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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Shonen Jump

Rurouni Kenshin 26 by Nobuhiro Watsuki: C+

May 21, 2006 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
If there’s one thing tough-as-nails street brawler—and ex-Sekiho Army cadet—Sagara Sanosuke can’t stand, it’s hypocritical, loudmouthed braggarts who talk the talk but are incapable of walking the walk. Finding himsef in the middle of a provincial squabble between an old man and the local yakuza, Sano returns to his old “fight merchant” ways and agrees to do some ad hoc butt kicking for pay. But the old man he’s hired to tangle with might be his strongest foe to date.

Review:
The majority of this volume involves Sanosuke fighting to help protect a town from some yakuza creeps. It’s pretty durn boring. There are a couple of out-of-character references by the characters to the fact that they’re in a manga, which I didn’t find too amusing, and Sano seemed to be going a little haywire with the “giving people nicknames” deal. It does, however, introduce the character of Ota, who is totally lovable, even though he doesn’t say a single word. I’d like to see what becomes of him someday.

Finally, in the last few chapters, we return to Kenshin and the others in Tokyo, with the conflict with Enishi just about to come to fruition. Except, right at the end, it doesn’t happen! In fact, it doesn’t even not happen! What I mean is, something gets in the way between the gang and Enishi, and then we don’t see that fight because it’s going to happen in volume 27. I’d be more frustrated by this if I didn’t already have 27, courtesy of Waldenbooks getting theirs in crazy early.

Filed Under: UNSHELVED Tagged With: Shonen Jump, VIZ

The Prince of Tennis 13 by Takeshi Konomi: B

April 27, 2006 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
Seishun Academy is in the finals of the District Preliminaries and the only player standing in their way is mean, violent, and ill-tempered Jin Akutsu of Yamabuki Junior High! Ryoma desperately needs to toughen up mentally, as Jin has figured out a way to punish him with his powerful shots. Meanwhile, Seishun holds more intra-squad games, and this time someone loses his spot on the starting team…!

Review:
Looking at individual elements in this volume, it makes me wonder why I like this series so much and can’t wait to have thirty-plus volumes to reread and wallow in. Ryoma is quite snotty, and in his match with Jin, I was rooting for him to lose (as I have trouble remembering outcomes of matches from the anime). Then there was a rather pointless chapter where Ryoma beat a basketball player in a free-throw contest by whacking a tennis ball with a broom…

I enjoyed the intra-squad chapters a lot, though, particularly Inui and Tezuka’s match. Inui is alright, though I think his tennis style is a little cheesy, but Tezuka’s my favorite character, and I’m always glad when he gets to be all badass.

So, kind of cheesy, yes, but oh so totally addictive.

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Shonen Jump, VIZ

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