Is a super-sized helping of Manga Minis an oxymoron? Or is it simply the equivalent of gorging yourself on Frosted Mini Wheats? Either way, this month’s column is jam-packed with reviews from Chloe Ferguson, Isaac Hale, Ken Haley, Michelle Smith, and me. The books run the gamut from shojo—volume eight of La Corda d’Oro (Viz) and volume three of Tears of a Lamb (CMX)—to shonen—volume 30 of Naruto (Viz)—seinen—volume seven of Kikaider Code 02 (CMX) and volume twelve of xXxholic (Del Rey)—yaoi—Ellie Mamahara’s Alley of First Love (BLU Manga)—OEL—volume one of Kasumi (Del Rey)—and manhua—The King of Fighters Art Book (DrMaster). And while there’s no explicit theme to this month’s column, its very eclectic nature is a statement in itself. So read, enjoy, and feel the sugar high from eating too many minis.

Ellie Mamahara: Alley of First Love

By Ellie Mamahara
BLU Manga, 186 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Despite its lurid title, Alley of First Love isn’t about cruising—it’s actually about two childhood friends whose relationship takes a sexy turn in adulthood. Shusuke, a dark-haired hottie, is an injured soccer star who’s marking time at the family liquor store; Atsushi, a fair-haired innocent, is a graduate student who spent nearly six years abroad. When they’re reunited, Shusuke contrives improbable schemes for spending time with his old pal (one involving a giant panda suit… don’t ask) to gauge Atsushi’s interest in him.

Not much actually happens; most of the book is devoted to flirtatious exchanges and earnest conversations about feelings. That uneventfulness is both a plus and a minus. On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see character development take center stage in a genre known primarily for steamy man-on-man action. On the other, Ellie Mamahara lacks Fumi Yoshinaga’s flair for dialogue, so the script is rather pedestrian. The artwork, too, is serviceable but not great. Like many manga-ka, Mamahara favors lean boys with bee-stung lips, sleepy eyes, and impossibly broad shoulders—in short, characters who read as sufficiently masculine, but have a certain softness and sensuality that’s more feminine. Her backgrounds are spare, with shojo-esque screentone patterns frequently standing in for actual detail. For readers who prefer yaoi that depicts healthy, consensual relationships, Alley of First Love offers a welcome respite from some of the more explicit offerings in the BLU, DMP, and Kitty Media catalogs. Hard-core fujoshi, however, are advised to seek thrills elsewhere, as Mamahara’s book is a strictly PG-13 affair.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Kasumi, Vol.1

Story by Surt Lim, Art by Hirofumi Sugimoto
Del Rey, 208 pp.
Rating: 13+

Born out of an east-west creative partnership and helmed by Del Rey, Kasumi gets effort points, a couple cute points, and not a whole lot else. The setup smacks of been-there, done-that, from cheery everygirl Kasumi’s strange new powers (which, of course, manifest themselves in socially humiliating circumstances) to her rich girl rival and mysterious ice block of a love interest. Friend making, school hijinks, and magic usage naturally ensues. A quirky set of extras provides a bit of air, but even a bit of weirdness can’t liven up a series that seems dead set on crafting Kasumi a few token magical friends to move the background action along.

The okay vibes extend even to the realms of art and toning, with Sugimoto’s serviceable closeups marred largely by the occasional anatomical iffyness and, more gravely, by serious tone abuse. Every character has been lovingly toned with a healthy plethora of grays and gradients, but the backgrounds have been left to languish in obscurity. Who needs shapes or distinguishable features when a splash of black gradient will do? The end result- very few well-drawn backgrounds, or, worse, extant backgrounds proves a serious detractor in the long run. Kasumi may be a step in the right direction for global manga, but also proves that there’s still much ground to be covered in closing the quality gap.

–Reviewed by Chloe Ferguson

Kikaider Code 02, Vol. 7

Story by Ishinomori Shotaro, Art by Meimu
CMX, 178 pp.
Rating: Mature

The long awaited finale to the Kikaider Code 02 series is here! Unfortunately, I haven’t actually read any of the series prior to this, so it left me a bit lost. Still, it wasn’t too hard to grasp what was going on, though some of the plot twists were perhaps lost on me. Meimu’s artwork was lovely and the designs for Kikaider and the various other robots were fantastic. The story itself concludes the tangled web of intrigue involving Jiro (aka Kikaider), his pseudo-brother Saburo (aka Haikaider), the rest of their family, and a secret organization that was plotting to wipe out mankind. It’s a fast paced, action packed finale with an ending that might leave some scratching their heads. It’s open to interpretation, but seemed awfully grim to me. In addition there’s some nice sketchbook material included in the end, along with a short afterward by Meimu about the series. Interesting stuff that left me wanting to hunt down the rest of the series so I could better grasp this final chapter.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

The King of Fighters Art Book

Created by Wing Yan and King Tung
Published by DrMaster, 92 pages
Rating: Unrated

From artists Wing Yan and King Tung comes The King of Fighters Art Book, 92 pages of full-color oversized reproductions of the duo’s covers for three different King of Fighters comic series (2001, 2002 and 2003). Each cover takes up a single page with a little notation at the bottom indicating which series it’s from. The duo have done a good job at capturing the likenesses of the various characters, and fans of the comics or games will be pleased to see characters ranging from Kyo to Bill Kane making appearances in the various pieces. While the covers are certainly lovely, it’s a bit disappointing that that’s all the book contains. No sketchbook material, rough pencils, rejected covers or anything of that nature. It’s essentially a cover gallery, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it gives the book a really light feeling, especially since it comes with a $22 price tag. Still, fans of Wing Yan and King Tung’s art might want to give it a look, as might fans of the comics and video game series.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

La Corda d’Oro, Vol. 8

By Yuki Kure
Viz, 178 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

Volume eight of La Corda d’Oro begins with every musician’s worst nightmare: in the middle of a performance, Kahoko loses her mojo. Her intonation wobbles; a string breaks; and worse still, the magic spell that allowed her violin to practically play itself wears off, forcing her to scratch and pick her way through the remainder of the piece. Though she’s demoted to last place in the school music competition, her fellow contestants (five of whom are cute, tousled-haired boys) praise her gutsy performance, squeaks and all.

This opening chapter has a certain intensity and honesty that’s generally lacking in La Corda d’Oro as a whole. Some of that is attributable to the beautiful artwork; many scenes are wordless, focusing instead on a facial expression or a hand poised to bow a phrase. Yuki Kure’s toning is superb, giving her characters and objects an unusually solid appearance—something that’s all too rare in shojo—while evoking Kahoko’s fragile, anxious state. The rest of the volume is conventional shojo fluff, as Kure introduces a potential rivalry between Kahoko and a button-cute girl from Ryotaro’s middle school, and sends Kahoko to an amusement park with the deadly serious—some might say pompous—Len. Volume eight also includes an utterly forgettable short story about a rich boy who behaves like a doormat in the presence of the girl he loves, despite the fact she’s a brusque pain the butt. From the rougher artwork and choppy narrative flow, I’d guess this story predates La Corda d’Oro, as it lacks the polish of Corda’s very best pages.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Naruto, Vol. 30

By Masashi Kishimoto
Viz, 178 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

I’d like to preface this review by saying I was a Narutard years before it was cool. I got into Naruto when Shonen Jump first hit newsstands in the US. Though admittedly, the series’ first fifty-ish chapters are unarguably Naruto’s heyday, this hasn’t stopped the ongoing series from still being a blast. Even though Naruto embraces pretty much every shonen meme and convention, it brings enough originality and sheer entertainment value to make up for it. Additionally, there’s just no getting over the fact that Naruto simply has terrific character designs. This series is a terrific balance of humor, action, and a healthy dash of manservice for the fangirls.

In this volume, Naruto and co. face off against various members of Akatsuki, this year’s super-secret evil badass hall of fame. Why is it that with each successive shonen story arc, the villains get less and less memorable? In my not-so-humble opinion, most shonen stories get stretched far beyond their natural life cycles and lose originality and fall back on conventions as a result. Naruto is no exception—this is volume 30 for Christ’s sake! The way the manga cuts from one fight to the next makes me consider going on Ritalin with every read. The way this manga really should be enjoyed is one chapter at a time (as you would if you were reading it in a magazine). With a week between each chapter, the extra-special scene shifts and fever-pitch action really work in Naruto’s favor. Regardless though, the graphic novels are quite a bargain at $8.00, and volume 30 should definitely be picked up if you’ve kept up with the series so far!

–Reviewed by Isaac Hale

Tears of a Lamb, Vol. 3

By Banri Hidaka
CMX, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen (T)

The greatest strength of this series is the relationship between its two lead characters. After getting off to a rough start—with Kei badgering Kanzaki to allow her access to his apartment so she can search for a lost ring—it has developed into a solid friendship, with each able to confide in the other about their problems. I particularly like how Kanzaki’s consideration of Kei is shown through his actions rather than told in mere words. The best scenes are when they are engaged in heartfelt conversation. Unfortunately, such moments do not happen often in this third installment of the series. The standout chapter actually focuses on the school doctor and her own experiences in high school. A nice character piece, it also provides a glimpse of the mysterious Suwa, the older man upon whom Kei is fixated and the owner of the ring for which she is searching.

Hidaka’s art is cute (I love the fleecy lambs sprinkled throughout) but my enjoyment is marred by the continual reliance on violence as a source of humor. Poor Kanzaki takes a pounding on practically every page and it’s really beginning to disturb me. If you can get past that, however, Tears of a Lamb definitely has something unique to offer.

–Reviewed by Michelle Smith

xxxHolic, Vol. 12

By CLAMP
Del Rey, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

I’ll be the first to admit that I love xxxHolic to death. I love the art, love the creativity, even love the quasi-spiritual pretentiousness. And to be sure, this latest volume of xxxHolic has all that. Unfortunately, this latest volume takes the self-important pontification to a really obscene level, with the dialogue ascending to a fever pitch of narcissism. During a particularly emo moment, for example, Sakura says: “The only thing I could do until the ‘time’ that I changed the future was to act through the part I saw in a dream.” Trust me, this makes no more sense in context. Frankly though, if CLAMP can get its obligatory emo monologues out in this single volume, it’s a-okay by me.

Despite my bitching, this volume is still a pleasure to read. xxxHolic is easily the best series CLAMP has whipped up since Card Captor Sakura, and it shows in the one-shot stories and the jaw-dropping artwork. Seeing the chapter title pages in their ornate and sexy awesomeness makes me yearn for an xxxHolic artbook like nobody’s business. Though this volume is not nearly as good as it could have been, it’s still the same old xxxHolic, and for that it still gets my purchasing recommendation.

–Reviewed by Isaac Hale