Features & Reviews

My Week in Manga: December 2-December 8, 2013

December 9, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted two reviews here at Experiments in Manga last week. The honor of the first in-depth manga review for December goes to Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Volume 3: Ramba Ral. The fourth volume in the series is scheduled to be released this month, so I wanted to make sure to catch up with my reviews. Though I wouldn’t call myself a Gundam fan, I’m still really enjoying The Origin manga. The second review was for Ivan Morris’ The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan. Originally published in 1975, the work was recently brought back into print by Kurodahan Press. It’s an extremely illuminating and fascinating volume. I also announced the Fairy Tail Feast Winner last week. In case you’re looking for some epic manga to read, the post also includes a list of series that have had at least thirty volumes published in English.

I’ve come across quite a few manga-related things online recently. Sadly, that includes the news that PictureBox will no longer be releasing any new titles. PictureBox had some fantastic manga releases this year, including the start of the Ten-Cent Manga and Masters of Alternative Manga series. It also released The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. PictureBox’s closing means that the previously announced anthology Massive: Gay Erotic Manga And The Men Who Make It, originally scheduled for release in 2014, is now in limbo.

In happier news, Manga Bookshelf’s MJ was interviewed at Diamond Bookshelf–Understanding Manga: Editor MJ Discusses CBLDF Presents Manga. I thought that Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices was a great resource when I read it, so it was interesting to hear about some of the behind-the-scenes work that went into it.

And speaking of interesting interviews, Organization Anti-Social Geniuses has been Talkin’ Seven Seas and Manga Business With Conner Crooks. Crooks is the Social Media Manager at Seven Seas, which has been having a very good year. Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview series are currently available. Part 3 should be posted on Tuesday.

Continuing on with the Seven Seas theme, Sean Gaffney took a look at the publisher’s recently announced licenses over at A Case Suitable for Treatment. And if you’re interested in all of the anime, manga, artbook, and light novels that were licensed in 2013 (as well as related successful crowdfunding projects), Reverse Thieves has you covered with All the Titles Fit to License, 2013 Edition.

Quick Takes

Hero Heel, Volumes 2-3 by Makoto Tateno. Out of the boys’ love manga by Tateno that I have so far read, I think that Hero Heel is probably one of her better works. At least it has some of the most interesting and believable character development. Although that being said, I’m not sure that I’m entirely convinced by the ending, but that might just be because I feel bad for Katagiri. Minami in particular goes through a lot of change as the series progresses. In the first volume he’s almost the villain of the story, blackmailing and forcing his feelings on Sawada. By the end of Hero Heel he’s a much more sympathetic character and has matured significantly. As for Sawada, he comes across as rather harsh from the start, though how much of an asshole he really is isn’t revealed until later. The themes of hero and villain and what it means to be a good person are very prominent in Hero Heel. It’s interesting to see the parallels between the characters that Minami and Sawada play on the superhero show they costar in and their lives off the set.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Short Stories, Volume 2 by Naoko Takeuchi. For the most part, I think I probably enjoyed the second (and final) volume of Sailor Moon short stories more than I did the first. In general, they don’t rely as heavily on knowledge of the main series; a basic understanding of the Sailor Moon universe is sufficient to follow the short manga in the second collection of stories. Well, at least that’s true for the first two stories. The third short manga “Parallel Sailor Moon” requires a bit more, and even then it’s a really strange, almost nonsensical piece. I much preferred the first two stories in the collection. “Princess Kaguya’s Lover” is the longest and most involved, basically amounting to a one-sided love story between Luna and Dr. Ohzora, an astronomy professor. It has space and astronauts, which I’ll admit to having a fondness for, so that made me happy. (Takeuchi even visited the Kennedy Space Center on a research trip for the story.) “Casa Blanca Memory” is a shorter work featuring Rei, which also made me pretty happy.

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-4) by Yak Haibara. I get a huge kick out of the Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends manga. I’ve never played Sengoku Basara 2–the video game on which it is directly based (it hasn’t been released in North America)–nor have I seen any of the Sengoku Basara anime (though I may make a point to check it out now), but I do have some familiarity with the Warring States period. Because of the number of characters, battles, alliances, castles and such to keep track of in Samurai Legends, which are all based on historical figures and events, that familiarity has come in handy. Overall, I think the first omnibus of Samurai Legends was a little stronger than the second omnibus. The last half of the series has a few continuity problems in the artwork, and there are some characters who are introduced more because they are a part of the franchise than because they had an important role to play in the manga, but it was still a lot of fun. I really enjoy the series’ over-the-top fights, characters, and dialogue.

Sickness Unto Death, Volume 2 written by Hikari Asada and illustrated by Takahiro Seguchi. Probably because it doesn’t employ nearly as many clichés, the second volume of Sickness Unto Death is much better than the first. Granted, the first volume was needed to set it up the whole scenario; I just think it could have been handled better. But the payoff is mostly satisfying. Even so, the manga still makes me vaguely uncomfortable, and not in the way I think it was intended to. The problem I have with the story of Sickness Unto Death stems from the way Emiru’s case is handled. That Kazuma wants to help and treat her I’m fine with. In fact, there’s some really interesting conflicts of interest and ethical and philosophical questions that arise because of it. At its best, Sickness Unto Death has some marvelously dark psychological elements to it. What particularly bothers me about the series is that Kazuma’s continued “treatment” of Emiru is actually encouraged by his professor, which is highly irresponsible not to mention unprofessional.

One Piece, Vol. 69

December 9, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

The majority of this volume of One Piece is composed of running around and fighting, as we tend to get when we’re 2/3 of the way through most story arcs in this series. Everyone is coming together from various disparate points (or, in the case of Luffy, getting dumped way the hell away from everyone) to try to stop Caesar Clown, who is upset that he has to kill them all in his secret base rather than out on Punk Hazard’s surface. We also get to see more of the fighting styles of minor villains Monet and Vergo. And thankfully we also get lots and lots of silliness.

One thing that gets a bit more attention this volume is the way that trust works in the world of One Piece. Luffy is, let’s face it, a man who inspires devotion and loyalty in his crew, but he’s not the only one. Most of the pirates, marines and mooks we see here are all fiercely proud and supportive of their leader, to the point almost of mindlessness. This is where Luffy’s crew stands out, of course – being real characters, they’re allowed to disagree with him or tell him he’s being stupid. The nameless marines and villains, however, don’t have that option, so they remain trusting and gullible to an extreme. When it’s someone like Tashigi who inspires them, that’s fine – she would never tell them to do something stupid, and indeed tries to protect them by stating that their foe is not the real Vergo. When it comes to Caesar, though…

Let’s face it, Caesar is a terrible, terrible liar. His “I am a good guy trying to help you all” act is pathetic, and it doesn’t say much for his mooks that they buy into it wholeheartedly. At least the little kids have the excuse of being too young to really understand. (though kudos to the one kid who sacrifices herself for the others, after Chopper finally convinces her what’s really happening). Caesar is not quite as scummy as, say, Spandam, but it’s still very satisfying to see Luffy beat the ever-loving snot out of him here.

There’s also Zoro and Tashigi, who get a lot of spotlight here. Tashigi’s character has always been fairly problematic, and it doesn’t really get any better here, as her compassion wars with her fierce competitiveness and her belief that Zoro is holding back whenever he’s near her because she’s a woman. Zoro, of course, is not about to tell her the real reason, and in any case is so far beyond her skill level now that he can take out Money, let her get in the final blow, and then agree to have her take the credit for it. Makes no difference to him, as that sort of thing is irrelevant when you’re on the level he is. In short, their relationship is still just as amusing yet awkward to read about as ever. (I did love her nerding out about his new sword as he carries her away from the gas, though.)

So overall another solid volume. The crew get chances to show off (Even Nami, whose weather control works well briefly against someone like Monet), and the collective treatment of Brownbeard is a comedic masterpiece. I am, however, looking forward to this arc being done in a volume or two.

The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan

December 8, 2013 by Ash Brown

Author: Ivan Morris
Publisher: Kurodahan Press
ISBN: 9784902075502
Released: September 2013
Original release: 1975

In some ways, Ivan Morris’ The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan could be considered a companion of sorts to his earlier work The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan. While The World of the Shining Prince explores the beauty of court culture in Japan, The Nobility of Failure addresses the country’s more tragic history. Originally published in 1975, The Nobility of Failure has been out of print for years. Happily, Kurodahan Press was able to rerelease the volume in 2013 with a newly added preface by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Happier still, I was selected to receive a review copy of the new edition of The Nobility of Failure through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. The Nobility of Failure is an important work that examines the cultural and historical background of some of the tragic heroes who continue to influence the modern Japanese psyche. I am very glad that I, and others, once again have the opportunity to read it.

While not unheard of in Western tradition, Japan has a particular, and some might call peculiar, predilection for the tragic or failed hero. They are admired for their sincerity and loyalty even when their causes were meet with failure and their goals could be considered traitorous. Above all else, those heroes adhered to their ideals, especially in the face of their own destruction. In The Nobility of Failure, Morris traces Japan’s tradition of the tragic hero back to the fourth century and the archetype of Prince Yamato Takeru. The following chapters explore the lives and influences of Japan’s legendary and historic failed heroes found throughout the centuries: Yorozu, Arima no Miko, Sugawara no Michizane, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Kusunoki Masashige, Amakusa Shirō, Ōshio Heihachirō, and Saigō Takamori. The volume culminates in an examination of the World War II kamikaze fighters–an unprecedented development in modern warfare which for most countries would have been unimaginable.

One thing that I didn’t realize about The Nobility of Failure before reading the book was how much of an influence Yukio Mishima had on its creation. Morris and Mishima were friends and the book was at least in part written in order to put Mishima’s act of ritual suicide in 1970 into historical context. The volume is even dedicated to his memory. Since I happen to have a particular fascination with Mishima, I found this connection to be especially interesting. Many of the heroes who are the focus of The Nobility of Failure (tragic heroines are only mentioned in passing) were men that Mishima personally admired, but they are also generally recognized as important to Japan as a whole and are even considered to be inspirational figures to some. Japan’s tragic heroes carry immense psychological and cultural significance; their role in Japanese history was crucial to the development of Japan’s national character, perspective, and worldview.

The Nobility of Failure is an extremely illuminating volume. It’s readily clear that Morris put a tremendous amount of thought and research into the volume. In fact, the endnotes, bibliography, and index make up approximately a third of the books’ length. Morris draws upon both primary and secondary materials, including literature, poetry, and theatrical interpretations of the heroes’ stories found in kabuki and Noh. Using a combination of sources, excerpts, and retellings, Morris reveals both the mythic and legendary basis of Japan’s tragic heroes as well as their historical reality and how they have influenced Japan’s culture and psyche. This is particularly evident in the chapter about the kamikaze fighters in which Morris ties in everything that had previously been examined. Even though The Nobility of Failure was written nearly forty years ago, it is still a valuable and fascinating work. Morris’ compassionate analysis deserves to remain in print.

Thank you to Kurodahan Press for providing a copy of The Nobility of Failure for review.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 3: Ramba Ral

December 6, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Original story: Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654971
Released: September 2013
Original release: 2007

Although I have been aware of the massively popular and influential Gundam franchise for quite some time, my first real introduction to Gundam was through Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s manga series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. The manga is a reimagining of the 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam which launched the franchise. Yasuhiko was one of the creators heavily involved in the visual development of the original series, so it is particularly interesting to see his personal take on the story. Part of The Origin was initially released by Viz Media in the early 2000s. However, the series is now being published by Vertical in a beautiful deluxe release based on the Japanese collector’s edition. Ramba Ral is the third volume in that series, first published in Japan in 2007 and released in English in 2013. This particular volume also includes delightful contributions from Shimoku Kio, the creator of Genshiken, as well as additional Gundam color illustrations by Yasuhiko.

After the overly ambitious Garma Zabi, the youngest scion of the Principality of Zeon’s ruling family, is killed in battle, his brother Gihren resolves to use his death to rally support for Zeon’s fight, going against the wishes of his father. Garma’s sister Kycilia isn’t about to let the opportunity be wasted, either. Zeon may not have access to the same amount of resources available to the Earth Federation, but it has a cause, charismatic leaders, and more advanced technology. Now that the battle of Los Angeles is over, the Federation’s White Base carrier, along with the newly developed Gundam mobile suit, are en route to Jaburo. Its young crew is closer to reaching the Earth Federation’s headquarters, making resupply easier, but Zeon is more determined than ever to either capture or destroy the Gundam. To make matters even worse for White Base, tension continues to mount between the civilians and the military personnel on the ship, making their mission even more challenging.

One of the biggest problems that the crew of White Base faces is that they are both young and inexperienced. In some cases they are rather immature as well. With all of the excitement and battles going on in The Origin, it can be easy to forget just how young many of the characters actually are. Ramba Ral serves as a good reminder, especially when it comes to Amuro Ray, the Gundam’s pilot. He’s only fifteen–an age at which he is easily distracted and flustered by members of the opposite sex–and he makes some extremely poor decisions in this volume of The Origin. His selfishness and petulance puts everyone on White Base in danger. Amuro may be the person in the best position to save his friends, but his immaturity is what put them at risk to begin with. While I can understand where he’s coming from, I found myself rather annoyed with Amuro in Ramba Ral and wanted to shake some sense into him. Unsurprisingly, many of his cohorts harbor some very similar feelings to mine.

While the crew of White Base is inexperienced, the Zeon forces in pursuit are anything but. In particular, the titular Ramba Ral is shown to be a very capable commander in this volume. He may not have the same arrogant elegance that the dreaded Char Aznable exhibits–Ral is much more down-to-earth and straightforward in how he fights–but he is very good at what he does. He’s not afraid to personally enter the fray and takes a very hands-on approach to battle. Ral’s men are extremely loyal and gladly follow him. Ral and Zeon also have an advantage over the Federation forces. While the Gundam is representative of the pinnacle of the Federation’s technology, Zeon continues to research and improve its own weapons and mobile suits. Combined with skilled and experienced pilots and commanders, Zeon’s military can be devastatingly effective. The arms race shows no signs of slowing in the series; the development of weapons is an important aspect of any war, and so it makes sense that it would be an important part of The Origin as well.

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: November 11-25, 2013

December 6, 2013 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

It’s another one of those weeks, where I must apologize for galavanting about being a responsible adult and not making time to write about manga. For this I sincerely apologize. And to save you all from having to read through three separate reviews I say we keep things simple this week and just give a basic overview of my opinions the past couple weeks.

Nisekoi Ch. 98 – 100
Nisekoi has been great the past few weeks. Getting a backstory for Onodera was unexpected but much appreciated. I particularly enjoyed seeing things from her point of view because all of Raku’s reactions in the chapter can be explained by the fact that he’s got a crush on her, but she has no idea. The Tsugumi chapter was great, even if it followed a formula that this series has used before. The fact that it focuses on something a bit less stereotypically girly probably helps. And of course, with chapter one hundred we get an entire chapter focusing on Chitoge. And while she isn’t my favorite character of the series, this most recent chapter provides all of the goofy expressions and comedy I’ve come to expect from Nisekoi. So there are no complaints. Though now I wish the series was about Chitoge’s parents instead of her and Raku.

Naruto Ch. 654 – 655
We finally got rid of Obito, and it looks like he’s going to get his redemption yet. Which I wouldn’t mind, if it weren’t for the fact that Kishimoto has basically been making him more annoying with each passing chapter. And, if nothing else, we get an entire two page spread with all the cast of Naruto looking like they’re completely constipated. And no, I am not above making those kinds of jokes.

One Piece Ch. 727 – 729
If there was any doubt that Doflamingo was a bastard, well these past several chapters executed those doubts gangland style. Kinda like what just happened to Law. The absolute destruction of the faith the people had in King Riku wasn’t bad enough, but then Doflamingo goes and kidnaps the King’s daughter and forces her to work for him in exchange for her father’s life. It’s confirmed that Violet is Viola, Princess of Dressrosa. Which would explain why she destroyed the TV showing Rebecca’s fight, what with that being her niece and all. Right now the question remains, who of Rebecca’s parents was the child of King Riku. My guess is her father. I could go into more detail here, but so much happened and a lot of it is spoilers, but it certainly looks like we’re moving into the final stages of this arc.

Seraph of the End Ch. 4 – 5
So not only does our main character continue to be awful, but now we discover that this series contains worse vampires than Twilight.

No, that is not a typo. This series knows less about vampires than the series that spawned the Sparklers. First of all, why does the vampire queen have the body of a twelve year old? When Mikaela was turned as an actual twelve year old and is now looking like a fifteen year old. So he aged? Vampires age? At least Twilight had the decency to stick to vampires never growing older. But this series just bends the rules whenever it’s convenient. I can’t see how anyone could possibly enjoy this series. Especially when we discover that the Demon Army is less like an actual army and more like a Tite Kubo version of an army. In other words, all the most incompetent people in charge and all letting their personal issues get in the way of actually being an army. Lovely. I look forward to reading more of this like I look forward to cutting out a hangnail.

World Trigger Ch. 38 – 40
World Trigger on the other hand has actually been quite enjoyable. Seeing Yuma bet the tar out of an arrogant twit is always enjoyable, and now we can actually appreciate it after actually getting to know him. The pacing is still terrible, but at least we’re willing the time away with interesting scenes. Which isn’t exactly what I could have said about this series after the first chapter.

Toriko Ch. 257 – 258
The past two chapters of Toriko were quite good. While they were aftermath and transitionary chapters where not too much happened actionwise, we still get a lot of good character moments sprinkled here and there. The moment between Chin Chin and Chiyo was particularly appreciated. Shounen manga aren’t known for their great portrayals of adults and their relationships, so seeing one dealt with quite well here really worked for me. Other than that, it looks like Neo is going to be moving to the Gourmet World, and after the near destruction of the human world I don’t think we can avoid it any longer. Toriko and his friends will have to step into the Gourmet world. Whether to save Komatsu or not, but certainly to go after Neo and get food for the now starving masses.

Bleach Ch. 556 – 558
Komamura’s fight against Bambietta was actually quite solid. It set a good pace, gave us proper development for the new power sets and all that. And for the most part explained what was going on properly. I’m a bit iffy about some parts that took up much more space than they should have, but for the most part I’m satisfied with the past several weeks. Which is not something I can say for other chapters.

Dragonball Z Ch. 39 – 41
We’re almost through the final battle of the Saiyan arc. This is really where the new Dragonball starts to shine. We get some great moments with the characters, some great designs, and of course some great fights. Fights that are a lot more brutal than I remember from the repetitive anime.

Let me know how the last three weeks of manga have been for you. Personally I’ve been checking out some of the Crunchyroll chapters, which I recommend you take a look at. If you want a break from Shonen Jump, try out some Kodansha chapters. But before you do, which series was your favorite the past three weeks?

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Happy Marriage, Vol. 3 & Demon Love Spell, Vol. 5

December 5, 2013 by Anna N

Happy Marriage Volume 3

I continue to enjoy Maki Enjoji’s series about an office lady who abruptly finds herself married to a seemingly cold and domineering company president. Chiwa and Hokuto have gradually grown closer over the first two volumes of this series, and the relationship continues to develop further in the third volume. Chiwa finally deals with Hokuto when he’s in a vulnerable position when he suddenly becomes ill, and she has to tend to him at home. One thing I enjoy is the way Enjoji slips into showing action without words or thought balloons in order to show events with more emotional impact. When Hokuto wakes up in the middle of the night and sees Chiwa sleeping by the side of his bed, he looks absolutely shocked, then silently pulls her over so she can sleep more comfortably beside him. There are still some slice of life humorous moments in the manga, like when Chiwa deals with Hokuto’s hidden slovenly habits at home and her tendency to become an “Octopus Woman” when she sleeps.

The big emotional breakthrough in the volume occurs when Chiwa and Hokuto have to go visit his family, and Chiwa sees how poorly he’s treated by his relatives. This explains a great deal about his personality and motivations, and Chiwa gets so angry she is more emotionally honest about her feelings for her husband as she’s sticking up for him than she’s ever been when talking to Hokuto directly. I’m looking forward to what happens next! It is a bit odd to root for a married couple to get together, but Enjoji manages to pull this situation off with an engaging story and sympathetic characters.

Demon Love Spell Volume 5

This volume will be particularly fun for any fans of Mayu Shinjo’s series Sensual Phrase. Demon Love Spell can be depended upon to serve up plenty of humor and paranormal romance hijinks, and this volume picks things up with a funny plot device. Incubus Kagura and priestess Miko decide that they’re going to move out of Miko’s family home/shrine and her father promptly agrees! But before they go Miko’s father uses his priestly powers and puts a curse on Kagura so that he will be utterly incapable of romancing Miko in any capacity. The young teenager and incredibly old incubus struggle with finding an apartment. Miko starts working a part-time job to support them. They barely ever see each other, and it seems like their new apartment may also be haunted!

In any romance manga, misunderstandings get in the way of true love, and when Kagura decides to go into showbiz in order to make some money to support Miko, she promptly becomes jealous and concerned that he’s getting “powered up” from other women. Kagura’s demonic hotness ensures overnight success as a male model, and he soon becomes a pop sensation as well. Much is made of Kagura’s resemblance to the hero Sakuya from Sensual Phrase, and I found it hilarious that Shinjo’s habit of drawing her male heroes in a very similar fashion was acknowledged in this manner. All in all, this was another fun volume of this series. I’m definitely enjoying Demon Love Spell much more than Ai Ore, and I hope that more of Shinjo’s series get translated over here.

Manga the Week of 12/11

December 5, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, MJ, Anna N and Ash Brown 6 Comments

SEAN: A fairly quiet Week 2 for this last month of 2013, with just a few tasty morsels of manga to take in while you drink eggnog.

MICHELLE: Mmm, eggnog.

MJ: Gimme.

ANNA: Woo hoo!

SEAN: If you like all the wacky misunderstandings, school romance, and tsunderes of shoujo manga, but would like it with BL flavoring, well, here’s Vol. 4 of Awkward Silence, whose cover resembles Ouran High School Host Club if they ditched Haruhi.

Meanwhile, if you want a fantasy sword and sorcery title with demons who insatiable lust for young men knows no bounds, well, SubLime has you covered there as well, with Vol. 1 of Crimson Spell, from the author of Finder.

ASH: Crimson Spell is actually my favorite manga by Ayano Yamane. Only two volumes were released by Media Blasters back in the day, so I’m very excited that SuBLime rescued the series.

MJ: i am really looking forward to reading this. I missed it originally, and it’s so well-loved.

ANNA: Hmm, I’m looking forward to hearing what you guys think about this!

SEAN: Fairy Tail 33 was actually out 12/4, but I forgot about it, possibly as 32 only came out two weeks ago. There’s speedup and then there’s ridiculous.

I will admit, the body horror scene in the last volume of Knights of Sidonia still freaks me out. That said, I’m totally on board with this series now, which hopefully will try not to kill off its entire cast by the time it finishes. Vol. 6 is coming out this week.

ASH: Body horror, mecha battles, and romantic comedy all in one convenient package!

MICHELLE: Not to mention Tsutomu Nihei’s atmospheric art. I still prefer BLAME! for sheer landscape awesomeness, but Sidonia comes close and is far more accessible.

MJ: Yes! I can’t wait to read this!

ANNA: Such a great series, I need to get caught up.

SEAN: Arata the Legend is up to Vol. 16, which means only 2 more volumes and it’s as long as Fushigi Yuugi, which is the series everyone remembers its author for. At least for now. Arata’s day in the sun is coming!

MICHELLE: This is a fun series. I’ll be catching up soon!

Itsuwaribito has wrapped up in Japan recently, but we have a long way to go here in North America. But at least Vol. 10 gets us into double digits. Wikipedia links to some pretty brutal reviews, to be honest. Perhaps a reassessment is needed?

Magi 3 will send us into the manga’s second story arc, and I have been very pleased with what I’ve read so far. I don’t expect that to change.

MICHELLE: Same here! I really like the direction the plot seems to be heading at the end of volume two, and am looking forward to seeing how the story develops from here.

MJ: I’m late beginning this, but it sounds like this is a good time to start.

SEAN: Lastly, the Tiger & Bunny series, like Code Geass, has led to an ongoing series of doujinshi anthologies, which likely lends itself more towards the deep male bonding most fans of this series want to see. (Still clean, though – c’mon, this is being put out by Viz.) We get the 2nd anthology this week.

What appeals to you in this list?

Soul Eater, Vol. 17

December 3, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Atsushi Ohkubo. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

One of the most enjoyable things about Soul Eater is the way that the author balances out the seriousness and humor throughout the story. A lot of shonen fighting series tend to have long serious parts, then chapters that are pure goofy. Ohkubo, though, simply lets the humor come in anytime he feels like it, even if it’s in the middle of a pitched battle for everyone’s life. This is not to say that there aren’t pure comedy bits here (the middle chapter, which features Maka’s dad trying to be sympathetic and failing spectacularly – again) but the fact that you can find a goofy face or a silly moment anywhere actually helps add to the mood of the overall work. Soul Eater has always thrived on being one step off the edge, leaning slightly into madness.

The converse of this, of course, is that any silly moment can turn on a dime to become serious. Thus Black*Star’s self-aggrandizing has a serious point – the reason why he can push back Crona so easily is due to his own self-confidence and ego, while Crona is simply filled with hatred and loathing. Crona’s “I DON’T KNOW WHO MAKA IS!” is a cry of anguish that once again makes you realize that Crona’s entire life (the manga may choose to say he, but I prefer to be awkward – Crona is genderless on purpose) has been mental torture and abuse by Medusa. Speaking of Medusa, she’s back to being a mad scientist, and is perfectly content to justify her actions by noting she is a witch – not that all witches automatically stand against our heroes, but as Kim has shown us, they are generally assumed to be evil until proven otherwise.

As for Kid, once again we get the goofy stuff – his obsessive-compulsive disorder comes to the fore in a very funny way, as you realize that the one who’s really best at torturing Kid is Kid himself – followed by an unnerving scene where Kid meets another one of the Great Old Ones whose presence has made this world what it is – and is seemingly taken over by it, as the cliffhanger shows. Soul Eater does star Maka and Soul, but has been excellent at giving Black*Star and Kid enough character arcs and development that they also feel like co-stars.

And then there’s the gender-bending. Rule 63 has been around the Internet forever, but has appeared in actual canonical works less so. As such, it’s highly amusing to see the cast transformed into their opposite-gendered selves (though I do have a little niggle with the explanation why – it makes it sound like gays and lesbians don’t exist), particularly as Maka and Soul have to deal with the thing that most annoys them about the other – Maka’s male body is tempted by the succubus, and Soul bemoans the fact that it’s “just big boobs” that turn men on. Judging by the previous, this swap won’t take up too much time, but it’s fun to see.

In the end, this is why Soul Eater is one of the best shonen titles coming out here. It’s fun, but with a tinge of madness that never quite goes away. It skitters at the back of your brain.

My Week in Manga: November 25-December 1, 2013

December 2, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

To start things off, I would like to thank everyone who voted in the poll to pick my next monthly review project. I am very pleased to announce that over the next year I will have a series of reviews that focuses on yuri and lesbian comics and manga. A Year of Yuri took an early lead in the poll and earned just under half of the votes. I’m now in the process of determining exactly which comics I’ll be reviewing for this project. Nothing has been finalized yet, but ideally there will be a good variety of both old and new titles. I’d also like to thank those of you who took time to comment on the poll as well. I was sincerely interested in reviewing all of the choices; taking into consideration all of your input and suggestions, I’m currently working on other ways to review some of the manga outside of a monthly review project. I had fun with the poll, so thank you again for indulging me!

There was a mix of different posts at Experiments in Manga last week. Of particular note, the monthly manga giveaway–a Fairy Tail Feast–is currently in progress. I completely underestimated the popularity of Fairy Tail; I’ve never had so many people turn out for a giveaway before. Not even for Tezuka. There’s still time to enter for a chance to win volumes thirty, thirty-one, and thirty-two of Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail manga. And as a bonus the winner of the giveaway will also receive a copy of the anime movie Fairy Tail: Phoenix Priestess! November’s Bookshelf Overload was also posted last week as was my review for Ichiya Sazanami’s manga Black Bard. It’s a bit of a mess, but I still had a lot of fun reading it; I couldn’t resist the combination of music and magic.

Since last week was Thanksgiving here in the United States (my favorite holiday!) I was doing quite a bit of traveling. So, I probably missed out on a lot of the week’s manga news. But there are still a couple of links that I’d like to mention here: The most recent Speakeasy Podcast focused on Crunchyroll’s new manga project. And over at Manga Bookshelf proper, MJ posted a Status Update & Station Identification which includes a shout-out to Experiments in Manga which joined the Manga Bookshelf family a few months ago. (She also described my mind as “deeply eloquent” which absolutely made my day. Hopefully I can continue to live up to her expectations!)

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volume 9 by Hajime Isayama. The mysteries keep piling up in Attack on Titan. It makes me wonder how long Isayama will be able to keep the series going without it collapsing under its own weight. The more ideas and plot twists he adds to the story, which can admittedly be very exciting, the less focused Attack on Titan becomes. I have no idea how much Isayama has thought through to the end or how much he is making up as he goes. It’s very possible that he could he write himself into some sort of absurd corner. That being said, I am hooked on the series and I really want to know what’s going on. This particular volume reveals more about some of the secondary characters, especially Sasha, Connie, Krista, and Ymir. It also provides the setup for what will be some very big plot reveals. The artwork in Attack on Titan continues to be incredibly uneven, which is unfortunate. There are a few brilliant panels and the titans are appropriately disconcerting, but the artwork remains one of the manga’s weakest points.

From the New World, Volume 1 written by Yusuke Kishi and illustrated by Toru Oikawa. Honestly, I am more interested in reading Kishi’s original From the New World novel (and I’m still hoping that it will one day be licensed), but it’s the anime and manga adaptations that are currently available in English. After reading the first volume of the manga, I want to read the original novel more than ever. From the New World has a fantastically dark ambiance. I also have an established fondness for dystopias and tales of survival. Unfortunately, the level and intensity of fanservice in the manga feels out of place distracts from what could be an extremely intriguing premise. Saki’s clothing choices in particular are ridiculous and could hardly be described as functional. (Bizarrely enough, some of the outfits aren’t really all that attractive, either.) I’m not even going to try to explain Maria’s underwear. Still, all of the moments in between the nonsensical bath and sex scenes are legitimately engrossing. I do plan on continuing on with From the New World for at least a little longer.

Gold Pollen and Other Stories by Seiichi Hayashi. The first volume in PictureBox’s Masters of Alternative Manga, Gold Pollen and Other Stories collects four of Hayashi’s short manga from the late sixties and early seventies–“Dwelling in Flowers,” “Red Dragonfly,” “Yamanba Lullaby,” and the three chapters from the unfinished “Gold Pollen”–in addition to an autobiographical essay by Hayashi and an essay by the series’ editor Ryan Holmberg. I am particularly grateful for the inclusion of these essays for they reveal some of the semi-autobiographical aspects of Hayashi’s manga that I would have otherwise missed. It is clear that his mother and the concept of what a mother should be influenced him greatly. Each of the manga included in the volume deals with motherhood at least tangentially if not directly. While the manga share some similar characteristics and themes, each is distinctive in both storytelling and art style. Hayashi’s use of color is also rather striking. Gold Pollen and Other Stories is an excellent start to the series; I’m looking forward to future volumes a great deal.

Mr. Flower Bride / Mr. Flower Groom by Lily Hoshino. The powerful Souda family has an unusual marriage custom–in order to prevent disputes over inheritance, the younger sons in the family are partnered with male brides. The basic premise of the two Mr. Flower volumes could have easily been the basis for a comedy manga. But instead, Hoshino plays it straight, honestly addressing the personal challenges and issues that the characters have to deal with in regards to arranged marriage with the additional twist that they both happen to be the same sex. Mr. Flower Bride and Mr. Flower Groom follows two related couples with similar plots–both brides are already in love with their reluctant husbands and both pairs have to navigate jealousy and come to terms with their developing relationships. However, the stories do play out differently. The two Mr. Flower manga end up being rather sweet and even a little lovey-dovey in places, which is not to say that the newlyweds do not have their problems. I enjoyed both volumes, but Mr. Flower Groom has the more interesting gender dynamics of the two.

Kaiji: Against All Rules directed by Yūzō Satō. If I had to choose, I think I enjoyed the first Kaiji anime series slightly more, though I liked the second one, as well. The stakes in the first series were incredibly high–the gamblers were literally risking their lives. To some extent this is still true in the second series, but for the most part the large amounts of money involved have become more prominent than life and limb. The ways of cheating, counter-cheating, and general manipulation of the games in the second series also tend to be much more outlandish, convoluted, and unbelievable than in the first. However, it is impressive for how long, and for how many episodes, a single pachinko game can be stretched. By the end of the series I was starting to anticipate some of the major plot twists and developments before they actually happened which unfortunately made the big reveals much less effective. Even so, there were still a few surprises in store and Kaiji remains an incredibly intense and dramatic anime.

Bookshelf Briefs 12/2/13

December 2, 2013 by MJ, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

This week, Sean, MJ, & Michelle look at recent releases from Kodansha Comics, Yen Press, Seven Seas, and Viz Media.

Cage of Eden, Vol. 12 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – There really is an awful lot of being threatened by giant predatory animals in this series – indeed, that makes up about half of this volume – so it’s nice to see a return to the basic question posed by the series. Where are they, why is the entire place filled with animals from conflicting time periods, and can they even escape at all? A rather disturbing stone monument is found, with words the cast can’t read, not being fluent in Latin, but we can – Requiescat In Pace. The idea that everyone is, in reality, dead and this could be a rather horrific afterlife is a downbeat one, and I’m fairly sure that it won’t turn out to be quite that bad. Still, we get another death here, and one worries that soon we may start running out of young, nubile teen girls to bathe naked in rivers. -Sean Gaffney

The Infernal Devices 2: Clockwork Prince | By Cassandra Clare & Hyekyung Baek. | Yen Press – This adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s prequel to her popular The Mortal Instruments series began as seemingly perfect girls’ “manga” fodder—so much so, in fact, that its careful adherence to shoujo manga tropes made it feel a little cold and emotionally manipulative. In this second volume, the series out-shoujos itself, with its increasingly spunky heroine and a cruelly dramatic love triangle. But while you might expect all this to reinforce the first volume’s contrived feel, in actuality, it finally gives the series some real heart. Clare’s supernatural world is still less interesting than the people she’s placed in it, but that hardly matters in the face of true romantic torture. I’m officially hooked. – MJ

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 15 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – Just when I start to think that Oresama Teacher maybe isn’t for me, along comes a volume like this one. The first couple of chapters were pretty boring school trip hijinks, but then I found myself unexpectedly captivated by the attempts of a doll-like member of the student council to win over Shibuya (the Public Morals Club’s newest member) with her finely honed cute act. Probably it’s because I enjoy skewering the transparent schemes of manipulative people, but I actually really liked their chapters together and now kind of want them to end up as a couple. I didn’t expect much at all from Shibuya when he first appeared, but now I definitely find him more interesting than Kurosaki, the main character, which doesn’t exactly bode well for the series. Still, it’s enough to keep me reading, if not rereading. – Michelle Smith

Slam Dunk, Vol. 31 | By Takehiko Inoue | Viz Media – To properly convey how much I love sports manga in general and Slam Dunk in particular, I kept a tally of how many times this volume made me verklempt. The total? Eight. I just find it so moving when someone finds the thing that they love and the “unwavering resolve” to go after it, changing the trajectory of their life in the process. True, the series doesn’t end like I had expected, but I actually think the most important thing that needed to happen occurred a bit earlier on—Sakuragi and Rukawa finally recognized each other as trustworthy teammates. There’s a great moment where Sakuragi recovers a loose ball and trusts Rukawa to deliver on it, a gesture that’s later repaid when a blocked-in Rukawa counts on Sakuragi in a crucial moment. The change in their eyes as they regard each other is so palpable it gives me goosebumps to contemplate it. I heart this series like whoa. – Michelle Smith

World War Blue, Vol. 3 | By Anastasia Shestakova and Crimson | Seven Seas – Any goodwill I may have possessed towards this series is gone by now, as it tries to tell a story with cute video game references but can’t rise above the most hackneyed cliches. So we have aggrieved siblings who chafe at the policies of their peaceful country and strike off on their own; we have the ‘weak’ member of the party reminded that war is hell and that she has to contribute and stop worrying that she’s useless (she’s even slapped, because of course), and the tragic narration “this was the last time we would ever fight together” setting up future events that I don’t care enough about. Even the side story, about a female slave with ridiculous strength who is rescued by a rather casual hero, leaves a bad, somewhat sexist taste in the mouth. It’s a shame, this started off with promise. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 12 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – I’ve said before that I enjoy Yotsuba as a catalyst more than an actual character. Luckily, she’s rarely on her own in this volume, and her interaction with everyone else drives the humor and the heart. Torako is learning to be just as good as Asagi at handling Yotsuba, even if it’s in a grumpy truculent way. Fuuka and Shimau are hilariously weird and cute as a team, spotting the potential of Yotsuba and awkward pumpkin costume straight away. And the camping trip that takes up the 2nd half is filled with exactly what we want in the series: the wonders of everyday life, people being adorable dorks, and lots of cute. Yotsuba’s final page quote makes one think the series is ending (it isn’t), but honestly there’s far more that can be done here The wonders of childhood are limitless. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 12 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – New volumes of Yotsuba&! are sadly few and far between these days, but at least each one is solidly consistent and guaranteed to raise a smile. True, nothing much changes, but the series does have its own internal slice-of-life continuity, with Yotsuba’s newfound fascination with tying bows factoring into future chapters not to mention the repercussions of her naughty adventure with paint. “Everyone gets blue hands sometimes!!” on its own might not read as much of a punchline, but Azuma’s excellent (as ever) depiction of Yotsuba’s body language effortlessly communicates how embarrassed she is by her predicament, and it’s nice to see how her dad handles her misbehavior. Too bad it’ll probably be at least another year before volume thirteen. – Michelle Smith

Voice Over! Seiyu Academy, Vol. 2 | By Maki Minami | Viz Media – As pleasantly sugary as Hana to Yume series are known to be, I admit that I found the first volume of Voice Over! Seiyu Academy to be more sickly than sweet. Its perky, dim heroine and and obvious romantic setup, though certainly no grave sins in the context of current shoujo manga, languished within a lackluster premise. Volume two begins pretty much the same way, as heroine Hime and her gang of student seiyu “stragglers” trudge through a tired plotline involving the value of friendship. Fortunately, a late-volume twist changes things for the better, utilizing an equally overused trope that somehow feels just right here. Can a shoujo manga live or die on its precise combination of clichés? Time will tell. Tentatively recommended. – MJ

Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 7

December 1, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Quin Rose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru, based on the game by Quin Rose. Released in Japan as “Clover no Kuni no Alice – Cheshire Neko to Waltz” by Ichijinsha. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

(Note: this reviews mentions THAT Alice spoiler later on. You know the one.)

Now that this series has finally come to an end, I think it’s a good time to take a look at it in a larger context. Volume-wise, it’s the longest Alice series to date. However, many of these volumes were bloated up with side stories – some featuring Alice and Boris, some not – to the point where I suspect the actual content would struggle to make it to 5 volumes if put together on its own. Overall, I think the series was successful, but its tendency to meander and focus on the romance over the darker themes make it perhaps midrange in overall quality. Let’s see if we can pin down what it did best.

First off, the premise of the Clover world spinoffs (as opposed to Hearts) is that Alice has been there longer and is finding love with someone she already has a friendship with, as opposed to a sudden passionate love. I think it does a pretty good job of that here – much as I’m not a fan of the romance part of this series in general, the author does a good job of showing us Alice and Boris’ friendship, and how that’s affected by their growing love. It also shows off dealing with Boris’ cat-like tendencies – he can wander off, or seem aloof, and is quite changeable – as well as Alice’s mood swings and anger issues. And, of course, jealousy. It didn’t really knock me out, but as a romance it’s perfectly sweet.

The other thing I think this manga did very well is the attention that it gave to the ‘faceless’ inhabitants of Wonderland. Our view of this world has almost entirely come from Alice and the 12 ‘role-holders’, all of whom are naturally drawn to her by their very existence. The faceless are meant to be bodies filling out the story, so unimportant they don’t even get eyes. And yet Alice can tell then apart, something that mildly astounds everyone else. What’s more, here they are shown to have goals and lives beyond support of the heroes and heroine. Some are plotting a takeover against the hatter, some are jealous of Alice’s ability to get someone to love her whether she likes it or not, and some are just doing a job, even if it means their death. I’m still not certain about the faceless overall, but I have a much greater understanding of them after reading this.

And then there’s Lorina. This is the second book we’ve seen recently where Alice is shown abandoning the real world and staying in Wonderland with her love. I’ve discussed how this makes me slightly uncomfortable, something I think is entirely intentional on the author’s part. Cheshire Cat Waltz is not as dark and twisted as, say, Joker and Liar’s Game, however, so we see Alice, who’s having another post-traumatic breakdown, visited by Lorina’s spirit, who reassures her that it’s OK to forget and move on, and that her death (looks, it’s been 15+ books, I am now prepared to reveal the horrible secret of the Alice books) was not Alice’s fault. So her stay in Wonderland is couched in terms that make it look less like escaping from reality and more like accepting this is her new reality. How you feel about that depends on how you view the Alice series as a whole, I think.

As for the major drawback of the series, well, it meanders. It meanders even more than my reviews do. And just when each volume seems to be leading up to an exciting bit, the story ends halfway through so that we can get either side-stories of Alice and Boris in the Hearts world, or even worse, Crimson Empire side-stories that have nothing to do with this world at all. Read all at once, it must be more tolerable. Read over the course of a year, it’s a mess.

Still, overall, I’m pleased to have read this. Alice and Boris are cute, and it fleshed out the personalities of the non-Hatter cast a lot more. (The Hatter cast got a lot to do as well, but they always do.) It’s a good read for fans of the series. Just be prepared for the story to start and stop a lot.

Manga Gift Guide 2013

November 29, 2013 by Anna N

Since Hanukkah is well underway and Christmas looms on the horizon, I thought I’d put together a list of what I’d likely buy manga loving friends, as well as what I’d like to get for the holidays!

Sweet Rein

I wrote when I reviewed it first that Sweet Rein was a great feel-good manga for the holiday season, and I still think that several weeks later! Sakura Tsukuba is an old favorite from the CMX days, so being able to read another series of hers was a real treat. Sweet Rein might be a little TOO sweet, but this is a shoujo manga about a high school girl Santa Claus falling in love with her mystical reindeer boy, so what would you expect? This is a perfect stocking stuffer for a shoujo manga fan.

Vinland Saga

I loved this manga. Sometimes you just need a narratively complex, exquisitely drawn manga about Vikings being Vikings. The deluxe hardcover makes an ideal gift, and the combination of innovative action scenes mixed with great character development makes this manga appealing to anyone who likes things that are good. I feel like this would be a great crossover manga series as well, as Yukimura’s art isn’t too manga-ish, so it might make a great gift for someone who is mainly into western comics but who wants to give manga a try. Plus, if you are starting to feel frustrated by all the holiday good cheer, there’s nothing like a few viking beheadings to serve as a stress release.

Gundam: The Origin

Find on Amazon

You know what another good Christmas gift is!? Char Aznable! Just picture him at your family gatherings smirking in Machiavellian glee, sowing the seeds of destruction wherever he goes! OK, maybe that wouldn’t be so great for your continued health in 2014. But I feel like Vertical gave a wonderful gift to manga fans everywhere by publishing these deluxe editions of Gundam: The Origin. If you enjoy drama and giant robots fighting in space, you can’t go wrong with this series.

Sailor Moon Box Sets

Sailor Moon! In box set formats! If you don’t have them already, buy them in boxes! Actually, I’m thinking of picking up the second box set to finish up my collection.

The box sets have STICKERS! SAILOR MOON STICKERS! By the Power of the Moon, I will decorate your laptop!!!!

Manga by Kyoko Okazaki

I haven’t read Pink yet, but I’m putting it on this list because it would be a great present for me!!! I want to read it! Helter Skelter was so cynical and bonkers, I’m looking forward to reading any of Okazaki’s work.

I think you could induce whiplash in someone by giving them both Sweet Rein and Helter Skelter, but why not? Reading this jarringly cynical take on the fashion world was entertaining, even if I did sometimes feel like I needed to bleach my brain a tiny bit afterwards.

Josei Disguised as Shoujo from Viz Media

I’m pretty stoked that Viz is releasing Happy Marriage and Midnight Secretary under their Shojo Beat line. And really, what could be more festive than vampire bosses who are harsh and demanding feeding on their secretaries and falling in love with them due to their awesome blood or secretaries forced into a marriage of convenience with their strict and stuck-up but secretly caring bosses? There might be a bit of a repetitive theme here, but I love it!

Black Bard

November 29, 2013 by Ash Brown

Creator: Ichiya Sazanami
U.S. publisher: One Peace Books
ISBN: 9781935548386
Released: November 2013
Original release: 2011-2012

Ichiya Sazanami’s Black Bard was originally published in Japan between 2011 and 2012 in three individual volumes. The English-language edition of Black Bard, released in 2013 by One Peace Books, is a single-volume omnibus with newly created cover art. I wasn’t previously familiar with Sazanami’s work and for good reason–Black Bard was not only his debut manga in English, it was also his first series to be released in Japan after winning the Media Factory Manga Award in 2011. Black Bard was initially serialized in Media Factory’s manga magazine Monthly Comic Gene which is frequently described as publishing shōnen manga for a shōjo fanbase. I haven’t been following the magazine or Sazanami very closely, but the licensing of Black Bard caught my attention for a couple of reasons: one, I generally tend to find One Peace Books’ offerings rather interesting, and two, I can’t resist the combination of music and magic.

Traveling from town to town is a somewhat sullen young man, a wandering minstrel known only as Black Bard. He is famous for his wonderful singing voice; it would not be an exaggeration to call his performances magical. Black Bard enjoys the freedom (and coin) his songs have allowed him as well as the happiness he is able to bring to others through them. Even so, he tries to keep his distance and there are very few people who would dare to call Black Bard their friend. There is Snow-Snow, a young huntress who greatly admires Black Bard and his knowledge of the world, and Windy, a traveling merchant and beast man who first met him when they were children, but Black Bard even discourages their friendship. But now that a powerful organization is interested in Black Bard, his magic song, and the past he’s tried to keep hidden, he needs friends more than ever. Not that he would admit it.

The music aspect of Black Bard was definitely one of the major draws of the manga for me. Black Bard describes himself as a mere musician, but there is undeniably magic in his song. He claims not to cast enchantments, but his music does affect others even when he is not deliberately trying to do so. Of course there are the times that Black Bard very intentionally uses the power of his music to alter reality and manipulate other people. Somewhat surprisingly, by the end of the series Black Bard has almost turned into a battle manga. Music is a significant part of those fights. But in addition to a form of magic, music’s role in Black Bard is also of a more traditional sort. The power of music, both magical and otherwise, provides comfort and brings people together. It is used as a way to convey stories and express emotion, and as a way to keep legends and history from being forgotten.

While it isn’t without its flaws, I had a tremendous amount of fun reading Black Bard. Admittedly, the world building is a mess and the story is all over the place, but I can’t deny that I enjoyed the manga. At first Black Bard seems to be episodic, but once Windy and Snow-Snow make their appearance the story starts to focus in on the Black Bard’s mysterious past. Granted, some of that backstory would have been more effective had it been revealed earlier in the manga and some things are never adequately explained. As the manga progresses, the references to Alice in Wonderland become increasingly prominent. However, those references don’t actually add much to Black Bard except to lend a few names and influence some of the character designs. In general, Black Bard is very attractive art-wise and is an entertaining mix of silliness and drama. I know that I would certainly be interested in reading more of Sazanami’s work.

Manga the Week of 12/4

November 28, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ, Anna N and Michelle Smith 2 Comments

SEAN: First week of the month. You know what that means. Let’s go.

Dark Horse has the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s volume on Manga Challenges And Best Practices, which, given its authorship, I will merely leave here to let you all know it’s available. :)

ASH: Well, if you’re not going to say anything, then I will! I got my hands on an early copy a few months ago and thought it was great resource.

MJ: Thanks, Ash!

SEAN: Alice Love Fables: Toy Box is a Seven Seas anthology with stories from a) Alice in the Country of Hearts, as released (in part) by Seven Seas; b) Crimson Empire, as released by Seven Seas; and c) Arabians Lost, as not released by Seven Seas, mostly as it’s the only one of these otome game adaptations not to get an actual series.

ANNA: I have a fairly high tolerance of Alice in the Country of series, but stretching it to an anthology series might be a bit too much for me.

SEAN: Dance In The Vampire Bund has another new spinoff, this one called The Memories of Sledge Hammer. It does not feature David Rasche at all, so I am profoundly disinterested.

ASH: I…actually haven’t read any of the Dance in the Vampire Bund manga, yet.

MJ: I feel certain I never will.

ANNA: I doubt I will either.

SEAN: And Kanokon has an omnibus collecting two new volumes of this supernatural harem comedy (not to be confused with Seven Seas’ other supernatural harem comedies).

There’s also Vol. 3 of The Sacred Blacksmith, which hasn’t knocked me out, but has proven to be better than expected.

On the Viz front, there’s Vol. 5 of Demon Love Spell, which is a hell of a lot of fun and also sexy to boot.

MJ: I kinda can’t wait for this. I’m definitely hooked on this series.

ANNA: It is hilarious. I do wish more of Mayu Shinjo’s angsty series were published over here.

SEAN: Dengeki Daisy is coming to an end, but that end is not out here yet. Instead, we get lucky Vol. 13. If you like shoujo at all, you should be reading this.

MICHELLE: I’ve fallen behind with Dengeki Daisy but will be catching up soon!

ASH: I used consider Dengeki Daisy a guilty pleasure, but I’ve gotten over that and just enjoy the series.

MJ: I dropped Dengeki Daisy early on (not for any profound reason, just time) and I’ve begun to regret it.

ANNA: I always enjoy a new volume of Dengeki Daisy.

SEAN: The penultimate volume of A Devil and Her Love Song really needs to cut back on the angst and trauma and start wrapping things up happily. Do I expect this to happen here? No.

MJ: Heh.

ANNA: That being said, it is somehow weirdly refreshing along with all the angst and trauma, just because the heroine’s personality is so distinctive.

SEAN: The 3rd Dragon Ball omnibus, because there are always new generations of fans.

ASH: I’m glad that Viz is finding ways to keep this series in print–I’m one of those people who somehow missed it the first few times around.

SEAN: Vol. 3 of Happy Marriage?! will no doubt feature more fretting, worrying, and self-doubt, hopefully mixed with some nice romance and comedy.

MJ: No doubt. And no doubt I’ll read it.

ANNA: I’ve read it and it continues to be great!

SEAN: Hunter x Hunter 31 is out. The manga’s back on hiatus in Japan, so I’m not sure when it will dribble to a halt here. Again.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan started a new arc last time, and I expect things will be quite exciting and supernatural in a “this is pretty good, but not great” way.

One Piece Vol. 69. (cough) You’d think Nami and Robin would be on the cov–(whack) Ow!

Skip Beat! is up to Vol. 32. Easily Hana to Yume’s longest running ongoing series, it may be wrapping up soon, but not yet. Still great.

MICHELLE: I’m very excited about this one!

ASH: Me, too!

ANNA: Probably my most favorite insanely long shoujo manga series.

SEAN: Slam Dunk ends with Vol. 31. A terrific sports manga, and hopefully it has whetted fans’ appetite in case Viz wants to, say, license another ongoing Jump basketball series. Hint, hint.

MICHELLE: And this one! I’ve been saving up the last five volumes to read in one big chunk. It’s gonna be awesome.

ASH: I’m behind in Slam Dunk, but it really is a great series.

ANNA: Slam Dunk is wonderful.

SEAN: Toriko is in the Meteor Garlic arc, and this is Volume 19. I like the series a lot, but it’s hard to really comment on when it comes out.

Lastly, Voice Over: Seiyuu Academy has its second volume drop. It’s classic workaday Hakusensha shoujo, with a fun if dense lead.

MJ: I’m eyeing this with a little bit of dread, but it’ll probably reel me in.

MICHELLE: It might. I definitely liked the first volume more than I expected to.

ANNA:I enjoyed the first volume much more than I expected to.

SEAN: That’s a big pile. Any choices?

Sweet Rein, Vol. 1

November 28, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Sakura Tsubasa. Released in Japan as “Yoroshiku Master” by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine LaLa DX. Released in North America by Viz.

It’s rare to find a manga series with so many things I’m wary of and so many things that I love in the same package. Sweet Rein manages to hit all my buttons, both the good and bad ones. It’s fortunate that it’s only a 3-volume series, as I suspect this isn’t sustainable in the long-term, but as a short romantic comedy, it’s quite readable. Even the unrelated short story at the end manages to be deeper than I thought while also briefly appalling me. Sweet Rein pulls in about ten different directions.

The first thing that surprised me is the degree to which this is a magical girl series. Animal companion (who is also the romantic lead, but let’s save that for another paragraph) finds a somewhat melancholic girl dissatisfied with her life and shows her that she can bring happiness to the world. In this case, the animal companion is a reindeer who is actually a young man named Kaito. His entire family is reindeer (on his mother’s side), and when he meets our heroine, Kurumi, it’s love at first sight. In fact, it’s more than that. The Japanese title of this series translates as “Hello, Master!”, and it becomes clear that Kaito is bound to Kurumi, both physically and emotionally. This doesn’t bother him at all, but gives her some difficulties. What part of his feelings are his own heart, and what is the magic “making” him love her?

Because this is a magical girl series deep down, I was a bit more forgiving of some of the more ridiculous plot contrivances, though the Spirit of Christmas curing cancer was a bit much even for me. It’s far more fun to focus on Kurumi, who is a more down-to-earth and practical person than many shoujo heroines, and doesn’t even crack a smile till towards the end of the first chapter. Her background will be familiar to readers of this genre – mother long dead, father works long hours to support them so he’s never home, all her friends out with guys for Christmas. The Japanese reading of Christmas as being “Love + Santa” really comes into play here, with little to no religious subtext. (And thank God for that.) As for the reindeer thing, it would seem that Kaito’s body is ‘default human’, so I can deal. They do make a cute couple.

The side story is unrelated to the main action, being a one-shot about an immortal vampire (who looks like a cute young man) being saddled with a daughter from a woman that he had bedded some time ago. Most of the chapter is actually decent, with a good look at what it’s like to be an immortal and watch everyone you love die, and a nice vampire mythology that basically makes “turning” someone pot luck – either they die or they become vampires, they usually die, and it’s not controllable. Unfortunately, the entire thing is nearly upended by a very unfortunate choice at the end, where the art and storyline dovetail in exactly the way I was hoping they wouldn’t the moment this little girl showed up. Bleah.

Overall, though, I think the good parts of this manga outweighed the bad. It’s the sort of series that I suspect you shouldn’t think too deeply about, which makes it a bad fit for me but a great choice for anyone looking for some Christmas escapism.