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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

house of five leaves

Off the Shelf: Deliver us from slugs

June 8, 2011 by Michelle Smith and MJ 9 Comments

MJ: Well, hello there, colleague! I’m still really enjoying that.

MICHELLE: Why, hello! Fancy meeting you here.

MJ: What a lovely space we have here. Makes me feel like talking about books. And you?

MICHELLE: Now that you mention it, I am experiencing an odd tingle, so I’m going to take that as an invitation to begin! My reads this week provoked wildly different reactions in me. One was epic and impressive while the other was icky and confusing. Saving the best for last, I shall begin with the latter.

I didn’t have very high hopes for Amnesia Labyrinth, the two-volume (so far) series released this year by Seven Seas, but it is a mystery manga penned by Nagaru Tanigawa, the man behind the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, so I at least expected to derive a modicum of enjoyment from it. Alas, while the first volume is merely not very good the second is downright craptacular.

The story begins promisingly enough. Readers witness the murder of a high school student who turns out to be the class president of the school our protagonist, Souji Kushiki, is transferring into. Two other students have died over summer break, as well. One of Souji’s classmates, the perky Yukako Sasai, is attempting to investigate and enlists his help because he’s very smart and she thinks his politician dad might be able to get her access to the police department’s information. By this point, I was expecting a Haruhi-esque story, in which stoic Souji goes along with energetic Yukako’s efforts to unravel the mystery. Instead, the story goes in a completely different direction, as we begin to learn more and more unpleasant things about Souji’s deeply creepy family.

The back cover of the first volume tries very hard to depict the “inappropriate” and “clingy” behavior of Souji’s sisters as something new, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is par for the course, given that Souji’s been having sex with his half-sister, Saki, since at least middle school. This doesn’t prevent his full-blooded sister, Youko, from coming on to him nor his innocent step-sister, Harumi, from wanting to be his bride. On top of this, Souji suspects Saki and Youko of committing the murders, and volume two attempts (in as baffling a manner as possible) to flesh out the family history as (I think) supernatural assassins of some sort who also possibly suffer from multiple personality disorder. It’s monumentally unclear and surreal in a bad way.

Natsumi Kohane’s art doesn’t help matters any. Faces are generic and stiff, anatomy can occasionally be very strange, and the action scenes in the Heian-era flashback are utterly incomprehensible. Plus, there’s a lot of squicky images like this one. Seriously, is that supposed to be sexy? It looks like she’s barfing out a slug!

Apparently, this is all that’s been written of this series so far, and the second volume is padded out with an illustration gallery and a preview of Blood Alone. Normally I’d be sorry to see a manga go unfinished, but in this case, I think we should all be grateful.

MJ: Well, wow. After that image, I find that I have nothing to say. Except maybe, “Ew.”

MICHELLE: “Ew” is certainly the prevailing thought I’m left with after that second volume. After that image, we’re both probably in need of a mental palate cleanser. I hope you’ve something that can do the trick!

MJ: You know, I do! I liked both my reads this week, but I’ll start with one I know you’ve read and liked as well to help with that cleansing. I’m talking about Bakuman, by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the fifth volume of which has been released just this week.

Mashiro and Takagi have gotten their manga serialized, but their success begins with a shock as their editor, Hattori, is being replaced by Miura, a man they’ve never met before. Though they have no choice but to accept the change, things get off to a rocky start as their series takes a while to catch on with Jump readers.

I’ve blown hot and cold with this manga in some ways, but I think I’ll never stop being fascinated by the look it provides into the process at Weekly Shonen Jump, however pro-Jump it might read to someone with more knowledge of the business in Japan. I’m charmed, too, by the way its creators use the Jump formula to comment in Jump itself.

For a long time, these things were the series’ only decisive draw for me, but more and more I’m drawn in by the series’ supporting characters, especially eccentric prodigy Eiji Nizuma and Takagi’s girlfriend, Miyoshi, who are probably my favorite characters in the series.

Volume five warms me to some potential new favorites, including reluctant mangaka Hiramaru who, when asked if he wanted to be a manga artist, replies, “Maybe, for like a fraction of a second.” I’m also becoming increasingly fond of self-possessed writer Aoki, who manages to lower her defenses a bit in this volume.

More astonishingly, the series’ protagonists have started to matter to me. While this should perhaps be a given for most series, this is the first volume in which I’ve found myself really at the edge of my seat, wondering what will happen as they receive each week’s reader survey results. Finally these characters mean something to me, which makes the whole thing that much more worthwhile. It’s a real treat.

MICHELLE: I love Nizuma so much now that I can’t believe I ever found him irritating. My favorite moment in the whole volume occurs when Mashiro and Takagi encounter him at the Jump New Year’s party, dramatically quaffing soda from a champagne glass.

I’m with you, too, on finally caring about Mashiro and Takagi as people. I think it helps that other characters are acknowledging the ridiculousness of Mashiro’s arrangement with Miho, the girl he likes, not to see each other until their dreams come true. Plus, Miyoshi is so awesome that Takagi grows more awesome for liking a girl like her.

It’s really become a series that I actively anticipate.

MJ: You’re absolutely right about Miyoshi’s awesomeifying effect. And I think it helps, too, that Miho is really struggling, so we’re seeing some nuance in that relationship even within its ridiculous construct.

So go on now and hit me with “epic and impressive!”

MICHELLE: I know that you, historically, have not had an easy time getting into Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, but I have to say, it really is a stunning piece of storytelling. Oda has created not just a cast of likable characters, but a fully realized world for them to inhabit, and in this world, conflict has long been brewing between the pirates and the navy.

In volume 57 of the series, this conflict comes to a head on the island of Marineford where Portgaz D. Ace, brother to series protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, is about to be executed by the navy. Luffy’s on his way to save him, along with a plethora of pirates he helped escape from the impregnable prison Impel Down, but does not actually appear until midway through the volume. Instead, we witness the beginnings of an epic clash between the navy and Whitebeard, a powerful pirate and Ace’s captain.

The battle is huge, sprawling, and fascinating. It’s made doubly more impressive by the fact that, with the exception of the tardy Luffy, it’s entirely being carried out by supporting characters. That is how fleshed out this world is—there’s a whole cast of semi-familiar navy officials (and hired security of sorts in the form of the Warlords of the Sea) to go up against Whitebeard and his allies. Part of the draw is the cool Devil Fruit powers nearly everyone seems to possess, but Oda does a great job conveying the importance of this encounter as well as linking the public revelation of Luffy’s parentage to events that occurred much earlier in the series. Continuity has always been one of the series’ strongest suits.

I must also mention that many of Luffy’s allies are drag queens who rush into the fray whilst wearing fishnets and high heels. No one bats an eye, because in this universe, it’s a given truth that anyone can be brave and awesome, even if they’re a man wearing a tutu.

MJ: Well, if you think about it, is there anyone braver than a man wearing a tutu? I think not.

I know I need to get further into this series, and every time you or David talk about it, I remember why.

MICHELLE: That’s a very good point!

And yes, you do. I wish everyone had a public library as awesome as mine, because it’s ever so much easier to commit to a 62-volumes-so-far series like this one when you have that kind of resource. Even so, I find myself seriously tempted to start compiling my own collection. It’s just that good.

What else did you read this week?

MJ: Well, I’m way behind, but I finally read the third volume of Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves, one of my very favorite current series.

It’s difficult to discuss plot when talking about this series, because though things do happen in the world of broken samurai Masa, the story’s actual events are never really the point. There’s a missing member of the Five Leaves gang and the theft of a candle merchant’s seals, but the real story here seems to be about Masa’s acquaintance with a man from the magistrate’s office and the strain that acquaintance is putting on his relationship with Five Leaves leader, Yaichi.

This series is built on deeply private characters and layers and layers of atmosphere. Even when nothing particular is going on, you can feel the weight of Masa’s world on his slouched shoulders. Even in his most contented moments, his world feels heavy, yet he’s quietly grateful for all of it, somehow. He’s the soul of this story in all his passive reticence, and it’s his personal journey that most interests me.

That said, some real tension begins brewing in the plot department during this volume, which should offer a clearer thread of action as the story continues on. And if I’m content to sit with Masa as he quietly waffles through life, I admit that this extra momentum is a bit exciting. One gets the feeling that it wouldn’t take much for the entire world Ono has created to shatter into pieces, should something happen to break the tension she’s built up so slowly.

This series is one I find myself rereading already just to pick up extra nuances as I head into each new volume. It’s that compelling for me.

MICHELLE: I haven’t read beyond volume one yet myself, but even from the beginning the weight of tension is tangible. Now I’m excited by proxy at the idea of actual plot momentum. I wonder if that’s an IKKI thing, because Saturn Apartments is similar—I’m perfectly content to wallow in its slice-of-life charm, but small stirrings of actual plot seem to be cropping up in earnest now, meaning the series might become even more enjoyable.

MJ: Yes, I’m really looking forward to what the next volume has in store.

In other news, every time I look up at that slug-tongue image, it creeps me out more. I had to make it smaller, just to lessen the effect.

MICHELLE: I keep looking at it, too, as if to remind myself of its utter awfulness. Now I feel compelled to apologize to the readers for exposing them to it.

MJ: Hopefully they will forgive us … and possibly save us from it.

MICHELLE: We can only hope.

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: amnesia labyrinth, bakuman, house of five leaves, One Piece

PotW: House of Five Leaves & other stories

April 18, 2011 by David Welsh, Katherine Dacey, Michelle Smith and MJ 4 Comments

It’s another big week for manga arrivals at Midtown Comics. See below for recommendations from the Manga Bookshelf bloggers and special guest Michelle Smith!


DAVID: My pick for this week is the third volume of Natsume Ono’s Eisner-nominated House of Five Leaves from Viz, and I’m really happy to be able to add that adjectival phrase in front of the title. The series is about an out-of-work samurai who falls in with a gang of kidnappers under the seductive influence of the gang’s charismatic ringleader. Don’t let the warrior protagonist and criminal endeavors fool you: this is a very introspective, character-driven series that looks at the consequences of individual choices. Ono has a wonderfully distinctive style that’s graceful and understated but still forceful. Ono will be a featured guest at the Toronto Comic Art Festival May 7 and 8, and if you want to familiarize yourself with her work before then or just be a fully informed Eisner voter, you should really give this series a try.

KATE: Well, nuts, I was going to name House of Five Leaves my pick of the week as well before David said everything I might have said, only more eloquently. So I’m going to choose the sixth and final volume of AKIRA instead. I’d be the first to admit that Kodansha could have done so much more with the latest edition of this iconic series — unflipped artwork, fancy paper, essays and artist interviews, hardcovers — but I’m glad to see Katsuhiro Otomo’s work readily available again in stores; every other Otomo series that’s been licensed for the US market (Domu: A Child’s Dream, The Legend of Mother Sarah, Memories) is out of print, making it difficult for newer manga readers to discover this seminal artist for themselves. Otomo’s influence on popular culture can’t be understated; his postapocalyptic vision of Tokyo, which has been aped by countless comic artists and film directors, is simply one of the most original, beautiful, and iconic renderings of a city that’s ever been committed to paper.

MICHELLE: I’m certainly happy to see the fourth volume of Udon’s Silent Mobius: Complete Edition appearing on the list of new arrivals at last, but I am going to have to cast my vote instead for the fifth volume of Kaoru Tada’s classic shoujo romantic comedy, Itazura Na Kiss. Tada’s work is extremely different from that of Katsuhiro Otomo, and yet it was perhaps just as influential in its own way. Quite a few shoujo scenarios that we regard today as cliché started with Itazura Na Kiss, but it doesn’t read as dated in any way. In this particular volume, genius male love interest Naoki discovers and abandons his goal in life while ditzy protagonist Kotoko begins to realize that she has no dreams of her own, since she’s been wrapped up in thoughts of Naoki for the last five years. I suppose that might not sound like much, but in the context of this slice-of-life series, it counts as real and important progress. Highly recommended.

MJ: First, let me echo Kate’s sentiment, in that I was fully prepared to name House of Five Leaves, even if it was a repeat on the list, but given how beautifully David recommended it, my vote feels quite unnecessary. With that in mind, I’ll give a shout-out to Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts. I reviewed the series’ fifth volume in today’s Bookshelf Briefs, and though Mochizuki’s work is not without flaw, it’s also full to overflowing with beauty and real feeling. From the pretty, pretty pages of G Fantasy, the virtues of Pandora Hearts extend far deeper than its attractive surface. If you can only buy one volume of manga this week, buy House of Five Leaves. If you can afford more, take a good look at Pandora Hearts.



So readers, what are your Picks this week?

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: akira, house of five leaves, itazura na kiss, pandora hearts

Manga Bookshelf 2011 Eisner Roundtable

April 14, 2011 by Katherine Dacey 18 Comments

KATE: The 2011 Eisner nominees were announced last week, and the results were genuinely surprising. Not only did Eisner mainstays like Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka get nods, but the judges also recognized an unusual number of female artists, including pioneering shoujo manga-ka Moto Hagio. The diversity of styles and subject-matters was noteworthy as well; this is the first time in several years that the judges have nominated shojo and josei titles, which often get less critical respect than seinen manga.

So my question to everyone participating in the roundtable is this: which titles are you most excited about seeing on the list? And do you think they have a shot at winning? Why or why not?

DAVID: In terms of being genuinely surprised, I’d have to pick Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop (Yen Press) as the most pleasantly eye-opening inclusion. It’s a wonderful, wonderful series that doesn’t have any of those particular gravitas selling points, like a legendary creator or an out-there concept. Unita just tells a warm story about recognizable characters, and she tells it very, very well. It’s like the crowd-pleasing indie film that nobody expects to get a best picture nomination.

MJ: I’ll have to agree with David on the candidate for “most surprising,” for exactly the reasons he stated. In terms of pure excitement, though, I have to mention Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves. This thoughtful, languorous manga is one of my current favorites. And though its period setting and unique art style probably contribute to its Eisner-likeliness, I was still surprised to see it nominated.

KATE: Though I’d agree that Bunny Drop was the most surprising nomination, I’m most excited about A Drunken Dream and Other Stories. I’ve been a big Moto Hagio fan since I first read “They Were Eleven” four years ago, and have been frustrated by American publishers’ reluctance to license her work. (I know, I know: old-school shojo doesn’t sell very well, as Swan and From Eroica With Love‘s poor sales records attest.) Hagio’s Eisner nomination fills me with hope that Fantagraphics will take a chance on one of her longer stories — say, The Poe Family or Otherworld Barbara — allowing American readers to really get to know her work.

There’s another reason I want Drunken Dream to win: stories written by and for female audiences don’t often win major awards. Looking over the complete list of Eisner nominees, for example, I see only a sprinkling of female artists and writers singled out for recognition. The titles that did make the cut — Julia Wertz’s Drinking at the Movies, Raina Telgemeier’s Smile — are excellent, but I can’t help but wonder why female creators weren’t nominated in more categories, given how many smart, talented, and imaginative women are working in the field today. A win in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia category is a small but important step towards correcting that kind of oversight.

So what about you: which titles are you hoping will win? Which title would you bet on, if you were the gambling sort?

DAVID: Before I start odds-making, I definitely wanted to concur with your enthusiasm for the inclusion of women creators in the manga category. It’s been a while since they’ve been represented, I think since the 2007 and 2008 slates. And these women creators — Unita, Ono, Hagio — are extraordinary. I’m delighted to see all of them recognized.

Of course, I’m cynic enough to doubt that any of them will win. I think Eisner voters have an understandable fondness and admiration for Osamu Tezuka, so I would probably put my money on Ayako, even though I don’t think it’s his best work by any means. In fact, I’d rather have seen just about any of Vertical’s other books fill that fifth slot — Twin Spica or Peepo Choo in particular. But Ayako is a big, serious drama by a (male) legend, and that’s some serious voter bait right there.

MJ: I’m thrilled about the nomination of Drunken Dream, and out of the female-created manga on the list, I think it has the best chance to win. It’s “classic” and comes to us from a publisher that is better-respected in the western comics world than most of those that primarily (or exclusively) publish manga. I’ll join David in his cynicism, however, and agree that I think a classic from a beloved male creator (and Tezuka in particular) is much more likely to win. And while I’m not especially keen on an Ayako win (I, too, would have preferred to see nearly any of Vertical’s other recent releases nominated instead), in my heart of hearts, I admit I’d most like to see a longer series take the prize, above Ayako *or* Drunken Dream.

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but long-form storytelling is one of the things I most highly value in comics from Japan, and though I’d like to see Hagio get the attention she deserves, I’d rather see her get it for one of her longer series. Like Kate, I hope the nomination inspires Fantagraphics to consider publishing some of those here. I’d be very excited to see one of them on the Eisner list in a couple of years.

All that said, I’d quite possibly die of joy if any of this year’s nominated female mangaka actually did win, Hagio included.

KATE: That’s a great point, MJ: multi-volume series have certainly won Eisners — Buddha and Old Boy are past winners — but it’s very difficult to compare a complete story such as Ayako with an ongoing one such as Bunny Drop or House of Five Leaves. Sustaining a complicated narrative over many volumes is a very different skill than telling a story in a single volume; it seems patently unfair to compare something which is still in an early stage of development with something where one can actually judge the effectiveness of the ending.

And speaking of long-form stories, do you think 2011 will be the year that Naoki Urasawa finally wins an award, or is he doomed to be the Susan Lucci of the Eisners?

DAVID: I think the best way I can answer this is to suggest that Urasawa is an excellent Eisner nominee but not necessarily an ideal Eisner winner. And, speaking as someone who watched All My Children for many of the years that Lucci was nominated for her performance and lost, I think the comparison is apt beyond the nominations-to-losses ratio.

The thing about Lucci, and I say this as an admirer of her work, is that she rarely had those moments of transcendence that could be found in the performances of the actresses who actually won. She’s adept at both comedy and drama, and she certainly has charisma in the role, but I think her great failing was that she made her work look effortless. She was reliably entertaining rather than transporting, and I think you can say something similar about Urasawa.

He makes terrific genre comics that are among the most reliably entertaining you’re likely to find on the shelf. But when I compare his work to that of Tezuka, Hagio, or even Ono to a lesser extent, I see Urasawa possessing great skill as an entertainer rather than singular vision as an artist, and I think that puts him at a disadvantage in the best manga category.

When you compare him to the competition in the best writer/artist category, I think he could theoretically enjoy better odds, but then you have to factor in the tastes of the general population of voters. What percentage of that pool reads comics from Japan? And what percentage of that percentage reads Urasawa’s work?

MJ: David, thank you for clarifying your point so beautifully. That makes a lot of sense to me, and I think it’s helped me understand my own feelings about Urasawa as well. I like 20th Century Boys and all the other work of his I’ve read, and I’d describe them as wonderful comics and great reads. Yet when someone asks me for a list of my favorite mangaka, his name never even comes to mind. Because even though I thoroughly enjoy his work, my “favorites” will be writers who really speak to me in some specific way that is unique to them, and aside from traumatizing me forever with the death of a robotic dog, that’s never been Urasawa.

KATE: Your comments about Urasawa, David, make me wonder if Nabuaki Tadano’s 7 Billion Needles has a chance at winning its category (Best Adaptation from Another Work). Tadano’s work is solid but not showy; unless the judges have read Hal Clement’s original novel, it would be hard for them to appreciate what Tadano did to make the storyline more appropriate for a sequential art treatment. (Clement’s book, for readers unfamiliar with it, takes place largely inside the human host’s body, and consists of many lengthy conversations between host and alien. It’s a good read, but not something that would translate directly into a graphic novel.)

DAVID: That’s hard for me to answer, since I haven’t read Clement’s book. I do think the outcome of that category will depend on whether or not voters are considering how the source material was adapted or the stand-alone quality of the work. I’ve really enjoyed the first three volumes of 7 Billion Needles, so I was just happy to see it get a nomination and, hopefully, more readers from that.

MJ: I was actually surprised to see it nominated there, not because it isn’t a great series (it is), but because from what I understood, it wasn’t a direct adaptation they way we tend to think of them. I do think 7 Billion Needles is the kind of manga that appeals easily to non-manga readers, so at least that might work in its favor. I’m always pleased to see manga nominated outside of the Asian-specific category, so this nomination was one of my special favorites this year.

KATE: I’m hoping that the judges understand that Needle would have been difficult to adapt as is; Tadano did a great job of taking Clement’s ideas and making them work in a visual format, which required some pretty fundamental changes to the script.

And since we’re on the subject of Asian comics nominated for categories besides Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia, what did you think of Korea As Viewed By 12 Creators: did it deserve a nomination?

DAVID: I think it did, yes. It’s not the stunner that Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators was, but it does what an anthology is supposed to do: present a variety of styles and introduce the reader to some talented creators while featuring a very respectable percentage of good stories and some great contributions.

I have to say that I was kind of surprised not to see Top Shelf’s Ax anthology nominated. I’m not saying I liked it better than Korea, but when you consider the ambition and breadth of the project, it seemed like such obvious Eisner bait.

MJ: I was a little disappointed in Korea As Viewed By 12 Creators, but I’ll admit that my expectations may have been inappropriately high. I am certainly happy to see it nominated, if only for the visibility it might bring to its Korean creators. Anything that might help to bring a greater variety of Korean comics our way is a win in my book.

I would have liked to see something like Twin Spica break into the non-Asian-specific categories, but I can’t be surprised that it didn’t.

KATE: I’d have been more inclined to nominate Herve Tanquerelle’s “A Rat in the Country of Yong” for Best Short Story than to nominate the entire Korea anthology. “Rat” is a perfect example of how to do wordless comics: it’s got a clear, simple narrative that anyone can follow, but all of the fine details — the character’s mode of transport, the view from his hotel window — add nuance to the “stranger in a strange land” concept. Furthermore, by using animals as stand-ins for people, Tanquerelle avoided one of the problems that plagued other stories in the collection: cultural condescension. I know I’m in the minority for disliking Catel’s contribution, but I found a lot of her observations patronizing and superficial; it’s as if someone based their entire impression of New York City on one trip to Barney’s, you know?

As for titles that I feel were neglected, I have to agree with both of you: Twin Spica would have been a natural choice for the Best Publication for Teens, as would Cross Game. Both series have the rhythm and feeling of a good YA novel — more so, I’d argue, than some of the nominated titles in the teen category, which seem a little young for real adolescents.

Are there any other titles that you feel were unjustly neglected?

DAVID: I do generally find myself wondering why there’s no room for manga in the Best Publication for Teens category, especially for the titles you mentioned, but that might be more of a function of me not having read enough of the nominees that are there. And given that he has three excellent series currently in publication, I would love to see Takehiko Inoue nominated in the Best Writer/Artist category at some point.

MJ: I could definitely get behind that. I’d also love to see Real in the Best Continuing Series category.


See The Manga Critic for a full rundown of 2011’s nominated manga and manhwa titles. A complete listing of this year’s nominees in all categories can be found at Comic-Con.org.

Filed Under: FEATURES Tagged With: 2011 Eisner, 20th century boys, 7 billion needles, a drunken dream and other stories, bunny drop, Eisner Awards, house of five leaves, korea as viewed by 12 creators

Don’t Fear the Adaptation: House of Five Leaves

March 29, 2011 by Cathy Yan 27 Comments

House of Five Leaves | by Natsume Ono | Manga: Shogakukan/Viz Media | Studio: Manglobe/Funimation

Watch streaming from Funimation

House of Five Leaves cast

Regular readers of Manga Bookshelf will need no introduction to House of Five Leaves. MJlisted it as one of her best new seinen series of 2010, Kate has reviewed all three volumes, and David himself wrote a smart little ode to it recently when he reviewed volume two. For those of you still new to the series, House of Five Leaves is Natsume Ono’s seven volume samurai story. The main character, Akitsu Masanosuke, referred to in the series as Masa, is a masterless samurai determined to change himself while looking for work in Edo. One afternoon, Masa is hired by a suspicious man named Yaichi as a bodyguard. But all is not as it seems: Yaichi is actually the leader of a band of kidnappers who call themselves “Five Leaves”, and he doesn’t just want Masa to be his bodyguard — he wants Masa to join them as a comrade in crime. Masa, by nature a righteous and naïve man, resists Yaichi’s attempts to draw him in. However, he soon finds himself entangled in the fate of Five Leaves and, more importantly, in the mystery of Yaichi.

There are so many wonderful things about the anime adaptation of House of Five Leaves that it’s hard to know where to start. Thankfully, Natsume Ono’s distinct art style makes my job easier. Manglobe and the series director Tomomi Mochizuki transferred Ono’s art effortlessly into animation. The character designs are instantly recognizable, especially in Masa’s wide, childish eyes and Otake’s playful lipsticked smile. The sweatdrops, stray hairs, and blush lines of Ono’s characters are rendered in loving detail in every episode. There are even moments — the candy pieces of episode four, the pillars of the bridge in episode twelve — where the lines look like calligraphy, as if they were penned by Ono herself.

Often anime simplifies manga artwork. House of Five Leaves, the anime, does the opposite. While the manga tends to be very “white” on the page, full of negative space, the anime is full of textures: the unpolished wood of Goinkyo’s home, the tatami mat of the Katsuraya house, the smooth rice paper doors of Ume’s restaurant. Even more impressive is the interplay of light and shadow in the anime. Characters constantly move in and out of candlelight, open doors to let in sunlight, or sit with their backs to a window, hiding their faces in the dark. Ono is no slob herself when it comes to lighting in the manga, but the anime takes full advantage of its color palette — earthy browns and subdued gray-greens — to make Edo come alive.

The soundtrack features a combination of rumbling drums, wistful koto melodies, and reedy flute-like tunes that helps ground us in a historical Edo that, amazingly, never comes off as antiquated or forced. Likewise, the voice actor choices are almost flawless. Daisuke Namikawa as Masa is exactly the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and never says anything less than what he means. Veteran voice actor Takahiro Sakurai’s performance as Yaichi is by turns teasing, seductive, spiteful, and, at his best, all three at once. A shout out must be given to Masaya Takatsuka, who never misses a beat conveying Ume’s my-bark-is-worse-than-my-bite personality, especially in episode three when Ume makes a crack at Matsu. But the anime adaptation goes that extra mile: if you listen carefully, you can hear Edo in the background, in the soft drone of water boiling in a kettle, or the river streaming past, or the birds of Goinkyo’s backyard, or the shuffling of Yaichi’s wooden shoes. Ono’s manga might not think to comment on the “shaaa chhk” sound of a rice door sliding open or the faint crackle of straw as Ume unloads their latest hostage out of a basket, but it would be a pity to go through this anime without appreciating these little details.

At first glance, House of Five Leaves is about the journey Five Leaves takes from a ragtag group of misfits to a family who looks out for their own, even when there’s no money involved. For lack of a more nuanced, less cheesy word, the story is heart-warming. The more you uncover the crisscrossing ties of responsibility that connect the Five Leaves members, whether it be the reluctant life debts Matsu shoulders or the reason Ume remains in Five Leaves, the more you enjoy seeing them together at Ume’s restaurant, making fun of each other as they drink sake. Sadly, the anime does cut out one of my favorite scenes from the manga so far (Ume and Matsu bickering in volume one), and I imagine the later episodes similarly streamline forthcoming volumes. But the heart of the story comes through unscathed, which is a testament both to the strength of Ono’s writing and Manglobe’s talent at adaptation.

Underlying this story, though, is another tried and true theme: appearances are deceiving. Yaichi shows up in the first episode as a sage and benefactor to Masa, so naturally Masa, along with the viewer, looks upon Yaichi as a voice of authority. When we meet Yagi, the police chief who seems to know more about Yaichi than he lets on, we’re immediately suspicious of him because Yaichi tells us to be. But the more that’s uncovered about Yaichi, the more we realize Yaichi is the unreliable one. Just as Ume, Matsu, and Otake are more virtuous than the criminals we first meet them as, Yaichi is not at all the kind-hearted character we first encounter. In fact, he’s the most dangerous one of them all.

The anime has restructured the pacing of Ono’s series, favoring episodes that end on jarring cliffhangers and jumps in the timeline, often through flashbacks. Some might prefer the more measured pacing Ono shows in the manga; others might find the anime benefits from a more coherent focus, especially when it comes to Yaichi’s storyline. I for one felt like I could guess the events of episode twelve from the flashback sequence in episode one — a flashback sequence, I should add, that does not exist in the manga. But anime being the inherently action-based medium it is, I can’t fault Manglobe for wanting to ratchet up the tension just a little on what is, overall, a slow-moving story.

In the end House of Five Leaves is one of those series that I enjoy for reasons I can’t put into words. It’s not plot driven, and the characters never really change, even if they become more well-rounded. Certainly Masa never learns to get over his fear of being watched and remains the clumsy, shy samurai we first meet. But there is a marvelous je ne sais quoi to House of Five Leaves, an atmosphere of rambling down a countryside path on a late autumn afternoon, knowing that you’ll get to your destination eventually but not really knowing when. The anime luxuriates in that feeling. You could spend your time trying to piece together all the threads of the story, but you’d be missing the point. It’s meant to be savored, like a dango shared with a friend while hungry.

P.S. Next month’s anime adaptation will be Antique Bakery, just in case you haven’t had enough of stories about people making their own families. As always, if you have any anime you’d like taste-tested, drop me a line.

Filed Under: Don't Fear the Adaptation Tagged With: anime, house of five leaves

Off the Shelf: Soap, Shoujo, & Samurai

January 5, 2011 by MJ and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

Welcome to Off the Shelf with MJ & Michelle, and our first column of the New Year! I’m joined, as always, by Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This week, I catch up on some favorites from Yen Press and Viz Media, while Michelle shares a look at a unique “how-to” offering from Tokyopop.


MICHELLE: Hey, MJ? Why were the little strawberries upset?

MJ: I dunno, why?

MICHELLE: ‘Cos they were in a jam!

MJ: Ba-dum-dum *chick*

MICHELLE: Thank you! I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

Before you advise me not to quit my day job, perhaps I should make with the business at hand and inquire as to what you’ve been reading this week!

MJ: I spent the week catching up on new volumes of both a new favorite and an old one. I’ll start with the old one, which would be Park SoHee’s gloriously soapy manhwa, Goong. And I have to say, now that Yen Press has been releasing these in omnibus format, the series is more addictive than ever. Despite its soap-opera leanings, Goong moves at a brisk pace, so it reads very well in two-volume chunks.

Volume ten (consolidated from Korean volumes 11 & 12) begins with Chae-Kyung throwing both herself and her husband to the palace wolves by revealing the truth about their marriage in a live television interview. Incredibly, things only ramp up further from there to the end, making this one of the most dramatic volumes of the series so far.

What I admire most about Park SoHee, aside from her detailed, expressive artwork, is her ability to create well-rounded, morally ambiguous characters in both the “hero” and “villain” camps (particularly with the younger characters), displaying all their weaknesses, refusing to make clear distinctions between them, and yet still creating real biases and allegiances in the hearts of her readers.

Take Hyo-Rin for example. She’s certainly at odds with our heroine, Chae-Kyung, but she’s pretty well-balanced, overall. She’s equal parts “bitch” and “misunderstood victim,” and Park gives significant page time to both. As a reasonable adult, it’s clear to me that she’s just a regular teen girl stuck in a situation just as unfortunate and as unfair as Chae-Kyung’s. Yet I believe Park intends for me to really hate Hyo-Rin. Why? Because I do. I really, really do. Despite the fact that it’s incredibly juvenile of me to do so, I genuinely hate her and have, at times, wished ill upon her.

Writing a villain like a villain may not sound particularly noteworthy, but what’s brilliant about what Park does is the way she’s able to create the illusion of black and white using only shades of gray. It’s what keeps this series crisp and compelling, despite its soapy consistency. I’m impressed by it every time.

MICHELLE: The bit about you wishing ill upon Hyo-Rin literally made me crack up. Well done! And man, you have certainly stoked the flames of my love for Goong. I’ve been hoarding the past several releases with the intention of reading them soon, but now I’m tempted to reread from the beginning first the better to wallow in the melodramatic goodness that is this cracktastic series.

MJ: This volume is just about as melodramatic and as good as it could possibly be, and if you aren’t wishing ill upon Hyo-Rin right along with me by the end, I’ll eat my hat. :D

MICHELLE: No one ever goes through with that promise.

MJ: Well, I might not either. It’s a wool hat. Terrible texture. But never mind that! What have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: My pick for the week is not actually manga, but is very much about manga. I read How to Draw Shojo Manga, by the Editors of Hakusensha’s shojo magazines. The title is a bit unfortunate, because it might lull one into thinking this is simply a book about drawing, when that isn’t the case at all.

What it is is a very thorough introduction to the entire (incredibly time-consuming) process of creating manga, with specific advice and examples. I’m not talking simply “use this kind of nib for thin lines” but in-depth instruction on topics like creating outlines and storyboards, panel arrangement, the proper order for inking, using digital tools, and even how to deal with criticism. This can sometimes get quite specific, like, “It’s effective to have a panel that draws the eye to the top of the left page.”

Throughout, readers follow Ena, an aspiring manga-ka, as she creates an outline for a 16-page submission to a short story contest, moves on to the storyboard phase, and finally submits her finished product for criticism from two of Hakusensha’s editors. Obviously, the parts of this book dealing with submitting one’s story for consideration aren’t really applicable to American would-be manga-ka—unless they are fluent in Japanese, one supposes—so it’s unlikely that the claim “Follow along with us, work hard, and you will find yourself transformed into a professional shojo manga artist” will ever come to fruition. I wonder how often a book like this has actually produced success in Japan.

That said, even a casual manga fan would find this book illuminating. For a reviewer, particularly ones like us who are trying to improve our skills in artistic criticism, I’d go so far as to call it positively indispensable. There’s so much practical advice about what a manga-ka should be—and theoretically is—striving for in his/her work that I found it quite a fascinating read.

MJ: I have a copy of this as well, and while I haven’t read it in-depth, I was immediately struck by how different it is from the lame, obviously western takes on “shojo manga” we’ve seen in so many how-to books. It’s honestly the first one I’ve ever been sent that I had any interest at all in reading after doing a quick flip-through, and that includes all the ones I’ve actually read. Heh.

Though I expect you’re right–not too many American artists are going to be submitting their work for publication in Japan–was any of the submission advice general enough to be useful for western artists submitting their work to OEL publishers?

MICHELLE: Indeed, there is nothing lame about this book at all. And absolutely, the advice would completely apply to OEL creators. From the aspects of the craft itself to how to solicit criticism—instead of asking a friend whether they liked your work, instead ask if they understood it, for example—it’s completely applicable for western artists!

MJ: Now I feel even more inspired to read this!

MICHELLE: Any time I like something, I always think that you should read it, but this time I really, really mean it. I think you’ll learn a lot. I did.

Anyways, enough gushing. You hinted earlier at a new favorite. Which one might that be?

MJ: Ah yes, well, the new volume of a new favorite is volume two of Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves, one of my favorite debut series last year. As you may recall, I read volume one pretty much on a whim via the SigIKKI website, during a week in which I had little access to physical books. It’s going to be real books all the way for Five Leaves from now on, though. This series is definitely a keeper.

As this volume opens, Masa falls ill, which forces him to retire to the country under the care of Goinkyo, a friend of the Five Leaves gang. With Masa separated from Five Leaves’ leader Yaichi for most of the volume, the story takes on a dreamy, disjointed feel, emphasizing how important Masa’s admiration of Yaichi has become to his sense of purpose–perhaps even his sense of self. At Goinkyo’s, Masa is encouraged to discontinue his association with the Five Leaves, but thanks to Yaichi’s influence, it’s clear by the end of the volume that Masa’s not going anywhere.

This series continues to be very much in tune with my personal sensibilities, which is obviously a major selling point for me. Masa’s layers of quiet turmoil, the story’s moral ambiguity, and Ono’s distinctive, melancholy artwork are all perfectly constructed for my enjoyment. Though this volume has a distinctly plodding feel, this has the effect of placing the reader in Masa’s convalescent headspace–part boredom, part relief, and tinged with some undetermined amount of separation anxiety. The volume’s a bit sleepy but never dull, and the last few pages are genuinely riveting.

I suspect a series that relies so heavily on prolonged character study may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly a great fit for mine. And I’m expecting the emotional payoff to be pretty big as Masa submerges himself further into the world of the Five Leaves.

MICHELLE: I’ve really been looking forward to reading this second volume after I, too, loved the first very much. With his personality, Masa could so easily be irritating if handled poorly, but Ono renders him with incredible sympathy. He is ill-equipped to resist Yaichi and his charms and is actually kind of adorable in how he gets swept up in it all.

MJ: I absolutely adore Masa, and I agree that might well not be the case were he in another author’s hands. As it is, though, he’s a character I always want to know more about. I think I actually find him more interesting than any of the mysterious criminals around him. He’s really a unique protagonist.

MICHELLE: Definitely. You know, your picks this week remind me how much thoroughly awesome manga and manhwa we have in English these days. Granted, I could easily rattle off a dozen series I’d love to see licensed, but we’ve got it good.

MJ: You’re absolutely right. It’s a great time to be a fan, no matter how you look at it.

MICHELLE: Which reminds me, Deb Aoki at About.com put together this thoroughly awesome gallery of the new series debuting here in 2011. I bookmarked it, and thought maybe others might find it useful as well.

MJ: Great call, Michelle! Way to start the New Year off right!

MICHELLE: I guess this just goes to show that I can never simply appreciate what we’ve got, but must always pine for more, but I’m looking forward to quite a lot on that list and that’s a fun place to be as a fan.

MJ: I’ll drink to that.


Happy New Year from Off the Shelf!

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: goong, house of five leaves, how to draw shojo manga

Pick of the Week: House of Five Leaves

September 21, 2010 by MJ 3 Comments

Taking a quick break from my recent Vertical kick (though you can expect to see them back in this slot next week), and eschewing my usual PotW source, Comicopia, I hereby name Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves as my latest Pick of the Week!

Unlike many others, I haven’t fully jumped on the Natsume Ono bandwagon (though I do like Ristorante Paradiso quite a bit), but this series… oh this series. It hits me in all the right ways, with its passive, conflicted protagonist and shaky moral center.

Here are a couple of quick quotes from my recent review on Off the Shelf, where I discussed both my love for the story’s “hero,” Akitsu, as well as the volume as a whole:

“He’s just about as lost as a person could be, and yet there’s a survivor’s instinct somewhere in there that keeps him living and makes him weirdly compelling, despite his limp personality. I can’t help liking him and it’s definitely not out of pity. Ono’s unique art style is especially poignant here, too, and I think that really helps develop the character … The story moves quite slowly, but that’s really not the point. It’s all about this strange, vulnerable man, and whether he can truly discover family in a bunch of morally ambiguous outlaws. I had a lot of difficulty stopping after the first volume. It grabbed me that strongly.”

For more info, check out Viz’s latest press release on the series. Or just go buy it.

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: house of five leaves

Viz debuts House of Five Leaves

September 18, 2010 by MJ 2 Comments

I’ve been hearing about House of Five Leaves ever since it debuted on Viz’s SigIKKI website over a year ago. Still, it was only just a few weeks back when, deprived of sufficient access to my own books, that I finally took the time to check it out online.

Here are a few quotes from my write-up in a recent installment of Off the Shelf:

I’ve had mixed reactions to Natsume Ono’s work so far. I liked Ristorante Paradiso, but had issues with Not Simple. *This*, however, I loved. It’s really my kind of manga in so many ways … What I love most about this story is its unusually passive protagonist. Akitsu is a wonderful character. He’s incredibly conflicted on just about every level … He’s just about as lost as a person could be, and yet there’s a survivor’s instinct somewhere in there that keeps him living and makes him weirdly compelling, despite his limp personality. I can’t help liking him and it’s definitely not out of pity. Ono’s unique art style is especially poignant here, too, and I think that really helps develop the character.

The story moves quite slowly, but that’s really not the point. It’s all about this strange, vulnerable man, and whether he can truly discover family in a bunch of morally ambiguous outlaws. I had a lot of difficulty stopping after the first volume. It grabbed me that strongly.

According to the press release I just received from Viz, the first print volume hits stores on September 21st. It is rated for older teens.

Here’s more info from the press release:

HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES is a dramatic tale of intrigue and action. Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naïve, diffident nature has time and again caused him to be let go by the lords who have employed him. Hungry and desperate, he becomes a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a gang called “Five Leaves.” Although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws.

Natsume Ono is one of today’s top creators of seinen manga – designed for adult readers of mature and more sophisticated stories. She made her professional debut in 2003 with the web comic La Quinta Camera, and her subsequent works not simple, Ristorante Paradiso, and Gente (a continuation of Ristorante Paradiso) have met with both critical and popular acclaim. In 2009, Ristorante Paradiso was adapted into an animated TV series. Her current series, House of Five Leaves (Saraiya Goyou), also adapted into a TV anime series in 2010, is currently published in Japan in IKKI magazine.

Highly recommended.

Filed Under: NEWS Tagged With: house of five leaves

Off the Shelf: Stop Making Sense

August 25, 2010 by MJ and Michelle Smith 19 Comments

Welcome to another edition of Off the Shelf with MJ & Michelle! I’m joined, once again, by Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This week, we discuss titles from Viz Media, Yen Press, Square Enix and eManga (Digital Manga Publishing).


MICHELLE: MJ, I don’t mean to alarm you but I have some bad news. This column is going to self-destruct in five seconds unless you tell me about a manga that you read this week.

MJ: Gah, the pressure! The pressure! I can’t work like this, Michelle! Must… calm… down.

*breathe*

Okay. I had a bit of an odd week which kept me away from home a lot, so I didn’t have an opportunity to read any of the piles of manga I have staring down at me, day after day. To make up for this, I decided to check out some of the free manga I’ve mostly ignored online. Much of what I read was single chapters, but my cyberjourney first took me to Viz’s SigIKKI site, where I finally read the first volume of Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves, which is coming out in print next month.

I’ve had mixed reactions to Natsume Ono’s work so far. I liked Ristorante Paradiso, but had issues with Not Simple. *This*, however, I loved. It’s really my kind of manga in so many ways.

The story revolves around a samurai, Akitsu, who is dedicated to his vocation, but whose mild, even shy, personality has lost him his place among his kind. His timid manner is such a detriment, he can’t even hold a position as a bodyguard, so he’s often left with no money, scraping by on odd jobs which he finds fairly humiliating. Then he meets Yaichi, a powerful, charismatic guy who hires him for a one-time job. Akitsu is drawn to Yaichi’s personal qualities–the same ones he most painfully lacks–but his illusions are shattered when he discovers that Yaichi’s line of business is a sort of twisted vigilante kidnapping racket. Disgusted, Akitsu tries to distance himself from Yaichi and his group, but he’s undeniably drawn in by the warm relationship they all have with one another, which he finds difficult to let go….

Read More

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: aron's absurd armada, expecting the boss's baby, Himeyuka & Rozione's Story, house of five leaves, moon boy, off the shelf, record of a fallen vampire

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