If you’re still solvent after last week’s tsunami of new manga, this week may send you straight for bankruptcy court, with dozens of great books headed your way. The list cants heavily towards continuing series like Basara (Viz), Flame of Recca (Viz), Samurai Deeper Kyo (Tokyopop) Sgt. Frog (Tokyopop) and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles (Del Rey), but also features such noteworthy newcomers as Kamisama Kozuko (Go! Comi) and Toto! The Wonderful Adventure (Del Rey).

My top picks for Wednesday:

Blood+, Vol. 2 (Dark Horse): This brooding vampire tale adopts a kitchen-sink approach to plotting, mixing military conspiracy theory with teen angst and a healthy dose of monster-slaying. The results are oddly compelling; if anything, Blood+ demonstrates that it’s entirely possible to fashion something new and exciting out of shopworn ideas. If you’re a fan of the anime, you’ll notice a few discrepancies between the manga and the TV show. The biggest difference is Saya herself. As depicted in the manga, Saya is feisty, loyal, and only a little hesitant to embrace her destiny as a human weapon—a big improvement over her shrill, conflicted persona in the anime.

Shoulder-A-Coffin, Kuro, Vol. 1 (Yen Press): The story is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition; some may find the art too cutesy for the rather serious subject, while others may find the story ill-suited to the set-up/punchline rhythms of 4-koma format. For the otaku in search of an offbeat read, however, Kuro offers a unique and satisfying blend of humor, whimsy, and melancholy.

Toto! The Wonderful Adventure, Vol. 1 (Del Rey): Yuko Osada’s boisterous romp reads like a mash-up of One Piece and Castle in the Sky, complete with a flying ship, a cute animal sidekick, a spunky heroine, and a band of pirates on the run from the authorities. The artwork has a loose, sketchy feel that nicely complements Toto’s breezy tone. And while the story is positively elemental when compared with many shonen series, its simplicity allows Osada to focus more on characters and plot and less on superpowers and backstory—a decided plus.

Ultimate Venus, Vol. 1 (Go! Comi): Like Ai Morinaga, Takako Shigematsu has a knack for spicing up a stock shojo premise—say, a showbiz melodrama—with liberal amounts of black humor and sexual tension. In Ultimate Venus, Shigematsu’s point of departure is the My Fair Lady makeover, in which a handsome Henry Higgins surrogate teaches a klutzy young woman how to comport herself among the rich and famous. Or in this case, two hot linguists teach a klutzy young woman how to talk and walk like a lady. Eliza Doolittle should be so lucky!

Yakitate!! Japan, Vol. 11 (Viz): Every volume of Yakitate!! Japan doggedly adheres to the same basic recipe: one part competition, one part risqué humor, one part yeasty puns, and one part wacky hijinks. Kazuma Azuma and the Pantasia gang are always the underdogs at a world-renown bread-baking tournament, only to pull off a stunning victory on the strength of one of Kazuma’s more outlandish creations—but not before a new, ridiculous opponent (often in a mask or outré costume) announces his intent to outbake them. All of this amounts to predictably good fun, even if the fanservice gets a little out of hand at times. Haven’t tried Yakitate!! yet? Read the first two volumes, then sample at will—you won’t have difficulty figuring out what’s happening.

One final note: from now until May 18th, RightStuf is running a promotion on current and future Tokyopop manga, novels, and tie-in products (i.e. The Fruits Basket Sticker Book). Books are 33% off the cover price; click here for the coupon code. Full shipping list after the cut.

(Continued)

When we launched Weekly Recon nearly one year ago (on June 20, 2007, to be exact), the goal was to highlight the best new manga arriving in stores each week with a mixture of off-the-cuff recommendations and brief reviews. The vagaries of the book distribution system, however, have frustrated our efforts to synchronize reviews and shipping lists. So this week, our column goes under the knife for a tummy tuck and a brow lift, with the goal of producing a leaner, meaner rundown of Wednesday’s new arrivals. You’ll still find the complete Midtown Comics shipping list here, as well as recommendations (now expressed as a top three or top five list) and, when appropriate, helpful hints for saving a buck or two. Reviews will be handled in a separate column, to be rolled later this month.

But enough about us—let’s talk about manga!

More than seventy new titles are appearing on store shelves this week, making this an especially onerous Wednesday for anyone with a serious manga habit. My top picks for the week:

CLAMP no Kiseki, Vol. 11 (Tokyopop): I’ll be honest: $19.99 seems a little steep for a beautifully produced thirty-two page magazine and three plastic chess pieces. But if you’re a rabid CLAMP fan, you’ll hate yourself in the morning if you pass up the opportunity to assemble a full run of CLAMP no Kiseki. And if you’ve just discovered this prolific, four-woman collective, you’ll be delighted to learn that volume eleven celebrates their current hit Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNICLES with artist interviews, full-color pin-ups, original manga, and exhaustive lists of tie-in products and publication milestones.

Color of Rage, Vol. 1 (Dark Horse) Does manga get any manlier than Kazuo Koike? This odd historical drama focuses on two slaves—one Japanese, one African-American—who escape from a transport ship, only to find themselves shackled together on the shores of Edo-era Japan. (No, this wasn’t conceived as a vehicle for Toshiro Mifune and Richard Pryor, though that pairing might have been sublime. Or sublimely awful—take your pick.) Expect plenty of sex, violence, and social commentary, as well as a few scenes that may strike American readers as naïve or misguided in their presentation of racial issues.

In the Starlight, Vol. 3 (NETCOMICS) Kyungok Kang’s unabashedly romantic sci-fi saga owes a considerable debt to Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya, both in terms of visuals—sparkling eyes! untamed manes! androgynously beautiful characters in tight pants!—and story—telekinesis! aliens! princesses switched at birth! The script is a bit tin-eared at times, but Kang’s artwork and richly layered characters more than offset a few clunky lines of dialogue.

King of Thorn, Vol. 4 (Tokyopop): Jurassic-sized lizards and killer plants terrorize a group of seemingly ordinary souls who waited out a pandemic in cryogenic sleep. The plot has a paint-by-numbers feel, but Yuji Iwahara’s knack for staging scary chases makes this monster mash an entertaining read.

Sand Chronicles, Vol. 2 (Viz): This lovely, understated story about a teenager coping with the fallout from her mother’s suicide is proof positive that “shojo” is not a catch-all term for “cheesy romances about boy-crazy girls.” Yes, it touches on such perennial coming-of-age topics as first love and fitting in, but manga-ka Hinako Ashihara’s gift for finding truthful nuance in everyday situations makes Sand Chronicles an engrossing read whether you’re thirteen or thirty-three.

Look for the complete shipping list after the cut.

(Continued)

The Dark Wraith of Shannara

Story by Terry Brooks, Illustrations by Edwin David
Del Rey, 208 pp.
Rating: Teen

The Shannara canon comprises a long-ongoing series of fantasy fiction novels written by Terry Brooks. The story is set far in Earth’s future, where man’s technology has majorly messed up the planet, resulting in dwarves, gnomes, and a whole bunch of fantasy races, creatures, and trappings. And elves, who supposedly have always been around, but just didn’t interfere.

Dark Wraith of Shannara is Brooks’s latest work, and a first in the series: a graphic novel, written by Brooks and illustrated by Edwin David. It takes place after the events of the Wishsong story arc, and sees protagonist Jair, a young man with the power to create illusions, sabotaging the efforts of some humanoid lizard folk who are attempting to summon a long sealed druid castle. Which, I guess, is Very Bad™. Anyhow, Jair’s power, called the Wishsong, is starting to do some disturbing things, like turning the young man into other people for real, instead of just creating an illusion. His sister makes him promise not to use the power again, for fear of losing his identity. But when two friends, Kimber and Cogline, are abducted by the lizard people, Jair finds his options more and more limited, and the temptation to use the Wishsong grows.

My understanding, from the material that came with my review copy of the book, is that Dark Wraith of Shannara is supposed to be a starting point for new readers to get into the Shannaraseries. That suits me fine: I did some research to prep for the book, but for the most part I’m a Shannara newbie. I’m the perfect test subject for this experiment, and experiment that, unfortunately, was not very well thought out. Dark Wraith uses characters already established in a prior Shannara story arc, and the story pretty much builds upon said prior arc. Reading Dark Wraith is like watching Return of the Jedi without having first seen A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Who is that guy frozen in “carbonite?” Why is that woman kissing him? Who’s the dude with Zero’s beam saber? Brooks would have done better by either a) going with new characters that aren’t so heavily connected to established canonical events in past novels, or, preferably, b) telling the story in such a way that it isn’t using its “prequels” as a crutch.

That said, Brooks is really an amazing writer, with a remarkable command of the English language. The dialog comes across as natural given the context, and does a superb job of guiding the reader through the story and immersing said reader in this fantasy universe. It is really a shame that I had to do Google searches in order to catch up to where the book starts. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have been able to better appreciate the story and the characters. Speaking of characters, only protagonist Jair is characterized in any meaningful way. It is clear that whatever his past adventures were, he is still quite conflicted, and it is easy to see why he would want to become anybody other than who he is. Everybody else is one-dimensional at best, though none of the characters grated at my nerves.

Edwin David’s artwork is neither over the top nor underwhelming. It is modest, clean artwork, sometimes guilty of looking amateurish, but more than passable. Which makes me wonder how devoted fans of Shannara will deal with Dark Wraith interpreting characters and environments for them. I can already hear the anguished moans of angry nerds upset that they no longer have the privilege of interpreting Brooks’s words as they see fit, as if somehow the impact and outcome of the story would change in any significant way if they pictured Jair’s sister an inch shorter than the graphic novel does. Rest assured that the artwork fits the story well enough.

All in all, Dark Wraith of Shannara was an entertaining story about characters I really don’t know anything about, and didn’t end up learning too much about. I’m sure I would have enjoyed the book better had I known what the hell was going on. I’m also that had it done a better job of familiarizing me with these characters, I might just have been interested in learning more about the Shannara books. As an introduction to the world of Shannara for new readers, Dark Wraith fails. I can’t really compare it to other Shannara stories but, by its own merits, Dark Wraith is a decent piece of work, though one that is better suited for long-time fans of the series.

The Dark Wraith of Shannara is available now.

What manga will you be reading one year from now? Viz, Del Rey, Yen Press, DMP, Dark Horse, and CMX unveiled the titles they hope you’ll purchase, from adaptations of popular anime series to works by established masters. Below is a run-down of the day’s big licensing news.
(Continued)

I’m glad to see that manga publishers will be making a stronger showing at this year’s Free Comic Book Day; as I noted in my report on FCBD 2007, Tokyopop was the only manga publisher to actively court comic book fans with its Choose Your Weapon sampler. This year, Gold Sponsor VIZ Media is offering a special 32-page edition of Shonen Jump highlighting Bleach, Naruto, and Slam Dunk. Not to be outdone, other manga publishers will be wooing readers with their own offerings, including:

• Antarctic Press, which will give away copies of Rod Espinosa’s Neotopia;
• Del Rey, which will distribute a sampler featuring In Odd We Trust, the highly anticipated Dean Koontz/Queenie Chan project;
• Drawn & Quarterly, which will circulate a 24-page sampler highlighting their big 2008 manga releases, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Good-Bye and Seiichi Hayashi’s Red Colored Elegy; and
• Yen Press, which will be unveiling a short excerpt from James Patterson’s Maxium Ride.

For more information about VIZ’s offering, read on.

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its participation as a Gold Level Sponsor in the 2008 Free Comic Book Day, taking place May 3rd. VIZ Media is producing a special edition (rated “A” for All Ages) of SHONEN JUMP Magazine (rated ‘T’ for Teens) to be distributed for free at participating stores nationwide.

The annual occasion, developed by Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books, is designed for comic book retailers across North America and around the world to offer a range of select titles for free to further spread awareness of new and upcoming series and highlight the diversity of the comics and manga (graphic novel) genres.

SHONEN JUMP will publish a special, free condensed issue of the magazine to appeal to new comic book fans as well as established manga readers. The SHONEN JUMP Free Comic Book Day issue will contain 32 action-packed pages including special previews of three of VIZ Media’s most exciting serialized manga: NARUTO, BLEACH and the newly serialized SLAM DUNK as well as coverage of many of the magazine’s other popular series such as ONE PIECE and YU YU HAKUSHO, and introduce new readers to the diverse array of content the magazine offers. Longtime SHONEN JUMP fans will also love the BLEACH poster included in this special edition.

SHONEN JUMP joins a select group of ten other preeminent publishers participating in Free Comic Book Day including Archie, Bongo, Dark Horse, DC, Dynamite, IDW, Image, Marvel and Virgin. For more information on Free Comic Book Day please visit www.freecomicbookday.com.

“Despite the massive popularity of manga in the United States, there is still a huge audience waiting to experience the range of unique art and compelling stories featured in these excellent Japanese comics,” says Marc Weidenbaum, Editor-In- Chief of SHONEN JUMP. “By supporting Free Comic Book Day, we hope to get manga into as many hands as possible, and let American comic readers discover the pleasures of the ninja epic that is Masashi Kishimoto’s NARUTO, the soul-reaper action of Tite Kubo’s BLEACH, and the high-school hijinks of Takehiko Inoue’s SLAM DUNK.”

SHONEN JUMP, which celebrated its 5th anniversary earlier this year, appeals to over 1.9 million readers monthly aged 12-17 - with an average monthly circulation of over 241,000. SHONEN JUMP is the first place fans can read new chapters of the latest hit manga from Japan as titles such as NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE have two or more chapters regularly serialized each month in addition to product articles on a vast array of related video games, trading cards, animation and toys. Ardent fans appreciate the easy to read and affordable presentations of a notable array of different genres, stories and art styles, yet the magazine still offers new readers the opportunity to test several manga at once. For more information on SHONEN JUMP Magazine please visit www.shonenjump.com.

Fairy Tail, Vols. 1-2

By Hiro Mashima
Published by Del Rey
Rating: Teen (13+)

Celestial wizard Lucy had always had one dream–join the legendary Fairy Tail wizard’s guild and finally become a legitimate wizard. But her path to glory has been less than brilliant, as she lands herself smack in the middle of a rather dicey situation while pursuing her latest lead. Enter Natsu, the strange kid with explosive fire magic who bails her out–and apparently, hails from Fairy Tail! Upon arriving at guild HQ, Lucy discovers that Fairy Tail lives up to its infamous reputation; the guild is a free-for-all stocked by the magical world’s most powerful weirdos. Finally an official member, Lucy teams up with Natsu, first to rescue a Fairy Tail comrade and then to unravel the mystery of a strange book kept by some rather unsavory characters. Things take a turn for the darker when a deadly flute falls into the hands of the Eisenwald Guild, who plan to use the morbid music to their own ends–and it’s up to Fairy Tail to stop them!

If there’s one thing that this manga excels at, it’s breakneck, exuberant energy. It’s hard to hate a series that tries as hard as Fairy Tail does; every chapter is packed with equal parts quirky action and just plain wackiness for a final product that hits more than it misses. The pace is decidedly shounen, with characters spouting off attacks and epic battles taking the forefront of every chapter, but Mashima has the good sense to keep everything on the side of the humorously weird, something his Shounen Jump contemporaries could do to learn. That said, the basic outline of the plot is nothing new; epic quests, fanservice, quirky side characters and themes of honesty, teamwork and pride are genre staples, and Fairy Tail does little to liven them up. But that’s not what Fairy Tail is here to do; rather, it’s the strange, wacky bits that keep the series flowing, with moments so out of left field you can’t help but crack a smile.

Character duality works to an equally favorable end, with Lucy providing the right amount of down-to-Earth, fresh-faced thoughtfulness to counterbalance Natsu’s over-the-top swings between aggressiveness and moments of startling honesty. The aforementioned quirks aren’t bad either; Lucy harbors secret dreams of writing a novel about her adventures (much to her embarrassment) while Natsu is consistently wracked by crippling motion sickness. The already sizeable background cast sports everybody from a hard-drinking beauty to a wizard with a penchant for stripping down, although these remain a largely untapped resource for now.

Mashima’s time spent as an assistant to Oda Eiichiro (of One Piece fame) isn’t lost on the art, which can become so eerily similar to that of Eiichiro’s that fans of the former may do a double take. No shoujo tones here; Mashima’s plays it thoroughly shounen with plenty of speed lines, disproportionate women, and destructive fights. Action scenes flow adequately and cleanly, an achievement for a series that always seems knee deep in fire and smoke when it comes to battles. Lucy and Natsu’s emotional swings are rendered with the comic intensity they merit, although Lucy in particular seems prone to flash through the entire emotional spectrum within the span of a few pages.

It’s also clear that Fairy Tail is settling in for the long run, as its quest-of-the-week setup may grow thin in future volumes if it’s not supported by more plot along the way. There’s the danger in Fairy Tail; it maintains a leg up because its skimpy plot is forgivable in light of its wackiness, but as the energy begins to age, it’s going to need some substance to keep it strong. For now, the series remains buoyant on its quirky start, and hopefully can match the development to its energy down the road to provide installments as good as this one.

Volumes one and two of Fairy Tail will be available on March 26th.

Paging Helen Mirren! This week’s shipping list includes several titles worthy of The Queen herself, as well as a healthy selection of manhwa and shonen series. I haven’t had an opportunity to read Queens or The Queen’s Knight (Tokyopop), however, so my top pick is Keiko Takemiya’s Andromeda Stories (Vertical, Inc.), a totally awesome mixture of sci-fi paranoia—the machines are taking over!—shocking plot twists, and taboo-busting romance. Takemiya’s artwork is flat-out gorgeous; her gloriously old-school character designs, dynamic layouts, and meticulous attention to detail put her on equal footing with manga gods Osamu Tezuka and Hiroshi Hinata. If you’re not a fan of sparkly-eyed shojo, fear not—there are plenty of other titles worth adding to your shopping basket, including the second volume of Dororthy of Oz (UDON Entertainment), a Korean update of the Frank L. Baum classic; the second volume of Pumpkin Scissors (Del Rey), a military drama with so-so artwork but a timely premise; the first volume of A Seduction More Beautiful Than Love (Tokyopop), a new manhwa in a josei vein; and the eleventh volume of xxxHolic (Del Rey), a series that proves just how versatile the CLAMP collective really is.

Beginning today, the Weekly Recon moves permanently to Mondays. To mark the occasion, I’ve taken a page from the network television playbook and staged an event worthy of sweeps week: a shojo spectacular of super-sized proportions. This week’s column focuses on six recent releases: A.I. Revolution (Go! Comi), Black Sun, Silver Moon (Go! Comi), Minima (Del Rey), Monkey High! (Viz), and Be With You (Viz), which Viz has released in both its original form—a light novel—and its subsequent manga adaptation.

One final note for the budget-conscious otaku: from now until March 5th, Right Stuf! is discounting all CMX titles by 33%. Click here for the coupon code.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK
Andromeda Stories, Vol. 3 (Vertical, Inc.)
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, Vol. 11 (Tokyopop)
The Devil’s Bride, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Dorothy of Oz, Vol. 2 (UDON Entertainment)
Fever, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Go Go Heaven, Vol. 5 (CMX)
Guin Saga Manga: The Seven Magi, Vol. 3 (Vertical, Inc.)
King of Hell, Vol. 18 (Tokyopop)
Kung Fu Klutz & Karate Cool, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Life, Vol. 8 (Tokyopop)
MPD Psycho, Vol. 4 (Dark Horse)
Negima, Vol. 17 (Del Rey)
Never Give Up, Vol. 7 (Tokyopop)
Psychic Power Nanaki, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Pumpkin Scissors, Vol. 2 (Del Rey)
Queens, Vol. 5 (Tokyopop)
The Queen’s Knight, Vol. 10 (Tokyopop)
Samurai Deeper Kyo, Vol. 27 (Tokyopop)
A Seduction More Beautiful Than Love, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Spy Goddess, Volume 1: The Chase for the Chalice (Tokyopop)
Star Project Chiro, Vol. 2 (UDON Entertainment)
Tactics, Vol. 4 (Tokyopop)
Teru Teru X Shonen, Vol. 1 (CMX)
Voice or Noise, Vol. 2 (BLU Manga)
xxxHolic, Vol. 11 (Del Rey)
Zig Zag, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)

A.I. Revolution, Vol. 1

By Yuu Asami
Go! Comi, 206 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

David Welsh beat me to the punch with his excellent review of A.I. Revolution, noting the fluid script and elegant artwork. I haven’t seen too many other bloggers tackle this title, however, so I decided to post my two cents in the hopes of inspiring more readers to try it. The story itself isn’t anything remarkable; fans of Isaac Asimov or even Yuu Watase have encountered similar tales of human-robot relationships. What makes Asami’s drama so compelling is its marriage of familiar sci-fi themes—what differentiates man from machine? can robots have a theory of the mind? do ethics govern human/robot interactions?—and shojo drama. The human protagonist, Sui, initially view robots as household appliances, not unlike vacuum cleaners or toasters. But when her father builds a companion for her, Sui develops a strong bond with Vermillion, discovering that he has a capacity for feeling that far outstrips her expectations. (In a neat twist, Vermillion proves more sensitive than Sui’s human fiancé.) Asami doesn’t shy away from action scenes, but the emphasis remains squarely on relationships. In Vermillion’s interactions with Sui and her father, we see different types of love dramatized; Sui’s father, for example, has modeled Vermillion in the image of a colleague that he admired, leading to a few funny, awkward moments of human-robot homoeroticism, while Sui seesaws between sisterly protectiveness and romantic attachment to her handsome companion. (Really, is there any other kind of robot in shojo manga?) Asami’s art reminds me of Keiko Nishi’s with its slightly stylized character designs, delicate linework, and sparing use of screentone. It’s a little dated perhaps, but a welcome change of pace from the slicker, busier layouts characteristic of the titles licensed by CMX, Tokyopop, and Viz. Highly recommended for fans of old-school shojo.

Volume one of A.I. Revolution is available now.

Be With You (Manga)

Written by Takuji Ichikawa, Art by Sai Kawashima, Script by Yoko Iino
Viz, 216 pp.
Rating: Teen

Be With You (Novel)

By Takuji Ichikawa, Translated by Terry Gallagher
Viz, 268 pp.

First published in 2003, Be With You enthralled millions of Japanese readers before enjoying even greater popularity as a movie, television show, and manga. The story focuses on Takumi, a widower struggling to raise his six-year-old son Yuji. While strolling through a forest, Takumi encounters a young woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mio, his recently deceased wife. This woman suffers from complete amnesia, however, and doesn’t recognize Takumi or Yuji. Takumi brings her home knowing that he faces a difficult choice: should he inform this woman that she’s a ghost, or should he convince her that she’s his wife and carry on as if she’d never died?

As portrayed in the novel, Takumi is a neurotic whose grief and crippling anxiety make him a less-than-ideal parent to his fragile son. The manga, however, offers a kinder, gentler Takumi whose chief fault is his inability to keep a clean house. Yuji, too, morphs from odd, morose little boy to energetic, resourceful character who demonstrates maturity well beyond his years. In softening their personalities, script writer Yoko Iino may have made the manga more teen-friendly, but she’s also eliminated the novel’s chief source of interest: Takumi’s tartly self-aware narrative. Throughout the novel, Takumi acknowledges his failings as a parent and a husband, revealing himself to be a difficult, selfish, and awkward man whose wife was his salvation. His blunt voice adds some badly needed edges to a story that grows increasingly sentimental in its third act, culminating in an ending that ties up all the narrative threads into an overly neat little package.

Readers unfamiliar with the original novel may find the manga’s introductory pages confusing, as Yoko Iino has compressed several chapters’ worth of material into a mere twenty pages. These first scenes have a choppy, hectic feel, introducing several characters who play little role in the main story and giving us a brief (and irrelevant) peek at Takumi’s job. The art has a bland quality to it that conveys little of the novel’s bittersweet tone, a problem reflected in the generic character designs and clip-and-paste backgrounds. My suggestion to fans of the “Pure Love” genre: read the novel or wait for Viz Pictures to acquire the movie rights.

Both the Be With You novel and manga are available now.

Black Sun, Silver Moon, Vol. 4

By Tomo Maeda
Go! Comi, 194 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

The first two volumes of Black Sun Silver Moon were an agreeable mess, notable for their button-cute character designs, faint whiff of shonen-ai, and abrupt shifts between scenes of domestic comedy and scenes of zombie slaying. Midway through volume three, however, manga-ka Tomo Maeda found her footing with the material, moving away from the Odd Couple squabbling of volumes one and two (Shikimi, the priest, is a slob, while Taki, his demon-slaying apprentice, is a neat freak) and beginning a longer story arc of surprising emotional depth. Volume four picks up where volume three left off, revealing the devastating events that transformed Shikimi from mere mortal to lethal demon. Maeda creates an atmosphere of palpable dread, decluttering her once busy layouts and using a dark palette to underscore the parishioner’s growing sense of fear and suspicion that Shikimi is, in fact, the cause of the mysterious illness that’s thinning their ranks. There are a few slightly confusing moments in the narrative; it’s never entirely clear if Shikimi’s helpmate and friend Eva turns on him or remains loyal, nor is it clear whether Shikimi’s love interest is, in fact, the cause of the town’s misfortune. That said, volume four of Black Sun Silver Moon is a solid, entertaining exercise in psychological terror. And if Maeda can figure out how to reintroduce Taki and his ridiculously cute undead dog without spoiling the mood, I’m upgrading this series to an A.

Volume four of Black Sun Silver Moon is available now.

Minima!, Vol. 1

By Machiko Sakurai
Del Rey, 182 pp.
Rating: 13+

If you’ve ever thought that the basic premise of The Velveteen Rabbit was nifty, but found its passive hero too much of a sad sack, have I got the manga for you: Minima!. Nicori, the stuffed mouse who comes to life in this tale, is a feisty, media-savvy fellow who’d never allow real rodents to mock him. Nicori’s story begins when he’s rescued from a discount bin by Ame, a lonely girl with an unreliable group of friends. In a display of gratitude, Nicori punishes Ame’s classmates for their unkind words with a stinging rebuke and some perfectly timed karate chops. Word of Nicori’s incredible feat quickly reaches the press, forcing him to choose between a life of celebrity (and probable exploitation by unscrupulous handlers) and a life with Ame, who isn’t certain that she wants to be in the spotlight with her talking toy.

Machiko Sakurai’s artwork is bit unsatisfying; she has a limited repertoire of character designs, and a tendency to draw vaguely alien faces with bulging eyes and foreheads. Still, she delivers the goods when the story calls for real displays of emotion, conveying Ame’s frustration at being ostracized by her peers through simple but effective close-ups of Ame’s tearful face. Sakurai also does a good job of revealing Nicori’s character through the artwork; though crudely rendered, his body language and huge eyes speak volumes about his true nature, a mixture of selfish desire to be famous and selfless interest in Ame’s welfare. Throughout volume one, Sakurai strikes a good balance between broad physical comedy, showbiz intrigue, and romantic drama, crafting a funny, engaging story that should appeal to teens who’ve outgrown their favorite stuffed animal.

Volume one of Minima is available now.

Monkey High!, Vol. 1

By Shouko Akira
Viz, 186 pp.
Rating: Teen

Haruna Aizawa, the prickly protagonist of Monkey High!, is the daughter of an ambitious politician. After her father is implicated in a scandal, Haruna transfers from an elite private school to a decidedly less fancy public school. In her mind, however, not much has changed; as she explains in the early pages of chapter one,

School life is like being on a monkey mountain. Monkeys in the same gang constantly fight and get back together again and a hierarchy gets established. There may be slight differences, but it’s pretty much the same anywhere you go.

As one might infer from Haruna’s comments, she views herself as a kind of anthropologist, watching her classmates pair off, squabble, and form new alliances from a safe distance. Her efforts to remain invisible to her classmates are quickly thwarted by two boys, Kido and Macharu, both of whom take a shine to her. Though Macharu is the shorter and less suave of the two, his sincerity and enthusiasm crack Haruna’s cool façade. Is romance in the cards for this improbable pair? (Is the Pope Catholic? C’mon, people, this is Shojo Beat—the question isn’t if, but when!)

Though the monkey mountain metaphor isn’t terribly profound—and may remind you of a similar motif in Mean Girls—it proves an effective gambit for revealing what kind of girl Haruna is: intellectual, aloof, and deeply afraid of being rejected. Shouko Akira tries, with varying degrees of success, to extend the analogy to other characters, even chibi-fying Macharu by giving him a tail and a Curious George grin in several panels. Her character designs are cute and appealing (if a little two-dimensional), and her layouts clean and unfussy—a rarity in shojo comedies, which are often a riot of muttered asides, in-jokes, and panels-within-panels. But what really puts Monkey High! at the head of the class is Akira’s ability to depict ordinary moments—awkward conversations, jokes, classroom banter—and make them a compelling part of the drama instead of weigh stations between comic misunderstandings and tearful confessions of love. Her story is a potent (and amusing) reminder that life is what happens when you least expect it.

Volume one of Monkey High! is available now.

Hell Girl, Vol. 1

By Miyuki Eto
Del Rey, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

The first impression I had from seeing the cover of the Hell Girl manga was “Wow, that girl’s eyes are big.” I don’t mean normal manga big, I mean big as in “bigger than the girl’s hands” big. I’m making it clear that this was my first impression of the manga because I already had preconceived notions of the series from watching the anime. And not just any anime, but a mediocre and highly repetitive one. Doesn’t that sound like the formula for a terrific manga adaption? Yeah, me neither.

The basic premise of Hell Girl is that a supernatural “death god” girl named Ai Enma attends a local middle school and helps send the local tween girls’ mortal enemies to hell. In exchange, the aforementioned tween girls damn themselves to eternal fire and brimstone. If that isn’t sketchy and predatory, I don’t know what is. And to further hammer in this disturbing theme, many of the chapters, which are each a stand alone short story, feature said little girls sacrificing their souls for really petty reasons. Case in point: one girl sells her soul to deal with bullies and another to save the integrity and livelihood of her friend’s struggling cake business. That’s right–the moral of Hell Girl is: “It’s OK to sell your soul for cake, and even more so if the cake is really good.” I never knew damnation could be so delicious.

It’s not all bad though. The premise itself is intriguing, and at least includes the caveat that you must sacrifice something to get your divine retribution. Indeed in many ways, the series draws many parallels with its far superior seinen counterpart Death Note. The list of comparisons actually borders on ridiculous. Angsty teens write in to supernatural forces to kill their enemies. The users of the Death Note/Hell Correspondence website must pay with their own souls. The possessor of the Death Note/Hell Correspondence website is bound to the death god associated with it once they’ve used it. The difference? Death Note has depth where Hell Girl has topical philosophizing. Death Note has a riveting ongoing plot whereas Hell Girl has only one shot stories. Death Note has jaw-dropping art whereas Hell Girl’s is merely mediocre.

Let’s talk about the art. Mostly it’s pretty standard shoujo fare. In its favor, each chapter has a very nicely drawn title page using pretty outfits and dewy spiderwebs, and I am a fan of the way the mangaka draws hair. On the flipside, what is wrong with the characters’ eyes?! The characters’ eyes are roughly equal in size to their fists. Ai Enma’s anatomy in the cover art is abysmal, too. Her knees are pointing inward at strange and different angles and yet somehow her feet are both pointing forward. And her kneecaps are different heights and shapes.

The bottom line: if you can’t get enough of supernatural tween girls who try to sound deep and meaningful to the extent where it’s ridiculous, Hell Girl is for you. In fact, if nothing titillates you more than vapid stories of twelve year old girls literally selling their souls to avenge their BFF’s stolen cake recipe, then buy this book without delay. If not, please don’t.

Volume one of Hell Girl is available now.

The last week of November 2007 saw a lot of Del Rey titles come out all at once: the last volume of Genshiken, Mamotte! Lollipop volume 4, Aventura vol. 1 and My Heavenly Hockey Club volume 3. I thought I’d take the opportunity to do an all-Del Rey column and make good on my promise to review My Heavenly Hockey Club volume 2 as well. I’d read a sample chapter of Mamotte! Lollipop volume 1 and was intrigued; I foolishly decided to catch up on volumes 1-4. Unfortunately, the Lollipop beat me into the ground spiritually and mentally and I only just now made it to the end of volume two.

Admittedly this column is over a month late. During the month of December when Mamotte! Lollipop wasn’t kicking my ass, I covered NYAF in three different capacities, made buttons dedicated to Jason Thompson, wrote a review for Otaku USA magazine, reviewed other stuff for PW, participated in three year-end-critc’s polls, and hosted my parents the week of Christmas. I also worked on my podcast and found a new apartment. I’m just saying… it’s not like I’ve been playing Rock Band this whole time.

Aventura, Vol. 1

By Shin Midorikawa
Del Rey, 192 pp.
Rating: 16+ (Older Teen)

Lewin Randit is an infamous redhead at the Gaius School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gaius has only two majors to choose from: Wizardry or Swordsmanship, and Lewin is a Swordsmanship major. Exactly like Naruto and Harry Potter, Lewin is extremely clutzy and unskilled - but he just might grow up to be the greatest wizard/ninja of all time. It’s the shonen plot we’ve seen a thousand times before, but instead of crippling the story, there’s a comforting familiarity to these clichés balanced out with terrific art.

The art of Aventura is amazing, with it’s detailed linework and Ah! My Goddess-style antenna-like bangs on Record of the Lodoss War-style elves that I kind of want to own posters by the artist. Unfortunately at times the hyper-detailed backgrounds clutter up the panels and make the action hard to follow. At least for volume one, I would prefer pin-ups by Shin Midorikawa instead of sequential art. I had to re-read several pages to understand the flow of the action.

Lewin makes friends with Chris Cottenburg, a high elf Wizarding major, and his “teammate” the token girl Soela Evenport. Soela takes on the Misty-from-Pokemon role in Adventura, as she’s raising a monster egg, similar to Togepi from Pokemon. Two of the teachers take on important roles in the story, favorably reminiscent of Hogwarts staffers, but they are totally hot elves instead of Professor McGonagle or Hagrid.

The characters all wear Kingdom Hearts-style shoes, which will hit home with the teenage Kingdom Hearts cosplayers for whom this book is intended. Periodically the text is broken up to give one omniscient information like a videogame walk-through. To introduce a living Beauty and the Beast-style candelabra the book offers this pop-up text box:

“Shokuoki: One of the few fire attribute dolls capable of summoning magic. It powers all the lights in school.”

Thanks! Now I feel like I’m playing a videogame. Fortunately, the text boxes calm down a bit after the first few chapters.

Volume one culminates in a battle against some skeletons Lewin and his friends spawned accidentally in a lab accident. “Lewin! Don’t touch the claws!!” Soela yells, “Undead claws are coated in septic poison!!” And again, I feel like I’m playing the walk-through.

Aventura isn’t for me specifically, but I still found it appealing (high elves!). I want to read doujinshi about the teachers and try drawing the characters myself. Perhaps Aventura’s resemblance to Harry Potter goes much deeper than surface level - like Harry Potter, Aventura strikes me as a work that could be improved upon by some amusing works of fan fiction.

Volume 1 of Aventura is available now, volume two will be released in April of 2008.

My Heavenly Hockey Club, Vol. 2

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

Had I reviewed My Heavenly Hockey Club volume 1 instead of Katherine, I would’ve given it an A- instead of a B. I took Hockey Club to be a male-harem parody title like Ouran High School Host Club but with better visual gags (the bear! I was laughing out loud on the subway) and a sillier premise (I’ve got a soft spot for obscure sports. Curling, anyone?). The paper-thin characterizations, predictable romance and bishonen all take a back seat to the comedy and the all-consuming Japanese pastime of traveling to onsen and eating local food specialties. I terrifically enjoyed going to onsen and acting like an intra-Japanese tourist when I was in Japan. I also strongly identify with Hana, who’s character motivation is primarily to sleep in as long as possible, and secondarily, to eat delicious things.

Volume two finds Hana mysteriously attracted to a chubby kid (for all the wrong reasons). No one will face off against the club after they used a bear as a goalie - except for a school in Yamagata. The team travels to Japanese cherry country, primarily to eat a lot of cherries, but also to face off against a desperately under-funded field hockey club. All the kids use cardboard shin guards! I’m certain that the shaved heads of the rival team are a parody of sometime specific, but the translator’s notes imply they might just look like ascetic monks.

The volume briefly becomes My Heavenly Judo Club when Izumi reads the famous Judo Dreams manga and forces everyone to practice judo. In the final chapter, the team heads to the Izumi family vacation house in Okinawa for a summer training camp. Hana doesn’t want to go, but caves in when she find out she’ll be able to fulfill her lifelong dream of napping in a hammock.

The end of the book was derivative of early volumes of Host Club; Instead of Tamaki and Haruhi, it’s Izumi and Hana who are trapped alone together during a power outage. The storm in Host Club reveals that Haruhi is afraid of lightning, but in Hockey Club the typhoon is just another funny episode.

It’s really incredible to me how little time manga characters spend alone with members of the opposite sex. The storm is a paper-thin excuse for Hana and Izumi to be alone together, which normally would make a shojo protagonist blush, but Hana is too pragmatic for that kind of nonsense.

My Heavenly Hockey Club, Vol. 3

By Ai Morinaga
Del Rey, 192 pp.
Rating: 13+ (Teen)

My Heavenly Hockey Club volume 3 kicks off with the cliché of getting-lost-with-a-boy-alone-on-a-school-trip (Marmalade Boy, Sand Chronicles, and more) as Hana and Takashi end up lost in the jungles of a private island in Okinawa looking for the legendary iriomot wildcat (read Azumanga Daioh for more details). Any romance Hana might have had with Takashi is overshadowed by encounters with poisonous snake, falling off of cliffs, and gags about nearsightedness.

Cut to the next chapter where the hockey club takes a trip to a rustic hot springs (a vacation from the precious vacation), which turns out to be much, much more rustic than advertised. The club is quickly forced into host-club-type indentured servitude. In case you had any doubt this was shojo, check out the totally unwanted nudity on page 62. It’s the opposite of fanservice!

The first half of the book is pretty funny, although still not as hilarious as the second half of volume one. In the weak penultimate chapter, Hana competes for Izumi with his second cousin, an obnoxious blond half-Japanese girl named Tamako. It’s a total shojo cliché (even Fall in Love Like a Comic has the competing cousin character) and it’s not terribly entertaining, although there are one or two good gags about Hana’s lack of ladylike elegance. Hana explains her lack of cooking ability: “I specialize in eating.”

There are two brilliant things in this volume: First, Izumi’s father has only one hair on his bald head, and this figures into the plot in a hysterically funny way in the final chapter. Second, one of the translator’s notes (Del Rey does such great translator’s notes!) actually changed the way I think of the world forever! Page 171 explains a line from page 18 where Hana screams “Whose dad are you!!?” The translator explains:

Fathers the world over love to make bad puns, and in Japan, such puns are referred to as “dad gags.”

I had no idea old men telling bad jokes is universal to all cultures! This blew my mind. I even started thinking of my 30-something male friends telling bad jokes as future dads, practicing their horrible puns in advance.

Volumes 1-3 My Heavenly Hockey Club are available now, volume four will be released in March of 2008. The series appears to be six volumes long in total.

Mamotte! Lollipop, Vol. 1

By Michiyo Kikuta
Del Rey, 224 pp.
Rating: 13+ (Teen)

Mamotte! Lollipop drew me in by having the most awesome first 20 pages of practically any title I can think of:

12-year-old Nina is describing her ideal boyfriend to a friend while eating cake, “He should be strong, kind, good-looking, and someone who’d protect me.” She eats a mysterious piece of candy on the cake AND SUDDENLY A CAR BURST THROUGH THE WALL OF THE CAFE! INSIDE THE CAR ARE TWO HOT TEENAGE WIAZARDS! Sorry, but it’s really an all-caps moment.

When I was 12 my fantasy was to have a cute blonde guy fight for my affection against a cute brunette. Nina’s new wizard friends are a cute blue-haired kid named Zero (close enough to blond), and a cute brunette named Ichi. The candy Nina ate is a jewel Ichi and Zero need to pass the wizarding exam. Suddenly two more wizards BUST THROUGH THE WALL RIDING A GIANT OWL. Our heroes escape in a flying car.

And after that you can just put the book down because it’s pretty disappointing from there on out. More (uninteresting) pairs of wizards are introduced: Forte and Sun, Go and Rokka (puns on the Japanese words for numbers). In a total manga cliché, Ichi and Zero start living at Nina’s house and attending her school. They’re not waiting for her to pass the jewel (Re: Hal Johnson), rather, they must protect Nina for six months.

Rokka is a five-year-old who casts a spell on herself to look like a (more) sexually mature teenager. It an innocent trope of magical girl anime to have a protagonist who can magically transform from prepubescent to post-pubescent, as in Creamy Mami, Fancy Lala, and Full Moon O Sagashite. However, there’s a darker side to this 5-going-on-15 transformation, as seen in Nanaka 6/17 and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie. A teenager with the brain of a kindergartener can be considered sexy to the Japanese. Rokka is drawn in a Playboy bunny suit in the author’s notes the end of volume 2 by reader request - and that kind of creeped me out. Rokka’s proportions as a 5-year-old are also a bit off in volume one.

Forte is hilariously referred to as “For-chan,” which I snickered at, as it is one letter away from the infamous “fourchan” website here in the U.S. - Hopefually the 13-year-olds reading Mamotte are unfamiliar with the site.

Nina gets turned into a baby for one chapter, and a lackluster hot springs episode follows. Volume one closes with a gameshow/exam involving a lot of puns - Del Rey’s translation notes here are priceless.

During the test Nina loses her voice, is forced to wear a fancy dress, and is made into a princess to be rescued. I strongly prefer princesses like Nausicaa and Utena to the helpless kind who need protecting.

The final chapter is an unrelated short story called Medical Magic.

Mamotte! Lollipop, Vol. 2

By Michiyo Kikuta
Del Rey, 224 pp.
Rating: 13+ (Teen)

At the opening of volume 2 Mamotte! Lollipop is already crowded with characters when Zero, Ichi, Sun, Forte, Go, and Rokka are joined by another wizard pair: Nanase and Yakumo. All six of the original characters, despite being contenders for the magic jewel, have befriended each other hang out in a massive posse with Nina. This makes the panels feel cluttered. I can only imaginee that if I were a kid reading this, and my favorite character was Sun, I would appreciate that she appears so often, despite having no action or plot reasons to be present. As an adult reader I confused Go with Nanase and Forte as I stumbled through the crowded panels.

Yakumo’s kansai dialect is portrayed in a bolded font to set apart his speech from everyone else’s; it’s an interesting choice, although perhaps not aesthetically pleasing. I think it does accomplish what Del Rey hoped it would.

The book opens with a chapter about exploring the school at night in pairs; this is a common Japanese game and an anime/manga staple plot. The next chapter is the inevitable (and perhaps required by law?) beach episode. The book closes with a couple chapters about Zero and Ichi’s backstory and a short unrelated manga called “Kaito Papillion” about a phantom jewel thief/prince.

The backstory is darker than the rest of the series so far, and contains a step-sibling love story, which is one of my personal manga pet peeves. The tale of Zero and Ichi becoming friends is suspiciously reminiscent of yaoi: Young innocent light-haired Zero stalks and befriends Ichi, the brooding brunette with a dark past.

Kikuta reveals in the author’s notes that she named the series after a song called “Bizarre Lollipop” by the band Flipper’s Guitar. Mamotte means “to protect,” so the title is “Protect Lollipop”.

Interestingly enough, a 12 episode anime series of Mamotte! Lollipop was produced in 2006. Del Rey has an uncanny knack for picking up manga titles with anime counterparts, whether or not the anime is licensed in North America. In the case of some titles, like The Wallflower, the manga was being distribute by Del Rey prior to the anime’s air date in Japan.

Volumes 1-4 Mamotte! Lollipop are available now, volume five will be released in March of 2008. The series is seven volumes long in total.

I had typed and discarded about a dozen different opening gambits for our year-end feature when Ken Haley sent me his “best of” list, complete with a snappy intro that put mine to shame. So I’m going to turn the floor over to Ken here to get our article off on the right foot:

It’s that time of the year again. The nights are long, the temperatures low, and the snow banks high. So clearly it must be time to roll out the year-end wrap ups, where we look back at 2007 and admire the bountiful new manga series that have grabbed our hearts, minds, throats and, with my penchant for horror series, torn them out in an overly elaborate two-page spread that would put Hiroaki Samura to shame.

Here are our votes for the best (and worst) manga of 2007.

Best Manga of 2007: Erin’s Picks

TEKKONKINKREET: BLACK AND WHITE (Taiyo Matsumoto, Viz)
Tekkonkinkreet’s artwork looks like an underground comic and its plot is like a Hollywood film. I knew I’d never be the same after watching A Clockwork Orange, and Tekkonkinkreet gave me the same feeling. I watched the Tekkon movie first, then researched director Michael Arias for an article - this is practically the only manga Arias has ever read, but it affected him so much he spent over ten years adapting a movie. I haven’t re-read much manga, but I know I’ll re-read Tekkon again and again. As soon as I put the book down I set out to collect everything else by Matsumoto.

Click here to read Erin’s review; click here to preview pages at the Overlooked Manga Festival.

SWAN, Vols. 9-11 (Kiyoko Ariyoshi, CMX)
Swan is rapidly becoming one of my favorite series of all time. It’s an obvious choice for libraries, since there’s nothing objectionable in it - it’s about ballet, after all! I can picture the unsuspecting teenage Naruto fan picking up Swan and then having her mind totally blown by the hardcore 1970’s shojo within. Swan is so girly it goes all the way around the circle and into the realm of manliness. If Dark Horse had a ballet title, it would Swan. The paneling is an experiment from the ’70’s and the SD moments are a throwback to Phil Foglio’s Buck Godot comics. Swan is like some kind of life-preserver of seventies awesomeness thrown into the present by CMX.

Click here to view preview pages at the Overlooked Manga Festival.

GENSHIKEN, Vols. 8-9 (Kio Shimoku, Del Rey)
American fans are blissfully unaware of the strange coincidence that makes Genshiken a huge hit here; in Japan, colleges usually have separate anime, manga, and gaming clubs. Genshiken rolls all three together, which happily makes the college club resemble most American anime clubs, where fans of anime are by de facto fans of manga and video games from Japan. The last half of the Genshiken series turns the club over to girls as the series explores cosplay and yaoi. Ogiue starts off as an insane psychopath but is slowly characterized until she is everyone’s favorite character in the final volume. I wanted to hug her at the end of each chapter.

Click here for Erin’s review of volume nine.

FLOWER OF LIFE, Vols. 1-3 (Fumi Yoshinaga, DMP)
Either this year has been HUGE for Fumi Yoshinaga in the U.S., or I have coincidentally read a bunch of her works in 2007. I had a hard time getting into Antique Bakery and took a break between volumes two and three, but with Flower of Life I read each new volume immediately and with fannish rigor. I keep recommending it to people, including guys, but I have a hard time convincing them there’s no yaoi involved. Two of the characters are otaku, so as with Genshiken, I’m showing favoritism towards otaku-centric titles. I can’t explain what the title means, except as a reference to the protagonist, who struggled with cancer but enters high school healthy and filled with the enthusiasm of youth… This is a title about happiness.

Click here for Erin’s review of volume one; click here for her review of volume two; click here to preview pages at the Overlooked Manga Festival.

IRON WOK JAN, Vols. 13-27 (Shinji Saijyo, DrMaster)
Frequently overlooked, Iron Wok Jan is as crazy as manga can get. We need to import more food manga like Oishinbo the Gourmet (it’s only over a hundred volumes long!). I started watching the Iron Chef because of the crazy foods and ingredients I’d never heard of, and I love comics as a medium because they pull off insane logic leaps that wouldn’t work in film or prose. I love the foreignness of manga - manga doesn’t have the boundaries of domestic comics. Iron Wok Jan combines all three loves - the love of crazy Asian food, crazy-as-hell comic logic, and the anything-goes factor of manga weirdness.

Click here for Erin’s review of volume 26; click here to preview pages at the Overlooked Manga Festival.

Best Manga of 2007: Ken’s Picks

MPD PSYCHO, Vols. 1-3 (Eiji Otsuka and Sho-U Tajima, Dark Horse)
For me, this was easily the most anticipated release of 2007. Eiji Otsuka and Sho-U Tajima have created a wonderfully dark world full of serial killers, bizarre conspiracies, eyeball tattoos and more. Each volume adds a new layers and twists to the over all story, causing it to become increasingly complex as the series progresses. You’ll need a score card to keep track of all of Detective Amamiya’s personalities alone! Tajima’s art work is slick, stylish, and he doesn’t flinch when it comes to depicting the nastier aspects of the subject matter.

Click here for Ken’s review of volume three.

TANPENSHU, Vols. 1-2 (Hiroki Endo, Dark Horse)
This two volume series from Hiroki Endo helped reignite my interest in Eden: It’s An Endless World. Short tales of broken people trying to make sense of their worlds, trapped by birth or circumstance is situations they despise. While no one is going to mistake this anthology as the feel-good read of the year, I don’t think anyone could possibly deny the quality of both Endo’s writing and artwork.

PARASYTE, Vols. 1-2 (Hitosi Iwaaki, Del Rey)
It’s John Carpenters The Thing crossed with a buddy flick! What’s not to love about that? The plain jane artwork belies the hand of a master at work. What the series may lack in flash, it more than makes up for in substance. The characters are fleshed out wonderfully and Hitoshi Iwaaki blends humor, action, and philosophical pondering’s in a wonderfully entertaining way. It might not exactly be a new series, but I for one am extremely grateful for the new editions from Del Rey.

Click here for Ken’s review of volumes one and two.

GON, Vols. 1-2 (Masashi Tanaka, CMX)
A golden oldie being re-released for the first time in its original format. The series follows the adventures of a little orange dinosaur wandering the wilds of prehistoric earth. The short, silent tales are often cute and humorous, and the character of Gon comes across loud and clear despite absence of dialogue or sound effect. Masashi Tanaka’s art work is detailed and lush to a degree rarely seen in the world of manga. Sometimes the bully, sometimes the good guy, Gon and his adventures never fail to entertain. Whether he’s riding a lion while chasing after his prey, or hunting in the mouth of a shark, Gon is a series that’s bound to please.

Click here for Ken’s review of volume one.

Best Manga of 2007: Kate’s Picks

TOWN OF EVENING CALM, COUNTRY OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS (Fumiyo Kouno, Last Gasp)
If Barefoot Gen shows readers what it was like to live through the Hiroshima bombing and its horrific aftermath, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms shows readers what it was like to live with the memories of that day ten, twenty, and forty years later. Fumiyo Kouno’s book is divided into two stories. The first, “Town of Evening Calm,” is set in 1955, and focuses on one young woman’s attempt to preserve the remnants of her family, while the second, “Country of Cherry Blossoms,” is set in the 1990s, and focuses on the strained relationship between a survivor and his adult daughter. Both stories are simply but beautifully illustrated, avoiding the kind of visual tropes (big eyes, tiny noses, super-cute deformations) that many Western readers find jarring when reading Serious Manga. A haunting, uplifting book that will remind you how powerful sequential art can be.

Click here to read Kate’s review.

TO TERRA, Vols. 1-3 (Keiko Takemiya, Vertical, Inc.)
If Richard Wagner wrote operas set in deep space instead of Valhalla, he might have composed something akin to Keiko Takemiya’s To Terra. Set in the distant future, the story focuses on a race of telepathic mutants who have been exiled from their homeworld. Under the leadership of the powerful and charismatic Jomy Marcus Shin, the Mu embark on a grueling voyage back to Terra to be reunited with their human creators. Their principle foe: an evil supercomputer named Mother, who makes HAL look like a pansy. Takemiya’s richly detailed artwork and deft manipulation of panels make To Terra an almost cinematic experience; many pages will remind you of iconic scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. But don’t be fooled by those blinking computers and blazing starships: To Terra is an unabashedly Romantic saga about two übermensch locked in a struggle of cosmic proportions. No doubt Richard would approve.

Click here to read Kate’s review of volume three.

LOVE*COM, Vols. 1-3 (Aya Nakahara, Viz)
Ladies, please complete the following brief questionnaire: (a) Have you ever worn flats to avoid towering over your gentleman friend? (b) Do you slouch to avoid appearing “too tall”? (c) Do you wish that you were two or three inches shorter? If you’ve answered “yes” to two or more of these questions, have I got the manga for you: Love*Com, a delightful comedy about a very tall girl and very short boy who’d make a terrific couple… if they didn’t feel so self-conscious about the size difference. With great artwork, memorable characters, and plotlines grounded in reality, Love*Com may just be the best new shojo title of 2007.

Click here to read Kate’s review of volume one; click here to read her review of volume two.

TRANSLUCENT, Vols. 1-2 (Kazuhiro Okamoto, Dark Horse)
Shizuka, the heroine of Translucent, has a medical condition that many of us can identify with (even if we’ve never actually suffered from it): whenever she feels anxious, sad, lonely, or premenstrual, she becomes invisible to others. Her condition is the perfect metaphor for how most of us felt in high school, as we vacillated between wanting to be noticed by a cute guy, the varsity coach, or a campus V.I.P. and wishing we could simply disappear, escaping unwanted scrutiny from bullies, teachers, and parents. The slightly awkward character designs suit the characters’ ages and personalities, giving this series a refreshingly naturalistic look. Sometimes humorous, sometimes bittersweet, this lovely coming-of-age story is a shoo-in for YALSA’s 2007 List of Great Graphic Novels for Teens—even if, as some commentators have pointed out, the story was originally written for grown men who like to read about high school girls.

Click here to read Kate’s review of volume two.

FLOWER OF LIFE, Vols. 1-3 (Fumi Yoshinga, DMP)
Fumi Yoshinaga’s geek-centric comedy focuses on a group of teens who invite their new classmate to join the manga club. Not much actually happens in Flower of Life; most chapters consist of passionate conversations between club members about—what else?—manga. Yoshinaga has a wonderful time poking fun at otakudom (including her usual bailiwick, boy’s love) while respecting the intensity and sincerity of her characters’ feelings. The result is both moving and laugh-out-loud funny. You’ve never seen a cultural festival storyline quite like the one in volume two… trust me on this one.

Worst Manga of 2007: Erin’s Pick

PRINCESS PRINCESS, Vols. 2-5 (Mikiyo Tsuda, DMP)
I gave Princess Princess a chance. I read three volumes of the manga and watched an episode of the anime, and even an episode of the live action series. Princess Princess is just as bad in any medium. The anime was a low-budget, corner-cutting affair (more so than regular anime), and so was the live action show (mostly shot in a single white room). The manga made Jason Thompson’s bottom ten (at #6), and deservedly so. Although the cross-dressing premise promises hijinks will ensue, hijinks are totally absent, replaced by long blocks of uninteresting text as the characters discuss their angsty feelings.

Click here for Erin’s review of volumes one and two; click here for Jason Thompson’s review at the Overlooked Manga Festival.

Worst Manga of 2007: Kate’s Pick

POP JAPAN TRAVEL: ESSENTIAL OTAKU GUIDE (Makoto Nakajima, DMP)
A better title for this ill-conceived project might have been Gaijin Do the Stupidest Things. Although the artwork is crisply executed, the characters are a veritable catalog of ugly American stereotypes. My guess is that the manga-ka had no idea that his creation might rub Americans the wrong way. DMP’s editorial staff, however, really fell down on the job: they should have worked harder to ensure that the story and characters steered clear of racist caricature, especially if their goal was to promote DMP’s Pop Japan Tours.

Click here for Kate’s review.