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Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

durarara

Bookshelf Briefs 4/1/13

April 1, 2013 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

This week, Sean, Anna, Melinda, & Michelle look at recent releases from Kodansha Comics, Viz Media, Yen Press, and Vertical, Inc.


attack4Attack on Titan, Vol. 4 | By Hajime Isayama | Kodansha Comics – The art still has issues with facial differences, but this is finally the volume where we see developed characters beyond the big three. Annie and Jean both get to show off potential antagonist chops, but my favorite was Sasha, or “Potato Girl.” In a manga as deeply depressing and bleak as this series is, we need moments of levity—moments we didn’t get in the first three volumes. Sasha’s personality, love of food, and general liveliness are a breath of fresh air. Of course, that doesn’t mean this volume is all laughs. We cycle back and forth between training flashbacks and the present day so quickly that I lose track of which is which (black borders would help, Isayama—don’t you read manga?), and the present day is bad for everyone, with more corpses, more distrust of Eren, and a bleak future promised. Also, Blouse? Not Braus? This reminds me of Fairy Tail romanization… -Sean Gaffney

demon2Demon Love Spell, Vol. 2 | By Mayu Shinjo | Viz Media I read the first volume and liked this series much more than Ai Ore!, and that was confirmed by the second volume, which kicks off with an unexpectedly poignant story of a lost fox demon. Miko continues to be a reasonable foil for any demons she encounters due to her almost bull-headed obliviousness. A scene of her fending off a demonic spirit with an extra sandwich was hilarious. Kagura is very much the typical alpha male Shinjo hero, but his frequent transformations into a tiny handbag mascot keeps him from being too insufferable. This is going to be a go-to fun read for me whenever I need a bit of a laugh. – Anna N

saika1-200x300Durarara!! Saika Arc, Vol. 1 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Akiyo Satorigi | Yen Press – As always with DRRR!!, there’s a lot going on here at the same time. Mikado fades into the background a bit, as we turn to Anri and her own self-esteem issues, which aren’t helped by a sexually harassing teacher. Shizuo is on the cover, and some of his backstory is covered here, showing why he is so incredibly strong—and why it’s a burden rather than a choice. And of course there’s also a series of assaults in the city, as everyone’s getting slashed by a mysterious demon sword—who’s also an internet troll. DRRR!! is the sort of series where explaining everything that’s going on makes it sound more complicated than it is. This is the life of a city, as filtered through about 20 different cast members. Like the author’s other series, Baccano!, there is no main character. Just lots of fun and chaos. – Sean Gaffney

books_limit4Limit, Vol. 4 | By Keiko Suenobu | Vertical, Inc. – As swiftly as Limit‘s group of survivors came together in the series’ third volume, they fall apart even more quickly in the fourth, as it becomes clear that one among them has committed a brutal murder. Accusations are hurdled from all sides, and yet another member of their party will be lost before the group finally settles into a sort of grudging paranoia that is unlikely to abate anytime soon. Volumes of this series seem to fly by, that’s how engaging they are, and I emerged from this one with a combination of dread and feverish anticipation. Fortunately, these are being released on a reasonably brisk schedule, with volume five due out before the end of May. Given the series’ tense atmosphere and quick pacing, it’ll be a great candidate for marathon reading once all six volumes have been released. I look forward to that re-read for sure. Still recommended. – Melinda Beasi

saiunkoku9The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol. 9 | By Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino | Viz Media – The main storyline of The Story of Saiunkoku wrapped up quite satisfactorily in volume eight, and I never would’ve thought that a subsequent volume of side stories would be necessary. And, indeed, it really isn’t. There are three stories in this final volume—“So Began the Fairy Tale,” which offers a glimpse at the early loss of innocence suffered by Shoka, Shurei’s father; “Hurrican Ryuren Strikes the Capital,” about the eccentric member of the Ran clan who achieved the second-highest rank on the civil servants’ exam; and “Someday I Will Come to You,” about Shoka’s odd brother Reishin and his continued obsession with Shurei. Actually, rather a lot is made of Reishin and his obsession for Shoka, too, and it’s a joke that’s warn a bit thin with me. Nevertheless, this is a pleasant volume, if not the most dramatic or substantial. I’ll miss this series. – Michelle Smith

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs Tagged With: attack on titan, demon love spell, durarara, Limit, the story of saiunkoku

Pick of the Week: Blood & Mecha

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

potw3-25-13MELINDA: 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

Off the Shelf: Dark Horse Saves the Day

March 16, 2013 by Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith 7 Comments

MICHELLE: Life’s a funny thing, you know. Within a span of two days, JManga calls it quits, but a Veronica Mars film becomes a (future) reality. Without the latter to buoy my spirits, I would’ve been much more crushed by the former.

MELINDA: Since I wasn’t a Veronica Mars fan (I know, I know, everyone says I should watch it), I admit I’m just kind of existing in a shell-shocked haze. Between JManga and Google Reader, I’m feeling pretty disoriented in my digital world right now.

MICHELLE: I’m sad about Google Reader, too! It seems like all the other alternatives are too fussy. I want a minimalist option. Anyway, was there anything in the world of manga to cheer you?

tokyobabylon1MELINDA: Fortunately, there was. Though this week became tragic in multiple ways, it began at least with the blissful knowledge that we’d finally be seeing Tokyo Babylon, my favorite CLAMP manga, back in print. Originally published by TOKYOPOP, the series was officially out of print (with a few volumes still easily available online) long before the company shut down its North American publishing operations. Fortunately, Dark Horse announced in 2011 that they’d be adding the series to their growing catalogue of CLAMP omnibus releases. It was originally slated for publication later that year, leading some of us to wonder whether we’d gotten our hopes up too soon, but the first volume finally hit some stores this week! I’m still waiting for my print copy to ship from Amazon, but I was able to preview a PDF of the book, which has temporarily tided me over.

So, it’s no secret that I love Tokyo Babylon. In fact, I once volunteered to host the CLAMP MMF purely out of a desire to make people talk about it. It’s a concise, fairly intimate series that somehow manages to feel genuinely epic (and genuinely tragic) over the course of just seven short volumes (Dark Horse is doing it in two). I’ve already written about the full series at length, both in my original review of it at Comics Should Be Good and in our roundtable discussion last year, so I won’t spend time repeating myself here. Instead, I’ll talk about what’s different in Dark Horse’s edition.

Unfortunately, since I haven’t yet received my print volume, I can’t personally confirm anything about paper quality or trim size, except to (happily) note that Dark Horse’s website lists it as 5 3/4″ x 8 1/4, which was the same size as their Cardcaptor Sakura volumes—and the ideal format for CLAMP’s gorgeous artwork, in my opinion. I’ll be absolutely thrilled, assuming this is the case. Volume one also boasts of “over a dozen” color pages—most of which are, I believe, the same color pages that TOKYOPOP’s editions contained, though there may be extras I’m not noticing as I read through the PDF preview.

What I can confirm is that Dark Horse’s English adaptation is noticeably different, presumably thanks to the hand of its new editor, Carl Horn. Carl has a gift for making English dialogue really come alive, and his influence is apparent immediately. For example, in the beginning of the first chapter, Subaru innocently describes a scene in which a spirit he exorcised turned out to be the ghost of a young girl who committed suicide after being cruelly dumped by the celebrity whose bed she was haunting every night.

In TOKYOPOP’s version, Subaru mentions that the girl’s strongest memories were not of the room itself, but just of the bed, at which point Hokuto laughs, “In other words, the only thing that guy showed her was the ceiling in his bedroom!” In Dark Horse’s new version, it’s Subaru who wonders at the fact that it was only the ceiling of the room that the girl remembered, giving Hokuto the response, “I guess that’s the only part the guy ever showed her!” It’s a small change, but moving the detail about the ceiling to Subaru just makes the joke work better. It’s somehow much, much funnier. And this kind of thing continues throughout the volume.

MICHELLE: I hadn’t really planned on buying the series over again, but if it’s got a better, more natural English adaptation, then perhaps I ought to reconsider. I believe Carl Horn’s also known for writing entertaining end notes—has he done that this time, too?

MELINDA: He hasn’t (at least not in the PDF I have), and in fact there are actually fewer notes than in TOKYOPOP’s version, as Dark Horse’s doesn’t include a glossary and doesn’t require endnote translations for the sound-effects, either (they are translated right alongside in Dark Horse’s edition). But I really do recommend the new adaptation. Plus, if the trim size is as promised, it’s going to be gorgeous. I’m hoping they’ve used really nice paper, too.

The one difference I haven’t mentioned so far is one that genuinely concerns me, though I hope to have that concern abated shortly. In the TOKYOPOP editions, Hokuto’s terrific side-story (you know, the one where she basically becomes awesomeness incarnate) is included at the end of volume two. But though Dark Horse’s first omnibus spans partway through volume four of TOKYOPOP’s edition, her side story is yet to be found. I’m hoping that it’s just been put into the second volume, and I have an e-mail out to Dark Horse to confirm this, but I’ve yet to receive a reply. Edited to add 3/18/13: Carl Horn says yes, the story will appear! Hokuto fans everywhere rejoice! (It all comes down to the tankobon vs. bunko editions—if you want more detail ask me in comments.)

MICHELLE: That is worrying, but I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t include it!

MELINDA: I’ll be sure to report back!

So, have you found any manga to ease your pain this week, Michelle?

saika1MICHELLE: Sort of. My solo read for this week was the first volume of Durarara!! Saika Arc, which is a sequel series to the regular Durarara!! that I’ve talked about a few times before. I didn’t always like the original—sometimes it didn’t make sense, and I took issue with a couple of female characters happily falling in love with killers—but it remained intriguing, chiefly due to the fascinating headless “black rider,” Celty.

Perhaps I should backtrack a little. This series is set in Ikebukuro, where all manner of strange characters dwell. The first series was primarily the saga of Celty’s missing head, but now it’s a year later and something strange and new has begun. The area is being plagued by a slasher, whose non-fatal attacks have been increasing in frequency lately. The slasher links together some seemingly unconnected story elements—interrupting bullies as they gang up on a girl who feels disconnected from the world, attacking a reporter working on a feature about who’s the strongest in Ikebukuro—and ends up with Celty on his trail and Shizuo Heiwajima (a guy with massive brute strength that he can’t control) in his heart. Although there’s more to it than that. In, like, a supernatural way.

So far, this is shaping up to be a lot more linear than the original, and I’d say a definite improvement. Granted, I would probably be fascinated by just about anything Celty did. I suppose one could start here, as the story is so far very self-contained, but it would probably be disorienting to encounter so many characters at once. (Not unlike the beginning of the original, actually.)

MELINDA: I was going to ask about exactly that, actually. I could not get into the original no matter how hard I tried, and I thought I might have better luck with this. But I do wonder if I’d be able to figure out what was going on.

MICHELLE: I think you probably could. There are only a couple of references to what happened in the first series, and no real lingering plot threads. The real challenge would be all the “who the heck is this person?!” moments you’d encounter. Even for me, there are a still a couple of characters whose names I don’t know, but they barely appear. (Actually, why even bother including them? I do not know.)

Anyway, I like it well enough to continue with it.

Looks like it’s your turn to introduce our mutual read this time!

MELINDA: Indeed it is!

emeraldThis week, we both read Emerald and Other Stories, a collection of short manga by Hiroaki Samura, creator of Blade of the Immortal. I’ll admit that I’ve actually not read any of Blade of the Immortal, but though this short manga collection is a little uneven (as all short manga collections seem to be), I found enough to like in it that I’m anxious now to read more of Samura-sensei’s work.

Samura comments at the end of the volume that this collection was originally called Sister Generator, because he’d noticed that nearly all of its main characters were women—and that is probably the biggest draw for me here. The stories start strong, beginning with a tale set in the American Old West, in which a woman hires a male “hero” (in this world, “heroes,” are often just really successful criminals) to save a young girl from a life of servitude to the owner of a brothel—not that the “hero” has any idea that this is what he’s being hired for. It’s a tense, well-told story with a fairly nuanced take on Old West morality and its challenges for women, and a seriously badass female lead, all of which is certainly the key to my heart.

As the volume continues, the content varies widely, from a somewhat uncomfortably erotic story about a teen girl’s final days with her dying father, to a semi-autobiographical story-within-a-sci-fi-story, to a series of humorous schoolgirl vignettes called, “The Uniforms Stay On.” And though I’ve described the collection as “uneven,” I should clarify to say that even in its weakest moments (a story written about a guy’s embarrassing rock-song confession probably worked the least well for me) there is always something brilliant or intriguing to latch on to.

The gag comics are unusually funny. The fantasy comics are surprisingly coherent. The erotic elements are genuinely erotic, even when they’re vaguely uncomfortable. And though some of that can be chalked up to Samura’s thoughtful, detailed artwork, he’s also just a really strong storyteller. So often, stories in short manga collections feel… experimental (read: unfinished) and that’s not at all the case here. Each short story reads as a real story, and that’s a rare find in this format. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

MICHELLE: Wow, I am so tempted to say “what she said,” because I think you touched on most of my own reactions, too.

“Emerald” is probably my favorite story of the bunch, simply because I love a clever female lead, and this one has two of them. I didn’t see where it was going at first, but it surprised me, and ended up being wholly satisfying, which is quite a rare thing for a short story. And, in fact, being surprised was somewhat of a theme here. I don’t necessarily mean plot events, either, but more in the line of a story not really being what you thought it was, like “Shizuru Cinema,” the story of the aspiring manga artist and his high-school aged girlfriend/muse. “Uniforms” was often genuinely amusingly random—the girls discuss things as various as religion, Korean influence, and pig-spinach hybrids—and I liked “Brigitte’s Dinner” quite a bit, too. That one had kind of a happy ending, actually, if the last few pages mean what I think they mean.

I’m with you regarding the love song story working the least well—it also has some final pages of murky meaning—and I was also completely baffled by the autobiographical tale of some mahjong game, and squicked by “The Kusein Family’s Grandest Show,” but on the whole this was a very strong collection. And I love Samura’s artwork, which is even more impressive in Blade of the Immortal (of which I have admittedly only read one volume).

MELINDA: I’m quite certain you’re reading the end of “Brigitte’s Dinner” as intended! I thought it was a happy ending of a sort, too. And actually, “of a sort” is key here, because one of the book’s greatest strengths is that nothing is really black and white. I don’t want to spoil that story for anyone, so I’ll refrain from explaining exactly what I mean, but it’s the kind of story that is both tragic and happy at the same time. Much like real life.

MICHELLE: I agree. Dark Horse’s back cover describes these stories as “seven powerful, short pieces” and that’s really true. Too often, short stories are forgettable. Or, maybe there will be one good one, and then a bunch of others that drift out of your brain a couple of hours after reading them. But here we have several strong ones that I think will stay with me a while.

MELINDA: Same here. So, after a rough week, I’ll thank Dark Horse manga for stepping up to save the day!

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: durarara, emerald and other stories, tokyo babylon

Off the Shelf: Second volumes & others

May 10, 2012 by Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith 5 Comments

MICHELLE: Hey, Melinda? What did the fish say when he ran into the wall?

MELINDA: I don’t know, Michelle, what did the fish say when he ran into the wall?

MICHELLE: “Dam.”

MELINDA: Okay, that time I actually laughed.

MICHELLE: Yay! Victory at last!

Anyhoo, I believe it’s your turn to go first in talking about some of the manga you’ve read since we last convened.

MELINDA: You’re right!

So, first I caught up with you (and the rest of the manga blogosphere), and finally read the first two volumes of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, the latest hit from Vertical. I have to admit, that despite all the praise, I was a little reluctant to dive into the GTO universe. I’d never read any of it when it was published by Tokyopop, so I wasn’t at all familiar with the characters, and even after your reassurances a few columns ago, I still couldn’t quite shift myself from simply “intrigued” to “actually cracking the books.” This week, I finally did it, and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to bring it here to the column, even though we discussed the series so recently.

You’ve already covered the premise, so I won’t rehash it all here. While, unlike you, I didn’t worry about the comedic sensibility coming too close to something like Detroit Metal City (I loved Detroit Metal City), I did worry that I’d just find it all kind of… boring. Or maybe contrived. Fortunately, it was neither, and (again, unlike you) I think I just might be looking to try to track down all the series’ previous volumes.

What I found pretty spectacular about 14 Days in Shonan, is that it features a main character who spends a lot of time telling other people just how much of a badass he is, while actually being a badass. Usually, if a character has to tell me how great he is, that’s a sure sign that I won’t think he’s great at all—but in this case, Eikichi is exactly what he says he is, and I find myself with absolutely no doubt at all that he’ll be able to do absolutely anything he says he can, including winning over all the teens at the White Swan Children’s Home, while also possibly saving the world. And perhaps curing cancer. Can you tell I liked him?

Seriously, though, I enjoyed these volumes so much more than I expected, I find myself wishing I had some kind of award to give out for it, or something. It’s been a while since my expectations were so neatly trounced.

MICHELLE: Yay, I’m glad you liked it! I like what you said about the reader’s confidence in the protagonist’s ability to make good on his promises; I absolutely felt the same. I should also note that I liked the second volume even more than the first, and am at least intrigued by the prospect of reading the earlier series, if daunted by the expense of such an endeavor.

MELINDA: I’d say that I preferred the second volume as well, and I’m actually glad I saved them up to read together. Though now, of course, I’m anxious to get to the third!

So what have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: Well, speaking of second volumes… I checked out volume two of Durarara!! this week. For the uninitiated, this is ostensibly the story of a kid named Mikado, who has moved to Ikebukuro to attend high school and has encountered its various peculiar residents. There’s a lot more going on besides that, though, including a mysterious gang, a nefarious pharmaceutical company, and a headless (female) figure in black who rides through town on a motorcycle.

I deemed volume one “weird but intriguing,” and was hoping things would start to make a bit more sense in the second volume. And they do. I think, though, that my favorite plotline—the mystery surrounding Celty, the black rider—may actually now make a bit too much sense. A key revelation regarding her felt so obvious I’m left wanting a twist of some kind. “Is that all there is?” Meanwhile, other aspects of the story are still fairly baffling at this point.

I guess my gripe is I’d prefer a more balanced march towards clarity, as opposed to a lopsided one. Durarara!! is a very stylish series, and not one with a whole lot of depth, and I’d hate to see Celty’s tale resolved in a perfunctory manner.

MELNDA: I admit I had little patience with volume one, and though it’s heartening to hear that volume two is more coherent, I’m not sure it’s my cup of tea. Normally, I can deal with waiting for things to make sense, but it sounds like the payoff may not be worthwhile.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I really don’t know at this point. I’m willing to keep going with it a while longer, but I have no idea whether I’ll be satisfied or annoyed in the end.

What else did you read this week?

MELINDA: On a very different note, I also read the latest volume of one of my favorite current shoujo series, Yuuki Obata’s We Were There. Though this is a title I have reviewed regularly, I think this may be the first time I’ve brought it to Off the Shelf.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with this series, it’s one of those titles like Sand Chronicles that begins as a high school romance, but eventually takes its characters much further into their lives, ultimately feeling much more like josei than shoujo, at least for my money. Though unresolved teen emotions are a major element of the romance, the characters also must face much more grown-up concerns, like jobs, marriage proposals, and taking care of ailing parents.

Clinging to first love is often a theme in these types of stories, and that’s certainly the case with We Were There, though it’s only “first love” for Nanami, the story’s heroine, as one of the romance’s primary conflicts is hero Motoharu’s lingering feelings for his former girlfriend who died in a car accident (and some of the ill-considered choices he makes out of guilt and grief). Though the plot is pure soap opera, Obata’s handling of it is so thoughtful and complex, it feels very little like anything I would normally describe with that term. Like Obata’s writing, the relationships in We Were There are as delicate as a scrap of old lace, ready to crumble at the slightest touch. And crumble they do.

This series has long been a favorite of mine—one of a short list of shoujo manga (along with more dramatic titles like Banana Fish and Tokyo Babylon) that’s made me sob helplessly for long periods while reading. So it was a bit of a surprise to me to find that volume 13 left me feeling completely disillusioned with the story’s primary relationship, to the point where I no longer had any desire to see it rekindled. I was okay with this, really. After all, there was another perfectly wonderful love interest just waiting there for my heroine. I didn’t need to care about Nanami and Motoharu anymore. I really, really didn’t.

Except now I do.

And that, volume 14, is how you write a shoujo manga. Heh.

MICHELLE: I stalled out on volume four of We Were There, but I actually just started over from the beginning the other day! If all goes according to plan—and if you don’t mind a bit of redundancy—I’ll be talking about this volume next week! I really look forward to seeing how the series progresses, as I am still firmly in the high school portion of the story.

MELINDA: I will be thrilled to hear what you think of this volume next week! And I’ll take care not to spoil you any further.

What else do you have for us this week?

MICHELLE: You may remember that I was a big fan of Dining Bar Akira, a BL oneshot published by NETCOMICS. So when JManga licensed another oneshot by its creator—Tomoko Yamashita—I knew I had to read it.

Don’t Cry, Girl is first and foremost an exceedingly silly manga. Due to unspecified problems with irresponsible parents, 17-year-old Taeko is sent to live with an acquaintance of her father named Masuda. Unfortunately for virginal Taeko, Masuda is a nudist and opens the door in his birthday suit. Taeko freaks out, as any normal person would, and I was giggling by page three, thanks to dialogue like, “Oh, shut up! Shut up, you stupid naked dumbass!”

Still, she’s got nowhere else to go, so Taeko and Masuda continue to cohabitate. Yamashita has a lot of fun with the premise, positioning speech bubbles and house plants in front of Masuda’s nether regions, and eventually introducing a friend for Masuda whose cool and sophisticated veneer hides a penchant for juvenile humor. A couple of would-be serious moments don’t quite work however, and make it hard to remember that this is a comedy and certain things don’t really need to make sense.

Also included is a story called “3322,” in which another young woman is staying with her father’s acquaintance. Kanoko is considering leaving school, so her father has her stay with Chiyoko, who is probably her mother. While Chiyoko has a dalliance with a local man, and her friend Yoko seems to pine unrequitedly for her, Kanoko finds herself interested in Yoko while frustrated by the adults and all their secrets. It’s an interesting tale and one I wish could be expanded upon.

Although a little uneven, Don’t Cry, Girl is still a lot of fun. And JManga’s now got another Yamashita title up—Mo’some Sting—which I will definitely be checking out!

MELINDA: Okay, now I’m giggling thanks to just the bit of dialogue you quoted! Silly manga is not always to my taste, but this sounds like far too much fun to pass up!

MICHELLE: I think it’s just the right kind of silly. Once again, I find myself thanking JManga for offering something it’s very unlikely we would’ve been able to get in English otherwise. New est em, new Tomoko Yamashita… could new Saika Kunieda (Future Lovers) be next? One can only hope!

MELINDA: That’s worth some hope, indeed!

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: Don't Cry Girl, durarara, gto, we were there

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

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

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


MELINDA: 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 Melinda so 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

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