We cover five different series this month, including a series debut, a oneshot, and a finale. Grant starts us off with a look at the fifth and final volume of Matsuri Hino’s Captive Hearts, Chloe is umimpressed by both volume four of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time and the first volume of Rasetsu, Michelle enjoys the sixth volume of Monkey High! despite its overuse of a cliché, and Melinda finds Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) to be accessible even to those who haven’t read the original series.

Captive Hearts, Vol. 5

By Matsuri Hino
Viz Media, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

The final volume of Captive Hearts is every bit as dull and unintentionally laughable as the previous ones. Matsuri Hino loves this story and the characters (made obvious by the side notes placed in each chapter about how much she enjoyed having the opportunity to continue working on it) but it never amounts to any moments that are truly captivating.

Suzuka and Megumi finally make their way to China, in attempt to the break the servant curse. The Dragon God, An, has charged Suzuka with finding his missing jewel that gave him all of his powers. By doing so, he will break all of the curses he placed on humanity. Of course, he has no idea where he lost it, only that it should be somewhere in China.

It turns out that the Dragon God loves to put curses on people. When a group of masked villagers abducts Suzuka, it is revealed that they were cursed to turn into animals at night. Why animals? According to the Dragon God, he wanted them to become “animals who cannot commit sins.” It is an astounding statement, especially when—mere pages before this revelation—one of them shoots Megumi in the back with a bow and arrow.

Captive Hearts still has a fairy-tale ending, so readers who wanted to see Megumi and Suzuka finally live happily ever after will get the chance.

Volume five of Captive Hearts will be available on July 7, 2009.

–Reviewed by Grant Goodman

Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, Vol. 4

By Tohko Mizuno
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: 16+

Based on a girl-oriented videogame—as if the bright pastels, flowing blossoms and androgynous male on the cover didn’t telegraph it practically from space—Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time is a vapid, pretty exercise in everything that has ever been wrong with shojo manga. A small hoard of attractive men coast in and out of unrelated episodic anecdotes, wherein they get to simper and pout, presumably leaving their target audience swooning. Everybody throws around bits of folkloric Asian jargon, a shadowy evil pronounces a few menacing lines, and yet there’s nary a hint of plot in sight; ostensibly the whole volume is a nice piece of period window dressing with a boy to every girl’s tastes.

Uneven paneling speeds and mind bogglingly unclear transitions do little to ameliorate the situation—one actually has to halt and flip back and forth a few times to truly verify that there was not a panel missed somewhere in the interim. That said, still frames, particularly those architectural in nature, are a nice treat for the eyes in their abounding detail and crisp renderings. It’s akin to a very pretty series of confusingly linked postcards, attached by only the thinnest threads of plot and ultimately of little value beyond a momentary diversion. Word to the wise: pass on this one and, say, make your own flip book instead. The end result will probably make more sense, amuse far longer and cost much less than this stale, pointless volume.

Volume four of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time is available now.

–Reviewed by Chloe Ferguson

Monkey High!, Vol. 6

By Shouko Akira
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Volume six of Monkey High! builds on issues between reserved Haruna and her cheerful boyfriend, Macharu, that began to develop in the previous volume. Macharu, in his optimism, keeps trying to help bring about reconciliation between Haruna and her distant politician father while the mere thought of her family woes is sufficient to ruin any fun Haruna might be having. Macharu’s friend Atsu, who also has feelings for Haruna, tries to take advantage of the situation to convince her that he’s a better choice, but in the end Haruna decides that it’s time to stop running from her family problems and face them head-on.

I’m always appreciative when the issues a couple faces come completely from who they are as people. Haruna and Macharu have had very different upbringings, and it’s clear that Macharu’s warm and loving environment has rendered him incapable of imagining the coldness with which Haruna’s father treats her until he sees it for himself. I also really like how clear the beautiful Haruna is about her devotion to the goofy Macharu and how she’s neither flustered nor tempted by Atsu’s attempts to woo her.

On the downside, the old shojo cliché of “Oops, I tripped and got to first and/or second base with you!” is employed not once but twice in this volume. In each case, it serves to get Macharu and Haruna thinking about the physical aspect of their relationship, which is good, but it’s too bad that couldn’t have been accomplished in a more original way.

Volume six of Monkey High! is available now.

- Reviewed by Michelle Smith

Rasetsu, Vol. 1

By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: 16+

To the burgeoning pile of supernatural manga offerings available in English, add Rasetsu, a colorless, odorless piece of vanilla that offers little and entertains even less so. Supernatural, presumably tax-evading DIY exorcism business? Check. Sassy heroine, troubled past, snappy male love interest? Triple check. Rasetsu doesn’t even have the benefit of fresh character spins or adventurous art to add to its appeal; it simply exists, content to regurgitate the familiar in a boring manner that ultimately amounts to a rather disinteresting half hour read.

Although Viz touts the book as “a supernatural spinoff of Yurara!” the “spinoff” in question seems like a chance for the author to wink and nudge with Yurara readers over their favorite familiars rather than head in an innovative new direction. Perhaps the only defining quality Rasetsu can be said to have is its absence of the high school backdrop, lending the volume a slightly older-oriented, almost josei feel. (The author herself confirms in a sidebar that the new series was meant to skew slightly older in demographics than its predecessor).

The kiss of death for Rasetsu isn’t that it’s repetitive (which it is) or that’s its completely unoriginal in every aspect (that too). Even the similar and the cheesy can have a kind of so-bad-it’s-almost-fantastic value; no, Rasetsu is destroyed primarily by the fact that it’s damn boring. Unless you’re seeking a very particularly shaped paper doorstop—the only sensible usage of this volume—than both your money and time are best spent far, far away from the abysmally limp rehash.

Volume one of Rasetsu is available now.

–Reviewed by Chloe Ferguson

Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u)

By Rinko Ueda
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)

Kaguya is a young woman working as a housekeeper in a Tensho Era brothel, the inhabitants of which originally discovered her wounded and unconscious in a field of bamboo. Though she has no memory before that time, the one mark of her former life is a long, moon-shaped scar left on her back by a sword or knife. Though her scar prevents her from working as a prostitute, one of the brothel’s regulars, Hanzou Hattori—a well-known playboy who serves as a bodyguard at the nearby Okazaki Castle—takes an interest in her and after just a few meetings they fall in love. It is only when Hanzou finally sees the scar on Kaguya’s back—one which he gave her—that he realizes her true identity as the assassin who killed the Okazaki lord’s mother just six months prior. Confronted with this news, Kaguya flees to safety, suffering a blow to the head in the process. When she finally awakens in the care of her retainer, Rikimaru, Kaguya realizes that she is actually Princess Sara, a powerful ninja sent to assassinate the very lord whom Hanzou protects. As the volume continues, new truths are revealed, Lord Okazaki is destroyed, and Sara and Hanzou continue as secret lovers while Sara takes on her missions, including one in which she must pretend to marry Hanzou’s relative, Shimo-no-Hanzo, recognizable to fans as the male lead from Tail of the Moon.

Following the first meeting and courtship of two minor characters in Tail of the Moon, Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) is quite accessible to those who have never read the original series, which is probably one of its strongest points. Though the art is pretty and the heroine, Sara, is fun and feisty as a ninja, the story itself provides little substance or thrill. The romance is rushed to the point of being unbelievable, and Sara’s ninja missions are too easily accomplished to evoke any real suspense. It is disheartening, too, that despite her great renown as a ninja, Sara always seems to require Hanzou’s last-minute intervention to achieve her objectives.

That said, this volume is lively, with attractive characters and a breezy romantic plot line which may appeal to many shojo fans, particularly those fond of the original series.

Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) is available now.

–Reviewed by Melinda Beasi