Dororo, Vol. 1

By Osamu Tezuka
Vertical, 312 pp.

A greedy warlord in feudal Japan makes a deal with 48 devils: in exchange for pledging pieces of his unborn child to them, he will achieve his goals of fortune and power. The child is born horribly deformed, little more than a torso and a head, then set adrift like Moses in a reed basket. The warlord’s life continues, and unknown to him… so does that of his child’s. Now, years later, Hyakkimaru roams Japan, searching for the demons in possession of his missing body parts, and reclaiming them as he slays them. Unfortunately for him, he’s about to gain an unwanted sidekick by the name of Dororo.

Tezuka’s artwork is very cartoony, and at times this works to a perhaps unintentional comical effect. Large scenes depicting wars are highly detailed, but all the soldiers bear that cartoonish look giving an oddly amusing look and feel to a fairly dramatic and serious moment. In fact, that’s the case with several moments throughout the volume, generally though the artwork works far better than one would think. Tezuka’s monsters and demons are freakish and weird, even a bit creepy and disturbing in some scenes. And while the artwork looks cartoony, it’s still quite capable of depicting emotional moments. The flashbacks to Dororo’s or Hyakkimaru’s pasts are both surprisingly powerful. Meanwhile the action sequences are lovely to behold. The fight sequences are fast paced and entertaining, with Hyakkimaru’s artificial limbs providing for some interesting moments in several of them.

The writing is light but suits the material. While Tezuka briefly plays with ideas like the exploitation of the poor or even the traumatic effects of warfare, most of the book, at least so far, has been a light adventure romp. The characters and their various back stories are interesting and engaging. A fair amount of room is given over to showing the backgrounds of both Hyakkimaru and Dororo. They’re slipped nicely into the story without getting in the way of any of the action sequences or other stories. Despite being a shonen book, Dororo manages to avoid extended pauses in the middle of a fight scene so someone can recite their life story. If that was enough, their respective histories do a lot to further the unlikely friendship that quickly forms between the two. Both have had endured a horrible event, and each one is the result of the warfare that ravages the land. The dialogue is as light as most of the material in the book. It’s also very informal and prone to anachronistic words, like Hyakkimaru describing himself as a cyborg in one scene, and with his father talking about space aliens in another.

Time to come clean, this is the first Tezuka manga I’ve ever read. I know, I know. For shame. But better late than never! While I can’t really compare this to his other work that’s made it to the US, I can safely say that Dororo is a really fun, really well executed action adventure story. The material should be easily followed and enjoyed by just about anyone, and it might even help serve as a gateway drug for some of his meatier works. Lord knows it’s having that affect on me.

Volume 1 of Dororo is available now.

In March, the crafty folks at Vertical will be publishing another DIY book from the ladies of Aranzi Aronzo. Cute Stuff offers step-by-step instructions for making dozens of insanely cute but practical items, from book bags to cell phone holders. You can give Cute Stuff a test drive by visiting the Vertical site, where they have posted a complete project:

Scarcely have Fun Dolls and Cute Dolls taken America’s bookstores by storm—leaving a swath of French knots, yarn clippings, and tangled thread from lesser craft books in their wake—than the nation’s craft community have begun screaming, “MORE!” Before you take up your knitting needles, Gorilla Glue, and ergonomic scissors to storm the Vertical offices, America’s “cute”-est company presents Cute Stuff. Aranzi Aronzo—the mischievous duo who revolutionized crafting with their combination of “cute” and “attitude”—have created a tome of tempting techniques for creating everything from key rings to tissue covers styled with the snarky whimsy you’ve come to love and expect. Cute Stuff won’t hit your favorite book purveyors until March, but the Vertical crew is nothing if not sympathetic to the needs of its faithful readership, so we’ve provided an incredible sneak peek complete with actual instructions for making “Long Doll” bags.

Click here to make a “Long Doll Bag.” For further information on Aranzi Aronzo, you may wish to read the following PCS reviews:

• Aranzi Machine Gun
• The Cute Book
• Cute Dolls
• Fun Dolls

Cute Stuff will be available on March 25, 2008.

This month, Erin, Ken and I take a look at four very different books: The Guin Saga (Vertical, Inc.), one of the best-selling fantasy series in Japanese history; Now You’re One of Us (Vertical, Inc.), a psychological thriller that gives new meaning to the phrase “monster-in-law”; Shinjuku Shark (Vertical, Inc.), a pulpy crime novel about Tokyo’s very own Dirty Harry; and Welcome to the NHK (Tokyopop), a novel about very dysfunctional young people trying to make sense of their twenties.

The Guin Saga, Book One: The Leopard Mask

By Kaoru Kurimoto, Translated by Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander
Vertical, Inc., 288 pp.

The Guin Saga is absolute torture for the first 100 pages, but suddenly at page 105 it turns good, exactly here:

“Who could have known that Jarn Fat-Weaver, with his long beard, horse’s hooves, thrice-and-a-half-curled tail, and single eye that saw through to the end of time, had chosen that very moment to quietly begin turning the little wheel of his loom.”

Thrice-and-a-half-curled tail? That’s awesome! Suddenly the scope of the mythology snaps into place. The Guin Saga makes as dramatic a turnaround as any book I’ve ever read, as the abysmal early chapters give way to an intense ending.

I suffered through the first 100 pages primarily by skimming. Guin Saga is very repetitive, a mark serialization. Wikipedia (at the time of this writing) doesn’t say so, but the book was first published in Hayakawa Shobo’s Sci-Fi magazine, so there is lot of re-cap throughout.

Guin is a muscular human warrior of epic strength, cast into the Marshes with no memory of his past a leopard mask attached permanently to his head. Since the series is over 100 volumes long, I had no expectations about Guin regaining his memory or figuring out the whole mask thing in the first book. Instead, Guin meets the Royal Twins of Parros, Rinda and Remus, who are hiding in the dangerous swampland after seeing their parents killed and their kingdom destroyed. The twins are unnaturally beautiful, and one must endure many long, nauseating, repetitive paragraphs dedicated to their beauty. Insufferable at first, I came to like Rinda, who has “all the dignity of a queen.”

Guin makes fast friends with the kids after he fights a group of Black Riders, then fights them again undead. He fights ghosts and ghouls before he and the kids are taken prisoner at Stafolos Keep, where Guin fights a gorilla, and later, an invading horde of thousands of halfling creatures called the Sem.

Although cheesy at times (Guin actually says: “Orro of Torrus, don’t die on me!”) the fight scenes are all entertainingly well written. The book had a definite appeal to me as a Dungeons and Dragons player (2nd Ed., every Tuesday night) and I could see World of Warcraft players getting into it as well. How many hit points does a wraith have? Are they immune to bladed weapons?

The Guin Saga is conspicuously lacking a map on the opening cover. Doesn’t every fantasy novel open with a map? Fortunately towards the end the characters are at the top of a very tall tower and describe the lay of the land, perhaps encouraging you, the reader, to make your own map, as you would in D&D. I was dreading the second book, but now I’m looking forward to it.

–Reviewed by Erin F.

Now You’re One of Us

By Asa Nonami; Translated by Michael and Mitsuko Valek
Vertical, Inc., 239 pp.

Noriko, the young heroine of Asa Nonami’s Now You’re One of Us, initially thinks she’s hit the marriage jackpot. Not only are her in-laws wealthy and well regarded by their neighbors, they’re also quick to embrace her as a member of the family. Her husband Kazuhito is handsome and utterly devoted; her mother-in-law Kimie, generous and uncritical; and her sister-in-law Ayano, solicitous to everyone in the household, including Kazuhito’s oddly child-like brother Takehami. Even the Shito matriarch, ninety-eight-year-old Ei, welcomes Noriko to the clan by declaring her the family’s “treasure” and “future.”

Shortly after Noriko arrives at the Shitos’ Tokyo home, a strange, slightly disheveled neighbor approaches her while she works in the garden. Though Kimie is quick to dismiss him as a troubled tenant who’s fallen on hard times, Noriko can’t shake the feeling that the neighbor was about to divulge something damning—a feeling intensified by his mysterious death in a fire several days later. The Shitos’ oddly muted, impersonal response to his death further arouses Noriko’s suspicion, as do the family’s clandestine midnight meetings. Though the Shitos offer reasonable, measured responses to Noriko’s inquiries, she begins wondering if the Shitos run an illicit business… or worse.

Thanks to a fluid translation by Michael and Mitsuko Valek, Asa Nonami’s simple, unfussy prose draws the reader into Noriko’s insular world, showing us how a simple girl from a working class family is lured into the Shitos’ web. In this passage, for example, Nonami reveals Kazuhito to be a deft manipulator, appealing to Noriko’s vanity by suggesting that Ei’s endorsement carries special significance:

‘Great Granny’s been watching people for ninety-eight years—she can see through them at a glance, so lots of people in the neighborhood come to ask her for advice.’ He explained how delighted he was that Great Granny had taken a liking to her; it showed that he hadn’t been blinded by attraction. He felt like the luckiest man in the world for having found someone of whom his family approved.

Unfortunately, Nonami is never content to let a passage like this one stand alone; she feels compelled to explain how Kazuhito’s words swayed Noriko by telling us exactly what Noriko is thinking at the moment he gives this speech. The obviousness of Noriko’s interior monologues is especially frustrating; Nonami does a competent job of revealing her characters’ motivations and feelings through their actions (especially in the lurid denouement) without resorting to such editorial interventions.

The other drawback to Nonami’s storytelling is that she begins telegraphing the ending just a few chapters into the book. Savvier readers will quickly figure out what the Shitos’ secret is—and it’s a doozy—though they probably won’t mind wading through another hundred pages to have their ickiest suspicions confirmed, especially since Nonami manages a few surprises in the final pages.

The bottom line: Now You’re One of Us is an entertaining, atmospheric potboiler that’s probably best read in the privacy of one’s own home.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Shinjuku Shark

Written by Arimasa Osawa, Translated by Andrew Clare
Vertical Inc., 288 pp.

This award-winning crime thriller from the early 1990s is the first in a long running series of novels that is still being published. Samejima is a investigator in the Shinjuku Police Force and he’s a bit of a renegade cop. He sticks to his morals, clashes with his superiors, pisses off the yakuza and more. Now with a mysterious string of cop killings, Samejima finds himself torn between pursuing his own investigation into a former gunsmith and his orders to assist in the murder investigation.

One of the things about Shinjuku Shark that will immediately strike readers is the setting and the amount of detail put into it. Osawa takes lots of time fleshing out the ins and outs of Shinjuku, explaining the hierarchy of the police force, an unwritten code between the yakuza and the cops, and more. It’s odd though, because he’s not particularly descriptive in his writing. He’ll throw out the names and locations of stores and streets but he doesn’t spend a lot of time detailing the visuals of the setting. I’m assuming it’s due to the fact that it’s a Japanese novel and everyone over there is familiar with the area, but for someone who’s not really familiar with the geography it got a bit confusing at times. All the street names, which one heads in what direction, which canal connects to which or heads into which district just kind of flew over my head. I just couldn’t put them together in a coherent fashion. On the other hand I found the ins and outs of police and yakuza life in Shinjuku incredibly fascinating. The unwritten code, the hatred of the time for left wing organizations and the rampant fear of communism all did a nice job at adding a different flavor to the story.

The characters are interesting and engaging though no one quite jumps out as much as Samejima does. His unwillingness to compromise with the yakuza, bend the rules against leftist groups and supporters, and strict adherence to his own code of ethics often place him on the wrong side of his own colleagues, never mind the criminals on the street. Yet despite this maverick attitude and his flippant disregard for his superiors he’s a remarkable well rounded take on the renegade cop archetype. His relationship with a young singer, Sho, allows for some interesting insight into the softer part of his being. When confronted with life or death moments he doesn’t shrug them off with a flippant remark, but reacts with fear for his own life and the life of others. Afterwards he tries to shrug them off, but opens up when alone with Sho.

Initially main plot line follows Samejima’s investigation into an illegal gunsmith, Kazuo, who was recently paroled. Samejima busted him years ago but never located his workshop, and since Kazuo’s been released Samejima’s been attempting to track him down in order to catch him at his work shop in order to destroy his entire business. Meanwhile a serial killer begins to target police officers. At first Samejima is reluctant to get involved with the massive investigation into the killings, this stems from his single minded drive to bust Kazuo before he looses the scent complete, but eventually events result in the two storylines dovetailing together. Arimasa Osawa also shows that he was already thinking sequel though, as he sets the seeds for several reoccurring plot threads that are probably revisited again and again in sequels. The mystery of one of his superiors suicide and the knowledge that Samejima holds regarding the man places him firmly in the middle of a internal power struggle within the department. An encounter with a yakuza member who even unnerved the Samejima, and more. All seem like the kind of things that will be picked up upon in subsequent volumes.

All in all Shinjuku Shark is a good and interesting crime novel with a nice pulpy feel to it. I wasn’t quite blown away by it in the end, but at the same time I did enjoy it and it definitely has me curious about future installments of the series.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

Welcome to the NHK

By Tatsuhiko Takimoto
Tokyopop, 192 pp.

The original Welcome to the NHK novel has been adapted into both manga and anime series. I watched the anime series first, read three volumes of the manga, and then read then the novel. I terrifically enjoyed the anime series, but the book is better.

I recommend watching an episode of the anime first, and if you don’t like it, skip straight to the novel. If you do like the anime, watch the series all the way through because one-third of the way into the book there are huge spoilers. The anime is a longer story - several characters and story arcs do not appear in the novel.

Welcome to the NHK is the story of Satou, a hikikomori. Just short of being agoraphobic, hikikomori remove themselves from the pressure of Japanese society by becoming shut-ins. Satou declares himself a veteran hikikomori of four years. He is a college dropout living alone in a studio apartment off an allowance from his parents. Eighteen-year-old Misaki takes on Satou as her “project,” meeting with him once a week in the local park in an effort to cure him. Satou befriends his neighbor, an otaku named Yamazaki. Yamazaki warps Satou into becoming a pervert as they try to create an erotic PC game. Although the anime series dwells heavily on the erogame story, it takes up very little time in the novel.

Nearly every chapter opens with Satou wishing for his own death. Somehow, this makes for some compelling reading. Even though Satou declares himself a waste of life over and over again, the book is not depressing at all. There is an urgency to each chapter - it’s a thrilling page turner about a total loser.

“In short… in short I shut myself in because I’m lonely. Because I don’t want to face any more loneliness, I shut myself away.”

People are the cause of loneliness, so if one avoids people, one can avoid the pain of loneliness, right? This is not a light novel, it’s a real novel! A novel-novel.

Kudos to the translators, who have managed to capture the spirit of the novel. A helpful section of footnotes explains the NHK-puns and Japanese terms.

The author laments in the second afterword that the success of the book has enabled him into a hikkikimori lifestyle. Although he wrote the book to cash in on the hikkikimori media craze, in five years he has not written a second novel. I hope Takimoto is joking and he’s not really crazy. Please write more books sensei!

–Reviewed by Erin F.

Welcome to the first 2008 edition of Manga Minis! This month, Ken looks at the final volumes of two old-school classics, Shirow Masamune’s Appleseed (Dark Horse) and Junji Ito’s Uzumaki (Viz), while I look at the second volume of Keiko Takemiya’s Andromeda Stories (Vertical, Inc.), the sixth volume of La Corda d’Oro (Viz), and the first volume of Short Sunzen! (Tokyopop). Andromeda Stories, Appleseed I/D, La Corda d’Oro and Short Sunzen! are available now; volume three of Uzumaki will be available on February 12th… just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Andromeda Stories, Vol. 2

Story by Ryu Mitsuse, Art by Keiko Takemiya
Vertical, Inc., 208 pp.
Rating: 13+

Ah, Keiko Takemiya, how I love your sci-fi extravaganzas! The psychic twins. The giant spiderbots. The evil, omniscient computers. The sand dragons. The fantastic hairdos. Just think how much more entertaining The Matrix might have been if you’d been at the helm instead of the dour, self-indulgent Wachowski Brothers! But wait… you did create your very own version of The Matrix: Andromeda Stories. I wasn’t sold on the comparison between the two franchises after reading the first volume, but now that I’ve seen what’s befallen the good citizens of Cosmoralia, I’m a believer. (See the final pages of volume two for the shocking details.) Takemiya’s story may not be as slickly presented as the Wachowski Brothers’, but she and collaborator Ryu Mitsuse engage the mind and heart with their tragic tale of doomed love, lost siblings, and machines so insidious that they’ll remake anything in their image—including the fish. Whatever reservations I might have had about this series have been dispelled by the second installment, which moves briskly through a decade’s worth of events while taking the time to address the deeper philosophical questions the story raises about identity and free will. And c’mon… what’s not to like about a manga that looks like a 1979 cover of Heavy Metal magazine?!

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Appleseed I/D

By Shirow Masamune
Dark Horse, 144 pp.
Rating: 16+

Only about half of Appleseed I/D is an actual story; the other half is supplemental material exploring the Appleseed universe. The story, “Game,” is a short one involving a terrorist attempt to bomb the Elder Council and Deunan and Briarios’ short investigation into the incident. It felt like set-up to a much longer arc that probably would have filled volume five, had Masamune ever written it. The supplemental material is actually quite cool, consisting of rough page layouts, a full color pin up gallery, organizational flow charts, character guides, a in-depth time line for the series from the twentieth to the twenty-second centuries, and other random musings from Shirow about the Appleseed world. If you’re an Appleseed or Shirow fan, then I/D is a must own. Newcomers should wait on picking it up until they’ve read the previous four Appleseed books; otherwise, large chunks of the story will be ruined.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

La Corda d’Oro, Vol. 6

By Yuki Kure
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

If you ever needed proof that a dating simulation game might not be the best source material for a manga, look no further than volume six of La Corda d’Oro. The series is quickly running out of gas with its repetitive story lines, lack of overarching plot, and easy listening repertory. (Take it from a classically trained musician: Van Cliburn didn’t win the Tchaikovsky Competition by playing Schubert’s Ave Maria or Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.) In the opening chapters, evil bishie Azuma browbeats Kahoko into posing as his fiancée. His motives are honorable—uncertain that he’s ready to get engaged, Azuma doesn’t want to hurt the fiancée his parents have chosen for him. His character’s sudden about-face, however, makes no dramatic sense considering Azuma spent the previous four volumes tormenting Kahoko whenever they were alone. (Kahoko’s willingness to participate in this lame-brained scheme also defies common sense.) Such abrupt and illogical plot twists point to the biggest problem with the later volumes of La Corda d’Oro: they seem to have been written by someone with a very short attention span. Yuki Kure never lingers on any plot development for more than a chapter, unceremoniously dropping characters who can’t be shoehorned into latest storyline—remember the female clarinetist from volume one?—and skimping on the musical shop-talk. (In previous volumes, the characters at least feigned interest in making music.) The most I can say for volume six is that La Corda d’Oro is still one of the best-looking titles in the Shojo Beat line, with a cast of beautifully drawn characters occasionally playing beautifully drawn instruments.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Short Sunzen!, Vol. 1

By Susagi Sakurai
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

Reading Short Sunzen! left me with a powerful sense of déjà vu: didn’t I just review another manga about a tomboy who discovers her inner girly-girl through the magic of love? The answer turned out to be no, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Short Sunzen! was a kind of Frankenmanga assembled from the pieces of other shojo comedies, with its obligatory cultural festival chapter and its karate-chopping heroine, who delivers a powerful blow at the slightest provocation. I don’t mean to denigrate formula—after all, there are plenty of excellent shojo series that faithfully observe the genre’s conventions while offering surprising plot twists and character developments: Bring It On!, Love*Com, Ouran High School Host Club,, and Your and My Secret all come to mind. Common to these manga are memorable characters who, despite their sometimes outlandish behavior, seem like real individuals. And it’s here that Short Sunzen! falls, well, short. Satsuki and Sendo, the lead couple, seem like pale imitations of the tough cookies and sensitive boys found in Ai Morinaga’s work, minus the inner lives of Morinaga’s characters. Susagi Sakurai’s busy layouts and highly stylized faces only reinforce the sense of familiarity; one could easily confuse Short Sunzen! with, say, I Hate You More Than Anyone. It’s too bad that this manga struck me as ho-hum fare, as its underlying message—boys like you best when you’re being yourself—is one that more girls ought to hear.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

Uzumaki, Vol. 3

By Junji Ito
Viz, 264 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

The climax to Junji Ito’s horror masterpiece is at hand! Kurozu-Cho is literally being swallowed up by the curse of the Spiral, as constant battering by huge hurricanes devastates the small village. The outside world remains cut off by bizarre whirlpools, tornados, and other odd phenomena. The beleaguered citizens struggle to survive as the situations spirals (pun intended) out of control. Ito’s art remains strong and detailed, giving an immensely creepy look to things such as giant snails and twisting mounds of human bodies. Ito never quite reaches the squick-inducing moments of the second volume; instead, he heavily focuses on developing our sense of dread. He still occasionally makes use of an idea that leans more towards goofy than frightening. Still, despite his strange decision to include gangs of tornado riders, the final volume still manages to be a wonderfully creepy, edge-of-your-seat read. Many of the questions that readers have will be answered with the fantastic conclusion, but Ito doesn’t over-explain anything here. He gives you just enough to leave you satisfied, but not so much that it becomes boring and mundane. It’s a tactic that one of his favorite authors, H.P. Lovecraft, had down pat and this volume of Uzumaki certainly has some very Lovecraftian moments to it. This entire series has been fantastic and I highly recommended to any and all horror fans. Top notch work!

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

Apologies for the very belated posting! I have been sick as a proverbial dog this week, and am finally emerging from a state of complete mental fuzziness. I’m going to beg off my usual opening gambit and simply direct you to David Welsh’s excellent recommendation list for this week. (Hint: it includes PCS staff favorite Gon, the “tiny terror from the Jurassic Era.”)

By the way, if you’re a die-hard shojo fan, Go! Comi is running a promotion after your heart: buy all seven volumes of Crossroad or all eight volumes of Tenshi Ja Nai!! and pay nothing for the final two volumes of either series. To sweeten the deal, Go! Comi is offering free shipping on all orders placed through their e-store, regardless of size. No word on when either deal expires, so hop to it!

REVIEWED LAST WEEK: Appleseed: The Promethean Challenge, Vol. 1 (Dark Horse); Gackt: The Greatest Filmography, 1996 - 2006 Red (Viz); Two Will Come, Vols. 1-2 (NETCOMICS)

REVIEWED THIS WEEK: Cantarella, Vol. 9 (Go! Comi); The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi, Vol. 2 (Vertical, Inc.); Hikkatsu!, Vol. 2 (Go! Comi)

SHIPPING THIS WEEK
Berserk, Vol. 21 (Dark Horse)
Gold Digger II Pocket Manga, Vol. 3 (Antarctic Press)
Gon, Vol. 3 (CMX; click here for Ken’s review of vol. 1)
The Guin Saga: The Seven Magic, Vol. 2 (Vertical, Inc.; reviewed below)
Kagetora, Vol. 8 (Del Rey)
Mischief & Mayhem Pocket Manga, Vol. 1 (Antarctic Press)
Trigun Maxium, Vol. 12 (Dark Horse)
Vagabond, Vol. 26 (Viz; click here for Ken’s review of vols. 1-6)
Zombie Fairy, Vol. 1 (CMX)

Cantarella, Vol. 9

By You Higuri
Go! Comi, 196 pp.
Rating: OT (Older Teen, 16+)

Someday I’d like to visit You Higuri’s Europe—a place where hot guys wear gorgeous period costumes in public and poofy, unbuttoned shirts in private; where chaste young women are forced to marry handsome rogues; where everyone lives in palatial splendor; and where every love affair violates some sort of taboo. Until Mario Perillo offers Gorgeous Carat tours, however, I’ll have to make do with Higuri’s shamelessly addictive Cantarella, a highly romanticized view of papal politics in fifteenth-century Rome.

The story follows the rise of the real-life Cesare Borgia (1475 – 1507), the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI. Higuri adheres faithfully to the facts of Cesare’s life, from his appointment to the College of Cardinals at the tender age of fifteen to his conquering of Imola and Forli, two city-states that had once been the stronghold of Caterina Sforza. In and of themselves, Cesare’s assignations, backroom negotiations, and small-scale wars need no fictional embellishment to make them compelling, but Higuri can’t resist adding a few flourishes to this Machiavellian operator’s biography: demonic possession, incest, and a whiff of shonen-ai. Given the Borgias’ reputation for decadence and ruthlessness, however, most of Higuri’s gambits work, transforming Cesare’s life into a beautifully illustrated, overripe tale of unrequited love, overweening ambition, and a pact with Satan himself—in short, the perfect material for a Donizetti opera.

Volume nine of Cantarella is available now.

The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi, Vol. 2

Art by Kazuaki Yanagisawa, Story by Kaoru Kurimoto
Vertical, Inc., 170 pp.
Rating: Ages 16+

Though I enjoyed volume one of The Guin Saga, I found volume two downright confusing. I suspect that if I’d read the novels on which the manga is based, many of my lingering questions—why did Queen Sylvia marry Guin if she found him so repulsive? what did Guin do bring such a terrible plague upon his kingdom?—might have been answered. But the manga doesn’t bother to explain anything about Guin’s past, leaving a dramatic hole at the center of the story. The sexual politics of The Seven Magi, too, are amusingly retrograde: Kaoru Kurimoto’s main strategy for differentiating the female characters is to vary the strength of their libidos from frigid to muy caliente. Considering how many fantasy authors have used their otherworldly settings as an excuse to subvert gender norms by creating strong, interesting female characters, Kurimoto’s cast of scantily-clad fembots are a disappointing, uninspired lot. With just one more volume in the series to go, however, I feel compelled to finish The Seven Magi, if only to see if any of my questions are answered.

Volume two of The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi will be released on January 23rd.

Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify, Vol. 2

By Yu Yagami
Go! Comi, 180 pp.
Rating: OT (Older Teen 16+)

In the first volume of Hikkatsu!, we were introduced to our principle trio: Shota, a martial artist who uses a special technique—a.k.a. “the repair blow”—to subdue rampaging machinery; Momoko, a love-struck tomboy who was raised by pigeons; and Kanji, a hustler who sees potential profit in Shota’s skills. Volume two addresses some of the lingering questions from volume one, explaining why the Earth is besieged by electromagnetic storms, for example, and reassuring us that Shota has never actually used his repair blow on people. (At the end of volume one, Asuka, the daughter of Shota’s karate instructor, accused Shota of killing her father with a chop to the chest.) Volume two also presents a new subset of characters: the Enthusiast Clans. Our heroes encounter three such groups in their travels, including one that loves digging holes and another that adores pea shooters.

Though Yu Yagami labors mightily to make these scenes funny, the zaniness feels forced, with too many scenes of characters shouting, running, and trading predictable insults as they try to escape the clans’ Byzantine traps. The chief redeeming feature of volume two is Yagami’s art. He relies almost exclusively on rough, energetic linework to create volume and motion, applying screentone sparingly. As a result, his action sequences and landscapes have a clarity that’s rare in shonen manga, as the characters’ bodies aren’t buried beneath an avalanche of speed lines, explosions, or fight technique names. (You know… “Wind scar!” “Super duper iron fist!” “Dragon lotus of death!”) Too bad Hikkatsu’s story isn’t as fresh and understated as the artwork—it might earn a spot on my pull list.

Volume two of Hikkatsu! is available now.

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.

No, this isn’t the list you’ll find in the New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, or even your local newspaper. Below is a quick run-down of our favorite J-themed books and translated novels from 2007.

Best Books of 2007: Erin’s Picks

AWESOME ARTBOOKS

• Akira Club (Dark Horse): This is a really cool art book. It calls out individual panels like your own little Akira art gallery.

• The Art of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Watercolor Impressions (Viz): A lot of art books are over-priced, but this $35 watercolor volume is a really great release. Concept watercolors for animated feature films are just beautiful, whether it’s Nausicaä or Fantasia. (Click here for Kate’s review.)

NOVELS OF NOTE

• Brave Story (Viz): Marketed as Young Adult fiction, Brave Story is also for adults. It’s an impressively thick book which I am not done reading. (Click here for Kate’s review.)

• The Guin Saga, Vol. 1 (Vertical, Inc.): I just started this book, and it seems like pretty solid fantasy. I’m not sure I’d keep reading it for 114+ volumes, but it’s interesting to sample it.
• Kamikaze Girls (Viz): I’m working on a time machine so I can send this book to my high school self. (Click here for Erin’s review.)
• The Twelve Kingdoms, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop): This book was so different from the anime series, and I wish I could’ve read it when I was in high school. (Click here for Erin’s review.)
• Welcome to the N.H.K. (Tokyopop): This is the number one translated novel I want to read (next). I really liked the anime and manga series, and I want to read the source material.

Best Books of 2007: Kate’s Picks

Boy (Takeshi Kitano, Vertical, Inc.): These deceptively simple stories chart three boys’ journeys from adolescence to adulthood. Each story focuses on a different character in a moment of transition: one boy copes with his mother’s impending remarriage, for example, while another tries to impress a girl who’s out of his league. Though the terrain is familiar, Kitano does a superb job creating distinct voices for each of his teenage protagonists, capturing their hopes and fears without a whiff of sentimentality.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child (Nariko Ogiwara, Viz): An engrossing, once-upon-a-time tale that borrows liberally from Shinto mythology. With elegant, pen-and-ink illustrations and an idiomatic translation that just begs to be read aloud to someone, Dragon Sword is a terrific fantasy for anyone who wants to know, “What do I read after Narnia? Or Harry Potter?” (Click here for Kate’s review.)

Fun Dolls (Aranzi Aronzo, Vertical, Inc.): A craft book for those of us who wouldn’t be caught dead making curtains, scrapbooking, or scouring the yard for a Thanksgiving centerpiece. Though the projects are too complex for n00bs, the bizarre photo essays and subversive doll concepts make it a great read: what’s not to like about a DIY book with instructions for making plush coffee cups, panda bees, and unmotivated kids? (Click here for Kate’s review.)

Japan-Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan (Aimee Major Steinberger, Go! Comi): An entertaining travelogue documenting the misadventures of a six-foot-tall American woman in Japan. Highlights include a chapter devoted to the Takarazuka Revue’s history and peculiar fan culture and a chapter focusing on the VOLKS factory, where the world’s most coveted ball-jointed dolls are made. So kawaii it hurts. (Click here for Kate’s review.)

Manga: The Complete Guide (Jason Thompson, Del Rey): A handy resource for anyone who reads manga, whether you own dog-earred floppies of They Were Eleven or just started collecting Naruto. The book provides a brief summary of every manga every released in English (take a minute to contemplate just how many books that is) as well as stats near and dear to any otaku’s heart, i.e. total number of volumes released in America and Japan. You won’t find any manwha or OGM titles, but with over 900 reviews and 20+ sidebars exploring various subgenres, but you’ll be too engrossed in the reviews to notice. (Click here for Erin’s review.)

Looking over this week’s shipping list, I’m convinced that manga publishers are like movie studios, reserving their best material for the final weeks of the year. Tokyopop, for example, offers readers a new “ultimate edition” of Mizuki Hakase’s fantasy The Demon Ororon, the final installment of Queenie Chan’s mystery The Dreaming, and the first volume of Jo Chen’s gritty drama The Other Side of the Mirror, as well as something I’m hoping to find under the tree this year: the ninth issue of CLAMP no Kiseki, which explores X/1999 and Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales. Viz also brings an A-list line-up to your local Borders, with new volumes of The Drifting Classroom, Golgo 13, Full Metal Alchemist, Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Monster, and Uzumaki. And if you can’t get enough of teenagers in knee socks, DrMaster reissues volumes one and three of fan favorite High School Girls.

Last-minute shoppers will find plenty of websites offering advice on what to buy for manga lovers. The best recommendations come from Chloe Ferguson of Shuchaku East and David Welsh of Comic World News, both of whom have impeccable taste. You can’t go wrong with any of their suggestions, whether you’re buying To Terra for an old-school shojo fan or Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms for a discerning otaku.

One final note: Weekly Recon will be on hiatus until the New Year. In the interim, you can find out what’s shipping to your LCS by checking the Midtown Comics manga page. The hard-working guys at Midtown update the site every Friday, giving you a good idea of what you can expect to see in the “New Arrival” spinner rack the following Wednesday. You can also purchase titles directly through the website if lousy weather or Yuletide merry-making prevent you from leaving the house.

From everyone here at the Manga Recon crew, have a wonderful, restful holiday!

REVIEWED LAST WEEK: Vagabond, Vols. 1-6 (Viz)

REVIEWED THIS WEEK: Gakuen Alice, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop), The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi, Vol. 1 (Vertical, Inc.), Japan-Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan (Go! Comi), O-Parts Hunter, Vol. 7 (Viz), Wild Ones, Vol. 1 (Viz), Yurara, Vol. 3 (Viz)

SHIPPING THIS WEEK:
AI Revolution, Vol. 1 (Go! Comi)
Category Freaks Omnibus, Vols. 1-3 (DrMaster)
Chinese Hero: Tales of the Blood Sword, Vol. 4 (DrMaster)
CLAMP no Kiseki, Vol. 9 (Tokyopop)
The Demon Ororon: Ultimate Edition (Tokyopop)
The Dreaming, Vol. 3 (Tokyopop; click here for my review of vol. 2)
The Drifting Classroom, Vol. 9 (Viz; click here for my review of vol. 2)
Duetto (DMP)
Full Metal Alchemist, Vol. 15 (Viz)
Gakuen Alice, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop; reviewed below)
Golgo 13, Vol. 12 (Viz; click here for Ken’s review of vols. 1-6)
Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition, Vol. 4 (Dark Horse; click here for Ken’s review of vol. 1)
Hana-Kimi, Vol. 21 (Viz)
High School Girls, Vol. 1 (DrMaster; click here for Erin’s review of vol. 7)
High School Girls, Vol. 3 (DrMaster)
Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Vol. 6 (Viz; click here for my review of vol. 3)
Invisible Boy, Vol. 2 (DMP)
Kanna, Vol. 2 (Go! Comi; click here for my review of vol. 1)
Kilala Princess, Vol. 4 (Tokyopop)
Megami DX, Vol. 1 (DMP)
Missing: Kamakakushi no Monogatari, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Moon Child, Vol. 9 (CMX)
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, Vol. 12 (Viz; click here for my review of vol. 9)
Noise (Tokyopop)
Oh! My Goddess Authentic Edition, Vol. 7 (Dark Horse)
Ordinary Crush, Vol. 2 (DMP)
The Other Side of the Mirror, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Peach Fuzz, Vol. 3 (Tokyopop)
Pick of the Litter, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
St. Lunatic High School, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Takumi-kun Series: Barefoot Waltz, Vol. 2 (BLU Manga)
Uzumaki, Vol. 2 (Viz; click here for Ken’s review of vol. 1)
Words of Devotion, Vol. 2 (DMP)
The Young Magician, Vol. 10 (CMX)

Gakuen Alice, Vol. 1

By Tachibana Higuchi
Tokyopop, 182 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

Mikan, a naïve, bubbly girl, is joined at the hip to her classmate Hotaru. When Hotaru abruptly transfers from their small town’s school to an elite, invitation-only academy in Tokyo, Mikan takes the drastic step of running away from home to be with her pal. Mikan attempts to enroll at Hotaru’s new school, a.k.a. Alice Academy, even though she seems to lack the most basic criterion for admission: a special talent. (The school’s students are all exceptional, manifesting powers such as extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, and “control of human pheromones.” Didn’t Batman fight a villain with this power?) A teacher allows Mikan to attend the academy on a provisional basis, giving her one week to befriend her fellow students and prove that she, too, has an ability worthy of the name Alice—no easy task, given her classmates’ fondness for elaborate hazing rituals.

Aside from the button-cute character designs and a few scenes of weird, inspired slapstick, there isn’t much here to engage the reader’s interest. Tachibana Higuchi introduces a dark subplot early in the book, suggesting that the Japanese government created the academy to monitor and exploit the Alices’ gifts. But her characters are such an unpleasant lot it’s hard to muster much sympathy for them; Mikan, in particular, is the kind of shrill, ditzy heroine that gives magical girl manga a bad name. The artwork is an assault on the eyes, filling every page with extreme close-ups, awkwardly posed bodies, visually interchangeable characters, and large patches of screentone that sometimes obscure the dialogue. By the end of volume one, I wished that I had an Alice of my own: the ability to wipe my memory clean of this frantic mess.

Volume one of Gakuen Alice will be released on December 19th.

The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi, Vol. 1

Art by Kazuaki Yanagisawa, Story by Kaoru Kurimoto
Vertical, Inc., 172 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

Lest you think this week’s column focuses exclusively on teddy bears and frilly dresses, let me direct you to a pure, unadulterated slab of manly-man manga: The Guin Saga. This three-volume manga retells one of the numerous side stories from the long-running fantasy series of the same name, now at 117 volumes and counting. If that last sentence gives you pause, don’t worry—you don’t need to know anything about the Guin universe to enjoy The Seven Magi.

The story begins with the leopard-headed King Guin returning home after a prolonged absence. He finds Cheironia’s subjects gripped by fear, as a terrible plague ravages the population and undermines the social order. Determined to save Cheironia from the devastation, Guin trawls Magi Alley for a sorcerer skilled enough to help him uncover the plague’s true cause.

Kaoru Kurimoto dispenses with the explanatory speeches and voice-overs found in the early pages of many fantasy series, tossing the reader headlong into the action. The effect is both exhilarating and frustrating: exhilarating, as the reader is on an equal footing with the characters, trying to make sense of events as they unfold, and frustrating, as the lack of background information leaves readers with more questions than answers. Kazuaki Yanagisawa’s muscular character designs, richly detailed backgrounds, and expertly executed fight scenes breathe life into Kurimoto’s story while drawing attention away from The Seven Magi’s two biggest weaknesses: wooden dialogue and laughably over-sexed female characters. As with all Vertical titles, the production values are first rate, from the slick cover design and 6″ x 8″ trim to the heavier paper stock, making The Seven Magi an ideal stocking stuffer for the seinen fan on your shopping list.

Volume one of The Guin Saga: The Seven Magi is available now. To read an excerpt from chapter one, click here.

Japan-Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan

By Aimee Major Steinberger
Go! Comi, 184 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

Japan-Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan defies easy categorization, straddling the fence between manga and travelogue. In ten charmingly illustrated chapters, animator and avid cosplayer Aimee Major Steinberger documents her recent trip to Japan, where she visited otaku hotspots from the manga shops of Akihabara to the back door of the Takarazuka Revue. Steinberger’s simple but evocative art does a beautiful job conveying both the essential strangeness of being a tall American woman in Japan and the sheer joy of being a fangirl in the otaku motherland.

In an effort to make Japan-Ai accessible to a wide readership, the editorial team at Go! Comi has included a glossary of terms that run the gamut from the familiar—Chobits, cosplay—to the more obscure—furisode, Tokyu Hands. The book also includes a list of Japanese retailers mentioned in the chapters “Otaku Tokyo” and “Fashionable Tokyo” and hand-drawn maps of the Harajuku and Shinjuku districts. The only drawback to Japan-Ai is the packaging: the sparkling pink cover and bubbly font—presumably derived from Steinberger’s handwriting—may deter male readers from purchasing a book that for all intents and purposes looks like a SnoBall. That’s a pity, because Steinberger’s narrative is funny and informative, filled with the kind of interesting digressions on kogal fashions, Takarazuka fan culture, and onsen etiquette that any budding Japanophile would find enlightening. If you’re not man enough to flip through a copy at the local bookstore, visit the Go! Comi site, where you’ll find a generous preview of chapter one, as well as deleted pages, author commentary, and other ridiculously cute extras. Then go buy it. (Hey, that’s what the Internet is for, right?)

Japan-Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan is available now.

O-Parts Hunter, Vol. 7

By Seishi Kishimoto
Viz, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

O-Parts Hunter is a paradox. On the one hand, the series’ Judeo-Christian-Shinto cosmology could inspire a college course (or at least a term paper) with its sheer complexity and numerous allusions to Kabbalah. On the other hand, the story is as basic as they come: boy and girl seek coveted treasure, fighting off bad guys who want to use said treasure for wicked purposes. Since manga-ka Seishi Kishimoto never quite resolves the tension between his elaborate set-up and simplistic plot, O-Parts Hunter often reads like a novelization of Super Mario Brothers or Dungeons and Dragons, with jargon-heavy dialogue and long-winded speeches interrupting magically enhanced action sequences. The chief redeeming factor of the series is its stylish visuals. Like his more famous twin Masashi, Seishi Kishimoto excels at drawing spiky-haired heroes and leering villains. Jio Freed is Seishi’s best creation, equal parts Naruto and Black Jack with his mismatched eyes, streaked black hair, and abbreviated cape. Jio is a welcome presence in any scene, bringing a badly needed dose of mystery and edginess to an otherwise tame, predictable story.

Volume 7 of O-Parts Hunter is available now.

Wild Ones, Vol. 1

By Kiyo Fujiwara
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Fifteen-year-old Sachie Wakamura believed that she and her mother Yukie were alone in the world. After Yukie’s death, however, an elegant, nine-fingered gentleman appears at Sachie’s door claiming to be her grandfather. Before she can so much as yell, “Crying freeman,” he whisks her away in a stretch limousine to a life of luxury… and secrets. Her grandfather, she learns, is the head of a powerful yakuza family. (Hence the missing pinky.) To protect his granddaughter from harm, he assigns handsome high schooler Rakuto to act as Sachie’s bodyguard and tutor. Setting aside the sheer preposterousness of the plot—would Tony Soprano or Michael Corleone really entrust his granddaughter to the care of a fifteen-year-old boy?—the biggest problem facing Wild Ones is the lack of romantic tension. Kiyo Fujiwara paints Sachie and Rakuto as textbook opposites—she’s impetuous and flouts the rules, he’s disciplined and lives by them—but there’s precious little chemistry or hostility between them. What saves Wild Ones are the yakuza gags. In one truly inspired scene, for example, Asagi’s henchmen try finding the perfect birthday present for the boss’s daughter, gravitating to merchandise that only the 108 Dragons could love. I wish there were more scenes involving the rank-and-file gangsters, as they seem to have parachuted in from a volume of What’s Michael? instead of the pages of Hana to Yume, rescuing this anemic, yakuza-princess-meets-foot-soldier tale from terminal shojo blandness.

Volume one of Wild Ones is available now.

Yurara, Vol. 3

By Chika Shiomi
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

One of the things I like best about Chika Shiomi’s supernatural thrillers is her heroines. Whether taming demons or hunting vampires, these unapologetically tough cookies always manage to bag a fetching fellow or two, no matter how prickly, lethal, or misguided these ladies may be. In Yurara, Shiomi adds a wrinkle to her usual grrrrl power fantasy: her haunted heroine is a weepy, timid mess most of the time, transforming into a butt-kicking, spirit-wasting avenger only when she’s in danger. Yurara’s two love interests are drawn to different sides of her personality. Mei, the shameless flirt, prefers Yurara in her quieter, self-doubting mode, while Yako, the brooding pretty boy, finds Yurara more attractive as a smart-mouthed hottie who tangles with ghosts. Volume three finds Yurara struggling to figure out which boy she actually wants to date, a problem compounded by her tendency to transform whenever she’s kissed. (If she’s in her more empowered state, she reverts to moe mode, and vice versa.) Shiomi also introduces a new character, the spirit of Yurara’s grandfather. He provides a dose of comic relief, swaggering through the streets of Tokyo oblivious to the fact that only Mei, Yako, and Yurara can actually see his youthful new appearance. (He dudes himself out as swinging seventies hipster.) It’s these kind of goofy, throwaway moments that make Yurara my personal favorite of the three Shiomi series now available in English, as Shiomi strikes the right balance between angst-ridden ghostbusting and light comedy.

Volume three of Yurara is available now. Click here for a review of volume one.

Look past the pirates, ninjas, and gold diggers that dominate this week’s shipping list, and you'’ll spot a few genuine treaures: the eleventh volume of the criminally under-appreciated Kekkaishi (Viz), the best shonen series you’re not reading; the first volume of My Dearest Devil Princess (Broccoli Books), a comedy about a demon so inept she frequently consults Soul Stealing for Dummies; and the first volume of The Palette of 12 Secret Colors (CMX; reviewed below), an all-ages tale about a colorful wizard-in-training. Old-school manga fans have reason to give thanks as well. This week’s booty includes a new, unflipped version of Masamune Shirow’s cyberpunk classic Appleseed (Dark Horse) and an omnibus edition of Kazuo Umezu’s Reptilia (IDW Publishing). To read a short excerpt from Reptilia, or learn about one of mangadom’s most eccentric personalities, visit Same Hat! Same Hat!, where super-knowledgeable hosts Ryan and Evan have compiled a veritable archive of Umezu trivia, links, and weird collectibles.

One final note: beginning this Sunday, every Weekly Recon column will include a brief index listing the anime and manga reviews from the previous week. Show some love for my fellow bloggers Carlos Alexandre, Erin F., and Ken Haley by clicking on the links below and posting feedback (friendly dissent encouraged).

REVIEWED LAST WEEK:
Full Metal Panic Novel: Fighting Boy Meets Girl (Tokyopop); Godchild, Vol. 7 (Viz); Mushi-Shi, Vols. 2-3 (FUNimation); Nana, Vol. 7 (Viz); Phantom, Vols. 1-3 (Tokyopop); S.A. (Special A), Vol. 1 (Viz)

REVIEWED THIS WEEK:
Cute Dolls and Fun Dolls (Vertical, Inc.); The Palette of 12 Secret Colors (CMX)

SHIPPING THIS WEEK:
Apothecarius Argentum Vol. 3 (CMX; click here for a review of volume 1)
Appleseed, Vol. 1: Promethean Challenge (Dark Horse)
Avalon High Coronation, Vol. 1: Merlin Prophecy (Tokyopop)
Blade of the Immortal, No. 131 (Dark Horse)
Case Closed, Vol. 20 (Viz)
Gold Digger, No. 90 (Antarctic Press)
Gold Digger II: Pocket Manga, Vol. 2 (Antarctic Press)
Gold Digger Sourcebook: The Official Guide to the Gold Digger Universe, No. 11 (Antarctic Press)
Japanamerica: How Japanese Culture Has Invaded the US (Macmillan)
Kamui, Vol. 9 (Broccoli Books)
Kekkaishi, Vol. 11 (Viz; click here for a review of vols. 1-9)
Manga Mania: Occult and Horror (Watson-Guptill Publishing)
My Dearest Devil Princess, Vol. 1 (Broccoli Books)
Ninja High School: Hawaii Pocket Manga, Vol. 5 (Antarctic Press)
The Palette of 12 Secret Colors, Vol. 1 (CMX; reviewed below)
Pirates vs. Ninjas II: Up the Ante, No. 5 (Antarctic Press)
Puri Puri, Vol. 3 (DrMaster; click here for a review of volume 1)
Reptilia (IDW Publishing)
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Vol. 7 (DrMaster)
Stray Little Devil, Vol. 5 (DrMaster)
Wizard Anime Insider, No. 51

Cute Dolls and Fun Dolls

By Aranzi Aronzo
Vertical, Inc., 80 pp. each

Whether you’ve dedicated an entire room in your house to “crafting” or break out in hives at the mere mention of gimp, it’s hard to deny the weirdly winsome appeal of Aranzi Aronzo’s DIY books. The latest—Cute Dolls and Fun Dolls—offer over 120 pages of patterns and step-by-step instructions for making three-dimensional versions of your favorite Aranzi friends. Cute Dolls focuses on Aranzi’s most popular characters, from the super-kawaii Brown Bunny, Grey Cat, and Munkey to the less cuddly Fish and Kidnapper, while Fun Dolls features patterns for new characters: Panda Bug (a cross between a bumble bee and a panda bear), Coffee Cup (just what it sounds like—an anthropomorphic mug), and Unmotivated Kid (my personal favorite).

Both books earn high marks for presentation. The instructions are complemented by clear illustrations demonstrating how to assemble the dolls, while the paperback binding and 8″x 10″size make it easy for would-be seamstresses to photocopy patterns. Since I nearly flunked Home Economics, it’s almost impossible for me to assess the skill level necessary for completing these projects. (True story: I stitched my shirt to the sewing machine, requiring a shears-of-life rescue from the instructor.) So I sent my review copies to someone who is handy with a glue gun and a felting needle: my younger sister Claire, an Aranzi fan and Etsy seller who can work magic in almost any medium. Her verdict? Though the instructions are easy to follow, novices and young kids may find these projects too complicated to be fun; anyone with sewing skills, however, will be cranking out Striped Dogs and Spritekins with ease. (Gee, I wonder what I’m getting for Christmas this year?)

No matter what your skill level, anyone can enjoy the books’ subversive humor. In the introduction to Cute Dolls, for example, White Bunny vocalizes every crafting novice’s worst fear when she exclaims, “You’ll suffer terribly if you don’t read this first? Scary!” And then, of course, there are the dolls themselves. I can’t imagine an American expert encouraging youngsters to sew blank-faced layabouts or trench-coat wearing kidnappers; such unwholesome characters would inspire censorious outrage from humorless adults. But it’s this mischievous, poking-fun-at-the-grownups tone that makes Aranzi Aronzo books such a welcome addition to the hobby aisle at your local Borders, and a perfect gift for the crafty friend who’s grown weary of making the holiday centerpieces and Halloween costumes in Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens.

Cute Dolls and Fun Dolls will be available in bookstores on November 21st.

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors, Vol. 1

By Nari Kusakawa
CMX, 188 pp.
Rating: E (Everyone)

This delightful, all-ages title has something for everyone: appealing characters, adorable animals, pirates and high-seas adventure, magic, and a hint of G-rated romance. The story focuses on Cello, a wizard-in-training. Cello attends a unique academy on the tropical island of Opal, where students study to become palettes, or color magicians. Each palette learns how to borrow color from Opal’s exotically hued birds and “paint” objects with those colors. Alas, Cello is a poor study and frequently stains herself the same bright pink as her beloved bird Yoyo, earning herself numerous trips infirmary to restore her proper skin tone and hair color. Over time, she befriends the academy’s doc-in-residence Guell, a grumpy but good-natured palette who always gets swept up in Cello’s misadventures, whether thwarting a group of poachers or tutoring a group of precocious tots.

Though the stories have considerable charm, there’s a big drawback to The Palette of 12 Secret Colors: it’s monochromatic, making it difficult for readers to distinguish “blue” swatches from “yellow” or “pink” ones. Working with this limited color scheme, Nari Kusikawa does muster some visual pizzazz, populating Opal with a comical assortment of birds of varied shapes, sizes, and temperaments. She’s also created a terrific heroine in Cello, whose relentless optimism and powerful but unrefined technique seem better suited for a shonen tournament series than a cute shojo romance. Cello is a refreshing change of pace from the typical self-doubting, wishy-washy magical girl, and The Palette of 12 Secret Colors is all the better for her brash confidence and unkempt appearance.

Volume one of The Palette of 12 Secret Colors will be available on November 21st.

Welcome to the first installment of The Otaku Bookshelf, an occasional feature reviewing books of interest to the avid anime and manga fan. Our inaugural column looks at three very different titles; Dragon Sword and Wind Child (Viz), a Japanese fantasy novel steeped in Shinto mythology; J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge, and Beyond (Vertical, Inc.), an overview of Japanese horror films; and Parasite Eve (Vertical, inc.), a medical thriller that out-icks Michael Crichton in its Grand Guignol finale.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child

By Noriko Ogiwara; Translated by Cathy Hirano
Viz, 286 pp.

Noriko Ogiwara’s Dragon Sword and Wind Child is an old-fashioned fantasy novel whose pages teem with wood spirits, handsome princes, magic swords, and talking animals. The story begins in a remote village in the kingdom of Toyoashihara, where an elderly couple have been raising Saya, a headstrong orphan. From childhood, they have taught Saya to worship the Children of Light, an immortal race of deities who preside over the heavens. At the village’s annual courtship dance, Prince Tsukihiro, the moon god himself, appears before the village to claim Saya as his bride. Before Tsukihiro whisks her away, Saya encounters a strange group of spirits who warn her not to follow him. They tell her that she is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden, a warrior destined to lead the Children of Darkness—the ancient spirits of the forests, mountains, and oceans—against the Children of Light with the aid of the powerful Dragon Sword….

Click here to read the rest of Kate’s review.

J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge, and Beyond

By David Kalat
Vertical, Inc., 320 pp.

I’m not a horror buff. Maybe it’s because I don’t scare too easily at the movies, or maybe it’s because the idea of undying mythological creatures and ridiculously competent psychopaths don’t mesh well with my hyper-logical world view. I get far more tense with carefully crafted plot developments that have huge ramifications for the characters involved, like when Lex Luthor took control of the Watchtower’s laser cannon in Justice League Unlimited and fired at a city, or when Sousuke Sagara seemingly leaves Kaname Chidori in Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. That stuff makes my skin tingle and gets my blood flowing. So-called “horror” does not…

Click here to read Carlos’ review.

Parasite Eve

Written by Hideaki Sena, Translated by Tyran Grillo
Vertical Inc., 319 pp.

Originally published in 1995, Parasite Eve is a cross between a medical thriller and a horror novel, a combination that brought it widespread attention and acclaim in Japan. In fact, it was so highly regarded that it was the first novel to win the Japanese Horror Novel award. Despite the strong sales and awards, however, the two Playstation games based upon made it to the US sooner than the source material. Still, better late then never, right? Well…

Click here to read Ken’s review.