Crown of Love, Vol. 2

By Yun Kouga
Viz, 191 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Now that idol Rima Fujio has decided that she’s going to attempt to go to high school, it’s up to Hisayoshi Tajima to coach her through the information she’ll need to know to take the entrance exam. It’s harder than she thinks, and it’s an awkward situation. Hisayoshi’s obsession with Rima hasn’t gone away, but he seems to be trying to squelch it in order to be near her. After pushing her nearly to the breaking point, he manages to get her to where she needs to be in order to pass the test and make it into the high school’s entertainment program.

Rima’s former manager Ikeshiba’s goals remain in shadow. With former child star Akira Chidori’s career on an upswing, is he trying to replace Rima now that she’s in high school and her attention is split? Or is he just trying to push Rima even harder, so she goes that extra mile for him? He’s definitely trying to push Hisayoshi into a recording career, though how was it okay for him to put Hisayoshi in a commercial with Akira while Hisayoshi’s father still has control over his minor son?

Parents seem to be a big theme of this volume. Rima, driven and confident, seems to break when she discovers that her deadbeat mother has yet again moved without leaving any sort of contact information. Shingo says that he wants Ikeshiba’s daughter Manami for his wife, but his reasons for wanting to marry the girl seem more like he’s seeking a mother than a wife. Hisayoshi’s parents don’t physically show up, but they cast long shadows–when he learns of Rima’s mother’s disappearance, he reflects on how his mother is basically the opposite. Of the main characters in this volume, in fact, it’s only Akira who seems to have anything resembling a functional home life at all. She seems comfortable with her mother in the page and a half we see them in.

If that weren’t enough to tell a captivating story, the fact that Rima, Hisayoshi, and Akira are now classmates also brings added texture to the story. Instead of being typical school rivals, there seems to be an honest humanity about how these teenagers interact with one another and the outside world. It’s complicated, sweet at times, and altogether entrancing. The next volume can’t come soon enough.

Volume two of Crown of Love is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross, Vol. 11

By Arina Tanemura
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

When this series was wrapping up in Japan, I heard rumors about how it ended. Word was fans were peeved because, in the end, the heroine does not make a decision between the twin brothers for whom she has feelings. It turns out that this isn’t true, though author’s notes from Tanemura indicate that her original intention was for Haine to marry both boys and not just one. And yes, this is the kind of shojo that ends with a wedding.

As the conclusion approaches, all kinds of things happen that are probably supposed to be dramatic but just make me laugh. Haine confronts the twins’ grandfather about an archaic family tradition that establishes one as the heir and the other as mere stand-in, demonstrating her anger by ripping up a chair cushion. She then proceeds to talk down a gun-wielding friend by diagnosing his angst within three pages, gets shot anyway, narrates insipid dialogue like “Even if I’m mistaken… if what I make my mind up to do will lead to happiness then I can do it,” convinces gramps to acknowledge both twins, relays the good news to the boys, and then promptly collapses from her wound.

It’s all extremely silly, but there’s at least some enjoyment to be derived from watching all the clichés at play. Also, it seems that the art—though extravagantly toned as per usual—is a bit prettier in this volume. Perhaps Tanemura stepped it up a notch for the big finale.

Volume eleven of The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1

Story and Art by Kiiro Yumi, Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

At some point in the near future, the national government of Japan passes the Media Betterment Act, which “seeks to exercise censorship over all media, including restricting offensive books.” Libraries are the only institutions able to oppose them, and so local governments build up armed forces to defend their libraries, which continue to preserve banned works in their collections and make them available to the people.

When Iku Kasahara was in her final year of high school, a member of the Library Forces intervened during a bookstore raid and prevented a beloved book from falling into the grasp of the Media Betterment Committee. The incident made a big impression on her and, after graduating from college, she enlists. As a new recruit, she must attend classes, complete grueling physical challenges, help out at the local library, and participate in woodsy training sessions.

While we see all of these scenarios play out in this introductory volume, the focus is really on Iku’s relationship with Dojo, her cranky commanding officer. To the reader, it is plainly obvious that he was the one who helped Iku in the bookstore that day, but Iku fails to connect him with her idealized prince. Because he pushes her harder than the other recruits—since he expects more of her—she thinks he hates her and is suspicious of his occasional kindness. For his part, Dojo is clearly smitten and impressed by Iku’s determination, even though her frequent intellectual lapses do try his patience.

Library Wars is a perfectly decent read, but it does have some issues. Firstly, the basic concept, as inherited by the series of light novels upon which the manga is based. If the national government has banned offensive books, why isn’t it going after the publishers of these books isntead of waiting until they’ve actually been printed to go confiscate them from bookstores? That doesn’t make much sense.

Secondly, the protagonist. I really appreciate that Iku is a physically coordinated heroine in her twenties, but wish that she wasn’t portrayed as such a scholastic ditz, forever sleeping in class and having to learn on the job what she was supposed to have learned in the classroom. I found myself sympathizing with Tezuka, her antagonistic fellow recruit, who is annoyed that such a slacker is able to achieve the same honor—a spot on an elite squad—that he was only able to attain through hard work.

Lastly, I am bothered by the inconsistency with which VIZ (presumably) has treated the characters’ ranks. Iku is first introduced as a Corporal, yet she is later identified as a Sergeant on a chart of characters and their positions and, indeed, the insignia on her uniform bears this out. Dojo, in turn, is called a Sergeant but according to the chart and his uniform, is actually a First Lieutenant. I know I shouldn’t let this sort of thing distract me from the story, but it’s a mistake that’s repeated so frequently I just couldn’t help it. Hopefully they’ll correct it for volume two.

I enjoyed Library Wars enough that I plan to continue with the series, though I doubt it’ll ever top my personal list of beloved books.

Volume one of Library Wars: Love & War is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

S.A (Special A), Vol. 16

By Maki Minami
Viz, 216 pp.
Rating: Teen

After a delightful fifteenth volume that focused on side characters rather than Hikari and Kei, volume sixteen of S.A is decidedly back to our main couple. That’s not the big problem with this volume. The big problem is Iori Tokiwa, the recently introduced rival for Hikari’s affections. Well. I say rival for her affections, but Hikari’s pretty oblivious to Iori’s attraction and considers him a friend. It’s as a friend that she agrees to be a model for him in a hairstyling competition, though of course Iori wants to use the competition as a way to drive a wedge between Hikari and Kei.

Which is silly, of course, given that this is the penultimate volume of this series. Iori bows out of the series around the middle of the volume. Given that he was only introduced in volume fourteen, I really wonder what the point of the character was. Perhaps he was there to give Hikari the nudge she needed to end Kei’s jealousy. Not only does she promise to remain Iori’s friend at the end of the compeition, but she also drops to one knee and proposes to Kei!

The reactions from friends and family on that one are overwhelming for the main couple and pretty funny to read. While Hikari didn’t mean “right now” when she did it, everyone else seems to think that they did. It calms down after Kei finally tells Hikari he won’t marry her until she beats him and becomes ranked number one. (This is S.A after all!)

Finishing out the volume is the beginning of a more serious storyline in which Hikari tries to break through to Kei’s gruff grandfather. There’s some real emotion in those pages, bringing the overall quality of this volume up. I hope that S.A continues this and works toward a truly satisfying closure. So far, so good.

Volume sixteen of S.A (Special A) will be available on July 6, 2010.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Flower in a Storm, Vol. 1

By Shigeyoshi Takagi
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

After being rejected by her first love because of her superhuman strength, Riko is trying to live as unremarkable a life as possible. She believes that the only way she’s going to fall in love is to be “normal,” but this point of view is challenged by the dramatic arrival (with gun and menacing retinue) of rich boy Ran Tachibana, who barges into her classroom one day and proposes marriage.

Unlike her first love, when Ran caught a glimpse of Riko’s abilities he was smitten and his unstoppable pursuit leads him to transfer to her school. Ran’s got quite a few enemies, so his proximity involves Riko in all sorts of dangerous situations involving assassins and treacherous friends, but his acceptance of her as she is gradually endears her to him despite all the chaos he introduces into her life.

In no way did I expect to enjoy Flower in a Storm as much as I did. In fact, I remember reading the back cover description aloud to someone and the two of us groaning. In reality, though, it’s actually a lot of fun, even though some of the situations the leads find themselves in are fairly ridiculous. Ran might be outrageous, but the fact that he appreciates Ran for her competence and independence goes a long way toward making his presumptive actions more tolerable. Also, this isn’t one of those series where the domineering guy must come to the aid of the helpless heroine; instead, they do their fair share of rescuing each other.

After Ran and Riko’s tale comes to a nice stopping point, there’s a bonus story called “Need for Artificial Respiration.” It’s about a girl, Toko, with a bad reputation at school due to frequently being spotted kissing different guys. After having his first kiss stolen by Toko while napping in a classroom, Kiyoharu becomes interested in figuring out why she does what she does. The answer is rather surprising, but the story is quite good and definitely more interesting than many bonus stories tend to be.

I like Takagi-sensei’s art a lot, especially Ran’s character design. Riko resembles the title character from Alice in the Country of Hearts, but Ran—with his tied-back hair and impressive collection of stylish specs—has a look all his own that I actually find kind of sexy. Also, there’s just something about Takagi’s angular profiles that reminds me at times of Tomoko Yamashita, creator of Dining Bar Akira.

Ultimately, Flower in a Storm was a very pleasant surprise. Probably a story like this would fizzle out over a long serialization, but the fact that it concludes in its second volume (due in August) reassures me that its end will be as unexpectedly entertaining as its beginning.

Volume one of Flower in a Storm is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 4

By Karuho Shiina
VIZ, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

When Sawako Kuronuma was ostracised by her class due to her gloomy disposition and resemblance to a character from a horror movie, she never would have guessed that there are so many nuances to interactions with other people. Because of her inexperience in this area, she hasn’t learned to be distrustful, and so accepts as genuine the friendly advances of Kurumi, a girl who wants Kazehaya-kun for herself.

Kurumi does everything within her power to convince Sawako, who is growing increasingly curious about the depth of her feeling for Kazehaya, that what she feels for him isn’t anything special, and that she ought to try chatting up some other guys for the sake of comparison (then arranges for Kazehaya to witness this, of course). Things backfire for Kurumi, though, as Sawako manages to interpret this advice in the best possible light and ends up confirming and accepting that what she feels for Kazehaya is genuine love.

This is a huge step for Sawako, and her happiness at this achievement in self-discovery is contagious. In fact, the depiction of her thought process as she works this out is simply terrific throughout, as is that of Kazehaya as he realizes that, no matter what he may personally feel, Sawako is still not ready to begin dating anyone. The skill with which nonverbal and internal storytelling convey these revelations to the reader elevates Kimi ni Todoke beyond other sweet love stories and into the realm of great manga.

Volume four of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

We Were There, Vol. 10

By Yuki Obata
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

After volume nine’s jump to the future, We Were There returns again to the past. This volume follows Yano in his first year away from Nanami as seen through the eyes of a classmate, Sengenji. While things continue to decline for Yano’s mother, Yano strives desperately to cling to his long-distance relationship with Nanami, even if this means shutting her out of everything he’s going through. Meanwhile, Yamamoto enters the picture once again and Sengenji battles her own feelings for Yano.

So much of this series revolves around questions of trust, and once again Yano falls short–not in terms of his own trustworthiness, but rather in his inability to trust Nanami with the things she most needs to know. Though he tries to justify this as concern for her, it’s obvious that what he’s really protecting is himself. “Even if wounds heal, scars are left behind,” he says to Takeuchi over the phone, following a labored metaphor about broken plants created to justify shielding Nanami from further truth. “So it’s better not to experience hardship if you don’t have to.”

Even watching Yano stumble, however, it’s impossible not to feel for him, and it’s exactly this kind of emotional ambiguity that this series handles so well. Every poor choice and heartfelt miscalculation is perfectly in-character, forcing readers to examine their own reactions just as in real life.

With its thoughtful tone and exceptional insight into the human mind and heart, We Were There continues to be a must-read for fans of mature shojo.

Volume ten of We Were There is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Honey Hunt, Vol. 4

By Miki Aihara
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Despite having no prior interest in acting, Yura Onozuka, the relatively normal daughter of celebrity parents, discovers a talent for it when she resolves to surpass her mother in the dramatic sphere. She has achieved some moderate success pretty quickly, including a spot in a commercial and a supporting role on a new TV drama.

Yura’s career is less the focus in this volume than are her romantic prospects, however. While volume three ended with one pop star (Haruka) confessing his feelings, here Yura is swept away by his twin brother (Q-ta, also a pop star), to the point where she’s distracted during an audition and later ditches a dinner planned by her housemates—to celebrate her drama’s debut—in favor of spending a night on the town with Q-ta.

Although one might wish for a heroine more doggedly dedicated to her career, it’s not hard to sympathize with Yura as she faces the choice between two dreams—the nurturing family-type environment offered by her housemates and the love of a prince-like suitor. Even though she makes some mistakes, she’s still likeable. Q-ta, however, comes off as quite the brat here, and one can’t help but wonder whether his protestations that he likes Yura for herself rather than for her famous father are truly genuine. If not, I suppose it’ll make for good drama.

In the end, while Honey Hunt doesn’t leave a particularly strong impression with the reader, it’s still something I enjoy reading.

Volume four of Honey Hunt is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Stepping on Roses, Vol. 1

By Rinko Ueda
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Sumi Kitamura needs to beat some sense into her older brother, Eisuke.

Not that this is proper for a girl of Meiji-era Japan, nor is it in her character to do so. They’re on their own, you see, and were it just Eisuke and Sumi—well, Sumi’s fifteen and Eisuke’s old enough to work, so they’d probably be able to make it on their own. That’s not how Eisuke rolls, though. He has this habit of bringing abandoned babies home for Sumi to care for, dumping them on her lap and heading out again to “work.”

“Work” is put in quotation marks here because Eisuke is essentially a gigolo. He’d probably bring in enough money to support Sumi and the children if he didn’t have a gambling problem on top of that. At the beginning of Stepping on Roses, he’s just dropped a fifth abandoned child into Sumi’s care right as one of the older children, a little girl named Tomi, has fallen ill.

It’s through the generosity of a stranger that Tomi gets the medicine she needs, but that hurdle is jumped only to run into another: Eisuke has been trying to romance the girlfriend of one of his thug creditors, and now said creditor has come to collect the 2,000 yen (worth about $33,000 in modern US dollars) Eisuke borrowed in Sumi’s name. Sumi ends up offering to sell herself to make the money (so the thug won’t sell the five young children on the black market).

Here’s where Soichiro Ashida comes into the picture. He’s rich, handsome, and stands to inherit his family’s fortune if he gets married by the deadline set by his dying grandfather. So he buys Sumi. She thinks at first that he’s just bought her body, but no, that’s not it at all: he’s bought her hand in marriage, so Sumi must relinquish her freedom to this man who can’t be bothered with romance. The biggest catch is this: she is not to love him, and he’s not going to love her.

So that’s the main story: destitute teenage girl, desperate to save the five children she cares for, sells her hand in marriage to a selfish rich boy. She’s forced into a crash course in manners (especially Western-style manners) and how to behave as part of the gentry, all the while not being allowed to even let Eisuke and the children know where she is or what’s become of her. She recognizes that she’s being treated like crap, but doesn’t feel like she has any choice in the matter since she’s been paid for. All of this is complicated even further by his sweet, affectionate treatment of her when they’re in front of other people.

While the art of Stepping on Roses is absolutely beautiful, the story is not. I have no doubt that such a concept could be done well in the hands of another storyteller, but Ueda-sensei’s storytelling leaves me feeling frustrated at the predictable way the plot moves and the horrible way that the bulk of the supporting characters behave toward the protagonist. I’m not going to give up on this one just yet, but I don’t have much hope for Stepping on Roses.

Volume one of Stepping on Roses is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Wild Ones, Vol. 9

By Kiyo Fujiwara
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Having finally agreed to speak to the father who abandoned him so many years ago, Rakuto is confronted with the possibility that he may eventually have to leave Sachie’s side in order to make peace with his own past. Meanwhile, Azuma is determined to let Sachie know how he feels, whether Rakuto is ready to play his part or not. Who does Sachie truly love? Has this ever been in question? If so, this volume provides an answer at long last!

Finally the series’ romantic tension is resolved, exactly as it was certain to be from the beginning. Some formulaic romances are enjoyable to read simply because they are so predictable. With these stories, the charm is in the writing, and watching their familiar scenarios play out is, frankly, comforting and downright delightful. Unfortunately, this is not one of those series. Though the couple in question are undeniably sweet, their relationship is so labored and so painfully drawn out, one finds oneself wishing something truly shocking would happen (a deadly plague? an alien invasion? ) just to break up the monotony. With its unbelievable premise and its terminally clueless lovers, this series seems determined to remain lifeless until the end.

Well, almost, anyway. To be fair, this volume’s final pages are honestly sweet, and may even evoke tears from desperate readers grateful for a bit of romantic satisfaction. It may not be an alien invasion, but long-time readers are at least assured some payoff.

Volume nine of Wild Ones is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Cactus’s Secret, Vol. 1

By Nana Haruta
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen

Miku Yamada has a problem: the boy she likes, Kyohei Fujioka, is oblivious to her feelings. When she attempts to give him chocolates for Valentine’s Day, he cheerfully offers to help her practice confessing her love for someone else. He seems to be more affected by memories of a childhood friend than by her, but occasionally makes comments that cause her to believe she has a chance. How can she make him realize she likes him?

The back cover would have us believe that Miku is an unfortunate victim of Fujioka’s obstinate obtuseness, but readers will soon realize that this is not actually the case. Miku can’t seem to decide whether she truly wants Fujioka to know how she feels, which leads to vehement denials of her feelings and episodes where she treats him quite shabbily. How could Fujioka, who is admittedly rather dim, be expected to correctly interpret these actions?

As one might surmise, it’s very difficult to like Miku, even though her melodramatic behavior is not outside the realm of possibility for a lovelorn teen. Statements like, “I’m going to become an amazing girl so Fujioka will fall for me!” rankle, too, since I tend to prefer heroines with something on their minds other than boys. The end product is a very shallow story, more suitable for young teens than veteran shojo readers, though it does improve near the end of the volume when Miku’s message is finally clear enough for Fujioka to understand. Fujioka’s response is not only perfectly in character, but also age-appropriate, promising more interesting circumstances to come as the characters progress into their second year of high school.

Cactus’s Secret was serialized in Ribon magazine, and boy, does it show. All characters possess the distinctive eyes common to works from that publication, and screen tone is abundant. There’s even an author’s note where Haruta writes about being chastised for using insufficient tone! As a result, the artwork, while reasonably attractive, is essentially indistinguishable from anything else in Ribon. That said, I do think Fujioka’s character design is pretty cute.

On the subject of author’s notes, the flaws of Cactus’s Secret might be excused with Haruta’s revelation that the deadline for chapter four occurred on the same day as her high school graduation. On its own merits, this manga might not be anything special, but when one considers that it was created by a high school student, it starts to look downright impressive.

Volume one of Cactus’s Secret is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Love*Com, Vol. 17

By Aya Nakahara
VIZ, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

After the main Love*Com story finished, manga-ka Aya Nakahara published a few additional bonus stories, which are collected in the series’ seventeenth and final volume. Three stories depict Ôtani and Risa during their junior high years and one revisits the gang four months after graduation. One of the major flaws of Love*Com in its later volumes was that, in a transparent effort to milk the series for all it was worth, the focus drifted too much from the leads to the uninspiring supporting cast. Here, at least, each story features one or both of the protagonists in the starring role(s).

Despite its hokey setup—practically every semi-significant character from the series coincidentally converges on the same beach on the same day—the post-graduation story is not only the best of the four, but also provides the best Risa/Ôtani scene in quite some time. It deals with Risa’s feelings of being left behind by her undergraduate friends, who are off having new experiences with people she doesn’t know while she contends with the challenges of fashion stylist school, which is not going as well as she had hoped. Somehow, this series works best when Risa is miserable, and when Ôtani steps up to the plate to cheer her up and listen to her troubles, it provides a better and more personal farewell for the series than the full-cast send-off volume sixteen offered.

It’s been a long time since I paused to admire and reread a particularly sweet moment between these two characters, and I can’t help feeling grateful that I was able to experience it one more time before the end. Maybe, just a little, Love*Com has redeemed itself.

Volume seventeen of Love*Com is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 2

By Yuki Midorikawa
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

In this volume, Natsume is coerced into attending a school-sponsored “haunted challenge,” only to discover that one of his classmates (who suspects his abilities) wants his help to communicate with a yokai. Next, he falls prey to a curse that he can’t break without supernatural assistance. Later, he meets another human with his abilities and also becomes possessed by a yokai with a final, desperate wish.

Though this volume focuses less on Natsume’s quest to return all the names in the “Book of Friends,” that’s actually not a bad thing at all. Each of the chapters in this installment of the series is more touching than the last, which is saying a lot considering that the first chapter begins with Natsume pouring water on a dehydrated yokai collapsed in the middle of the road.

Unlike his grandmother, Reiko, Natsume is slowly developing bonds with his fellow humans, but he’s also forging relationships with yokai that are much more genuine than Reiko ever bothered with. While she ruled over yokai with the power of the Book, Natsume reaches out to them with genuine affection, struggling to understand how the yokai’s wants and priorities might differ from his own. This deceptively simple lesson in learning to value things outside one’s own experience is subtly and effectively presented, with the same gentleness that has characterized the series thus far. The series’ humor is a highlight in this volume as well, providing much-needed contrast to its forthright sentimentality.

Though the series’ structure is still rigidly episodic, Natsume’s character development is satisfying enough to easily keep up the story’s momentum. Natsume’s Book of Friends remains one of this year’s best shojo surprises!

Volume two of Natsume’s Book of Friends will be available on April 6, 2010.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Beast Master, Vol. 2

By Kyousuke Motomi
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Leo’s eighteenth birthday is quickly approaching and with it come new dangers and obstacles. After Leo is hit by a car (!), Toki fills Yuiko in on the unusual boy’s past. Basically, Leo stands to inherit the equivalent of $130 million when he turns eighteen. Other members of his late mother’s family are not pleased about this and have spent years trying to track down Leo and kill him. Hence Leo’s unusual upbringing and lack of social skills—he’s been kept safe from these bloodthirsty relatives.

Having failed in their attempt at killing Leo, the relatives then decide to kidnap Yuiko and try to use her to lure Leo out. Leo comes to her rescue, performing admirably despite his broken ribs, only to be attacked verbally once Yuiko gets him calmed down. The beast inside Yuiko isn’t the same as Leo’s. He’s a fighter. He knows how to survive. She’s a creature of confidence and words, and is just as impressive as her friend.

The rest of Beast Master ties up the romance between Leo and Yuiko, bringing a sweet ending to a thoroughly enjoyable story. The remaining 80 pages of the volume are taken up with a short story about a girl, a boy, a cactus, and the ghost of a middle aged woman.

Volume two of Beast Master is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Crown of Love, Vol. 1

By Yun Kouga
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

At first it sounds like the setup for another story to throw on the cliché pile. In a chance encounter, aloof high school heartthrob Hisayoshi Tajima bumps into teen idol Rima Fujio on the train while on a school trip. Rima’s beauty strikes Hisayoshi in a way that no other girl has gotten to him before, leading to his immersion in all things Rima. It’s a setup that could turn into another dull entertainment story. Instead, Crown of Love is something darker and more realistic that pokes at the nature of obsession and how far a person will go to get what he wants.

Though he barely meets her, Hisayoshi is quickly fixated on Rima. He’s the son of a male opera singer, a student at a prestigious school known for strong drama and music programs, and has never shown any interest in popular culture before. It all changes because of Rima. He buys her music, watches her on TV programs, and even attends live tapings when he can. He strikes up a friendship with a ten-year-old boy named Shingo Tachibana, a fellow fan of Rima’s, who seems to have a knack for getting near the idol.

Rima, of course, doesn’t really even know that Hisayoshi exists at first. He’s just some good-looking boy that helped her get away from some annoying fans on a train. She’s more focused on the fact that the man who discovered her, Ikeshiba-san, is with her on the train. He was her original manager and she grew attached to him, though she’s now represented by a woman called Hara-san. He doesn’t seem to have time for her anymore.

His inattention grows when Hisayoshi catches his eye during this first meeting. A graduate of Hisayoshi’s school, Ikeshiba talks to one of the teachers to get information on him. He’s a born manipulator, twisting Hisayoshi to his will when he asks if the boy wants to be an idol—if he’s an idol, after all, he could be closer to Rima. Hisayoshi agrees even though he’s an introvert and doesn’t really care about being an idol. He can be closer to Rima. It’s worth it.

The storytelling here is incredible. While it’s darker than I expected and makes me feel vaguely uncomfortable, I can’t help but be invested in these characters. Putting Shingo and his boyish enthusiasm aside, I think Rima is the most sympathetic character. She’s been so manipulated and deprived of affection in her life that there’s something brittle about her, as if she can never quite trust anyone, deep down. Hisayoshi, too, is sympathetic. Yes, he’s falling prey to a growing obsession with this girl. He knows it. He muses on it in his internal monologues, wondering if this one-sided affection could even be called love, though this self-knowledge does not lead to self-restraint. Teenagers are never the best at decisionmaking, and when being egged on by a perpetually smiling adult with some shadowy agenda of his own? Hisayoshi—and possibly Rima—seem to be rushing headlong into disaster.

Volume one of Crown of Love is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Vampire Knight, Vol. 9

By Matsuri Hino
VIZ, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

After the revelations in volume eight, the world of Vampire Knight goes—please pardon my indelicacy, but this is really the only way to put it—batshit crazy.

Pureblood vampire Rido Kuran (our villain) completes his resurrection and summons his followers to him. Said followers feel no compunction about snacking on the day class students of Cross Academy, so the noble vampires of the night class must protect them. Kaname challenges the vampire senate, Zero gains thorny super powers along with some self-control, Yuki squares off against Rido, and the Hunters Association arrives to exterminate the night class, but is held off by Headmaster Cross and his hunter pal, Toga.

This synopsis might make it seem as if the volume is action-packed, but “incoherent” is actually closer to the truth. I honestly have no idea why half of this stuff is going on. Perhaps it’s because it’s been three months since I read volume eight, but that just goes to show how little of this series is actually memorable beyond its main characters and its prettiness. Zero’s evolution is genuinely interesting, though, and makes for some cool moments near the end of the volume.

The art of this series is usually its best asset, but Hino’s style is far more suited for depicting pretty, angsty vampires than scenes of battle. Many times, I was left puzzled by what was happening—“‘Shunk?!’ What just went ‘Shunk?!’”—and kept confusing Rido and Toga, since they both have wavy shoulder-length black hair and an unruly forelock.

I am left to conclude that Vampire Knight is like a morsel of dark chocolate: its bittersweet taste lingers on your tongue while you’re consuming it, but its impact doesn’t last much beyond that moment.

Volume nine of Vampire Knight is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden, Vol. 9

By Yuu Watase
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

Having been cruelly rejected by Uruki and the other celestial warriors, Takiko returns to her home world, prepared to rediscover an ordinary life. As though similarly prepared to rediscover her, “ordinary life” promptly greets her with a proposal of marriage from the young doctor who tended to her dying mother. Determined to put her love for Uruki firmly in the past, Takiko accepts the proposal. Meanwhile, Takiko’s father attempts to destroy “The Universe of the Four Gods,” to ensure that his daughter will never meet the fate of the Priestess of Genbu. Can true love be conquered by will alone?

With Takiko facing heartache in any world she chooses, this volume is easily the most poignant of the series so far. Her suitors, too, elicit great sympathy—each doomed to love a woman they must ultimately lose, whether to fate, distance, or lack of mutual feeling. The drama is intense but not over-the-top, and somehow the fact that Takiko must cause as much pain for others as fate causes her keeps her from becoming too tragic to be believed.

Rest assured, Takiko’s heart won’t deny itself forever, and though it will likely be a long wait before the next volume (still unpublished in Japan) reaches these shores, volume nine manages enough forward motion to keep most fans satisfied, at least in the short-term. Unabashedly romantic but never sickly-sweet, Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden continues to please.

Volume nine of Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Monkey High!, Vol. 8

By Shouko Akira
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Beginning with volume seven, the age rating of Monkey High! was changed from Teen to Older Teen to reflect the leads’ growing interest in consummating their relationship. They finally achieve their goal in the first chapter of this final volume, but thereafter are kept busy with studying for exams and preparing for their final school festival.

An irksome last-minute rival pops up in the form of Gotoda, Haruna’s father’s secretary and his choice for her fiancé. Because her father, recuperating from an illness, and Gotoda are working from home constantly, Haruna accepts Macharu’s offer to stay with him for a while. Gotoda’s a scheming sort, though, and Haruna unfortunately allows herself to be swayed by his assertion that one day she’ll be a burden to Macharu. Happily, by the end of the volume she has found the confidence to believe that if such a time ever comes, they’ll work through it together.

The things that’ve been kind of annoying about Monkey High! all along are still annoying at the end: the reliance on shojo clichés and the occasionally intrusive antics of the supporting cast. Against the zany backdrop of a maid and butler café, for example, Haruna and her father have an important conversation. It’s a big moment, but is hampered by the shenanigans going on around it.

Still, despite its faults, the conclusion of this series made me sniffly and, really, isn’t that the best possible outcome for a Shojo Beat title?

Volume eight of Monkey High! is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 1

By Yuki Midorikawa
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

Takashi Natsume has been able to see yokai ever since he was little, an oddity that resulted in the boy being shuffled from one relative to the next after the death of his parents. Lately, though, the yokai are getting more insistent, mistaking Natsume for his grandmother, Reiko, and pestering him relentlessly. After an encounter with a yokai residing in a ceramic cat, Natsume learns that his grandmother bound many yokai to her by capturing their names in a Book of Friends—which he has inherited—and vows to return their names to them. The cat, hereafter referred to as Nyanko-sensei, agrees to help with the stipulation that should Natsume get eaten by an angry and powerful yokai, possession of the book will fall to him, enabling him to rule over his brethren.

The first volume consists of four stand-alone chapters in which Natsume returns some names, gets to know a diminishing dew god and his one remaining worshiper, fields a request from some yokai to get rid of a meddlesome human, and helps the spirit of a swallow catch a glimpse of a man who was kind to her and cured her of bitter feelings towards humanity. The tales are each entertaining, though it’s the last, referred to in the Afterward as “The Swallow Underwater,” that is my favorite. It’s both moving and lovely and admirably showcases the true potential of this series.

On the surface, Natsume’s Book of Friends may appear to be simply an episodic series of stories about yokai, but it works on several additional levels as well. Because of his experiences in the past, Natsume has been regarded as strange and never made any close friendships. And yet, we see through the course of this first volume that he’s partly to blame for this. He gets so wrapped up in his supernatural endeavors that he fails to see the friendly overtures some of his classmates are making towards him. It’s only when he gets the chance to meet another person who can see spirits that he takes any initiative to get to know a human and, after that point, spends a bit of time with his other classmates, as well.

His feelings towards yokai evolve throughout the book, too. As he interacts with them, he begins to recognize that many are lonely, just like he is. Gradually, his feelings towards them change from dislike to “I don’t mind lending a hand” to, finally, risking danger to himself in order to give the swallow spirit the best possible gift he could. His outlook on a childhood interaction with a yokai also undergoes a metamorphosis; what he once saw as a betrayal he can now view as an act of kindness. Natsume isn’t a very expressive character, but he is extremely kind. Though his trusting nature might come to cost him later—even Nyanko-sensei is occasionally tempted to eat him—his ability to have faith in and sympathize with yokai makes him extremely sympathetic in return.

Midorikawa’s sketchy art matches the tone of the story well. It reminds me a little bit of Chica Umino, actually, though much calmer. Natsume and his classmates have pretty average character designs, but a lot of creativity shows in the designs for the yokai, from the tiny, Noh-masked dew god to the powerful spirit forced to dwell inside a tubby ceramic cat to all sorts of one-eyed, animal-faced creatures in between.

In the end, Natsume’s Book of Friends is a very unique title among the Shojo Beat line. I’m extremely eager to see where the story will go from here.

Volume one Natsume’s Book of Friends is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

St. Dragon Girl, Vol. 5

By Natsumi Matsumoto
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Though I know it’s common, and I understand why it’s done, I always feel let down when a manga series has a few one-shot episodic stories after concluding a story arc. For St. Dragon Girl, that’s volume five. It’s not that any of these stories are bad—though there is digging into the cliché bag to find some love rival hijinks in a couple of the stories—just that I liked the longer nature of the Yutengenyo arc.

The first of the stories in the volume concerns Raika and her thunder dragon, Raimon. Raika’s having a difficult time finding people to go places with her now that her closest friends seem to have all found boyfriends, and Raimon is trying his best to help. Wearing the guise of a young boy, he follows her around and “helps.” He’s only looking out for her best interests, but the combination of their electric temperaments… well. It gets zappy. Other stories include the school’s sports festival and young onmyouji Akira sending mischievous wind spirits after Momoka so she can get cloer to Ryuga, a panda-filled cutesplosion involving the ghostly Panda King, an angel who takes away memories, a ski trip that includes the requisite onsen scene, and a flashback chapter that shows Momoka, Ryuga, and Shunran in first grade, looking for ghosts in their elementary school.

St. Dragon Girl continues to be about as cute as a kitten discovering grasshoppers for the first time. This isn’t the best volume of the series, but it’s still absolutely adorable and worth reading if cute adventure shojo is your thing.

Volume five of St. Dragon Girl is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Review copies provided by the publisher.

Butterflies, Flowers, Vol. 1

By Yuki Yoshihara
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Mature

The Kuze family used to be rich, with a retinue of servants ready to cater to their every whim. The daughter of the family, Choko, grew up experiencing the tender care of the chauffeur’s son, whom she called Cha-chan. Alas, after her father’s investments all tanked in an economic downturn, the family was forced to dismiss their household staff and open a soba restaurant.

Thirteen years have passed since then and Choko, now twenty, has just been hired at a new job. Almost immediately, she’s handpicked to join the administrative department by its manager, Masayuki Domoto, who seems to delight in harassing her constantly. It’s only when a disgruntled, knife-wielding man conveniently arrives to threaten her life that Domoto slips and calls her “Milady,” thus revealing the truth: he is Cha-chan. Happily, Choko catches on right away and no tiresome cluelessness ensues.

From then on, Domoto switches between his two personalities—the stern taskmaster and the devoted servant—causing Choko to refer to him as “scary and indulgent.” He picks Choko up for work each morning, but treats her shabbily while she’s there, yet is always around to protect her, whether it’s from the lecherous advances of a drunken client or the massive New Year’s Eve crowds at the family restaurant. It doesn’t take her long to fall for him, and though she tells him so, he doesn’t understand her feelings at all. By the end of the volume, Choko has embraced more of a master role in order to help Domoto see her as an independent woman and not the little girl he helped to raise.

Technically, Butterflies, Flowers is josei, but so far, it doesn’t feel much different from other romantic comedy titles in the Shojo Beat line. It’s a tad racier, with references to sex and some profanity, but one could find that in shojo properties without much effort. I’m sure many will read and enjoy it without being aware of any distinction concerning its origins.

Choko is an okay character: your typical cheerful, clumsy, hardworking type. Because of her sheltered upbringing, she sometimes comes across as incompetent and experiences chibified shock quite often. I like her the best when she switches into aristocratic mode and takes charge of the situation, be it bullying Domoto into seeing a doctor when he falls ill or deciding that even if he can’t grasp that her feelings for him are real, she’s going to keep on demanding his affection until he catches on. Domoto himself is an extremely difficult character to figure out—which one is the real him?—but some of the nicest moments occur when he’s flustered by Choko and shows his more vulnerable side.

Overall, this series is a lot of fun, though definitely lighter fare than I’d been expecting. Still, I like the characters and, even more, I’m intrigued by the new power dynamic emerging in the final few pages. I’ll definitely be back for volume two!

Volume one of Butterflies, Flowers is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Honey and Clover, Vol. 8

By Chica Umino
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

After an excellent seventh volume focusing primarily on Takemoto and his journey of self-discovery, Chica Umino replicates the feat with another fantastic installment, this one centering on Yamada and the choice she faces: continue to torture herself by working alongside the long-time object of her affections, Mayama, and the woman he loves or accept the chance to move on presented by Nomiya, Mayama’s coworker.

It’s so very easy to sympathize with Yamada here as she vacillates between anguish over and tearful acceptance of the palpable shift in Mayama and Rika’s relationship. Though she recognizes she has no chance, it’s still difficult to let go of her feelings. Not only did she think she could prove her love was strong by persisting for so long, it also kept her safe from fresh heartbreak. Now, she must finally admit to herself that such a gesture is meaningless, as she takes the first tentative steps toward opening herself up to new possibilities.

Powerful moments aren’t lacking in the other characters’ lives, either. In Mayama’s interactions with Rika we glimpse a far more emotional side of him than we’ve ever seen before, and though elements of one particularly poignant scene are rather unfortunately ambiguous, it’s still nothing short of riveting. I’m also growing quite fond of Nomiya, whose carefully crafted demeanor of cool is shattered by the strength of his feelings for Yamada.

All in all, this is an exceedingly strong volume of a series that is just getting better and better as it approaches its conclusion.

Volume eight of Honey and Clover is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

S.A (Special A), Vols. 13-14

By Maki Minami
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: T

The thing about S.A is that it hits a particular weakness of mine. I simply love manga stories about rich kids running around the world, drinking and eating expensive things, and generally getting to do whatever they want. I think it’s the way how, when such characters are the protagonists, they never really seem that conceited about these things. They’re just normal kids, and these are the fun things they get to do—it’s the ultimate in wish fulfillment, and S.A is really good at giving me what I want to see.

Well, some of the time.

Now that Kei and Hikari are officially a couple, they are beginning to encounter the standard shojo stumbling blocks to a relationship. Volume thirteen saw them dealing with the displeasure of Kei’s grandfather at his choice in girlfriend and Aoi’s help in keeping together. That was actually interesting, testing the bounds of loyalty between friends, and it got all of the kids to hop on a jet and fly to England—I just love it when people can do that. Volume fourteen, however… not so much. Here we acquire the love rival, a male transfer student named Iori Tokiwa who arrives and is immediately tied with Hikari for the second-highest scores in the class. Hikari befriends him, but Kei bristles with jealousy. Frankly, this entire storyline bores me. I don’t care about Iori, I don’t care about what he wants, and I wish he’d just go away. If Kei and Hikari are going to run into problems, is it too much to ask that they be interesting? The volume is saved, at least, by a fantastic chapter at the end showcasing the friendship between the twins and Ryu, and how it’s shifting now that Ryu’s making space in his life for Finn.

Volume thirteen of S.A (Special A) is available now and volume fourteen will be available on January 5, 2010.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

We Were There, Vol. 8

By Yuki Obata
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

As Yano’s mother prepares for her move to Tokyo, it becomes painfully clear that her financial plans are far from sound, forcing Yano to confront the possibility of leaving Nana behind to join her, something he swore he’d never do. Meanwhile, with things still shaky between Yano and Nana, Takeuchi’s sister urges him to take advantage of the situation, but, unwilling to be a consolation prize, Takeuchi instead confronts Nana to let her know what’s going on, in hopes she’ll convince Yano to stay. Though the news shocks Nana out of her most recent bout of insecurity, she is determined to support him regardless of whether he stays or goes and tells him so, a declaration she ultimately regrets.

Though it’s quite a relief to see Nana finally released from the excruciating indecision that has plagued her for several volumes, it is decision that ends up hurting her most, regardless of whether she’s doing the right thing. One of this series’ greatest strengths, of course, is its refusal to pretend that there is a “right thing,” regardless of established romantic conventions. Obata’s characters make grand declarations in one breath and waffle in the next, ringing more true in their inconsistency than a hundred shojo heroines “doing their best.” Even as the story falls into familiar scenarios of rivalry and forced partings, it does so with a level of nuance so rarely brought to this type of manga that it manages to feel genuinely fresh, even in its most dramatic moments.

Even eight volumes in, this series has lost none of the emotional ambiguity that has characterized it since the beginning, while gaining a romantic momentum that has only enhanced its likability, at least for this reviewer. Its depth and poignancy, matched by very few titles in the current lineup of translated shojo (only Sand Chronicles immediately springs to mind), should be more than enough to place We Were There at the top of anyone’s must-read list.

Volume eight of We Were There will be available on January 5th, 2010.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Beast Master, Vol. 1

By Kyousuke Motomi
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen Plus

I knew I was going to love Beast Master’s heroine, Yuiko Kubozuka, within one or two pages of her introduction. At first it seems like a sweet scene: here is a teenager in a school uniform, bent over to coax her pet cat to come closer. Then her true nature appears and she picks that cat up and gives it a big ol’ snuggle. Yuiko, my friends, is a cat snuggler. I myself am a cat snuggler, and know too well the pain of cuddling with a cat who just doesn’t want to be cuddled. Lucky for me, my cats are sociable, affectionate beasts who don’t mind the odd belly rub or snuggle.

Yuiko is lucky in a whole other way. Her kitty is having none of this cuddling business and trees himself. Yuiko’s fretting about how she’s going to get him down when a fierce-looking young man leaps down from the tree, a happily purring Lightning in his arms. She doesn’t get his name or even a chance to thank him—or so she thinks. The next day, the young man shows up as a new transfer student in her class! His name is Leo Aoi, and between his feral looks and rumors that he beat some thugs up by himself cause the rest of the class to shy away from him.

Not Yuiko. During lunch, she follows him up to the roof, and we get to see his true nature. Despite his looks, Leo is sweet and naive. He spent his childhood in remote and uninhabited areas with the local wildlife as his only friends. It’s caused him to have lightning-fast reflexes and fantastic instincts when it comes to danger, but it’s also left him without any idea of how civilized society works. Yuiko, unusually confident for a shojo heroine and full of energy and cheer, befriends him quickly and helps him learn to navigate the jungle that is high school. When the school’s gang of young delinquent wannabes tries to pick a fight with Leo (treeing him in the process!), it’s Yuiko who greets them with ease, turning what could have been a dangerous situation into one where Leo has the opportunity to make even more friends.

Not that Leo is completely squeaky clean. As a result of his wild upbringing, he’s a berzerker. If he’s attacked, if he sees his own blood, he will fly into a rage and defend himself with deadly force. One of their classmates finds this out the hard way, when he tips off the remaining members of the gang that had attacked Leo before. The only thing that keeps Leo from actually killing one of his attackers is Yuiko, who jumps in and shoves her forearm in his mouth. She keeps a remarkably cool head, talking to Leo in a soothing tone and calming him down, bringing him back to herself. Crisis averted, Yuiko tells Leo something he’s never heard before: she’s not afraid of him.

I’m not gonna lie. I love this. The rest of the volume contains the introduction of Leo’s guardian Toki and the continuation of the story that began with the attack where Yuiko calms the beast. I’m not used to seeing shojo heroines like Yuiko—she’s confident in an easygoing way, well liked by her classmates because she genuinely likes them. Leo’s more of a classic “don’t judge a book by its cover” case, but still very likable and fun. I found myself giggling out loud at this manga, something I rarely do. I also like the art; it’s steady and well drawn, especially the action sequences.

In short, Beast Master is awesome, and you should be reading it.

The first volume of Beast Master is available now.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

High School Debut, Vol. 12

By Kazune Kawahara
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen

It’s Yoh’s birthday and Haruna has arranged for them to take an overnight trip together. Originally ignorant of the implications but now armed with information about what boys typically expect in such situations, she has endeavored to prepare herself as much as possible but suffers second thoughts as the big moment approaches. Later, Yoh’s sister throws a hissy fit about his relationship with Haruna, Mami reveals that she betrayed Haruna in the past, and Yoh must determine what career path he’d like to pursue at university.

Under no circumstances could a volume of High School Debut ever be bad, but this one proves that some are capable of not being as good as the rest. The first disappointment comes when Yoh and Haruna’s night alone together is interrupted by one of my least favorite plot devices, which I shall dub “Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here!” Next, Yoh’s sister, Asami, has never been a favorite character of mine, and I didn’t enjoy reading about her incredibly bratty behavior (that she expects others to forgive), particularly when the issues she brings up were theoretically settled some time ago.

The bright spot in the volume is the chapter focusing on Mami, Haruna’s long-time best friend. I really enjoyed this celebration of their friendship, even though Haruna did go a little kooky when she thought Mami’s big secret was that she has feelings for Yoh. Every now and then one encounters a heroine’s best friend that one could happily read a series about—Yuki in Boys Over Flowers is one such character, and Mami is another.

The emphasis on college and careers is an unmistakable reminder that the end is nigh for this series. I hope I like the thirteenth and final volume at least a little more than this one.

Volume twelve of High School Debut is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Honey Hunt, Vol. 3

By Miki Aihara
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

After being deserted by her celebrity parents, Yura Onozuka decides to best her mother at her own game: acting. After bombing several auditions, she’s landed the lead role in a commercial with a TV series tie-in and, after struggling through the first table read, manages to go back in and nail it thanks to the efforts of her friends Q-ta and Haruka Minamitani, a pair of fraternal twin pop stars, who both help by either encouraging her or smoothing things over with her less-than-impressed costars.

Yura has developed a crush on Q-ta and doesn’t realize that Haruka, one of those “kind on the inside, surly on the outside” types, has feelings for her. When he gets the idea that seeing him in concert will make her fall for him, he promises to answer all her questions about Q-ta if she’ll come to his shows. She does go, and is enthralled by his performance, but her mind’s still on Q-ta, forcing Haruka to finally make his intentions clear.

Honey Hunt is briskly paced and lighthearted, with Yura attracting near-instant notice in her career and in romance alike. It’s also completely engaging—the Minamitani boys are both genuinely sweet and Yura herself, though given to bouts of insecurity, is sensible and sympathetic. One thing I particularly like is that she always thanks those who’ve done nice things for her; too many shojo heroines get all embarrassed and feisty in similar circumstances.

If you’re in the mood for frothy fun, Honey Hunt would surely fit the bill. Too bad there’s a five-month wait for volume four!

Volume three of Honey Hunt is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

NANA, Vol. 19

By Ai Yazawa
Viz, 194 pp.
Rating: Mature

The bit of future story at the beginning of this volume reveals a stunning amount of information about upcoming events and it’s not hard to see how things begin to derail as the volume continues. As Hachi focuses on getting Nana and Ren back together with the magic of Valentine’s Day chocolates, Reira abandons all her defenses in pursuit of her long-held love. Meanwhile, Ren is falling further into darkness all on his own. Shin is released on probation, but it’s a bittersweet moment at best as Nana lets out all her own anger and frustration out on him. Though Shin and Nana reach an inspiring agreement by the end, there’s a pervading sense that it’s all too late to change anything significant in their futures.

Fans of Hachi will have a lot of difficulty with this volume but since that is due only to Ai Yazawa’s incredibly insightful writing, it’s hard to complain even with the sensation of a rusty knife twisting in one’s gut. Also, even though it is an incredibly painful volume when viewed from Hachi’s point of view, there is also a sense of impending freedom if one can shake off the accompanying humiliation enough to get there. “No matter where Takumi went, even if he completely forgot about me when he was gone,” she says in one of the volume’s between-chapter narrations, “I thought I had to make a sanctuary for him to return to when he got tired. That’s the only way I could win.” It’s one of the saddest narrations in the series so far, and that’s saying quite a lot.

Yazawa is brilliant in this volume, capturing the feelings of each of these damaged characters as though they were all her. Even Yuri shows unexpected depths in this volume, as she’s finally face-to-face with a real break in her career which would upset the plans she’s made with Nobu. As painful a destination as everyone seems to be imminently headed for, this story remains so poignant and so real, it’s impossible to leave the road.

Volume nineteen of NANA is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Rasetsu, Vol. 3

By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

The volume begins with a mission to the home of Rasetu’s mother who is being haunted by a malevolent spirit of which she is blissfully unaware. Fortunately, Rasetsu easily sidesteps an attempt by the spirit to intimidate her by dredging up fears from her own mind, and as a bonus, Rasetsu finally finds out the truth behind the name she’s always blamed her father for (whether she’s ready to believe it or not). The volume’s second mission involves an old acquaintance of Yako’s, Dai Tendo, who is the little brother to Yurara’s Mei (the boyfriend of the girl whose guardian spirit was Yako’s first love). His appearance brings back a wealth of sad (and not sad) memories for Yako and awakens some real jealousy in Rasetsu. This volume’s real treat, however, is a final side-story telling the tale of Aoi’s arrival to the agency and the development of his close relationship with its owner.

Fans of Yurara may be happy to see more of Yako’s story coming to the fore here, but the way his past with Yurara’s guardian spirit is brought up so blatantly again just after the previous volume has a bit of a gimmicky feel to it, or at best resembles flogging a dead horse. If Rasetsu is going to come into its own as a spin-off series, it’s going to need to rely on the here and now to keep readers interested. Though Yako’s past is surely sad and definitely a draw for fans of the previous series, perhaps this time would be better spent developing Rasetsu’s original characters so that they have some chance of rising to that level. There are a few compelling moments in this volume, particularly some new hints at Kuryu’s true agenda, but overall the volume is only saved by the charming side-story at its end.

Though it may provoke protests from fans of the original series, the real key to making Rasetsu work is going to be letting it evolve a life of its own. Let’s hope this happens soon.

Volume three of Rasetsu will be available on December 1, 2009.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Review copies provided by the publisher.

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross, Vol. 10

By Arina Tanemura
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

After resolving some convoluted-sounding subplots involving Haine’s family—featuring maternal amnesia, uncertain paternity, and mansions afire—The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross moves into the home stretch as Haine is pressed to finally choose between the identical twins with whom she is in love. Alas, just when she finally grasps the idea that the nice twin (Takanari) is probably a better choice than the scheming git (Shizumasa), he’s captured by his brother’s minions and imprisoned. Like any self-respecting shojo heroine, Haine vows to rescue him.

Being the penultimate volume of the series, volume ten offers a variety of dramatic moments and revelations, including arranged marriages, envelopes with surprising contents, and a tale of childhood betrayal that explains the current animosity between the twins. My favorite, though, is the surprise leukemia.

The end product of all these dire events tumbling one atop the other can be described as little else than a mess, and I was much more compelled to snicker at the ridiculous developments than sympathize with anyone involved. Still, I was pretty impressed by how easy it was to jump in and follow the story at this point and ended up liking Takanari, too, though I must question his taste in girls.

Volume ten of The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, Vol. 6

By Tohko Mizuno
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

The sixth volume of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time opens with flurries of activity around the court: major general Tachibana no Tomomasa has been missing for four days, and only now have the main characters begun to show much concern. After discussion and frantic running about, Akane is taken to the entwined Tree of Wisdom by Yasuaki, who as a sorceror has the power to speak to trees. What follows is a flashback of convenient plot device, twisting in aspects of Ran’s continued bitterness at her inability to perform as Priestess of the Dragon God and her jealousy of Akane. All of this culminates in Ran manipulating Tomomasa to visit a haunted cherry tree, where he spends five days, bound to the tree and enduring continual marriage proposals from a female ghost until Inori frees him.

Once everything is tied up, we get some character development for Shimon, finding out among other things that he’s one-quarter French, which obviously explains why he has blond hair and blue eyes. I don’t think genetics works that way. Then the volume inexplicably jumps a hundred years, discarding the entire cast and bringing in the characters from the second game. As if this isn’t bad enough, we end with some tiresome omake involving Akane as a kindergarten teacher and the eight guardians (plus Ran) as her unruly students.

As shojo fantasies go, Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time peaks at mediocre. The characters are dull, the plotlines cliché, and while the art is quite nice, it’s not good enough to overcome the series’ weaknesses.

Volume six of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time will be available on November 3, 2009.

–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar

Rasetsu, Vol. 2

By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

Marked by a demon as a young teen, tough eighteen-year-old Rasetsu Hyuga has two years left of her life before the demon claims her as his own, unless she is able to meet her own true love before her time is up. She is also a gifted exorcist who was taken in and nurtured by the head of the Hiichiro Amakawa Agency (a man referred to mainly as “Chief”), a company that offers exorcisms for a fee. Rasetsu is joined in her work by Kuryu, a master of koto dama, the power of words, and eventually by Yako, a former librarian with his own spiritual powers who was manipulated into joining the agency in the first volume. In volume two, Rasetsu’s terror of her fate shines through in a rare moment of vulnerability, prompting Yako to promise to be there for her on the fated day. Later, Kuryu plays around with his ability in an unusually insensitive way while also unintentionally revealing to Yako that he is much more powerful than he pretends to be.

Though the premise of this series is fairly unoriginal and its character development even less so, there is a certain comfort to watching its familiar scenarios play out that lends a particular charm and with the first volume’s exposition out of the way, Rasetsu is able to relax right into the task. It seems obvious that Yako is intended to be Rasetsu’s “true love” (Rasetsu even resembles his first love, guardian spirit Yurara from the series of the same name) and there are traces of this emerging already in volume two, at least on Rasetsu’s side. Kuryu, with his harmless, puppy-dog front hiding a potentially sinister power, is reminiscent of Tokyo Babylon’s murderous veterinarian, Seishiro, casting a suspicious light on him immediately, especially after this volume in which he accidentally shows his hand. The series’ other characters, mysterious chief Hiichiro and cheerful office boy Aoi, are shojo staples as well, but quite fun and appealingly rendered, skipping off to enjoy rides at an amusement park while everyone else is working.

Fans of supernatural romance may not find anything new in Rasetsu, but tried-and-true formulas are alive, well, and downright agreeable here in its second volume.

Volume two of Rasetsu is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi

Skip Beat!, Vol. 19

By Yoshiki Nakamura
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

The famous Japanese native turned Hollywood actor, Koo Hizuri, is in town and Kyoko has been assigned to wait on him throughout his stay. He’d originally planned to treat her cruelly in order to elicit a rise from Ren, but can’t fight the temptation to polish the “uncut diamond” of Kyoko’s talent. As a result, he ends up giving her an assignment—create and enact the role of his son, Kuon—and develops a paternal bond with her while helping her to discover her main weakness.

Readers are aware that Kuon is actually Ren, and when Ren runs into Kyoko-as-Kuon, it’s not long before he requests a meeting with the father he hasn’t spoken to in five years to demand an explanation. Ren’s past has been a mystery throughout the series, and it’s a delight to finally get more details. We come to understand Ren better, past and present, and though there’s clearly more yet to be disclosed, what we get here is still satisfying.

Lastly, I appreciate that Koo isn’t portrayed as a self-aggrandizing stereotype but is actually kind and likable. He joins Lory, the president of the talent agency, and Sawara, Kyoko’s manager, in the roster of fun middle-aged men in the cast. That’s just one of the many quirks that make Skip Beat! so unique and worth reading!

Volume nineteen of Skip Beat! is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

B.O.D.Y., Vol. 6

By Ao Mimori
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Read Katherine’s review of volume one here.

In middle school, I tried getting into the Sweet Valley High series by reading randomly selected Sweet Valley High #53—Second Chance. It wasn’t about the series’ twin protagonists Jessica and Elizabeth; instead, it followed a tennis pro at their school. I don’t think I finished it. It doesn’t take B.O.D.Y. 53 volumes to run out of stories focusing on its star couple Ryoko and Ryunosuke—after only five volumes, Ryoko’s friend Asuka has troubles with another young host named Kousuke who vows to get revenge on Ryoko for her interference in his blackmail scheme. Like some kind of Sweet Valley Super Edition, volume five found Ryoko snowbound in a ski cabin in the mountains, trapped by that jackass Kousuke. After the incident, instead of ditching Kousuke, Asuka FORGIVES HIM AND IS ABLE TO CHANGE HIM FROM HIS EVIL WAYS. What a terrible message for young women! If he’s a dirty liar who literally tries to kill your friend, for the love of god, DUMP HIM. You can’t change him. Hopefully the young women reading this title in the U.S. and Japan know better, and are reading B.O.D.Y. out of a twisted sense of wish fulfillment. “Wouldn’t it be great if I could change him?”

B.O.D.Y. is a guilty pleasure for me—it’s so terrible, but I’m compelled to read it because I’m fascinated by what crap the author will come up with next (it’s like trying a new crappy Pringles flavor—gross, yet fascinating). It seems like Mimori has no idea what’s going to happen next; she’s just drawing whatever comes to mind.

Volume six of B.O.D.Y. is available now.

–Reviewed by Erin Finnegan

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 2

By Karuho Shiina
VIZ, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen

In volume one of this charming series, Sawako Kuronuma learned that by sharing her true feelings she could clear up misunderstandings. When malicious rumors begin to circulate about two classmates who’ve been kind to her, with Sawako named as the source of the stories, she desperately wants to clear up the “misunderstanding,” too innocent to understand that the tales have been spread purposefully to turn her new friends against her and make the sought-after Kazehaya disgusted with her.

Happily, the two classmates in question, Yano and Yoshida, aren’t fooled for a second that Sawako could be responsible. That is, until her hesitance to presume that they could actually already be friends makes them wonder how she really feels about them. I love that these two tough girls have clearly grown attached to their strange classmate and when everything is explained, with Kazehaya once again providing Sawako with helpful advice and encouragement, it’s rather sniffle-inducing. It’s depressingly rare that female friendships are given so much attention in a shojo series, and I heartily approve!

That’s not to say that romance is entirely missing. Although their relationship is developing slowly, Sawako seems to be starting to view Kazehaya in a different light, while Kazehaya is holding back in order to let Sawako enjoy having friends for the first time. I’m sure that when they finally do get together, it’ll be touching and sweet, just like everything else about this series.

Volume two of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You will be available on October 6, 2009.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Love*Com, Vol. 14

By Aya Nakahara
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Tall Risa Koizumi and her short boyfriend, Atsushi Outani, have been dating for a while and have weathered various obstacles. Their latest opponent is Risa’s visiting grandpa, whose primary objection seems to be their difference in height. He feels so strongly about it that he hires a hostess to seduce Outani in order to sabotage their relationship. This leads to two chapters of extremely frustrating angst and misunderstanding, in which Outani believes the tale fed him by a buxom stranger over Risa’s insistence that her grandfather is responsible. Of course, after all is revealed and Outani bravely dashes off to rescue Risa from the clutches of some possibly dangerous men, Gramps has a change of heart.

For the most part, the events in this volume are annoying. Grandpa blows in like a foul breeze, causes a few chapters’ worth of havoc, then wafts out again. Everyone acts like a moron at least once. The follow-up chapter, in which Haruka, Grandpa’s pick for Risa’s suitor, has his heartbreak assuaged by his fangirls, is pointless.

And yet, for all of that, it’s hard to completely dislike this volume of Love*Com. Scattered throughout are some genuinely nice moments between the lead couple, like Outani’s adamant declaration that Risa’s the only one he loves or an evening scene in a playground after Risa has run away from home to protest her grandfather’s meddling ways. This series certainly isn’t perfect, but it’s easy to forgive its flaws when it manages to deliver when it really counts.

Volume fourteen of Love*Com is available now.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Sand Chronicles, Vol. 6

By Hinako Ashihara
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

Having finally broken up with Daigo, Ann decides to give a relationship with long-suffering Fuji a try. Their physical relationship gets a slow start, but thanks to conniving friends, they are eventually thrown into a romantic situation from which even Ann cannot escape. Unfortunately, Fuji’s gentle eagerness and Ann’s indecision only serve to create a situation more painful than any of Fuji’s many years of unrequited love, and Ann only ends up accumulating further regret. Meanwhile, Daigo also attempts to move on by letting himself become involved with a former schoolmate who has harbored a longtime crush on him. This volume also contains a welcome dose of Ann’s grandmother as well as some insight into her father’s past. Shika’s story, too, becomes more poignant in this volume and it is a pleasure to watch her finally discovering how to break away from what hurts her.

This quietly nuanced series truly becomes richer with each new volume. It is genuinely heartbreaking to watch Ann and Fuji together, filled with such earnest affection for each other but unable to move beyond the weight of Ann’s lingering feelings for Daigo. It is only after having made a grand gesture symbolizing her break with Daigo that Ann truly begins to understand her own feelings, and though she strays far from doing right by Fuji (“I used the person it would hurt the most,” she thinks tearfully to herself, “but I needed someone to rescue me so badly.”) he understands her too well to hate her or even feel any real anger over her actions. It is this series’ refusal to vilify any of its characters that makes it feel so true to life, and this volume is a perfect example of that.

Ashihara’s art, always one of the series’ great strengths, is especially strong in this volume in terms of expressing the feelings of her characters. This is particularly evident in the scenes between Ann and Fuji, which are stunningly effective. Both visually and otherwise, Sand Chronicles continues to be an exceptionally rewarding read.

Volume six of Sand Chronicles is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi