Last week’s shipping list looked like a well-stocked buffet, with something for every taste, from the waistline-conscious to the unapologetic meat-eater. This week’s, however, inspires as much excitement as a high school cafeteria’s salad bar with its limited offerings: a few debut volumes—Element Line, Gosick, Hellgate London (Tokyopop), and Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector (Viz)—the latest installments of long-running favorites—InuYasha (manga and ani-manga) and Zatch Bell (Viz)—and a smattering of other titles—Dragon Eye, Princess Resurrection (Del Rey). Though the list is brief, there are two must-have manga mixed in with the sprouts and ranch dressing: volume two of The Other Side of the Mirror (Tokyopop), a gritty, beautifully illustrated drama from Jo Chen, and volume three of Presents (CMX), the title that inspired John Jakala to coin the best mangablogging term of 2007: comeuppance theater. I’m not normally a horror fan, but I found Kanako Inuki’s cute-grotesque illustrations, efficient set-ups, and surprise endings a welcome antidote to such wan examples of comeuppance theater as I Wish (Tokyopop) and Nightmares for Sale (Aurora). Though there’s a moral to every present, Inuki serves up plenty of black humor as she punishes the wicked, the vain, the selfish, and the downright stupid.

Intrepid newcomer Isaac Hale will be tackling Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector later this week, so I decided to focus my efforts on two new Tokyopop titles: Element Line, a fantasy-adventure that pits a plucky teen against toothy monsters, and Gosick, a light novel set in what might be described as a Japanese author’s idea of Jazz Age Europe. (Read: heavy on the petticoats and bustles, light on the flapper dresses and cigarette holders.) Also in the mix is A Wise Man Sleeps, the latest Go! Comi release from Mick Takeuchi, creator of Her Majesty’s Dog.

SHIPPING THIS WEEK:
Dragon Eye, Vol. 4 (Del Rey)
Element Line, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Gosick, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
Hellgate London, Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
InuYasha, Vol. 33 (Viz)
InuYasha Ani-Manga, Vol. 26 (Viz)
O-Parts Hunter, Vol. 9 (Viz)
The Other Side of the Mirror, Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
Presents, Vol. 3 (CMX)
Princess Resurrection, Vol. 3 (Del Rey)
Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector, Vol. 1 (Viz)
Zatch Bell, Vol. 18 (Viz)

Element Line, Vol. 1

By Mamiya Takizaki
Tokyopop, 178 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

Along the borders of a desert country, a mysterious warrior named Laolyth defends his fellow citizens from a race of man-eating monsters. No one has seen his face since the day Rizoms killed his wife and, presumably, his infant son, though numerous victories have been attributed to him in that fourteen-year interim. Laolyth’s feats of derring-do inspire Kam, a young orphan, to join the Guild, a band of soldiers who escort caravans between the country’s heavily fortified cities. There’s just one problem: Kam’s body is undergoing a hideous metamorphosis that he must hide from his fellow recruits, lest they mistake him for the enemy. Sounds like a promising mixture of “politics and high fantasy,” to borrow a phrase from Element Line’s back cover, but bad dialogue and poor pacing conspire against the story’s more interesting elements to produce an indigestible stew of protracted battles, long-winded speeches, and bolt-from-the-blue scenes that make little to no dramatic sense. The most disappointing aspect of the story, however, is the artwork. Manga-ka Mamiya Takizaki obscures the action in screentone and speed lines, making it difficult to follow the story. The character designs are flat-out ugly and betray a certain ignorance of basic anatomy; the adults would benefit from Botox treatments to iron out the odd, unnatural wrinkles that have been superimposed on their faces. Even the Rizoms are rather uninspired, looking like the unwanted progeny of kudzu and caterpillars. Not recommended unless you’re a hardcore fantasy fan.

Volume one of Element Line will be available on April 9th.

Gosick, Vol. 1 (Novel)

By Kazuki Sakuraba; Illustrations by Hinata Takeba
Tokyopop, 232 pp.

Described as a “modern twist on Holmes and Watson,” this old-fashioned murder mystery adheres to a tried-and-true formula in which a cold but brilliant detective is paired with a sincere but slightly dim sidekick who’s always a few clues behind the audience. In the case of Gosick, the Holmes stand-in is Victorique, the resident eccentric at the Saint Marguerite Academy in Sauville (a fictional European country, just in case you were about to visit the Wikipedia), while the Watson surrogate is Kazuya Kujo, the school’s sole Japanese student. Victorique is a little less degenerate than Conan Doyle’s greatest creation, favoring a pipe over a glass of absinthe; nonetheless, she shares Holmes’s contempt for small minds, superstitions, and emotionally driven decision-making. Her reputation for deductive reasoning leads the nearby town’s pretty-boy inspector to seek her advice whenever there’s a murder—which, given the size and geographical remoteness of the town, occurs with rather alarming frequency.

In the course of investigating a fortune teller’s death, Victorique and Kazuya board the Queen Berry, a ship which supposedly sank ten years earlier with a cargo of murdered children. The two endure a night of extreme violence and seemingly supernatural events as they comb the ship for clues about the old woman’s past. These scenes play like Ten Little Indians crossed with Battle Royale: the ship’s other passengers visit horrific deaths on one another, usually with sharp objects or booby traps. Interspersed with the carnage—which, despite my description, is pretty tame—are numerous conversations in which Victorique patiently debunks the notion that the Queen Berry is haunted, culminating in the kind of “if it wasn’t for those meddling kids I would have had my revenge!” ending familiar to Scooby Doo fans.

Adults may find all of this just a little too familiar to be truly satisfying. Tweens, however, should find plenty to like about Gosick, from the flamboyant characters to the over-the-top plot twists. Manga-ka Hinata Takeda’s illustrations are appealing, and actually reflect what’s happening in the story—something I can’t say for the images in many light novels I’ve read. And Tokyopop has done a great job packaging Gosick, adding an attractive floral border on every page that’s echoed in the cover design. A great book for the reluctant reader in your household.

Volume one of Gosick will be available on April 9th.

A Wise Man Sleeps, Vol. 1

By Mick Takeuchi
Go! Comi, 192 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

While walking through the streets of Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Miharu is accosted by a handsome but clumsy stranger who pronounces her “unlucky,” and declares the “source of her misfortune” to be a ring that belonged to her mother. Miharu initially dismisses him as a quack. But when she examines her situation—her mother’s recent death, her father’s crushing debts—she begins to wonder if this odd fellow might be on to something. Rintaro promises to pay her a fortune for the seemingly worthless ring, which, he explains, contains a “wise man’s stone,” a necessary tool for a practicing alchemist. Through a series of mishaps—some comic, some serious—Miharu ingests the ring to prevent it from falling into a loan shark’s hands, only to discover she has the power to see dead people. She and Rintaro then team up to exorcise spirits who are unwilling to cross over. Yes, the premise is familiar, but the true pleasure of A Wise Man Sleeps lies with the characters. Rintaro, for example, can transform himself into a powerful, flirtacious sorcerer—for three minutes at a time. (He also goes blonde for the duration.) He keeps company with a blood-thirsty doll named Beatrice who dishes out tart one-liners with enviable timing. Even Miharu feels like a fresh creation, outwitting yakuza thugs and angry spirits with a mixture of sass and smarts that’s all too rare among shojo heroines. The artwork is clean and crisp, with plenty of atmospheric detail; in fact, I preferred it to the more minimalist approach Takeuchi uses in Her Majesty’s Dog. And speaking of Her Majesty’s Dog, A Wise Man Sleeps offers a more light-hearted gloss on themes found in the later work, and sometimes seems a little glib in comparison. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the first volume of Wise Man and hope that Go! Comi licenses more of Takeuchi’s work.

Volume one of A Wise Man Sleeps is available now.