – Sean Gaffney

My Week in Manga: August 18-August 24, 2014

August 25, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week–last Monday, to be exact–Experiments in Manga celebrated its fourth anniversary. I’ve taken to writing what usually ends up being a rather lengthy anniversary post every year in which I reflect on the past three-hundred-sixty-five days, and this year was no different. I also posted a review last week of The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan, Ivan Morris’ classic study of Heian-era Japan and The Tale of Genji. The work was originally published in 1964 and it’s still a great read. Finally, for something a little different, I posted a Spotlight on Masaichi Mukaide who, in the late 1970s, became one of the first Japanese comics artists to be released in English. I rather enjoyed investigating this bit of comics history; I hope other people find it interesting as well.

While working on my random musings about Masaichi Mukaide, I discovered that the three short manga currently believed to be the earliest manga to have been translated into English (Akasegawa Genpei’s “Sakura Illustrated,” Shirato Sampei’s “Red Eyes,” and Tsuge Yoshiharu’s “The Stopcock”) are available online to read digitally. Another interesting piece of reading that I came across last week was Ryan Holmberg’s article on manga, art history, and Seiichi Hayashi at The Comics Journal. Elsewhere online, Sean at A Case Suitable for Treatment looks at some of the latest offerings from Crunchyroll Manga and Justin at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses was able to get some of the manga publishers to weigh in on their approaches to the last pages of manga volumes.

Quick Takes

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 1 written by Yuto Tsukuda and illustrated by Shun Saeki. Soma Yukihira wants nothing more than to surpass his father in the kitchen, but his goal of becoming the ultimate chef becomes a little more difficult when his father closes up the family restaurant for three years. In the meantime, Soma is expected to transfer into the most elite and competitive culinary school in Japan. The other students aren’t very welcoming of the son of a low-end family restaurant, so it’s entirely up to the arrogant and uncouth Soma to prove that his cooking is just as impressive as their high-class cuisine. Overall, the artwork in Food Wars is great. The illustrations of the food in particular are incredibly sumptuous. And then there are the reaction shots–those who taste Soma’s cooking often fall into nearly orgasmic ecstasy which is accompanied by highly sexualized imagery. This does include such things as young women being molested by tentacles, which will certainly not appeal to every reader. Personally, I was for the most part rather amused by the ridiculous levels and absurdity of the occasional fanservice.

The Prince of Tennis, Volumes 1-7 by Takeshi Konomi. While recently reading The Princess of Tennis, a memoir written by one of Konomi’s assistants, I came to the realization that I had never actually read any of The Prince of Tennis. The series is one of the most successful and popular sports manga in Japan, growing into a fairly substantial franchise. The Prince of Tennis is an oddly addictive series–I tore through the first seven volumes very quickly–but to some extent it’s also a bit frustrating. There is virtually no story or character development, simply game after game of tennis and middle school trash talk. Some of the most important games, the ones that actually impact the characters’ growth (what little there is) happen almost entirely off-page. All of the players are very strong to begin with, so there hasn’t been much evolution in their performance or skill levels, either. But the various games are interesting and entertaining, if a little over-the-top. There are a lot of good-looking characters of various types, too, which is probably a large part of the series’ appeal. I’m not in a rush to read more, but I did enjoy the first seven volumes.

Attack on Titan, Vol. 13

August 24, 2014 by Sean Gaffney

By Hajime Isayama. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

For a while there Attack on Titan was able to keep its readership breathless, with a chase sequence and rescue that went over multiple volumes, following a long extended siege that revealed stunning information about half of our cast. There’s been no time to catch your breath and think about what’s really going on. And that’s this volume’s job, to try to take a step back and work out what everyone is fighting for and why. And the answer is not really one that anyone is going to find pleasant. Levi notes it himself while discussing things with the team – this has been a horrible, twisted world for 100 years now, and there’s no sense that even stopping the Titans will really fix anything. Do we really want the good guys to win if the leadership in place is so rotten?

The whole Survey Corps team, minus the four obvious ones, are now back together again and part of Levi’s new squad. Sasha has returned relatively unharmed from her trip to the north, and attempts to bring a certain levity with her – her interactions with Jean about food are meant to be reminiscent of the first few volumes. Even here, though, we cut from the comedic scenes to Levi staring into space, overlaying his old squad – now all dead – with the new team he’s in charge of. Levi is not the most personable guy in the world – between him and Hange, who’s wildly mood swinging through this entire volume, we might almost have a functioning human – but I think he’s good at knowing how to get what he needs, and right now that means he has to be mean to Eren, as being driven into a corner seems to be the only thing that allows Eren to control his Titan abilities.

Then there’s Historia, whose past comes into play here. She explains her childhood to the squad, and it is, needless to say, horrible. Living her life as best she can, and only realizing once she starts reading books and other stories how truly terrible it is. Abused by the other children, and her own mother despises her. Then she’s almost killed, only saved at the last minute by her father denying her own existence. What makes it worse is that there are also bits she can’t recall, as a mysterious young woman, the only person who ever shows her any love and affection (besides Ymir, and trust me she’s cut up about that as well), erases her memory every time they met as kids. This is actually the most plot specific part of the volume, as Eren is also dreaming about that young woman, who may be related to both of them? Who knows.

Meanwhile, back in the city, Pastor Nick has been tortured and killed by the military police, once again showing us how it’s the Survey Corps versus the world here. Erwin is doing his best to try to get on top of things, and in the end makes the decision that the royal government has proven itself unfit to lead, and needs to be overthrown. Which is all very well and good, but he says that at the same time as we cut to Levi and Hange, about to torture the same MP who tortured Pastor Nick. Replacing one group who advocates torture to get results with another one does not fill me with glee, though I may have to save that subject for the next volume.

This has never exactly been a fun series to read, but this volume in particular is grim and grimy, helped along by Isayama’s art, which has improved to “OK” but that’s still a step below most manga artists, including the ones who draw his spinoff stories. I also disliked everything about the subplot with Armin being threatened with rape by a member of Reeves Company, particularly as, seeing some of the cast laughing about it later, I think we’re supposed to see it as a funny interlude rather than disgustingly awful. Attack on Titan is still one of the most compelling series out there, and you’ll want to see what happens next. But when the fighting slows and you start to deal with the city, its citizens, and our heroes, you can’t help but feel weary.

Dawn of the Arcana Vol 13 and Midnight Secretary Vol 7

August 23, 2014 by Anna N

These are both great series from the Shojo Beat line that are concluding! I always feel a bit wistful when reading final volumes, but fortunately I am quickly distracted by new manga series.

Dawn of the Arcana Vol 13 by Rei Toma

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In this volume of Dawn of the Arcana, Nakaba and Caesar are reunited, while Loki makes an unexpected demand – to be given the kingdom of Senan so humans and Ajin can live separately. Nakaba is absolutely against this, seeing a way for her and Caesar to bring both people together, but Loki leaves, determined to secure a kingdom for the Ajin. Nakaba is heartbroken, starting to adjust to life in Belquat as Caesar’s queen yet again. She closes herself off from her magical powers, not wanting to suffer again if she sees Loki in a vision. One of the things that I’ve always liked about this series is that it is a bit more about the world the characters live in than the romantic issues that they need to work through. So Nakaba and Caesar set to rebuilding their world without Ajin, as the country of Senan becomes more closed off and mysterious. When an almost grown-up Rito shows up with a message from Senan, this sets off a series of surprising revelations that can change how readers interpreted the story from the very beginning. I have to admit, I was genuinely surprised by this concluding plot twist.

Dawn of the Arcana was one of those series that grows on readers gradually. I remember enjoying but feeling slightly ambivalent about the first volume, but after reading a few more I knew I’d be reading the rest of the series. While there is plenty of romantic angst, the focus on world buliding, geopolitics, and human-Ajin race relations made the story seem more expansive than usual for a shoujo fantasy series.

Midnight Secretary Vol 7 by Tomu Ohmi

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Seven volumes seems like just the right length for this manga about a dedicated secretary and her vampire boss. In this volume Kyohei is formally banished from the vampire clan because he refuses to part from Kaya. But as they start to figure out how to live on their own, they have to start working on ways to deal with complications like Kyohei’s regular blood supply and the loss of business that occurs when Kyohei’s new company starts running into trouble. There’s an additional issue as Kaya’s blood starts to turn toxic to Kyohei, further straining their relationship. There’s never any doubt that this manga is headed to a happily ever ending for this unconventional couple, and readers wanting to see Kaya and Kyohei set up as a strong couple facing their future together won’t be disappointed. There’s an extra bonus chapter that flips the gender dynamics of the whole book, as vampire Marika finds her “Midnight Butler.” This was a great bonus story, and it was interesting to see Marika in a different context, because she’d only showed up as a friend of Kyohei’s before. Overall, this was an extremely satisfying josei-disguised-as-shoujo-series, and I’m delighted that I can now switch over to Ohmi’s Spell of Desire for similar supernatural romance!

Review copies provided by the publisher

Random Musings: Spotlight on Masaichi Mukaide

August 22, 2014 by Ash Brown

Star Reach #7

While reading Comics: A Global History, 1968 to the Present, I encountered a single sentence that particularly caught my attention: “Star Reach was also notable for printing the first Japanese comics to be translated into English, two short pieces by Masaichi Mukaide; the style displayed was not characteristically Japanese, however, and failed to ignite any further interest in importing manga for the time being.”

Masaichi Mukaide. Though at that point I was unfamiliar with Star Reach, I was pretty sure that I had come across Mukaide’s name somewhere before. And so I decided to investigate.

Star Reach was an influential independent American comics anthology that focused on science fiction and fantasy stories. Mike Friedrich, who was once an editor and writer at both DC Comics and Marvel, established his own press in order publish Star Reach, which began in 1974. In 1978, he also started to release Star Reach‘s sister publication Imagine. At one point or another, both of those magazines included short works by Mukaide. Some of the comics were entirely his own creation while others were collaborations with different writers, both Japanese and American–notably Lee Marrs and Steven Grant. The first of Mukaide’s comics to appear in English, “The Bushi,” was written by Satoshi Hirota and was published in the seventh issue of Star Reach January 1977.

In an interview with Friedrich included in the Star Reach Companion, Richard Arndt asked how it came about that Star Reach published the first manga to appear in America. Friedrich replied:

I’ve never met the Japanese artist I published, although we did present a fair amount of his work. Oddly enough, he’s not a comic book artist in Japan. He was basically a fan artist over there. He could not make his living as an artist in Japan because his work was considered too American! If you look at it now, it was probably the first combination of manga and American comics. His work didn’t quite fit anywhere. But, yeah, there’s a book, Manga! Manga!, which certifies that the first appearance of manga in the United States was in Star Reach. I had no idea that was true.

Well, it turns out that technically isn’t true–Ryan Sands has noted that a 1971 issue of Concerned Theatre Japan included three short manga in translation–but for all intents and purposes, Mukaide’s work was the first exposure that the average comics reader in the United States had to manga.

Try as I might, I’ve been unable to find very much information about Mukaide himself. The best clue that I’ve discovered comes from Friedrich’s editor’s note accompanying Star Reach #18, the magazine’s final issue:

A friend of Masaichi Mukaide dropped by the other day and I found out a bit more about our distant Japanese contributor. He’s a law school graduate who opted out of a legal career to enter the publishing world and keep up his art. His wife is also an artist, working on the local comics (I believe I was told).

However, that’s not the last that was seen of Mukaide in English. Sometime between 1980 and 1982 a volume simply called Manga was released. (ISBN 4946427015 for those who are interested in trying to track down a copy.) This collection is the reason that Mukaide’s name seemed familiar to me–his comic, “The Promise,” concludes the volume. He was also the editor of the collection. Looking more closely at Manga‘s credits, there are also some other names that I now recognize: Friedrich served as the consulting editor, Hirota was the associate editor, and Marrs was a contributing writer.

Manga was one of the first collections deliberately crafted in order to introduce Japanese comics to Western audiences: “Our purpose in publishing Manga is to give the non-Japanese reading public a visual taste of Japan and the creative talents that exist there. Nothing would give us greater pleasure, however, if in doing so we are able to boost the cultural understanding in the west about Japan.”

“The Bushi”

As already mentioned, the first work by Mukaide to appear in English was “The Bushi,” which was written by Satoshi Hirota. Were it not for the historical Japanese setting, there is very little to indicate that the creators themselves were also Japanese. Mukaide’s artwork is not all that different from many of the other comics found in Star Reach. The story is set during the tumultuous time between the age of myth and legends and the age of humans. A young warrior confronts and battles with a demon, seeking revenge for the slaughter of his family, only to become a demon himself.

“The Spider Thread” is based on the well-known short story “The Spider’s Thread” written by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa in 1918. In it, a sinner is given the chance to escape hell because he once saved the life of a spider–the only good deed that he ever committed. However, Mukaide gives his own little twist to the tale at the end of the comic. Considering the seriousness and drama of the story–it almost entirely takes place among the tortured souls in hell–the final panel is surprisingly humorous, turning the comic into a joke. “The Spider Thread” also contains what is probably my favorite single page composed by Mukaide.

Mukaide’s first collaboration with writer Lee Marrs, “The Awakening of Tamaki,” was apparently intended to be the start of a series which would follow the trials of a young woman named Tamaki. After her family is killed, Tamaki is raised in seclusion by her sole-surviving uncle. When he dies as well she must make her own way in the world, disguised as a boy for the sake of her safety. Thanks to her uncle’s training, Tamaki is an excellent swordswoman with exceptional moral strength. As far as I know, there were never any more installments in the series, which is a shame; I really liked the comic.

“The Spider Thread”

“The Mission” was Mukaide’s second collaboration with Marrs. Whereas I was very fond of “The Awakening of Tamaki,” “The Mission” is probably my least favorite of Mukaide’s comics in English. It seems like it should be a something that I would enjoy, but it just didn’t grab me. Despite the numerous twists and turns the story takes within its few pages, despite the lies and betrayals, despite the quick pace and all of the action and fighting, for some reason “The Mission” simply strikes me as somewhat generic ninja adventure. Ninja doesn’t even have a name; he’s just Ninja.

When compared to the rest of Mukaide’s English-language comics, the two-paged “Salvation” stands out because the artwork and story is so simple. Backgrounds are almost nonexistent and the shading and detail of the illustrations are limited as well. The story follows a drunkard who keeps getting kicked out of drinking establishments. He causes a panic by claiming that a doomsday flood is coming in order to sneak back into the bars after everyone else has fled. It’s an amusing and silly short comic that, like most of Mukaide’s other comics, has a bit of a twist at the end.

“The Soldier Who Guards the Gate of the City Freedom” is another two-paged comic by Mukaide, although it is more of a historical allegory instead of a humorous gag like “Salvation.” A young soldier, a man of honor, has the lonely duty of guarding the city gates. He does so willingly, though the eventual enemy attack is a long time in coming. Mukaide’s emphasis on the soldier’s loneliness is the key to the impact of the brief comic. The steady passage of time, too, is important. Mukaide captures this through the use of a very regular progression of narrow panels which are all of the exact same size.

“Crashing,” which was written by Steven Grant, is the only example of Mukaide’s work in the genre of science fiction. All of his other comics published in English are historical in nature, generally with touches of the fantastic. Mukaide’s artwork in “Crashing” is not at all dissimilar to American science fiction comics of the era. It’s a somewhat confusing story, but this is exceedingly appropriate as the comic’s protagonist has gone insane. Mukaide’s artwork supports this as well–the illustrations can be somewhat hallucinogenic and the page layouts are often fragmented.

“The Awakening of Tamaki”

“The Promise,” the last of Mukaide’s comics to be translated, is his rendition of the legend of the Yuki-onna, or the Snow Woman. Lafcadio Hearn’s telling of the story in Kwaidan is probably the version with which English-language audiences are most familiar. Mukaide’s tale incorporates many of the same elements as Hearn’s, but he adds his own touches as well. “The Promise” also shares some similarities with “The Bushi,” especially in style, although “The Promise” tends to be stronger overall. However, the two comics bookend Mukaide’s excursion into English particularly nicely because of their parallels.

After that, Mukaide seems to disappear. I have no idea what happened to him or if he’s even still creating comics. Perhaps he went back to working in law. Either way, a small corpus of Mukaide’s comics released in English in the late 1970s and early 1980s does exist. What particularly strikes me about these works are the changes and adjustments that he makes to his art style and page layouts to better suit each story being told. Although each comic is definitely its own work, there are some common elements as well. For example, his narratives and artwork frequently draw inspiration from traditional stories, tales, and legends. Interestingly, although many of his comics take place within a vaguely historical Japanese setting, he does not exclusively limit himself to Japanese sources. Instead, Mukaide’s work blends together both Eastern and Western influences, which seems oddly fitting for one of the first Japanese comics creators to be released in English.

Masaichi Mukaide Bibliography

“The Awakening of Tamaki” written by Lee Marrs and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Imagine #4, October 1978)
“The Bushi” written by Satoshi Hirota and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Star Reach #7, January 1977)
“Crashing” written by Steven Grant and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Star Reach #18, October 1979)
“The Mission” written by Lee Marrs and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Star Reach #15, December 1978)
“The Promise” written and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Manga, 1980/1982?)
“Salvation” written and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Imagine #6, June 1979)
“The Soldier Who Guards the Gate of the City Freedom” written and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Star Reach #18, October 1979)
“The Spider Thread” written and illustrated by Masaichi Mukaide (Imagine #3, July 1978)

“Salvation”

Further Reading
Comics: A Global History, 1968 to the Present by Dan Mazur and Alexander Danner
Early Manga: A Chronology by Ryan Sands
Incredible First-Ever Manga Translated in 1971 by Ryan Sands
Manga and Mega Comics by Jason Thompson
Manga in the USA by Michael Toole
My Life is Choked with Comics #19a: Manga by Joe McCulloch
My Life is Choked with Comics #19b: Manga by Joe McCulloch
Star Reach Companion by Richard Arndt

Manga the Week of 8/27

August 21, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: The final week of this brutal August, at least before we arrive at a brutal September with just as many books. Yen for once is being fairly quiet, but that’s all right, Kodansha’s here to pitch in.

Dark Horse brings us the 6th Blood Blockade Battlefront, blocked out by the brigand who brought us Brigun!… OK, Trigun. That sort of fell apart at the end there.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: There is also the Hatsune Miku Unofficial Hatsune Mix, a manga compilation about the Vocaloid personality.

Kodansha gives us the 13th Attack on Titan volume, which delves further into Historia’s background, and brings the action back to the Town – for better and worse.

Cage of Eden 15 will no doubt continue its descent into the pyramid of EVIL.

No. 8 is up to Vol. 6… um, I mean No. 6 is up to Vol. 8… guh. Ash, take over.

ASH: Indeed! No. 6 has reached its eighth, and penultimate volume. Also, as a bonus, Kodansha has included a 16-page color illustration gallery in this volume as a thanks to readers for supporting the series.

SEAN: Sankarea is also up to Vol. 8, and continues to try to answer the question “will this romantic harem comedy end with everyone brutally slaughtered?” Actually, that could apply to Cage of Eden as well.

No murders in Say “I Love You” yet, but plenty of teenage trauma and dealing with budding sexualities. Will things get lighter in Vol. 3?

MICHELLE: I look forward to finding out!

ANNA: Me too! this is the only manga I have my eye on this week, which should theoretically give me a chance to catch up with the many piles of unread manga I have stashed around my house.

SEAN: And The Wallflower 33, whose volume arrives a lot faster than 32, and yes, is still coming out in Japan with no signs of ending soon.

Vertical has the 3rd Cardfight!! Vanguard, in which I assume there will be fighting. With cards. And excessive punctuation.

Yen On brings us the second volume of the Sword Art Online novels. This does not pick up after the end of the first novel, but doubles back to introduce a few more regulars and tell some Aincrad short stories.

Fanservice Overload #1: the 7th volume of BTOOOM!, which still has people to blow up and cleavage to show off.

Fanservice Overload #2: The 2nd High School DxD, where a harem continues to form. Which, given this is a harem manga, is as it should be.

A brief interlude with the penultimate volume of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya manga. The novel is awaiting a new volume from its writer-blocked author, so the manga ends with Vol. 20 while we see if there will be any more. This, however, is merely Vol. 19, so expect a lot of Sasaki.

Fanservice Overload #3: Triage X Volume 7, which… what the hell is even HAPPENING on that cover?

MICHELLE: Yeah, these fanservice titles are so not for me.

SEAN: Will you be getting fanservice next week? (And honestly, Cage of Eden should be in there as well.) If not, what will you be checking out?

Dorohedoro, Vol. 13

August 21, 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.

Most of the recent volumes of Dorohedoro have consisted of a lot of what readers are looking for with the series (gore, comedy, the odd gyoza mention) along with small dabs of plot and one big thing that everyone will remember after they finish the book. Last time it was Nikaido’s flashback, which was showing us how traumatized she was as a child and the circumstances that led to her use (and misuse) of her time magic. And I’m pretty sure that after Volume 13, everyone will be discussing what happens in the final moments with Kai and Natsuki. But let’s try to mention a few other things first.

Given the traumatic nature of what happens at the end of this volume, I knew we would have some humor in here somewhere, and a lot of it comes from seeing genderbent Nikaido, who has to disguise herself using magic to enter En’s mansion, now taken over by the Cross-Eyes. In her male body, she’s still her regular self, and is I believe what anime fans describe as a “keet”. This leads to more fun when she runs into Kai/Caiman, who is still having memory issues and has difficulty dealing with Nikaido being so informal. Particularly when the spell wears off and she transforms back into her buff, stacked, naked body in front of him. (This is a strong volume for fans of Dorohedoro’s fanservice – Nikaido fights as a man bare-chested for a while, and we also see Noi naked after her recovery.

Yes, Noi and Shin have been rescued from being mushroom’d at the end of the last volume. The fact that there’s yet another mysterious En family member with tremendous powers is played for laughs here – this man is able to become invisible, but does too good a job, so people forget he’s there after a while. She’s able to use smoke to heal Shin (via a full-on kiss, which I think startles Shin more than anything else) and they’re back in action. Actually, a great deal of this volume is the En family regrouping, and trying to resurrect their leader. Hasn’t happened yet, though.

And now let’s talk Natsuki. She’s been one of the most optimistic, hopeful and fun characters in the last few volumes, more of a mascot than a real threat. That changes here when a crisis shows off her repressed magic, which has almost godlike defensive capabilities. She’s delighted, but the rest of the cross-eyes are terrified – they know what Kai does to people with strong magic, and immediately plot to get her away from him. But in the end this is *not* particularly an optimistic, hopeful manga, and Natsuki is not one of the main characters. And thus, right before she leaves she runs into Kai, and gets brutally torn apart, in one of the goriest bits of the entire volume. And unlike En, I’m pretty sure she won’t be coming back. Kai is scary. I miss Caiman.

I expect the fallout from this will take up a chunk of Vol. 14, along with Nikaido’s continued practice of her magic and the search for En’s devil-shaped tumor. In the meantime, another fun yet brutal volume of Dorohedoro, which even in its most confusing moments still manages to be exhilarating through sheer verve.

The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan

August 20, 2014 by Ash Brown

Author: Ivan Morris
Publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781568360294
Released: June 1994
Original release: 1964

Several years ago I read the entirety of The Tale of Genji, a novel written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century. It was a pretty big undertaking, but absolutely worth it. I love the novel. Ever since finishing The Tale of Genji for the first time, I’ve been meaning to read Ivan Morris’ The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan. The volume takes its title from the hero of The Tale of Genji who is referred to as the shining prince due to his exquisite visage and exceptional character. In many ways, The World of the Shining Prince serves as a companion to The Tale of Genji as Morris explores the historical reality of the aristocracy of Heian-era Japan. The World of the Shining Prince was originally published in 1964. Beginning in 1994, later editions of the work also include an introduction by Barbara Ruch. I recently read and was rather impressed by another of Morris’ works, The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan, and so was looking forward to reading The World of the Shining Prince even more.

In addition to the introductions, preface, appendices, bibliography, and topical index, The World of the Shining Prince examines a number of different aspects of tenth-century Japan, Heian court society, and The Tale of Genji within it ten chapters. Morris begins with a broad overview of the era in the first chapter, “The Heian Period.” Though the Heian Period lasted from 782 to 1167, The World of the Shining Prince largely, but not exclusively, focuses on the 900s. The next chapter, “The Setting” looks at Heian architecture, city planning, and geography. From there Morris delves into more detailed analysis of Heian culture in the chapters “Politics and Society,” “Religions,” and “Superstitions.” Next, attention is specifically turned to the Heian nobility and aristocracy. “The Good People and Their Lives” details day-to-day activities, amusements, and ceremonies while “The Cult of Beauty” looks at the particular aesthetics of the era. The eighth chapter, “The Women of Heian and their Relations with Men” outlines household and family structures as well as the place of romantic liaisons. The World of the Shining Prince concludes with chapters devoted to Murasaki Shikibu and to The Tale of Genji itself.

Although written more than five decades ago, The World of the Shining Prince has held up remarkably well. Admittedly, it is nearly impossible to write a completely objective cultural study–Morris’ analysis is informed and influenced by his own cultural subjectivity. In the half-century since The World of the Shining Prince was written, Western thought and scholarly approaches to cultural analysis have also changed. (For example, as Ruch mentions in her introduction, views on gender politics and the relationship between religion and superstition has shifted over the years.) The World of the Shining Prince is a product of its time, but that doesn’t at all diminish its value as a resource on Heian-era Japan, and more specifically on Japanese court life in the tenth century. Additionally, the volume is written with a general audience in mind. It is quite approachable, even for the average reader, and is engagingly written. Granted, the subject mater of The World of the Shining Prince is fascinating to being with.

Although Morris does provide some important general context within which he situates The World of the Shining Prince, the volume’s scope is relatively narrow, concentrating on a very specific part of Heian society. However, this specificity also allows him to explore that subject from several different perspectives. Information about the Heian Period is somewhat limited, especially in regards to the lower classes, which is another reason that The World of the Shining Prince is so focused on the era’s nobility. The Tale of Genji is a major source for Morris’ study of the Heian-era Japan, as are other works of contemporary literature–The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon especially features prominently–as well as diaries and court records from the time period. The World of the Shining Prince is an extremely informative and absorbing work. It’s more than just a companion to The Tale of Genji and reaches beyond its literary connections. The volume should appeal to anyone interested in learning more about classical Japanese history.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/18/14

August 18, 2014 by Anna N, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

This week, Sean, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media and Seven Seas.

Alice in the Country of Clover: Nightmare Trilogy, Vol. 1 | By QuinRose and Job | Seven Seas – Another month, another Alice book. This one has, as you may imagine, Nightmare as the love interest, and mostly delves into Alice being upset and angry that people are afraid of him, and trying to find ways to get them to see the real man. Who is still a giant loser at times, so he’s not helping. Also not helping is the art in this book, which is some of the weakest I’ve seen in the entire series. That does not bode well given this is the first of three. On the bright side, Joker shows up, continuing to force Alice to truly examine her heart and feelings (big sister doesn’t come into play here). There’s also some amusing humor, mostly at Nightmare’s expense. Still, in the end this is one of the weaker entries in the Alice books. – Sean Gaffney

Black Rose Alice, Vol. 1 | By Setona Mizushiro | Viz Media – If I were to tell you that this is a shoujo series about vampires, you might think that you’d know what to expect. It’s not, after all, a unique premise. Except that’s exactly what Black Rose Alice is: unique. Dimitri Lewandoski is an ambitious tenor in Vienna in 1908 when he is killed in an accident and ultimately brought back to life by a vampire master who has entrusted him with the procreation of the species. The horror and the “colonization” spur a personality shift in Dimitri, and by the end of the volume he’s striking a bargain that might reanimate the body of his true love, lifeless for a hundred years. That’s pretty strange stuff, and I haven’t even mentioned the bugs! Happily, it’s not too strange and when I finished the volume I was left with a profound sense of “What? That’s it?! I want more!” And that is perhaps the highest recommendation I can give. – Michelle Smith

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 22 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – We’ve just finished a major fight arc, and are about to head into what will be the final arc, so in a sense this is the last breather volume in the series. Like many breather volumes in shonen fighting series, it feels a bit out of place at times, with both heroes and villains putting all their ducks in a row. We do get to see an extensive battle between Nura and a priest who is upset at a forced sword going to an evil Ayakashi (it’s OK, Nura’s one of the GOOD evil Ayakashi), and an attempt on both sides to unite previously fractured clans. That said, Kana and the rest of the class’s presence has become token, and even Tsurara looks to be left behind for the big fight. Nura is starting to overstay its welcome, so it’s good it will be ending soon. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol 16 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – The evil student council in Oresama Teacher is generally surprisingly ineffective, sending agents one by one to take down the public morals club, only to find that the dimwitted delinquents in the public morals club end up befriending their enemy. Here we have more of an orchestrated campaign, as blackmail letters start arriving and picking off the public morals club one by one. Soon only Mafuyu and Hayasaka are left to battle things out with the return of their fiendish faculty mentor Saeki. I see troubled times ahead for Yui, as the wanna be ninja has joined his former masters. Oresama Teacher is always silly diverting fun that pays off for the reader. I was happy to see bancho and his pigeon make an appearance in this volume as well. This is the only long-running comedy series that has managed to hang on to my full attention, and I enjoy the ridiculous situations and occasional bursts of violence featured in each volume. – Anna N

Toriko, Vol. 23 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro| Viz Media – It’s impressive how even in the middle of what is basically a fight between two opposing sides firing power attacks, Toriko can continue to be all about food. The one thing that gets our heroes to work together and take out the monster this time is hearing that the more damage it takes, the more delicious its flesh will taste. And of course there’s Komatsu, who was given ten minutes to make an antidote simpler to cook, took five minutes, then spent the rest of the time figuring out how to make it tastier. It’s no wonder he seems to have picked up another harem member, this one a nameless cook arriving with Setsuno. The way it deals with food makes Toriko a consistent fun title to read. – Sean Gaffney

My Week in Manga: August 11-August 17, 2014

August 18, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

So, as I briefly mentioned in my anniversary post this morning, my partners and I very recently became parents. We all ended up spending most of last week at the hospital; needless to say I was a bit preoccupied. But everyone is happy, healthy, and at home now, so everything’s good. Thankfully, I already had a couple of posts typed up and ready to go. Otherwise, it would have been a very quiet week here at Experiments in Manga since I didn’t get much reading or writing done at all. (For some reason.)

Anyway, I did somehow manage to post two reviews last week! First up was Denise Schroeder’s wonderful, delightful, and charming short comic Before You Go. The review is the latest installment in my Year of Yuri monthly manga review project, which focuses on manga and other comics with lesbian and yuri elements. Also reviewed last week was Jamie Lynn Lano’s memoir The Princess of Tennis: My Year Working in Japan As an Assistant Manga Artist. It’s a very interesting and informative book about the manga industry and Japan. The book can currently be purchased through Sparkler Monthly’s Distro program.

Despite being rather busy last week, I did come across a few things online that made for interesting reading. At Manga Connection, Manjiorin wraps up her Swan review project. The fourth Manga Studies column at Comics forum has been posted, focusing on Ishiko Junzō and gekiga. Joe McCulloch has a piece on the early work of Ryōichi Ikegami at The Comics Journal. Mangabrog has a translation of a conversation between Usamaru Furuya and Inio Asano. Also highly recommended is Comics Alliance’s interview with Vertical’s Ed Chavez.

Quick Takes

Gangsta, Volume 3 by Kohske. As can probably be inferred from the cover, much of the third volume of Gangsta delves into the pasts of Nic and Worick, how they met, and their somewhat complicated relationship with each other. In the process more is revealed about the history of Ergastulum and the Twilights, too. Gangsta is a very violent series. Even when Nic and Worick were young they found themselves surrounded by death in a harsh environment of political turmoil. In the case of Nic, he was being kept by a mercenary group hired to act as bodyguards to Worick’s family; he’s done plenty of killing of his own. He apparently has always been somewhat terrifying. The beginnings of Nic and Worick’s exceptionally close connection are seen in this volume. Neither of them come from a good family situation, both of them are seen as socially unacceptable (Nic because he’s a Twilight, Worick because he’s a bastard son), and both of them are physically abused by those who should care about them. Though they get off to a rough start, the two broken young men are able to find some solace in each other’s company. Nic and Worick fascinate me; I’m glad to have gotten more of their backstory in the third volume. I’ve enjoyed Gangsta from the very beginning and continue to do so.

Love Full of Scars by Psyche Delico. Okay. So, Love Full of Scars is a collection of utterly ridiculous and absurd boys’ love stories. The over-the-top humor certainly won’t be to every reader’s taste, but I loved the volume. Though I largely enjoyed all of the short manga included in Love Full of Scars, my favorite was probably the titular story. (It also happens to be the longest, with several chapters devoted to it and side stories of its own.) Kanda is a high school punk who has a crush on Uesaka, the school’s biggest badass. The problem is that every time Kanda tries to confess his feelings, he ends up picking a fight instead. Fortunately, Uesaka is able to see through all of Kanda’s posing. They’re both delinquents so more often than not communicating with their fists and punching each other in the face helps them to solve their differences. The sex in Love Full of Scars, when and if it actually happens, usually ends up being rather awkward and incredibly earnest at the same time. The stories in the collection generally avoid the stereotypical seme/uke dynamics of the boys’ love genre. There is also a bit of a fixation on facial and body hair. And, well, pubic hair, too, for that matter. (Granted, that’s mostly for the sake of gag.) The manga is rough, rude, and raunchy, but I found it to be highly amusing and entertaining.

Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time directed by Yūji Mutoh. The anime adaptation of Takuma Morishige’s manga series My Neighbor Seki had completely slipped under my radar until Vertical announced that it had licensed the manga. My curiosity was piqued, so I decided to watch the anime while waiting for the manga to be released. The anime was an absolute delight; I wish there was more! I’m definitely looking forward to reading the manga next year. The premise of the series is disarmingly simple. Yokoi and Seki sit next to each other in the back of their high school classroom. But instead of studying, Seki occupies himself at his desk in all sorts of ways, messing around with erasers, shogi pieces, knitting, and so on. The scenarios are actually all very imaginative, creative, and elaborate. Try as she might, Yokoi can’t help but be caught up whatever it is Seki is doing, so she doesn’t get much studying done, either. The anime is much more entertaining than I’ve probably made it sound. Each episode is under eight minutes and they are all very funny. There is very little dialogue in the series. Instead, the narrative relies very heavily on Yokoi’s internal monologue. Yokoi’s voice actress, Kana Hanazawa, does a fantastic job with the role–she is exceptionally dynamic and expressive.

Kaze Hikaru Vol 22 and Happy Marriage?! Vol 7

August 16, 2014 by Anna N

Kaze Hikaru Volume 22 by Taeko Watanabe

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So much of Kaze Hikaru deals with repressing emotions, since Sei has disguised herself as a boy in order to join the Shinsengumi and Soji has agreed to keep her secret. While Sei and Soji are clearly in love with each other, there’s a long way to go until any actual romance occurs. This volume revolved around so many feelings, as Sei has been newly assigned to Saito’s troop and Saito harbors some suspicions of Sei based on his past friendship with Sei’s brother. Saito has disturbing dreams and isn’t sure what is happening with his involuntary reactions to Sei. Saito finally figures out that Sei is a girl, and his reaction is that he’ll simply maker her quit the Shinsengumi and marry her. When Saito goes to Soji to discuss his plans, Soji encourages the marriage, telling Saito to “Make her happy.” It is interesting how effectively Watanabe explores the points of view of the characters, while Soji cares for Sei the idea of pursuing marriage with her isn’t in his worldview. He’s just going to support her while thinking of her as the man she pretends to be.

Saito’s plan begins to evolve as he sees Sei protect Soji in battle and he realizes that she’s more courageous than most of the men she knows. At the end of this volume, Sei is transferred back to Soji’s troop, where I’m sure Soji’s general feelings of uneasiness and his tendencies to lie to himself will grow even stronger. Kaze Hikaru’s detailed historical setting, clear and attractive art, and compelling story make it one of my favorite Shojo Beat titles. I wish the new volumes came out at a greater rate than once a year, because I think the deliberate pace of the story would reward readers who like to stockpile volumes and read a bunch at a time. I read every volume almost as soon as I get it though!

Happy Marriage?! By Maki Enjoiji
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I enjoy reading Happy Marriage?! just because romances set in offices give me a break from all the romances set in high schools that I tend to read just because I am such a shojo manga aficionado. Chiwa continues to work in her new job, but has to deal with one of her former friends still having a crush on her. Hokuto continues to be both busy and remote, and his father is still in the hospital. Chiwa attempts to intervene to bring Hokuto closer to his family, without the results she was expecting. One sour note for me in this volume was Hokuto slapping Chiwa in the middle of an argument. While they fight and work through their issues as always, I’m starting to get a little weary of the relationship dynamic in the book. I’m also a bit more interested in some of the newer Shojo Beat series like Spell of Desire or Black Rose Alice. I’m hoping that the next volume of Happy Marriage is a bit better.

The Princess of Tennis

August 15, 2014 by Ash Brown

Author: Jamie Lynn Lano
Publisher: Jamie Lynn Lano
ISBN: 9781499797527
Released: July 2014

The Princess of Tennis: The True Story of Working As a Mangaka’s Assistant in Japan by Jamie Lynn Lano is just that–a memoir written by someone fortunate enough to live the dream of so many aspiring artists. Very few non-Japanese creators have had the opportunity to work within the manga industry as an assistant or as a lead mangaka. Fewer still have written about their experiences to any great extent. In addition to working as an assistant to Takeshi Konomi (the creator of the exceptionally popular The Prince of Tennis), during her time in Japan Lano was also freelance writer, a columnist for Asahi Weekly, a host for a Japanese children’s television program, and an avid blogger. The Princess of Tennis is based on “Working As an Assistant on The Prince of Tennis,” a series of posts which can be found on her blog Living Tall in Japan. (Lano is over six feet tall, so the site is aptly named.) I had previously read some of Lano’s story online, but was happy to see it collected and expanded upon in book form with The Princess of Tennis.

After graduating with a degree in media arts and animation, Lano moved to Japan where she taught English for a few years. In 2008, Konomi Takeshi put out a call looking for assistants for a new manga series. Unlike many other mangaka, he was also considering applications from artists who had little or no experience in the industry. Lano was a huge fan of his series The Prince of Tennis and considered Konomi to be one of her idols. And so, after some encouragement from her friends, she applied for the position, never thinking that she would actually be hired. But she was. And she ended up working with Konomi, his editors, and a small group of other assistants for more than a year. (And on the sequel to The Prince of Tennis, no less!) It was a dream come true for Lano, but as enthusiastic as she was the job wasn’t always a easy. Working as an assistant on a series that she loved certainly had its perks, but it was also a challenging and exhausting experience that required long, grueling hours.

The Princess of Tennis is a personal story that is told with heart and honesty. Lano’s style is very informal, almost diary-like. Although there is some self-reflection from the very beginning of the memoir, she generally focuses on what she was feeling at the time she is describing rather than providing a detailed analysis of the situation after the fact. Lano is a self-proclaimed fangirl, something comes through in the bubbly way she writes. She makes liberal use of exclamations points (and other punctuation), employs all-caps to indicate excitement or for emphasis, and the occasional emoticon even makes an appearance in the text. She also includes very cute illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, a few delightful bonus comics towards the end of the volume, and photographs throughout the book. Lano’s enthusiasm and gratitude for the opportunity to work as a manga assistant is obvious even when things, and people, become rather difficult to deal with. The Princess of Tennis is friendly and approachable in tone, making for an entertaining as well as informative read.

In The Princess of Tennis, Lano offers an insider’s look into the Japanese manga industry and into the creative process of making manga. At first she is so excited about working as an assistant for Konomi (and understandably so) that Lano tends to overlook the downfalls of the position. The Princess of Tennis almost seems like an account that couldn’t possibly be true. Initially more time is spent participating in media events and festivals than slaving away at the drawing table. But as the volume progresses and reality and frustrations set in, The Princess of Tennis becomes much more like what I’ve come to expect based on the stories from other creators in the trade. The Princess of Tennis also offers a glimpse into what it is like to live in Japan as a foreigner and the challenges associated with that. And because Lano is revealing the details of her personal life in The Princess of Tennis there is also the drama of interpersonal relationships, romantic and otherwise, to take into consideration. While she has held onto some secrets for the privacy and sake of the other people involved, Lano is very open and forthcoming in The Princess of Tennis, providing a unique perspective on the manga industry and on Japan.

Manga the Week of 8/20

August 14, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Anna N, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: There’s a little something for everyone in the third week of August, so let’s see what demographics we can scrounge up.

First off, it’s not out in bookstores yet, but Fantagraphics has shipped its 7th volume of Wandering Son to its Kickstarter backers. It’s still a must-read for anyone who likes good manga about real characters, as well as being a top-notch coming of age story.

ASH: I love this series so much. I can’t wait to read my copy.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on this! I really liked the first couple volumes.

MJ: I love this series with the fire of a thousand suns. I honestly can’t wait.

SEAN: Kodansha brings us the second volume of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, the adaptation of the light novel about times way back when there was still quite a bit of defense separating humanity from its Titan opponents. Not that humanity really comes off well here, at least in Vol. 1.

ASH: Before the Fall has its own brand of Attack on Titan darkness. I’m looking forward to reading the original novel later this year, too.

SEAN: Kodansha is also debuting The Heroic Legend of Arslan, a manga adaptation by Hiromu Arakawa of the novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka. From what I understand, it’s not so much high fantasy as low to medium fantasy, but it’s being drawn by Arakawa, so I’m totally on board.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

ASH: As am I!

ANNA: This sounds intriguing! More Arakawa can only be a good thing!

MJ: Count me in!

SEAN: There’s also the first omnibus release of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. I’ve made my opinion of the last half of this series quite clear in the past, so I will simply note that the FIRST half of this series is quite good indeed, and that fans who don’t mind manga that end in car crashes should absolutely check it out, if only for Kurogane and Fai.

MJ: I’m happy to see this getting a re-release!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a trio of releases geared towards the fanboy end of the spectrum. The one I’m interested in is the eighth volume of Haganai. If you were to ask me if there was a reason to get it, I would have to say: nun. (whack) Ow.

There’s also the 4th volume of monster hit Monster Musume, showing why I do not run manga companies.

ASH: Seven Seas recently announced the licensing of another manga by the creator of Monster Musume, so the series has apparently been doing quite well.

SEAN: And Strike Witches debuts a new miniseries with Vol. 1 of the 1937 Fuso Sea Incident. This incident appears, as far as I can tell, to be fictional, and should have more combat sequences than we’ve seen in prior volumes.

Vertical has the 11th volume of Chi’s Sweet Home, star of manga, anime, and TV commercials. I hope Chi isn’t letting it go to her head.

MICHELLE: Yay, Chi! I have my coworker’s young daughter addicted to this one.

ASH: A new volume of Chi is always a good reason to celebrate.

MJ: You really can’t have too much Chi.

SEAN: Ikki may have stopped publication, but SigIkki lives on (I think – it may get rebranded) with the 13th volume of Dorohedoro. Dorohedoro easily wins the longest running Ikki series published over here, and I am infinitely grateful to Viz for its release.

ASH: I would like to join you in expressing my gratitude. Dorohedoro is such a marvelously weird manga and I love it.

SEAN: There’s also the 3rd volume of Gangsta, which still makes me think of Black Lagoon too much but is starting to carve out its own niche in the ‘cool people attack each other by leaping into the air’ genre.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying this series and am looking forward to the next installment.

ANNA: I enjoy this series very much too. Artsy seinen fighting and angst is fun.

SEAN: Lastly, the Kaze Hikaru of seinen, it’s Vol. 10 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit! This is the final volume, so we won’t be seeing its once a year likes again. With this and Bokurano: Ours ending next month, the genre of ‘incredibly depressing manga about optimism in humanity’ needs a new standard bearer. Who’ll take it up?

MICHELLE: I’ve been wondering when Ikigami would end, and whether, with that obligation finishing up, VIZ might give that yearly slot to another volume of Kaze Hikaru. That would rock so much. I do intend to finish Bokurano: Ours sometime, but I have to muster the mental fortitude.

SEAN: Does something here appeal to you? If not, why not?

Oh My Goddess!, Vol. 46

August 14, 2014 by Sean Gaffney

By Kosuke Fujishima. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Afternoon. Released in North America by Dark Horse.

Since my last review of Oh My Goddess back in December, the manga has finally ended in Japan after 26 years, and will be 48 volumes total. For those who were reading this entire arc and noting it felt like a grand finale, congratulations, you are correct. There’s still some stuff to do before we get to what will no doubt be a final chapter with a wedding, not least of which is that Keiichi and Belldandy have to be reminded of something really obvious: she is a goddess and he is mortal. In fact, this is something that has happened to lovers in the past, as we see in the first have of this volume.

The flashback is painful, as you’d expect, but is also suffused with the selfless love we’ve come to expect from Keiichi and Belldandy, to the point where once the bard dies, the goddess is determined to see what he sang about even if it means her life. Unfortunately, due to the nature of contractual promises, she can’t even get peace in death. They’re being shown this to remind them that love is not worth all this pain that you’ll see in the end, but Oh My Goddess has spent 46 volumes so far showing us that yes, it absolutely is, so this argument doesn’t really hold up.

After last volume’s rewrite of its continuity, where we see that Keiichi was being repressed by heavenly forces to stop him getting it on with Belldandy, we get even more discussion of the original wish that began everything back in Volume 1. The wish: “I want a goddess like you to be with me always” – was said without being serious, but here we see a devastated Keiichi realizing what the burden of such a wish was on Belldandy, and cursing his past self for not being serious enough. Meanwhile, Belldandy confesses to Keiichi that, far from being surprised to see him when she descended to grant his wish, she’d actually been watching him from heaven for some time, and had fallen in love with him before they’d even met.

Fans of the anime won’t be surprised at this, as it also did a ‘we were destined to be together long before that wish’ plotline. It is nice, though, that Fujishima actually goes back to draw Belldandy somewhat like he did at the beginning – a larger marking on her head and her hair darker – to show us how she’s changed since then. (Keiichi, notably, does NOT get seen as his Vol. 1 self, which is fine, as that was more ‘the artist still needs work’.) And so finally Keiichi and Belldandy have pretty much taken every test of their love that can be thrown at them. We’ve even met her mother. And, as it turns out, her father – Gate turns out to be Tyr, Belldandy’s father and the ruler of Heaven.

Needless to say, he decides on one more test for Keiichi to be worthy of his daughter’s love, and even cheerfully frames it as ‘because a dad has to be a jerk to his daughter’s boyfriend’. Any reader of Oh My Goddess will be unsurprised at what happens next – the final battle involves a motorcycle race over an incredibly dangerous path, with K1 even driving a recreation of his regular bike. He also has to do it by himself, without Belldandy in the sidecar. Can he manage it? We’ll find out in March.

Before You Go

August 13, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Denise Schroeder
Publisher: Chromatic Press
Released: May 2014
Original release: March 2014

Before You Go is a short, thirty-three paged comic written and illustrated by Denise Schroeder. Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Chromatic Press’ online multimedia magazine Sparkler Monthly (which, by the way, is marvelous), a small print run of Before You Go was released in time to debut at the 2014 Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Schroeder is an American artist currently living in Colorado. Before reading Before You Go I wasn’t familiar with her work, but in addition to various other things she is also the creator of three webcomics: Conquest, The Good Prince, and Paradox. I actually briefly met Schroeder while at TCAF, which was a delight. She very openly and happily proclaims manga and anime as major influences on her work, Sailor Moon being the series that ignited her passion. I follow the work of Chromatic Press very closely which is how I came to discover Schroeder and Before You Go. I am very glad to have been exposed to her comics.

One rainy day Sadie misses catching her train home after work, but then her luck changes for the better. Because of the mishap she meets Robin. The two young women hit it off and suddenly Sadie’s daily commute becomes something she looks forward to because it means she gets to spend more time with Robin. Eventually Robin begins to walk Sadie the rest of the way home even though it’s out of her way. Sadie and Robin’s initial chance encounter quickly blossoms into friendship with the possibility for their relationship to become something even more. They enjoy each other’s company and have become quite close. At least that’s what Sadie would like to think. The problem is that Robin is hesitant to open up; while she definitely shows interest in Sadie, she doesn’t seem to want to share anything about herself. Trust and communication are extremely important in any relationship, but they can also be some of the scariest parts, too.

Most of Before You Go either takes place on the train or on the way to and from the station as Sadie and Robin get to know each other. Their flirting and blushing is absolutely adorable. Even though Before You Go is a short comic, both Robin and Sadie are fully realized characters with distinctive personalities. They have hopes and dreams, and they have fears and regrets, too. Of the two, Sadie is the more dynamic and exuberant, evidence of her passion for the theater and performance. Robin tends to be more reserved, content to quietly observe. As Sadie points out in Before You Go, closely watching someone else can be valuable, but even that can’t reveal everything about who that person is. Because Before You Go is a comic, the act of looking and the visual storytelling elements are important for the reader’s understanding, too. The surprise, love, and concern between Sadie and Robin can be seen in Schroeder’s artwork even when the two women aren’t saying, or can’t say, anything at all.

Before You Go is a wonderful and utterly charming comic. I particularly appreciate the realism of the story as well as the realism of the characters and their relationship and interactions with each other. The comic has a quirky sense of humor to it which balances perfectly with the more serious and contemplative aspects of Before You Go. It’s also nice to see a love story between two adult women that recognizes the problems that someone who is queer might encounter in life without dwelling on the sadness that that so often entails. Before You Go is a quiet drama with honest heart and feeling behind it. The comic may be brief, but it is also marvelously complete–both the characters and the story are well thought out and developed with more maturity and depth than might appear at first glance. In the end, Before You Go is simply a comic that makes me happy to read. I look forward to seeing more of Schroeder’s work in the future.