• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Comment Policy
    • Disclosures & Disclaimers
  • Resources
    • Links, Essays & Articles
    • Fandomology!
    • CLAMP Directory
    • BlogRoll
  • Features & Columns
    • 3 Things Thursday
    • Adventures in the Key of Shoujo
    • Bit & Blips (game reviews)
    • BL BOOKRACK
    • Bookshelf Briefs
    • Bringing the Drama
    • Comic Conversion
    • Fanservice Friday
    • Going Digital
    • It Came From the Sinosphere
    • License This!
    • Magazine no Mori
    • My Week in Manga
    • OFF THE SHELF
    • Not By Manga Alone
    • PICK OF THE WEEK
    • Subtitles & Sensibility
    • Weekly Shonen Jump Recaps
  • Manga Moveable Feast
    • MMF Full Archive
    • Yun Kouga
    • CLAMP
    • Shojo Beat
    • Osamu Tezuka
    • Sailor Moon
    • Fruits Basket
    • Takehiko Inoue
    • Wild Adapter
    • One Piece
    • After School Nightmare
    • Karakuri Odette
    • Paradise Kiss
    • The Color Trilogy
    • To Terra…
    • Sexy Voice & Robo
  • Browse by Author
    • Sean Gaffney
    • Anna Neatrour
    • Michelle Smith
    • Katherine Dacey
    • MJ
    • Brigid Alverson
    • Travis Anderson
    • Phillip Anthony
    • Derek Bown
    • Jaci Dahlvang
    • Angela Eastman
    • Erica Friedman
    • Sara K.
    • Megan Purdy
    • Emily Snodgrass
    • Nancy Thistlethwaite
    • Eva Volin
    • David Welsh
  • MB Blogs
    • A Case Suitable For Treatment
    • Experiments in Manga
    • MangaBlog
    • The Manga Critic
    • Manga Report
    • Soliloquy in Blue
    • Manga Curmudgeon (archive)

Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

kimi ni todoke

Bookshelf Briefs 3/12/12

March 12, 2012 by Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney, Katherine Dacey and MJ 1 Comment

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

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs Tagged With: arata: the legend, blue exorcist, gto, kamisama kiss, kimi ni todoke, no longer human, oresama teacher

Bookshelf Briefs 1/23/12

January 23, 2012 by Katherine Dacey, Michelle Smith and Sean Gaffney Leave a Comment

This week, Kate, Michelle, & Sean look at new releases from Kodansha Comics, Viz Media, and Yen Press.


Animal Land, Vol. 3 | By Makoto Raiku | Kodansha Comics – What a difference a volume makes! Now that Taroza can walk, talk, and kick butt, Animal Land has taken a turn for the better. The action sequences are imaginatively staged, allowing Taroza to display a wider range of abilities and fight more formidable opponents. Volume three is also noteworthy for the introduction of the series’ second human character, a feisty blond girl who’s allied herself with a pride of hungry lions. While the interactions between her and Taroza are predictable (Capri is puzzled by her attraction to Taroza), Makoto Raiku manages to eke some fresh laughs out of their awkward courtship. A good choice for the middle-school crowd, in spite of the 13+ rating. – Katherine Dacey

Bokurano: Ours, Vol. 5 | By Mohiro Kitoh | Viz Media – I hadn’t originally planned on reading this right away, figuring it might be nice to have several volumes of this series to consume sequentially. But then I read that there’s a major revelation in this volume, and I just couldn’t resist. Actually, for a series about children who are conscripted into piloting a giant mecha with their life force, this is what passes for an upbeat volume, in that one boy successfully completes his mission then donates his heart to a very ill friend and one of the girls is able to catch a glimpse of her newborn baby brother before passing away. I thought the “major revelation” was telegraphed a bit too strongly beforehand, so it wasn’t as shocking as it could’ve been, but it’s certainly an intriguing twist. Kitoh’s sketchy, minimalist, and distinctive art style is growing on me, as well. Definitely still recommended. – Michelle Smith

Gon, Vol. 3 | By Masashi Tanaka | Kodansha Comics – If you dutifully purchased all seven volumes of Gon in late 2000s, fear not: the new Kodansha version is nearly identical to the old CMX Manga edition, save for the trade dress. If you missed out on Gon, however, now is a perfect time to explore this delightful series. As you’ve probably heard, Gon features a small orange t-rex who has a ten-year-old boy’s penchant for causing mischief. In volume three, for example, Gon floats down the Amazon, accidentally ingests some hallucinogenic mushrooms, and goes mano-a-mano with a tiger. All of Gon’s escapades are rendered in breathtaking detail; Masashi Tanaka’s linework is impeccable, capable of suggesting the texture of a reptile’s skin or a pine tree’s bark. Tanaka also has great comic chops; only Chuck Jones is his peer when it comes to drawing funny animals. Highly recommended. – Katherine Dacey

Kimi Ni Todoke, Vol. 12 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media. – We continue to focus on Sawako and Kazehaya’s new relationship, and how neither of them are quite sure what to do now. Sure, they’re dating and all, but how do two basically shy people go about holding hands, or even *gulp* kissing? To add to Kazehaya’s nervousness, Sawako’s parents now know they’re together. Luckily Kazehaya is a sweetie pie – indeed, her father is irritated that he can’t forbid Sawako to date him as he’s basically swell. There’s also a fantastic chapter showing how Chizu and Ayane met – Chizu, who always speaks before she thinks, makes a wonderful contrast to Ayane’s calculated speech and cognizance of the way others think. One could argue very little really happens in this volume, but who cares? Still fantastic.-Sean Gaffney

Pandora Hearts, Vol. 8 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – As we approach a volume count in the double digits, we’re starting to get plenty of information about the past, including some significant revelations about Alice. My reactions to this material can best be summed up by one of the characters, who says, “Hrm… ‘twould all seem to make sense, but not quite.” Here’s another applicable quote: “It’s been one crazy story after another, so my head’s still working on catching up.” After demonstrating some sympathy for her readers with this dialogue, Mochizuki gets back to the present, sending Oz to a local festival while suggesting that Gilbert’s about to go all crazypants. Rounding out the volume is the original one-shot concept for the series which is, I am sorry to say, both confusing and dull, but offers some entertainment in the form of familiar characters in unfamiliar situations. – Michelle Smith

Psyren, Vol. 2 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Viz Media. – I always find these mid-range Jump series difficult. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Psyren – the hero is fun in a Jump way, he contrasts nicely with his more competent friend, and the heroine is cute and more sensible than her other two friends. Still, there’s nothing here that demands I go out and get the next volume IMMEDIATELY, as I always feel with One Piece. It’s not a great series, it’s merely pretty good. Still, pretty good isn’t that bad. Matsuri is a fun addition to the cast, and there’s some great humor here with Ageha completely failing to use his psychic powers… then overdoing it when he finally gets it. The fighting scenes aren’t really as interesting yet, though. Given it’s a Jump manga, I hope that gets sorted out soon. Again, recommended if you like the Jump style.-Sean Gaffney

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs Tagged With: animal land, bokurano: ours, gon, kimi ni todoke, pandora hearts, psyren

Bookshelf Briefs 6/27/11

June 27, 2011 by Michelle Smith, MJ, Katherine Dacey and David Welsh 3 Comments

This week, Michelle, MJ, Kate, & David take a look at new releases from Viz Media, Yen Press, and Archie Comics.


Bleach, Vol. 35 | By Tite Kubo | Viz Media – The battle to rescue Orihime and foil Aizen’s plans to destroy Karakura Town continues! Too bad that it mostly does so in the form of an interminable match-up between Kenpachi Zaraki, badass Soul Reaper captain, and Nnoitora, the irksome Arrancar. You just know that when an opponent in shounen manga brags incessantly about how it’s impossible to cut him, he is gonna wind up getting cut. And so it goes, though the fight itself is a confusing mess of blows, explosions, and sound effects like “wooo” and “klang.” There’s finally a bit of progress in Aizen’s plans, and if I cared enough I’d ferret out what seems to be either sloppy plotting or a retcon, but the truth is that it’s really best not to think too much about such things when reading Bleach, which in this volume embodies mindless entertainment at its best. – Michelle Smith

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 2 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – Exorcist-in-training Rin has been slacking in class, but when a tough-looking classmate proves to be surprisingly smart, it acts as some motivation to get his act together. Then he and the other students are thrust together for the Esquire Examination, with the pleasing result that we get to know quite a few other kids in a short period of time. There’s a real Hogwarts vibe happening too, with the varieties of courses and specialties available for exorcists. One aspect of the story leaves me cold, though, and that’s Rin’s ultimate goal. Now that I have insight into the Shonen Jump editorial process courtesy of Bakuman。, I can’t help but think that “I’ll become an exorcist so I can defeat Satan!” is someone’s calculated attempt to meet the requirements of a popular battle manga. – Michelle Smith

Highschool of the Dead, Vol. 3 | Story by Saisuke Sato, Art by Shouji Sato | Yen Press – After escaping school grounds, resisting the authority of a charismatic but dangerous teacher, and rescuing a small girl from an undead mob, our heroes stumble across a band of paranoid survivors who believe that the zombies are, in fact, an elaborate government hoax. Though this twist provides welcome relief from the endless parade of panty shots and girl-on-girl teases, Highschool of the Dead is still a chore to read; the dialogue is so stiff and unnatural that it’s hard to suppress a giggle, even when the authors are dead serious. Sloppily staged fight scenes and poorly drawn figures do little to make the very thin story more palatable to discerning zombie fans. – Katherine Dacey

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 9 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – As sweet as Kimi ni Todoke is, its one potentially frustrating element is its heroine Sawako’s inability to see herself as equal to her would-be suitor, Kazehaya. Fortunately, her friends (and even one of her foes) finally give her what for in in volume nine, the results of which leave us waiting breathlessly for volume ten. As usual, Karuho Shiina plays things out in perfect high school shoujo romance fashion, while also refreshing the genre as she goes. Shiina pushes Sawako’s stubborn self-deprecation to the point of parody early in the volume, without damaging the series’ sincere tone in the slightest. Meta has never tasted so sweet. Always recommended. – MJ

One Piece, Vol. 57 | By Eiichiro Oda | Viz Media – I never thought I’d type these words about this series, but I’m ready for the current story arc to be over. Luffy, our pirate hero, is struggling mightily to save his brother Ace from a terrible fate. He’s inadvertently assembled an army of new friends and old foes along the way and is waging a pitched battle against the forces of the Navy. This is all executed well, and there are some particular highlights. (Any story arc that heavily features a super-powerful, anarchist drag queen can’t be all bad.) But I can’t get past how much I miss the participation of Luffy’s regular crew, the Straw Hats, and I’m not able to see the virtue in sidelining them during such an important milestone in their captain’s life. Eye-popping mayhem is all well and good, but it’s better when there are old friends in the thick of it.– David Welsh

Time and Again, Vol. 6 | By JiUn Yun | Yen Press – In the final volume of Time and Again, author JiUn Kim explores the family curse that ultimately set Baek-On on the path to becoming an exorcist. A deft mixture of folklore, horror, and intergenerational conflict, Baek-On’s back story would be a stand-out in any ghost-of-the-week drama; here, however, it provides a fitting capstone to an ambitious, if sometimes uneven, collection of stories about a young man struggling to carve out his own path, even though his divination skills all but ensured that he would assume his father’s profession. Kim’s artwork is elegant yet restrained, striking the right balance between sumptuous period detail and spare staging of events. N.B. Die-hard fans of Time and Again will enjoy the afterword to volume six, in which Kim cheerfully discusses the historical and continuity errors she made in the course of writing the series. – Katherine Dacey

Veronica Presents: Kevin Keller #1 |By Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski and Jack Morelli |Archie Comics – It’s awfully cool of Archie Comics to introduce a gay character and commit to him as an ongoing citizen of fictional Riverdale. Even nicer is the fact that, aside from a few troll-ish comments from people who’ve probably never read an Archie comic in the first place, response to the addition has been overwhelmingly positive. The net result, at least based on the evidence of this particular comic, is that Riverdale has another uncomplicated, good-natured teen resident, sort of a gay male Betty. Kevin is out to his family and friends, and readers get to see flashbacks to that process. The underlying plot is more about Kevin’s hopes to serve in the military someday, following in his supportive father’s footsteps. Basically, though, it’s an Archie comic about nice kids being nice. Seriously, did anyone honestly think there’d be any other outcome? That the White Party would swing through Riverdale? – David Welsh

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs Tagged With: Archie Comics, bleach, blue exorcist, Highschool of the Dead, kimi ni todoke, One Piece, time and again

Off the Shelf with MJ & Michelle

June 2, 2010 by MJ and Michelle Smith 16 Comments

Welcome to the first edition of a new weekly feature here at Manga Bookshelf, Off the Shelf!

Joining me in this venture is Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith. Each week, Michelle and I will chat about manga we’re reading and see where the conversation goes! This week, we discuss titles from Bandai Entertainment, Viz Media, and the recently deceased Go!Comi … Michelle?

MICHELLE: So…. what’s a nice reviewer like you doing in a feature like this? Blog here often? Read any good books lately?

MJ: I have, actually! This week I’ve spent some time with three different manga, all written for women or girls. And I think this ties in a bit with recent discussion of what female readers look for in comics, because despite the fact that these are all written for female readers (and two of them are romances), they couldn’t be more different….

Read More

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: butterflies flowers, kimi ni todoke, off the shelf

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 3

January 30, 2010 by MJ 3 Comments

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You), Vol. 3
By Karuho Shiina
Published by Viz Media


Buy This Book

As Sawako becomes accustomed to having real friends, a whole new world opens up to her. Suddenly she’s being invited to dinner, enjoying giddy, pointless conversation, and having boys make excuses to walk her home. She lets her friends help her improve at sports and even learns to address a few of them by name–possibly the most difficult challenge of all. Unfortunately her newfound popularity (especially with school hottie Kazehaya) earns her the attention of one of adolescence’s least desirable entities: the love rival.

Though Kimi ni Todoke doesn’t attempt to be anything more than just another tale of teen friendship and love, mangaka Karuho Shiina uses the simplicity of her heroine so effectively, it actually feels as though she’s breaking new ground. Everything Sawako experiences in this volume–affection, attraction, even jealousy–is so genuinely new to her, it is able to become fresh again for readers as well. Perhaps the most satisfying thing in this volume, however, is watching Sawako begin to demonstrate her own personal strength, as she eventually does with a popular girl who tries to sabotage her budding relationship with Kazehaya.

Another of this series’ refreshing qualities is that Shiina consistently avoids letting her supporting characters fall into typical shojo traps. Just as Chizu and Ayane refuse to let nasty rumors destroy their newfound friendship with Sawako in volume two, Kazehaya seems unlikely to let his feelings be swayed by the machinations of Sawako’s “rival.” Whether this level of loyalty and self-awareness is authentic to the teenage experience is another question (it certainly bears little resemblance to mine) but perhaps this is the key to the series’ charm. For those of us whose teen years were truly isolating, Kimi ni Todoke is like a soothing balm, healing up old wounds one by one.

It is a pleasure to note that, three volumes in, this series has truly lost none of its original charm. With its unusually warm take on typical teen drama, Kimi ni Todoke provides a heartfelt testament to the sweetness of youth.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Filed Under: MANGA REVIEWS Tagged With: kimi ni todoke, manga

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 2

September 21, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 2
By Karuho Shiina
Published by Viz Media

kiminitodoke2
Buy This Book

Yano and Yoshida first laugh off the rumor that Sawako has been spreading stories about them. After overhearing Sawako deny their friendship, however, they begin to doubt themselves, ultimately learning just how deep their feelings for her go. Certain that her association with Kazehaya, Yano, and Yoshida is destroying their popularity, Sawako tries to distance herself from them but she too learns a lesson about her own feelings in the process.

…

Read More

Filed Under: MANGA REVIEWS Tagged With: kimi ni todoke, manga

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 1

July 8, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 1
By Karuho Shiina
Published by Viz Media

kiminitodoke
Buy This Book

Sawako Kuronuma is a quiet, socially awkward girl with an unfortunate physical resemblance to “Sadako” from Ringu–enough so that her classmates call her by that name, either out of cruelty or (in many cases), ignorance. Though rumors persist that she sees ghosts, summons spirits, and places curses on those who are foolish enough to look her in the eye for more than three seconds, Sawako is actually an earnest, exceptionally kind girl who always volunteers to do the work nobody else wants to do and whose most heartfelt dreams involve helping her classmates understand their schoolwork. The only student in school who shows Sawako kindness is, inexplicably (to her), a popular boy named Kazehaya. He smiles at her and calls her by her real name–treating her no differently than anyone else, something for which Sawako is consistently grateful. What Sawako doesn’t realize is that to Kazehaya she is much different from everyone else, in a way she is honestly unable to fathom.

…

Read More

Filed Under: MANGA REVIEWS Tagged With: kimi ni todoke, manga

 | Log in
Copyright © 2010 Manga Bookshelf | Powered by WordPress & the Genesis Framework