11 Jan, 2010
Manga Minis, 1/11/10
By: Michelle Smith, Phil Guie, Ken Haley, Jennifer Dunbar, Melinda Beasi and Connie C.
We’ve got a great column for you this week! Michelle starts things off with a review of volumes one and two of Blue Sheep Reverie (DMP), Connie weighs in on volume thirteen of D.N.Angel (TOKYOPOP), Melinda is thrilled by volume 22 of Fullmetal Alchemist (VIZ), Jen takes a look at two Shojo Beat titles with reviews of the fifth volume of The Magic Touch and the sixth of Mixed Vegetables (both VIZ), Phil appreciates the sincerity in volume two of Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn (TOKYOPOP), and Ken checks out the third and final volume of RE:Play (TOKYOPOP).
By Makoto Tateno
Published by Digital Manga Publishing
Rating: Mature
When Kai’s lover, Maria, is murdered, he sets out to find her killer. His one clue is that the ring Maria always wore—a man-made blue jewel resembling the eye of a sheep—is missing, and he thinks he’s found it on the hand of Lahti Bara, a bigwig in Sarte, one of the gangs ruling the gritty city of Akatsuki. To get close to Lahti and check out his ring, Kai makes a bid to be his bodyguard and later consents to be his lover. It turns out that Lahti isn’t Maria’s murderer, but Kai has already grown fascinated by the powerful and enigmatic leader and gets embroiled in a bunch of gang politics involving a rival gang, an elite group within Sarte called the Four Kings, a renegade Sarte member attempting to bring them down, and a power struggle over gang leadership.
While I very heartily applaud any BL series for having as much plot as this one does, I must regretfully admit that I found most of the gang-related action dull and repetitive. Nearly every time something bad happens, the aforementioned renegade is the culprit but never seems to get caught. Kai isn’t a very strong character, either, but I do think his relationship with Lahti is an interesting one. It definitely isn’t love, as Lahti occasionally keeps Kai on door guard duty while he’s bedding other men, but Kai realizes that it’s not love and kindness he craves, but rather the strength to be worthy to stand at Lahti’s side, to be necessary to him.
So, is this good? Well, almost. It’s one of those cases where I like it despite its faults. I actually struggled a lot with whether to give it a B, since Tateno-sensei bothered to create such an intricate plot, but I just couldn’t do it.
Volumes one and two of Blue Sheep Reverie are available now.
–Reviewed by Michelle Smith
By Yukiru Sugisaki
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: T (13+)
The volume starts off with a flashback where Satoshi catches Daisuke up to speed on the history of their families, the power of the Niwa clan, and the nature of the curse they share, along with the identities of Dark and Krad. Later, the Risa rescue continues as Dark, Daisuke, Satoshi, and Krad all go against Argentine and try to escape before the tower collapses.
Now, this volume is good because we have been waiting no fewer than five years to see why Dark (and Krad) exist, and Satoshi spells it all out for us in the first chapter. I’m not sure how satisfying the story is, but it is both dramatic and relatively uncomplicated, so it is at the very least entertaining. The explanation involves inherent and misplaced magic ability, so the logic behind it isn’t totally sound, but all the same, we have been waiting for a good reason behind Dark and Krad. Other nice things in this volume include humorous back-and-forth banter between Dark and Daisuke, and more of the strangely heavy moments between Satoshi and Daisuke. Satoshi makes a pretty big confession, and we see just how far his character has come, so that was another big part of the volume.
The resolution to the Argentine story isn’t terribly satisfying, which does make me feel cheated since it took so long to finish. There’s a pretty mediocre struggle, a conversation with Daisuke that comes straight from the trite manga moment handbook, and everyone parts ways from there. I am thankful that we can finally move on to a new story arc now, and am hopeful for the future, but it looks like we may have another extended wait in store.
Volume thirteen of D.N.Angel is available now.
–Reviewed by Connie C.
By Hiromu Arakawa
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: T (Teen)
Having been finally released from Pride’s control, Al feels responsible for the damage done. In order to rectify the situation, he devises a plan to trap Pride that he must put into action with his father’s help (and without his brother’s knowledge). Anxious to get on with his own plans for world domination, Greed breaks off from the rest of the group, against the wishes of his body’s cohabitant, Lin. Meanwhile, Mustang’s group continues their resistance, finding allies among Briggs’ Northern troops as well as a few unexpected quarters, and Hohenheim comes face-to-face with an old acquaintance once again. With the story’s major players all converging on Central City, the series’ final battle seems to truly have begun.
The time has come for each of the Elric men to show their true strength and artist Hiromu Arakawa has certainly ramped up the tension to get them there. Her real brilliance is best displayed, however, in the volume’s smallest moments—brief encounters and bits of characterization that make her characters shine in the din. Both Hohenheim’s quiet acts of compassion and Kimblee’s stubborn emotional detachment say more about each of them than their public actions ever could. As always, Arakawa’s artwork provides impressive clarity, even through the messiest action sequences, without ever sacrificing pace or expression.
This volume is a thrill from start to finish, certain to leave fans anxious for more.
Volume 22 of Fullmetal Alchemist will be available on January 19, 2010.
–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi
By Izumi Tsubaki
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
It’s amazing—a volume of The Magic Touch that has a primary focus on massage and massage education! After the guide to shojo stereotype that was volume four, volume five is a breath of fresh air. Chiaki, Takeshi, and Yosuke all head to Ohnuki’s massage school for a day of touring the school. The school is huge, much larger than a usual vocational school, and Chiaki and Takeshi turn into the awesome dork siblings again once they get inside. Fangirling, they both run off to see all that they can see at the school. Yosuke, for his part, gets given a pass and told he can wander wherever he wants.
The thing that struck me first about the massage school—besides the Togu kids having a dork party—was the depiction of the students. Many of the students were young, yes, but some were well into middle age. There’s a point where Takeshi stops a middle-aged man he perceives to be a teacher, only to discover that the man is a first year student! I really liked that. Both Takeshi and Chiaki have interactions with students in the school that give them new views of what’s expected of a professional masseuse. Yosuke… Yosuke gets pounced upon by a great number of students, all of whom see the tension in his back and give him coupons and business cards. It’s pretty funny.
I enjoyed this volume of The Magic Touch. The question is, is it worth reading through four volumes just to get to it? It’s a decision you’ll have to make for yourself.
Volume five of The Magic Touch is available now.
–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar
By Ayumi Komura
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen
The exam results are in, and Hanayu is reaching a crossroads. She promised Hayato’s mother that she would only remain at Sushi Hyuga as long as she passed all of her exams. This would ordinarily not be an issue for Hanayu, but her father’s assistant Maezawa got sick and Hanayu found herself pressed into service to help create a croquembouche for a wedding. As a result, she hadn’t studied the way that she would like and flunks one of her required courses. She makes no excuses for herself, presenting herself and her grades to Hayato’s mother and bidding a gracious farewell. Hayato doesn’t take well to this, actually proposing to her in order to help her to stay.
Know what’s more irritating than an unwanted romantic rival in a shojo manga? An unwanted romantic rival in a shojo manga who is incredibly creeptastic. Hanayu bolts after Hayato’s proposal, ending up sitting on a swing in a playground and mulling over what’s just happened. This is when Maezawa shows up and casually hits on her despite her protests that he stop. He seems to be happy that she won’t be at the sushi shop anymore, and I may have been as relieved as Hanayu when Hayato’s mother discovers the reason for Hanayu’s grades and allows Hanayu to come back to Sushi Hyuga.
I think I can see why Hanayu and Hayato make a decent couple in this volume, but it’s really too little, too late.
Volume six of Mixed Vegetables is available now.
–Reviewed by Jennifer Dunbar
Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn, Vol. 2
Written by Christine Boylan and Stuart “D.J. Milky” Levy, art by Misaho Kujiradou
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Overall Rating: Older Teen 16+
This marks my first exposure to the Princess Ai character, who apparently saved both our world and her native Ai-Land in a prior mini-series. She also became a rock star and found love. You might assume there’d be little left for the character to do, yet here is The Prism of Midnight Dawn, which finds Ai investigating a drug in our universe with connections to Ai-Land.
Volume two features exposition pages that bring new readers up to speed with the entire series. Overall, it might be worth a look for fantasy aficionados, as story and art combine to create a compelling landscape of enormous castles, mysterious forestry and anthropomorphized animals. Misaho Kujiradou appears to favor sharper-featured, androgynous-looking males, at times rendering the other sort using as few lines as necessary; the results feel lightweight, airy, as befitting a series where the main character has feathered wings growing out of her back.
But as you might guess from the drug-related plotline, Princess Ai is not always so fluffy. Along with having one character be a recovering addict, there are scenes that pack quite an emotional punch, e.g., when the titular character is tortured or brutally attacked. In one instance, Ai’s person is violated in a manner that may not literally be sexual assault, but can be interpreted that way. Some will find it disturbing, but at least the point is Princess Ai realizing she’s not ugly despite being “fallen.”
“If the loss of this body is enough to corrode this soul, then my outside has only grown to match my inside,” she says. It‘s earnest, but definitely the right response. Hopefully, anyone who tries this series out won’t penalize it for being sincere.
Volume two of Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn is available now.
–Reviewed by Phil Guie
By Christy Lijewski
Tokyopop, 224 pp.
Rating: Older Teens (16 +)
This is it! The climax, the denouement, the end of it all! All your questions are answered within this volume! Will Cree and Izsak end up together? What is Izsak’s secret? And just why are the mysterious Niji and Laurent shadowing Izsak? All is revealed in the final volume of this Tokyopop original!
I’m a bit torn over this volume. On one hand the strong characters and interpersonal drama is in full effect and is fairly gripping throughout, on the other hand it’s really, really heavy on the supernatural romance aspect which never really clicked for me in the earlier volumes and still doesn’t. While Izsak’s big secret is rooted firmly in the supernatural, I had a very hard time not reading it as a metaphor for an abusive alcoholic. Of course, reading it like that leaves a rather large question mark hanging over his relationship with Cree, despite the resolution presented at the end of the volume.
In addition to the main story, the final two chapters offer updates on the two side stories included in the second volume: one focuses on Rail and Char while the other expands on Niji and Laurent’s relationship. Personally I think I enjoyed the Rail/Char chapter more than the main story, but then again Rail’s probably my favorite character, so hey. Lijewski’s artwork seem much more stylized then in the previous two volumes, with the characters looking very angular and with some creepily long and bony-looking fingers at times. The backgrounds are sadly lacking, and the stylish clothing that had previously been a highlight of the series is also a bit sparse due to much of the book consisting of talking heads.
Despite the fact that supernatural romance really isn’t my cup of tea I have to admit that I’ve really enjoyed this series and that I’m a bit saddened that we won’t be seeing more of the characters. Still, all good things…
Volume three of RE:Play is available now.
–Reviewed by Ken Haley
Review copies provided by the publishers with the exception of the first volume of Blue Sheep Reverie.
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