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.

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The latest installment of On the Shojo Beat looks at three new additions to the Shojo Beat line-up: Kaori Yuki’s Gothic Fairy Cube, Tohko Mizuno’s magical girl manga Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, and Arina Tanemura’s debut work I.O.N.

Fairy Cube, Vol. 1

By Kaori Yuki
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

No one will ever accuse Kaori Yuki of writing boring manga. All of her work—Angel Sanctuary, The Cain Saga, Godchild—has the feverish quality of a Hieronymous Bosch painting, complete with tormented souls, grotesque creatures, and all manner of taboo-busting behavior on display. I’m happy to report that Fairy Cube, her newest series (in English, anyway), is as gloriously overripe as the best volumes of Godchild but considerably more coherent.

Like the male leads in Angel Sanctuary and Cain, the hero of Fairy Cube is filled with angst. Ian’s affliction stems, in part, from his ability to see spirits—but not just ghosts or demons. Ian sees fairies. And malevolent ones, at that—the kind that impersonate humans, enslave the weak-minded, and occasionally snack on a person or two. Making matters worse is Tokage, a sprite who stalks Ian, manipulating his family and friends against him with the skill of a puppeteer. When Tokage takes visible form, Ian finds himself banished to another realm where he incurs the wrath of a bloodthirsty fairy. And when I say “bloodthirsty,” I mean it—though Ainsel has a dainty appearance, her appetite for revenge outstrips Don Corleone’s. After the two are thrown together, 39 Steps style, in a forest filled with hungry critters, Ainsel grudgingly agrees to help Ian take on Tokage before it harms the people Ian loves best: his father and his childhood sweetheart Rin.

My summary barely skims the surface of Yuki’s intricately plotted story, which manages to touch on child abuse, schoolyard bullying, and matricide, all in its first thirty or so pages. (Oh, and fairy magic—but doesn’t that go without saying? And did I forget to mention the hot guys in eye patches? My bad.) The richly detailed artwork has a delirious, almost hysterical, quality to it that suits the manga’s luridly romantic tone. The sheer density of the images combined with the breakneck pacing can be a little overwhelming; at times, I wished Yuki would pause to savor some of her lovelier images. Yet the story hangs together, in spite of its outré moments. In fact, I’d argue that it succeeds because of these outlandish touches—in another manga-ka’s hands, the story would be desperately twee, a sentimental tale about a gentle boy who befriends a winged sprite. Not so with Fairy Cube, an intoxicating—if occasionally ridiculous—mix of horror, romance, and revenge.

Volume one of Fairy Cube is available now.

Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, Vol. 1

By Tohko Mizuno
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Like the heroines of Fushigi Yugi and Red River, Akane is an ordinary schoolgirl who discovers that she’s a powerful priestess from an alternate realm. In Haruka, that alternate realm is a sexed-up version of Heian-era Japan, complete with demons and bishonen galore. Two clans—one human, one demon—vie for control of the ancient Japanese capital, hoping to obtain the assistance of the ultimate human weapon: the priestess of the Dragon God, a.k.a. Akane. Though the head of the demon clan works his mojo on her—apparently he’s quite the dreamboat, though his mask and jaunty cap conceal his rakish good looks—Akane casts her lot with the humans, acquiring a team of eight smokin’ guardians to protect her from harm and help her defeat the demon lord Akram.

What this ho-hum story has going for it is elegant artwork. Tohko Mizuno’s sensuous lines yield some arresting images: a nobleman in his ceremonial robes, a ravenous merman with a trace of blood on his lips. The artwork isn’t stunning enough to offset the cumulative effect of paper-thin characterizations, wooden dialogue, and been-there, done-that plot twists, but it at least offers readers a little eye candy as they plow through yet another tale of an average jane who learns—surprise!—that she’s really a goddess.

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

I.O.N.

By Arina Tanemura
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

Ion Tsuburagi is a superstitious ditz who chants the letters of her name whenever she needs Lady Luck on her side—say, before a math test or a student council election. Through a plot contrivance too creaky for Three’s Company, she meets Mikado Hourai, a hyper-serious hottie who chairs their school’s psychic powers club. Ion is instantly smitten with Hourai, insinuating herself into the club and accidentally exposing herself to one of his experiments. The substance gives her telekinetic powers that are activated by her old ritual of chanting “I – O – N.” Not surprisingly, her new-found abilities prove a blessing and a curse, enabling her to perform some life-saving maneuvers while jeopardizing her budding romance with Hourai, who views Ion as a test subject.

Most of I.O.N.’s problems can be chalked up to inexperience, as it was Arina Tanemura’s first published work. The art has a frenzied quality, with too many facial close-ups, busy backdrops, and panels within panels, preventing the story from unfolding smoothly across the page. Tanemura’s wide-eyed character designs are especially unappealing; like the titular character of Miyuki Eto’s Hell Girl, Ion and Hourai have the kind of saucer eyes that seem more suitable on a giant squid than a middle school student. Equally unsatisfying are the characters themselves, who behave foolishly and unnaturally. Ion, in particular, is so boy crazy that she barely seems to notice that her abilities would qualify her for full-fledged membership in the Justice League.

About the best I can say for I.O.N. is that Tanemura’s heart is in the right place. The underlying message of her work seems to be one of self-awareness and respect: make sure your boyfriend likes you for who you are, and not what you represent. Too bad that worthwhile message gets lost amid the wacky hijinks and tearful discussions about feelings.

I.O.N. is available now.

The Record of a Fallen Vampire, Vol. 1

Story by Kyo Shirodaira, Art by Yuri Kimura
Viz, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen

In the postscript to The Record of a Fallen Vampire, writer Kyo Shirodaira cheerfully admits that his editor goaded him into taking on the project:

“Let’s do a vampire book.”

It was my editor who suggested this, not me.

“We have this new artist named Yuri Kimura, and she wants to do a vampire book. I’d like you to write the story, Shirodaira-san.”

I’m paraphrasing a little, but that’s basically the gist of the conversation. But I did not immediately jump on board.

“Um, I want to do a military fantasy series with a pretty girl using cunning strategy to defeat an invincible flying magic sumo wrestler who’s so powerful he can sink battleships with a single spell. Maybe a few magical girl power-ups.”

“Vampires also fly, and they can use magic.”

“I guess…”

I think we said something like that. Maybe we didn’t. But this is how editors and manga writers find common ground.

It’s too bad Shirodaira’s editor didn’t allow him to pursue the magical sumo wrestler concept; though extravagant, it might have yielded something fresh and funny instead of this dour, incoherent mess.

The plot, as best I can tell, goes something like this: Vampire King Akabara “Red Rose” Strauss has spent one thousand searching for his queen, who was hidden behind a magical seal by humans and dhampires (half-vampires) who feared her world-destroying powers. Hot on Akabara’s trail is the Black Swan, a demon-parasite that uses nubile young ladies to channel its lethal powers. After slaying one of the Black Swan’s hostesses, Akabara acquires a second powerful foe: Jin Renka, her dhampire boyfriend.

At least, I think that’s the basic story—the first three chapters are so fragmented that it’s difficult to figure what’s happening at any given moment, or why these characters engage in such protracted battles. What few explanations are offered appear primarily in the form of tin-eared, long-winded speeches—the kind of dialogue never uttered outside the confines of a comic book or a bombastic popcorn flick. The excessive use of screentone, clip art, and trapezoidal panels muddies things further, inducing a kind of action-scene dyslexia even when characters are supposed to be engaged in quiet contemplation.

But the book’s biggest shortcoming is Yuri Kimura’s inability to translate the script into evocative images. During one of the pivotal confrontations between Akabara and the Black Swan, for example, one of the bystanders informs us, “The air is shimmering with magic and aggression. But the Black Swan is utterly quiet which makes her all the more sinister!” If there was ever a moment in which Miss Applebaum’s old dictum of “Show, don’t tell” applied, it’s this scene. Yet the image is as static as a diorama, and has sound effects superimposed on it. (The sound of silence, I guess?) In a word: gyaaaaa!

No doubt there will be vampire fanatics who find this series irresistible, but others are advised to arm themselves with wolfsbane before their next trip to Borders—you don’t want to get bitten by this Vampire.

Volume one of The Record of a Fallen Vampire will be available on May 14th.

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.

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Rurouni Kenshin: VIZBIG Edition, Vol. 1

By Nobuhiro Watsuki
Publisher, 584 pp.
Rating: T+ (Older Teens)

The first book to be released under the VIZBIG banner, Rurouni Kenshin contains the first three volumes of the standard edition releases along with some color pages, back-up stories and more.

In case you missed it the first time around, Rurouni Kenshin is the tale of a wandering swordsman, Himura Kenshin, a former assassin who fought to bring down the Shogunate and establish the Meiji Era. Now, several years later he’s all but vanished, taken to wandering from place to place accompanied only by his reverse blade sword.

Nobuhiro Watsuki’s artwork is fantastic. The art is clean and slick without looking overly stylized. The occasional comedic bits, complete with chibi art, work fine and doesn’t really break the flow or mood too badly. The action sequences are clear and dynamic, easy to follow without sacrificing any of their over-the-top energy or excitement. While Watsuki does use some toning, it mostly seems to be for clothing or occasional background effect. Instead he relies mostly on crosshatching for shading, and it looks absolutely lovely on the bright white paper used for this collection.

One of the things that I love about this series is the historical context. Unlike many of the shonen series that are currently available in the US, Kenshin takes place during an actual time period and makes use of the setting, issues, and troubles of the time to wonderful effect. It’s a manga that’s about more than being the best you can; Watsuki explores some of the good and bad things that came from the Meiji Restoration. While this doesn’t exactly reach the level of deep political discourse, it is the extra little something that helps Rurouni Kenshin stand out from the crowd and gives it a greater depth than series with similar plotlines. Watsuki comments on the historical aspects in some of the brief commentary pieces that are scattered throughout the volume, and it’s actually a little sad to hear that the story arcs that deal most with the ins and outs of the time seem to be those that were the least well received. The story arc introducing Sagara Sanosuke, for example, deals with an apparent little known incident in which the Meiji government slaughtered a group of its own supporters over taxation. Watsuki mentions that the editors were iffy about the arc and the fans didn’t react well to it either. Shame, because it’s just that level of historical fact mixing with fiction that makes the series the series really appeal to me.

The majority of the volume is devoted to assembling the supporting cast for the series. Almost every story introduces a new character who will become a regular for the rest of the run: Sanosuke, Kaoru, Yahiko. This gives the first three volumes a slightly disjointed feel; instead of one large arc, it’s several shorter stories. But it doesn’t take away from the enjoyability at all. The last third of the volume kicks off a slightly longer arc featuring a corrupt businessman and his bodyguards who were former oniwabanshu (ninja bodyguards). Most of the stories are pretty short and the villains are just there to move the characters into position for later.

For it’s price, this is a great buy. Three volumes in one, nice paper, nice cover, color pages, and more. It’s a durable package that contains some fun action adventure stories that might just be a tad educational to boot. What more could you ask for from a shonen series?

Volume one of Rurouni Kenshin: VIZBIG Edition is available now.

I went to the cupboard in search of a snappy intro for this month’s Minis, but alas—I came up empty. So I’ll dispense with the opening gambit and simply say that this month’s column looks at two new Tokyopop titles, Dragon Sister! and eV, the second volumes of Love Master A (Go! Comi) and Sakura Ganbaru! (UDON), and the best-selling Naruto handbook (Viz), which has been flying off shelves since its release.

Dragon Sister!, Vol. 1

By Nini
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)




Buried beneath the slapstick, speedlines, and extreme mammary close-ups is an intriguing premise: what if ancient China’s greatest warriors were, in fact, women? Dragon Sister! begins around 184 AD, when three brothers—Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang—acquire a set of magical scrolls capable of granting any wish. In their desire to overthrow the Han Dynasty, the brothers pray that no more heroes will be born, only beautiful women. Their scheme backfires, however, transforming them into a cabal of power-hungry girls. As the country descends further into chaos, young nobleman Liu Bei forms a volunteer army to oppose the Zhang sisters (formerly brothers), recruiting two busty babes, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, to aid his cause. None of this is explained very clearly—we never have a sense of who the various factions are, or why Liu Bei remains faithful to a corrupt emperor. Instead, manga-ka Nini treats us to a seemingly endless parade of costume failures, crude jokes, and scenes of predatory lesbianism, all delivered in speech that vacillates between present-day dudespeak and wuxia film formality. Strictly for the fanservice crowd; others are advised to look elsewhere for more enlightened tales of female empowerment.

–Reviewed by Katherine Dacey

eV, Vol. 1

Created by Roger Mincheff, Written by James Farr, Art by Alfa Robbi and Papillon Studio

Published by Tokyopop, 192 pages
Rating: Teen (13 +)




From the mind that brought us The Covenant comes eV, the tale of a brilliant young woman, Evie, who finds herself injected with über-nanomachines that give her a vast array of physical and mental abilities. Once injected, Evie is taken to the far side of the universe to serve as Earth’s ambassador in a galactic federation.

Farr does a good job with the material and the characters, crafting a fairly fun and fast paced sci-fi adventure story. The whole thing has the feel of a summer blockbuster right down to certain stock characters: a workaholic father who will do anything for his daughter, the daughter who’s bitter and resentful at her father for being away all the time, and a mother who tries to hold the family together the best she can. On the other hand, the book also manages to translate the summer blockbuster feel to the story in terms of the size, scope, and set pieces. You can practically hear the pop rock songs playing at certain parts of the story. On top of that Farr manages to throw in some nifty tweaks to keep things interesting. Evie’s powers aren’t limited to simply amazing physical feats; her subconscious manifests itself in the form of a lil’ flying talking orb, which leads to some comical moments here and there.

Alfa Robbi has some solid story telling abilities but the art style itself just didn’t click. Something about it had me wishing the entire thing had been in color. Maybe it was the various alien life forms, or the moments towards the end when Evie utilizes some energy manipulation abilities, but I really felt that this was a story that would have benefited from some color. Ultimately eV is fluff, but sometimes fluff can be fun.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

Love Master A, Vol. 2

By Kyoko Hashimoto
Go!Comi, 200pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

It’s hard to conjure words to describe Love Master A, and it’s certainly not because the title is breathtakingly brilliant. The second installment of Kyoko Hashimoto’s middling school-life romance is so achingly mediocre it’s hard to tell if there’s anything original at all in between all the clichés. The first year school council crew—each easily summed up in three word archetypes—finds itself faced with a healthy plethora of problems, ranging from romantic infighting to the imminent closure of the council itself.

The resolutions are, of course, vaguely heartwarming and grindingly endearing, and with bland shojo everygirl Aria helming the story, it’s hard to find any respite from the standard shojo drudgery. That said, Hashimoto’s attempt to refresh the central love story by reversing the primary perspective is at least moderately novel, and works well to prolong the romantic angst well into the last pages of the book. There’s nothing new here in terms of artistic invention, with Hashimoto bringing out plenty of flowery screentones, sometimes overly so, resulting in visuals that are sufficiently sparkling but occasionally overdone. The dialogue, however, is want to wander more freely into the realm of cheese, resulting in a love confession so unbelievably corny that most other shojo manga would only tackle the same material if they were parodying the genre. With so much else out there on the market, it’s hard to imagine recommending Love Master A to anyone—but if you’ve truly exhausted the offerings, feel free to bide your time with a copy.

–Reviewed by Chloe Ferguson

Naruto: The Official Handbook

By Masashi Kishimoto
Viz, 288 pp.

Looking at ICv2, I can see that Naruto: The Official Fanbook has moved quite a few copies. In fact, it was number fifteen on the best-selling manga list in February. After taking a peek, I’m going to say there aren’t a lot of reasons why it should be selling. The vast majority of the content is plot summary, and the parts that aren’t are generally pretty mundane. There are a ton of quizzes in this, which I found to be inane or largely uninteresting; and even the interviews with Masashi Kishimoto are totally pointless. He reveals nothing, and answers no serious questions.

This is not to say that there weren’t some pleasant surprises in the volume. After opening the book, I found a nifty two-sided color pinup. It’s one of Kishimoto’s more whimsical pictures to, so I was quite pleased to see it. Also, if you don’t feel like picking up the issue of Shonen Jump, this volume has the bonus Naruto pilot story. Despite this material, I don’t recommend buying this volume unless you’re a hardcore completist. If you want the good material (e.g. the full-color art and the pilot story), grab the issue of Shonen Jump which contains it, and grab the Naruto artbook out right now, Uzumaki. You’ll be much more pleased with your purchases.

–Reviewed by Isaac Hale

Sakura Ganbaru!, Vol. 2

By Masahiko Nakahira
UDON Entertainment, 200 pp.

Following the events of the first volume and the conclusion of Kairin’s street fighting tournament, Sakura Ganbaru! continues along the lines of a paint-by-numbers shonen, but with everything compressed into two volumes. The results are wonderful as the fights are fast paced and exciting, and plots aren’t dragged out for dozens upon dozens of volumes. Much like other shonen protagonists (or Ryu from the Street Fighter Alpha manga), Sakura grows and learns more about herself, the nature of fighting and even attempts to discover what it means to be a true fighter. Her encounters with various other characters such as Gen, Chun Li or Zangief serve to illuminate different aspects of her quest and growth, and show the pitfalls of it as well.

Nakahira’s art is as clean and strong as ever, and he does a fantastic job with the various characters and their signature abilities and fighting styles. Unlike the previous volume, this one clearly alludes to the events in the Street Fighter Alpha manga, making some of the character interactions seem a bit odd. I suppose it’s best to think of them as loosely connected. Still, you won’t need to have read the Alpha manga to understand or enjoy Sakura Ganbaru! and doing so might actually leave you scratching your head a few times. At any rate, it’s still a fun and enjoyable series, and it’s great to see a young girl who’s capable of kicking butt and not in need of rescue.

–Reviewed by Ken Haley

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.
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The big story this week: edu-manga. Korean company YKids released six new titles on Wednesday, all designed to trick reluctant readers into learning a little more about history and literature. (I’d say that YKids “carpet bombs,” “blitzes,” or “storms” the manga aisle, but two of the twentieth century’s most notable pacifists are profiled in this batch of books, making that martial imagery a little too… vehement.) Three are biographies of major historical figures—Leonardo da Vinci, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela—while three are adaptations of kid-lit classics Daddy Long Legs, The Prince and the Pauper, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. While I’m a proponent of intelligent use of comics in the classroom, I’ve been a little underwhelmed by previous YKids titles which seemed, frankly, too cheesy to pass muster with the under-twelve set. I’d love to hear from parents or teachers who’ve had more experience with these series: do they pique kids’ interest in reading? What age group is best served by them? And how do the adaptations compare with the originals?

For those of us with more grown-up tastes, the pickings are much slimmer. Your best bets are DMP’s deluxe, two-volume Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go box set, which reprints the original series’ entire run, and the eighth volume of Viz’s Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs (Viz). Granted, I’m a little biased—I’d describe myself as a “dog otaku” if that didn’t sound so unsavory. (For the record, my dog does not own any sweaters, t-shirts, costumes, hats, goggles, or other accessories—she’s strictly a leash-and-collar girl.) But I’m not the only one in my household who enjoys this canine-centered soap opera:

I’ll be back next Monday with a super-sized edition of the Weekly Recon that includes reviews of Kaze no Hana and Kieli, as well as several other new and recent arrivals. Stay tuned!

SHIPPING THIS WEEK:
Cipher, Vol. 11 (CMX)
Hana-Kimi, Vol. 23 (Viz)
Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs, Vol. 8 (Viz)
Kaze no Hana, Vol. 1 (Yen Press)
Kieli, Vol. 1 (Yen Press)
Magical JXR, Vol. 2 (UDON)
Manga Great Figures in History: Leonarda da Vinci (YKids)
Manga Great Figures in History: Mother Teresa (YKids)
Manga Great Figures in History: Nelson Mandela (YKids)
Manga Literary Classics: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (YKids)
Manga Literary Classics: Daddy Long Legs (YKids)
Manga Literary Classics: The Prince and the Pauper (YKids)
Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go Box Set, Vols. 1-2 (DMP)
Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning, Vol. 3 (Yen Press)
Street Fighter III Ryu Final, Vol. 2 (UDON)
Variante, Vol. 3 (CMX)
The Wallflower, Vol. 15 (Del Rey)

Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun, Vol. 1

By Shin Mashiba
Viz, 184 pp.
Rating: Older Teen

Wow. I haven’t read a manga this derivative since, oh, Hell Girl. If Hell Girl read like a cheap shojo Death Note rip-off, this reads like xXxholic after years of lead poisoning. This is not to say that Nightmare Inspector is particularly bad per se… it’s just dumb. And it lacks any serious substance. This isn’t due to lack of effort–every page of Nightmare Inspector drips with attempted atmosphere. But Nightmare Inspector is living testament: you can try too hard.

Much like its far superior counterpart xXxholic, Nightmare Inspector is highly episodic. Each chapter is a self-contained one shot story, with the only commong elements being the protagonist Hiruko and the Tea House. This is the formula:

Step 1: Client enters with bad dreams.
Step 2: Hiruko enters his dreams for a “price.”
Step 3: Hiruko fixes up the client’s dream neuroses, and somehow claims the moral high ground.
Step 4: The client gets his or her “ironic” and “shocking” just desserts.

While this has the capacity to be thrilling, what this actually results in is a whole lot of very repetitive stories that are largely devoid of any deeper meaning. Think Mushishi, minus any brain activity. Honestly, one client comes in to finally get with his favorite actress in a dream and ends up dying IN REAL LIFE! OMG!!! Furthermore, Hiruko is a supernatural creature, a “Baku,” which is apparently code for “stock stoic character.” Personality costs extra.

As for the art–well, it’s nice enough. In fact, a lot of it does a great job of setting the gloomy and surreal mood. The art does kind of crack me up though; the protagonist, who is male, and at least in his late teens, looks like a twelve-year-old girl. In fact, in the aforementioned episode with the love-struck fan, the teenage boys look like identical twins–tween girl twins, that is. This all serves to detract from the series’ intended gravity, and left my more bemused then impressed with its style. There was one chapter I really dug, where the client’s dream is covered with Japanese characters replacing physical reality. It’s an awesome touch.

The real problem with Nightmare Inspector comes into focus when you compare the jacket copy with other examples of the careful-what-you-wish-for genre. Here’s the back cover blurb from Nightmare Inspector:

For those who suffer nightmares, help awaits at the Silver Star Tea House, where patrons can order much more than just Darjeeling. Hiruko is a special kind of private investigator, he’s a dream eater, and he’ll rid you of your darkest vision – for a price.

And now for the back cover of CLAMP’s very own xXxholic. Compare and contrast kids:

Watanuki Kimihiro is haunted by visions of ghosts and spirits. Seemingly by chance, he encounters a mysterious witch named Yuuko, who claims she can help. In desperation, he accepts, but realizes that he’s just been tricked into working for Yuuko in order to pay off the cost of her services. Soon he’s employed in her little shop—a job which turns out to be nothing like his previous work experience!

Notice anything? Maybe a shop that’s a little more than meets the eye?

A word to the wise, save your money and try out a gem like xXxholic or Mushishi. You won’t have to wade through this pit of mediocrity.

Volume one of Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun is available now.

Check out my review of the first volume of the Honey and Clover manga series here, and my review of A Taste of Tea here. I really love Viz Pictures, and although these films are not two of my favorites from their catalog, they are still titles which I would import if I were in charge!

Honey and Clover

Directed by Masahiro Takata
Viz Pictures, 116 minutes
Unrated

I love the Honey and Clover manga and anime series, but the movie left me a bit cold. I watched the first episode of the live action drama series, and I have to admit the film is a much better adaptation than the TV show.

For the unfamiliar, here’s the plot in a nutshell: Takemoto is in love with the talented Hagu, a painting student and the younger cousin of professor Hanamoto at an art school near Tokyo. The talented eighth-year senior Morita is also in love with Hagu, the only artist who has ever posed a challenge to him. Meanwhile, Yamda is in love with mutual friend Mayama, who is in love with his boss at his internship. If the right people fell for each other at the right time, there would be no dramatic tension. That said, don’t get your hopes up, because in this film nobody gets together with anybody.

The film favorably adapts the characters to the big screen; Mayama is portrayed as the stalker he really is, Yamada cries less (she hardly cries at all, really), and Hagu is physically small without being either lolicon (like the anime) or hamster-like (as in the manga). Hanamoto and Morita appear much older in real life than they do in the manga (which is accurate). Takemoto is a bit of a blank slate, but that is the crux of his character.

Due to the serialized nature of the manga, the plot does not unfold in a three-act narrative, rather, the story unwinds across the screen. I’m not sure it would make sense to fans unfamiliar with the original work, and it will certainly bore viewers who are not experienced meandering films typical of international festivals.

My disappointment in the film is two-tiered. First of all, it does not reflect my actual college experience on any level. Granted, I went to an American film school and not a Tokyo art school… but I was hoping to identify in some small way. I strongly identified with some of the characters in the anime/manga versions. I can’t put my finger on the factor that made the film less universal.

My second disappointment comes from the ridiculous “making art” montages. Hagu and Morita do a lot of abstract expressionist art in montages which are presented to the viewer in a way that forces the message “Gee! Painting sure is fun!” or worse: “I wish I was so young and talented!” The art produced in these montages is not great, and you can’t force me into thinking painting is that much fun! I’ve tried it!

The English-lyric songs on the soundtrack have distractingly literal lyrics (the songs directly relate to the action on screen). If the songs were in Japanese I wouldn’t be distracted by the lyrics–even if I was presented with subtitles. The songs come off in a Felicity-buy-my-soundtrack! commercially way.

I’m glad Viz imported this so Honey & Clover fans can watch it, but compared to the high bar set by other Viz Pictures, I was let down a little bit.

The Honey and Clover DVD will be available on May 13th, 2008.

Funky Forest

Directed by Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, Anikii
Viz Pictures, 150 minutes
Unrated

Funky Forest is a collection of loosely-related short films which run the gamut from boring-slice-of-life to hilarious comedy, from science fiction to dance films; a rock and roll classroom gives way to a story about duel comedians in the far future; disturbing Cronenberg-like creatures appear inexplicably in the second half of the film. The central theme of the shorts is sexual in nature: phallic creatures and lonely men fill the 120+ minutes of screen time. This is the most experimental film in the Viz Pictures catalog so far, and not kid-friendly.

Like any anthology work, I enjoyed some of the shorts much more than others. My favorite shorts were the concert in the forest, the rock and roll high school, and the alien comedy duo Pikko-Rikko-chan. The other 35% of the film I could live without watching again.

Katuhito Ishii started off in animation, so several of the shorts involve characters who work in animation, not unlike the mom subplot in Taste of Tea. Since Funky Forest is weirder, the animation subplot involves a man with a giant head and someone translating for a director who happens to (also) be a dog.

Remember eXistenZ - the 1999 movie with the organic videogame controllers? There’s a lot of stuff like that in Funky Forest. Students in a junior high music class are forced to play frightening organic mutant-alien creature instrument things which are creepily sexual. But it’s OK, because it’s a comedy, I guess…? The creature work is excellent–fetal salarymen with schlongs as long as their legs dangle from weird tentacle things, and you can’t even tell if it’s models or CG or what! Even I’m not sure if this is an endorsement or a warning!

Overall, I got the sense that one of the three directors really wanted to make a full length dance movie. The dance/dream sequence on the beach is the most memorable scene in the movie–but there just wasn’t enough plot to make it into a feature film.

Ishii’s Taste of Tea was an extremely accessible narrative work compared to Funky Forest. Much of the cast of Tea reappears in Funky Forest in central roles. Funky Forest is essentially a v.1.5 sequel for people who want to watch “something else like a that!”

A good film draws you into the world of the film, and is memorable for days afterwards. Funky Forest achieves both of these qualities, and is long enough I was not left wanting more. I kind of wanted less. It was really awesome compared to Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.

The DVD Funky Forest: The First Contact is currently available.