manga

My Week in Manga: December 22-December 28, 2014

December 29, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

The end of the year is drawing near and because of the holidays I’ve been traveling quite a bit to see family. Despite being in a part of the country with less than ideal and spotty Internet access for most of the week (middle-of-nowhere Ohio), I still managed to post a few things. The honor of the final in-depth manga review of the year goes to Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, one of my most anticipated releases of 2014. Technically it’s more than just manga–the anthology includes photography, essays, creator profiles, and more. It’s a fantastic work, and highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in gay manga. Last week I also posted my list of notable releases from 2014. Massive is on the list, as are many other works, including comics and prose in addition to manga. It’s the second year I’ve done a list like this and I enjoyed making it, so I think it’ll probably become an annual feature.

One of the other notable manga that made my list was Makoto Yukimura’s marvelous Vinland Saga. Sadly, Kodansha Comics announced on Twitter that publication of the series has been temporarily suspended. No official explanation or reason has been given at this time (although there has been plenty of speculation), but Kodansha hopes to have more to say about the situation come the new year. Elsewhere online, Mangabrog has posted a lengthy translation of Brutus magazine’s interview with Hajime Isayama from its November 2014 Attack on Titan special issue. And although it’s not exactly manga news, the Smithsonian has begun putting the Pulverer Collection online–an impressive collection of Japanese illustrated books–along with related essays and videos. There were probably some other interesting things happening last week, but like I mentioned I’ve been traveling and visiting with family, so let me know if I missed something!

Quick Takes

Missions of Love, Volumes 7-9 by Ema Toyama. It’s been a little while since I’ve read Missions of Love, but it didn’t take me very long at all to fall back into the twisted relationship drama of the series. I’m actually glad that I had a few volumes saved up to read all at once since I tend to speed through the manga so quickly. Missions of Love is a series that has me easily turning page after page just to see how audacious the storyline can be without actually crossing the line into something blatantly indecent. The series is smutty and extremely suggestive. The characters are terrible people, selfish and manipulative. Their relationships are a twisted, tangled mess. But I can’t seem to turn away from the outrageousness of the series. Several confessions of love are made over the course of these particular volumes which only serve to complicate further an already complicated situation. And on top of that, Yukina’s preschool teacher, who unintentionally traumatized her when she was his student, is back in the picture which creates even more turmoil. Missions of Love certainly isn’t the most wholesome manga series, but it is an addicting one.

Punch Up!, Volumes 1-4 by Shiuko Kano. Although Punch Up! is a technically spinoff of Play Boy Blues, which was never completely released in English, knowledge of the earlier series isn’t necessary; Punch Up! stands perfectly well on its own. Kouta is a young but skilled construction worker who, thanks to a missing cat, ends up becoming the roommate of Motoharu, a successful and sought-after architect. Eventually, and not too surprisingly since this is a boys’ love manga, the two of them hook up as well. And since they both enjoy sex, it’s a frequent occurrence in the series. (One of Motoharu’s most prominent and amusing character traits is how horny he is.) Punch Up! also features a lengthy amnesia arc. Normally this isn’t a plot device that I’m particularly fond of, but it actually does provide for some interesting character development in the manga, so I’m a little more forgiving than I might otherwise be. Punch Up! has a fair amount of humor to it and a large cast of interesting secondary characters. And cats. For the most part I enjoyed the series, but there were a few things–like the treatment of Kouta’s older transgender sibling–that left something to be desired.

Silver Spoon, Season 2 directed by Kotomi Deai. It’s unlikely that Hiromu Arakawa’s award-winning manga series Silver Spoon will ever be licensed in English (although I would love to see it released), but at least the anime adaptation is available. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Silver Spoon and the second season is just as good if not better. Silver Spoon is a wonderful series. For me, part of the anime’s appeal is that it actually reminds me of home–I grew up in a small, rural farming community–and I can greatly empathize with the plights of the series’ characters and their families when tough decisions must be made. The importance of family is actually one of the second season’s particular emphases. Farming is not an easy or forgiving profession and deserves much more respect than it is often given. Silver Spoon doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh realities of agricultural work, but at the same time it isn’t overly pessimistic, either. There are humorous, cheerful, heartwarming, and even inspiring elements that nicely balance out the anime’s seriousness and occasional tragedy and sadness. Silver Spoon has great characters and character growth. I only wish that there was more of the series!

Random Musings: Notable in 2014

December 26, 2014 by Ash Brown

Last December, for the very first time at Experiments in Manga, I made an end-of-the-year list of titles that were, for me, particularly notable in 2013. I enjoyed pulling the list together (which probably isn’t too surprising given my propensity for making lists), and so I’ve decided to make it an ongoing feature. It’s not exactly a “best of” list, and it’s not exactly a list of favorites either, but out of everything that I read over the last year, the following releases from 2014 particularly stood out for me in some way:

Inio Asano’s Nijigahara Holograph was the first work to really floor me in 2014. It’s a dark and disturbing manga that is both brutal and beautiful. Nijigahara Holograph isn’t an easy read, not just because of its heavy thematic content, but also because its ambiguous narrative structure is challenging and can be confusing. The manga is complex and layered. Open to multiple interpretations, Nijigahara Holograph is a work that holds up well to repeated readings.

It’s not a secret that I’m a fan of Moyoco Anno’s work but even if I wasn’t I still would have been hugely impressed by In Clothes Called Fat. In many ways the manga is an uncomfortable read, but it is also an extremely powerful examination of physical and psychological ugliness and beauty. While there is dark humor in In Clothes Called Fat, Anno doesn’t pull her punches, showing the obsessive extremes to which society and individuals subject themselves in order to obtain an arbitrary ideal.

One of my most anticipated releases for 2014 was Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It and I was not at all disappointed by the work. The groundbreaking collection is spectacular, introducing nine of the most influential creators of gay erotic manga through photography, essays, interviews, manga, and more. Anyone at all interested in the genre, its creators, or its history needs to read Massive. Fantagraphics and the team of editors did a fantastic job with the volume.

When it comes to 2014 manga with gay themes, I was also particularly pleased to see the release of the first five volumes of What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Fumi Yoshinaga which has one of the most realistic portrayals of an established contemporary queer relationship that I’ve come across in fiction. It’s also a food manga, which I love. Not everyone will appreciate the amount of attention the series devotes to very detailed food preparation, though; even I’m much more invested in the characters’ lives.

2014 was very a good year for interesting new shoujo. One of the most delightful was Kazune Kawahara and Aruko’s My Love Story!!. The series plays around with shoujo tropes and expectations and is both funny and endearing. The characters, too, are lovely and charming. I’m still not certain how long the series’ basic premise will be able to be sustained, but I’ll be following My Love Story!! until its end. Just reading the two volumes that have so far been released makes me incredibly happy.

Another shoujo that caught my attention was Setona Mizushiro’s Black Rose Alice. Now, vampires aren’t generally my thing, especially since they’ve been so overdone recently, but the vampires in Black Rose Alice really are very different from any other vampire that I’ve encountered before. After only two volumes I don’t understand everything that’s going on yet, but there is no question that the series is marvelously unsettling, creepy, and atmospheric. I desperately need to read more.

Tetsuya Tsutsui’s Prophecy was a manga that seemed to come out of nowhere for me, and I don’t think it’s on many people’s radars yet. It should be though. One volume was released in 2014, but I’m already very impressed by the series. Maybe because I work so heavily with electronic resources, I especially appreciate Prophecy‘s realistic take on information and cyber crime. The series deals with the implications of online anonymity and contemporary social issues in a very engaging way.

I have been thoroughly enjoy Makoto Yukimura’s epic Vinland Saga ever since its debut in 2013, but it wasn’t until the second omnibus was released early in 2014 that I absolutely fell in love with the manga. The second through fifth omnibuses were published over the past year which amounts to well over 1700 pages of content. Yukimura’s artwork seems to get more detailed with each passing volume and the attention given to historical detail in both the series’ art and its story is superb.

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is one of two manga that appeared both on last year’s and this year’s notable list. While I don’t have a particular interest in Gundam as a whole, The Origin continues to demand my attention. And not just because it’s one of the best-looking manga releases in English. The scope of The Origin is epic, but the attention given to characterization makes it all feel very personal. Volumes five through eight were released in 2014 and its good stuff.

Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son is the second manga to make my notable list two years in a row. To be perfectly honest, it will probably appear on every list of notable manga that I make. The series is incredibly important to me on a very personal level. Only two volumes were published in 2014, the sixth and the seventh. I wish the wait between each volume coming out wasn’t as long, but really I’m just extraordinarily happy that Wandering Son is being released in English at all.

I discovered Toril Orlesky’s Hotblood!: A Centaur in the Old West while at TCAF. It was a splurge purchase of a comic I hadn’t even heard of before, but it quickly became one of my favorites. Great artwork, great characters, great worldbuilding, just a great comic. I don’t follow many webcomics as they are released online. Hotblood! is one of the few exceptions–I read each update as soon as I possibly can. So far, the first two volumes have been completed and the third is currently being serialized.

At this point, I should probably just give anything written by Gene Luen Yang a try. Boxers & Saints was included on last year’s notable list and this year his collaboration with Sonny Liew, The Shadow Hero, made the cut. I wasn’t initially even going to read The Shadow Hero since I’m not especially interested in superheros, but that would have been a mistake. It’s an excellent comic with humor, heart, and history, inspired by an obscure superhero from the 1940s.

Yu Godai’s Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Volume 1 was another surprise. I didn’t initially know much about the series except that it was related to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. But then I read it and was immediately hooked, fascinated by its setting and atmosphere as well as the philosophical and psychological development of its characters. An absorbing work of science fiction, I’ll definitely be picking up the second volume of Quantum Devil Saga as soon as I can.

After two years of online serialization, 2014 saw the publication of Add a Little Chaos, the second volume of Tokyo Demons, a series of novels written by Lianne Sentar and illustrated by Rem. My obsession with all things Tokyo Demons is well-known, but the second book was phenomenal. Things get pretty dark and heavy, so the stakes for the third and final volume are incredibly high. I can’t even bring myself to wait for the last volume to be completed; I’m following the serialization this time.

Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It

December 24, 2014 by Ash Brown

Editor: Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, and Graham Kolbeins
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 9781606997857
Released: December 2014

The first major publication of gay manga to be printed in English was The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of Gay Erotic Manga. Soon after its release a new project–a gay manga anthology called Massive–was announced by the same team that worked on Tagame’s debut English collection. Originally intended to be released by PictureBox, the anthology was temporarily orphaned when the publisher ceased releasing comics before the volume was completed. I was thrilled when Fantagraphics took on the project. Edited by Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, and Graham Kolbeins, Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It became one of my most anticipated releases of 2014. Gay manga is an extremely underrepresented genre of manga in English. Massive, like The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame before it, is a groundbreaking work. Through manga, interviews, photography, and essays, the anthology introduces nine of the genre’s most influential, respected, and promising creators to an English-reading audience.

The volume’s table of contents is formed by a gallery of photographs paired with full-page color pin-ups illustrated by each of the contributors to Massive: Gengoroh Tagame, Inu Yoshi, Kumada Poohsuke, Takeshi Matsu, Jiraiya, Gai Mizuki, Fumi Miyabi, Seizoh Ebisubashi, and Kazuhide Ichikawa. This is followed by introductory essays written by each of the three editors. Kidd’s “It Feels Too Good” conveys the excitement over the fact that a volume like Massive even exists, while Ishii reveals some of the steps it took to publish the material in “Seeking English Translator.” Kolbeins essay “Glocalizing Gei Manga” is particularly enlightening, providing a greater context for Massive and a brief overview of the history of gay manga and how the volume fits into it. Also included is a timeline of male-male sexuality in Japanese culture, a list of recommended readings, and numerous photographs and illustrations. However, the real meat of the collection is the individual profiles of each of the creators introducing their work and personal histories and exploring their careers and the impacts they have made on the genre of gay erotic manga. The other major highlight of Massive is the inclusion of examples of their manga.

For most of the contributors, Massive marks their debut in English. Excluding Tagame, who has thus far had four collections published, Matsu is the only creator to have had a major release in English. And except for Jiraiya’s “Caveman Guu,” which was previously printed separately, all of the manga collected in Massive is being translated into English for the first time. Some are excerpts of longer works, like Tagame’s Do You Remember South Island P.O.W. Camp? and Poohsuke’s Dreams of the New Century Theatre, while others are shorter, standalone stories. There is humor and playfulness to be found in Yoshi’s “Kandagawa-Kun” and Matsu’s “Kannai’s Dilemma,” more dubious encounters in Mizuki’s “Fantasy and Jump Rope,” Ebisubashi’s “Mr. Tokugawa,” and Ichikawa’s “Yakuza Godfathers”, and even mythological inspiration in Miyabe’s “Tengudake.” The manga collected in Massive is most definitely erotic in nature. Some of the selections are simply suggestive, but many feature explicit, uncensored, and uninhibited sex between hypermasculine, muscular, and otherwise large-bodied men. It is called Massive for a reason, after all.

The profiles of the creators included in Massive are just as engaging as the manga that has been collected. The volume provides an incredibly valuable look into the creation of gay erotic manga and art. Interestingly enough, several of the contributors mention that they would like to create gay manga without as much erotic content, but to successfully do so would be difficult due to the demands of their audience and what is expected from the genre of gay manga as a whole. The artists address many of the same subjects in their interviews but they each bring their own perspective to the discussion. It’s fascinating to learn about how the manga industry has changed and continues to change, the impact and challenges presented by foreign scanlations of manga, the benefits of working within the manga industry or independently outside of it, the use and misappropriation of the term bara both in Japan and in the West, and the relationship between gay manga and boys’ love manga, among many other topics. Massive truly is a spectacular volume and highly recommended for anyone interested in gay manga, its history, and its creators; it’s a fantastic introduction to the genre.

My Week in Manga: December 15-December 21, 2014

December 22, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was another week with two reviews here at Experiments in Manga. My monthly horror manga review project is now underway, so I took a look at Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare, Volume 1, which is a very intriguing start to the series. Next month I’ll start in on the in-depth reviews for Yuki Urushibara Mushishi and continue to alternate between the two series until the review project is completed. Last week I also reviewed The Early Cases of Akechi Kogorō by Edogawa Rampo, which I was very excited to read. The volume collects four of the earliest stories featuring Rampo’s great detective. And over at Manga Bookshelf proper, I and the rest of the Manga Bookshelf bloggers talked a little about the Manga the Year of 2014, noting some of our favorite things from the past year. Like I did last year, later this week I’ll also be posting my own list of notable releases from 2014.

I’m still extraordinarily busy at work as I settle into being the temporary boss of my unit for the next seven months or so, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied and haven’t had a chance to closely follow what’s going on in the mangasphere these days. However, I did still manage to catch a few interesting things to read online. Jason Thompson’s most recent House of 1000 Manga column focuses on Learn English with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which I am now determined to track down. J. R. Brown has an introductory post to Boys in Skirts, her series of article and reviews focusing on otokonoko at Mode: Verbose. I also came across a fascinating post about the popularity of the Year 24 Group. I’m not familiar with the author or the blog, but it looks like it should have other promising manga articles as well.

Quick Takes

Angel Sanctuary, Volumes 16-20 by Kaori Yuki. Here it is, the tumultuous conclusion to the epic Angel Sanctuary. By the end of the series, Yuki actually does manage to pull everything together in a way that mostly makes sense and proves that she actually can kill off a main character, something that I had my doubts about. I know a fair number of people who adore Angel Sanctuary, but while there were some things I really liked about the series, overall I found it pretty frustrating. Maybe I just wasn’t paying close enough attention, but more often than not I found Angel Sanctuary to be confusing and difficult to follow with a huge cast of characters, none of whom are exactly who they initially appear to be, and plot twist after plot twist. Granted, that did mean the series was consistently drama-filled. But with a little more editorial guidance, Angel Sanctuary could have been something phenomenal instead of just good. I did appreciate the manga’s core, however. Love is the driving force behind Angel Sanctuary. All of the characters are dealing with love in one way or another; it is the source of tremendous good as well as tremendous evil, but in the end it is shown to be a redemptive force.

Master Keaton, Volume 1 written by Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. One of the many reasons that I became so enamored with manga was thanks to Urasawa’s series Pluto, so I’m always curious and excited when a new work of his is licensed in English. Admittedly, Master Keaton, while newly translated, is one of Urasawa’s older collaborations that began in the late 1980s. The titular Keaton (technically Hiraga-Keaton) is a half-Japanese, half-English archaeology professor who works as an insurance investigator on the side. He also used to be a member of the British Army’s Special Air Service, which adds survival skills and combat experience to his already impressive and eclectic set of talents. I enjoyed the first volume of Master Keaton. The manga has a nice mix of action and adventure, mystery and detective work, and even a bit of family drama. Occasionally it can be a little heavy on politics and history which interrupts the series’ pacing, but generally the slower parts are interesting, too. It’s also worth mentioning that the book design and production quality of Viz’s release of Master Keaton is particularly nice.

Open Spaces and Closed Places, Volumes 1-6 by Saicoink. I don’t remember exactly when or how I first heard about the mini-comic series Open Spaces and Closed Places, but it was recently brought to my attention again when Saicoink released the sixth and final volume. I finally got around to reading the series, and I absolutely loved it. Jirou is the boss of the delinquents at his school. When he isn’t busy getting into fights, he’s pining for Oscar, the president of the student council. Oscar likes Jirou, too, but for various reasons doesn’t feel he can accept his love, and so spends much of his time teasing the other boy instead. It’s a delightful relationship, both adorable and sad at the same time. Soon after Open Spaces and Closed Places begins, fantastical elements are introduced and the series becomes more and more surreal as it goes, culminating in a spectacular dream sequence. Saicoink specifically mentions drawing inspiration from Suehiro Maruo and Usamaru Furuya. While their influence can be seen in Open Spaces and Closed Places, the series isn’t as grotesque or as graphic as some of their works, though its humor is still accompanied by some amount darkness and tragedy. It’s a sinister, strange, and wonderful series.

Sankarea: Undying Love, Volume 9 by Mitsuru Hattori. Sometimes Sankarea is all about its horror, sometimes it’s all about its peculiar romantic comedy, and sometimes it manages to be about both. The ninth volume is generally successful in balancing the series’ two opposing aspects, though the comedy has definitely taken a turn for the serious. Hattori does still find plenty of opportunities to add a bit of fanservice to the manga, this time mostly in the form of dressing Rea up in a variety of revealing costumes and outfits, often for no better reason than she looks cute in them. But even with those largely unnecessary diversions, the plot does continue to move along nicely in the ninth volume. Chihiro and most of the rest of his group have made their escape from ZoMA and return to Japan. Rea is suffering from amnesia though and doesn’t remember Chihiro or their relationship. Often I’m annoyed by the memory loss trope in manga—frequently it’s the result of bad or lazy writing—but for the most part it actually works pretty well in Sankarea. I still like the quirkiness of the characters in Sankarea, but Bub the undead cat remains my favorite by far.

After School Nightmare, Vol. 1

December 17, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Setona Mizushiro
U.S. publisher: Go! Comi
ISBN: 9781933617169
Released: September 2006
Original release: 2004

After School Nightmare is a ten-volume manga series by Setona Mizushiro. I first came across the series while working my way through one of my local library’s manga collection which, at the time, was largely shelved alphabetically by title. So, it didn’t take me too long to encounter After School Nightmare. I borrowed and read the first few volumes and on the strength of those alone decided to track down and purchase the entire series which had sadly gone out of print. The manga’s dark, horror-tinged psychological drama and its themes exploring gender and sexuality immediately appealed to me; the series had the potential to be both disconcerting and compelling. After School Nightmare, Volume 1 was originally published in Japan in 2004. The English-language edition of the volume was released in 2006 by the now defunct Go! Comi. After School Nightmare has generally been critically well-received in English, even earning an Eisner Award nomination for Best U.S. Edition of International Material among other honors.

Mashiro Ichijo is an androgynously attractive and well-liked you man, but he’s hiding a secret from his classmates–his body is neither entirely male nor entirely female. This has brought Mashiro some challenges in his life and as a result of his physical condition he struggles with his personal identity and gender. Just how much he struggles is made abundantly clear when Mashiro is requested to join a special after-school class which must be completed in order for him to graduate. In it the students must literally live out their nightmares where they are forced to face their darkest fears and bear witness to one another’s deepest secrets. What’s more is that they aren’t there to offer comfort or support. Instead, circumstances encourage them to strike out against their fellow classmates. And even though what happens in the nightmares isn’t to carry over into the real world, sharing such an intimate experience can’t help but change the young people and how they see one another.

The circumstances surrounding the after-school classes are peculiar. Only the students invited to attend seem to be aware of it. The stairs leading down to the infirmary where the class is held in a basement that shouldn’t exist disappears and reappears depending on the day. The teacher in charge isn’t known by the school’s other faculty. Students who “graduate” quietly go missing and are forgotten. All of these things and more add to the foreboding atmosphere of After School Nightmare and the feeling that something just isn’t quite right about what is going on. The shared nightmares themselves are also ominously disconcerting. The imagery is frightening–a girl whose face and heart are gaping holes, disembodied hands and arms, a cruel knight in black armor–but in the end the students’ psychological torment and distress may be even more troubling and gut-wrenching. The nightmares simply reveal the darkness and confusion that they already carry within themselves.

In the dreams, the students take on their true forms, representative of the issues, abuse, and trauma that they are dealing with. Many of them appear so distorted in the nightmares that its difficult to know their identities in the waking world. That’s not the case for Mashiro who looks exactly the same except that, to his horror, he sometimes is wearing the girls’ skirted school uniform in the dreams. This makes him easily identifiable and a target in the real world. He catches the attention of Kureha Fujishima, a young woman who is afraid of men but feels comfortable around Mashiro after learning his secret. And then there’s Sou Mizuhashi who has a reputation for being a playboy and womanizer but who also seems to have taken an intense interest in Mashiro. Though somewhat conflicted over these developments in his relationships with his classmates, Mashiro largely welcomes the attention from Kureha and is understandably uncomfortable with Sou’s aggressive advances towards him. As the first volume of After School Nightmare shows, reality can be just as terrifying if not more so than any nightmare.

My Week in Manga: December 8-December 14, 2014

December 15, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Two reviews were posted at Experiments in Manga last week. The first was of Frederik L. Schodt’s classic survey of manga originally written in 1983 but slightly revised in 1986 and with a new introduction added in 1997, Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. It may be a few decades old, but it’s still a fantastic work that is well worth reading. Last week I also reviewed Hikaru Suruga’s Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Volume 2, the final volume of Attack on Titan‘s short, shoujo spinoff which focuses on Levi and Erwin’s backstories. I wasn’t quite as fond of the second volume as I was of the first, but I did enjoy the series. It’s definitely a must-read for fans of Erwin and/or Levi and I appreciated how it expanded the setting of Attack on Titan.

Elsewhere online, Kodansha Comics announced the license of Naoshi Arakawa’s Your Lie in April. An Indiegogo campaign was launched to create a stop-motion film adaptation of Moyoco Anno’s The Diary of Ochibi manga. Vertical linked to an older article about Prophecy and how French Manga Fans Inspire the Work of Tsutsui Tetsuya. (The first volume of Prophecy was recently released in English and it’s fantastic.) And last but not least, Muse Hack posted an interview with Mikhail Koulikov of the Anime and Manga Studies Blog. I’ve been following Koulikov’s Anime and Manga Studies ever since I’ve discovered it. The blog is a great resource for anyone interested in the academic pursuit and scholarly study of Japanese pop culture.

Quick Takes

Fairy Tail, Volume 43 by Hiro Mashima. There was very little Gray in the forty-third volume of Fairly Tail which made me a little sad, especially after the buildup in his character and story over the last few volumes. But with a series like Fairy Tail, which has a fairly large cast of characters who regularly play an important role in its plot, time needs to be spent with those other characters as well. Fairy Tail always seems to have one or two moments of fanservice that, at least for me, detract from the story being told. The clothing and armor choices for the female characters in particular tend towards stereotypical fantasy design–showing more flesh than would be appropriate for battle–but at least the women in Fairy Tail generally have well-developed personalities and are very capable characters in their own right. Often, they’re even stronger than the men. And to be fair, there’s male nudity as well as female nudity in Fairy Tail, though as might be expected from a shounen manga, generally not to the same extent. Fairy Tail is now well into the beginning of the Tartaros arc of the series in which the members of the Fairy Tail guild must face off with a dark guild of demons which is trying to eliminate the entire Magic Council.

Kiss All the Boys, Volumes 1-3 by Shiuko Kano. For the most part I enjoyed Kiss All the Boys more than Kano’s earlier series Yakuza in Love, but ultimately I felt a bit cheated by its conclusion. While in some ways I’m glad that most everything ends happily for the characters, I’m not convinced that that’s really how things would have played out and some of the eventual pairings are troubling. But while Kiss All the Boys may not be the most believable series, at least the convoluted relationships are for the most part interesting even when they are appalling. The series hinges on Tetsuo, a straight thirty-something hentai artist with a fifteen-year-old son born from his youthful indiscretions. At least he’s supposed to be straight. Conveniently for the manga, he soon finds himself entangled in relationships with several other men–his next door neighbor, his best friend and editor, and even the boy his gay son has a crush on. Tetsuo is an asshole, but at least he knows he’s an asshole. He does make some effort to rise above his nature but unfortunately never quite manages to succeed. For the most part Kiss All the Boys is intended to be a comedy and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but I couldn’t help but worry for the youngsters left with terrible adult role models.

Yukarism, Volume 1 by Chika Shiomi. I haven’t previously read any of Shiomi’s manga, but I was looking forward to Yukarism because of its promise of interesting gender dynamics, reincarnation, and historical romance. Although Yukari Kobayakawa is only seventeen, he has already made a name for himself as an author of novels set in the Edo period. He never has to do any research though since he subconsciously draws inspiration from his past life as a courtesan in the era’s pleasure district. Except for that particular twist, at this point Yukari actually isn’t a very interesting character. He’s very reserved, self-absorbed, impassive, and completely unfazed when he begins to slip back and forth between his past life and his current one. Many of the people surrounding Yukari in present-day Japan are reincarnations of people he knew in the pleasure district although they don’t all seem to be aware of that fact. There’s definitely some potential for romance in Yukarism, but after only one volume that doesn’t appear to be the series’ main concern yet. Instead, the mystery surrounding the deaths of Yukari and the others in the past seems to take precedence, although the connections between all of the characters in all of their incarnations is an important element as well. I’ll be curious to see how the series continues to develop.

DevilPartTimer The Devil Is a Part-Timer! directed by Naoto Hosoda. I’ve been meaning to watch The Devil Is a Part-Timer! for quite some time now, but I was recently reminded of that intention when Yen Press licensed both the light novel series by Satoshi Wagahara on which the anime is based as well as at least one of its manga adaptations. While the anime is entertaining, the ridiculous premise is more hilarious in theory than in execution–The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is actually played fairly straight. But it’s still a fun and consistently amusing series. I particularly got a kick out of Satan diligently working in the fast food industry as a way to take over the world (he takes his job very seriously) and the portrayal of Lucifer as a hikikomori with an online-shopping addiction. For the most part, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! nicely balances its comedy with its drama. Although it has a conclusion, the ending of the series lacks finality and some of the characters introduced were never really put to good use, as though additional seasons were initially planned for but never manifested. (At least I haven’t heard anything about a second season.) Overall, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is funny series and a nice change of pace from all of the anime centered around high school or middle school students. I might just give the original novels a try when they’re released in English.

Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Vol. 2

December 12, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Hikaru Suruga
Original story: Gun Snark
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781612629438
Released: October 2014
Original release: 2014

Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Volume 2 is the final volume of Hikaru Suruga’s manga adaptation of the A Choice with No Regrets visual novel written by Gun Snark. No Regrets is one of the many spinoffs and adaptations of Hajime Isayama’s immensely popular Attack on Titan manga series. It focuses on the backstory of one of Attack on Titan‘s most beloved characters, Levi, and how he became an exceptionally skilled and valued member of the Survey Corps. The second volume of the No Regrets manga was originally released in Japan in 2014, as was Kodansha Comics’ English-language edition. The volume also includes two short, largely comedic, No Regrets side stories as well as a special interview between Isayama and Suruga discussing the story and characters of the Attack on Titan franchise. I rather enjoyed the first volume of No Regrets and so was looking forward to reading the conclusion of the series.

At one point they were considered to be some of the most notorious criminals in the Underground, but now Levi, Isabel, and Furlan have been coerced into joining the Survey Corps, which may very well be a death sentence. Initially they weren’t well-liked by their fellow soldiers, and the three of them weren’t particularly happy with their situation, either. But during their first expedition outside of the walls, Levi and his crew leave quite an impression by handily dispatching an abnormal Titan with seeming ease. Levi and the others still don’t fit in with the rest of the Survey Corps members, but at least their remarkable skills, especially Levi’s, are recognized and admired. The extra attention they receive after defeating the Titan isn’t exactly welcome, though–Furlan is trying to coordinate a covert mission that will either lead to the three criminals’ ultimate freedom or to their deaths. They have been hired by a high-ranking political figure to steal back incriminating documents from Erwin, one of the Survey Corps’ most promising young leaders, and to end his life in the process.

What I particularly liked about the first volume of No Regrets was that it expanded the setting of Attack on Titan in addition to providing valuable background information about Levi, Erwin, and their relationship to each other. Sadly, the second volume doesn’t add much more that is new; I felt like I had already seen many of the scenes play out before and it was very clear how some of the events were going to end. The second volume of No Regrets spends a fair amount of time explaining the long-distance scouting formation, for example. While it’s noteworthy that No Regrets shows the first time that the maneuver is ever attempted, anyone familiar with Attack on Titan should already be quite aware of how the formation functions and its importance. Likewise, as is to be expected, encounters with Titans never tend to go well. Because in many ways No Regrets serves as a prequel to Attack on Titan, the deaths of major characters in the series are not at all surprising and lose some of their impact as a result.

More than anyone else’s, No Regrets is Levi’s story, but Erwin plays a pivotal role in it as well. Both of the men are exceptionally charismatic leaders, although Erwin is the only one of the two who actually seeks that role. Levi doesn’t want to be responsible for the lives of others while Erwin is willing to shoulder the weight of the sacrifices made in the fight against the Titans. He is extremely intelligent and talented and able to make tough decision. Even at the cost of individual lives, Erwin voluntarily employs dubious methods if he believes that the results will increase the odds of humanity’s survival. His almost fanatical drive and obsession contrasts sharply with Levi’s more reserved and internally focused nature. As is known will happen, eventually Erwin wins Levi over to his cause and gives him a firm direction and purpose, but this foregone conclusion does seem to occur rather abruptly. Still, the exploration of Levi and Erwin’s respective personalities and motivations in No Regrets is probably what the series does best and is what the manga brings to Attack on Titan as a whole.

Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics

December 10, 2014 by Ash Brown

Author: Frederik L. Schodt
Publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781568364766
Released: January 2013
Original release: 1983
Awards: Japan Cartoonists Association Award

Initially released in 1983 and then again in 1986 in a slightly updated and revised edition, Frederik L. Schodt’s groundbreaking Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics was one of the first, and remains one of the best, surveys of the history of manga and the manga industry available in English. Written and published at a time when manga was virtually unknown to the average comics reader in the West and when only a very few examples of manga had been translated, Schodt was hoping to provide an introduction to the art form, garner interest in manga, and share his love and excitement for the medium. Manga! Manga! was received very well both in Japan where it earned special recognition from the Japan Cartoonists Association as well as in markets focused on English-reading audiences. Although Schodt would follow up Manga! Manga! with his work Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga in 1996, his initial foray is considered a classic in its subject area and is still well worth reading.

Manga! Manga! opens with a forward by Osamu Tezuka, who Schodt personally knew and worked with. From there Schodt takes over with the first chapter “A Thousand Million Manga,” providing an overview of manga and its readership in Japan. “A Thousand Years of Manga” addresses the history of manga, tracing its origins and development from 12th-century narrative art traditions through its more contemporary influences. “The Spirit of Japan” looks at the portrayal of the bushidō ethic in manga, ranging from historical fiction to the yakuza and sports genres, while “Flowers and Dreams” reveals the significance of comics created for and by girls and women. Other genres, such as salaryman, specialty career-oriented manga, and mahjong manga are explored in the chapter “The Economic Animal at Work and at Play.” Subjects like censorship, violence, and eroticism are the focus of “Regulations versus Fantasy.” Schodt closes his research with a chapters specifically devoted “The Comic Industry” and “The Future.” (Granted, that future is now in many cases the past, but the chapter is still illuminating.)

The editions of Manga! Manga! printed after 1997 also have a short introduction by Schodt but otherwise are nearly identical content-wise to those that were published earlier. In addition to Schodt’s main text, Manga! Manga! also includes an index divided by general subject, creators, and title as well as a bibliography of both English-language and Japanese-language resources. As is appropriate for a work about manga, Schodt incorporates artwork and photographs throughout the volume–rare is the page which isn’t accompanied by some sort of visual component. Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of translated excerpts selected from four manga: Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix, Reiji Matsumoto’s Ghost Warrior, Riyoko Ikeda’s The Rose of Versailles, and Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen. These examples are among some of the earliest manga in translation readily available to a general English-language audience. Brief biographies of the four mangaka are provided as well.

Manga! Manga! is a fantastic work. Even decades after it was first published it remains an informative and valuable study. And, as I have come to expect, Schodt’s writing is very approachable and easy to read. Manga! Manga! explores the history of manga within the context of Japanese culture and history, ultimately showing that the two cannot be completely separated. Manga and its development reflect, is influenced by, and emphasizes the changing state of Japanese culture, politics, and social mores. It is an art form and a source of entertainment, but it can also be used for educational and informational purposes and even as propaganda. Schodt outlines the importance of manga in Manga! Manga!, both culturally and historically, and what it has to offer to Japan and to the world at large. Manga! Manga! is very highly recommended to anyone interested in learning more about manga, its history, its creators, or the manga industry as a whole.

My Week in Manga: December 1-December 7, 2014

December 8, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

There were a few different things posted at Experiments in Manga last week. First up was the announcement of the Seven Seas Sampler manga giveaway winner. The post also includes a list of some favorite titles published or soon to be published by Seven Seas. The honor of the first in-depth manga review for December goes to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Volume 7 by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Even if you’re not particularly interested in Gundam (I’ll readily admit to not being a devotee of the franchise, myself), I’d still highly recommend the series to readers looking for some great science fiction manga. The Origin is consistently great, and Vertical’s edition remains one of the best-looking manga releases in English. Also, over the weekend, I posted November’s Bookshelf Overload for those of you interested in what made it onto my shelves last month. (Granted, it doesn’t all actually fit on my shelves at the moment, thus the “overload.” There are a few strategically placed piles and boxes in my room, too…)

Elsewhere online, Digital Manga has a survey soliciting Tezuka Kickstarter Feedback. According to a recent e-mail newsletter, Digital Manga is expecting to launch a Kickstarter project sometime in 2015 to reprint Unico, Swallowing the Earth, and Barbara, all of which have previously been Kickstarted. Philip of Eeeper’s Choice expresses some of the concerns over these recent developments. Also interesting, a Publishers Weekly article about Digital Manga’s recent Kickstarter efforts notes that Digital Manga is apparently not planning on actually distributing the Tezuka manga outside of direct sales and the library market. This means that individuals who want the manga will either have to back a successful Kickstarter project, or purchase them directly from the publisher. I’ve been extremely busy at work lately (my immediate supervisor retired on Friday, which more or less leaves me in charge of my unit for the time being), so I wasn’t able to follow much more than the Digital Manga drama, but I did see that Viz made a new license announcement: Junji Ito’s Fragments of Horror! And speaking of licenses, Reverse Thieves has compiled a list of all of the manga, light novels, and anime licenses that were announced in 2014.

Quick Takes

Angel Sanctuary, Volumes 11-15 by Kaori Yuki. It took more than half of the series, but Angel Sanctuary has finally grabbed a hold of me. I’ve enjoyed Yuki’s artwork since the beginning, I’ve always liked the series’ exploration of overarching themes of love, destiny, and personal responsibility, and I can certainly appreciate the tremendous amount of research Yuki has put into creating her mythology, but the story itself has been somewhat of an unfocused mess up until this point. Now things are starting to pull together in a very satisfying way though. I’m actually looking forward to reading the conclusion of Angel Sanctuary instead of just feeling obligated to finish the manga. It’s getting really good and the drama is epic. Yuki still has the tendency to be a little haphazard in her narrative structure, but the series has become much easier to follow. It probably helps that her editors wouldn’t allow her to introduce any more new characters. The cast of Angel Sanctuary is huge, and so it’s understandably challenging to present all of their backstories while maintaining the series’ forward momentum. Fortunately, as it approaches its turbulent end, Angel Sanctuary seems to have found its center and drive.

Manga Dogs, Volume 1 by Ema Toyama. Up until now, the only other manga that I’ve read by Toyama is her ongoing series Missions of Love, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Manga Dogs. Turns out it’s a very different series, probably best described as gag manga about making manga and the manga industry. While for me it was never laugh-out-loud hilarious, I was generally amused and consistently entertained by the first volume of Manga Dogs. It’s silly fun. Even though she’s only fifteen, Kanna Tezuka recently made her manga debut. Granted, her series isn’t doing so well and is in danger of cancellation. Her high school has a new major specializing in manga, though it’s incredibly poorly run, which is where three pretty boys attach themselves to her. Fumio Akatsuka, Fujio Fuji, and Shota Ishinomori are more interested in the fame and fortune they associate with successful mangaka rather than the sweat and stress it takes to get there, though. As can be seen with the characters’ names, Manga Dogs has plenty of nods and references to established mangaka, but most of the humor comes from the three young men’s misguided efforts to become famous artists without actually putting in any effort.

Prophecy, Volume 1 by Tetsuya Tsutsui. Before reading the first volume of Prophecy I actually didn’t know much about the manga except that Vertical was approached to publish it directly by the author. Prophecy is a mature, chilling, and realistic series dealing with cyber crime, social media, how quickly people can turn on one another, and the terrible things that can be done under the guise of anonymity. A small group of vigilantes are taking matters into their own hands, viciously striking out against those who have trespassed against others online. While their methods are extreme, their motivation is easy to understand and even empathize with; the world can be a cruel, cruel place. It’s an entirely different sort of case than the members Anti Cyber Crimes Division of the Metropolitan Police are usually involved in. Specializing in internet crime, they more commonly deal with copyright and intellectual property infringement. But in this particular war of information, people’s lives are at stake, not just their livelihoods. The first volume of Prophecy was exceptional. In my opinion, it’s one of the strongest series to debut this year. I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of the manga.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 7: Battle of Loum

December 5, 2014 by Ash Brown

Creator: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Original story: Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781939130679
Released: September 2014
Original release: 2011

Battle of Loum is the seventh volume in Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s manga series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, a reimagining of the original 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam which launched the massive Gundam franchise. The Origin provides an excellent entry point into the rather daunting Gundam universe for those who don’t know where to start with it. I’d even recommend the manga to readers who don’t have a particular interest in Gundam but who are looking for a great military science fiction series or space opera. Generally, I would consider myself a part of that latter group, though after reading The Origin I find that I am more curious about Gundam as a whole than I previously was. I have thoroughly been enjoying Vertical’s deluxe release of the The Origin which is based on the Japanese collectors’ edition. The seventh volume, originally published in Japan in 2011, was released in English in 2014 and includes additional commentary from Mamoru Nagano as well as the extra chapter “On the Eve” as bonus content.

After the Republic of Munzo declared itself the independent Principality of Zeon, political tensions continued to mount between it and the Earth Federation until an all-out war between the two groups ignited. Some of the other space colonies rally under Zeon’s flag, demanding their autonomy and freedom from the Federation’s rule. Others support the Federation and its efforts to keep humanity united. Neither side of the conflict is entirely in the wrong, but as the war continues so do the crimes against innocent civilians and colonists, many of which are manufactured by members of Zeon’s ruling House Zabi who would use the war for their own designs. There are warmongers to be found among the Federation’s ranks as well, though. But then Zeon does something unconscionable. Supposedly in an effort to end the war quickly and decisively, an entire space colony is crashed into the planet and the effects are devastating.

Battle of Loum recounts two of the most pivotal events of the war between the Federation and Zeon. The first chapter or so is devoted to the colony drop of Side 2 and the massacre of the colonists that precede its ultimate destruction. It is an appalling tragedy and the number of casualties is enormous, both of Side 2’s residents and the worldwide population of Earth. Yasuhiko’s stunning portrayal of the colony drop is extraordinarily effective. In addition to the showing astonishing damage inflicted, he explores the motivations behind it, the controversy and doubt surrounding the act, and how individuals respond and react to the plan and its execution. The colony drop is nothing short of an atrocity. It’s chilling to see the propaganda touting the glory of war contrasted with the very grim reality and horror of it all. The images of the colony breaking apart and smashing into Earth and the resulting devastation and loss of life are haunting.

As can be assumed by the title of the seventh volume, the Battle of Loum is the other major incident of the war upon which Yasuhiko turns his attention. Although the Federation has the advantage of numbers and resources, it is outmatched strategically and technologically as Zeon proves just how powerful and versatile the newly developed mobile suits can be. The Battle of Loum is a turning point in the war. Neither side comes out of it unscathed, but the Federation suffers a major defeat. The seventh volume of The Origin is very dramatic, with intense space battles and devious political machinations. There are those who honestly desire peace, but there are also those on both sides of the conflict who seek war. The inclusion of “On the Eve” brings the narrative full circle to the events that begin the series. The Origin is a magnificent piece of science fiction. It’s scope is epic, but Yasuhiko never forgets the very personal human drama that underlies it all.

Manga Giveaway: Seven Seas Sampler Winner

December 3, 2014 by Ash Brown

Dictatorial Grimoire, Volume 1: Cinderella

And the winner of the Seven Seas Sampler manga giveaway is…Karen Swartz!

As the winner, Karen will be receiving A Centaur’s Life, Volume 1 by Kei Murayama; Dictatorial Grimoire, Volume 1: Cinderella by Ayumi Kanou; Gakuen Polizi, Volume 1 by Milk Morinaga; and Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, Omnibus 1 written by Satoru Akahori and illustrated by Yukimaru Katsura. Over the last couple of years, Seven Seas has really taken off, adding more licenses than ever before and diversifying its catalog. So, for this giveaway, I asked people tell me a little about some of their favorite manga released by Seven Seas. I’ve compiled a list below (those with an asterisk were mentioned by more than one person), but be sure to check out the Seven Seas Sampler comments for more details.

Some favorite Seven Seas titles:
Afro Samurai by Takashi Okazaki
Alice in the Country of created by Quin Rose
Amazing Agent Luna written by Nunzio DeFillippis, Christina Weir, illustrated by Shiei
Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano
Boogiepop created by Kouhei Kadono
A Centaur’s Life by Kei Murayama
A Certain Scientific Railgun written by Kazuma Kamachi, illustrated by Motoi Fuyukawa
Citrus by Saburouta
*D-Frag! by Tomoya Haruno
Dance in the Vampire Bund by Nozomu Tamaki
*Devils and Realist written by Utako Yukihiro, illustrated by Madoka Takadono
Dragonar Academy written by Ran, illustrated by Shiki Mizuchi
Freezing by Kwang-Huyn Kim
Gakuen Polizi by Milk Morinaga
*Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga
*Gunslinger Girl by Yu Aida
*Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends written by Yomi Hirasaka, illustrated by Itachi
Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto by Nami Sano
Hayate X Blade by Shizuru Hayashiya
Inukami! written by Mamizu Arisawa, illustrated by Mari Matsuzawa
Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink by Milk Morinaga
Kokoro Connect written by Sadanatsu Anda, illustrated by CUTEG
*Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries written by Hey-jin Jeon, illustrated by Ki-ha Lee
Love in Hell by Reiji Suzumaru
*Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer by Satoshi Mizukami
Magical Girl Apocalypse by Kentaro Sato
Strawberry Panic written by Sakurako Kimino, illustrated by Takuminamuchi
*Toradora! written by Yuyuko Takemiya, illustrated by Zekkyou
Witch Buster by Jung-man Cho
*Young Miss Holmes by Kaoru Shintani
Zero’s Familiar written by Noboru Yamaguchi, illustrated by Nana Mochizuki

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway and shared some of your favorites; I hope to see you all again for the next one!

My Week in Manga: November 24-November 30, 2014

December 1, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was a busy week for me as I was traveling and such for the Thanksgiving holiday, but Experiments in Manga had quite a few things going on, too. The most recent manga giveaway was posted and there’s still time to enter for a chance to win a Seven Seas Sampler–four first volumes of some of Seven Seas’ manga series. I also posted two reviews last week. First up was Yu Godai’s novel Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Volume 1 which I loved. It’s based on the same story as Digital Devil Saga, a spinoff of the Shin Megami Tensei video game series. I also reviewed Ryosuke Takeuchi and Takeshi Obata’s All You Need Is Kill manga adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s original All You Need Is Kill novel. I think the novel is the stronger of the two, but I enjoyed the manga as well. Last week I also joined in with the other Manga Bookshelf bloggers for a roundtable on food manga over at MangaBlog.

I should also probably mention that the votes have been tallied for my next monthly manga review project. After School Nightmare took an early lead, but it ended up being a very close contest between it and Dorohedoro and Mushishi. And in the end, After School Nightmare and Mushishi actually tied with each other! So, I’ve decided to review both manga. There are a few different ways to approach this, but beginning with After School Nightmare, each month I’ll alternate between the two series. If everything goes according to schedule, it should take me a year and a half to complete the review project. Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll! I was very glad to see interest expressed in all of the series to which I had narrowed down the vote. I’ll be sure to keep in mind the other series that were strongly supported and try to feature them as best as I can, too. I wish that I had more time to read and write!

Elsewhere online, Organization Anti-Social Geniuses had a couple of posts that I found particularly interesting last week–an interview with Abigail Blackman, one of Yen Press’ editors and letterers, and a discussion of some of the fears of buying manga from U.S. publishers. Digital Manga has launched yet another Osamu Tezuka manga Kickstarter, though one that seems much more reasonable than the last failed project. This time, Digital Manga is trying to raise funding for the publication of Tezuka’s Ludwig B, an unfinished manga series about Beethoven. (In part because of my background in music, I’m actually really interested in Ludwig B.) I’d also like to bring a little attention to an effort started by Becca Hillburn–a group for Western Shoujo Comic Artists. More about it and the endeavor to create a network of support for manga-influenced artists can be read at Hillburn’s website Nattosoup: Solidarity and the American Shoujo/Josei Comic Scene.

Quick Takes

Alice in the Country of Hearts, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-2) by Soumei Hoshino. Based on an otome game by Quin Rose, Hoshino’s Alice in the Country of Hearts is one of many manga adaptations and spinoffs. Originally the series was partially released in English by Tokyopop, but the license was later rescued by Yen Press. Despite hearing good things about Alice in the Country of Hears, one of the reasons it took me so long to give the manga a try was the sheer number of volumes associated with the franchise. I’m glad that I finally got around to reading the first omnibus, though, because I loved it. At first, Alice in the Country of Hearts seems like a fairly straightforward re-imagining of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. (Granted, many of the characters are now bishōnen of various types.) But it soon becomes clear that something very ominous and disconcerting is brewing under the story’s surface. Alice has been transported to Wonderland and if she ever wants to return home she will have to get to know its residents better. Although they are participating in some sort of game to win her affections, those who live in Wonderland are prone to violence and have a very different sense of what is normal.

Milkyway Hitchhiking, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-2) by Sirial. Although occasionally the same characters make an appearance in multiple stories, Milkyway Hitchhiking is generally an episodic manhwa. The only thing that really ties the volume together is the presence of Milkyway, a beautiful cat who can apparently travel through space and time. She may or may not actually play an active role in the stories being told. Sometimes she’s just an observer and sometimes she’s a participant. Sometimes she’s a focal point of a tale and sometimes she simply happens to be present while events unfold around her. The most striking thing about Milkyway Hitchhiking is its beautiful, full-color artwork. Some of the individual illustrations are simply stunningly gorgeous. A variety of color palettes are used to lovely effect. While I particularly appreciate Milkyway Hitchhiking for Sirial’s art, I also enjoyed the individual episodes, too. The stories range from the fantastical to those grounded in reality. Some feel very much like something out of a fairy tale while others are contemporary slice-of-life or historical in nature. At times heartwarming and at times heartbreaking, I very much enjoyed Milkyway Hitchhiking and look forward to reading more of the series.

Tale of the Waning Moon, Volume 1 by Hyouta Fujiyama. I have a tendency to forget that Yen Press releases boys’ love series. Tale of the Waning Moon is one of those manga. Fujiyama has had quite a few of her works released in English, but I haven’t read any until now. Tale of the Waning Moon is pretty ridiculous. Ryuka is a young man whose girlfriend recently left him for another man. While drowning his sorrows Ryuka accidentally calls upon Ixto, the spirit of the last quarter moon, to grant him true love. The twist is that all of the eligible candidates that Ixto comes up with are men, which doesn’t particularly appeal to Ryuka. The real problem is that when Ryuka rejects those options, he comes under Ixto’s spell and is therefore compelled to leave his village on a quest to reunite with the spirit. From there, Ryuka sets of on his journey, unintentionally amassing an adventuring party of sorts in the process. Tale of the Waning Moon has sex (not all of it consensual) and silliness, magic and mayhem. Inspired and heavily influenced by fantasy RPGs, the manga is definitely more of a comedy than it is a romance. Tale of the Waning Moon is a short series–only four volumes–and the first installment entertained me well enough, so I’ll probably get around to picking up the rest at some point.

Übel Blatt, Omnibus 0 (equivalent to Volumes 0-1) by Etorouji Shiono. Übel Blatt, which translates as “evil blade,” has a lot going for it that generally appeals to me–a dark fantasy setting, a tale of revenge, epic battles, and so on–but for some reason, the first omnibus (the zeroth omnibus?) didn’t quite grab me as much as I expected it to. I’m not really sure why, since it seems like a series that should interest me. In fact, overall I actually did like the story. I even like many of the characters, especially its lead. But there were a few little (and big) things here and there that just didn’t work for me. For one, the sexual content and rape in the volume seems entirely unnecessary. It comes across as a superfluous attempt to add more edginess as opposed to being important to the story. Most of the female characters don’t fare particularly well, either. Occasionally there’s a little bit of hope that they’ll overcome their scantily clad fantasy tropes, but it never quite seems to happen. At this point, many of the antagonists in Übel Blatt seem fairly one-dimensional, too, though I suspect that this will change as the series progresses. All that being said, Übel Blatt does feature some excellent fight sequences and scenes of destruction. And while I’m not desperate to read the next volume, the series does show potential.

All You Need Is Kill

November 30, 2014 by Ash Brown

Author: Ryosuke Takeuchi
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
Original story: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421576015
Released: November 2014
Original release: 2014

It’s been a few years since I’ve read Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel All You Need Is Kill but I distinctly remember enjoying it, perhaps even more than I initially thought that I would. And so, I was very excited to learn that Takeshi Obata would be working on the manga adaptation not only because I like the original All You Need Is Kill but because I also enjoy Obata’s illustrations. (Hikaru no Go, which he worked on, actually happens to be one of my favorite manga series.) I was even more excited when Viz Media licensed the All You Need Is Kill manga for an English-language release. In Japan, the series was published in 2014 in two volumes. Viz’s digital release was also two volumes, but its 2014 print edition was released as a single-volume omnibus under the Shonen Jump Advanced imprint complete with color pages and a larger trim size. While Obata provided the artwork for the manga adaptation of All You Need Is Kill, it was Ryosuke Takeuchi who outlined the script and storyboards.

Humankind has been at war with the Mimics for years, but it seems like it may be a losing battle. The Mimics, alien creatures that continue to evolve with each confrontation, have begun to close in on Japan, the only country remaining that has the ability to produce the high-tech battle jackets used in the war. If Japan is lost, the rest of the world will soon follow. Keiji Kiriya is a young jacket jockey about to face his first battle. He, like so many others, is killed in action, except that he then revives in his bunk, thirty hours before his death. At first Keji thinks he’s dreaming, but then it happens again. And then again. Time after time, Keiji lives and dies fighting against the Mimics. Doing all that he can to survive just a little bit longer each round, Keiji focuses part of his attention on Rita Vrataski, considered to be the best jacket solider in the world. Following her example, Keiji might actually have a chance to escape the time loop alive.

Because I haven’t recently read Sakurazaka’s original All You Need Is Kill it is difficult for me to make a detailed comparison between it and the manga adaptation. Generally though, I feel that the novel is the stronger work of the two, but the manga has quite a bit going for it as well. Most of the resigned humor and social commentary found in the novel and even Keiji’s internal development have been downplayed in the manga in favor of the story’s external spectacle, action, and battles. As manga is a visual medium it makes sense to have this slight change of focus, but as a result All You Need Is Kill does lose some of its emotional impact. As for the artwork itself, Obata does an excellent job conveying the drama of the plot. The jackets and heavy action sequences look great, too. The Mimics’ design does leave something to be desired though–they aren’t as terrifying as they should be–and some readers may find the occasional fanservice more distracting than anything else.

Although it may not have the same substantive weight of the original, All You Need Is Kill makes for an entertaining and exciting, action-packed manga that reads quickly. Though not without flaws, it succeeds well as an adaptation and as its own work. Particularly effective is how Obata emphasizes the time loop by utilizing very similar panels but with slightly different page layouts with each rewind, keeping the manga from becoming too repetitive. The way Obata draws Keiji changes as well. The young soldier becomes stronger and harder with each loop, but also more haunted and battle-weary. An explanation for the time abnormality is eventually given that at least makes sense superficially and sets up a nice plot twist, but it starts to fall apart if given too much critical thought. Still, the All You Need Is Kill is a great read for anyone interested in military science fiction and action. For the most part I was pleased with the adaptation; I’d still recommend that readers give the original novel a try, too, though.

Manga Giveaway: Seven Seas Sampler

November 26, 2014 by Ash Brown

The end of the month draws near, so it’s once again time for another manga giveaway at Experiments in Manga! As is tradition, November’s giveaway features multiple volumes. This month you will all have a chance to win a sampling of some of Seven Sea’s manga releases, both old and new: A Centaur’s Life, Volume 1 by Kei Murayama; Dictatorial Grimoire, Volume 1: Cinderella by Ayumi Kanou; Gakuen Polizi, Volume 1 by Milk Morinaga; and Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, Omnibus 1 written by Satoru Akahori and illustrated by Yukimaru Katsura. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

It used to be that I didn’t pay much attention to Seven Seas. It had a smallish catalog and I wasn’t particularly interested in most of the series it was publishing at the time. But with the success of Monster Musume and the various Alice series, Seven Seas has really taken off in recent years. And increased sales mean even more manga licenses. Seven Seas has been making a particular point to diversify its offerings lately. It has helped revive interest in yuri manga in English. A range of genres are being released, including slice-of-life, comedy, fantasy, horror, mystery, and science fiction among others. There are otome manga as well as quirky shounen series. Ecchi and fanservice manga features heavily, but there are more wholesome titles, too. Seven Seas really is trying to have a little something of everything and a little something for everyone. I might not personally be interested in every license the publisher picks up, but I do like seeing the variety of works. You’ve caught my attention, Seven Seas. Now show me what you can do.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a Seven Seas Sampler?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite manga released or licensed by Seven Seas if you have one. (If you don’t have a favorite or haven’t read any of Seven Seas manga, 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).

It’s as easy as that. Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. As usual, participants will have one week to submit comments. Entries can also be sent via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com which I will then post in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on December 3, 2014. Happy feasting!

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: Seven Seas Sampler Winner

My Week in Manga: November 17-November 23, 2014

November 23, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Two reviews were posted last week at Experiments in Manga, and a little something else as well! The first review was for the second part of Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator, the third volume in Kouhei Kadono’s Boogiepop light novel series. Boogiepop is a rather peculiar series, but I’ve really been enjoying it. And speaking of series that I enjoy, I also reviewed the fifth omnibus of Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura. Vinland Saga is an epic work of historical fiction, and one of my favorite manga series currently being released in English. And, as promised, last week I also posted a poll so that readers of Experiments in Manga can help pick my next monthly manga review project. I’ve narrowed the choices down to five horror manga options, and now it’s up to you to vote. The poll will be open through the end of November.

A few things of note that I encountered online last week: It was brought to my attention that Akino Kondoh’s collection Nothing Whatsoever All Out in the Open is now available to order. Publishers Weekly has a great list of 12 Awesome Comics about Outer Space compiled by Matt White which includes Makoto Yukimura’s Planetes, Chūya Koyama’s Space Brothers, and Yukinobu Hoshino’s 2001 Nights, which are all excellent choices. Finally, Johanna Draper Carlson has a nice recap of the recent Digtial Manga Tezuka Kickstarter debacle/failure over at Manga Worth Reading.

Quick Takes

Angel Sanctuary, Volumes 6-10 by Kaori Yuki. Halfway through the series, and I still find Angel Sanctuary a bit frustrating and confusing. It’s difficult to follow because there is so much going and and there are so many characters, with even more being introduced in these volumes Angel Sanctuary is incredibly ambitious, but I’m afraid that Yuki has bitten off too much to chew; the series would be stronger with a little more focus. Even though it seems like Yuki is making things up as she goes along, her author’s notes would seem to indicate that she actually does have a plan and even the major plot twists were developed well in advance. To the reader, though, it feels like they come out of nowhere. If anything, it should be very clear by this point in the series that you really can’t trust any of the characters. They all have their own ambitions and motivations, so it’s almost impossible for any of them to be considered allies for a long period of time. I can’t deny that Angel Sanctuary is extraordinarily dramatic, and a string of betrayals continues to up the stakes. And even though the story is all over the place, I do still really enjoy Yuki’s gothic artwork.

Barakamon, Volume 1 by Satsuki Yoshino. Seishuu Handa is a young, award-winning calligrapher who, after handling a critique of his work quite poorly, has been encouraged by his father to at least temporarily retire to the remote Gotō Island. Thus begins Barakamon, a fairly low-key comedy that’s part slice of life and part gag manga. Much of the humor either revolves around Seishuu, a city boy, being so out-of-place in the countryside, or Naru, a young, energetic troublemaker who’s grown rather attached to “Sensei.” Though generally amusing, Barakamon is never quite as funny as I actually want it to be. I’ll admit though, since I grew up in a rural village myself, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit satisfied when Seishuu gets shown up by the island’s residents, especially because he thinks so little of them to begin with. I can appreciate Seishuu’s struggles as an artist, too, though I can’t say that I like him very much as a person, yet. But, I suspect that’s what Barakamon is in part about–Seishuu becoming a better person after some much-needed self-reflection. While no means exceptional in art or story, I did largely enjoy the first volume of Barakamon and plan on continuing the series for a least another few volumes.

Smut Peddler 2014 by Various. After being revived in 2012, Smut Peddler is back again in 2014 with a second collection of short, erotic comics. Some of the contributors are new to Smut Peddler while others are returning to the series. Smut Peddler 2014 includes twenty-five comics from thirty-two artists and writers. Although some of the individual comics are phenomenal, overall I think the first collection is the stronger of the two. Even so, Smut Peddler remains one of the best series for diverse, sex-positive, lady-friendly, queer-friendly, kink-friendly erotic comics. There’s straight sex, and queer sex. There’s modest sex and flamboyant sex. Sweet sex and spicy sex. Sex with humor and sex with solemnity. And there’s everything in between, too. With the inclusion of a few science fiction and fantasy tales, there’s also alien and inter-species sex, which is always fun. I was particularly pleased to see how many transgender and/or nonbinary narratives were included in the 2014 edition of Smut Peddler. The sheer variety of genres, styles, characters, and stories found in Smut Peddler is one of the highlights of the series. The fact that the creators are just as diverse as their comics makes it even better.