Michelle gets things started this week with her reviews of the second volume of Black Butler (Yen Press) and How to Control a Sidecar (DMP), the spinoff of How to Capture a Martini. Connie’s up next with a look at the BL one-shot I’ve Moved Next Door to You (DMP). Sam wraps things up with his opinions on volume sixteen of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation and the fifth volume of Shakugan no Shana. Enjoy!
By Yana Toboso
Yen Press, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
This volume begins with Sebastian, butler extraordinaire, whipping together impressive preparations for a charity function with very little notice while simultaneously dealing with disasters caused by the other (incompetent) members of the household staff. From there, Ciel’s investigatory skills are called upon by Queen Victoria and the action relocates to London, where Jack the Ripper is causing quite a stir. Ciel ends up getting captured by a skeevy viscount, Sebastian rescues him, and then the two of them discover the killer’s real identity.
If you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds just like volume one,” you would be correct! Thankfully, though the overall outline is very similar, the details offer enough variety to forestall boredom. I enjoyed the London setting, for example, as well as learning more about Ciel’s family, Sebastian’s love of cats (pets exist in his world but “leave much to be desired”), and how the contract between them works.
Ultimately, though there are still things about Black Butler that I’m not too keen on, I still find it to be an entertaining read. It took my mind off my troubles for a while, and that’s good enough for me.
Volume two of Black Butler is available now.
–Reviewed by Michelle Smith
By Makoto Tateno
Digital Manga Publishing, 184 pp.
Rating: Mature (18+)
In this spinoff of How to Capture a Martini, stoic bartender Kiyohito Kousaka is pursued by a pair of guys looking to recruit him for a three-way relationship. He initially wants nothing to do with them, but when one of them goes missing, he cares enough to want to get to the bottom of the mystery.
There are definitely some good things about How to Control a Sidecar. The relationship between the two men—Fumi and Kanashiro—is not exactly what it seems, and I like that the title story ends differently than I’d been expecting. Even the regrettable inclusion of a nonconsensual scene is tempered somewhat by the fact that the victim collects evidence and sees a doctor, though stops short of filing a police report, and that all parties involved acknowledge the act for what it was.
It’s the second story, “How to Subdue a Stinger,” that I found most disappointing, since it completely negates the unconventional ending of the title story and endows Kousaka with a near-total personality transplant. The impression I get from it is that Tateno’s readers were dissatisfied with the original ending and that she wrote this to appease them. That’s really too bad, because it was much better the first way.
How to Control a Sidecar is available now.
–Reviewed by Michelle Smith
By Fuuri Misasagi
Digital Manga Publishing, 200 pp.
Rating: Mature
Wealthy Takumi finds himself living like a pauper with Kamoshida, his personal secretary, when he takes a temporary leave from his position at the head of a large company. The two wind up at a broken-down apartment house, complete with eccentric neighbor Renji. Kamo-chan has carried a torch for Takumi for many years, and playful Renji brings his secret to light almost immediately. With attention from both shy Kamo-chan and bold Renji, Takumi isn’t quite sure what to make of it all, but the other two are willing to take him on their own separate rides.
For me, yaoi is all about the romance, and unfortunately, this one lacks that element in favor of bland and/or slightly comedic relationships. This is the type of book with abrupt, almost nonsensical character interactions, largely due to Renji. While a romance between Kamo-chan and Takumi would have been mildly interesting, Renji throws a wrench in things by constantly sneaking in and molesting one or the other.
Normally yaoi with bad characters or plot makes up for it with fairly interesting sex scenes, but while this book does have a three-way (ruined by non-con) early on, most of the rest of the scenes are infrequent, highly censored, and short. There’s also not much plot or character development until the last chapter, so most who pick this up will want to do so for its merits as yaoi.
I give it bonus points for having the only three-way I’ve ever seen in a BL book, but other than that, I didn’t have very much fun. Again, though, I’m a big fan of drama-heavy romance, so those who enjoy lighter yaoi might find more to like here.
I’ve Moved Next Door to You is available now.
–Reviewed by Connie C.
Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, Vol. 16
By Yoshiyuki Nishi
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen
Coming down from a very focused story arc that spans the majority of your volumes can be really tough. So much so, that it can sometimes make or break the flow of a series, causing readers to lose interest. Volume sixteen of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, thankfully, keeps up the pace, bringing us back to the original format of J-horror shorts that got readers so invested in the first place.
Overall, I think the stories in this volume are really well paced. There is a wonderful sense of building the eerieness of the tales; nothing is revealed up front and each page unturns a new, horrific stone. Once all the cards are on the table, though (so to speak), I found the stories to be so-so. Some, especially the longer one that spans chapters 136-140, carry much more weight. They have characters that stand for something other than being scared; they’re real people.
All in all, this volume still feels very much like a Muhyo & Roji volume in the sense that it’s chock-full of wonderfully creepy artwork and its ‘to the point’ writing. My one overall qualm is that it seems like the characters haven’t had any recognizable change since they’ve concluded their big adventure. You’d think after sixteen volumes you would get a more mature Roji…
Volume sixteen of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation is available now.
–Reviewed by Sam Kusek
By Yashichiro Takahashi and Ayato Sasakura
VIZ, 200 pp.
Rating: Older Teen
Who told VIZ that Shakugan no Shana was the ‘hot’ new manga series out there? As I stumbled through the poor artwork and confusing statements, this book put me out cold. The story follows a moe icon/flame haze (a largely unexplained term throughout the entire book) named Shana and her nervous nelly pal/pent-up teenage lover, Yuki Sakai, as they stand around in bloodstained clothes, bathe, look mopey and talk about fighting while barely ever doing so for the whole volume.
My one outstanding comment about this volume is that nothing happens. There is talk of this big, predestined battle with all these terms and characters that are never explained, only to end with a scene of Shana and Yuki heading out to fight at the end. It is all talk without any real meaning to the words. In fact, there are no introductory pages at the beginning to give us any background on the characters or overall plot.
In addition, the artwork is just so lifeless that it makes the story feel even more pointless. There is a credit on the front cover for a character designer but I really see no well-thought-out design in any of them. There is nothing that would allow me to be able to point them out from the countless array of other stereotypes in manga these days.
Volume five of Shakugan no Shana is available now.
–Reviewed by Sam Kusek
Review copies provided by the publishers.
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