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Female Manga Bloggers From A-Z

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So, a friend mentioned on Twitter today that she’d been engaged in discussion with another friend on the topic of the manga blogosphere, revolving around the fact that it is a “very white male space … that seems to profoundly effect the way things are talked about.”

I was floored. All I could think was, what manga blogosphere is she talking about, because the one I’m looking at is really not that–at least not the “male” part. While I’d agree that both western comics blogging and anime blogging are male-dominated from what I’ve seen, my experience with manga blogging has been very much the opposite. Sure, there are a slew of great male manga bloggers out there (and many, many male fans) but when I look at my blogroll or RSS aggregator, women outnumber them by far. …

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Only By Chance

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Original text by Betty Neels
Art by Chieko Hara
Harlequin K.K./SOFTBANK Creative Corp., 126 pp.
Rating: YA (16+)

Henrietta Cowper is a low-level assistant to an insufferable physician at a London hospital. Adam Ross-Pit is a well-respected surgeon at the same facility. When Henrietta falls ill in the middle of her shift, Adam forces her into an extended hospital stay, ultimately resulting in the loss of her apartment and her job. Feeling responsible, he steps in to take care of her cats and ends up finding her housing and a new job as well—as a tour guide in a large manor near his country home. Though Henrietta and Adam are each drawn to one another, their social stations place them worlds apart. Is it possible for two gentle souls like these to overcome societal barriers?

Very little happens over the course of this manga, but that’s actually what makes it work so well. While more ambitious stories fall to pieces under the constraints of manga adaptation, this simple, quiet romance slips perfectly into place with no obvious cuts or awkward shifts in tone. There’s no real drama here—no true villains or any genuine conflict. The romance is inevitable but lazily pleasant, like sunlight on a Sunday morning or a cat stretching out after a long nap. Do these comparisons sound ridiculous? They’re not. If you’re now picturing a lazy cat stretching in the sun, you’re actually right on track.

Betty Neels’ protagonists are sweet in an vintage sort of way, reminiscent of the quieter characters of Louisa May Alcott or L.M. Montgomery, perfectly matched by Chieko Hara’s old-fashioned shojo character designs. The art is a real highlight of this volume overall, especially in terms of pacing and emotionally rich imagery. Though the lettering is as sloppy as all the books in this series, its stodgy font choice actually feels rather appropriate.

Though Only By Chance delivers neither high drama nor epic romance, this gentle little love story is truly a breath of fresh, spring air.

Only By Chance is available now at eManga.com. Review access provided by the publisher

Honor’s Promise

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Original text by Sharon Sala
Art by Esu Chihara
Harlequin K.K./SOFTBANK Creative Corp., 125 pp.
Rating: YA (16+)

Though still mourning the recent loss of her mother, Honor O’Brien strives to keep her mother’s memory alive by caring for the restaurant she started after the death of her husband. When a young man from Colorado sweeps into town and sweeps Honor off her feet, she’s surprised to find herself experiencing real happiness alongside such fresh grief. She’s even more surprised to discover that the man she’s fallen for so quickly is actually in town to deliver a rather appalling truth about her own origins. Can Honor truly find love with the man whose job it is to tear down everything she’s ever known?

This manga starts out strong, easily establishing a believable whirlwind romance between Honor and her out-of-town suitor, Trace, as well as a solid foundation for Honor herself, including her close relationship with her mother and their restaurant’s built-in “family.” If Honor’s surroundings don’t exactly feel like Texas, they do feel like home and all the things (wonderful and hurtful) that go with it. Less well-developed are the story’s antagonists—long-lost relatives threatened by Honor’s arrival into their lives—which keeps the volume’s dramatic climax from truly packing a punch. The greatest sacrifice made in the name of single-volume romance, however, is the lack of time allotted to Honor’s grief after Trace’s revelation, which robs her of an opportunity to achieve real depth.

Though DMP’s adaptation suffers from stunningly sloppy lettering—pages and pages of square blocks of text artlessly pasted over rounded speech balloons—the visual storytelling is quite effective. Honor, in particular, is expressively drawn, which plays a large role in her believability, especially in the beginning.

Though the manga’s middle chapters are too rushed to support the story as well as they might in prose, Honor’s Promise is a sweet, dramatic, genuinely poignant romance.

Honor’s Promise is available at eManga.com. Review access provided by the publisher.

Otomen 5 by Aya Kanno: B

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Otomen is the story of Asuka Masamune, a manly-seeming boy who harbors a secret love for “girly” pursuits like cooking and sewing. In this volume, his tomboyish girlfriend, Ryo, is picked to represent the second-year students in the school’s Ideal Woman competition, and draws on things she’s learned from Asuka in order to meet the challenge.

The third chapter focuses on Juta, who is secretly a shojo mangaka, and his attempt to protect the dreams of his fans who would be crushed to learn their favorite series is penned by an indolent playboy. The fourth sees the return of the Beauty Samurai, an awesome sentai duo (Asuka and fellow otomen and makeup expert, Tonomine) that beats up bad guys and gives makeovers!

As in previous installments, this volume offers episodic comedy with a decidedly silly bent. All of the stories within share the common theme of identity, too, whether it’s Ryo deciding that she really ought to know how to cook and sew (Asuka assures her she’s fine the way she is), Juta struggling to maintain his anonymity, or Asuka and Tonomine finding a covert outlet for their skills while living in fear of disappointing a parent. Kanno’s light touch ensures the feel remains light and fun, but it’s nice that there are deeper things one can read into it if one chooses.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Manhwa Monday: East Coast Blues

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Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! First, an apology. I’ve been horribly remiss. Though fellow manhwa fan, Eva Volin, alerted me at least two weeks ago about an upcoming exhibition on manhwa at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, I failed to report it here.

Though the exhibit, “Korean Comics: A Society Through Small Frames,” continues through June 13th, it’s already too late to catch one of its accompanying lectures which took place on March 17th. Fortunately, reader Sara K. attended and was kind enough to write out her recollections of the event in a comment to last week’s post. Many thanks to Sara for sharing her report!

Another related event, Manhwa for Girls will take place on Thursday, April 8th, featuring discussion of “the role of girls and women in comics as well as comics by women artists.” …

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Otomen 3-4 by Aya Kanno: B

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These two volumes, although mostly comprised of one-shot chapters with silly plots (Kanno writes that she’s trying to hit all the major shoujo clichés), still manage to introduce two new characters and elevate the status of Ryo and Asuka’s relationship to “officially dating,” though that doesn’t result in any changes in the way they interact.

Volume three begins with Asuka agreeing to help Ryo out at a daycare center. He fully intends to lead the kids “in a manly manner,” but they soon tire of meditation and calligraphy. Eventually, he wins them over with fancy snacks and earns the love of a motherless boy who wants Asuka to fill that role.

An amusement park date’s next on the agenda (complete with dynamite-toting crazy), followed by a chapter about Juta’s family. The final chapter of the volume introduces Tonomine, Asuka’s kendo rival, who instantly becomes my favorite character. He, too, was forced to squelch his love for a traditionally feminine pursuit—he’s a genius beautician—and Asuka helps draw him out with a display of his own sewing prowess.

In volume four, Asuka helps Ryo’s dad understand girls just in time for his daughter’s birthday, then discovers a secret garden at school that’s been lovingly tended by a hulking fellow named Kurokawa. After Asuka reassures Kurokawa that loving flowers is not wrong, he proceeds to be subtle comic relief for the rest of the volume, surreptitiously sneaking up on beautiful people and “adorning” them with flowers.

When summer vacation rolls around, Asuka’s dreams of a beach date with Ryo (which awesomely involve riding dolphins) are stymied when he’s drafted to help with the business of a classmate’s uncle (a shoujo cliché I’ve seen a couple of times). This turns into a multi-episode tale of snack shack rivalry, complete with swimming challenges and displays of Asuka’s, Tonomine’s, and Kurokawa’s hidden talents. And, yes, there is a dolphin.

As you can see, the plots are nearly always extremely silly, bordering on ridiculous. The fact that this is obviously intentional makes it much more amusing than it would be in a series where the creator was genuinely trying to get away with stuff like this. I enjoy the cast a lot, and even though it’s clear that the plot is not going anywhere any time soon, Otomen is still a fun read. I liken it to Ouran High School Host Club in this regard, actually. I’m generally not one for episodic stories, but there’s a charm in both of these series that keeps me coming back.

Review copy for volume three provided by the publisher.

Breaking Down Banana Fish, Vols. 1-2

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Any regular reader of this blog will know that one of my favorite manga series is Akimi Yoshida’s 1980s shojo epic, Banana Fish.

I’ve spent quite a bit of effort attempting to persuade readers to check it out, so just imagine my joy when a few of my favorite manga bloggers agreed to indulge me in an ongoing roundtable discussion of the series!

Joining me here are Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue), Khursten Santos (Otaku Champloo), Connie (Slightly Biased Manga), Eva Volin (Good Comics For Kids), Robin Brenner (No Flying, No Tights), and Katherine Dacey (The Manga Critic). Each of these women writes about manga for multiple blogs and other online publications (despite the fact I’ve listed only one each here) and their combined knowledge and experience is, frankly, pretty intimidating if you let yourself ponder it for too long. …

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Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 2

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By Yuki Midorikawa
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

In this volume, Natsume is coerced into attending a school-sponsored “haunted challenge,” only to discover that one of his classmates (who suspects his abilities) wants his help to communicate with a yokai . Next, he falls prey to a curse that he can’t break without supernatural assistance. Later, he meets another human with his abilities and also becomes possessed by a yokai with a final, desperate wish.

Though this volume focuses less on Natsume’s quest to return all the names in the “Book of Friends,” that’s actually not a bad thing at all. Each of the chapters in this installment of the series is more touching than the last, which is saying a lot considering that the first chapter begins with Natsume pouring water on a dehydrated yokai collapsed in the middle of the road.

Unlike his grandmother, Reiko, Natsume is slowly developing bonds with his fellow humans, but he’s also forging relationships with yokai that are much more genuine than Reiko ever bothered with. While she ruled over yokai with the power of the Book, Natsume reaches out to them with genuine affection, struggling to understand how the yokai‘s wants and priorities might differ from his own. This deceptively simple lesson in learning to value things outside one’s own experience is subtly and effectively presented, with the same gentleness that has characterized the series thus far. The series’ humor is a highlight in this volume as well, providing much-needed contrast to its forthright sentimentality.

Though the series’ structure is still rigidly episodic, Natsume’s character development is satisfying enough to easily keep up the story’s momentum. Natsume’s Book of Friends remains one of this year’s best shojo surprises!

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Dear Fandom: Please Grow Up.

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Yesterday saw the release of the first Twilight graphic novel adaptation, produced in all its glossy, hardcover glory by Yen Press. I haven’t had a chance to do more than a quick flip-through so far, but though I’ve never read the novels (and have little interest in doing so) I’m actually looking forward to taking a look at the series in graphic novel form, if only to see what all the hype is about.

By “hype” I’m not only talking about the series’ huge sales. I’m also interested in finding a connection with its notoriously rabid fans. I’ve found myself defending them quite a bit recently against accusations of being “crazy,” “repugnant,” and “freaks,” which has made me more curious about the source of their obsession than I might have been otherwise. After all, if obsessive fandom is the issue, there’s very little I can relate to more. …

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Kiss Your Hair

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By Duo Brand
DMP, 177 pp.
Rating: M (18+)

A long-haired gardener provides special services to his employer but finds himself falling for the butler instead. A teenage houseboy (drawn too young for this reviewer’s comfort) catches his master in a compromising position with the head servant. An artist falls in love with his model and feels unable to sufficiently express his beauty through painting. These stories and more make up the anthology Kiss Your Hair, the latest in English from BL mangaka team Duo Brand, authors of Shards of Affection.

Though this anthology holds together better than some, it is unable to avoid the most common trap plaguing its kind—an inability to choose between romance and pornography. As a result, it ultimately fails at both. Loosely held together by the theme of master and servant (stretched to include relationships like senpai/kohai and employer/employee), each of the volume’s stories features grand declarations of love, almost none of which are well-developed enough to ring true. One possible exception is the story “Escape,” featuring two old friends who find themselves thrown together again in desperate circumstances.

Released under DMP’s adult 801 Media imprint, this manga is never coy about getting its characters into bed, but just as too much sexual content leaves little room for developing romance, the reverse is also true. Though the stories rush blatantly toward consummation (a few even begin there), these scenes feel hurried as well, like flashes of memory from a hazy, drunken night.

Duo Brand’s art is sketchy but expressive, with attractive character designs distinctive enough to provide genuine variety over the course of so many unrelated stories.

Without a clear allegiance to love or lust, Kiss Your Hair ultimately falls short on both counts.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Manhwa Monday: At the Movies!

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Greetings on another Manhwa Monday! First, a bit of news I picked up from Variety, NETCOMICS will be producing a film version of the manhwa series X Diary by Toma. According to the article, casting will begin in June of this year (with filming beginning in October). The film is being produced by NETCOMICS’ VP Soyoung Jung.

In a review from The Comics Journal earlier this year, Adam Stephanides writes, “X Diary is a feather-light collection of humorous four-panel strips — I would call them gag strips, but “gag” is too strong a word for the gentle humor here — about Mingo (female) and Jerry (male), a pair of 26-year-old ex-lovers who have decided to remain friends … X Diary is unpretentious, and there is a genuine warmth to both the writing and art. It could perhaps best be described as likable.”

For those interested in seeing for themselves, X Diary is available in print …

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ZE 4 by Yuki Shimizu: C+

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It’s maintenance time for the kami who serve the kotodama users of the Mitou family, which provides an opportunity to introduce some members of the extended family.

Volume three dealt primarily with the couple of Genma and Himi, an arc that carries over into the first few chapters of this volume. Himi, who had once been the kami of Genma’s father, protects his new master from an attack and “dies” as a result of his injuries. Genma is frantic to have him resurrected, but has trouble adjusting to the new Himi, who has the appearance of the original but none of his memories. I’d have more sympathy for Genma if he hadn’t been such a creep to Himi in the previous volume, but at least this is better than what follows.

After Himi’s maintenance is complete we meet a pair of extremely obnoxious twins and the kami they share. This whole episode—intended to be comedy, one assumes—is jarring because it doesn’t mesh at all with what’s just come before.

I seriously think the twins appear only because Shimizu wanted to draw a threesome, which is an example of ZE’s main problem. I’ve lost count of the characters who’ve appeared in this series so far, and it seems like mangaka Yuki Shimizu is focusing on variety rather than fleshing out any of the characters who’ve been present from the start. The guy who goes crazy for ice cream is still just the guy who goes crazy for ice cream, and nobody else seems poised to grow, either.

There were hints in earlier volumes of a larger story, and maybe those threads will be picked up again in the future, but I’m certainly not holding my breath.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Ristorante Paradiso

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Oh, Natsume Ono, I just can’t quit you! I was not wild about not simple, but try as I might, I couldn’t dismiss you as just another overrated indie artist. I couldn’t shake the memory of how I felt when I read the first few chapters of House of Five Leaves — that incredible sensation of discovering a new voice with something fresh to say, of having my love for manga validated all over again. So I picked up Ristorante Paradiso with high hopes. I’m happy to report I felt butterflies and excitement, just like the first time, and am firmly back on Team Ono.

Not that you didn’t test my patience — those first twenty pages were a slog, filled with the kind of amateurish moments that I might expect in a freshman effort. We learn that Casetta dell’Orso is popular because a character says it is; that the waiters are handsome because a character comments on how good-looking they are; that the loyal female clientele comes for the help not the food, again, because a character states it as a fact. In short, you have a bad case of telling instead of showing, of not trusting your artwork to demonstrate the restaurant’s popularity or the studliness of the wait staff. I nearly demanded the check.

Then something wonderful happened: the characters began to interact with each other, and in their impassioned conversations, we began to appreciate who they were, what drew them into the restaurant’s orbit, and why they seem stuck in certain unhappy, unfulfilling roles. Olga, the heroine’s mother, provides an instructive example. In the first few pages of the book, we witness a tense exchange between Olga and Nicoletta, the daughter she abandoned. Nicoletta, now twenty-one, has shown up on her mother’s doorstep demanding to be acknowledged, something Olga refuses to do out of fear that her current husband will leave her. It seems like you were stacking the deck against Olga, Ms. Ono, as Olga initially comes off as a dreadful Mommie Dearest who’s so committed to protecting her own interests that she initiates an elaborate charade to conceal Nicoletta’s identity. But then you slowly reveal how other people see Olga, as a vibrant, intelligent, giving woman who radiates warmth and charm. You help us understand that Olga is both a lousy, selfish mother and a loving wife to her second husband, two roles she struggles to reconcile. That we finish the book feeling sympathy for daughter and mother is testament to your storytelling skills and your obvious affection for your characters.

Your artwork, like your grasp of character, is stronger and more assured in Ristorante Paradiso than it was in not simple. As we watch the waiters moving through Casetta dell’Orso, for example, it’s easy to see why the female clientele swoons: the male characters have strong, distinctive faces that leave a lasting impression. They’re not conventionally handsome, but those faces have a wonderful, lived-in look that’s inviting and alluring — think of Alan Rickman, William Powell, or Marcello Mastroianni, not the smoothly perfect bishonen we’re so accustomed to seeing in manga. When Olga explains her attraction to Lorenzo, her husband, the artwork supports what she says: he’s drawn not as a fantasy object, but as a rugged, bearlike man whose virility is obvious even though his body and face are beginning to soften in middle age.

Put simply, Ms. Ono, you won my heart back. I found Ristorante Paradiso an engaging story filled with complicated, true-to-life characters who I enjoyed getting to know. It was a welcome departure from the emotional torture-porn of not simple, and a promise of good things to come: Gente and House of Five Leaves.

Nabari No Ou, Vol. 3

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Nabari No Ou, Vol. 3
By Yuhki Kamatani
Published by Yen Press
Rated: Older Teen


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After making his deal with Miharu, young Yoite returns to the Grey Wolves with philosophical matters on his mind. Meanwhile, the Togakushi Village ninja (who maintain a front as an employment agency) approach the Banten to offer their forbidden art scroll in exchange for the assassination of a prominent scientist. Though the Banten are inclined to refuse, the Togakushi leader’s talent for mind-reading forces them to accept the job.

Volume two may have begun slowly, but this one does not follow suit. Tension is high with everyone’s secrets on the line, including several that remain a mystery even to readers. The most damning, of course, is Kumohira’s, the revelation of which would likely set Miharu against the Banten forever. Not that that Miharu is clearly with the Banten in the first place. Though he’s expressed the desire to protect his friends, in this volume he also teases Kumohira with the hint that he may decide to use the Secret Art rather than banish it–a possibility Kumohira seems to take seriously for the first time.

This volume’s major event–the assassination plot–is its least interesting element, overwhelmed by the growing collection of small psychological dramas surrounding it. Almost nobody is telling the real truth to anyone else, a reality made crystal clear by the fact that Miharu and Yoite, who are ultimately working for opposite sides, are behaving more honestly with each other than any of the story’s official allies.

This is not to suggest that the scenes involving the assassination are lacking. It is, in fact, during these scenes that some of the most intriguing action occurs, including Koichi’s ninjitsu presentation at a student physics event. With this increasingly layered approach, volume three is easily the most mature of the series so far, though it comes at a cost. As the story becomes more complex, it also loses some of its focus. For the moment, this is a good thing. Right now, the scattered feel of the series reflects the scattered loyalties of its characters, which is actually pretty powerful. It takes very little, however, for a deliberate lack of focus to morph into a Great Big Mess, something Kamatani will hopefully avoid. Additionally, the series’ humor–originally one of its strongest points–is noticeably reduced in this volume.

One small production note: Yen appears to have made a switch in paper for this volume, moving to a slightly thinner, less bright stock. Though I only noticed the change once I had volumes two and three sitting side-by-side, more vigilant print geeks than I are bound to catch on faster.

Minute paper issues aside, Nabari No Ou continues to intrigue, with a deliciously suspenseful ending sure to keep fans on edge as we await the next volume.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Physical Attraction

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Physical Attraction
By Tatsumi Kaiya
Published by DMP/June
Rating: M (18+)


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Kurata has been sleeping with his college buddy, Narusawa, for the past two months, beginning just after Kurata’s breakup with a long-time girlfriend. Certain that the relationship is purely physical, Kurata becomes ill at ease when he realizes he’s developed feelings for Narusawa. Kurata’s uncertainty leads him to seek out his ex-girlfriend for advice, but what will he do when Narusawa spots him meeting up with his ex?

Before getting around to the meat of this review, it’s important to note that though DMP lists Physical Attraction as a one-shot, it is actually an anthology of (mainly) unrelated short manga–a significant discrepancy for those of us who have come to avoid most BL anthologies like the plague. That said, though the volume is afflicted by some of the unavoidable pitfalls of short-story romance, it is more appealing than most, thanks to Tatsumi Kaiya’s skillful exposition and attention to characterization.

Most pieces of the anthology follow the same kind of premise as the title story–students or coworkers (in one story even strangers) who confront unexpected feelings for each other. One tells the story of high school lovers turned college roommates, enjoying the freedom of living together for the first time. In all cases, character development and emotional content take precedence over sex scenes, which is a rare blessing in this type of anthology. This is not meant as a judgement on sex scenes by any means (though I’ve often argued that too few are well-written enough to be meaningful) but it only stands to reason that a short manga has the greatest chance of success when the majority of its pages are actually used to develop the story.

Some are more successful than others. The title story and its follow-up, “Loving Attraction,” are the strongest, with a nicely-developed romance and fun, idiosyncratic characters (including the supporting cast). On the other end of the spectrum, “Cooled Passion,” about a reporter and a politician who were once friends, is underdeveloped, unbelievable, and seems to suggest that justice is best achieved through rape. Even the volume’s weakest stories, however, benefit from the author’s ability to effectively introduce new characters and their circumstances with a minimal amount of exposition, making the most of the limitations of the format.

Kaiya’s artwork is generic–so much so that it’s difficult to tell characters apart from one story to the next. Fortunately, strong characterization makes this less of a problem than it might be otherwise.

Like most of its kind, Physical Attraction is no match for the high drama of serial romance or even a hearty one-shot. Ultimately forgettable, it is intended to be consumed and discarded. Unlike many, however, it is a collection of (mostly) warm and engaging stories, well-suited to a quick read on a lazy afternoon.

–Complimentary digital access provided by the publisher.