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blood lad

Manga Giveaway: Blood Lad Giveaway Winner

September 4, 2013 by Ash Brown

Blood Lad, Omnibus 1And the winner of the Blood Lad Giveaway is…Olivia!

As the winner, Olivia will be receiving a new copy of the first volume of Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad as published by Yen Press. For this giveaway, I was interested in learning about people’s favorite vampires from manga. Be sure to check out the Blood Lad Giveaway comments for all of the details. There was a great turn out and a great variety in the responses–everyone from Hellsing‘s Alucard and Seras to the half vampire/half were-koala Paifu from Cowa! were mentioned.

And now, here is a select list of manga featuring vampires of different sorts that have been licensed in English at one time or another:

Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano
Blood Lad by Yuuki Kodama
Blood Honey by Sakyou Yozakura
Blood Sucker: Legend of Zipangu written by Saki Okuse, illustrated by Aki Shimizu
Blood+ by Asuka Katsura
Blood-C by Ranmaru Kotone
Bloody Kiss by Kazuko Furumiya
Canon by Chika Shiomi
Chibi Vampire by Yuna Kagesaki
Cirque du Freak by Takahiro Arai
Cowa! by Akira Toriyama
Crescent Moon by Haruko Iida
Crimson Cross written by Sakae Maeda, illustrated by Kyoko Negishi
Dance in the Vampire Bund by Nozomu Tamaki
Devil by Torajiro Kishi
Gantz by Hiroya Oku
Hellsing by Kouta Hirano
Hipira written Katsuhiro Otomo, illustrated by Shinji Kimura
How to Seduce a Vampire by Nimosaku Shimada
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki
Lament of the Lamb by Kei Toume
Midnight Secretary by Tomu Ohmi
Millennium Snow by Bisco Hatori
Pathos by Mika Sadahiro
The Record of a Fallen Vampire written by Kyou Shirodaira, illustrated by Yuri Kimura
Rosario + Vampire by Akihisa Ikeda
Trinity Blood by Kiyo Kyujyo
Until the Full Moon by Sanami Matoh
Vampire Game by Judal
Vampire Hunter D by Saiko Takaki
Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino
Vampire Princess Miyu by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano
Vampire’s Portrait by Hiroki Kusumoto
Vassalord by Nanae Chrono

The above list is by no means comprehensive. Vampires are very popular and make frequent appearances in manga; the list could have gone on for quite a while. But, if you’re looking for some vampire manga to read, it’s probably a pretty decent place to start. Thank you to everyone who shared their favorite manga vampires with me. I hope to see you again for the next giveaway!

Filed Under: UNSHELVED Tagged With: blood lad, manga, Yuuki Kodama

Manga Giveaway: Blood Lad Giveaway

August 28, 2013 by Ash Brown

It’s the last Wednesday in August which means it’s the first day in Experiment in Manga’s monthly manga giveaway! Up for grabs this time around is the first omnibus volume of Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad manga as published by Yen Press, which is equivalent to the first two volumes of the original Japanese release. Since the anime is currently airing, I thought there might be some renewed interest in the series. As per usual, the contest is open worldwide!

BloodLad1

Vampires seem to be a perennial favorite in film and literature. Manga is no exception and vampires abound. They show up in many different genres–action, comedy, horror, romance (just to name a few)–and appear in all of the major demographics. Shōjo? Matsuri Hino’s Vampire Knight. Shōnen? Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Josei? Tomu Ohmi’s Midnight Secretary. Seinen? Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad. (And that’s just off the top of my head…there are many, many more examples I could provide.) Generally, I prefer my vampires to be real monsters, terrifying creatures that pose a genuine threat to the humans around them. But I’ll admit, I am greatly amused by Staz in Blood Lad. He’s such an otaku goofball that I can’t help but like him.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Blood Lad, Omnibus 1?

1) In the comments below, simply tell me who your favorite vampire in manga is and why. (Be sure to mention which manga they’re from, too.)
2) For a second entry, name a vampire manga that hasn’t been mentioned yet by me or by someone else.
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! Each person can earn up to three entries; you have one week to submit your comments. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, you can e-mail me your entries at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on September 4, 2013.

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Blood Lad Giveaway Winner

Filed Under: FEATURES Tagged With: blood lad, manga, Yuuki Kodama

Off the Shelf: Supernatural Sunday

March 31, 2013 by MJ and Michelle Smith 8 Comments

MICHELLE: Hey, MJ! Why did the Easter egg hide?

MJ: Hmmm… I don’t know, Michelle. Why did the Easter egg hide?

MICHELLE: ‘Cos he was a little chicken.

MJ: Ouch. Ouch, ouch. Er. I mean. Ha ha!

MICHELLE: It actually genuinely makes me giggle, but I am predisposed to find chickies amusing.

Anyway! Encounter anything amusing in the realm of manga this week?

sabrina1MJ: Indeed I did! My first read this week was volume one of Tania del Rio’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Magic Within, a manga-style graphic novel collecting the first ten issues of her series, which began its run in 2004. This came out just last week from Archie Comics, and though I realize it’s comprised of previously released material, I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more buzz.

Sabrina’s been an Archie Comics staple since the 1960s, and she’s appeared in such a variety of mediums (comic books, animated television, live-action television), it’s difficult to imagine that more than a handful of Americans my age and younger could have avoided running into her one way or another. When this graphic novel appeared in our mailbox, my husband—who’d been a fan of the 1996 live-action sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart—grabbed it up to read before I even had a chance. I was in the thick of my own professional acting career during most of that series’ 7-year run, and I hadn’t been a fan of comic books growing up, so my own history with Sabrina was fairly minimal. Yet here she is now, right in my wheelhouse!

For the two or three people who’ve never encountered her, Sabrina Spellman is a typical North American teenager—mostly. Her days are spent navigating the treacherous world of high school, friendships, and teen romance. Her nights are spent in another world entirely—the Magical Realm, where she studies her true birthright, witchcraft. As one of a growing number of witches who have chosen to live in the mortal world (Sabrina shares a house with her two grownup aunts and a talking cat, Salem), Sabrina delicately balances two separate lives and two separate love interests—shy jock Harvey in the mortal world and charismatic player Shinji in the Magical Realm.

If this sounds like ideal fodder for shoujo manga, Archie Comics obviously agrees—and they’re not wrong, for the most part. Though the series’ episodic format is initially a bit lacking in the kind of depth and character development we tend to expect from manga, later chapters really begin to gel, growing into a character-driven supernatural romance with one hell of a cliffhanger at the end of the volume. And if I’d like to see the story tip a bit more towards supernatural adventure and a bit less towards romance, that’s a very personal quibble.

Where the series really betrays itself as North American manga style comics, is in the artwork—not that this is a big surprise. For my tastes as a manga fan, The Magic Within fails where a whole lot of OEL manga fails, and that’s with cramped, over-toned pages filled to the last inch with ink. As a shoujo manga fan accustomed to delicate line art, sparse backgrounds, and gracefully flowing panel layouts, Sabrina begins as a cluttered, disorienting, inky assault. Fortunately, it’s engaging enough to ultimately render this a non-issue, and by the end of the book I was anxious for more.

MICHELLE: I actually watched some of the live-action Sabrina, though not avidly. And so it feels weird to me that there’s suddenly a love interest called “Shinji” in this comic. Perhaps this is jaded, and I am completely overlooking all of the good things you just mentioned, but this strikes me as “manga fans will think it’s manga if there’s a Japanese guy in it!”

MJ: I definitely get where you’re coming from, and maybe my minimal exposure to earlier versions of Sabrina makes that easier for me to swallow. But the truth is, Shinji is so charming a character, it’s difficult not to just plain like him. I think a chapter later in the book where we meet more of his family (including a mortal uncle who visits from Japan and popularizes Salem as a stuffed mascot—much to Salem’s dismay) helps, too, by giving him some real background. And I’ll admit I can’t help rooting for him in the ongoing Harvey-Shinji romantic showdown (where, as Guy #2, he’s obviously doomed), though at this point, I’m more interested in the volume-end cliffhanger, which is actually all about Shinji, and looks to be potentially quite serious.

The truth is, I enjoyed this book a lot. And for what it’s worth, my Sabrina-fan husband gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up as well.

So what have you been amusing yourself with this week?

onepiece66MICHELLE: The most amusing manga I read this week was our mutual read for today’s column, but I suppose we’ll get to that in a moment.

My solo read this week was volume 66 of One Piece, which you totally still need to read. This series experienced a two-year time jump prior to volume 61, and volume 66 wraps up the first arc of the “New World,” in which the Straw Hat pirates have reunited and helped thwart an attempt by some human-hating fish-men pirates to take over Fish-Man Island.

This arc has not been an emotional one for our characters—they’re helping, but they’re not personally invested. Rather, the arc is about a fresh start, and so far seems intended as a backdrop against which our heroes can show off the new techniques they’ve learned in the past two years, as well as some of the insecurities they’ve conquered—Chopper no longer has stigma about being a monster, Usopp no longer reacts to taunts about being the weak link in the crew. That isn’t to say that there aren’t some truly nice moments—I’m particularly fond of the several pages depicting the celebratory feast after the battle is won.

A lot of the other things I thought were nifty were more plot-related. I always like it when there’s talk of adding someone to the crew, for example, and then there was a lot of stuff about the mystery of the missing 100 years of history—a subplot that’s been on the back burner recently—and a suggestion that Luffy might possess an ability rare for a human, one which only the previous Pirate King possessed. The one sour note was the depiction of a large female villain, but then I realized that Oda actually does extremely well at involving large heroic people in his series (of both genders), so my brief flare of irritation quickly faded.

Ultimately, this arc’s been fun, but not One Piece at its best.

MJ: I suspect any really long series is going to have its less exciting arcs, and at 66 volumes One Piece has certainly earned a rest. I hope for your sake that it is leading up to further greatness, and not petering out like most long series eventually do. I’ll admit it’s that 66 volumes that makes venturing further than the three I’ve personally read feel really daunting, but I keep planning to dig back in!

MICHELLE: I think if you could just get to volume nine, you’d see what the fuss is about!

Feel up to introducing our mutual read?

bloodlad2MJ: Sure! Our mutual read this week was volume two of Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad, a sort of horror/comedy seinen manga currently running in Kadowaka Shoten’s Young Ace and being released here in double-length omnibus editions by Yen Press. I read (and enjoyed!) the first volume of the series back in December, but Michelle’s just catching up now, so for those of you who are also tuning in for the first time, I’ll briefly go over the premise.

Staz is a young vampire who is also boss of a largish territory in the lower (read: slummier) levels of the demon world. He’s also obsessed with mortal Japanese pop culture, so when a Japanese teenager named Fuyumi accidentally turns up in the demon world, he latches on to her right away, demanding her opinions on manga, anime, and video games. As a human, Fuyumi’s chances of survival are slim in the demon world, and it isn’t long before she’s killed and becomes a ghost. This leads Staz on a quest to bring her back to life—partly for his own sake (he’s dying for some real time in the human world) and partly for hers, which is surprising to Staz, as he generally cares little for others. This leads to all sorts of mayhem, including a run-in with Staz’ friend/rival (a werewolf creatively named “Wolf”), who ultimately joins him in his quest to resurrect Fuyumi.

One thing that’s mentioned a few times in volume one is that though Staz lives in the lower-class area of the demon world, he’s actually a pure-blood vampire—a direct descendant of Dracula, even—and this becomes even more important in volume two, where he finds himself in the thick of a family plot, hatched by his manipulative older brother Braz and carried out with the help of their ruthless little sister, Liz. Though volume two begins with Staz directly at odds with his siblings, one of the volume’s nicest surprises is the evolution of Liz’s character as she begins to realize just how controlling and self-serving her oldest brother is. The series’ other delightful surprise—in my opinion at least—is its genuinely funny comedy, but I probably should let Michelle weigh in before going on further about that.

MICHELLE: Originally, I really didn’t think Blood Lad would be something I’d enjoy, but after your experience with it, I couldn’t help but be curious. And now I’m quite glad I decided to check it out, because I liked it very much!

While I like Staz and Fuyumi and am reasonably interested in the fulfillment of his quest, the thing I like best about this series is how it doesn’t do what I expect. For example, one might expect female characters as blatantly buxom as these to be put into fan service poses at every turn, but that doesn’t really happen too often. And that friend/rival, Wolf? He actually takes a break from a fight he’s losing, allowing Staz to take over. Like, with absolutely zero posturing or hurt pride! That is certainly rare!

The very best part, though, is the comedy. Many of the best lines go to Mamejirou, a three-eyed, prescient, low-level demon critter who is pretty much as adorable as it gets. There’s a recurring gag in this volume where boisterous teleportation expert Bell makes a grand entrance to a scene, at which point Mamejirou says something like, “Seriously. Rude.” I love him. (I suppose this is not surprising, considering my love for Koh in Silver Diamond.) The adaptation is also well done, and incorporates a few meme references that I found fun.

So I suppose I need to thank you for convincing me to give Blood Lad a chance!

MJ: I’m both thrilled and relieved that you ended up enjoying this manga, because I would have felt very guilty if you hadn’t! And yes, yes on the comedy. Volume two in particular contains a lot of older manga references as well, from Lupin III to Dragon Ball (chapter 15’s Dragon Ball bit is just plain awesome), though probably these are most enjoyable for long-time manga fans. That’s really much of the series’ charm, though. It’s a love song to otaku, through and through, and who can resist that?

MICHELLE: I had expected it to be longer (only seven volumes appear to be out in Japan right now, with the eighth due next week, if I am interpreting Amazon.jp correctly), but I guess because it’s seinen, it’s serialized less often. Which means after the third Yen Press volume in May (comprising volumes five and six), we might have to wait a while. I will miss Mamejirou in the interim!

MJ: As will I! Thanks for bringing this over, Yen Press!

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: blood lad, One Piece, sabrina the teenage witch

Pick of the Week: Blood & Mecha

March 25, 2013 by MJ, Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Anna N Leave a Comment

potw3-25-13MJ: We’ve got some interesting titles to choose from this week—not a lot in the way of long-standing favorites, but quite a bit of variety. Given my initial reaction to this series’ cover images, I’m surprised to hear myself saying this, but I’m giving my vote this week to volume two of Yuuki Kodama’s Blood Lad. I enjoyed volume one quite a bit—more than my colleagues, I believe—so I’ll be delving into the second volume with a great deal of optimism. Apparently, otaku vampires are my thing after all! This title was a surprise hit for me, and I’m really looking forward to continuing with it.

SEAN: We’ve finally hit the last bad end of Higurashi: When They Cry, and it’s a really bad end, as you’d expect with the title Massacre Arc. The arc after this is a bit contested among fandom, but everyone seems to love this one, which may end in tragedy but is the emotional catharsis of every other arc that came before it. It may not run in Jump, but the precepts of Friendship and Training (well, living through the arcs could be considered training in a way) are here in spades, and will help to achieve Victory in the Festival Accompanying Arc. No victory here, though. But oh so close.

MICHELLE: I think I’m gonna go with Durarara!! Saika Arc this week. As I wrote in a recent Off the Shelf, so far “this is shaping up to be a lot more linear than the original, and I’d say a definite improvement.” The story’s self-contained, so one could start here, but be prepared for a disorienting glut of characters at first. Since you’d encounter the same even if you started at the actual beginning, though, there’s really no difference.

ANNA: I think Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin comes out this Tuesday, and I am genuinely excited for that. Based on the Japanese Aizoban editions and produced by Vertical, this is a manga that should be a treat to own.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: blood lad, durarara, higurashi when they cry, mobile suite gundam origin

Blood Lad, Vol. 1

December 26, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

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

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this series aside from ‘vampires’. And that ends up being pretty fitting, as I think the series itself is not quite sure where it’s going to go until we get about halfway through this omnibus, at which point it finds its feet surprisingly quickly. There’s some interesting characters, attempts at world building, and some surprisingly vicious backstory, along with a healthy dollop of humor and fanservice. Honestly, I’m not really sure why this is in the seinen magazine Young Ace rather than its Shonen equivalent, unless it gets far more violent later on. It could simply be Young Ace had the free slot for a new series.

bloodlad1

Admittedly, after the first few pages I was expecting something far worse than what this turned out to be. The idea of a slacker vampire who’s a secret otaku made me groan, and thankfully this aspect of Staz’s personality is given shot shrift as the series goes on. More to the point, we see that Staz’s seeming apathy towards life stems from his own family relationships, and that he’s surprisingly tough and powerful – and even clever, when he bothers to be. I was amused at one or two points in the volume where he analyzed the situation and immediately gave up fighting, knowing that he would lose and it’s best to conserve his powers. I was also pleased to see that his obsession with Fuyumi lasted only till she died – after which, he really wants to resurrect her but is clearly not enamored of her. Blood Lad is driven by its action and fantasy, not its harem aspects (though those do linger, mainly via Bell).

As for Fuyumi, she’s probably the aspect of this story I enjoyed the least. She should be there to be the audience identification figure, the lone normal Japanese girl among a town full of freaks. Unfortunately, you don’t get very far in to this volume before you see her role is to have large breasts and get captured a lot. There is a bit of existential angst when she and Staz return to Japan, and he uses mind control to make everyone think she’s still there – this horrifies her till he points out the alternative. Mostly, though, Fuyumi seems to be there to draw in readers who want a passive female in their action fantasy manga.

As I noted earlier, Staz does not have a very nice backstory, and no doubt we will meet his brother in the second volume. The idea of how Staz’s magic is suppressed is quite scary, and certainly explains why he’s so reluctant to take any actions. We also meet his sister Liz, who quickly proceeds to torture him, though I have a nagging suspicion that there may be a bit of a brother complex behind all this – possibly as I’ve read too many moe manga in a row recently.

Blood Lad isn’t terrific – Soul Eater handles almost everything this manga tries to do better – but it’s a solid title, and better than I’d expected. If it can do something with Fuyumi next time, that’s be appreciated. But either way, I look forward to seeing Staz break out and kick some more asses in Volume 2.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: blood lad

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