Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Features & Reviews

JManga the Week of 11/8

by , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: We’re back with another edition of JManga the Week of! And there are some great new digital titles hitting the site next week.

TAVERNA, Dark Cooking Club of St.George’s Girls’ School is such an awkward mouthful that it can only be a 4-koma series from our friends at Takeshobo. And indeed it is, running in the magazine Manga Life Win. Vol. 2 is out next week. It seems to be a cooking manga, only moe! … Do those two audiences even cross?

MJ: 4-koma tends to lean towards the “miss” side of hit-or-miss with me, but I’m usually willing to give it a try. Usually. We’ll see. The “cooking” bit does give it an edge—which is odd, actually, since I hate cooking.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m pretty wary, but the cooking part is at least kind of different.

SEAN: A Kiss on Tearful Cheeks is the 2nd title from Futabasha’s Comic Mahou no Island in 2 weeks, but this one seems to be slightly less off-putting than My Sadistic Boyfriend. Despite apparently starring a girl who can’t stop crying. Vol. 4 is out next week.

MJ: Oooooh, I just don’t know if I can take all the crying. I just don’t know.

MICHELLE: Ugh. I am totally making gross assumptions here, but I predict that the boyfriend makes her cry (or that she invents reasons for herself to cry) and then ends up repeatedly comforting her. It just sounds so dreary and, like, spirit-sapping. No thanks.

SEAN: The big debut title for me next week is Sekine’s Love, a josei-ish title that runs in Ohta Shuppan’s sui generis manga magazine Manga Erotics F. It’s a title about a stoic and unemotional man who starts trying to find someone who can make him feel. The audience, meanwhile, is attracted to him because his indifference is hilarious. I’ve heard great things about this, can’t wait to give it a read. (And no, it’s not – to my knowledge – BL.)

MJ: What readers don’t know, is that Sean sent out a pre-column email of squee over this title earlier today. And reading this, I’m inclined to agree with him. I’ll definitely be checking this out!

MICHELLE: I had never heard of this one prior to this afternoon, but it does sound intriguing. I guess JManga is trying to cover their bases—moe fans, check! Black Bird-type relationship fans, check! People who are weary of those other things and want something unique, check!

SEAN: Also, when finding the cover art for this post, I noted the cover says “A gentleman good at knitting is not good at knitting the love!” Is this the anti-Ninja Papa?

I know very little indeed about pupa, except that its title is in lower case and it’s from Earth Star Entertainment, whom JManga have done several series with recently. Judging from the cover, I’m guessing fantasy?

MJ: Looks kind of interesting, actually. Is that a teddy bear in there?

MICHELLE: I am just distracted by the title on this one.

SEAN: And Tokyo Girls Destruction is by Court Bettan, author of the cancelled Tokyopop series Harukaze Bitter Bop. It’s from Mag Garden, running in their seinen magazine Beat\’s (no, not a typo, that’s how it looks). It would appear to be another in a long line of Battle Royale clones, featuring cute girls all beating the crap out of each other.

MJ: Zzzzzzzzzzzz…

MICHELLE: For, like, half a second I though this was some kind of 51 Ways to Save Her series. Alas, ’twas not to be.

Follow Friday: Manga on Pinterest & Tumblr

by Leave a Comment

Though Twitter tends to be the social media platform of choice for manga bloggers and other industry folks, manga fans can be found all over, sharing their love of the medium in a multitude of ways. While text-heavy communities like LiveJournal (and its many clones) provide the best tools for sharing things like fanfiction and thinky meta essays, manga’s visual nature lends itself especially well to image-friendly platforms like Tumblr and Pinterest.

Sharing scanned images of manga online is a controversial pastime for sure, as huge “scanlation” aggregators invite intense scrutiny from the industry—both here and in Japan—and there is no doubt that the climate on this issue is tense. Manga Bookshelf bloggers have occasionally weighed in on the subject (and I, for one, have little interest in pursuing the argument further). But what discussion of scans generally does not include, is the sharing of isolated images—something we indulge in here at Manga Bookshelf as well. After all, who can deny the power of a single, glorious image, and the pure, fannish joy to be gleaned from same?

For those with an interest in sharing fannish manga joy on a regular basis, here are some suggestions to start!

Matsumoto Reiji from Fey Yes Vintage Manga on Tumblr

On Tumblr:

Browsing through the manga tag on Tumblr will provide enough images for a lifetime, but my own tastes lead me to a few particular favorites.

For fans of classic manga (and especially classic shoujo and josei) Tumblr is the place to be, with blogs like Feh Yes Vintage Manga and Classic Shoujo offering up scrumptious goodness daily.

Fans of the five-woman creative powerhouse CLAMP can get their fill at House of CLAMP and Hell Yeah CLAMP. Or for a bit more variety in medium, Unknownusername.

And back to classic manga, Osamu Tezuka’s panels is not to be missed!

On Pinterest:

Pinterest user Mariko Kato has some gorgeous images to share from artists like Akino Kondoh and Junji Ito.

Fans of horror manga will find fantastic imagery on offer from users Paper Wasp and Alexandra Zobenko.

For a very different, shoujo-friendly feel, try September Craft, who apparently shares my love for Nana Osaki.

For some eye candy that moves beyond just manga artwork, publisher Vertical, Inc. is active on Pinterest! Boards include Vertical Cooks, Vertical Fan Art, and Aranzi Aranzo.

Please feel free to share your favorite manga-sharing folks here in comments. Follow and enjoy!

Adventures in the Key of Shoujo: Sailor V, Vol.2

by 2 Comments


Codename: Sailor V, Vol. 2 | By Naoko Takeuchi | Published by Kodansha Comics USA | Rated: T, Ages 13+

Oh, ho. What a difference a few months make. I had planned to review the second volume of Codename: Sailor V right after I reviewed the first. Then, Sailor Moon became more important to read and review, so Minako’s final solo mission was put to one side. Now that I’m officially taking a breather from Sailor Moon (it’ll be back later this month) and making time for other stuff, I want to get Sailor V out of the way first. Not that it’s a chore to read it—in many ways it is like its sister series in terms of execution—but the tone is different between the two leads.

In our last volume with Sailor Venus, a twofold structure is in place. One constitutes the bulk of the volume and is completely deceptive as to the volume’s true intentions. The other is examined near the end of the book and sets up the story to be continued on a grander scale. To explain, we get Mina fighting crime and villains for the most part—and yes, whether it’s DeVleene with her evil fattening chocolates (shame on thee!) or the Atavistic family of Nyan-Nyan, Wan-Wan and Chu-Chu (some mothers do have them), she dishes out the smite most excellently. She takes all of this in stride, all the while whining and complaining to Artemis, her familiar, about everything. At the end of the DeVleene chapter, we get a glimpse of a character who will trigger the other plot restructuring, Phantom Ace. As the final chapters started, I had no idea that Takeuchi would pull the rug from under me and ramp up some drama and heartstrings being pulled. She hadn’t done it for the whole of the other volume, so I wasn’t paying attention. When she showed Phantom Ace looking like Tuxedo Mask, I should have known what she was up to.

In many ways, I wish that Sailor V had been like this from the beginning, with some kind of gravitas to anchor the story. But then I remember that before Venus (spoilers) joins the rest of the Sailor Senshi in Sailor Moon, the girls treat Sailor V as a hero and a very serious character. So without having the Sailor V series be goofy by default, it would have been weird for Takeuchi NOT to portray Venus as a goofball to begin with and then, as she matures, the serious girl that she is. Plus when the aforementioned serious arc starts in Sailor V, all of Mina’s notions about what exactly she is destined for change for the better, but not without a bittersweet cruelty to proceedings. Mina HAS to have these challenges or what does she want to fight for? Certainly not for boys or fame, both of which she chased and lost and laughed off—but only at the end of her journey does she see how far she’s come.

This made me ask the question, to myself at least, what is the heroine/hero in a story of destiny? Is she the instrument of destiny or the catalyst of destiny? Where does her free will stop and the path of the “chosen one” come into play? If Mina had not found Artemis that day, would Artemis have sought her out anyway? If the Boss (whom we never meet at all, strange that) had not pushed Artemis to accept Mina despite her spacey moments and her reckless attitude, would Mina have succeeded? I suspect that that Mina would have become a Sailor Senshi anyway, but her journey would have been longer. She has all the talents to be one; all she needed was to accept her destiny. In the end, though, she has to make the decision to accept it. This brings me to the destiny that is revealed to her at the end. It’s not as bad a destiny as some shoujo heroines get saddled with. Certainly it sets her up for the awesome nature of being a Sailor Guardian. But still, the mantle of responsibility has a downside.

Artwork-wise, I find that Takeuchi has clean lines and excellent design work especially when she has Mina transform into whatever disguise she needs to use and with the costumes the villains wear. Things get a little busy in the crowds scenes and yes, I still have difficulty following some of the action, but it’s more manageable than in Sailor Moon. The translations by William Flanagan are excellent and he gives us a healthy dose of reference notes at the end of the book. I’m really spoiled by the level of the work.

In the end, I would say that in order to get a complete picture of the whole Sailor Moon manga experience, Codename: Sailor V is required reading. It sets up parts of the story that the reader will recognize from the main series. It also provides a fully detailed origin story for a team member other than Usagi. Not that Usagi’s origin is more or less important than Mina’s. But this is Mina’s story, full stop. You don’t need to read it to enjoy Sailor Moon—the other saga being self contained. But this is a nice arc for a character who starts out as slightly ditzy and a klutz but who takes on the whole ball of wax in regards to knowing what her path looks like and what it will take to walk it. It’s definitely not what it appeared to be in its first volume and it is a rare thing indeed for me to find a manga where I kinda liked the main character but totally got them after only two volumes. Still, however serious the last parts become, the title remains fun until the end. Mina makes me laugh as she commits crimes against basic logic and sense. As I sit reading while my family and friends talk or move around me, Mina’s silliness lets me forget my troubles for awhile. I laugh at Mina, reply to a question someone in the room asked me, and then go back eagerly to see what Mina’s going to do next. My advice: buy the two volumes, have fun and go from there.

Manga the Week of 11/7

by , , and 5 Comments

SEAN: Hello, and welcome to Manga The Week Of: Expanded Version! We liked chattering about JManga so much that we decided to let it carry over into my regular feature. So pull up a chair, sit back, it’s the first week of the month, so Midtown’s list is… tiny.

Oh dear, they’re doing it again. (Note: as of 5pm Wednesday. If they update their list again later, this is all irrelevant). Sometimes Viz shows up late to Midtown. No idea if it’s due to Hurricane Sandy, Diamond, or mere happenstance. As it happens, I checked with my own comic store, and they seem to be getting in Viz’s 11/6 releases on 11/6. So I will proceed to break them down here as well, assuming most comic shops not affected by possible Sandy distribution delays will get them.

But first, our fine folks at Kodansha have some stuff coming out! Actually, it came out everywhere else today. But when you’re Diamond Comics Distributors, you can … well, do whatever you want. So they ship Kodansha a week late.

In any case, Air Gear 26 is out, continuing the great Air Gear tradition.

Mardock Scramble continues our 6 theme by having Vol. 6 out.

MJ: I am several volumes behind on Mardock Scramble, but I really liked it early on. Should I try to catch up? Anyone have an opinion?

MICHELLE: I find the concept interesting, but never started it and thusly haven’t bought beyond the first couple of volumes. Also, “the great Air Gear tradition” made me snicker.

SEAN: And, carrying the 6 theme to a third release (hey, 666. Happy Halloween!), Negima! is up to Volume 36, meaning it’s close to completion. I see Asuna is on the cover. Is she back in action?

MJ: I do sort of consider Ken Akamatsu to be the devil, so that works. (Please don’t hit me.)

MICHELLE: I really have tried to approach his stuff with an open mind, but I just can’t like it.

SEAN: Finally, ruining the 6 theme by being a Vol. 8, Sailor Moon ends its S arc and starts Super S. Let me tell you folks who only know this arc from the anime: you are in for a treat.

MJ: I can’t wait!

MICHELLE: The outers are in it, the outers are in it! On the sad side, however, Fish-Eye and Tiger’s-Eye appear so briefly in the manga version as compared to the anime that it’s kind of a blink-and-you-miss-them situation.

SEAN: Yen Press was supposed to have Vol. 2 of Soul Eater NOT! out two weeks ago, but for some reason it got delayed to this week for comic shops. This fusion of the Soul Eater Universe with the moe aesthetic is taking a while for me to warm up to, but I’ve heard it’s not all light and fluff. Will there be creepy art to give nightmares in the best Soul Eater tradition? Let’s hope so!

Now, on to Viz, which may or may not get to all stores, and may or may not have all these titles, but oh well.

First, Bakuman enters its final quarter with Vol. 16, and continues to have a love/hate/mostly hate relationship with its female characters, but is a lot of fun nevertheless.

MJ: I have to admit I’ve been addicted to Bakuman since the beginning, even when it’s really pissed me off. So I’ll be picking this up for sure.

KATE: I freely place myself in the Feminists Who Loathe Bakuman Camp. The authors’ treatment of the female characters — especially the smart, competent ones — is a deal-breaker for me, even though the manga shop talk is fun.

MICHELLE: Like MJ, I get annoyed, but then I keep reading. Some of the kooky supporting cast is a lot of fun, which helps.

SEAN: Bleach has Vol. 50 and 51, which I’m pretty sure don’t star Aizen. What is this strange Aizen-less manga I see before me?

MICHELLE: I am soooo looking forward to the end of this Hueco Mundo arc. I don’t know any Bleach spoilers, so I have no clue what’s coming next, or whether it is better, but ye gods, this has been dragging on.

SEAN: A new Blue Exorcist! At least for those of you who didn’t read it digitally ages ago. One of the best current Jump titles, and always a treat.

Claymore hits Vol. 21, and the cover simply glares at you balefully, daring you to pass it by. Do you really want to take that risk?

MJ: I can’t pass it by!

SEAN: We’re not quite caught up to Japan with Kamisama Kiss, so the volumes are still coming out fast and furious. Here’s #11, which features a New Year’s theme just in time for November! Well, surely it’s New Year’s somewhere…

Kimi ni Todoke hits Vol. 15 here (it is caught up, so we’re seeing it less now), and Chizuru and Ryu are standing pensively back-to-back, not looking each other in the eye. We all know what that means. SMOOCHIES! …well, OK, probably not. But I hope they get a nice juicy plot arc.

MJ: This series just never stops being charming, does it?

MICHELLE: No, it doesn’t.

SEAN: Naruto is up to Vol. 59! Holy crap! I admit I haven’t read it since Vol. 6, so the cover makes about negative zero sense to me, but hey, it sells amazingly well, so therefore is doing many things right.

In case you missed the Nausicaa Manga when Viz released it a few years ago, they’re now putting it out again in a handsome box set. It’s a gorgeous manga, as well as environmentally conscious. Pick it up today.

MJ: I am thrilled about this, I have to say. I did miss this when Viz originally released it, so I’m incredibly pleased to have another shot at it.

KATE: I’ve also been looking forward to the new edition of Nausicaa. The old edition — though nice to look at — was printed on crummy paper that didn’t age well, and I’ve been eager to replace mine with a cleaner, newer version.

SEAN: Wasn’t it released on environmentally correct paper? That may be why…

MICHELLE: Somehow I missed this news! I have an awesome local library with a genuinely huge manga selection, so I was lucky enough to read Nausicaa (the four-volume Perfect Collection edition) that way, but I might need a handsome box set of my very own!

SEAN: Neon Genesis Evangelion is (digitally) day/date with Japan! And out only a week later in print! This is truly amazing, and big kudos to Viz for pulling it off. Best of all, this is the version with the happy ending! … OK, I lie, it’s not. It’s still depressing. But hey, maybe Shinji is more proactive? The manga’s been good at that.

KATE: The NGE omnibus has been sitting in my review queue for a few weeks. I’ve never read or watched any NGE stories, so I’m hoping that VIZ’s new three-in-one edition will make it easy for me to familiarize myself with this enormous, seemingly inexhaustible supply of material.

SEAN: Did I say holy crap when Naruto hit Vol. 59? Well, One Piece is up to Vol. 65! And… well, is still in the Fishman Island arc, but can’t have everything. I believe this is a ‘battle-only volume, the kind Jump readers love! If only as it reads smoother in Volume than it does week-to-week.

MICHELLE: Yay, One Piece!

SEAN: Another manga I tend to push as much as possible, Oresama Teacher has hit its 11th volume. The subject is Christmas! … OK, what with that and New Year’s, Viz is playing mall music at us far too early. But I’m not complaining!

MICHELLE: I like Oresama Teacher, but I do sort of inwardly groan when shoujo manga feel obliged to hit all the holidays. Hopefully this’ll be one of those times where the series is genuinely funny.

SEAN: The giant huge box set thing that is Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 1-18! It’s a fun series, if you haven’t checked it out, and need a Christmas Present for your wish list, this is a great choice.

Rosario + Vampire Season II hits Vol. 10, and possible Chapter 5 and Verse 2. In any case, vampires!

KATE: I’ve long thought of Rosario + Vampire as Twilight for guys: it’s got impossibly beautiful female monsters who inexplicably love an unremarkable human. While none of the vamps in Rosario sparkle, they do show a lot of cleavage and leg — the next best thing, I guess, if you’re a fourteen-year-old boy. It’s not my cup of tea, but I can definitely understand its appeal.

SEAN: You don’t need vampires to have girls falling all over themselves for a nebbish guy. See: any harem manga ever.

SEAN: NEW SERIES ALERT! Strobe Edge, from Io Sakisaka, is a school romance about a girl who wants to find out what love is and the school heart-throb… um, haven’t I heard this premise before? Oh right, Japanese shoujo manga. Despite that, this is apparently a lot of fun. I heard that people are… NICE in it. Gasp! It ran for 10 volumes in Shueisha’s Betsuma.

MJ: I’ll admit that Kate’s review gave me some pause about picking this up, but it’s really hard for me to pass up new shoujo.

KATE: I freely admit that I’m turning into a big curmudgeon when it comes to shojo manga; I’ve read one too many stories about nice, unassuming (read: boring) girls who develop crushes on hot guys. Strobe Edge isn’t bad, just predictable as taxes. Give me Maria Kawai and her razor-sharp barbs any day.

MICHELLE: It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a manga that makes me explode into hearts, but I’m definitely planning to give it a chance.

SEAN: Speaking of series I hadn’t realized hit double volumes, there’s Tegami Bachi! Presumably the mail must still get through for these letter bees.

Vampire Knight, which I still can’t quite quit, hits Vol. 15. If only it weren’t so damned addictive. Also, vampires!

Lastly, there is We Were There, which has no vampires whatsoever. It’s almost over, but there’s still this volume and 16 to go. So there’s LOTS more ways the author can make her character’s lives miserable! (Admit it, that’s why we love it. This is *the* angst shoujo.)

MJ: I love this “angst” shoujo. I really, really do. It’s a longtime favorite, and I never miss a new volume.

MICHELLE: I love it, too. Volume 15 is on the top of my review pile!

3 Things Thursday: Monstrous

by 4 Comments

I’m not a huge fan of horror manga as a genre, nor am I particularly easy to scare. But I do find that when a manga can scare me, it sticks with me forever. While a good ghost story is generally the ticket for me (and indeed I picked out three ghost hunters for my last Halloween column), there are other types of monsters that can get to me as well—often in complicated ways. So, without further ado…

3 Favorite Manga Monsters

1. After School Nightmare | Setona Mizushiro | Go!Comi – As I realized in the midst of a Let’s Get Visual column last year, sometimes the scariest monsters are the ones we see in ourselves. In After School Nightmare, Setona Mizushiro explores the terror of a group of high school students who are forced to endure a series of shared nightmares in which they appear as the physical manifestations of their own worst fears… about themselves. As you can see from the scans included in that column, the results are twisted, eerie, sometimes grotesque, and may hit just a bit too close to home for many readers (including this one). *Shiver*

2. March Story | Hyung Min Kim & Kyung Il Yang | Viz Media – Monsters aren’t always evil—at least not unambiguously so—and it’s a monster like this who played a big part in winning me over to March Story, an exquisitely drawn comic by a pair of Korean creators working in Japan. Though the series’ first volume was wildly uneven, one of the characters who immediately caught my eye was Jake, the (literally) bigger-than-life mentor of the story’s heroine, March. Though Jake first appears smiling and offering March a ride, she is immediately, utterly creepy, and remains so throughout, despite her frequent role as comic relief.

3. Wild Adapter | By Kazua Minekura | TOKYOPOP – Sometimes, our monsters don’t look like monsters, and may even be people we love. Hello, Wild Adapter. While both of the series’ main characters are frequently referred to as “monsters” (and one of them even has a sort of animal paw for one hand), the one who has done many, many monstrous things is Kubota, a former up-and-coming yakuza whose apathy about nearly all other people has made him a fairly brutal killing machine. One of the images that sticks in my mind always is the one below (discussed in-depth in our Wild Adapter roundtable), in which Kubota has helped out a young woman by savagely beating her abusive ex-boyfriend. Though he’s done this to protect her, even he knows that his actions make him a monster. It’s a poignant and chilling moment, especially as we’ve already grown to love him as a character (and continue to love him even afterwards). Well done, Minekura, well done.

Readers, who are some of your favorite manga monsters? As you can see, my criteria is pretty broad, so feel free to push the envelope!

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

by

From the back cover:
On a hillside near the cozy Irish village of Glennkill, the members of the flock gather around their shepherd, George, whose body lies pinned to the ground with a spade. George has cared for the sheep, reading them a plethora of books every night. The daily exposure to literature has made them far savvier about the workings of the human mind than your average sheep. Led by Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), they set out to find George’s killer.

The A-team of investigators includes Othello, the “bad boy” black ram; Mopple the Whale, a Merino who eats a lot and remembers everything; and Zora, a pensive black-faced ewe with a weakness for abysses. Joined by other members of the talented flock, they engage in nightlong discussions about the crime and embark on reconnaissance missions into the village, where they encounter some likely suspects. Along the way, the sheep confront their own struggles with guilt, misdeeds, and unrequited love.

Review:
I’m not sure where I first heard about Three Bags Full, but the promise of a mystery with a team of sheepy sleuths on the case guaranteed that I had to read it. Originally published in German as Glennkill, this English edition has been translated by Anthea Bell.

Despite its bucolic setting, things are not very peaceful in the Irish village of Glennkill. One morning, George the shepherd is found dead in his pasture and his sheep, particularly several whose intelligence has been greatly increased due to George’s habit of reading aloud to them, set out to find justice. What ensues are various scenes of the sheep surreptitiously observing humans—“It was the first time Othello had been to a funeral, but the ram behaved beautifully.”—and filtering the information they glean through a sheepy lens. Usually, they get things a bit wrong, but the logic of their reasoning is quite endearing. They still manage to behave like sheep and often, certain of the flock complain about all the thinking and learning and must be cajoled from backsliding into blissful ignorance. Metaphor, much?

This was Swann’s first novel—a sequel, Garou came out in 2010 but no English translation is yet available—so perhaps it’s not surprising that, while the sheep are charming, the mystery itself is not as well-developed. George had apparently discovered a dirty secret of some of the villagers years before, but nothing much actually comes of this. Then, we also learn George was a drug dealer—with a rather clever method of transporting his goods—but nothing much actually comes of this, either. That said, the way in which the sheep encourage the truth to come out—though they’re convinced that what needs to “come out” is some kind of tangible thing lurking in the shepherd’s caravan—is pretty cute to envision, so I can’t complain too much.

Lastly, a couple of compliments! I applaud the English translation by Anthea Bell, which is so well done—and retains so much wit—that one would never guess it wasn’t the original text. Also, I happened to “read” Three Bags Full in unabridged audio format and the narrator, Josephine Bailey, was simply superb. Each sheep had their own easily recognizable voice, and the lambs were nothing short of adorable.

Here’s hoping Garou eventually makes its way to our shores!

Limit, Vol. 1

by

By Keiko Suenobu. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Bessatsu Friend (“Betsufure”). Released in North America by Vertical.

Keiko Suenobu is a name that might be familiar to those manga readers with long memories. Tokyopop put out several volumes of her shoujo manga Life before Kodansha took their licenses away, and it was a decidedly different shoujo manga from the usual fare. Not that it didn’t feature high school girls, dating, rivalries and bullying, etc. But it also discussed topics such as suicide, self-mutilation, body hatred, and rape, and did not try to give us the usual ‘you will defeat the bullies if you get emotionally stronger!’ message that most manga do. It was quite popular in Japan, winning awards and spawning a live-action drama. And now Vertical has licensed her next project, which takes high school popularity and tosses it into the middle of the unknown wilderness.

If there’s one big issue I had with Limit, it was this: I feel the accident that causes the plot to happen should have been on Page 175, rather than Page 45. We’re introduced to a class and get a quickly sketched out plan of who’s popular and who’s unpopular, with the main characters briefly touched on. But given how much of what happens focuses on Morishige and her feelings of hatred and revenge, I wanted to know more about the class dynamics and in particular about the class’ ‘queen’, Sakura, and our heroine Mizuki. As it is, being thrown into the deep end along with Mizuki helps give a feeling of uncertainty and fear, but it also makes her rather flat. If we’d had a couple of chapters that faked us into thinking this would be a typical coming of age (albeit serious) shoujo, I think the added depth would have helped.

That said, there’s a lot to like here. Teenage drama is something that Suenobu specializes in, and it’s all over the place here. The manga manages to give us the overly dramatic histrionics we’d expect from privileged teens caught in a disaster without making it too annoying or causing it to get bathetic. One might argue, given this is a manga dealing with the ‘strata’ of Japanese classrooms and bullying to a degree, that making the bullied school outcast the main villain is helping to contribute to the ‘blame the victim’ mentality that kids constantly deal with. But this story doesn’t seem to be about bullying per se, nor does it seem to have only one antagonist.

Where the story really shines is in the relationship between Mizuki and Haru, and how quickly group dynamics can change when the catalyst of the group is removed. Even close friends don’t know everything about each other, and here Mizuki finds that her peer group is just as rife with self-doubt and paranoia as she is. Being a popular girl is a two-edged sword, and what may seem to Mizuki like trying to blend in and bond with all the different girls is seen by others as switching sides deftly to avoid getting singled out. Which, as we see in a flashback, is exactly what Mizuki was doing. If you don’t open up or take a stand, you don’t get hurt.

This series looks to be six volumes total, so we’ve only just begun to see how it’ll play out. And I’ll be honest, I have a feeling that some cast members will soon be joining the rest of their classmates in sweet death (coughChikagecough). Hopefully we’ll see more development from our heroine, and more broken social dynamics driving the plot. Mostly as now that it’s broken, I want to see how it gets put together again. Will we get to see the girls work together and forge new friendships? Or is this just six volumes of slowly killing each other?

Strobe Edge, Vol. 1

by

One of the most maddening aspects of shojo manga is that it can take 100 or 200 pages for a character to realize what she’s feeling, and another 200 or 300 before she actually tells someone; only the British period drama wrings more tension from its characters’ inability to say what they’re thinking. Strobe Edge, the newest addition to VIZ’s Shojo Beat imprint, isn’t quite as drawn out as Parade’s End or The Remains of the Day, but there are enough meaningful glances, lip quivers, and moist eyes for an entire BBC mini-series.

Strobe Edge focuses on Ninako, a classic shojo everygirl: she’s cute but not gorgeous, bright but not brilliant, liked but not popular. Through a twist of fate, Ninako meets and befriends Ren, her school’s Designated Dreamboat. Ninako is initially happy to be Ren’s pal, but soon finds herself consumed with thoughts about  him: should she tell him how she feels and risk alienating him, or silently resign herself to being his friend?

Author Io Sakisaka certainly evokes the mixture of excitement and fear that grips anyone in the throes of a crush, but she’s less successful at expressing those ideas in a distinctive voice; Ninako is so utterly lacking in personality that everything she thinks and says sounds like a lyric from a Selena Gomez song. (“For some reason, my chest kinda aches,” she muses after one encounter with Ren.) That same blandly polished quality extends to the artwork. Though Sakisaka exercises restraint in her layouts, giving Ninako room to breathe and reflect, her character designs are too ordinary to make much of an impression; I swear I’ve seen this cover before.

Perhaps that’s the point — Sakisaka has created a story and heroine so generic that almost any young teenager could see parallels between her own life and Ninako’s. While that kind of reading experience can be enormously comforting at twelve or thirteen, it’s awfully dull for older readers who need a little more than thousand-mile stares and cryptic conversations to hold our attention; a little subtext or, frankly, context, would make all that angstful withholding more dramatically compelling.

Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Volume one will arrive in stores on November 6, 2012.

STROBE EDGE, VOL. 1 • BY IO SAKISAKA • VIZ MEDIA • 200 pp. • RATING: TEEN (13+)

Point of Hopes by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett

by

pointofhopesFrom the back cover:
It is the time of the annual Midsummer Fair in the royal city of Astreiant, and the time of the conjunction of the spheres approaches, heralding the death of the monarch. Each year a few youngsters run away from home to go on the road with traders, but this year a far larger number of children than usual have gone missing during the Fair. Someone is stealing them away without a trace, and the populace is angry.

Nicolas Rathe, a city guard, must find the children and stop whatever dark plan is being hatched before the city explodes into chaos.

Review:
It took me nearly three years to finish reading Point of Hopes, and two months to write this review after I finally completed it. Those facts should give you a good indication of just how riveting this mystery isn’t.

Nicolas Rathe is a “pointsman” (basically a policeman) in the city of Astreiant. When dozens of children suddenly go missing, Rathe is on the case. He enlists a few friends to help—Philip Eslingen, a foreign mercenary to whom Rathe seems to be attracted, and a necromancer buddy from the local university who was, for some reason, played in my head by Paul Bettany. Primarily, Rathe’s investigation consists of visiting various parts of the city and talking to people to no avail, until finally a bit of evidence turns up on page 279. The three guys collectively put the pieces together, and I really liked the bits where they were working in concert. Too bad they were only together in the final 70 pages!

Thankfully, the setting of Point of Hopes is more intriguing than its central mystery. For one, gender equality is absolutely the norm. Just as many women as men participate in professions seen as traditionally male in our society, and many women are in positions of power. In the fantasy setting of Astreiant, your occupation is determined by the alignment of the stars at your birth, which reads to me as a metaphor for objectively selecting people for a job based solely on their abilities. Equality of sexual preference is also a facet of life in Astreiant—it’s not that same-sex relationships are merely tolerated: they’re commonplace. No one would think of considering them invalid or sinful.

Aside from not being very exciting, the most irritating aspect of Point of Hopes for me was the dire need for better editing. There were many, many, many instances where a comma was used in a spot that needed a semicolon and many pages that suffered from wall o’ text syndrome. I can’t help but feel like it would’ve read faster if it weren’t so dense-looking. Lastly, I wonder at some of the names. I tend to think characters’ names “aloud” in my head, and while this is obviously not a problem for the lead characters, I was stymied by names like “Cijntien.” Plus, it’s weird to have fantasy names like that alongside such normal ones.

Anyway, there is a sequel to this entitled Point of Dreams. I own it, so will likely read it someday, but at the rate I’ve gone with this story thus far, I wouldn’t expect a review until at least 2015!

Additional reviews of Point of Hopes can be found at Triple Take.

It Came From the Sinosphere: The 8th Bronze Man of Shaolin (Manhua)

by 6 Comments

A cool picture of Jubao, Qisuo, and Busha

So our protagonist, Qisuo, grew up hearing stories about heroes. Naturally, he wants to become a hero. Where do you become a hero? Shaolin Temple of course (see my previous post about The 36th Chamber of Shaolin).

Qisuo manages to get to Shaolin Temple. Being Buddhist, the monks of Shaolin temple are supposed to be celibate vegetarians. What does Qisuo find at Shaolin temple?

Qisuo sees Shaolin monks eating meat and hanging out with prostitutes

Why, it’s monks eating meat and hanging out with prostitutes! What gives?

Shaolin Temple started accepting any rich kid as a student in order to get generous donations, and the rich kids don’t really want to give up on meat and sex, and … well it influenced the whole institution. Shaolin Temple is now a school for anti-heroes.

Note 1: this is an example of truth-in-fiction; the present day Shaolin Temple does allow the consumption of meat, and according to one martial arts master I know, has become a tourist trap which has lost its traditional way.
Note 2: It is very common, at least in the wuxia fiction I read, for Shaolin (or other Buddhist) monks to somehow break their vows of chastity. They actually seem to be more likely to get laid than the lay unmarried male characters.

Anyway, WHAT IS QISUO SUPPOSED TO DO?! He is so naïve that even this isn’t enough to break his rose-colored glasses.

Don’t worry, he gets to study some marital arts … after getting bullied at the Shaolin Temple.

Oh, and childhood friend, Hongzhong, also leaves the village to learn martial arts. She’s not going to let Qisuo have all the fun.

About Giddens Ko

Giddens Ko is nobody important. He’s just Taiwan’s most popular active novelist.

About Online Novels

It’s a bit hard to describe the world of online novels, partially because I don’t know it as well as I should.

On the one hand, for aspiring Taiwanese novelists, online is pretty much the only way to start these days. Even novelists who prefer the traditional publishing route have to go there because the traditional publishers would rather work with writers who have already proven themselves online.

Fortunately for the aspiring novelists, Taiwan has a vibrant and unique online culture, which I actually am not too familiar with since I spend most of my online hours in the English-language net (hey, I already live in Taiwan offline, I don’t need to live in Taiwan online too, at least not yet). One of the distinctive features of the Taiwanese internet is that bulletin board systems (BBS), which are considering a relic in most of the world, still flourish (another reason I’m not too familiar with the Taiwanese internet – while I’ve learned thousands of Chinese characters, I still haven’t learned how to use a BBS!). Anyway, it is in the BBS-world that aspiring novelists show their stuff.

Now, there are traditional-style novels which first reach readers through the internet. For example, Passionate Wastrel, Infatuated Hero was originally published online. If these novels get a traditional publishing contract, they will generally be listed under a traditional genre (in this specific case, “wuxia”). However, a new style of novel writing has emerged from the labyrinths of the Taiwanese BBS world, and if these novels get printed, they will be listed as “online” novels.

Giddens first became famous in the BBS world, and I know about half of his novels originated there. I have not confirmed whether The 8th Bronze Man of Shaolin is one of them. Nonetheless, pretty much all of Giddens novels get shelved under “online novels,” regardless of the story’s genre. And while this story is in some sense a wuxia story, the novel is written in an online style.

Oh wait a minute. I’m not discussing the novel. I’m discussing the manhua. So I also need to talk about…

James Khoo

So, if Tony Wong (whom I’ve discussed here and here) and Ma Wing-shing (whom I discussed here) are the two top Hong Kong kung-fu/wuxia manhua artists, then James Khoo is around number four. He actually started as an assistant for Tony Wong, and later left to make his own name.

Artwork

Unsurprisingly, James Khoo’s style is a lot like Tony Wong’s style. On the one hand, his artwork doesn’t pop the way that Tony Wong’s does, nor does it compel me to flip back through the pages after I’ve finished a volume. On the other hand, it’s more grounded—and I don’t think it’s any less lovely. I haven’t seen James Khoo display Tony Wong’s skill in telling a story visually, though this might not have been the right story in which to do that (NOTE: the artwork looks way better in print than in these terrible photos).

A fight scene

Qisuo gets hit by somebody

More fighting

Zhang Sanfeng looks cool with his sword

Seriously, was it necessary to expose Ling Xue’s belly like that? She’s a flipping martial artist! None of the male martial artists wear such impractical clothing…

A burning building

Jubao's family backstory

More fightingJubao and Qisuo standing in a Ying-yang

Original Tragedies and Monkey Wrenches

Most wuxia novels (or at least the ones I’ve read) follow the original tragedy/monkey wrench pattern. To me, it’s more essential than the martial arts. The “original tragedy” is something horrible that happens to the protagonist early on and propels the protagonist into embarking on a journey, literal and/or metaphorical. The story is basically about the protagonist coming to terms with the “original tragedy.” But the path is not straightforward, because at some point, a monkey wrench is going to hit the protagonist on the head (and sometimes there are multiple monkey wrenches).

To make this clearer, let me use the wuxia novel Pingzong Xiaying Lu as an example. The protagonist is Yun Lei. In the prologue, we learn that her grandfather had been exiled in Mongolia for 20 years, her father had been killed, and she had been separated from her mother, all because of somebody called Zhang Zongzhou. Shortly before his death, her grandfather commanded his offspring to grow up and get revenge by killing any member of the Zhang family, young or old, that they may encounter. At the time, Yun Lei was seven years old. This is her original tragedy.

Ten years later, Yun Lei is a teenager who knows how to wield a sword. It is time for her to actually go about getting revenge for the wrongs done to her family. She intends to reunite with her brother, whom she hasn’t seen in more than ten years, so they can get revenge together. Of course, traveling alone isn’t fun, so she travels with a young man called Danfeng. He’s also pretty good with a sword. They have adventures together and fall in love. Then it is revealed that Danfeng is Zhang Danfeng and … well, I think you can guess who his father is. He is Yun Lei’s monkey wrench.

This is the most common setup—somebody killed the protagonist’s parent(s), so the protagonist must work hard to be powerful enough to get revenge—but then ZOMYGOSH THE PROTAGONIST FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE CHILD OF WHOEVER KILLED THE PROTAGONIST’S PARENT!!!!!! There are, however, plenty of other ways to set up original tragedies and monkey wrenches. And of course, original tragedy/monkey wrench setups can be found outside wuxia too (in manga, for example).

Why did I go into this long digression? Because this is why the story of The 8th Bronze Man of Shaolin doesn’t quite click with me. Qisuo does not have an original tragedy—he left his village because he wants to be a hero. Okay, he does get bullied a bit at the Shaolin temple but a) Qisuo doesn’t seem to be hurt enough for that to work as an original tragedy b) it doesn’t change Qisuo or inspire him to take a particular course of action.

Now, Jubao does have an original tragedy, but a) he’s not the primary protagonist and b) it … I just don’t feel enough pain coming from Jubao for that to quite work either.

Wuxia stories don’t absolutely need original tragedies but this story doesn’t really work without one. The lack of monkey wrenches also does not help. This story feels to me like it’s just about youths learning martial arts, improving, and defeating increasingly powerful enemies … all without growing or maturing as people.

And the thing is, I don’t even think the fights are that good. I have no issue with James Khoo’s artwork—to the extent that the fights are interesting, it’s thanks to him—it’s just that the fights aren’t written to be very interesting. On a technical level, most of the fights lack any elements of puzzle-solving or surprise which can provide intellectual stimulation. On an emotional level there is … little impact.

In other words, this story fails for me.

Availability in English

The artwork is available to anybody who has eyesight. The story (in both manhua and pure prose form) is only available to readers of Chinese, but I don’t think that’s a big loss.

Conclusion

I don’t think Giddens was trying to write a classic wuxia story at all. I think he was trying to indulge in wuxia geeks’ fantasies. Qisuo—who grew up listening to stories of heroism—is basically a cipher for the reader. He gets to be best friends with Zhang Sanfeng, the legendary creator of Tai Chi and a character in many wuxia stories, help him develop Tai Chi, and eventually marry his sweetheart.

Well, it did not work for me. But the idea is good. In fact, Giddens tries the same thing in another novel, and in that novel it works so well that it is my favorite Giddens novel so far (I will discuss it here eventually, I am sure).

I do like James Khoo’s art … and I find it a bit disappointing that he choose to adapt this novel when there are so many better novels out there he could have adapted (Pingzong Xiaying Lu for example).

Next Time: Bump Off Lover / Ai Sha 17 (idol drama)

What was Sara K. doing while this column was on hiatus last week? Last Tuesday she was visiting Little Liuqiu Island, where they burn boats (they weren’t burning any boats while she was there though). Anyway, Sara K. is going to do a lot less running around Taiwan now, which means this column will regain its regularity. Hopefully.

Comic Conversion: A Wrinkle in Time

by 3 Comments

A Wrinkle in Time | Novel: Madeleine L’Engle / Laurel Leaf | Graphic Novel: Hope Larson / Farrar Strraus Giroux

Meg Murry is the intelligent daughter of two world-renowned scientists, but her world is still falling apart. Unable to cope in school, she’s failing her grade and getting in fights with teachers; meanwhile her four-year-old brother Charles Wallace, the smartest, kindest person in her life, refuses to talk to those outside his family, leaving the whole town thinking he’s a simpleton. Everything would be better with her father around, but Mr. Murry has been missing for years, ever since he went to Washington to work on a top secret project. Then, a mysterious old woman named Mrs. Whatsit appears at their house on a dark and stormy night. She and her friends, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, take Meg, Charles, and their friend Calvin on a quest through space and time to save their father and fight a battle against the darkness that threatens to consume the universe.

First published in 1962, A Wrinkle in Time has won a number of awards, including the Newbery medal for children’s literature. Despite that, Madeleine L’Engle had quite a struggle getting it published, being rejected almost 30 times because the story was “too different.” Now, her science fiction novel has been continuously in print for 50 years and continues to make showings on lists of top books for children. In 2010 publishing house Farrar, Strause and Giroux — the original publishers of A Wrinkle in Time — decided to create a graphic novel version of the now classic book, signing on artist Hope Larson to bring the beloved story to life.

I’ve been a long-time fan of Madeleine L’Engle, and though my awe of her really began with A Ring of Endless Light (to this day one of my favorite books) A Wrinkle in Time and all of its companion novels hold their own special place. It’s difficult to think of a contemporary novel, children’s or adult, that you can compare this to. Very basically it is the usual story of good versus evil — the light against the dark — but her characters aren’t as simple as that. Charles Wallace is empathic and smarter than most humans can imagine, but he’s also arrogant, while Meg, the ultimate hero of the story, is emotional, angry, and easily affected by the evil creature IT. When talking about Earth, which is shadowed by a darkness that has taken over many other worlds, their friend Calvin admits, “We make some awful bloopers there.” But, he points out, humankind is fighting the shadow, trying to be better than they have been. That is what A Wrinkle in Time is about, perhaps more than good vs. evil; it’s about knowing and accepting your own faults, and striving to be better than you may have been before.

Right away in the graphic novel we see the famous opening words scrawling across the page: “It was a dark and stormy night.” From that point on, Hope Larson remains faithful to the original book. She did still make the decision to edit down some parts, such as when Meg is momentarily left alone in the darkness after she rescues her father from his prison. These were things that worked very well in the context of the book, increasing the apprehension and Meg’s fear. In the graphic novel, however, this would have resulted in repetitive images and slowed down the pace.

Though L’Engle’s original novel is written in the third person, the story is told entirely from Meg’s point of view. Obviously aware of this, Larson used some effective techniques to keep it that way. Rather than copy-and-pasting narrative passages from the novel, Larson reworded portions so they were Meg’s first-person thoughts, keeping us close to Meg. Larson also does something interesting with her art while Meg is paralyzed — there is none. For five and a half pages there are is nothing but small black squares as Meg struggles to move and listens in on her father and Calvin’s conversation. By keeping the panels small, Larson maintains the steady pace while also creating the feeling of movement more effectively than one black page full of text would have done.

Larson made the interesting choice to color the entire graphic novel in shades of blue. While I would have loved to see the story in full color, the soft monotone grants the images an ethereal quality that fits with the novel’s tone. The character designs, for the most part, were what I’ve been imagining for years: Meg is scruffy and grumpy, and Larson remembered to keep a bruise on her cheek throughout, while Calvin is lanky and adorable. The only one that didn’t quite reconcile with the image I’d had in my head is Charles Wallace. Larson’s attempts to have Charles look far too intelligent and wise for his years made him look a bit strange to my eyes. This works much better later on when Charles is being controlled by IT, but Larson’s design makes him appear a bit creepy long before that’s supposed to be the case.

Really, any problems I have with the graphic novel are just nitpicking. Any changes Larson made were minimal and effective in maintaining the flow and tone of L’Engle’s novel. The biggest issue I had was with some of the character designs, but that’s ultimately a matter of preference rather than quality. Larson’s love and respect for A Wrinkle in Time is apparent in every page, and I couldn’t have ever possibly hoped to experience a more satisfying adaptation of L’Engle’s work. I would always want to urge kids to read L’Engle’s book, it would not be disappointing in the least to see them reading this graphic novel instead.

My Week in Manga: October 22-October 28, 2012

by

My News and Reviews

Last week was the Vampire Manga Moveable Feast. As part of my contribution, I reviewed Vampire Hunter D, Volume 1–Saiko Takaki’s manga adaptation of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s novel of the same name. I still haven’t read the original Vampire Hunter D novels, but the manga adaptation of the series is starting to grow on me. Keeping with the vampire theme, I also reviewed Hideyuki Kikuchi’s vampire novel Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Volume 3. There are parts of Yashakiden that I really enjoy but there are just as many parts that frustrate me immensely. Since there are only two more volumes in the English release, and I’ve already come this far, I’ll probably end up finishing the series at some point. Completely unrelated to vampires, but because it’s a graphic novel I wanted to mention it here: Over at my other blog, Experiments in Reading, I’ve posted a review of Mark Siegel’s Sailor Twain: Or, The Mermaid on the Hudson, which I quite enjoyed.

Quick Takes

Apocalypse Zero, Volumes 1-6 by Takayuki Yamaguchi. Unfortunately, only six of the eleven volumes of Apocalypse Zero were released in English. I can’t say that I’m surprised and I don’t expect that the license will ever be rescued–the series will appeal only to those with a strong constitution and who aren’t offended easily. It’s extremely graphic, bloody and violent. The imagery is deliberately repulsive, gloriously grotesque, and highly sexualized. Honestly, I feel a little dirty admitting that I loved Apocalypse Zero in all of its outrageousness, but I did. Yamaguchi does make use of a lot of standard tropes and cliches, but he takes them to such ridiculous, over-the-top extremes that they are almost unrecognizable.

Bunny Drop, Volumes 5-6 by Yumi Unita. With a ten year time skip, Bunny Drop has become an entirely different series. It’s not bad, but it has lost much of charm that made the first four volumes stand out. However, the character interactions are still great. The “new” Bunny Drop probably wouldn’t be a series that I would follow had I not already been invested its characters. It seems to have turned into a pretty typical high school drama. I did enjoy seeing the kids all grown up though, Rin and Kouki especially. Unfortunately, Daikichi, who has always been my favorite, has almost become a secondary character in these volumes (although, a very important one). I do still like Unita’s artwork and plan on finishing the last few volumes in the series.

The Drops of God: New World written by Tadashi Agi and illustrated by Shu Okimoto. It’s sad to say, but New World may very well be the last volume of The Drops of God to be published in English. At the request of the author, this omnibus (collecting volumes 22 and 23 of the original release) jumps ahead in the story to a point which features New World wines. As Shizuku heads to Australia and Issei heads to America in search of the seventh apostle, they both manage to get into some serious trouble. The plot might be a little ridiculous at times, but I still find The Drops of God to be entertaining and informative. Who knew the world of wine could be so dangerous?

The Flowers of Evil, Volumes 2-3 by Shuzo Oshimi. I really thought that I was through with middle school dramas, but then I started reading The Flowers of Evil. The series is exceedingly dark and ominous. I have a hard time looking away as the events unfold. I have no idea where Oshimi is going with this series and I’m almost afraid to find out. It’s intense, to say the least. The characters in The Flowers of Evil are so incredibly messed up. Even those who at first appear “normal” have some serious issues; it’s hard to tell what’s really going on in their heads. Kasuga is caught in this agonizing relationship between Saeki, the girl he idolizes, and Nakamura, the girl who torments him but from whom he can’t seem to break away.

Tonight’s Take-Out Night! by Akira Minazuki. A collection of three boys’ love stories, Tonight’s Take-Out Night is the first manga that I’ve read by Minazuki. While I enjoyed the stories, the high-contrast art style is what really caught my attention. The stories are short, so the development of the couples’ relationships has to happen fairly quickly. However, Minazuki’s characterizations are strong enough that they carry the stories fairly well. I liked the pairings and I liked their relationships which were mostly free of non-consensual elements. The first and third story are both good-natured and a little quirky. But the second story, with it’s period setting and supernatural twist, was my personal favorite.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Volumes 1-6 produced by Studio APPP. Technically, the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime adaptation is two series. The last six episodes were released between 1993 and 1994 while the first seven were released between 2000 and 2002. I do prefer the manga over the anime, but the OVA series is an excellent adaptation. The anime strips the story down to it’s core. The humor and the horror elements of the original tend to be downplayed; the anime focuses mostly on the action and battles. This does mean that some of my favorite moments from the manga were cut, but all of the fights that are particularly important to plot and character development are included. No matter what the medium, I love JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 28 October

by Leave a Comment

Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [429.5] ::
2. ↑1 (3) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [362.7] ::
3. ↓-1 (2) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [357.7] ::
4. ↑1 (5) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [341.8] ::
5. ↑1 (6) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [341.7] ::
6. ↑5 (11) : Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [331.3] ::
7. ↑1 (8) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [327.4] ::
8. ↓-4 (4) : Yotsuba&! 11 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 [312.6] ::
9. ↑1 (10) : Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 4 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [303.3] ::
10. ↓-1 (9) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [296.4] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Yen Press 99
Viz Shonen Jump 87
Viz Shojo Beat 57
Kodansha Comics 46
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 34
Dark Horse 24
Seven Seas 24
Viz 15
Vertical 14
Tokyopop 12

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,093.9] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [659.0] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [575.6] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Maximum Ride – Yen Press [537.2] ::
5. ↔0 (5) : Negima! – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [502.8] ::
6. ↑5 (11) : Vampire Knight – Viz Shojo Beat [474.2] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Death Note – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [438.1] ::
8. ↑5 (13) : Black Butler – Yen Press [396.5] ::
9. ↑12 (21) : Rosario+Vampire – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [382.5] ::
10. ↓-1 (9) : Cardcaptor Sakura – Tokyopop/Dark Horse [371.2] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

6. ↑5 (11) : Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [331.3] ::
8. ↓-4 (4) : Yotsuba&! 11 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 [312.6] ::
9. ↑1 (10) : Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 4 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [303.3] ::
10. ↓-1 (9) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [296.4] ::
11. ↓-4 (7) : Naruto 58 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2012 [295.3] ::
12. ↑1 (13) : Bleach 48 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2012 [268.8] ::
17. ↑4 (21) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 13 – Seven Seas, Oct 2012 [245.2] ::
21. ↓-1 (20) : Skip Beat! 29 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2012 [229.1] ::
22. ↑7 (29) : Maximum Ride 6 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 [224.3] ::
23. ↓-1 (22) : Berserk 36 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [224.1] ::

[more]

Preorders

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [429.5] ::
13. ↓-1 (12) : Sailor Moon 9 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [267.3] ::
18. ↓-2 (16) : Sailor Moon 10 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2013 [238.9] ::
25. ↑36 (61) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 10 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2012 [211.0] ::
34. ↑9 (43) : Naruto 59 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2012 [174.4] ::
41. ↑38 (79) : Vampire Knight 15 – Viz Shojo Beat, Nov 2012 [159.9] ::
47. ↑28 (75) : Sailor Moon vols 1-6 box set – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [152.2] ::
50. ↑26 (76) : Sailor Moon 12 – Kodansha Comics, Jul 2013 [146.8] ::
52. ↔0 (52) : Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 2 vol hardcover box set [complete] – Viz Ghibli Library, Nov 2012 [146.3] ::
75. ↓-1 (74) : Omamori Himari 9 – Yen Press, Nov 2012 [117.2] ::

[more]

Manhwa

170. ↑ (last ranked 30 Sep 12) : Black God 15 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 [63.0] ::
263. ↑35 (298) : March Story 4 – Viz Signature, Oct 2012 [41.7] ::
293. ↑ (last ranked 30 Sep 12) : Black God 14 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [36.5] ::
567. ↑35 (602) : Bride of the Water God 11 – Dark Horse, May 2012 [16.7] ::
688. ↑ (last ranked 9 Sep 12) : 100% Perfect Girl 5 – Netcomics, Apr 2008 [11.7] ::
711. ↑ (last ranked 5 Aug 12) : Chunchu: Genocide Fiend 2 – Dark Horse, Oct 2007 [11.0] ::
744. ↑ (last ranked 29 Aug 10) : Very Very Sweet 3 – Yen Press, Mar 2009 [10.1] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

40. ↓-13 (27) : Loveless 9 – Viz, Sep 2012 [164.3] ::
67. ↓-29 (38) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [128.5] ::
90. ↑253 (343) : Punch Up! 2 – SuBLime, Oct 2012 [101.1] ::
107. ↓-38 (69) : The Tyrant Falls in Love 7 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [91.7] ::
169. ↑42 (211) : Honey*Smile – DMP Juné, Oct 2012 [63.3] ::
227. ↓-21 (206) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 5 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [47.6] ::
249. ↑38 (287) : Awkward Silence 1 – SuBLime, Jul 2012 [43.7] ::
277. ↓-47 (230) : Ai no Kusabi (novel) 7 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [39.1] ::
310. ↓-137 (173) : Secret Thorns – DMP Juné, Oct 2012 [33.8] ::
314. ↓-56 (258) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [33.2] ::

[more]

Ebooks

16. ↓-1 (15) : Maximum Ride 1 – Yen Press, Jan 2009 [251.6] ::
27. ↓-9 (18) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [201.6] ::
28. ↑7 (35) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [198.5] ::
42. ↓-10 (32) : Naruto 56 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2012 [159.8] ::
46. ↑37 (83) : Maximum Ride 4 – Yen Press, Apr 2011 [156.0] ::
61. ↓-5 (56) : Maximum Ride 2 – Yen Press, Oct 2009 [134.4] ::
66. ↓-7 (59) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [128.7] ::
72. ↓-4 (68) : Maximum Ride 3 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [123.8] ::
79. ↓-9 (70) : Blue Exorcist 1 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Apr 2011 [112.7] ::
96. ↓-2 (94) : Naruto 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2003 [96.4] ::

[more]

BL Bookrack: October 2012

by and 3 Comments

Welcome to the October installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at the debut volume of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love from SuBLime, while MJchecks out My Dear Prince at JManga. In Brief: Hitorijime Boyfriend (JManga) and est em’s ULTRAS (DMG).


Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love, Vols. 1-2 | By Yaya Sakuragi | Published by SuBLime | Rated Mature – I’ve confessed before that I tend to judge BL by its cover, and I must admit that had I not previously read and enjoyed something by Yaya Sakuragi, I would’ve passed on Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t one of those times where the cover belies the contents. What you see is, in fact, exactly what you get. This manga is all about a shrimpy teenager repeatedly pushing his feelings on his older, tsundere neighbor.

The story begins when seventeen-year-old Ao Sawanoi has a wet dream about Ryomei Kosaka, his neighbor, older-brother figure, and priest of the nearby Shinto shrine. Ao proceeds to openly discuss this occurrence with several people, including Ryomei himself, and then becomes obsessed with making the dream a reality. He pesters Ryomei quite a lot, and eventually snags a kiss, which convinces him that he is in love. Ryomei puts up some token resistance, but when Ao takes his rejection too much to heart and ceases his daily visits to the shrine, Ryomei ends up seeking him out and encouraging his feelings. (There are two volumes yet to go of this series, so as of the end of volume two, the guys are not yet a couple.)

Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love is another of those BL titles that isn’t outright bad, but it’s pretty generic. (I think I am going to start keeping a tally of how often I see that gross, obligatory panel in which a “sexy” string of spittle connects the tongues of the two leads in a BL manga.) I don’t like Ao—he’s vacuous and immature—and I don’t understand why Ryomei would be interested in him. I also don’t get why Ryomei’s friend is encouraging the relationship, but then again, this is the same guy who lets his second-grade daughter man a convenience store alone and has her cook meals for guests when it’s her bedtime.

Most likely I am taking this too seriously, but with so much BL manga now available, there are much better things to read.

– Review by Michelle Smith


My Dear Prince | By Fumi Tomoe | Published by JManga/Libre Publishing | Rated Mature – Shinta and Tsukasa (whose name can also be pronounced “Prince”) have been dating for a while—in secret, according to the adamant Shinta. The reality is that their whole class knows about them and would do practically anything to keep them together, if only to help out their beloved Prince. Tsukasa (who initiated the relationship) worries constantly that Shinta doesn’t really want to be with him, and Shinta worries constantly that Tsukasa will find out that he’s a “pervert,” but no matter their troubles, there’s a sense from the start that everything will always be okay.

If this sounds like a story with too little conflict to be engaging, that’s definitely a concern. Yet somehow, despite its overly rosy view of teenaged romance, there’s a freshness and adorableness about My Dear Prince that saves it from becoming a total snore. Tsukasa’s spells of paranoia feel mostly warranted, and thus avoid falling completely into either melodrama or camp. In fact, they’re actually quite endearing, which keeps the overall tone light. Meanwhile, Shinta’s worries feel authentic to the trials of adolescent sexuality without ever becoming creepy or pushing him into overbearing seme territory. Mostly, though, what really carries this fluffy little story along is the genuine charm of it all. No matter how unrealistic the boys’ story seems, it’s undeniably pleasant to read.

Like so many BL one-shots, My Dear Prince is only a few chapters long, leaving the rest of the volume to be filled in with several short manga—often of lesser quality. Tomoe’s shorts are a little better than most, mainly due to the same charm she brings to the title story. Even the creepiest of the bunch, “Happy Bride Project,” about a delinquent high school student who strives to become the perfect “bride” after his teacher requests his hand in marriage, is almost saved (I repeat, “almost.”) from its potentially skeevy premise and hideous devotion to traditional gender roles by the power of a cute puppy:

As you see in this panel, Tomoe’s artwork is clear and cute, and that carries over into the volume as a whole, even on a philosophical level. Problems are easily understood and solved, people are adorable—inside and out, and happiness is as accessible as a cute little puppy.

My Dear Prince is no masterpiece, and there’s no denying that amidst a stronger lineup, it would hardly make an impression. But sometimes a bit of good-natured fluff is enough to win the day.

– Review by MJ

In Brief:

Hitorijime Boyfriend | By Memeco Arii | Published by JManga/Ichijinsha | Rated Mature – Back in elementary school, Kensuke parted with BFF Hasekura on painful terms. Reunited now in high school, Kensuke has a second chance to rekindle their friendship, but “friendship” may not be what Hasekura has in mind. Such is the premise of Hitorijime Boyfriend. Sounds unoriginal but potentially cute, right? Sadly, “potential” is really all it’s got. Though best-friends-turned-lovers is one of my favorite romantic fantasy scenarios, even that can’t survive the book’s relentless non-con or a clumsy English adaptation that becomes less and less readable as the story goes on. JManga has had an increasingly strong track record with BL since first launch. Unfortunately, Hitorijime Boyfriend goes against the trend. Not recommended. – MJ

ULTRAS | By est em | Digital Manga Guild | Rated Mature – Ordinarily, I’m not a huge fan of BL anthologies, but the format really shows off est em’s gift for swiftly establishing her characters, enabled by her distinctive, economical, and expressive artistic style. The title story, about a pair of Spaniards who are as passionate about soccer (though for opposing teams) as they are for each other, is more than a love story, it’s a lesson in both tolerance and pursuing what you want despite what others may think. Although this is the best story in the collection, the others are pretty interesting, too. My favorite is probably “Say Hello to Mr. Smith,” which involves a conman, a pickpocket, and a monkey. I hope that someday est em decides to tackle a multi-volume work—it’s awesome to contemplate what greatness might ensue! – Michelle Smith

Review copies provided by the publishers.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Chatting About Canon

by

The following discussion contains spoilers.

MICHELLE: As we did for the CLAMP Manga Moveable Feast, special guest Karen Peck and I decided to collaborate on a contribution. This month’s MMF theme is vampires, so we opted (actually, this was totally Karen’s brainwave) to talk about Canon, the four-volume Chika Shiomi shoujo series published by CMX. I really didn’t know what to expect, having never read it before, but I think you had, right, Karen?

KAREN: I read it years ago, as I am a total Chika Shiomi fangirl, and figured the MMF would be a great excuse to talk about a lesser-known CMX series. A little background on Chika Shiomi and the series—Canon was her first series after her 1993 debut, running in Mystery Bonita Special. She’s one of those mangaka who’s had her work released by several English-language publishers—Night of the Beasts by Go!Comi, one volume of Queen of Ragtonia by Aurora, and Viz has most recently released Yurara and its sequel series Rasetsu. Her current work is Yukarism, a time-travel tale running in Bessatsu Hama to Yume, which is currently on hiatus.

Canon Himuro, ill with an incurable disease, was the sole survivor of a massacre that left her classmates dead. Months later a reporter runs into her, and she looks healthier than before—and carries a secret. Her classmates were attacked by a vampire, who then turned Canon into one. Horrified and wracked by guilt, she declares revenge on the vampire with silver hair and blue eyes. Holding onto her humanity, Canon refuses to drink blood, and wears a cross necklace given to her by a kindly foreigner, as explained in the second chapter. She is also accompanied by a vampire crow, Fui, who helps keep the story going and provides the humor. Canon is out for vengeance; Fui would just like a snack.

So, Michelle, what did you think of the series? Beyond the ’90s fashion, that is?

MICHELLE: I shall tell you, though we really must get back around to the fashion topic!

I ended up enjoying Canon quite a lot, though moreso in the first two volumes. The story begins episodically, and after a first volume that I’d describe as “not riveting, but entertaining,” the second volume packs a real wallop as Rod (such an intimidating name!)—the silver-haired, blue-eyed vampire—makes his entrance. By this point, Canon has met Sakaki, a smug and violent half-breed who’s also out for revenge against Rod (who murdered his parents), and they’ve formed an alliance. Fairly soon, though, Rod’s servants are telling Canon that their master lives as a hermit and couldn’t possibly be responsible for the attack upon her classmates, and suggesting that the real culprit is Sakaki. Canon resists the truth until Fui overhears a conversation confirming it (and is gravely wounded by Sakaki as a result).

I probably should’ve seen this reveal coming, but I was sort of enjoying the series in an uncomplicated way and wasn’t expecting it to veer into territory this dark. Ultimately, you’ve got Canon unable to forgive Sakaki, Sakaki unable to forgive Rod, and some uncomfortable parallels for Canon to navigate as her own hatred (fueled by the humiliation of having been tricked) threatens to undo her efforts to retain her human heart. It’s good stuff, really!

That said, I thought the entrance of Glenn as a common enemy kind of squandered the momentum a little. I mean, I’m glad that Rod and his awesome servant, Machua, got to become good guys, but Glenn lacks any real depth as a character, and I found his sudden change of heart regarding Canon—he’d previously been adamant about the need to exterminate her—rather baffling.

KAREN: The names crack me up, too. “Rod” just doesn’t sound… menacing. Rod and Glenn sound like they’d be assistant managers at an Office Depot, not powerful vampires.

It is good stuff! One thing I dislike about vampire stories—in manga and in print—is the angsty, boohoo I’m a vampire aspect. Canon does not wallow in that too much, the action is swirling around her and she’s a part of it all—she’s not a passive character. I think the shortness of this series helped as well; she had to stick to the unexpectedly twisty story–everyone has a motive, and they’re bound by vampire laws and revenge. Except Glenn. I agree with you, Michelle, that his change of heart is baffling–he’s the person that exists to move the story in one direction yet doesn’t seem to be upset that his purpose in the story is nullified by that direction. It’s a bit sloppy, but given how well she plotted out everything else, I’ll give Shiomi-sensei a pass since this is her first work.

As for the Canon/Sakaki relationship, at first I didn’t get it. After some consideration, though, it does fit in with what Canon was trying to get through to Sakaki and Rod–to stop the cycle of vengeance, that everyone can move on. Yes, Sakaki created Canon and messed with her memories to create a weapon to get at Rod in an exquisitely personal way, but her own words apply just as much to herself. She could kill him for her own vendetta, or she could remember that little boy who was left bleeding next to the corpses of his parents and understand what drove him. There’s a theme of forgiveness and breaking cycles here that I think is (mostly) well-done.

So, back to the fashion. Canon’s ankle boots have actually come back around to being fashionable again, but I fear that Rod’s overcoat on top of a turtleneck overcoat look will never be repeated. I suppose hermit vampires who feel bad about killing their best friends are just naturally chilly?

MICHELLE: I hadn’t actually seen that about Rod’s garb until you pointed it out, but once I did, I couldn’t stop noticing it. I think I thought the black one was a cloak at first, but upon closer inspection, it clearly has sleeves.

You’re absolutely spot-on about Canon remembering the terrible things that had happened to Sakaki that caused him to inflict terrible things upon her. And though it might feel like a betrayal of her classmates, she can’t stop loving him. This reminded me a lot of Shuri and Sarasa in Basara, actually, where she is able to forgive him for the atrocities committed as the Red King, even though other villagers will never be able to. And, of course, any time something can be compared to Basara is a good sign!

Speaking of comparisons to other works, the side story in volume four about the other half-breed who briefly takes care of orphaned Sakaki reminded me a lot of Shion’s backstory in Please Save My Earth, as another example of a boy in such tremendous need who tragically loses yet another person who could’ve shown him love. And Sakaki’s physical appearance reminds me some of Tokyo Babylon‘s Seishirou, especially round about the shoulder region.

Actually, Sakaki’s got some fashion challenges of his own to surmount. In this picture, his coat’s billowing so much it looks like a frickin’ hoop skirt!

KAREN: I know–why does he need two coats? I think it’s a little hypocritical of a vampire to wear turtlenecks anyway.

Now you’re reminding me that I need to finish reading Basara! But it’s a good comparison, and one that reflects favorably on Chika Shiomi–I think a lot of people can write a love story, but it’s harder to write one where it makes sense and is right for the characters. Hand-waving with a “that’s how love is!” is lazy, and she doesn’t take the easy way out. The ending offers a further complication, but again, it goes with the feeling that the characters really need to want this instead of just engaging in relationship fanservice.

The art—especially for Sakaki—really had a CLAMP-circa-X vibe going on, but this was 1994. I also enjoyed Machua’s style, even if it wasn’t as flamboyant and flowing.

MICHELLE: I liked her, too, though at first I thought she might be a dude!

The art really is frequently lovely in that early-’90s kind of way. Below I’ve included an image of one of my favorite two-page spreads, where you’ve got all sorts of overlapping panels, huge flowers, leads superimposed over a background of space… My cynical side wonders if Shiomi had a checklist of specific items to include, but the overall effect is still one I enjoy. And, of course, I can’t help thinking that MJ, with her well-documented love for old-school shoujo art, would just love this to pieces. (Click image to enlarge.)

KAREN: This is some lovely ’90s art, and it holds up pretty well—Canon herself (sans ankleboots) could just as easily be a design in a modern Chika Shiomi work. I also enjoyed her eye for action–I was a little unsure about how the vampires were always leaping about, but I assume it’s a case of Our Vampires Are Different. The pages you picked show how nice a page with flashbacks and conversations can be–it’s not just good storytelling, it also sets an emotional mood that really sells the scene for me.

I’m glad there was a Vampire MMF to make me get this series off the shelf and re-read it. It’s one of those quiet CMX series that came and went with little fanfare, but shows how well-curated their shoujo line was–I’m sure they could have found a more sensationalistic vampire manga with prettier, broodier boys, but this is one with an overall strong story and a tough heroine. It may not be a classic on the lines of contemporary works like X, but it’s cheap on the used market and, in my opinion, a good short series.

MICHELLE: I definitely agree! Thank you for suggesting it!

And now, an announcement: because Karen and I had such a good time reading Canon, it really fanned the flames of “Damn, we miss CMX.” And so, to help offset our still-lingering pain, we’ve decided to embark upon a monthly feature called The CMX Project, where we will revisit both the lauded and the lesser-known works from the CMX catalog. Look for the first column—featuring Land of the Blindfolded—in January 2013!