Welcome to yet another diverse selection of mini reviews! Grant kicks things off with reviews of volume three of Astral Project (CMX) and volume 28 of Berserk (Dark Horse); Michelle looks at the third and final volume of Il Gatto Sul G. (DMP); Connie checks out volume six of Shugo Chara! (Del Rey); and Ken wraps things up by revisiting The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan (Del Rey), now in its sixth volume. Enjoy!
By marginal and Syuji Takeya
CMX, 240 pp.
Rating: Mature
Do you enjoy reading the dictionary? Have you ever strung together a bunch of really big words, hoping that someone would be impressed with your ability to confuse and annoy others? Are you a philosophy major interested in the paranormal? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes” then you may be interested in reading Astral Project.
Masahiko is still trying to figure out if he can meet his sister, who mysteriously vanished in a way that may be connected to astral projection (having an out-of-body experience). Unfortunately, he seems to talk about everything but the matters that would advance the plot. His best friend is the subject of a Francis Bacon painting who exists on the astral plane. And, oh boy, he likes to talk. As in, long-winded, preachy drivel about the poor state of Japanese society and the human race in general. From the Francis Bacon man, we get such brilliant lines as, “the terrified collective unconscious was searching for a ‘virtual worldview’… and Buddhism took the initiative. In the present, ‘TV’ has become the object of religious faith…and it’s all over the world.”
I am all for social commentary, as long as a manga-ka uses a “show, don’t tell” approach. This is, of course, Astral Project’s greatest flaw. Instead of advancing the plot, it seems more like the author is using the manga as a soapbox to wax philosophic and it gets really old, really fast. Characters open their mouths, useless commentary fills up speech bubbles, and then the reader realizes that nothing of significance has occurred in an entire chapter.
As a final note: the writer’s pen name is “marginal.” I wonder if he fully realized what that word meant before he picked it.
Volume three of Astral Project is available now.
–Reviewed by Grant Goodman
By Kentaro Miura
Dark Horse, 224 pp.
Rating: 18+
Guts and his companions find brief respite along the shores of the sea after escaping the attack on Flora’s woods. Schierke finally has time to mourn the loss of her home and Guts gets to talk to the ever-mysterious Skull Knight. Miura’s depiction of the seascape is as enchanting as his battle scenes are horrifying. The characters converse amid a backdrop of wispy clouds, streaks of stars, and a luminous full moon. He makes excellent use of varied perspective, rapidly switching from viewpoint to viewpoint, offering brief swatches of sky or a zoomed-out set of silhouettes standing at the water’s edge. While so many mangaka fall victim to the lure of simple talking heads for extended conversation, no such pitfalls plague this volume of Berserk. Although this may seem like a trivial point, it illustrates Miura’s deep understanding of the craft of sequential art.
As expected, the reprieve does not last long, as a troupe of bipedal crocodiles sniff out Guts in the night. While ridiculous—really, do giant crocodiles also need to wield spears?—it leads to some excellent sword fighting scenes, putting Guts and his new berserker armor in the spotlight. The big showdown seems unnecessary (especially when compared to the previous battles), but is (partially) redeemed by the berserker armor, which has become a completely separate character. Ordinarily flush with the armor, the beast-like head often times creeps out, making its way up the back of Guts’ neck. This happens on several occasions, until, finally, the full head is revealed and its jaws clamp shut over Guts’ head, devouring him and enveloping him in its bloodlust. When Guts is fully transformed, the panels become drenched in black and rife with edges—the living armor’s blinding rage can be felt leaping from the page.
Despite a few flaws, volume 28 contains all of the hallmarks of Berserk: jaw-dropping action, self-sacrifice, and a hint of ever-deepening treachery.
Volume 28 of Berserk is available now.
–Reviewed by Grant Goodman
By Tooko Miyagi
Digital Manga Publishing, 200 pp.
Rating: Young Adults (16+)
Ever since taking in the wounded boy he found on his doorstep, nice guy Atsushi Ikeda has been emotionally involved with Riya Narukawa, a high school student and genius violinist who suffers from multiple personality disorder brought on by childhood abuse. One personality, called White, is in love with a cruel upperclassman while the other, dubbed Black, is attached to Atsushi. In this final volume, Riya’s mental distress escalates and it looks like one of his personalities will vanish forever.
Il Gatto Sul G. is a rarity among boys’ love manga—it has a substantive plot, with twists and everything! It’s got other positive qualities, as well. Unlike some BL, Riya’s mental illness is never used as a springboard for hilarity; he actually spends most of his time miserable and confused. And although the White personality’s relationship with Kousaka, an abusive guy who nearly breaks one of Riya’s fingers in an effort to keep him from seeing Atsushi, is disturbing, it’s made clear that Kousaka’s behavior is neither acceptable nor sexy. Lastly, the art is attractive, having evolved quite a lot from the first volume, with a markedly good grasp of body language.
My complaints are actually few. Some parts of the second half of the volume, featuring many panels of a weeping Riya, grow repetitive. They do, however, lead up to one particularly nice surprise which, in turn, leads to an unexpected and rather awesome ending.
Volume three of Il Gatto Sul G. is available now.
–Reviewed by Michelle Smith
By Peach-Pit
Del Rey, 182 pp.
Rating: 13+
Amu and the Guardians take on the Easter Corporation in this volume. The guardian characters are still mixed up between Amu and Utau, so in addition to stopping Easter Corporation’s evil plans, Amu hopes to get back her Diamond and convince Utau to take back her El. Meanwhile, both Utau and Kairi have second thoughts about whether what they are doing is right, so thorough self-reflection is in order for both characters, courtesy of their guardians.
I have not read the earlier volumes of Shugo Chara!, and this is not an easy series to jump into. After I figured out who all the characters were (my main problem was that I could not tell the difference between the Guardians at the beginning, especially when they were rendered comically), it became easier to follow what was going on. There is an evil corporation, and Amu and her school friends the Guardians have to stop it. For bonus shojo value, the evil corporation utilizes a pop singer to spread their evil ways. I liked what I saw, and I liked that the book became easier and easier to get into as I read, but from what I could tell, it seems like a pretty simple series with a lot of fun at the surface and less plot and character development than what I like. But for a magical girl series, that’s usually all that you need, and Shugo Chara! seems to have a lot of fun and some pretty interesting gimmicks and character relationships to sustain itself.
Volume six of Shugo Chara! is available now.
–Reviewed by Connie C.
The Yaygu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan, Vol. 6
Original Story by Futaro Yamada, adapted by Masaki Segawa
Del Rey, 224 pp.
Rating: Mature Readers (18+)
Six volumes and the body count is rising! Several of the Seven Spears have fallen and the series of attacks and harassment by the remaining women of the Hori Clan and Yagyu Jubei is taking its toll upon the corrupt Akinari. The group splits up and shadows him as he makes his return trip to Aizu. But for how long can our hero’s luck hold out…?
The story continues moving at a brisk pace as various plot threads seeded in earlier volumes begin to crop up once more. Crushes and jealousy rear their head as several of the Hori women begin to harbor resentment towards each other over apparent preferential treatment from Jubei. I found it to be an odd plot development given that they’re supposedly fixated on vengeance. Meanwhile, Segawa’s art still maintains its distinctive, vaguely cartoonish style and relies heavily on toning and shading for depth and texture. I’m not normally a fan of that, but Segawa pulls it off fairly well. He relies heavily upon hair styles to differentiate the Hori women from one another, which gets really confusing since they spend a good chunk of this volume in disguise with their hair covered up. On the flip side, all of the male characters are given very distinctive looks, making it next to impossible to confuse them with one another.
It was fun to rejoin the series and a good reminder that I need to try and track down some of the volumes I’m missing. If you’re jonesing for some pulpy ninja action in the vein of Basilisk or Ninja Scroll, then this series is definitely worth a look.
Volume six of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls is available now.
–Reviewed by Ken Haley
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