Manga Xanadu

As I’ve described before, the Kindle has a lot of potential, but it seemed to be wasted in the 1.0 version. Well, apparently that wasn’t quite true. There is more potential in the Kindle, they just didn’t want you to see it. Fortunately, there are people out there who are never satisfied with what we’re given. I learned about this while listening to Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy podcast. Igor Skochinsky has a blog called Reversing Everything. He got a hold of a Kindle and decided to see what made it tick. Taking it apart both physically and hacking the software, he found some interesting programs residing in the Kindle, just out of reach of the user; a picture viewer, minesweeper game, and some GPS capabilities through the browsers. The program of interest to mangaphiles is of course the picture viewer. It allows for a “picture” folder to be created, and the pictures can then be loaded into a sub folder to create a “book” that will appear on the home screen. It’s a little slow at turning pages, but will view jpg, png, and gif. So if you read a lot of scanalations, this might be worth a try. A…

We’ve got another week of “something for everyone” at Manga Village! For the Manly Man, Dan Polley shoots out a review of Golgo 13 Vol 12 from Viz. For some sweet shojo goodness, Lissa Pattillo goes to the Yume Kira Dream Shoppe from Viz. Charles Tan continues the horror with Uzumaki Vol 2 from Viz while John Thomas takes a flight on All Nippon Airline: Paradise at 30,000 Feet for some Yaoi comedy from Digital Manga Publishing. I’ve got some good anti-hero action in Togari Vol 5 from Viz. 4 out of 5 reviewer prefer Viz Media this week. Over in the columns, we give our Picks for the week, and then Charles Tan explains Why he Loves Sports Manga. Come check out these and our other columns and reviews. Everyone’s welcome at Manga Village.

Dragon Drive Vol 3 by Keiichi Sakura Published by Viz Media Genre: Fantasy, Gaming Rating: All Ages Grade: B Storyline After a battle against Rokkaku, he joins Reiji and friends to compete in the Dragonic Heaven. As time goes on, Reiji meets two small children, Lyn and Sue, abusing a small water dragon, along with Chibi. Reiji battles their dragons and defeats them. Time goes on, his team meets the same two children, engulfed in darkness. After Reiji recovers from anger, He tries to save the children AND go to the next round. Review A new character! Okay but seriously, a new “fun” character to the series! In Volume 3 of Dragon Drive, we see Reiji and a powerhouse of Chibi, fueled with anger. There’re some mysterious people creating a dark aura. The tournament looks like quite a challenge. And the rest will be revealed. What I liked about it Angered Chibi looked really awesome. Huge teeth stuck out of his mouth and there was some pretty huge muscles. I also liked the suspense the manga held. I think it was pretty cool. What I didn’t like Berserker Reiji and Chibi kind of freak me out, even if they look…

There’s some good variety this week, ranging from old school favorites with Archie and Disney to new with Cartoon Network Block Party & Franklin Richards, the Marvel version of Calvin.

Oh! Pay me! (If you get that….) It that time of the month again. Yes, that’s right. It’s time to do my Previews order. It wasn’t so bad this time. Only eleven titles on my first count, and two weren’t too hard to drop. I had considered getting the title Kannazuki no Miko. It’s only two volumes longs, but it’s an “only if I’ve got nothing else to get”, and I’ve got more to get . The other was Good Witch of the West. That was a little harder to give up. The story was finally getting good. We’re out of the courts and into the wilds, facing the “dragons” (dinosaurs), and finally searching for the meaning behind the Star Queen. But the other titles that are scheduled to come out are more interesting to me. That takes me down to 9 titles, and a total of $60.72, right at the top of my limit. There are some new titles coming out in April that I’d like to read. Two are from Viz; Fairy Cube by Kaori Yuki. I’ve become a big fan of her work. And Record of a Fallen Vampire. I don’t know much about this series, but…

Hell Girl by Miyuki Eto; Original Story by The Jigoku Shoujo Project Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Horror/Shoujo Rating: OT 16+ (Teen 13+) Price: $10.95 Rating: I don’t get it. Someone really needs to explain this to me. What was so bad about Hell Girl Volume 1 from Del Rey? I just finished reading it, and can’t see any of the problems so many other reviewers seemed to have with it. I’ve seen the anime this manga is based on, and, on the whole, the first volume follows the first 4-5 episodes in it. There are some minor changes, such as Enma Ai is seen as a student at the schools the girls go to, instead of always waiting in her home with her “Grandmother” for a request to come through the computer. And in the anime, those that ask for Ai’s help get a straw doll with a red string around it’s neck. If they decide to make the contract with Ai, all they have to do is pull the string. Ai also gives those looking to make the contract a taste of what they will be getting after they die and go to hell. Other than those small…

You never know when or where he’s going to strike next…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Not Hikaru no Go! Please! Don’t take my Hikaru no Go!!! What in the heck is going on at Viz and Shonen Jump? Why do they keep doing this de-evolution? I can’t say enough how much I despise Bobobobo-Bobo, and how bad of an idea it was to put Bleach into it, but now, they’re taking my Hikaru no Go? Yeah, fine, great, I’m glad people will be getting their Slam Dunk dose every month, but quite honestly, I was NOT impressed with the preview. I don’t care that it’s one of the most popular manga in Asia, ever. Hikaru no Go is one the most popular manga with ME, and I don’t want to see it tossed out from the magazine! And don’t try to spin it like “Now it’ll come out more often.” to me. I was getting 1-2 chapters every month, and that was just fine with me. I don’t need to buy another volume every couple of months. I get Shonen Jump so I can read those series’ without the added cost or space taken up! I mean, of all the manga they’ve got in there, why Hikaru? Why not that abomination that is Bobobobo-Bobobo?…

Not to be left out, my husband Brian is contributing reviews of the manga he reads as well. The infection is spreading… Junk: Record of the Last Hero Volume 1 By Kia Asamiya Publisher: DrMaster Publications Rating: 15+ RRP: $9.95 Rating: Reviewed by Brian Henderson Hiro is a troubled high school student who has refused to go to school ever since he had a terribly traumatic fight with the school bullies. One day, he happens across a website looking for a monitor for a revolutionary new product called only “JUNK”. Once he receives his “JUNK” though, his life will never be the same. JUNK turns out to be a super-powered suit of armor that allows Hiro to do things beyond his wildest dreams. Just one problem, his dreams turn out to be anything but heroic, in fact his dreams are very selfish and self-serving, causing problems not only for the people in the city where he lives, but for those closest to him. Add to that the mysterious appearance of another JUNK suit who isn’t too happy with his he’s chosen to live his new life… My biggest problem with most superhero comics these days is I find them ridiculously…

Horror, fantasy, ninjas, cars and some BL are all waiting for you at the Manga Village! This week, Charles Tan gives his take on Uzumaki Vol 1 from Viz. Dan Polley, another new addition (Yay!) brings the tale of ninjas in love with Tail of the Moon Vol 8 from Viz. Lissa Pattillo has some sweet boy lovin’ with You and Harujion from June/DMP.  Finally, it’s me with some magical land romping in Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden vol 6 from Viz. Over in our columns, John Thomas throws his hat into the debate and asks “What is Manga?” Check it out, and then tell us what you think in the comments section. We love to get comments. Then we give our Weekly Picks in Pick ‘n’ Mix, and a little news in our new News column. Thanks for dropping by and enjoy your stay!

There’s a lot of comics for teens and adults, and there’s a lot of manga for teens and adults. But what about the kids to ‘tweens? There’s not a lot, but they are out there. Starting this week, I’m going to be listing these books, and spotlighting the ones I recommend. ARCHIE COMICS Archie #582, $2.25 Archie Double Digest #186, $3.69 Veronica #187, $2.25 BONGO Simpsons Comics #139, $2.99 DC COMICS/CMX Cartoon Network Action Pack #22, $2.25 MAD Kids #10, $4.99 MAD Magazine #487, $4.99 Palette Of 12 Secret Colors Vol 02, $9.99 **Spotlight** Scooby Doo #129, $2.25 IMAGE COMICS Lions Tigers & Bears TP Vol 02, $14.99 **Spotlight** JACK LAKE PRODUCTIONS INC Classic Illus Jr #505 Sleeping Beauty, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #506 Three Little Pigs, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #507 Jack & The Beanstalk, $5.99 Classic Illus Jr #510 Little Red Riding Hood, $5.99 Classics Illustrated Frankenstein, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Gullivers Travels, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Huckleberry Finn, $9.99 Classics Illustrated Tale Of Two Cities, $9.99 MARVEL COMICS Marvel Adventures Avengers #21, $2.99 Marvel Adventures Two-In-One #8, $4.99 PAPERCUTZ Classics Illustrated HC Vol 01 Great Expectations, $9.95 Hardy Boys GN Vol 12 Dude Ranch O Death, $7.95 Hardy Boys…

Warning: The following contain spoilers for Nana Volume 8. This last week I posted a review at Manga Village of Nana Volume 8. In it, I wrote that I wished Viz had waited until after this volume to move Nana to a Mature rating. The manga started serialization in Shojo Beat, and was rated Older Teen (16 and +) to match the magazine’s rating. After 7 volumes, Nana was “graduated” from Shojo Beat to be published straight to graphic novel with the higher Mature rating. Dirk Deppey of Journalista in his Feb. 8, 2008 blog entry was quick to point to a love scene as the reason, which other than one frame, was identical to every other love scene in the previous 7 volumes. Sorry. That doesn’t cut it for me. There has to be more to it than just one frame. I believe the reasons it was taken out was for the very reasons I think I should have stayed in; the subject matter. With this volume, Nana starts to get into some serious subjects; pregnancy, abortion, having a child out of wedlock and marriage for convenience instead of love. Everything starts out as usual. NanaK. has broken up…