manga

Manga Giveaway: Cinderalla Giveaway Winner

February 4, 2015 by Ash Brown

And the winner of the Cinderalla manga giveaway is…Olivia!

As the winner, Olivia will be receiving a copy of Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla as published by Viz Media. This giveaway was a tie-in to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival which celebrated the work of Junko Mizuno as well as Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, and Asumiko Nakamura. I asked entrants to tell me a little about their experiences reading manga by any of the creators of that group. Be sure to check out the giveaway comments for everyone’s detailed responses. The responses were great, so thank you all for sharing! For those of you who are curious about which manga from these creators are (or were) available in English, here’s a handy list:

Kaoru Fujiwara
If You Wanna Destroy the World (through JManga and now unavailable)

Maki Kusumoto
Dolis

Mitsukazu Mihara
Beautiful People
Doll
The Embalmer
Haunted House
IC in a Sunflower
R.I.P.: Requiem in Phonybrian

Junko Mizuno
Cinderella
Hansel & Gretel
“The Life of Momongo” (collected in Secret Comics Japan)
Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu
Princess Mermaid
Pure Trance

Asumiko Nakamura
Chicken Club
Classmates
Double Mints
Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist

My Week in Manga: January 26-February 1, 2015

February 2, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

The Female Goth Mangaka Carnival wrapped up last week. In addition to my recent Spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara, I also contributed two other related posts. The first was Experiments in Manga’s latest giveaway. There’s still time to enter for a chance to win Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla. I also posted a review of Asumiko Nakamura’s manga Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist. It’s a dark and twisting tale, and one that I come to love a little more each time I read it. Completely unrelated to the Carnival, last week I also reviewed Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of the Mountain, a classic novel about growing older and family relationships.

Elsewhere online, Viz announced that it will be bringing Shotaro Ishinomori’s The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past back into print, which I’m looking forward to a great deal. Media scholar Henry Jenkins is posting lengthy, in-depth interview with Patrick W. Galbraith, “In Defense of Moe,” talking about manga, anime, and otaku studies (Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6). Digital Manga has launched its next Tezuka Kickstarter to publish Osamu Tezuka’s two-volume Alabaster with a stretch goal to reprint Swallowing the Earth (again). A recent update for Digital Manga’s Finder Kickstarter includes a link to a list of boys’ love titles that are currently in stock. Perhaps most importantly, it indicates which manga are available in limited quantities.

Quick Takes

The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 2 by Hiromu Arakawa. The particular weakness of the second volume of The Heroic Legend of Arslan is that while the battles and sieges are proceeding at a good pace–and Arakawa’s fight and action sequences are excellent–there is a relative lack of character development. Unsurprisingly, considering that the manga takes place during a time of war, there are important, dramatic deaths, but emotionally they aren’t especially effective since readers hadn’t had the opportunity to really get to know those involved before their demise. At this point, many of the antagonists and even a fair number of the series’ protagonists are missing complexity and nuance. Thankfully Arslan himself does show a little growth by the end of the volume, but attention is mostly given to the war being fought and some of the political intrigue behind it all. Granted, those are very important aspects of the series since they are what Arslan must overcome. However, I am hoping that future volumes will spend more time examining the characters as people. Intense, bloody battles are all well and good, but I want to more completely understand the motivation and drive behind them.

My Neighbor Seki, Volume 1 by Takuma Morishige. I was originally only vaguely curious about My Neighbor Seki, but after watching the absolutely delightful anime adaptation last year, I knew it was a series that I couldn’t miss. The premise is deceptively simple: Yokoi sits in the last row of seats in her classroom right next to Seki, a boy who is always goofing around at his desk. Yokoi finds this incredibly distracting, especially since the ways in which Seki amuses himself can be spectacularly elaborate. Often she’s astounded by Seki’s audacity, but on occasion she can’t help but to join in or interfere with what he’s doing. Of course this means she’s often the one in danger of getting into trouble with the teachers for not paying attention in class. The individual chapters in My Neighbor Seki may be short, but the sheer creativity displayed by Morishige, and in turn by Seki, is quite impressive. The original My Neighbor Seki manga is just as wonderful as the anime was; I’ll definitely be following the manga to its end. (In Japan the series is currently ongoing with six volumes having so far been released.) My Neighbor Seki is funny and charming and a marvelously entertaining read.

Secrecy of the Shivering Night by Muku Ogura. After reading the first volume of the short boys’ love series Castle Mango, I decided to seek out more of the artist’s work. Currently the only other manga of her’s available in print in English is Secrecy of the Shivering Night. Unlike Castle Mango, Ogura wrote the stories collected in Secrecy of the Shivering Night in addition to illustrating them. The volume includes four short boys’ love manga which, other than tending towards the more sweet or romantic and having slightly peculiar lead characters, are all unrelated. The setup for the titular story is perhaps the most curious and seemingly far-fetched–a young man who is afraid of bright lights and another young man who is afraid of the dark end up as dorm roommates–but the resulting relationship dynamic is surprisingly satisfying. Their opposite phobias, but even more so their opposite personalities, make them an adorable couple. Secrecy of the Shivering Night isn’t an especially outstanding collection, but the stories are generally cute and a little bit quirky, which are characteristics I happen to particularly enjoy, and Ogura’s artwork has a pleasant softness to it.

Terra Formars, Volumes 2-4 written by Yu Sasuga and illustrated by Ken-ichi Tachibana. If the first volume of Terra Formars largely felt like a stand-alone prequel, that’s because it was. The second volume begins twenty years later. An exceptionally fatal disease is becoming more prevalent on Earth which requires a new mission to Mars in order to research a cure. Shokichi Komachi, one of the two survivors from the previous Mars mission, leads a crew of one hundred men and women genetically modified to survive the conditions and lifeforms found on the planet. Terra Formars continues to be extraordinarily violent with an incredibly high body count, though considering the first volume I was actually surprised by how many people are left alive by the end of the fourth. It seems as though there might be an actual plot to Terra Formars, but it’s mostly just an excuse to show epic, over-the-top hand-to-hand combat between opponents with astounding, superhuman abilities. I still dislike the visual design of the humanoid cockroaches immensely, but at least there’s an attempt in these volumes to better explain their appearance. The portrayal of women in the manga has slightly improved, as well.

Princess Tutu directed by Junichi Sato. I picked up Princess Tutu more on a whim than anything else when I saw it on super sale. Although I vaguely remembered hearing good things about the anime, I honestly didn’t know much about the series. I’m very glad that I own it because Princess Tutu is marvelous. I do find it somewhat difficult to describe in a way that does the justice, though. The story follows a girl called Duck who really is a duck. She’s under an enchantment that allows her to not only take human form but to also become the magical Princess Tutu. Through the power of her dance she restores the shattered heart of a prince who had sacrificed himself to save others. That all might sound a little strange, and parts of the anime are admittedly weird, but the series is also very good. Stories are just as real as reality in Princess Tutu, and just as potent if not more so. Bits and pieces of classic ballets, operas, and plays can be found throughout the series all mixed together to form a unique work. I absolutely loved the anime’s use of orchestral works not just as background music but as meaningful additions to the story, emphasizing the significance of the characters and of their actions and, for those who are familiar with the pieces, even revealing some of the plot.

Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist

January 30, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Asumiko Nakamura
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654766
Released: June 2013
Original release: 2010-2012

Although several of Asumiko Nakamura’s manga have been licensed for digital release, Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist is currently her only work that has been translated into English and made available in print. I truly hope it isn’t the last to be seen from her; although I was already familiar with Nakamura’s distinctive art style, Utsubora was my introduction to her manga and I loved it, and with each rereading love it even more. With the arrival of the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival, I was inspired to take another, deeper look at the manga. In Japan, Utsubora was a short, two-volume series published between 2010 and 2012. The English-language edition of the manga was released in 2014 by Vertical and collects the entire series in a single volume. Due to its mature themes and its erotic content, Utsubora is one of Vertical’s relatively few manga specifically intended for an audience of adults who are at least eighteen years of age.

Although Shun Mizorogi is still considered to be a successful and respected author, it has been quite some time since he has written anything of note. As a result, he has become withdrawn and is tormented by his lack of ability. Finally, his most recent work Utsubora shows great promise. A return to his roots as an author, Mizorogi has given his fans and critics what they have been waiting for. But when a young woman plummets from the top of a building to her death, the apparent suicide somehow connect to Mizorogi, the authorship of Utsubora begins to be called into question. Both Mizorogi’s close friend and fellow author Yatabe and his newly appointed editor Tsuji suspect something. Even Mizorogi’s niece Koyomi, who lives with and adores him, is able to recognize that her uncle has been behaving out of the ordinary. Utsubora and a young woman named Sakura Miki are the only remaining connections Mizorogi has to the death of Aki Fujino, and they are consuming him.

Utsubora is a dark and twisting tale. Nakamura’s distinctive artwork is exceptionally effective in adding to the manga’s moody, erotically charged, and slightly disconcerting atmosphere. The lines of her illustrations are very thin, creating at the same time a sense of sharpness and focus as well as a feeling of softness as they cut and curve across the page. Nakamura’s art in Utsubora is undeniably sensual and arresting. The eyes of her characters are particularly expressive and draw attention to themselves. The artwork of Utsubora, much like the manga’s story, can simultaneously be vaguely ominous and oddly beautiful. It’s really quite stunning and Nakamura is incredibly skilled. Through her artwork and through the body language of her characters, she is able to convey their uncertainties and their desires, their inner turmoil as well as their outward actions. Overall, Utsubora is an intense and even compelling work.

The plot of Utsubora is complex, the relationships and connections between the characters forming a tangled knot that is drawn tighter and tighter. The manga can be confusing and there is quite a bit of ambiguity that is never completely resolved. The only person who really understands everything that is going on is Sakura, and she is deliberately manipulating the situation, mixing together both truths and lies in order to influence those around her. She can’t control everything, though, and some matters in Utsubora are only tangentially related to what she is trying to accomplish. Although sometimes obscured by layers formed by the other characters’ personal struggles and pasts, the core of Utsubora is the despair surrounding Aki, Sakura, and Mizorogi. Granted, most of the characters are reaching their breaking points and are in danger of losing themselves completely; Aki’s death was simply the catalyst that triggered a dramatic sequence of events from which very few will emerge unscathed.

Manga Giveaway: Cinderalla Giveaway

January 28, 2015 by Ash Brown

It’s the end of the month which means it’s time for another manga giveaway! Because the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is currently underway (featuring the work of Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura) I decided to do a tie-in giveaway. This month you all have a chance to win a copy of Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla as published by Viz Media. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide! (However, you must be at least eighteen years old to enter.)

Way back in 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the Best Manga You’re Not Reading panel at the American Library Association’s annual conference. It was there that I was introduced to the work of Junko Mizuno, and specifically to her manga Cinderalla—a psychedelic retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella with zombies, yakitori, and pop idols added in for good measure. I had never seen anything like it before and I loved it. Mizuno’s brightly colored artwork in Cinderalla shows her mastery of a very distinctive and even beautifully stunning creepy-cute aesthetic. Quite a few of Mizuno’s manga have been released in English—and I’ve enjoyed many of them—but I will always remember Cinderalla as being my first.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Cinderalla?

1) Have you ever read anything by Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, or Asumiko Nakamura? If so, tell me what you thought in the comments below. (And if you haven’t, you can simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it. For this giveaway, each person can earn up to two entries and has one week to submit them. If needed or preferred, comments can also be sent directly to me via e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post them here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on February 4, 2015. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the Carnival!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Cinderalla Giveaway Winner

Random Musings: Spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara

January 23, 2015 by Ash Brown

For the last two weeks of January 2015, the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is focusing on the works of Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura. While I’ve read and enjoyed manga created by almost all of those women, Mihara is the mangaka that I’ve read the most of and am most familiar with out of the group. (Granted, that may in part be due to the fact that of the five she has had the most manga licensed and released in English.)

The Creator

Sadly, there doesn’t actually seem to be very much information available in English about Mitsukazu Mihara beyond a few well-established facts. She was born in Hiroshima, Japan on October 17, 1970 and for a long time was based in Osaka. (I believe she may now be working out of Tokyo.) She made her manga debut in 1994 and has been writing and illustrating ever since. Mihara is often credited as being particularly influential in refining the Gothic Lolita sensibility and she frequently served as a featured illustrator for the Gothic & Lolita Bible magazine.

Between 2004 and 2007, Tokyopop released many of Mihara’s works in English, beginning with her series Doll. Mihara is particularly known for her short manga with twists–even her long-form works tend to be fairly episodic–and she frequently employs darker themes and includes heavy psychological elements in her stories. Her manga is influenced and inspired by the problems and issues that she sees in society as well as by her own personal traumas. As she states in an interview from 2008 in the debut issue of the North American edition of Gothic & Lolita Bible, “Often, my greatest work is born during the bad times.”

The Manga

Although IC in a Sunflower (1997) contains some of Mitsukazu Mihara’s earliest work, the volume was actually the last of her manga to be licensed in English. A collection of seven unrelated short manga, the volume includes her award-winning debut “Keep Those Condoms Away from Our Kids.” Another of the collected stories, “The Sunflower Quality of an Integrated Circuit,” would later be tied into her series Doll.

While there is some absurdity and black humor in R.I.P.: Requiem in Phonybrian (2000), the volume’s darker elements take precedent. The manga follows the angel Transylvanian Rose who has rescued the soul of a suicide, but he isn’t particularly happy about this turn of events, nor is he particularly interested in his new responsibilities of cleansing other souls. The manga starts out fairly episodic but quickly coalesces.

Beautiful People (2001) is another collection of Mihara’s short manga and includes six unrelated stories. The volume features a range of genres and sub-genres including science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, post-apocalyptic fiction, contemporary drama, and suspense. In general, like much of Mihara’s work, the manga included in the volume tend to be darker in tone, but there are moments of brightness as well.

The manga that Mihara is probably most well-known for, at least in English, is her six-volume Doll (2000-2002). The manga is a series of loosely interconnected stories of androids and angst that are tied together by the end of the final volume. Although the Dolls are an important part of the series, the focus of the manga is much more on the humans and their relationships to the Dolls and to each other.

Because it’s primarily a comedy, Haunted House (2002) stands out from the rest of Mihara’s manga available in English. Granted, it still has elements of horror in an Addams Family sort of way. Sabato Obiga is a teenager who desperately wants two things in his life: a girlfriend and a normal family. Unfortunately, the eccentricities and occult interests of his “death flavored” relatives would seem to make both an impossibility.

My introduction to Mihara’s work was through her series The Embalmer (2003-2013) and it remains my personal favorite of her manga. Sadly, only four of the series’ seven volumes were released in English. I’ve actually written a little about the series before, specifically in regards to the main character and the role of embalming in the story. Less fantastic than many of Mihara’s other manga, the series has a strong grounding in reality.

The Themes

There are many themes and variations upon them that appear and reappear throughout Mitsukazu Mihara’s work. One of the most prominent elements in Mihara’s manga is the inclusion of families. Even Haunted House, which is so unlike many of her other works, has a family at its core. The families in Mihara’s manga are often broken and in need of healing, but underlying all that turmoil and trauma is an understanding of the immense importance of family and the profound influence, both positive and negative, that a family has on its individual members.

Similarly, there is an intense longing for love and connection that pervades Mihara’s work. Her characters are searching for someone they can be close to, someone they can trust, someone they can reach out to. Sometimes this is found within their families, and sometimes they are forced to look outside of them to satisfy those needs. Love takes on many different forms in Mihara’s stories, and its potential to end in tragedy is just as real as its potential to end in redemption.

Maturer themes dealing with sex and sexuality have been present in Mihara’s work since the very beginning. Her debut manga “Keep Those Condoms Away from Our Kids” (collected in IC in a Sunflower Circuit) tells the story of a near-future Japan in which the birthrate has plummeted because younger generations have completely lost interest in sex. In the post-apocalyptic vision of “World’s End” (collected in Beautiful People), a peculiar twist of fate means that a lesbian and a gay man may be the only survivors. Perversion, fetishism, bondage, and sadomasochism can be seen in much of Mihara’s work as well, but perhaps most obviously in Doll.

Although frequently viewed through the lens of speculative fiction, Mihara isn’t afraid to look at the harsher realities of life and the darker sides of human nature. Abuse, obsession, sexual violence, and other harmful deviant behaviors can all readily be found within her work. Many of Mihara’s characters are suffering, whether from the actions of others or from their own personal demons and psychological disturbances. There is tragedy, sadness, and pain in both their lives and their relationships. Life isn’t always pretty, and Mihara doesn’t shy away from that fact in her manga.

People can be cruel and are capable of terrible things. As is seen again and again in Mihara’s work, it takes a human to be inhumane. The monsters in her stories are often the ones showing the most empathy and caring for others. Sometimes those monsters are literal–like the vampire in “Blue Sky” (collected in Beautiful People). Sometimes they are beings of human design–like the clones in “Alive” (collected in IC in a Sunflower) or the Dolls. And sometimes they are other people who are for one reason or another shunned, abandoned, or reviled by the rest of society. But there is some hope in humanity that remains–people are changed, often for the better, by their interactions with those “monsters.”

Death and dying are themes that frequently make an appearance in Mihara’s work, but at the same time an immense respect and reverence for life can always be seen. Matters of life and death are most realistically examined by Mihara in The Embalmer, the series focusing on those left behind to grieve the deaths of their loved ones. The characters must respond to that loss of life in a very personal way and their relationship with death is constantly changing as a result. Requiem in Phonybrian and many of Mihara’s short manga take a more fantastic approach to death and the afterlife, but emotionally it is all still very real.

Mihara’s manga deal extensively with dualities. This is visually epitomized in the Gothic Lolita aesthetic which Mihara frequently incorporates into her work, but it is also present in the narrative themes that she explores. Light and darkness. Beauty and ugliness. Innocence and perversion. Love and hate. Purity and corruption. Human and inhuman. Hope and despair. Life and death. They are pairs of concepts that are so closely intertwined that it is simply impossible for them to be separated from each other.

They are all also qualities that exist simultaneously within a single person or a single story. Although often viewed as positive or negative characteristics, Mihara’s work shows that they aren’t necessarily inherently good or bad. Rather, it’s a fixation on a particular ideal or other imbalance in those qualities that truly causes harm. Mihara’s stories, just like individuals, contain many complexities, contradictions, and layers. They can be shocking and surprising and may often have more depth to them than might first appear.

My Week in Manga: January 12-January 18, 2015

January 19, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted two reviews at Experiments in Manga last week. The first review was of Manazuru, Hiromi Kawakami’s first novel to be translated into English. It’s a slightly surreal but moving work about memory, loss, letting go, and moving on. I had previously read and enjoyed some of Kawakami’s short stories, but Manazuru is her first long-form work that I’ve read. The other review posted last week was a part of my monthly horror manga review project. In December I took a look at took a look at Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare, Volume 1, but this month I started digging into Yuki Urushibara’s award-winning Mushishi, which happens to be one of my favorite manga series. (Next month will be After School Nightmare‘s turn once again, and I’ll continue to alternate between the series.)

On to other interesting news and reading! Sparkler Monthly has a new subscription model for the new year, which means even more of its content is now free. (But if you like what you see, please consider becoming a member!) Kodansha Comics announced several new licenses, including a new series from Blade of the Immortal‘s Hiroaki Samura among other intriguing manga. Amazon leaked Vertical Comics’ most recent acquisition announcement, Hajime Segawa’s Tokyo ESP. And speaking of Vertical, here’s a list of Vertical manga that may be going out of print in the near future. And completely unrelated, Gayumbos has an interview with Kazuhide Ichikawa, one of the creators featured in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.

Finally, I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival which is currently under way and will continue through the end of January. Hosted by the The Beautiful World, which previously hosted the Kaori Yuki Manga Moveable Feast, the Carnival is focusing on Fujiwara Kaoru, Kusumoto Maki, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura and their works. I have a few things in mind for the Carnival, including a spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara, a manga giveaway that ties into the Carnival, and a review of Asumiko Nakamura’s Utsubora. Assuming all goes according to plan, my Carnival posts should start showing up by Friday.

Quick Takes

Ani-Imo, Volume 1 by Haruko Kurumatani. I often enjoy body-swap manga, but I was somewhat wary of Ani-Imo. I’ll admit, the first volume actually wasn’t as terrible as I anticipated it would be. There were even parts of it that I legitimately liked. Still, overall I really can’t say that I enjoyed the manga. There’s a lot about Ani-Imo that frankly makes me uncomfortable. I’m actually not bothered by the potential incest itself (although the manga’s excuse that makes it not really incest seems awfully convenient and not particularly believable). However, I intensely disliked the doctor in the manga. He comes across as extremely predatory and unfortunately his bisexuality is used to emphasize that point. Also, the young women in the series, despite being high schoolers, look more like elementary grade students, which makes the sexual overtones of Ani-Imo even harder to take. Some of the manga’s creepiness I’m sure is intentional, but since the series seems to be trying to be a comedy. The balance of the series’ tone doesn’t seem quite right and the manga ends up being a bit off-putting.

Manga Dogs, Volume 2 by Ema Toyama. Since Manga Dogs is more of a gag manga than anything else, there isn’t really much of a driving plot to the series. Instead there’s the initial setup (a high school with a new, but abysmally supported manga program) and the introduction of the main players (Tezuka and the three classmates who have attached themselves to her, as well as a small handful of supporting cast members) which serve as the starting point for all of the hijinks in the series. I’m not really sure where Manga Dogs is heading, or even if it is heading anywhere, but I do find it amusing. Granted, much of the humor depends on a reader having a deeper interest in and understanding of manga and its creation than the casual fan might generally possess. The other major source of the series’ comedy are the goofball antics of Tezuka’s enthusiastic yet delusional devotees–Specs, Prince, and Dream Kid. But, surprisingly enough, although they’re usually air-headed idiots, every once in a while the three of them actually do exhibit some common sense.

Witchcraft Works, Volumes 1-2 by Ryu Mizunagi. Witches seem to be showing up in anime and manga more and more often these days, but I don’t have a particular interest in them. I almost passed over Witchcraft Works because of that. But since it’s a manga being released by Vertical Comics, I was a little more inclined to check it out. That and I generally liked the artwork; the cover in particular is striking, but the interior art looks great, too (even if some of the character designs tend to be absurdly buxom). So far, Witchcraft Works is a delightfully strange and quirky manga, it’s ridiculousness and weirdness making it a lot of fun. I’m especially enjoying the reversals in the usual gender roles–Honoka, the male lead, is the one who needs saving and protecting while Ayaka, the female lead, is the strong and stoic hero. (I also love that she’s at least a head taller than him.) Ayaka is an incredibly powerful fire witch which means many of the action sequences are done and over with before they’ve really had the chance to begin, but at least she puts an end to things with flair. And often literally with flare.

TaishoBaseballGirls Taisho Baseball Girls directed by Takashi Ikehata. Although I’ve discovered that I generally enjoy sports anime, I was particularly interested in Taisho Baseball Girls because of its historical setting. Not many series take place during the Taisho era, a time period in which Japan was becoming increasingly Westernized and there was some societal anxiety caused by that. Although the twelve-episode anime is based on an ongoing series of light novels written by Atsushi Kagurazaka, it tells a complete and very satisfying story. A group of nine high school girls band together to form a baseball team in order to challenge an all-boys team and prove that women’s place in the world shouldn’t be and isn’t limited to the household. The problem is that very few of the girls actually have any experience playing baseball. Taisho Baseball Girls is a charming and heartwarming series without being overly sentimental. Some of the girls’ family members, friends, and teachers oppose what they’re doing and their unladylike behavior while others are incredibly supportive of them and their hard work.

Mushishi, Vol. 1

January 16, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Yuki Urushibara
U.S. publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 9780345496218
Released: January 2007
Original release: 2000
Awards: Japan Media Arts Award, Kodansha Manga Award

I no longer remember what first led me to pick up Yuki Urushibara’s debut manga Mushishi. It was probably mostly coincidence: the series started being released in English around the same time I started to really get into manga and was trying all sorts of things. I’m grateful for whatever reason it was that convinced me to read Mushishi because it became one of my favorite manga series. I love its quiet creepiness and beautiful storytelling. Mushishi was well-received both in Japan and abroad by both fans and critics. Among other recognitions and honors, Mushishi has earned a Japan Media Arts Award as well as a Kodansha Manga Award. Mushishi, Volume 1 was originally published in Japan in 2000. The English-language edition was initially released by Del Rey Manga in 2007 and, sadly, has since gone out of print. Happily, in 2014, Kodansha Comics released a digital edition of Mushishi in English.

Mushi–a category of primordial beings fundamental to the living world which may take on many forms. Truly understood by very few people, they are studied by mushishi, or mushi masters. Ginko is one such mushishi, making his living by traveling across the Japanese countryside, learning all that he can about mushi, and attempting to help those unfortunate enough to have come under the creatures’ influence. Mushi are often to blame for unusual natural phenomena and strange, otherwise unexplainable illnesses. Ginko is an expert, but even he is faced with circumstances beyond his knowledge and control; where mushi are involved, nothing is ever entirely certain. Sometimes the harm caused by the mushi has already been done and is irreversible, leaving humans to deal with the aftermath. They must learn to coexist or else risk their lives or sanity.

Although there is some continuity between the stories, Mushishi is largely episodic and each chapter in the first volume of the series stands well on its own. “The Green Gathering” introduces the concept of mushi while Ginko investigates a young man with the power to grant life to the things he draws. In “The Soft Horns” Ginko aids the residents of a snowbound village suffering from a peculiar kind of hearing loss. Mushi have invaded the dreams of a man in “The Pillow Path” with devastating and dire consequences. Urushibara’s award-winning “The Light in the Eyelids” was actually the very first Mushishi manga. The story follows a young girl whose eyes have become so painfully sensitive to light that she has been blindfolded and shut away by her family in a dark storehouse. The final story in Mushishi, Volume 1 is “The Traveling Bog” in which a swamp disappears and then reappears again and again, drawing ever closer to the sea each time.

Urushibara was influenced tremendously by older Japanese folk stories, but in developing Mushishi she draws on that inspiration to create a world and mythology of her own. Although the tales in Mushishi, Volume 1 are new, they still have a very familiar, traditional feeling to them that I find immensely appealing. I also enjoy the subtle horror present in many of the stories in Mushishi. While occasionally the manga and its imagery is disconcerting or even disturbing, Mushishi isn’t overly graphic or violent. Instead its creepiness derives from the fear of the unknown or the unknowable and the close intertwining of life and death. Mushi do not always bring misfortune, they can also be a benevolent force, but they are something beyond the understanding and power of most humans, and that can be frightening. In Mushishi, Volume 1 Ginko is shown trying to bridge the gap that exists between mushi and humans, but he often struggles to find the perfect balance between sharing his knowledge and protecting life.

Adventures in the Key of Shoujo: Skip Beat! 3-in-1, Vol. 2

January 15, 2015 by Phillip Anthony 1 Comment

Skip Beat | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Published by VIZ Media | Rated: Teen

“Oh, it’s like riding a bike!” That’s what I told myself when resuming the responsibility of the column. The worst thing I could have done was tackle an ongoing storyline with complex characters, new characters being introduced, and a rapid fire script. So, I went for Skip Beat! which doesn’t sound anything like that, right? Well, if it were any other manga, I’d say I’d done myself a mischief, but with Skip Beat!, it’s such a good story I can’t complain.

Kyoko Mogami wanted to beat her slimy ex-boyfriend, Shu Fuwa, at being an idol after he cheated on her and treated her like a servant for kicks. Kyoko is now fully invested in becoming an idol at the LME agency and has been put into the grinder for it. Mr. Takarada (head of LME and secret Telenovela wannabe) has made her a member of the Love Me team (yeah, it sounds as bad as all that) along with Kanae Kotonami (Moko) who can’t stand Kyoko’s effervescence. While this made sound like a bit of a bad turn, in truth, Takarada really does see something in her that merits further help. Everyone else however sees her as either a joke or is scared to be around her. Along the way, the mangaka manages to fit in a petulant child who needs someone to see her as her, a psycho rival for Moko and the pressures of being Ren Tsuruga’s manager. Kyoko has to deal with the pain of seeing Shu again and by falling into the trap of wanting to hate on him (for good reason I might add), she ends up jeopardising her career. Despite all the progress she makes, he only has to turn up and she can’t help herself. I feel for her as there are people who have crossed my path and hurt in life and when I see them in the street, God help me, I want them to stub a toe or something. Now, I can shrug it off and go on with my day but Kyoko is so hurt and raw that we laugh at her getting angry and sending wave after wave of Kyoko demons into the air (scaring the hell out of anyone around her by the way) but then she does herself in and we’re there with her again as Sho dumps her.

For me, the highlight of the omnibus is the stand off between Kyoko and Moko and Erika Koenji and her partner in the audition for the drink commercial. After we learn in true villainess fashion that Erika has been thwarting Moko’s acting career since they were in school (I love how Nakamura makes it seem like it was ages and ages ago!) and that even when Moko looks like she could win, Erika uses her money to stop her. I am not kidding when I say I peed myself laughing at her. She makes the best villains in a silent era film look tame by comparison. Every time she wins, it’s the stock Japanese schoolgirl “Ho! Ho! Ho!” attitude and when she gets beaten, it’s the “I won’t be beaten by the likes of YOU!!!” for Moko. She lies, cheats and bribes her way into winning the audition and only because Moko completely has to trust Kyoko is the day won for our heroes. Speaking of heroes, Moko and Kyoko really start to look like they could be more alike than in the previous volume. Moko still has these tantrums where Kyoko is screaming at her for being bad (at least in Kyoko’s book) and Moko just screams back. It’s really amazing to see them as two bitching friends than rivals. Along the way, they deal with Erika and her hench-squad (who couldn’t catch a cold) and still manage to make it seem like they got away with it rather than have any actual skills, though we know they do. I like how the author uses the people and trials Kyoko finds to give us little snippets of her backstory. Whatever happened with her mother, it’s as open a wound as the one Sho made in her. When he brings the mother subject up with Kyoko, you can actually see Mr. Takarada wince at the crestfallen expression on the poor girl’s face. Also, when she runs across Sho, Kyoko makes me love her more by all the things she did for that git and he still burned her at the stake for it.

Nakamura spends the last bit of the book with Ren and Kyoko being together as she learns about him and who he was and is as a person and actor. I still think he acts way too aloof to be taken seriously. The author does show him to be a hard working actor and a kind person in his own way but every time he sees Kyoko’s angry side and tells her she’s wrong to want to be an entertainer for selfish reasons, I am left asking myself “Who are YOU to make such a judgement on people?” I’m not saying he can’t make assumptions like that, just that it’s hard to see where the author is going with this given that they’re quite good at showing Kyoko making enough of her own mistakes to prove Ren’s point. It feels like we need reminding that, oh yes, Ren will be the other person in this relationship with Kyoko and Sho. I wish this wasn’t needed but I’m hopeful that Nakamura doesn’t rely on old tricks as well as old tropes to carry the story. With that said, the lines and little comments the cast makes have me smiling and watching people like Mr. Takarada riding in on a horse with full trumpeting musicians behind him is double take territory. I’m happy to watch Kyoko get dirty and clean fighting her corner for another volume.

As always, please feel free to agree or disagree with my assessment. Leave comments in the area provided or give me a shout on Twitter at my account or the MBS account.

My Week in Manga: January 5-January 11, 2015

January 12, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Well, last week unintentionally became a week filled with gay-themed manga here at Experiments in Manga, not that that’s something I’m going to complain about. But, first things first, the WataMote manga giveaway winner was announced. The post also includes a list of otaku manga available in English for anyone looking for something to read in that sub-genre. And now, back to the gay manga! I posted two in-depth manga reviews last week. The first review was of Takeshi Matsu’s English-debut More and More of You and Other Stories, a collection of gay erotic doujinshi. It’s both a fun and funny volume, so I hope to see more of Matsu’s work translated in the future. Over the weekend, I also posted a review of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 5 by Fumi Yoshinaga. I continue to really enjoy the series’ mix of food and contemporary gay life. The sixth volume was actually released last week, so I’m a little behind in my reviews, but it’s still a great series.

Elsewhere online, Digital Manga launched its first non-Tezuka Kickstarter project, an effort to reprint and restock the first six volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder boys’ love series. (Like many of Digital Manga’s recent Kickstarter projects, I have mixed feelings about this one.) In licensing news, Seven Seas and Yen Press announced quite a few new titles on social media. Sean has a nice roundup of the licenses over at A Case Suitable for Treatment. For those who are interested in the history of manga or are more academically inclined, be sure to check out Ryan Holmberg’s most recent What Was Alternative Manga? column, “The Fukui Ei’ichi Incident and the Prehistory of Komaga-Gekiga” at The Comics Journal and the second part of Nicholas Theisen’s manga studies essay “Takeuchi Osamu and Manga Expression” at Comics Forum.

Quick Takes

Alice in the Country of Hearts, Omnibuses 2-3 (equivalent to Volumes 3-6) by Soumei Hoshino. I was taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed the first omnibus of Alice in the Country of Hearts and so soon found myself tracking down the rest of the series. I became a little less enamored with the manga the more I read, but in the end I still thoroughly enjoyed the series and I definitely plan on picking up some of the spinoffs. Because Alice in the Country of Hearts is based on a romance adventure game, it’s not too surprising that Alice is eventually paired off with one of the multitude of people who have expressed intense interest in her. However, I didn’t really like who it was she ended up with in Alice in the Country of Hearts because he’s a violent jerk. Granted, I can say that and not really spoil too much since so many of the guys in the series are violent jerks–they feel so strongly for Alice that more than one of them actually wants to, or even tries to, kill her. This certainly adds to the ominous atmosphere of Alice in the Country of Hearts, which is one of the things I particularly like about the series. What I was hoping to see and what the manga doesn’t quite deliver on was more explanation about the world itself and about the “game” that is being played. I suspect some of the other Alice series may expand on this, though.

Citrus, Volume 1 by Saburouta. I know quite a few people who were very excited for Citrus, Seven Seas’ most recent yuri acquisition. I didn’t know much about the series, but I’m always interested in seeing, and reading, more yuri in English. Yuzu is boisterous young woman whose life has been thrown into turmoil after her mother remarries. She has a new name, a new high school, and even a new sister. Mei and Yuzu don’t really get along that well and their relationship gets even more complicated when Mei suddenly kisses Yuzu, but not out of any sort of true affection. Yuzu’s not entirely sure what’s going on with her new sibling, but after the kiss she can’t get her out of her mind and begins to develop non-sisterly feelings for Mei. Quite a few things in the first volume of Citrus strained my suspension of disbelief–I cannot and will never be convinced that Yuzu’s mother completely failed to mention before they all actually moved into the same household together that as part of her remarriage Yuzu would be gaining a stepsister–but it is an intriguing start to the series. The manga has great potential for melodrama. Mei is somewhat of a mystery at this point, and I’m curious to learn more about her. She puts up a good front for most people, but she’s incredibly manipulative and Yuzu’s one of very few people who knows about and has seen that side of her.

Orphan Blade written by M. Nicholas Almand and illustrated by Jake Myler. After previewing some of Myler’s work in progress for Orphan Blade, I was really looking forward to reading the graphic novel. Unfortunately, while there were some aspects of the comic that I really appreciated (it’s nice to see a gay protagonist), overall I was disappointed with Orphan Blade, especially since it had such great potential. The setting is an alternate-universe, 17th-century Japan in which the world was overrun with kaijū. But now that most of the monsters have been destroyed, humans are once again at war with each other. Particularly coveted are Artifacts, weapons of immense power fashioned out of the bodies and bones of the defeated kaijū. Hadashi is a young man who comes into possession of one of those Artifacts, but it possesses him in return. For the most part, Myler’s artwork is excellent. The monster and character designs, while lacking cohesiveness, are great and I love the colors. Orphan Blade is surprisingly violent, bloody, and gruesome. There are plenty of dynamic battles, however the action is frequently confusing and difficult to follow which is particularly problematic since a large part of the graphic novel is devoted to fight sequences. I like the world and basic premise of Orphan Blade, but the story feels inexpertly cobbled together in places, which may be explained by the fact that Almand sadly passed away before the comic’s completion.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 5

January 11, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Fumi Yoshinaga
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130808
Released: November 2014
Original release: 2011

I have thoroughly been enjoying the English-language release of Fumi Yoshinaga’s manga series What Did You Eat Yesterday?. This probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since the series brings together so many of my loves and interests: manga, Fumi Yoshinaga, food, and queer life, just to name a few. What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 5 was originally published in Japan in 2011 while the English translation of the volume was released by Vertical in 2014. Vertical made many fans of Yoshinaga, myself included, very happy when it licensed What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a somewhat niche title, but a series with the potential to appeal to a variety of audiences. Food and handsome gay men are common themes in many of Yoshinaga’s manga and are frequently even found within the same work, which is certainly the case with What Did You Eat Yesterday?. Though not my favorite Yoshinaga manga, it’s still a great series and one that I enjoy.

Food brings people together, sometimes in unanticipated ways. Shiro’s friendship with Kayoko, which started when they decided to split a watermelon that was on sale at the supermarket, has continued to deepen. Though they were once complete strangers, they have now become regular cooking buddies, sharing recipes and food. Her family likes Shiro as well, though at times he’s treated as something of a novelty simply because he’s gay. Kayoko’s husband even makes a point to introduce Shiro to a member of his tennis club, assuming they’ll get along well since Kohinata happens to be gay, too. They actually do, in an odd sort of fashion, and eventually Shiro, Kohinata, and Kenji and Wataru–their respective boyfriends–all end up sharing a meal together. In a roundabout sort of way, it’s thanks to that watermelon that they ever met. Food can help turn acquaintances into friends and can strengthen the existing bonds between family members as traditions are passed along from one person to the next.

One of my favorite chapters in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 5 was actually when Shiro visited his parents for the New Year holiday. For the most part, What Did You Eat Yesterday? is fairly episodic, although there is ongoing character development. However, Shiro returning home for the New Year celebration is a recurring event in the series which has already happened several times in the manga’s earlier volumes. Generally, there’s also some family drama involved with these visits. Shiro’s parents initially struggled when he came out to them, but it’s marvelously touching to see how much more accepting and even supportive they have become of their son’s homosexuality. There is a really wonderful scene with Shiro and his mother cooking together in the fifth volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?. Sometimes the series’ focus on food feels completely separated from its story, but here it was a perfect combination, the cooking furthering the characters’ personal growth and connections.

While the food and recipes are prominent parts of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, not to mention some of the reasons that I enjoy the series, the characters and their relationships are just as important to the manga and are what really make it successful as a work. It makes perfect sense to me since I associate family with food, but family relations are a frequent focus in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, especially those between Shiro and his parents as well as those between Shiro and Kenji as they continue to make a life and home together. The fifth volume also reveals more about Kenji’s past and his own unfortunate family situation. What Did You Eat Yesterday? largely tends to follow Shiro and therefore not as much is known about Kenji, so I particularly appreciate when the story turns towards him for a time. Yoshinaga’s characters in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, are believable flawed and complex individuals with histories and subtle depth, making the series particularly gratifying.

More and More of You and Other Stories

January 9, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Takeshi Matsu
Publisher: Bruno Gmünder
ISBN: 9783867877930
Released: November 2014

Takeshi Matsu is a popular creator of gay manga in Japan, his work appealing to both male and female readerships. He initially started out working for shounen magazines, at one point even winning an award for his manga. Matsu moved on to creating erotic gay manga around the age of thirty and was successful enough that he was actually able to make a career of it. It wasn’t until 2014 that any of Matsu’s work was officially translated and released in English. He was one of the nine mangaka featured in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It which included his short manga “Kannai’s Dilemma,” and he became the first creator after Gengoroh Tagame to have a major release of gay manga printed in English. More and More of You and Other Stories, published by the Germany-based Bruno Gmünder as part of its Gay Manga line, collects several of Matsu’ self-published doujinshi in a single volume for the very first time. Although the individual manga are available in Japanese, the anthology itself is an original English-language release.

More and More of You and Other Stories collects four of Matsu’s manga, beginning with the titular and longest, “More and More of You.” It’s a surprisingly sweet and even romantic story about a young man named Kosuke who is in love with his childhood friend and neighbor Shokichi, who just so happens to now be one of his high school teachers as well. Sho actually returns his feelings, although neither one of the men has admitted it to the other, and the romantic inclinations of some of Kosuke’s classmates only complicate matters further. “Go West” is an erotically charged parody of the Chinese classic The Journey to the West, following the sexual escapades and battles of Sanzo and his small crew as they cruise their way through the gay clubs from Ni-chōme to Doyama-chō. Things get a little heated in the kitchen and in the bedroom when two cooks of rival cuisines begin dating in “Recipe for Love” while “Tales from the Kitchen” features several autobiographically-based gag manga.

Because More and More of You and Other Stories is a collection of erotic doujinshi, it’s not too surprising that each chapter somehow incorporates the characters’ masturbatory fantasies or other sexual encounters. Matsu’s men tend to be lanky, muscular, and very well-endowed. More and More of You and Other Stories can be explicit, but there’s also a lot of playfulness and humor to the sex. Even when the plot includes drama and conflict, ultimately Matsu’s manga is delightfully upbeat and sometimes even hilarious. As just one example, the absolutely ridiculous pillow talk of “Recipe for Love” as the two men rhapsodize about their lover’s body in terms of food is highly amusing. A few of the jokes and references made in “Go West” will make more sense to readers who have at least passing familiarity with The Journey to the West, but no prior knowledge is needed to appreciate the impressive sexual prowess and the rather interesting, psychically-enhanced sexual abilities and powers of the characters.

It’s very clear that Matsu enjoyed creating the manga collected in More and More of You and Other Stories. Because the selections were originally all self-published, he had the freedom to develop the works exactly in the way that he wanted and chose to do. As a result More and More of You and Other Stores is both a fun and funny volume. Even the manga included that aren’t primarily comedies have humor and charm to them. The characters are likeable and by and large are obviously enjoying all of the sex that they are having. Another thing that I particularly welcomed about More and More of You and Other Stories is that in part it’s a food manga, which I love. I also happen to have an interest in The Journey to the West in its various incarnations, so it was as if More and More of You and Other Stories was made with me in mind. In the afterword Matsu mentions that he hopes to have the opportunity to release additional collections of his manga in English; I know that I’d certainly like to see them!

Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway Winner

January 7, 2015 by Ash Brown

And the winner of the WataMote giveaway is…MegaKnogga!

As the winner, MegaKnogga will be receiving a copy of the first volume in Nico Tanigawa’s No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! (hereafter referred to as WataMote) as published by Yen Press. Because WataMote is a humorous, if sometimes painful, story about otaku, for this giveaway I asked that entrants tell me a little about their favorite otaku or otaku manga. Check out the WataMote giveaway comments for the detailed responses.

Some otaku manga (or manga with great otaku characters) available in English:

Barakamon by Satsuki Yoshino
Blood Lad by Yuuki Kodama
Flower of Life by Fumi Yoshinaga
Fujoshi Rumi by Natsumi Konjoh
Galaxy Angel by Kanan
Gin Tama by Hideak Sorachi
Genshiken by Shimoku Kio
Hayate the Combat Butler by Kenjiro Hata
I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow by Shunju Aono
Insufficient Direction by Moyoco Anno
Kiss Him, Not Me by Junko
Love Stage!! written by Eiki Eiki, illustrated by Taishi Zaou
Lucky Star by Kagami Yoshimizu
My Girlfriend Is a Geek written by Pentabu, illustrated by Rize Shinba
No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! by Nico Tanigawa
Oh My Goddess! by Kosuke Fujishima
Oreimo by Sakura Ikeda
Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori
Peepo Choo by Felipe Smith
Welcome to the N.H.K. written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, illustrated by Kendi Oiwa

Welcome to the N.H.K. got quite a few mentions, which made me happy (the novel is great, as are the manga and anime adaptations), as did a few of my other otaku favorites like Fujoshi Rumi and Genshiken (and Flower of Life and Gin Tama, too!). Thank you to everyone who participated and shared; there are a few manga that I definitely need to pick up. I hope to see you all again for the first manga giveaway of 2015!

My Week in Manga: December 29, 2014-January 4, 2015

January 5, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Happy New Year, everyone! Things are already off to a good start at Experiments in Manga. The last manga giveaway of 2014 is currently underway and there’s still time to enter for a chance to win No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Volume 1 by Nico Tanigawa. All you have to do is tell me a little about some of your favorite otaku. The honor of the first in-depth manga review of the year, and in fact the very first post of 2015, goes to Hiroaki Samura’s Vigilance, the thirtieth and penultimate volume of Blade of the Immortal. I still love the series after all this time, and this installment has some particularly nice fight sequences. Finally, December’s Bookshelf Overload was posted over the weekend as well.

There were a few interesting things from Vertical this week, including a roundup of the happenings of 2014 and what fans can look forward to from the publisher in 2015. Another enlightening read from Vertical’s Tumblr account tackles sports, sports fiction, and sports manga and the challenges it presents to the North American market. Also, in case you missed it, Vertical is now on ask.fm and is answering all sorts of questions there. Last but not least, thanks to the success of its release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vertical is looking into publishing more Gundam manga. If you’re interested and haven’t already, be sure to take Vertical’s Gundam survey which will be open through the end of today.

Elsewhere online, Khursten has made a manga resolution for the year to feature josei more at Otaku Champloo. Organization Anti-Social Geniuses debuted a new feature, Inside the Industry, with Inside the Manga Industry with Lillian Diaz-Przybyl. The Hairpin has an excellent interview with Anne Ishii who, among other things, is the translator and one of the editors of the newly released Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It (which I recently reviewed; it’s great).

Quick Takes

Blue Morning, Volumes 1-5 by Shoko Hidaka. I’ve been meaning to read Blue Morning for a while but have only now gotten around to it. The benefit of this is that I had five volumes that I could read all at once. The drawback, of course, is the long wait until the sixth volume is released. I loved Blue Morning. It’s a moody, slow-burning boys’ love series with beautiful, elegant artwork and well-developed, subtly nuanced characters. A dramatic period piece, the manga takes place during Japan’s Meji era in which the country’s social, political, and economic structures underwent great change. The story focuses on Akihito Kuze who, after being orphaned, is suddenly thrust into Japan’s peerage as a viscount at the age of ten. Tomoyuki Katsuragi, the Kuze family steward, becomes his tutor and guardian. As he grows Akihito ends up developing feelings for Katsuragi and their relationship undergoes an intense evolution and power reversal. The romantic elements of Blue Morning are important, but much of the plot is actually focused on the political maneuverings of both Katsuragi and Akihito to raise the family’s status, though the each of the men have their own reasons for doing so.

Knights of Sidonia, Volumes 10-12 by Tsutomu Nihei. I decided to save up a few volumes of Knights of Sidonia since they read so quickly and I wanted to enjoy a larger chunk of the story. But even though there are quite a few major developments in these particular volumes, including the introduction of an important new character, somehow it just feels like Nihei is stalling for time and that there wasn’t actually much forward movement in the series. Even so, it was still an enjoyable read and I still like the manga. Knights of Sidionia remains a rather peculiar series, a combination of horror, science fiction and, of all things, romantic comedy. Sidonia’s hero Tanikaze, despite being incredibly awkward socially, has managed capture the romantic interest of quite a few of the other characters, basically amassing one of the most unusual harems that I’ve ever come across in manga. And while he has all sorts of domestic challenges to deal with now that his house has five residents more or less living there, he’s also one of humanity’s best pilots in the fight for survival against the Gauna. The war is entering a new stage, new technology has been developed, and the Gauna continue to gain new abilities.

Say I Love You, Volume 4 by Kanae Hazuki. Four volumes in, Say I Love You continues to set itself apart from many of the other shoujo manga series that are currently being released with its very realistic approach to young adult relationships, romance, and sexuality. The characters show a believable mix of maturity and immaturity, at times handling themselves extraordinarily well and at other times ending up a mess of confused emotions. This volume also introduces a new character, Kai, whom I’m particularly looking forward to seeing more of. In the afterword Hazuki mentions that she believes that manga “isn’t just for showing the nice side of things,” a belief that I think comes through in Say I Love You. There are the wonderful moments between characters as they grow closer, but every relationship has its ups and downs and Hazuki isn’t afraid to show the emotional pain and turmoil experienced by her characters as part of that growth. Regret, jealousy, selfishness, and uncertainty all have a role to play as do happiness, affection, altruism, and confidence. None of the characters are perfect and they all make mistakes as they navigate new and sometimes surprising relationships.

Ping Pong: The Animation directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Taiyō Matsumoto’s breakout manga was a five-volume series from the mid-1990s called Ping Pong. I’ve become a fan of Matsumoto’s work and would love to read Ping Pong, but it’s probably unlikely to ever be licensed. However, the eleven-episode anime adaptation made me very happy. The style of animation is somewhat unusual, reminiscent of Matsumoto’s loose but deliberate lines and uses a variety of palettes ranging from monochrome to pastel to vivid colors. I was particularly impressed by the series’ sound design and effective use of music. Smile and Peco are close friends and the strongest members of their school’s table tennis club but they both approach the game very differently. On its surface, Ping Pong is a fairly straightforward tale about competitive table tennis, but the series has prominent psychological elements and more depth than it might appear at first glance. Peco and Smile aren’t the only important players in Ping Pong; the protagonists and antagonists of the series are in constant flux. I enjoyed the Ping Pong anime immensely; I’ll definitely be picking up the physical release this summer.

Blade of the Immortal, Vol. 30: Vigilance

January 2, 2015 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781616554842
Released: October 2014
Original release: 2012
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Vigilance is the thirtieth and penultimate volume in the English-language edition of Blade of the Immortal, the long-running and award-winning manga series by Hiroaki Samura. In Japan, the series was only thirty volumes long, but due to slight differences in how the manga was released early on in its English-language run, Dark Horse’s edition of consists of thirty-one volumes. Vigilance, published in 2014, is equivalent to the twenty-ninth volume of the series’ Japanese edition originally released in 2012. Blade of the Immortal is a series that has particular significance for me. It was one of the very first manga that I ever read and it was one of the first series that I decided to collect in its entirety. I have been reading and collecting Blade of the Immortal for years now. The previous volume, Beyond Good and Evil, marked the beginning of the series’ end and Vigilance brings it that much closer. I was very curious to see how Samura would continue to advance the series.

The final confrontation between the remnants of Anotsu Kagehisa’s Ittō-ryū and Habaki Kagimura’s Rokki-dan has begun. Numerous casualties have been incurred by each side and countless innocent lives have been caught in the fray as the two groups try to destroy each other. At one point they were fighting for their ideals–Anotsu striving to restore martial glory and the way of the sword to Japan while Habaki worked to prevent that from happening in order to maintain the dominance of the shogunate–but now they are fighting simply to survive long enough to crush the other. Even if they are successful in killing their foes they may not live to see the fruits of their victory. Habaki is challenging Anotsu head on while the Ittō-ryū’s strongest fighter, Makie, is left to face multiple opponents under Habaki’s direct command despite her failing health. And on the periphery of this all, Manji and Rin stand against one of Habaki’s most imposing men even though they, too, seek Anotsu’s demise.

At this point in Blade of the Immortal the series’ story is drawing very close to its ultimate conclusion. There is very little plot development in Vigilance, and there doesn’t need to be; the series has been building up to these final volumes. Instead, the focus of Vigilance is on the deadly battles currently in progress. Samura’s artwork has always been dynamic in Blade of the Immortal, conveying a tremendous sense of movement and drama, but the action sequences and fight choreography in Vigilance may very well be some of the series’ best. Makie’s fight against an entire team of adversaries is particularly impressive and breathtaking. Her talent is astounding and on full display. She is constantly in motion, with an acute awareness of her surroundings, using both her weapon and her body in tangent to strike and defend. While she may not have the brute strength that so many of the other fighters in Blade of the Immortal possess, her agility and martial skill far surpass any of them.

The other two battles being simultaneously waged in Vigilance are also well-developed and each has a different feel than Makie’s. Manji’s style of fighting has come to rely very heavily on his near-immortality, leading him to attempt feats that would otherwise be unthinkable. He is also able to put to good use in some rather curious ways the bizarre regenerative powers of his body. The manga’s horror elements are readily apparent in his fight. There’s even a hearkening back to the death mandalas of the early series, which is a particularly nice touch. The confrontation between Anotsu and Habaki is different still. Like all of the other fighters who have managed to survive this long they are both exceptionally skilled swordsmen, however tactics and strategy play a much more prominent role in their death match. The way they fight is both intelligent and refined. Manji, Rin, Makie, Anotsu, and Habaki are now locked into their final battles. It will be very interesting to see exactly how things will turn out in the series’ conclusion, Final Curtain.

Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway

December 31, 2014 by Ash Brown

It may be the last day of December, but there’s still time for one more manga giveaway before the year is through. For this month’s giveaway, participants will have the opportunity to win the first volume of Nico Tanigawa’s manga series No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! as published by Yen Press. (From here on out, I’m just going to refer to it by its Japanese abbreviation WataMote). As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I enjoy reading manga about otaku. It’s a term that has a slightly different meaning in English than it does in Japanese, but generally speaking otaku refers to someone with an extreme or obsessive interest in something. Often this is assumed to be an interest in anime or manga, but it can really be a specific interest in anything. I myself could probably be considered an otaku, which is probably one of the reasons I like otaku manga–it’s easy for me to identify with many of the characters and the things they enjoy. Some otaku manga though, like Watamote, do occasionally make for uncomfortable reads. Watamote can be hilarious, but it can also be a bit painful since Tomoko is so incredibly and terribly awkward. I do like her, though, and find her endearing in her odd sort of way.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win the first volume of WataMote?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite otaku manga or favorite otaku from manga. (If you don’t have one, you can just mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

There it is! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway and has one week to submit them. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, entries can be sent directly to me by e-mail using the address phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. The comments will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 7, 2015. Happy New Year, everyone!

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: WataMote Giveaway Winner