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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

book girl

Pick of the Week: Fulfilling Expectations

July 15, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith and MJ Leave a Comment

potw-7-15SEAN: As always, I sort of give away what I’m picking in my Manga the Week of posts. I’ve followed the story of Konoha dealing with PTSD and slowly coming to terms with his life for the last six volumes of this series. And now we get the first of a 2-part finale, Book Girl And The Scribe Who Faced God. Given we’ve run out of characters to put through the wringer, I’ve no doubt that this volume and its sequel (out in January 2014) will answer some questions we have about Tohko, and just how much of a Book Girl she really is. And perhaps it may resolve the romantic subplots as well, though that’s honestly less important to me. This is pretty much my favorite light novel series coming out here right now, and I really want everyone to go buy it. It’s also on Kindle/Nook!

ANNA: My pick is 07-Ghost Vol. 5. I enjoy the combination of angsty protagonist and fighting priests. It is sometimes a bit incoherent, but the art has a very distinct style that makes up for the occasional lack of clarity in the action scenes. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next to Teito Klein as he becomes a fighting priest himself, and searches for the legacy of power that was taken from him.

MICHELLE: As per usual, I’m going to award my pick to Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, which reaches its twelfth volume, which sees an end to the main storyline (but not an end to releases, as there are two books of short stories still forthcoming). I like this arc, but I continue to be sad that it isn’t longer, since I adore the Starlights so. Good thing that season of the anime is released here… oh, wait.

MJ: Before I chimed in here, the others were loftily making predictions about what they were certain would be my choice. This, of course, made me want to subvert expectations and pick something else. Alas… I apparently am that predictable. There really is no other choice. I have to give my pick this week to the final volume of Nabari no Ou, the surprising little series that somehow made me give a crap about ninja. This week brings us its final volume, and though I’ve fallen a little behind, I’ve been wanting to marathon it for a while, and this provides the perfect excuse. I simply can’t choose anything else.

What looks good to you this week?

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: 07 Ghost, book girl, nabari no ou, sailor moon

Book Girl and the Undine Who Bore a Moonflower

January 24, 2013 by Sean Gaffney

By Mizuki Nomura. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen Press.

One of the main themes of the Book Girl series has been elements of the past seemingly overlaying with elements of the present, and our heroes and other protagonists finding themselves trapped in a seeming reimagining of past crimes. Konoha, our hero, is especially notorious for seeing his relationship with Miu mirrored and kaleidoscoped in virtually everything he interacts with, but it also plays out with Takada, Akutagawa, and the other members of the cast. Including a girl from the 2nd novel named Hotaru Amemiya, whose presence is felt in this 6th book of the Book Girl series.

BookGirlv6Final

This novel takes place chronologically between books 2 and 3 (Famished Spirit and Captive Fool), during Tohko and Konoha’s summer break. That said, it reads better having come after the others, and has significant foreshadowing for the last two books, so it’s well-placed here. It also delves into the story of Maki Himekura, which isn’t too surprising, given she’s the one remaining main cast member who didn’t get a book of their own. I had worried that Famished Spirit would be all we saw of her, but that was Amemiya’s book, and its consequences play out a bit here, as we see Maki unchained, to a degree. Or rather, that’s what she wants to be.

Each Book Girl novel focuses on a specific work, and this one is no exception. I admit I’ve never read Kyoya Izumi’s play Demon Pond (I’m not even certain if it’s available in English), but its plot it helpfully laid out by Tohko along the way, so there’s no real need to. This book is also heavily imbued with demons and the supernatural, just like Famished Spirit, and even though most all of the ghostly elements are eventually explained as being all too human, the book has an atmosphere of tension, sort of like the old haunted castle romances of the turn of the 20th century.

This book takes place at the Himekura summer estate, so Takeda, Akutagawa and Kotobuki are absent. We do get to see Ryuto, however, Tohko’s cousin, and it becomes clear that Maki isn’t the only one deeply affected by the events in Famished Spirit. He and Maki clash immediately, with physical as well as verbal abuse. Not a surprise given how they’re both extroverted, flamboyant characters. As for Maki herself, she’s trapped in a situation that fans of Japanese manga with rich girls will know all too well – her life is already laid out for her and she can’t escape the thumb of her all-controlling grandfather. This helps explain (though not excuse) some of the rather unpleasant things she does in this book.

As for Konoha and Tohko, things are seemingly the same as ever. We get a classic Konoha panic attack here (though he’s just been kidnapped and is lost in a forest during a downpour, so I’ll grant him this one), and Tohko once again has a long speech at the end where she lays everything out for the cast, something that always seems a bit affected in these books, but fits the character perfectly. However, we also get a few hints of the final two books. Ryuto gives Konoha some prompts that, when eaten, given Tohko an altogether different attitude, and the final few pages of the book show Tohko in a highly melancholic state over the fact that soon she won’t be able to be with Konoha anymore. (The answer being ‘she’s graduating’, but given who Tohko is and the way this scene is written, it makes it *sound* as if she may have some wasting disease or something. I doubt the series is that downbeat, however.)

All five previous books of this series have bold type showing the inner monologue of the volume’s protagonist or antagonist, be that Takeda, Akutagawa, or whoever. Interestingly, the epilogue to this book’s bold type not only gives us a hint of Maki’s eventual fate (not sure how I feel about it, but that’s just the shipper in me talking), but reveals who the actual author of these pieces may be. If you’ve been reading along, it’s not much of a surprise, but the fact that we’re seeing it shows that we’re definitely getting all the cards laid out now. All that’s left is the final Book Girl story, which is so epic it will take two books to cover.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: book girl

PotW: 13th Boy, Twin Spica, Book Girl, Durarara!!

January 16, 2012 by MJ, Katherine Dacey, Michelle Smith and Sean Gaffney 2 Comments

Midtown Comics has a lot to offer this week, from Pokemon to Twlight. MJ, Kate, Sean, and Michelle make their picks below!


MJ: It’s nearly impossible for me to choose just one title, with new volumes of several favorites arriving at Midtown Comics this week. This week’s list runs the gamut when it comes to my personal tastes as well, with series as different as, say, Twin Spica and Pandora Hearts tempting me with pretty much equal power. But in the end, I’ll do the predictable thing, and throw my vote to volume ten of SangEun Lee’s supernatural sunjeong manhwa, 13th Boy. I know I keep raving about this series, but seriously, it’s just that enjoyable. With only two more volumes to go, the drama really ramps up here in volume ten, and we begin to understand more clearly just what the connection is between weirdly gifted Whie-Young and the boy-cactus he gave life to, Beatrice. It’s all kind of heartbreaking, really, and as a reader, I’m torn over even what I want to happen. This is a great thing. If you’ve never gotten around to trying this series, keep your eyes open, as I’ll be doing a giveaway later this week.

KATE: My vote goes to volume eleven of Twin Spica. Writing about Twin Spica in 2010, when I named it one my best manga of the year, I noted that Twin Spica is “an all-too-rare example of a direct, heartfelt story that’s neither saccharine nor mawkish.” Asumi, the story’s heroine, is painfully sincere, but she isn’t the least bit annoying; if anything, she may be one of the strongest, most resilient female characters I’ve encountered in a comic, in spite of her small size. The supporting characters are just as memorable as Asumi. Kei, Asumi’s hot-headed friend, is a great example: she means well, but has a tendency to fire from the hip, unwittingly insulting people she cares about. We’ve all known someone just like Kei — perhaps when we were in high school — giving her scenes with Asumi, Marika, and the other students an extra charge of realism. These true-to-life characters prevent Twin Spica from becoming too precious, even when it flirts with magical realism. (See Mr. Lion.) A lovely coming-of-age story that works for stargazers of all ages.

MICHELLE: With MJso eloquently advocating for 13th Boy, a series I also feel strong affection for, I’m going to branch out a bit and recommend the first volume of Durarara!!. I just read it this week, and found it to be “weird but intriguing.” Frequently, I am daunted by series that introduce this many characters and ideas right up front—this is why it took me a while to get back into Pandora Hearts, after all—but that didn’t happen with Durarara!!. I think it’s the hints of interconnectedness between the subplots that really pulled me in, not to mention the incredibly cool Ikebukuro urban legend: the Black Rider. I have no idea how the manga compares to the novels or the anime, but I really enjoyed this volume and look forward to the next.

SEAN: And since Michelle was kind enough to mention Durarara!!, it falls to me to plug another volume of my favorite light novel series coming out over here to date. Book Girl and the Corrupted Angel is the 4th in the Book Girl series, each of which I have greatly enjoyed. The books aren’t perfect, but they’re fast reads and really good at getting inside the teen psyche. They can also be quite creepy when they want to be, and not just because the titular book girl is a ‘goblin’. Each volume has turned out to focus on a different member of Tohko and Konoha’s social circle, and judging by the description this new volume will finally focus on Nanase Kotobuki. I’ve found her a bit of a cliched tsundere in the previous books, but have no doubt that we’ll see different facets of her here. Highly recommended.


Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: 13th boy, book girl, durarara, twin spica

Book Girl and the Famished Spirit

August 10, 2011 by Ash Brown

Author: Mizuki Nomura
Illustrator: Miho Takeoka

Translator: Karen McGillicuddy
U.S. publisher: Yen Press
ISBN: 9780316076920
Released: January 2011
Original release: 2006

Book Girl and the Famished Spirit is the second book in Mizuki Nomura’s sixteen-volume light novel series Book Girl, illustrated by Miho Takeoka. Originally published in Japan in 2006, the book was released in English in 2011 by Yen Press. Once again, Karen McGillicuddy serves as the translator for the series. I read the first volume, Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime not too long ago and absolutely loved it. The book more or less made me an instant fan and so there was no question that I would be picking up Book Girl and the Famished Spirit. I am still quite fond of the premise of a “book girl,” a yōkai that devours the written word instead of food. Even though this story element is often relegated to the background, it is still important and I find it to be utterly delightful. Because I enjoyed Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime so much, I was really looking forward to reading Book Girl and the Famished Spirit.

Despite insisting she doesn’t believe in them, Tohko, the self-proclaimed “book girl,” is afraid of ghosts. Normally this wouldn’t be such a problem, but someone has been leaving encoded messages in the literature club’s mailbox. Messages that seem to be similar to the ones rumored to be left all over the school by a wandering ghost. But whether a prank pulled by a classmate or a legitimate spirit (book girls exist after all, so why not ghosts?), one thing is clear—the notes are asking for help. Tohko intends to investigate the incidents, assuming that Konoha, her underclassman and the only other member of the literature club, will be willing to assist her. But he’s reluctant, especially as the notes become more threatening. He hopes that she will just leave the whole matter alone.

While Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime was heavily influenced by Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human, Book Girl and the Famished Spirit takes its inspiration from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. In some ways the story is actually more cruel than the original. If you’ve never read Wuthering Heights, don’t worry. If there’s one thing that Tohko likes to do besides eating literature, it’s talking about it and she provides a very nice summarization of the novel. Throughout the series she frequently launches into tirades about books, even at seemingly inappropriate moments. This is part of her charm although it can come across as tangential. Nomura is constantly dropping references to various works and authors, some more well known than others. But my favorite thing about Book Girl and the Famished Spirit was the introduction of Ryuto. I almost hope that he also turns out to be some sort of yōkai, but I’d still be happy even if it turns out he’s just simply a masochist.

For the most part, Book Girl and the Famished Spirit can stand fairly well on its own and it’s not absolutely necessary to have read Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime. The main mystery is almost completely separate with only a few minor references to the previous one. However, more information is given about Konoha and Tohko. To be honest, it is their backgrounds that intrigue me the most at this point. Konoha’s past in particular is slowly being introduced, piece by piece, within the context of the incidents he and Tohko get caught up in. It’s an interesting but effective technique. Although I enjoyed Book Girl and the Famished Spirit, I didn’t like it nearly as well as I did the first book. I’m not really sure why; maybe it’s just that I happen to prefer No Longer Human over Wuthering Heights. Regardless, I still intend to continue the series with the next volume, Book Girl and the Captive Fool.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: book girl, Light Novels, Miho Takeoka, Mizuki Nomura, Novels, yen press

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