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kamisama kiss

Kamisama Kiss Vol. 25 – limited edition

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Kamisama Kiss Volume 25 Limited Edition by Julietta Suzuki

I had a good time getting caught up on this series in order to enjoy the special edition concluding volume. After having to deal with the grand conclusion of the saga concerning Tomoe and Akura-ou, including visiting the land of the dead, tracking down Akura-oh’s immortal body, and dealing with Nanami’s decline after having her life force taken from her, the final volume gives all the characters in Kamisama Kiss some much needed breathing room, as Nanami and Tomoe prepare to enter the world of human adulthood together. Along the way Nanami helps out the Kotaro and Himemiko one last time, and it is nice to have this circular moment of returning to some of Nanami’s first friends after she became attached to the Ayakashi world.

Nanami and Tomoe’s wedding is a little bittersweet, because when they both become human, they’ll become cut off from the world where all their friends live. This is especially hard on Mizuki, who is worried about being left alone. Nanami and Tomoe decide to marry on the last possible day before becoming human, so everyone can be invited to the wedding. I do enjoy final volumes that allow the reader to say goodbye to an extended cast of characters, and this volume pulls off the reunion and celebration in a lively fashion, with detailed wedding costumes and panels that pause to show all the wedding guests. Someone as capable and arrogant as Tomoe isn’t going to have too much difficulty fitting into the human world, and the final chapter shows just how capable the newly human couple is at adapting to their new life.

The limited edition featured a slim hardcover book with the first few pages devoted to small reproductions of the color pages in the manga volumes. This was done in a collage, year-book style layout which was nice, but it also made me really long for an oversized volume of Julietta Suzuki illustrations because some of the detail was lost. The bulk of the volume is an extra bonus story that shows more of Nanami and Tomoe’s life after becoming human, with bonus pencil sketches of the final chapter of the manga. It was nice to get a window into Suzuki’s artistic process, I only wish the special bonus book had been two times the size and twice as long, but I shouldn’t be greedy! Kamisama Kiss was such a special series, I’m glad the final volume got a little extra bonus for the long-time fans who have enjoyed the series for so long.

Kamisama Kiss, Vol 20

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Kamisama Kiss Volume 20 by Julietta Suzuki

This volume starts dealing more with the issues that inevitably arise when a human and an immortal start developing romantic feelings for each other. It starts out with a conclusion of the class trip storyline, as Tomoe is able to observe what Nanami is like when hanging out with other human girls. When he goes on an errand to an island where he met a human kami many years before, he gets a vivid reminder of how short Nanami’s lifespan is.

Tomoe decides that he has to become human, and he wants that transformation to happen immediately. Nanami thinks that it is good that Tomoe is trying to get closer to humanity through some excessive studying, but she thinks that it won’t happen for several more years. When Tomoe gets his hands on some medicine that might have the power to transform him, she’s worried that he’ll die in a normal human lifespan, but he doesn’t want to remain immortal and watch her age and die. They fight a bit about this, and Tomoe goes off with his usual impulsive nature and takes the medicine, only to turn into a fox instead of a human.

This funny and sad situation brought on by mystical forces is the type of plot that Kamisama Kiss excels at, because it is hilarious to see Tomoe’s body language and cranky attitude manifest while in the form of an adorable fox, but it is also quite distressing that Nanami and Tomoe are being kept apart again. The appearance of Kirihito towards the end of the volume points out that there are going to be even more struggles ahead for the couple.

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One of the things I like most about this series are the quiet moments of character interactions, when Tomoe contrasts his memories the human kami he met as a little girl with the old woman she’s become, she mentions that the day she spent with him was one of her fondest memories. Nanami can’t help herself from hugging Tomoe when he’s in fox form, but she’s struck by his body language showing that he’s incredibly unhappy with his unexpected transformation. These types of moments give Kamisama Kiss more depth than the typical shoujo series, and have me happily reading every volume.

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 12

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It seems like most volumes of Kamisama Kiss involve human kami Nanami traveling to a new land or meeting some strange yokai. Fortunately this is a plotline that Julietta Suzuki executes so well with both art and story, I don’t mind a bit. I would happily look at a Suzuki art book because I find her character designs so entertaining. I’ve noticed that her underwater characters are often particularly inspired, so there is a lot to like about this volume, which features some major romantic happenings not for Nanami but for her yokai acquaintance Himemiko of the Tatara swamp and her human boyfriend Kotaro.

Himemiko has only appeared to Kotaro in human form, but her secret is going to be tested when her childhood fiance arrives to cause problems. Nishiki is a prince of a neighboring swamp who has grown up arrogant and cut off from contact from most creatures. His solution to his upcoming wedding is to kidnap both Nanami and her shrine, leaving her cut off from Tomoe. Nishiki has a formal way of dressing, accessorized by a scaly headband and fins at the side of his head. When he finds Himemiko in human form she pretends to not know what he’s talking about because she still doesn’t want to reveal her non-human nature to Kotaro. Kotaro gets injured during a confrontation and the god of the sea Ryu-Oh appears again, with his toothy grin, eye patch, and attitude problem.

Nanami struggles with her shrine being trapped at the bottom of a swamp and attempts to get through to Nishiki. Her utter disregard for high court yokai etiquette starts to wear the arrogant Nishiki down towards the end of the volume. His royal mannerism have even cut himself off from his own people, who boggle when they are shown the slightest amount of regard from their ruler. Himemiko and Kotaro start dealing with the true nature of their relationship, even as Nishiki starts to thaw a little bit and begin to understand that he doesn’t know much about the nature of love. Nishiki’s character evolves throughout the volume, and it is always good to see Nanami cause change just simply by being herself.

Even if Nanami and Tomoe’s relationship isn’t resolved yet, it is nice to see things moving forward for the other human/yokai couple in the book. I’m going to look forward to see what happens next at the conclusion of this arc, and if there’s a happy ending for the swamp Princess and her human it will be very interesting to see how Tomoe and Nanami react to that development.

Bookshelf Briefs 12/17/12

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

crossgame8Cross Game, Vol. 8 | By Mitsuru Adachi | VIZ Media – And so Cross Game comes to an end (for the record, I started sniffling at page 305). While it’s an extremely satisfying ending, Adachi stops short of adding scenes that fans might like to see, but which are ultimately superfluous to the story. Wakaba’s dream was always of Ko pitching at Koshien, not necessarily winning Koshien, so most of this omnibus is devoted to the riveting final came of the North Tokyo tournament. We never see the Seishu team at Koshien itself, nor do we see Ko and Aoba openly profess their love for one another. But the thing is… they don’t need to. They’ve always been so much alike, after all. It’s a lovely, understated, uplifting ending, and possibly my favorite thing about it involves Akaishi. (Dang it, I’m about to start sniffling again.) There’s something profoundly comforting about sports manga that Cross Game encapsulates perfectly. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. – Michelle Smith

kamisamakiss11Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 11 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I’m always struck by how well done Kamisama Kiss is. The story that started off this volume provided a glimpse into human kamisama Nanami’s past as she slips through a mystical gate and becomes a child again. Her shinshi Tomoe sticks around to observe Nanami as a young girl back when her parents were still alive. He begins to have a newfound appreciation for Nanami’s strong personality when he observers her flighty father and her strong mother. Nanami clearly gets much of her personality from her mother, even if she doesn’t remember her clearly. While some of the adventures in Kamisama Kiss might seem a bit repetitive as Nanami always seems to encounter new otherworldly spirits due to her habit of rushing into action without thinking clearly, Nanami’s adventures are always filled with such interesting and well-executed illustrations that this manga continually seems fresh. I particularly enjoyed a story where Nanami and Tomoe venture to a New Year’s market to buy essential shrine supplies, only to find themselves shopping for shoes, dodging the stompy feet of giants, and talking to a rabbit fortuneteller who has a fondness for leaf umbrellas. – Anna N.

fairytail22Fairy Tail, Vol. 22 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – This is one of those ‘fight’ volumes we see so often in shonen manga, but Mashima does a very good job of balancing the fights with plot, humor, and heartwarming. We’re starting to see the different sides of the villains, and that not all of them are simply evil for the hell of it. Erza and Gray are able to return, which allows us to get what we knew was coming – Erza fighting her evil doppelganger. We get to see more about what’s actually happening here, and the huge gulf between the cat race and the humans. And, of course, this being a Magazine title, we get tons of fanservice, mostly from Lucy, as it is her duty (she does get to be awesome as well, which is a relief). Essentially, this is a very solid Fairy Tail volume, and will not disappoint readers of the series. -Sean Gaffney

limit2Limit, Vol. 2 | By Keiko Suenobu | Vertical, Inc. – The second volume of Limit sees us expanding a bit beyond our main cast, showing us the school starting to figure out what’s going on and the bus company panicking (I sense a cover-up coming soon). What this translates to is not a lot of help coming anytime soon for our heroines. Meanwhile, while Mizuki does manage to bond with some of her fellow survivors in basic things like catching fish and making fires, the class strata are still at work. Everyone is coping in their own different way, especially Chieko, whose way of thinking the sentimental Mizuki just doesn’t get. And then there’s Chikage, who’s not really coping at all, and decides to remove herself from the entire picture. Gripping and compelling, the soap-opera style confrontations don’t feel all that forced, and you still really want to find out what’s next – and if there can even be a happy ending. -Sean Gaffney

pandorhearts13Pandora Hearts, Vol. 13 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – Well, wow. This volume is full of revelations, particularly regarding the Baskerville family, but also concerning Elliot Nightray and his valet, Leo, who are not only caught up in something that seems inevitably horrifying and tragic (by no fault of their own), but also suddenly stand as the series’ most slashable couple—and in this series, that says a lot. That’s not to say that there’s anything remotely romantic about this volume—in fact, it’s filled with truly horrible events, some of which are quite painful—but it’s exactly this kind of thing that reveals people’s deepest bonds, isn’t it? Jun Mochizuki certainly understands this to be true, and she uses it to her best advantage here, marrying love and pain in an irresistible display of emotional theatrics. As a bonus, this volume makes more sense than Mochizuki’s displays sometimes do—not that lack of such has ever deterred me from reading. Pandora Hearts, never change. Love, MJ. – MJ

madokamagica3Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 3 | Story by Magica Quartet, Art by Hanokage | Yen Press – The only real downside of having watched the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, is that having done so, it’s impossible to know for sure what it would be like to experience the story by way of its manga adaptation for the very first time. That said, my best guess would be “utter confusion,” especially as it reaches its third and final volume. Two of the series’ biggest revelations occur in this volume—the history of magical girl Homura Akemi and the truth of Kyubey’s mission—yet the former is rushed through at such breakneck speed, it lacks any real impact or even basic coherency. Though Kyubey’s revelation (and existence) still manages to be massively creepy, without a real understanding of Homura’s devotion to balance things out, the series has essentially been robbed of its heart. For completist fans of the anime series, this adaptation may be a necessary part of their Madoka collections, but it’s hard to recommend on its own. Sadly disappointing. – MJ

rin-ne10Rin-Ne, Vol. 10 | By Rumiko Takahashi | VIZ Media – As I’ve noted before, this series has very little regard for its ghosts that drive much of the plot. If there’s a message in Rin-Ne’s comedy one-shots, it may simply be “don’t hold on to attachments after you die, as it will never be worth it.” The ghosts we see here are whiny, despondent, and histrionic. The ones that they leave behind, however, tend to be more like the series’ heroine, Sakura – practical, pragmatic, and moving on with their lives. Now, that said, this makes Rin-Ne sound a lot deeper than it really is. This particular volume doesn’t even have any advances in the love quadrangle, which is par for the course with Takahashi, but usually she at least mentions it once or twice. Still having the same pluses and minuses as the previous nine volumes, this is for the reader who misses Ranma 1/2 and wish it had more ghostbusting.-Sean Gaffney

souleater11Soul Eater, Vol. 11 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Yen Press – A danger of releasing a series as popular as Soul Eater is that you want to put out the spinoffs as well – even if the spinoffs are far newer. As a result, Soul Eater Not! 2, which came out in 2012, spoils a major plot point for Soul Eater 11, which was released in Japan in 2008. That said, it’s not like Kim was a major character in Soul Eater to begin with. Unfortunately, the Witch Hunt surrounding her goes about as well as real-life witch hunts did, and I have a feeling that we may be seeing some brainwashing coming really soon. Other than that, Maka and Soul get to be extra awesome here, mostly as Black * Star has run off and Death The Kid is getting even more OCD with every chapter. And that’s not even mentioning Crona. There’s a whole lot of plot going on here – don’t miss it. -Sean Gaffney

wallflower29The Wallflower, Vol. 29 | By Tomoko Hayakawa | Kodansha Comics – It says something about what this series has become when the author praises herself for writing a chapter that’s meant to be heartwarming rather than ridiculous. And to be fair, she does deserve some of that, as it’s the best chapter in the book, and uses a peculiar time skip that gives it a fairy-tale quality (and makes the backstory more depressing). That said, it’s not like this series wasn’t ridiculous to begin with as well. And the ridiculous is in top form here as well, particularly in the fanservice-laden chapter where, to combat a heat wave and a stubborn Sunako revoking AC privileges, the boys decide to walk around naked. It’s every bit as funny as it sounds. (Kyohei as a nerdish rule-driven class president comes close, though.) No romance whatsoever, but lots of laughs, and a bit of sweetness at the end.-Sean Gaffney

Bookshelf Briefs 3/12/12

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This week, Michelle, Kate, MJ, & Sean take a look at new releases from VIZ Media and Vertical, Inc.

Arata: The Legend, Vol. 9 | By Yuu Watase | VIZ Media – By now, I should probably be immune to such shounen staples as “hero’s weapon gets larger to signify an increase in power,” but I still always find it cool, and when it happens in this volume of Arata, it’s no exception. The first half of the book is mostly fighting, with a little bit of heartstring-pulling thrown in that is still affecting, even though it felt like Watase was ticking things off a checklist in a very business-like manner. The relationship angst ramps up a little in the final chapters, as Arata learns that not only is he the successor to a powerful king, but also that he will create a new world with a “chosen woman” by his side. I really like the overall tone of this series, and though it offers few surprises or innovations, it still consistently entertains me. – Michelle Smith

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 6 | By Kazue Kato | VIZ Media – There’s a lot going on in this volume, despite it being mid-arc. The plot regarding the stolen eyes, and the revelation about a traitor in the cast. Shiemi’s inability to get past her knee-jerk reaction to Rin’s background, which is contrasted with a cute short story showing how well the two work together with Yukio, both in exterminating evil and in being his conscience. But mostly this volume is about Bon, and what it means to have a father that you can’t respect. Or rather, Bon *wants* to respect his father, but everyone else’s attitude, plus his father’s own ambiguous attitude, make it next to impossible. This is the meat of the story, and makes the conflict with Rin (who also has father issues) very powerful. This is an excellent manga, even if you aren’t a Jump fan. – Sean Gaffney

GTO: The Early Years, Vol. 11 | By Toru Fujisawa | Vertical, Inc. – The first volume of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan was a pleasant surprise, a raucous comedy about an earnest but slightly dim homeroom teacher who wants to make a difference in his students’ lives. Given how much I enjoyed my introduction to the world of Great Teacher Onizuka, I thought volume 11 of GTO: The Early Years would deliver more of the same. Alas, I found it a crude cousin to the later series, with rough, uneven artwork and jokes that repeatedly fell flat. Vertical, Inc. has done a better job of packaging this series than Tokyopop did back in the mid-2000s, with a snazzy cover and a snappy translation that conveys some of the sexual chemistry between the characters, but even Vertical’s first-rate presentation can’t transform this sow’s ear into a silk purse. -Katherine Dacey

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 8 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I want to like Kamisama Kiss: it’s got a memorable hook, an appealing cast of supporting characters, and enough yokai intrigue for two Shojo Beat series. As I’ve dutifully read each volume, however, I’ve come to the conclusion that Julietta Suzuki has no real plan for how her story will end. Nanami doesn’t seem wiser or stronger than she was in the very first chapters of the book, while her relationship with Tomoe, the crotchety shrine guardian, has fallen into an irritatingly predictable holding pattern that offers few rewards for the loyal reader. Volume eight does little to dispel the sense of futility; even a detour into the underworld seems more a demonstration of how inept Nanami remains than an inspired subplot. Strictly for fans of supernatural romance. -Katherine Dacey

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 13 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – While Kazehaya and Sawako remain the stars – and seeing her meet his family is probably the cutest part of this volume – this focuses more on the group, which I appreciate now that the main romance has moved from ‘will they or won’t they’ to ‘so what now?’. Chizu is dealing with a rather attentive Ryu, who’s becoming more obvious – possibly by design. Meanwhile, Ayane is not only dealing with Kento finding her interesting (something which she seems to be ignoring, possibly as she doesn’t understand him as easily as she does everyone else), but with her own ideas of what love and dating are, which are not as ‘pure and innocent’ as her two friends. She agrees to go out with a guy who confesses to her near the end of the book, but I honestly can’t see it ending well. Also, terrific cover art. – Sean Gaffney

No Longer Human, Vol. 3 | By Usamaru Furuya | Vertical, Inc. – Though it’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of Usamaru Furuya’s inspired adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s classic novel from the beginning, as the rather unrelentingly optimistic type that I am, even I find this a bit surprising. Hopelessness has been assured far before cracking open Furuya’s final volume, yet it’s impossible to resist the need to follow Yozo’s journey to the end. Though this heartbreaking volume is remarkable on both dramatic and artistic levels, what I found perhaps most compelling were Furuya’s own notes at the end, describing his personal connection with Dazai’s work and how he came to write the adapation. Complete in three volumes, this series is a must-read for any grown-up manga fan. Highly recommended. – MJ

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 7 | By Izumi Tsubaki| VIZ Media – Another highly variable volume – I love this series, but the author still has issues with focus and pacing. At its best, we get chapters like the first one, where we learn about Takaomi’s motives. It’s good to see his character gain some depth, and you really begin to see how driven and goal-oriented he is – and how that inspires Mafuyu. Meanwhile, the ‘summer vacation’ chapters get progressively worse, with Mafuyu’s festival with Sakurada being quite funny, but the ‘haunted house’ chapter being possibly the worst we’ve seen this series – so confusing I had trouble telling who was who from panel to panel. Ah well. Hopefully she’ll get that out of her system soon and we’ll be back to school, where Mafuyu fares much better – as does the mangaka. At least we get plenty of silly faces. – Sean Gaffney

Bookshelf Briefs 1/2/12

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This week, Sean, Michelle, & MJtake a look at recent releases from Viz Media, Yen Press, and Del Rey Manga.

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 5 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – The revelation from Volume 4 continues to reverberate in this volume, as now that Rin is known to be the son of Satan most of the class is treating him differently – even Shiemi, much to his dismay. To her credit, she at least realizes that what she’s doing is wrong. Still, it was nice to see Izumo step up and show she doesn’t think anything has changed. A lot of this volume deals with what Rin is supposed to be because of his heritage versus what he actually is in real life – as Rin notes, he did not personally destroy entire families, so why is he being blamed for it? Meanwhile, we meet Ryuji, Renzo and Konoekomaru’s families, and get into the next big plot point, involving the theft of demonic artifacts. As always with Jump titles, a lot of the time the resolution comes down to shouting at other people. But that’s OK, it’s still a lot of fun.-Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 6 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – Much of tis volume has another old, tried-and-true trop from shoujo manga. We meet a girl, Kayako Hiragi, who would appear to be a new rival as well as a horrible person who sneers at Nanami and has no idea how she could possibly get anyone to follow her… then spend the next few chapters showing how this attitude is a facade and she’s really broken and terrified deep down. It works here because Suzuki is a good writer and because Nanami does not let lack of raw power interfere with her basic niceness. Of course, she also DOES show some awesome new power here. One thing to note: the scene with the black tar spider demon attempting to possess/eat Nanami was bad enough, but Nanami’s cry of “don’t come inside me” gave it an even creepier feeling I wasn’t expecting from a cutesy Hana to Yume manga.-Sean Gaffney

Kobato., Vol. 5 | By CLAMP | Yen Press – The fifth volume of Kobato. provides some long-awaited details concerning how supernatural being Iorogi found himself chaperoning human Kobato on her heart-healing journey while stuck in the body of a stuffed animal. Unfortunately, despite this information and some truly gorgeous illustrations, I still just cannot connect with this series. I just don’t care that Kobato has fallen in love with Fujimoto, the hardworking part-time employee of Yomogi Kindergarten, and I just don’t care that her failure to complete her mission and have her wish granted has some sort of unfortunate consequence for Iorogi and his former underlings, who spend most of this volume standing around telling each other things they already know in order to fill in background for the reader. The most intriguing aspect of the series continues to be the yakuza, Okiura, but he’s only around for a few pages. Still, I’ll read the final volume to see how it wraps up. – Michelle Smith

My Girlfriend’s a Geek, Vol. 5 | By Rize Shinba and Pentabu | Yen Press – There’s nothing too exciting about the conclusion to My Girlfriend’s a Geek, but I think it’s probably better that way. Instead of manufactured drama, there are chapters about Taiga allowing the BL story he wrote for Yuiko’s eyes only to be posted to a website, the continuing effort to figure out whether Taiga’s friend Kouji has picked up on his sister’s otaku interests or is just really dense, and the final story, in which Taiga concludes that, though Yuiko is kind of bizarre and manipulative, being her boyfriend is “not such a bad life really.” It’s a pretty satisfying ending, though I could’ve done without the side story, in which a BL fanboy coerces his roommate to partake in his hobby with lines like, “You will do as I say, or I will sell your soiled underwear to dirty old men!!” What a charmer! – Michelle Smith

My Girlfriend’s A Geek, Vol. 5 | By Rize Shinba and Pentabu | Yen Press – I really enjoyed Volume 4, feeling that it finally managed to give Yuiko enough depth so that we could accept why Taiga would continue to be with her despite simply liking her looks. I was hoping for more from this, the final volume, but instead it seems a bit more like “we’ve run out of plot, do a few more chapters then wrap it up.” Not to say there’s not interesting material here – I was highly amused at finding that Kouji sees his sister in such a set way that he doesn’t realize that in reality she’s MUCH WORSE – but the chapter focusing on two roommates who are a BL version of Yuiko and Taiga felt very tacked on and pointless. Luckily, the last chapter was rather sweet – it stems from Yuiko’s fujoshi tendencies, and intimacy is still some ways away, but I’m happy we got to know this couple, and pleased we got to read this amusing if cynical look at BL fans and the men who put up with them.-Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 10 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – This volume was a more slice-of-life turn from Natsume, as we see his attempts to help an old classmate who has fallen for a spirit, and impersonating a harvest god so that a local festival can go on. The latter is the far more dangerous task, and we get to see several action sequences that I’m not really used to seeing in this manga that’s usually more mellow about its yokai. This story also involves Natori and Hiragi as well, and I enjoy the way that Midorikawa-san draws their relationship. I also like the fact that the yokai are still not used to Natsume’s basic kindness and concern. Everyone continues to try to see an ulterior motive. Luckily, we have other characters to be the flawed types in this manga. Natsume’s just the upright noble lad – and we’re glad to see that.-Sean Gaffney

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 6 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – I generally try to avoid letting my shipping biases affect my reviews of any manga, so I will limit my discussion of the first chapter of Nura 6 to a brief SQUEE! and a note that Yuki-Onna really gets to be utterly badass. That said, the rest of the volume is not without its pleasures as well. The Tamazuki arc finally comes to an end, but not before he gets to show off exactly why he’s never going to beat Rikuo – the scene where he starts sacrificing his own Night Parade is chilling. The second half of the manga shows off Rikuo and his classmates investigating a rumored yokai at a coastal village, and features some chilling art – Shiibashi is particularly good at drawing good guys revealed to be bad guys in a creepy way. Nura is nice, solid Shonen Jump, and will appeal to those who enjoy Jump-type relationships and a more active yokai series than Natsume’s Book of Friends.-Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 7 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – After wrapping up their search for jewel meat (and saving Rin, who was not quite dead, as I suspected when I read Vol. 6), the majority of this volume shows Toriko on his own, accompanied only by his battle wolf Terry. Though it’s odd seeing him separated from pint-size best friend Komatsu, we do get a few character moments here and there – most notably Toriko’s hard love towards Terry, who has a tendency to try to protect Toriko from lethal creatures that Toriko doesn’t necessarily need protecting from. As always, though, the main reason to read this is to see what ludicrous food the author will come up with. BB Corn may look normal, but proves to be anything but – and we hear for the first time about what Toriko plans to make his entree. God. That is to say a food named God, before people start to panic. Still dumb fun.-Sean Gaffney

xxxHolic, Vol. 18 | By CLAMP | Del Rey Manga – One of several metaphysical themes that runs through the entirety of xxxHolic is the idea that time and place for are not things to be taken for granted. The series is filled with searching and waiting for that right time or place, and it tirelessly urges its characters to be patient as they endure. And though the series proper ended a couple of volumes ago, I find I’m grateful that it did not quite end, because watching someone like Watanuki actually learn how to wait has been a very special joy for me. To hear some factions of fandom tell it, I shouldn’t be enjoying this series anymore, but if anything, I’m enjoying it more than ever. Readers should not expect the kind of dramatic tension one usually finds in a series’ penultimate volume—that moment passed several volumes ago—but this postscript is well worth reading. Still recommended. -MJ

Pick of the Week: Festival of Viz

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There’s a flood of Viz titles coming in to Midtown Comics this week. Check out the Battle Robot’s picks of the bunch below!

DAVID: It’s the first week of the month, so Viz follows its customary practice of flooding the shelves with new volumes of shônen and shôjo series. While they could certainly learn to pace themselves, I won’t complain if it means I can get my hands on the fifth volume of Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss. This series is turning into a fine example of Suzuki’s ability to balance antic comedy and nuanced emotion, which is always a good recipe for satisfying shôjo. One of the things I particularly like about Suzuki’s work is that she respects her readers’ intelligence and doesn’t need to underline every romantic beat, choosing instead to highlight unexpected moments rather than dwell on the ones we can all recite by heart. The result is a series that fluxes confidently between sweet, silly, urgent, sad, and suspenseful. I’m always happy to spend more time with these characters.

KATE: My vote goes to the fourth volume of Blue Exorcist. I’d be the first to admit that the series covers well-trod territory: it’s got combatants of the cloth, a magical academy where exorcists learn their trade, and a tortured hero who straddles the demon and human worlds. But Kazuo Kaito’s elegant art and quick wit bring this very tired premise to life, making it easy to forgive the frequent capitulations to shonen cliche: characters declaring they’ll “do their best,” sloppy but talented fighters winning the grudging respect of their more disciplined peers. I’m not convinced I want forty more volumes of Blue Exorcist, but what I’ve read so far is good, solid fun.

MICHELLE: There’s a lot on this week’s list—which includes the final volumes of both Eyeshield 21 and Seiho Boys’ High School—that I personally plan on purchasing, but the one I look forward to with the most glee is volume 25 of Yoshiki Nakamura’s Skip Beat!. Although our heroine Kyoko Mogami is still fueled largely by the desire for revenge, she gets more serious about the craft of acting every day while remaining believably oblivious to the romantic feelings of her biggest mentor, renowned actor Ren Tsuruga. Somehow, Nakamura is able to make all of this feel fresh and new, and in volume 24 revisited the well-trod shoujo territory of Valentine’s Day with truly amusing results. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

SEAN: As always with Viz blitz weeks, there’s any number of titles I could talk about, including the aforementioned final volume of Seiho (I love Eyeshield, but it should have ended 3 volumes before it did). And I really want to pick Hark! A Vagrant as well, but it manages to not be manga. So my pick this week goes to a new Weekly Shonen Jump series, the first from Viz in quite some time. PSYЯEN sounds like a standard battle manga, with the only difference being the tournament arc starts right away as opposed to 9-10 volumes in. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by many of the more recent Jump efforts (Nura, Blue Exorcist), and the art looks good. I’m hoping for another fun, exciting series that manages to have fights without letting the manga get overwhelmed by them. And Volume 1s are the best place for that!

MJ: Well, it’s been mentioned a few times, but I’ll be the one to come down firmly on the side of volume eight of Seiho Boys’ High School. This is the final volume of the series, which has managed to remain as brash and funny as ever, while also presenting one of the most moving, realistic portrayals of teen romance I’ve seen in a while. I’ll be discussing this more in this week’s off the shelf, but it’s not that often that shoujo manga successfully balances both the all-consuming heart-burst of young love right alongside its inevitable transience, without degenerating into serious melodrama. This fun, light-hearted series has turned out to be much more poignant than I ever expected, and at just eight volumes, it’s a nice, easy-to-collect length, too. Definitely recommended.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Off the Shelf: Good Reads & Oddities

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MICHELLE: I just ate an uncooked tortilla full of cheese.

MJ: I am eating bread stuffed with pepperoni.

MICHELLE: Assuming yours was actually cooked, I deem you the more sophisticated snacker. Shall we stop talking food and start talking manga?

MJ: Sure! I had a great week in manga, actually, with new volumes from two of my favorite creators arriving at my doorstep. It began with volume six of Ooku, Fumi Yoshinaga’s historical manga set in an alternate version of feudal Japan in which the male population has been nearly wiped out, leaving women to step into traditionally male roles.

This series has been fascinating from the start, and I’ve written quite a bit about it, especially in terms of the way it portrays a gender-reversed society that is essentially still patriarchal. This is still fascinating, but what really struck me in particular as I was reading this volume is just how much it reads like true history. Everything about this volume evokes a feeling of authenticity so strong, if I didn’t know anything about the history of Japan, I would absolutely believe it was non-fiction. That might not sound like a compliment, considering the quality of writing in a lot of non-fiction, but I absolutely mean it as such.

Every detail here, even the odd speech and awkward cadence, feels authentic. This is enhanced greatly by the strong sense, in this volume particularly, that everything here is far in the past, imbuing the story with an aura of inevitability I can’t quite describe. These events are fact, immutable and accepted by generations of people before us. That’s how the story feels.

The series gets pretty unsavory in places, and this volume is no exception there, but one experiences it with the same acceptance as one must when reading history. Even the ugliest moments are irrevocably part of the story’s time and place.

This may seem like a pretty simplistic observation, but really, it hadn’t hit me so strongly before this point. It honestly felt like a revelation of a sort.

MICHELLE: I wonder if that viewpoint will help me get past the hurdle of volume two. “Fictional cat, fictional cat,” I’ve been trying to tell myself. Maybe my mantra should be “Fictional cat a long, long time ago” instead.

MJ: Perhaps even “Real cat from a long time ago whose memory stays alive through poignant depiction of its fate.”

MICHELLE: That may be pushing it a bit.

MJ: Well then, moving on, what have you read this week? You know, that doesn’t involve an untimely feline death?

MICHELLE: Some interesting stuff, actually! As you might be aware, I’ve had some difficulty in pinpointing how I feel about Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss. Each volume has been more or less enjoyable, yet I’ve remained disappointed.

I’m happy to report that the third volume has hopefully changed that. This has less to do with any alterations on Suzuki’s part, however, and more with one I made myself: I stopped waiting to be impressed. Because I liked Suzuki’s Karakuri Odette so much, I was waiting for her to transcend that series with this new one, and it just wasn’t happening. By volume three, this impulse had largely subsided and I was able to simply enjoy the series for what it is: an episodic supernatural sitcom.

Volumes two and three have established a pattern: Nanami goes to school and encounters some new supernatural hottie from whom Tomoe, her slightly grumpy but actually kind shinshi (familiar), must protect and/or rescue her. Volume three’s interloper is Mizuki, a shinshi whose master has disappeared due to lack of worshippers. He takes the form of a white snake, and when he randomly shows up at Nanami’s school in this guise, she prevents other students from harming him. He repays this favor by leaving a mark on her that means they are now engaged.

It’s gratifying to see Tomoe spurred to action on Nanami’s behalf, even as he tries to tell himself it’s only on account of his shinshi dignity, and they are both awakening to their feelings more swiftly than I’d expected. None of this is really new territory—the description “Black Bird Lite” would not be far off—but as long as one stops expecting some sort of innovation, it’s actually a pretty nice story.

MJ: Now, one of the things I liked about the first volume of this series, is that it didn’t contain any of the blatant misogyny so characteristic of Black Bird. Given that you’ve described it as a “Lite” version of that series, what should I expect? Has this changed?

MICHELLE: Oh, no, it hasn’t. I just meant you’ve got a heroine whom supernatural fellows seem to desire—though this is usually on account of her kami powers or her shrine and not because boffing her will convey some benefit—and who has yet another supernatural bishounen to protect her. Tomoe isn’t condescending towards Nanami, in fact he’s beginning to acknowledge her good qualities, and though she’s grateful for his help, it’s not in a creepy “you validate me” sort of way. I guess it’s more or less the premise that’s similar, but the character dynamics are much more tolerable in Kamisama Kiss.

MJ: Makes me want to pick up volumes two and three so I can catch up!

MICHELLE: You should! So, what else did you read this week?

MJ: Well, I also received a copy of Natsume Ono’s La Quinta Camera , due out next month. As you know, I’m a big fan of the author, so I snatched this up to read just as soon as it arrived.

La Quinta Camera (The Fifth Bedroom) peeks into the world of a five-bedroom apartment in Italy, which is occupied by four middle-aged men and a stream of disparate foreign students who temporarily occupy the apartment’s fifth room. The story begins with Charlotte, a Danish student who comes to Italy to study the language, and whose tumultuous entry into the country takes a turn for the better upon her arrival at the apartment. At first, it seems like this will be her story, but by the beginning of the second chapter, Charlotte is already moving out, and suddenly it’s obvious that the real story revolves around the apartment’s constants, rather than its revolving fifth room.

This is early Ono, and there’s no denying it. After reading later series like Ristorante Paradiso and House of Five Leaves, it’s a bit jarring to return to the simpler, less refined art style that characterized not simple. What really shows off this story’s youth, however, is its narrative shakiness. Even slice-of-life manga like this benefits from a strong thread to hold it together, and there’s not all that much here to do the trick.

That said, what is here is brilliant in its own way. Ono’s talent for quiet characterization truly shines, though perhaps even that is overshadowed by her gift for nuance, especially when it comes to human relationships. Though most of the manga’s few threads of story feel woefully underdeveloped, Ono’s characters really live here, and there’s a sense that their lives continue offscreen even as we read. Particularly compelling is the personal journey of Massimo, the apartment’s owner, whose attachment to his roommates becomes tearfully apparent by the end.

Is this my favorite of Ono’s works? No, it’s not. But it’s still Ono, and that’s worth a lot.

MICHELLE: It almost sounds like a dress rehearsal for Ristorante Paradiso, with the young woman coming to Italy to have her lives enriched by a bunch of older men. And even if it’s not Ono’s best, it’s always interesting to read an early work of such a unique creator and chart how she has grown over the years.

MJ: Yes, it really is wonderful to be given the opportunity to trace the evolution of her work like this. I’m so pleased Viz has been releasing so much of her work!

So, what do you bring to us as our last selection for the evening?

MICHELLE: A bit of an odd duck, I’m afraid. I’m talking about the sixth volume of Raiders, published by Yen Press, which has the distinction of being the only manhwa I’ve read that is distinctly geared for a male audience.

Raiders is set in England, and follows a young man named Irel Clark as he first discovers then drinks from a bottle containing the blood of Jesus, which renders him immortal. Also searching for this magical beverage is Lamia, a zombie hoping for a cure, and they eventually team up, with Irel serving as her food supply. By the sixth volume, Irel and Lamia have parted ways and are independently learning some shocking truths about Christianity.

There is so much that’s wrong with Raiders. The story is convoluted and difficult to follow. The same could be said of the action scenes, and the art in general is just too bright/white. It makes me wish the book came with a knob so I could adjust the picture. The breakneck pace makes each volume a breeze to read, but there’s not enough time for plot developments to sink in, and there are still characters whose names I don’t know.

Even with all of these issues, though, I don’t actually dislike Raiders. Though one is bounced between scenes without always understanding how they relate, the scenes are usually interesting enough in their own right, and gradually a picture is beginning to emerge of what the series actually is: a very cynical take on Christianity and religion as a whole. If more people were aware of Raiders, I could imagine it causing a stir with quotes like “Religious zealots are no different than gambling addicts. They are obsessed lunatics.” In the world of Raiders, Christianity is most decidedly a myth, and one created with megalomaniacal aims in mind. Irel, with his newfound immortality, presents a challenge to the man responsible, which could lead to all manner of intriguing developments.

While I can’t really recommend Raiders, therefore, I intend to keep reading it.

MJ: Actually, the whole religion-is-lunacy theme you’re describing here makes me feel suddenly interested in the series.

MICHELLE: I had a feeling it might. There’s a sci-fi angle to it as well, which really doesn’t make any sense at this point (and might never), but that theme is certainly what made me really sit up and take notice.

MJ: You know, I’d become a little jaded about zombie comics, but I think I have to give this one a look, finally.

MICHELLE: Yeah, it’s less about humans having to fend off zombie hordes than it is about zombies being bummed out about their unlives.

MJ: Something we can all relate to. Heh.

MICHELLE: Yeah, though I thankfully haven’t had the experience of my leg failing to reattach itself on account of being sliced by the special sword wielded by an albino vampire.

MJ: You haven’t? Geez, Michelle, you’re so sheltered.

MICHELLE: I should get out more.

MJ: Indeed.

Bookshelf Briefs 5/9/11

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This week, Kate, David, MJ, and Michelle take a look at a slew of new releases from Viz Media, Digital Manga Publishing, TOKYOPOP, and Vertical.

Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso, Vol. 3 | By Natsume Ono | Viz Media – Comics, Italian Style — that’s how I’d describe Natsume Ono’s Gente, a series exploring the complicated personal lives of the people who work at and patronize Cassetta dell’Orso, the bistro featured in Ristorante Paradiso. Though Gente took a few volumes to find its footing, the third installment is magical: Ono’s men are dapper and virile; her women are bemused and tolerant; and the stories have the ebb and flow of real life, punctuated by moments of absurd humor or sadness that will remind movie buffs of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow and Marriage, Italian Style. If you don’t suppress a sniffle reading “Un Amore,” the story of a crumbling marriage, you’ve never experienced true heartbreak. Highly recommended, especially for fans of classic Italian cinema. – Katherine Dacey

Honey-Colored Pancakes | By Keiko Kinoshita | Digital Manga Publishing – This boys’ love anthology features five short stories, the first and last of which chronicle the bumpy relationship between Chiharu, a talented pastry chef, and Tougo, a handsome actor who’s as besotted with Chiharu’s desserts as he is with the hunky baker. The other three stories — “Tomorrow Will Be Rosy,” “A Clever Man at Work,” and “For Love” — also explore the formative stages of courtship, with characters screwing up the courage to confess their feelings or steal a first kiss. Though the book suffers from overly familiar scenarios, Keiko Kinoshita’s handsome character designs and discrete bedroom scenes make Honey-Colored Pancakes a good choice for readers who favor romance over smut. – Katherine Dacey

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 3 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – One of the things I like best about this series is how it demonstrates Suzuki’s versatility. Karakuri Odette (Tokyopop) seemed to me to essentially be about talking through things until the characters understood their feelings. Kamisama Kiss is about feelings that sneak up on characters to the point that they don’t necessarily need to express them. In this volume, it’s fox spirit Tomoe’s chance to rescue accidental priestess Nanami from a difficult situation, though she’s hardly passive, and she’s pulled his fur out of the fire in the past. As our evenly matched protagonists grow closer, circumstances intervene to suggest that Nanami may not know her companion as well as she thinks she does. Suzuki seems quite assured at throwing credible, character-driven obstacles in the path of her maybe-lovers, which is a fine skill for a shôjo mangaka. -David Welsh

Kizuna Deluxe Edition, Vol. 2 | By Kazuma Kodaka | Digital Manga Publishing – What a difference a volume makes! The first installment of Kizuna was a bit of a mess, hopping around chronologically as Kadoka tried on a variety of drawing styles. The series finds its footing in the second volume, however, blending episodic stories about long-time couple Ranmaru Samejima and Kei Enjouji—Ranmaru wishes Kei would get a haircut, Kei gets upset when Ranmaru volunteers to step aside should Kei find a nice girl—with glimpses into the yakuza world (Kei and his half-brother, Kai, are the children of a notorious boss). I never expected I’d actually get into the latter, but I really enjoyed the suspenseful final chapter in this volume, in which Kai is hauled in by the cops on suspicion of dealing narcotics. I’m beginning to see why Kizuna is such a classic and now eagerly await volume three! -Michelle Smith

Rasetsu, Vol. 9 | By Chika Shiomi | Viz Media – In this series’ final volume, with Rasetsu’s 20th birthday upon her, she finally faces the demon who claimed her long ago. Though the ending has its twists, what really makes it work is the rich emotional framework that has defined the series all along. After all, Rasetsu’s worst demons are her own fears, and this what she and her quirky, self-made family must battle in the end. There’s nothing shocking here at all—no overwhelming drama to put a big “bang” on the ending—just a few, deeply damaged people who will work things out together the way they always have. It’s lovely, truly, and a perfect ending for this genuinely enjoyable series. Complete in just nine volumes, Rasetsu is a rare, short shoujo gem. Recommended. -MJ

Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, Vol. 1 | By Arina Tanemura | Viz Media – I ordinarily approach a new Tanemura series with some trepidation, since I either loathe them or find that they’re better than expected. Sakura Hime doesn’t give a very good impression at first, as its first chapter is the whirlwind story of a spunky heroine learning that a) she’s the granddaughter of Princess Kaguya and b) that it’s her destiny to fight nasty demonic critters called youko. Everything seems generic, including the fact that she immediately falls in love with the fiancé she had claimed to hate, but when he turns around and tries to kill her… well, that spices things up a bit. I’m still not sure whether Sakura Hime is going to be a series I follow to its conclusion, but it has earned a second look, at least. -Michelle Smith

Silver Diamond, Vol. 9 | By Shiho Sugiura | TOKYOPOP – Rakan and friends continue to make their way toward the Imperial Capital, pausing to calm the spirits in a graveyard and befriend the inhabitants of a village. The pace of the story is as leisurely as always, but Silver Diamond can be counted upon to provide a calming, benevolent, imaginative, comforting, funny, and touching read nonetheless. Unfortunately, this is the final volume that TOKYOPOP produced, and it ends with a cliffhanger—Rakan has been put to sleep in order to prevent him from leaving the village and one of the residents is plotting how best to do away with his companions! Take heart, however! Silver Diamond is available in French, and if you’re not afraid of a little Google Translate action, continuing the story should be pretty easy. That’s what I intend to do, at least! -Michelle Smith

Twin Spica, Vol. 6 | By Kou Yaginumaa | Vertical, Inc. – “Graceful” is the word that most frequently comes to mind when I’m reading this series about students at a school for astronauts. The quintet of leads spends most of this volume learning more about each other, particularly rich, removed Marika. There are lots of comics about a group of young people who have a dream in common but not much else, but few of them are as delicate and understated in approach as this one. Heroine Asumi continues to bring out the best in her classmates, partly due to her kindness, partly due to the example she sets, and partly due to the vulnerability she displays. I think it’s quite an accomplishment to create a heroine who inspires both the desire to protect and the anxiety that already she’s miles ahead. Why wasn’t this series nominated for an Eisner again? -David Welsh

Pick of the Week: Kiss, Taro, Teacher

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It’s a Viz-centric week according to Midtown:

From David: My pick this week is the second volume of Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss (Viz). I wasn’t very inspired by the notion of this book until I read some of Suzuki’s Karakuri Odette (Tokyopop) for a recent Manga Moveable Feast and was very taken with Suzuki’s quirky, thoughtful writing. As I noted about the first volume, “It’s got grumpy, likeable leads, a solid premise, and an endearing look to it.” And Kate noted something very central to the appeal of the series and its protagonists in her review of the first two volumes: “Making those tart exchanges more entertaining is the fact that Nanami and Tomoe are equally matched.”

From Kate: Once again, I’m going to wear my Good Comics for Kids hat and recommend a title for the under-ten crowd: Taro and the Terror of Eats Street, which is published by VIZKids. The series focuses on Taro, a young cartoonist, who creates the fictional world of Doodledom. When an eraser-wielding maniac threatens Taro’s characters, he uses a magic pencil to leap into the page and join the fight, drawing weapons and cool getaway vehicles whenever he’s in a pinch. The first volume of the series, Taro and the Magic Pencil, was so imaginative, funny, and fast-paced that I’m willing to bet that Eats Street will be a winner, too. Like the Panda Man books, Taro and the Terror of Eats Street also includes games and puzzles. The fun part: those activities are actually part of the story, not an afterthought, making for a more interactive reading experience for elementary school readers.

From Michelle: Although I am very keen to read the second volume of Kamisama Kiss, I am going to go with Oresama Teacher for my pick this week. It’s a new Shojo Beat series about a girl with a delinquent past who’s been given a chance to start over at a new school. Best of all, she seems inclined to seize the opportunity to change, which reminds me of Very! Very! Sweet, a manhwa I enjoy a lot. Of course, this is by the same author of Magic Touch, about which I heard mixed opinions, but I’m hopeful that it will be as fun as it looks.

From MJ: I’m going to bring this mini-roundtable full circle and agree with David. Volume two of Kamisama Kiss is my Pick of the Week. Here’s a bit from my review of the first volume: “What I especially appreciate about this series, is that regardless of Tomoe’s tremendous superiority complex, he’s far too lazy to be controlling like so many shoujo love interests, and even his surliness is kept staunchly at bay thanks to Nanami’s power of kotodama, which forces him to do her bidding whether he wants to or not. In a way, Kamisama Kiss is everything that Black Bird could have been if not for its heavy misogynist overtones. Like Misao, Nanami’s surrounded by yokai who would just as soon eat her if they had the chance, but unlike Misao, Nanami has agency, and that makes all the difference in the world.”

So, readers, what are your Picks this week?

Off the Shelf: First reads, second chances

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

We’ve got another Tokyopop debut series to look at this week, and a mix of debuts and continuing series from Yen Press and Viz Media as well.

MJ: I like fruitcake.

MICHELLE: You have my deepest condolences.

MJ: Hater.

MICHELLE: I tend to generally not like bread-like items with things in them. That said, I was a kid the last time I tried it so would give it another chance.

Can you say the same about the manga you read this week?

MJ: Hmmmm, well, not quite. Or, I should say, “not necessary.” But I’m guessing you can?

MICHELLE: More like a “probably not” and a “this one was on its third chance already” kind of thing. :) But first, the former!

I really wanted to like AiON, TOKYOPOP’s new series by Yuna Kagesaki, the creator of Chibi Vampire. The cover is pretty attractive, after all (if you can get past the moe factor), and shows off the publisher’s snazzy new trim dress. Plus, the back cover blurb starts with six tantalizing words I never expected to see strung together in this order: “Mermaids and mind-controlling parasites wage war…”

Unfortunately, despite the cracktastic potential suggested by that phrase, the story as presented in the first volume is exceedingly dull. Wealthy Tatsuya Tsugawa has lost both his parents the week before, and yet seems largely unaffected by this aside from trying to live up to his dying father’s wish that he become a great man. This compels him to intervene when he notices a classmate, Miyazaki, being bullied. She tells him several times that she wants the bullying to continue, but he can’t leave her alone and eventually learns that she was purposely antagonizing the bully the better to extract a parasite that was infecting her.

Perhaps the story doesn’t seem so boring in summary form, but it really, really is. I lay most of the blame at the feet of Tsugawa, who is just so utterly generic that the only thing remarkable about him is the extent of his blandness. At the halfway point, when he questions why Miyazaki’s opinion matters to him and wonders if this means that he likes her, I quite literally set the book aside and had a brief nap. That’s how believable and meaningful the scene was.

Tsugawa and Miyazaki interact a few more times, with the inevitable result that she winds up moving in with him. Love and parasites will surely ensue, but man, I can’t imagine sitting through a second volume.

MJ: I’ll admit the story doesn’t sound *so* boring in summary form, but your nap anecdote is difficult to ignore. Also, where are the mermaids?

MICHELLE: An excellent question! I don’t recall a single mention of them. More vividly, I recall the half dozen grammar errors that plague the text. All in all, it’s not a very auspicious debut.

Did you fare better with your picks this week?

MJ: I did, particularly with my first selection, which I found quite charming. This week, I finally got around to picking up Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss, a supernatural romantic comedy from Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint.

Like AION, this series begins with its protagonist, Nanami, being essentially orphaned, though in this case our teenaged heroine’s father has not actually died but skipped town to avoid his gambling debts, leaving his daughter to face the collectors all alone. Once she’s been evicted from her apartment, Nanami ends up in the park where she meets a strange man who offers her his home if she’ll take over his job. Before she knows what’s happening, he’s sent her on her way, but when Nanami reaches the home that’s been promised her, it turns out to be a shrine–of which she’s just been made god!

An argument could be made that this premise sounds much less interesting than AION‘s as you’ve described it, but fortunately this one is well-executed and genuinely fun.

Nanami’s cut from pretty standard shoujo cloth–a spunky young woman with no obvious talent aside from her determined optimism, but she’s got a great foil in the form of Tomoe, a fox (the supernatural kind, though the other kind too) who served the shrine’s former kami and who is beyond dismayed to find himself bound to someone like Nanami. Tomoe is catty and cynical but excellent at his job, and watching him work and argue with Nanami is the source of most of this volume’s charm.

What I especially appreciate about this series, is that regardless of Tomoe’s tremendous superiority complex, he’s far too lazy to be controlling like so many shoujo love interests, and even his surliness is kept staunchly at bay thanks to Nanami’s power of kotodama, which forces him to do her bidding whether he wants to or not. In a way, Kamisama Kiss is everything that Black Bird could have been if not for its heavy misogynist overtones. Like Misao, Nanami’s surrounded by yokai who would just as soon eat her if they had the chance, but unlike Misao, Nanami has agency, and that makes all the difference in the world.

MICHELLE: It’s interesting that you mention Black Bird, because I did the same in my recent review of Kamisama Kiss, though mine was more in the context of being worried about some of Tomoe’s comments as contrasted by his kindliness. You’re right about the kotodama giving Nanami an advantage, though—actually, this combined with Tomoe’s white ears puts me in mind of Kagome’s ability to compel InuYasha‘s titular hero to “Sit!”—so perhaps I oughtn’t be so concerned.

MJ: It’s interesting to me that you had that concern, because this series didn’t ping me that way at all, and not just because of Nanami’s kotodama. Tomoe may be surly and condescending, but he’s expressed zero sexual interest in Nanami so far, and he thankfully lacks Kyo’s predatory lust and possessiveness, which is what makes Kyo so controlling and repulsive. Tomoe’s neither as clingy nor as abusive as Kyo, and though it seems clear that Tomoe and Nanami are being set up for romance, I feel like they’re starting on even ground, thanks to their individual strengths and weaknesses.

MICHELLE: Yeah, you’re right. And it wasn’t so much that I thought there relationship was like the one in Black Bird, but more that it made me think of Black Bird, which is usually not a good sign! :)

MJ: Yeah, I can relate to that. :D

So what else have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: You’ll be pleased to hear that the series to which I gave a third chance is Nabari No Ou! It’s very rare that you and I should disagree about a series, but it happened with this tale of a reluctant ninja. I found the first two volumes to be mighty boring, but I’m happy to report that things pick up a lot in volume three and stay pretty interesting through volume five!

The basic gist of the plot is that a middle schooler named Miharu Rokujou is inhabited by an immense power known as the “Shinra Banshou,” and two factions of ninja clans are fighting over him. Both are after a set of five scrolls containing the “secret arts” of the various ninja clans, though one group thinks they can use these scrolls to dispel Shinra Banshou while the other seeks to activate it. In volume three, Miharu and his protectors (they of the “dispel” camp) accept a job to assassinate a scientist in exchange for one such scroll, which leads Miharu’s protector Kumohira-sensei to question his convictions and ultimately, to a chilling culmination of the assignment. Volumes four and five deal primarily with the backstory for one of the characters’ brothers, and manage to sustain much of the momentum gained in volume three.

Don’t get me wrong, I still yawn when reading about the squabbling clans or the all-powerful scrolls, but the characters and their relationships are what have piqued my interest at last. Largely this is facilitated by the head of a rival clan—the one who hired them for the assassination job—who possesses the ability to read minds and threatens to reveal everyone’s “grave secrets.” This gets everyone suspicious of one another, with some pretty dramatic results. I’m most interested in the dynamic between Miharu and Kumohira, because the latter seeks to obtain the former’s trust while revealing as little as possible about what he remembers of some cataclysmic past event, but I also quite like scenes between Miharu and Yoite, another young man who should be Miharu’s enemy but for whom he seems willing to do just about anything. I’m sure there is loads of fanfic written about these two.

Anyway, I am finally on board the Nabari train.

MJ: I am very pleased to hear this! I feel like this series has been the skeleton in the closet of our friendship! Or something like that.

I agree that it’s the relationships that really make this series come alive, though I liked them earlier on than you did. Or maybe I just liked Miharu so much, I felt more patient about the rest. He’s the kind of enigma I enjoy most. I haven’t fully dug in to volume five yet, but now I’m really looking forward to it.

I feel like I should have many smart questions to ask you, now that you’ve read further into the series, but I find I mainly just agree, particularly on your feelings about where the most interesting relationship drama currently resides.

MICHELLE: I found Miharu petulant at first, but once the mind-reader arrived and saw that his indifference is just a front, I found him more appealing. I must say, it is somewhat of a relief for us to be on the same page at last! :)

What else have you been reading this week?

MJ: I’m a bit tardy on this one, but I’ve just finished the second volume of Shunjo Aono’s I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow from Viz’s SigIKKI line.

I enjoyed the first volume of this series, but my greatest concern at the time was that the series might quickly become unreadable if something didn’t change for its painfully lost protagonist. Fortunately, that pitfall has not yet come to pass, though not for the reasons one might imagine.

The second volume finds Shizuo still plugging along in his half-hearted, humiliating way, creating bad manga that may never be accepted for publication, imagining romantic interest from a woman who is merely kind to him, and imposing on the few people who inexplicably care for him, including his daughter and his younger friend, Shuichi. A bit of backstory helps to put his stunted personality in perspective, but it’s truly agonizing to watch him fumble through life, especially should one catch a glimpse of oneself in Shizuo’s plight, which, believe you me, is uncomfortably easy for many of us to do.

What really saves this volume, however, is that it miraculously develops a hero, and that hero is, surprisingly, Shuichi. Here’s a quiet, pretty much expressionless guy, who manages somehow in the least likely arena to display the kind of compassion and fearlessness one might expect from a shounen battle hero. I won’t spoil you by telling you what happens, but I will say that I actually cheered audibly at one point in this volume. Being a melancholy seinen comedy, Shuichi’s heroism doesn’t get him much but a messed up face and the loss of his job, but it’s still a damn good read.

Of course, Shuichi isn’t actually the hero of this manga, and even now I find myself wondering how long the story’s premise can last without becoming too depressing to bear. But Aono’s won my confidence enough to compel me towards volume three, and that’s no small feat.

MICHELLE: I haven’t even been able to work up the desire to give this series a first chance, much less a second or third. It just sounds so… horribly frustrating and bound to leave the reader depressed. Maybe it’s shallow of me, but I’d much rather read something utterly frivolous.

MJ: It’s not necessarily an easy read, that’s for sure, though it is genuinely a comedy. It’s not self-consciously dark.

MICHELLE: Yeah, but I have a history of finding unfunny series that others find very amusing, like Detroit Metal City. I think I’ll continue to stay away from this one.

MJ: Probably a good call. Though I hope you’ll give fruitcake another try someday. ;)

MICHELLE: It might take some time to muster up the nerve.

MJ: So it’s often been said.

MICHELLE: Many times, many ways?

MJ: “Merry fruitcake… to yoooooou.”

MICHELLE: *pachi pachi*

Many thanks to Michelle for indulging me in 22 installments of this feature since we first began back in August! Join us again in the new year for an all new Off the Shelf!