Reviews

By Yuuki Kodama. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press.

In the new Blood Lad omnibus, a lot of big things happen. We finally see what’s going on with Braz and what he’s planning; Wolf meets up with his human mother (an ex-Yanki, to boot!) and is told he may have to be the hero that saves the demon world; Staz is captured by the authorities and later reunited with Braz, who gives himself up; and a major confrontation seems to be what Vol. 5 will be all about. Despite all this, it’s the small character moments of Blood Lad that are the best, the funniest, the most heartwarming, and keep me coming back for more.

Let’s take a look at Fuyumi. If nothing else, she continues to be the most problematic character in the series. Staz is trying to get her to be more of her own person, but this seems to have devolved into a basic shonen “I will protect you” stance that isn’t really helping. (Also, putting a rope around her and dragging her around is probably his low point. Naturally, Fuyumi points out how humiliating it is but doesn’t really object.) She does get a nice moment later on, where the cowboy outfit and accessories Staz bought her prove useful to getting her out of a perilous situation. But probably the most striking scene is seeing her addiction to Staz’s blood, and how this is shown to be VERY BAD for her and yet at the same time the most erotic scene in the entire volume. I suspect I’m reading too much into her each time, but what else am I supposed to do? Ogle the boobies? Let’s keep overanalyzing.

We meet up with a superhero team in this volume as well, who are shown on the cover. As with most superhero teams, they’re a collection of eccentric weirdos with bizarre powers that seem to bond together as a unit when the chips are down. And, as with Wolf and a number of other people, they’re pitted against Staz, who remains the “bad guy” even as he’s the hero. Can you be a good guy when the entire world views you differently? Later on, when Staz and Fuyumi are captured by the police, we see something similar. Staz is a vampire overlord with massive amounts of untapped power (so much it can apparently be used to resurrect the dead), and now is the best time to stop him, before he discovers that potential.

And then there’s the climax of the volume, which I will walk around and try not to spoil. It should be a very emotional, heartwarming moment, but it seems filled with a sort of impermanence, a sense that this isn’t going to last long. Braz seems to get this too – his open affection for Liz reads very much as a “I’m about to die and will never see you again” gesture (poor Liz, by the way – there’s some great in-text analysis of her character and how she’s starved for affection from her brother). In the end, I have a suspicion that the confrontation that is the cliffhanger to this volume will be dealt with swiftly and anticlimactically before long when we get to Volume 5.

Overall, this remains a great read. You breeze right through it, it’s filled with good humor, some creepy horror, and occasional character development. Plus the obligatory fanservice. It’s everything you could want in a shonen manga (well, except it’s seinen, running in Young Ace… shh, don’t talk to me about demographics).

By Kohske. Released in Japan by Shinchosha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic @ Bunch. Released in North America by Viz Media.

One of the things that most manga fans who follow publishing closely have found is that manga readers tend to be loyal to genres rather than authors. Sure, Natsuki Takaya may have written Fruits Basket, one of the best-selling shoujo manga of the last ten years, but other similar titles have proven less stellar, and there’s no rush on anyone’s side to license Hoshi wa Utau or Liselotte to Majo no Mori, her post-Furuba work. On the other hand, when you see a title with vampires that sells, manga publishers go and find other vampire titles. (Oddly, this doesn’t work with other non-Naruto ninja titles, which tend to bomb. I wonder why.) In any case, Dogs and Black Lagoon have done quite well for Viz, but both have ‘caught up’ to Japan. Dogs is now a yearly title, and Black Lagoon is at the mercy of its author’s ‘whenever’ schedule. Clearly another similar title is needed. And so we have Gangsta.

Gangsta apparently takes place in “Ergastulum”, which judging by the decor seems to be somewhere in Southern Europe – my guess is “fantasy-world Italy”. Our heroes are mercenaries for hire, who do bad things but have good hearts deep down. Which does not stop them, however, from doing bad things. Each has a tragic past – Worick seems to have been from a rich family at one point, till he was kidnapped and lost one eye. Nick, meanwhile, has it worse – he’s a Twilight, which gives him superior strength and agility, but at the cost of lifespan and getting close to anyone – he’s a pariah. Oh, and he’s also deaf, which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with his Twilightness. The manga starts when they’re hired to wipe out a gang in town, and end up sparing one of the prostitutes in it – Alex, who becomes their new secretary. She’s the naive newcomer in this manga, needing Worick to explain things to her. Indeed, her lack of knowledge about ANYTHING in the town is suspicious in itself.

Gangsta has a very solid first volume. Its art is decent, its plot is better than its art, its characters are better than its plot, and its aesthetic is best of all. The series tends to hit all the right beats. As I noted before, its weakness may be Alex’s need to have the plot exposited to her, which can come across as blunt exposition at times, but it’s so odd I’m prepared to reserve judgment till I see more volumes. Of the two mercenaries, I’m possibly more sympathetic to Nick, but that could just be because he doesn’t speak much – while Worick’s constant chatter always seems to hide darker undertones, as we see towards the end when he brutalizes another prostitute with his harsh words. I also liked Nina, the teenage nurse at a local clinic, who shows that this isn’t just an ‘everything is awful’ world, but is allowed to have happy, innocent kids – even if they are under constant danger of being threatened and kidnapped.

This seems to be the first major work of its author, Kohske, who is female, by the way. I always like to note female creators, especially on titles like this and Dorohedoro where it may not be immediately obvious. In any case, Gangsta is definitely an M-rated title, but if you enjoy titles of this ilk, it’s definitely worth a try, and I will happily get the second volume.

By Ryo Suzukaze and Satoshi Shiki. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sirius. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

(This review is based off an advance copy provided by the publisher.)

If Attack on Titan: Junior High as the inevitable lighter, fluffier gag manga spinoff of the main Titan series, then this one is even more inevitable. A prequel set far back enough so that it features no one we know, yet providing some much needed context and perhaps even a few explanations that might carry over into the new series, while still remaining its own title. That said, it remains to be seen how successful it will be, as this is very much Vol. 1 of a longer work, and we’ve just barely gotten started before things are all over.

Just like its spinoff partner, Isayama did not write or draw this. The author seems to be known for writing tie-in novels (and indeed, this manga is based on a spinoff novel that Vertical will be releasing later in the year). The artist is likely more familiar to old-school manga fans. Satoshi Shiki did a Daphne in the Brilliant Blue manga that Tokyopop released, as well as Kami-Kaze and the really old Viz title Riot, which came out back in the ‘flipped, 32-page comics’ days. The art here is pretty and serviceable, with its leads being attractive and likeable. This puts it miles ahead of Isayama, who has gotten better as he’s gone along, but whose art is still his weakest point. Of course, just because the leads are pretty doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen – some of the grotesque shots of people getting eaten by Titans (and the aftermath) are just as bad as the original.

The basic premise is that, about 70 years before the AoT series proper, a child is found in the puked-up remains of people who had been eaten by Titans, one of whom was a pregnant woman. The baby in her womb miraculously survived, right in the center of the undigested pile. Found by the Survey Corps, he is immediately described as “the child of a Titan”. And promptly locked away for the next 13 years, feeding on bugs and tiny scraps and living a horrible prisoner’s life. It should be noted that Kuklo is not large or monstrous or anything – Child Of A Titan is a metaphor that has carelessly been allowed to become real.

Most of this volume is setup, showing us what life is like inside Wall Sheena, the innermost wall that the cast of the main series haven’t really had to deal with. The answer is that it’s filled with rich smug jerks, including a spoiled brat son who will grow up to lead the military one day, and takes delight in beating the shit out of his prisoner who doesn’t even know enough to fight back. The only other likeable person in the entire series is Sharle, the smug jerk’s younger sister, whose seems to be the innocent, human face of this series and who will no doubt die horribly at some point down the line.

Most of this first volume is setup, showing us the world Kuklo and Sharle live in, and setting up their journey to escape and find answers. It runs based on its mood, which is dark and grimy (the one place that Isayama’s art might have helped… at times this world feels a bit too clean compared to his own.) Certainly a title worth getting for Titan fans, and we’ll see how many volumes it can make it through before inevitable tragedy has to happen.

By Robico. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Dessert. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

(This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher.)

After an extended period where it seemed that only Nakayoshi titles could get licensed in North America, Kodansha Comics is slowly edging its way back into the more mature shoujo market, starting with this title from the older teen magazine Dessert. (Brief nerd aside: Dessert arose from the ashes of Shoujo Friend, Kodansha’s main ‘older teen’ magazine, which also spawned ‘Bessatsu Shoujo Friend’, aka Betsufure, home of The Wallflower et al. In case you wondered where the Fure came from.) As you can see by the cover, our two lead characters are just absolutely delighted with life and each other, and this is their sweet, fluffy love-love comedy.

Oooooookay, maybe that’s not quite accurate after all. Haru, the male lead, is the monster of the title, a freakishly strong, freakishly weird loner who doesn’t have any real friends, mostly as his reactions to any social situation are so far off the map from any reasonable human interaction he drives everyone away. As for Shizuku, she just wants to get perfect grades so that she can grow up to be rich, and has absolutely no time for nonsense or friendship. Which is a shame as she’s starring in a shoujo manga, so you know that she’s going to be dragged into shenanigans, if unwillingly.

I want to note that, though he’s nowhere near WataMote levels of social maladjustment (this is still a normal shoujo manga), Haru can be very hard to take for the average reader. I could have done without his forcefully dragging Shizuku into an alley at one point, and later forcefully kissing her without her consent. It stems from his ignorance of the basic norms of society, but that doesn’t make it any easier to see. We’ve also just barely begun the series, so there’s no real explanation as to why he’s like this beyond “well, he’s wacky like that”. I hope as the series goes on he gains some depth, as he seems a bit like a Manic Pixie Dream Boy at the moment.

I was far more interested in Shizuku. As the volume goes on and you see the way she interacts with people, you begin to notice that she’s not really the normal, slightly snarky girl she initially comes across as. Indeed, for all that Haru goes on about the need to have friends, Shizuku is equally solitary, and has closed herself off from emotions so much that she has difficulty dealing with then when they need to emerge… which can result in sudden explosions, such as when she realizes Haru is the #1 student in the school (if only he weren’t suspended at the start of the year). I suspect as this title goes on we’ll find she needs this interaction even more than Haru does.

We also get a couple of other characters set up to be regulars… Natsume is the slightly overwrought, ditzy type who contrasts well with Shizuku, and Sasayan is a sports-oriented boy who knew Haru from his previous school and I suspect will turn out to have a dark past or somesuch. This manga doesn’t really break any new shoujo ground. But it’s put together well, the characters are intriguing, and it can be funny (if a bit unnerving) much of the time. It’s 12 volumes total, so we’ll see how long it can keep this up. Definitely a solid first volume, though.

By Saki Nakagawa. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

(This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.)

Attack on Titan has been such a breakout success both here and in Japan that spinoffs were inevitable, and indeed there are now at least four distinct spinoffs, all available (or coming soon) in English. Two of these are dramatic prequels covering life before the fall of the Wall and Levi’s past. One, out via the online Mangabox site, is a straight-up 4-koma gag comic. I had assumed that Junior High would also be that sort of title, but no, it’s got actual plot and sequential art. It is, however, aimed squarely at comedy, and some of the comedy is very funny indeed.

If you’ve ever read one of the several thousand High School AU fics on Fanfiction.Net, you know where this series is going. Eren and company all go to a junior high that’s quite unusual… it’s divided into human and titan sections. This appalls Eren, who has a hideous grudge against the titans for destroying his life five years earlier. (This being a gag manga, how his life is destroyed will be a punchline.) With the help of his exasperated yet overprotective childhood friend Mikasa, nerdy shut-in Armin, walking appetite Sasha, and “rival” Jean, will he be able to get through school life without making a fool of himself?

Of course not. Seeing Eren make a fool of himself is part of the point of this series. In fact, no one in the entire cast is spared ritual humiliation. Everyone’s personality traits are exaggerated and deconstructed. Eren’s constant anger is combined with a sort of shonen hero effect. Mikasa is still sort of crushing on Eren, but thankfully this isn’t made too explicit. Annie is definitely crushing on Eren, but seeing her interaction with Mikasa is funnier. Sasha is sadly two-dimensional, but at least it’s a funny dimension (her family’s poverty makes for some of the best side-comments). Some cast get very little screen time (Bertolt, Ymir), but this is likely due to this running at the same time as the main series was, so they hadn’t had their big reveals yet.

Indeed, this spinoff actually gives some folks a bit more development than the regular series. Hitch, Annie’s snarky co-worker in the Military Police, is here a snarky princess type, working with Annie on the Student Council, and her personality works well with everyone, but especially Jean. Levi’s squad are back from the dead as 2nd year students, and each get some of the amusing quirks we saw in the original. Nothing here is really deep or meaningful, but I’d hardly expect that from a manga of this sort. If you take Attack on Titan very seriously, you likely rejected this when you heard the title.

Lastly, I want to mention the translation. For some odd reason, this title has not been scanlated online like all the other Titan titles. This proved to be a godsend to translator William Flanagan, who is thus allowed to adapt loosely in order to make things even funnier without fear of fans pointing at an over-literal translation online and crying foul. So expect some Western Culture references mixed in. Best of all, the subject of Hange’s gender is made into a running gag (which I imagine must be Western-only, as in Japan it’s much easier to be gender-ambiguous) which mocks everyone who takes offense to Hange being anything other than ‘uncertain’. Not since Excel Saga have I read a book where it looks like the translator is having as much fun as the reader.

Don’t expect more than a light-hearted comedy AU here. But it’s very good comedy, with lots of quotable bits. In fact, let me leave with one of my favorite lines, from Mikasa as she tries to get hikkikomori Armin to come to school for the athletic festival:

“It’s true that you’re clumsy, talentless, and constantly weirding everyone out. And we know that in the match you’ll just flail around like a terrified toddler fleeing a birthday clown. You don’t have to worry about that. Everyone’s ready to accept you as the freak show weakling that you are.”

By Nagaru Tanigawa and Puyo. Released in Japan as “Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press.

So when does one choose to end a cash cow? Particularly if the cash cow is a spinoff of an even bigger cash cow whose author seems to have dwindled down to 2 books a decade? Well, the answer is that you don’t – you need to keep the audience interested in these characters for as long as you possibly can, and if the main Suzumiya Haruhi series is on hiatus while its author deals with trying to wrap yup the monster he’s created, and the manga has to end as it can’t make up new Main Storyline stuff – well then, you keep the spinoffs going for as long as they are able.

(For the record, I have generally assumed that when dealing with spinoff titles like these, the main plot is being created by the artist, with the writer only signing off on suggestions and censoring plots he wants to handle himself. Thus I assume that Puyo is in charge of both this and the Haruhi-chan manga, but I could be wrong.)

This volume really reads like the author was intending to wrap it up here. Yuki and her AU counterpart have a talk in her mind, after which she’s back to normal with no memories of what happened before… which is a bit of a pain to Kyon and Ryouko. Luckily it’s summer vacation and Haruhi returns to drag everyone through a series of fun activities. You can see Puyo starting to wrap things up. Haruhi reveals how things changed for her 3 years prior, and shows how she developed in a different, slightly more sedate direction due to Kyon’s unthinking response. There’s a sense she’;s moving on from him here. Likewise, Kyon manages to resolve the awkwardness he feels around Nagato, and we finally get to the big confession…

…except there are fireworks, so she doesn’t hear him. And he immediately pulls back, noting that it’s OK if he said it, and now they can go back to their happy carefree days. We then move on to a slight homework arc, and return to the school for the 2nd half of the year, which features Haruhi trying to figure out how to inveigle herself into the culture festival despite not going to that school, and the return of a very familiar face.

Yes, if you write a spinoff featuring the most popular Haruhi character in a starring role, it makes sense to bring in the big breakout character of the last few years as well. So Sasaki’s back. What will her return mean for the relationship between Yuki and Kyon? Probably not a lot, to be honest. But it will at least keep it dragged out for another couple of volumes, which is all Kadokawa asks, really.

I really do enjoy this title. I wish the art rose above mediocre, but given the popularity of Attack on Titan, mediocre art is not a big setback anymore. Puyo specializes in quiet, introspective emotional moments, and the humor here is gentle and mild – it’s probably to contrast with the Haruhi-chan 4-koma he also writes. But I simply can never get out of my head the fact that this is a cash grab for a large anime franchise, and the addition of Sasaki and pullback from an obvious ending do nothing to assuage my worries in that regard. As always, recommended for Haruhi fans.

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

Soul Eater is an ensemble cast, but as with most ensemble casts, some characters are more lead than others, and so Soul Eater really stars Maka and Soul. Throughout the series we’ve seen the growing closeness between the two, and the confidence that they now have. Which is why the chapters on Envy and Sloth that they both go through are so traumatic. It’s such a shame that Maka, deep down, really has these issues with her. Of course, Maka is all of us, and you can never quite get rid of that core of self-loathing, no matter how much confidence you have. Luckily, Maka has Soul to snap her out of it.

As for everyone else, the Lust chapter actually plays out a lot faster than everyone thought, once the basic ‘what if they all changed sexes’ gag is done. Naturally, the more repressed a person is, the longer it takes to change back, which gives us an excuse to watch Tsubaki and Liz be humiliated. Gluttony, Wrath and Pride are excuses for character-based humor, as Black*Star and Patti pig out and we have to deal with the return of the most annoying sword in the world, which even Liz can’t wield in order to save Kid. (There’s some amusing 4th wall breaking here, as it’s noted that Black*Star screaming at Excalibur is buried in the gutter of the book.)

Speaking of 4th wall breaking, the art itself undergoes a change in the Sloth chapter, fitting in with what Maka and Soul are going through. This is probably the most disturbing part of the book, as Giriko shows up and threatens to rape Maka using extremely crude language, which (being in an existential crisis) she just sits there and takes. Luckily, Soul is there to come to her rescue, and she’s able to supposedly kill Giriko, though this may prove trickier than they expected. “People don’t explode when you kill them!” Is this meant to be another commentary on shonen tropes?

And then there’s Kid. We’ve had his obsessive-compulsive disorder used for humor for so long that it’s a bit jarring to see it be so serious now. And, truth be told, it’s a great way to get Kid to turn to the side of evil – point out that the best way everything can truly be symmetrical forever is to make everything become nothing, the empty symmetry of nonexistence. It’s chilling. Luckily, we have the one man whose ego is so big that facing off against something like this is nothing, and the cliffhanger sets us up for the big fight between Kid and Black*Star. The first time they fought, Kid wiped the floor with him, but I suspect things will go differently this time.

Soul Eater is slowly makes its way towards a big confrontation, but the journey is also fun, and this continues to be one of the best shonen titles out there.