Manga Xanadu

Dragon Drive Volume 6

By Kenichi Sakura
Publisher: Viz Media

Genre: Fantasy
Rating: All Ages

Price: $7.99
Rating:

Storyline

Kohei is pushing himself to the limit. His body can’t take much more training. Meanwhile, Silver is waiting as Reiji and Hikaru go on to the trials to get Shinsaber. Meanwhile, Maiko is captured and taken to Guan-Coo, who isn’t how Maiko expected it to be. Guan-Coo seems gentle, as it acts like a baby.

Review

Once again, it is pretty much hilarious. The battle scene at the end gets the reader tense. It’s quite a charm.

What I liked about it

Guan-Coo is very funny. He’s cute and acts like a child.

What I didn’t like

Once again, nothing. I like it all.

What you could do to make it better

I have no idea.

Is this suitable for children?

Yes.

It’s an (almost) all animals edition this week at Manga Village. Charles Tan starts off by sending creepy fish with spiny legs to haunt your dreams with Gyo Volume 1 from Viz. Dan Polley sets off on Toto! The Wonderful Adventure Volume 1 from Del Rey. Sabrina Fritz finds a stray in Black Cat Volume 1 from Viz. And just to be odd man out, I have Muhyo and Roji’s Burea of Supernatural Investigation Volume 3 from Viz.

Then we do our Weekly Picks, which runs the gambit of card games, girls dressed as guys, vampires, bread making, and soul hunting. Come check out our choices.

And for the kids, the All Ages comics list is up at Good Comics for Kids. Come find some reading material for the coming summer vacation.

Phantom Volume 3
By Ki-Hoon Lee/Seung-Yup Cho
Publisher: Tokyopop

Genre: Action
Rating 13+
RRP: $9.99

Rating:
Reviewed by Brian Henderson

After K activates the untested Cerebus with the newly installed Aurora system, he takes on Kas Stein, the evil corporate warrior who has a mysterious past with Matilda the drill instructor in the skimpy outfit. We find that AIs like Cerebus aren’t very useful for fighting against experienced TC pilots, except this time when K and his mech sync perfectly and take out Kas at the last second. Everyone gets picked up just before the base self-destructs; K and Matilda are injured but will recover, but Kas, dragged out of his mangled TC, has lost his arm and likely his sanity.

As K and Sara and the other members settle into their new secret identities and wait for another mission to come up, K learns how the world came to be the way it is and how the mega-corps took over in the wake of the meteor shower. Suddenly, a new potential menace rears it’s head in the form of killer cyborgs and they’re apparently hunting a beautiful woman…

There are elements that start to bother me in this volume, especially where it starts to look like a harem show. K has everyone after him, from Lily’s mother to Matilda to Sara, the mech mechanic. We can’t forget Yura, K’s “friend” who is still recovering from her head injury, she’ll certainly want a shot at K when she wakes up. It’s not bad, at least not yet, and it’s nothing they try to hide, they even have Sara wondering why K’s gathering a harem, it’s just not something that I really like in a story.

The other thing that, while very minor, is just an artistic complaint. More and more in this issue, at least that I’ve noticed, the artist is putting in a lot of sound effects. Every drop of blood is labeled “drip”, every time someone makes a fist, it’s labeled “clench”. We as readers shouldn’t need to be told that, it should be conveyed through the art.

While going through some old ANN news feeds, I picked up a few news items I want to comment on:

DS Vision to go live in June: This just sort of passed right by in one of thier Daily Brief posts, but I want to give it more attention. This was first announced last November, and not it seems to be coming to fruition. Read the rest of this entry »

With Mother’s Day this Sunday, I thought I’d take a look at moms and the roles they play in manga. While we don’t get to see a lot of the parents in most teen manga, their presence, and sometimes absence can really affect the main characters development and actions. A parent can also drive the direction of the story.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve got something old, some new, something shojo, and lots of shonen this week at Manga Village! Dan Polley starts the festivities off with Suzuka Volume 7 from Del Rey. Then Charles Tan gets a little D Gray-Man Volume 8 from Viz Media, but he seems up to the challenge. John Thomas takes us back to an oldie from Dark Horse’s past with Reiko, the Zombie Shop Volume 1, but don’t let that scare you. ‘Cause it’s time to get wild with some Wild Ones Volume 2 from Viz Media. Sabrina Fritz finishes things off with Kurohime Volume 4 from Viz Media.

Over in the colums, we’ve got our picks for the week, with lots of suggestions, but only one recommendation. Hope you got your economic stimulus check, cause you’re going to need it!

Need something to keep the kids quiet so Mom has a peaceful Mother’s Day this Sunday? Then go to Good Comics for Kids and check out the new releases and picks for this week.

Kingdom Hearts Volume 1
By Shiro Amano
Publisher: Tokyopop

Rating: All Ages
Genre: Fantasy
Price: $5.99

Rating:

Storyline:

It’s about Sora, Donald and Goofy trying to destroy the Heartless. They go through space, and go through stories like Alice in Wonderland.

What did you like about the story?

I liked the characters Sora and Riku. I also liked it when this guy used a camera like the Kamehameha from Dragon Ball.

What didn’t you like about the story?

I was scared by Sora’s happy face. (Page 73) (Not really)

Would you recommend the story to other kids your age?

Yes.

Genju no Seiza Volume 4

By Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop
Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 16+
RRP: $9.99

Rating:

After a string of animal murders are discovered throughout town, Fuuto and his guardians vow to bring the killer to justice. But after the return of Sohki leads to a startling turn of events, the young king begins rethinking what justice really is. Also, what happens when Fuuto pays a visit to the mysterious new pet shop that just opened in Tokyo? Find out in this volume’s bonus story starring Pet Shop of Horrors’ Count D!

This volume is all about fathers and what it means to have great responsibility. Is helping people the right thing to do? Or should their destinies be left to fate? What is the true responsibility of a king?

Read the rest of this entry »

Phantom Volume 2
By Ki-Hoon Lee/Seung-Yup Cho
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: 13+
RRP: $9.99

Rating:

Reviewed by Brian Henderson

K agrees to work for the anti-corporation organization Athena, mostly because they promise to help his girlfriend recover if he does. He goes off to their training facility in the middle of the desert to prepare to fight against the mega-corporations, still not quite convinced that the people he’s fighting with aren’t just as much terrorists as those they fight against. Unfortunately, the mega-corps discover their secret base and launch an all-out attack to cut off the head of the serpent. K and his fellow trainees are left to defend the base and allow the civilians to escape and finally, K is reunited with Cerebus, the super TC that no one but him can operate.

As I said in my review of the first volume, there are elements very similar to Area 88 and that’s never more clear than when K arrives at the training facility. Not only do they have TCs but they have a wide range of fixed wing fighters that they train in and a very good scene where they’re attacked by F-22 Raptors. I was almost expecting to see them break into a rousing chorus of “How Far to Paradise”.

If it starts to sound far too familiar, that’s because it is. The book is drawn almost exclusively from the giant robot cliche playbook and anyone who has any kind of experience with mecha manga and anime won’t make any new discoveries here. I found myself wondering early on when he would meet the precocious little girl that he’d bond with and it wasn’t long until Lily showed up. Cue the “let’s put the little girl in danger” motif, followed closely by K’s impassioned cry “why do my friends keep dying in front of me!” All that was missing was K using a handgun to shoot fighter jets out of the sky. Oh wait, that was in there too.

I don’t want anyone to think any of this makes Phantom a bad book, it’s not. It’s just not original in any way and doesn’t pretend to be. However, in the absence of originality, it’s still a lot of good robot-on-robot action, filled with drama, just the right amount of humor and if you have the right mindset, all the unoriginal giant robot tropes will make you smile like it’s an inside joke.

This week, we not only try to entertain and spend your money, we’re gonna get you to get yer learn on! Our list of reviews starts off this week with some serious fallout in Nana Volume 9 from Viz by me. Sabrina Fritz takes a critical look at Buso Renkin Volume 8 also from Viz. Charles Tan has some video game action with King of Fighters 2003 Volume 4 from DR Masters. John Thomas has another Tezuka classic from Vertical Inc. with Dororo Volume 1. And Charles Tan also has a novel review from Viz Media with Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. Make with the clicky and find out what’s the best and worst of this week.

Over in our columns, John Thomas has a very interesting look at what it takes to be a translator in Japanese manga and novels, with A Peek into Translation Part 1?. And then we’ve got our picks for the week. You don’t want to miss what we’re looking forward to this week.