Manga Xanadu

ANN has two news stories today that make me go “Want Want Want Want!” Two new manga series are starting, or more accurately, re-starting in Japan. And there’s probably a better chance of a snowball fight happening in hell before we see either of them in English. Kindaichi Case Files is a murder mystery series that was originally licensed by Tokyopop. They released 18 volumes and then put the series on hiatus. Then Kodansha yanked the license back, along with all their other titles, leaving fans (few as we may have been) sad and bereft. Another 18 volumes of manga exist that we will probably never see in English since the first attempt did so poorly. Though, I would lay some of that blame on Tokyopop, as they did not market the manga very well. Now, as the series turns 20, the title is returning to the pages of Weekly Shonen Magazine with the same writer and artist team. It was bad enough that I had to lament not being able to read the original series, but now there will be MORE that I won’t be able to read?! Kodansha! Bring back Kindaichi Case Files! Even if you just pick…

So, you’ve seen the movie Thor, and you hunger for more Norse Gods mischief, but you’re not looking for get buried in decades of superhero back log? Worry not my manga-mythology loving friend! There is a manga out there that does just that….it’s just not licensed.

Say what you will about scanlations, there is one thing they do really well, and that is to be an eye catcher. Just like the billboards along the sides of freeways, the right title or group name can draw a potential reader in. Case in point: I was over at Baka-Updates Manga when I found the title Pet Diary. Always being interested in titles about pets and looked at the description. There wasn’t much to it.  There is a school where they only way to be accepted into the dormitory is to adopt a pet. This title follows four students who adopt different pets in order to stay in the dormitory. Looking over the first few chapters, it looks to be a pretty fun title. In the first four chapters, we are introduced to the four main characters and their animals of choice, a hamster, a rabbit, an older dog and a cat. How they came to choose their particular animal (or human) is funny in and of itself, and the pairings are very appropriate. The series is from Korea and is a webcomic, or webtoon as they are known there. I really liked what I saw in the first…

Finally getting to read another Ai Yazawa series and seeing how connected her characters are in her world, really makes me crave more! There are at least 3 of her previous titles that I would love to see licensed, two in her shared universe and one with a supernatural twist. Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai – This series was originally serialized in Ribon magazine starting in 1991 and was the beginning of the shared universe that would soon grow. It’s a high school slice of life/romance about Midori Saejima and Akira Sudo that chonicles their four years in school, both their relationship and adventures with friends. Seeing how addicting Nana is with young adults as the leads, I would love to see what she does with teens.  This title kicks off what becomes a series of connected titles through its characters without being a sequel or focusing on the characters. It’s 8 volumes and in 1994 got an anime OVA adaptation. It’s the start of Yazawa’s world, where characters get to roam and mess with each other in and out of the stories. Gokinjo Monogatari – David Welsh of Manga Curmudgeon has already made a plea for this series, but I’d…

One of the fun things about writing this blog is the little surprises that pop up unexpectedly.  I stumbled onto this title while researching Yuu Watase for my Noted Women of Manga post.  Appare Jipangu! is a short series, only 3 volumes long.  It was published straight to tankoban form instead of being serialized in a magazine.  It ran from 1998-2003, at about the same time as Watase’s more popular series Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres: Celestial Legend). Yusura was abandoned as a baby and was found under a cherry tree with the Kogoumaru, a staff that turns blue when it is around people who are sad.  Fifteen years later, Yusura is now known as the Hikeshiya, or “extinguisher of sorrow”.  She wields the Kogoumaru to take away people’s sorrow and redirect it at the people who caused it. What make this series sound so appealing to me is that it’s a lighthearted adventure with the romance secondary to the story the story.  The characters might seem typical for a manga.  Yusura is hot-headed and tomboyish, and Samon, a guy she rescues from assassins, is practically blind with out his glasses, often mistaking objects for Yusura.  But the whole set up…

Many of my manga wish list titles come from anime.  Since so many anime are based on a manga, this can be a quick and easy way to find the good titles, assuming the anime stays close to the manga.  And that’s exactly what I hope for this title.

Since I started the week with a Kaori Yuki title, let’s stay with that theme.  And since vampires are all the rage this year, let’s make it a vampire manga.  Yorugata Aijin Senmonten – DX aka Blood Hound is a one shot volume that was serialized in Hana to Yume from January 2003 to June 2004. Blood Hound is about Rion, a loudmouthed teenager who goes to a host club full of vampires looking for her best friend.  She believes the vampires are behind her friend’s disappearance, as well as of those around the neighborhood.  During her investigation, she begins to befriend them, including their leader, Suou.  He believes that Rion is the re-incarnation of Ellone, “the one with the purest blood”, and a woman he once loved.  A romantic relationship starts to develop between the pair.  The volume ends with Rion discovering who is behind the disappearances. This title was made into a J-Drama as well, called Vampire Host, that ran on TV Tokyo from April to June, 2004.  It went for 12 1/2 hour episodes, which made 6 1 hour stories.  It’s loosely based on the manga, and has a much more humorous vibe to it.  Suou isn’t…

I make no bones about it.  I love cats.  I will read just about any manga that has cat in it, even that peripherally revolves around them.  What’s Michael, Free Collar Kingdom, Cat Paradise, even Backstage Prince, Dragon Ball and Ranma 1/2 that only have supporting characters that are cats I’ll read and enjoy.  But there just isn’t nearly enough to sate my appetite for titles about the four-footed furries.  Vertical’s license of Chi’s Sweet Home is a BIG win, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Viz’s Natsume’s Book of Friends.  But then, over on Twitter, Deb Aoki had to start showing off her cat manga purchases from Japan. Neko Mocchiri is a 1 volume collection about a 20-something and her cat, and was published in Ikki. Junjo Ito’s Cat Diary is also a 1 volume collection, and looks cool in a weird way. Nekoe Juubee Otogi Soushi is two volume so far and is about a painter and his yokai cat companion. And I want to read them all!  Especially Nekoe Juubee, since I love yokai so much, and yokai cats all the more!  Ed Chavez commented: There is a saying in the Japanese manga world……

I learned about this title from a review on a podcast of the live action j-drama tv series.  My husband and I watched the j-drama and enjoyed it a lot.  It’s 11 episodes and was filled with great action and dramatic scenes, and lots of unexpected twists to keep the story moving.  Having enjoyed the j-drama, I had to find out about the manga. The manga, complete at 11 volumes, is about Fujimaru Takagi, a second year high school student and member of the Newspaper Club.  Unknown to everyone but his father, the PSIA (Public Security Intelligence Agency) and the newspaper club, Fujimaru is also known as Falcon, a prodigy hacker who exposes corrupt people’s crimes to make them pay.  The series starts with Fujimaru being recruited by the PSIA to help them decode a memory stick that may have information on an incident in Russia where a segment of the population was killed off by a possible poison gas.  And that gas may be now in Japan. The story follows Fujimaru as he gets pulled further into the investigation and conspiracy.  His father is accused of murdering his superior.  A teacher at his school is trying to stop him…

A quick glance through the manga solicitations for this month revealed a title I’ve been waiting quite a while for.  I first learned about this series when I heard about the anime.  The first series ran in 2008 in Japan, and went 13 episodes.  The premise and the picture of a fat, rolly-polly cat on the series’ promotional art got me interested.

ANN has reported that the Japanese supernatural mystery manga, Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro will end this month.  Starting in 2005, it’s racked up 21 volumes.  The only thing I want to know, is WHEN ARE WE GONNA GET THIS?! I’m a professed lover of supernatural and mystery manga, so where there’s one that combine these two great tastes, I want to taste them together.  I’ve seen some of Nogami.  The anime was fansubbed, and being a mystery series, I had to check it out.  And I loved it.  Neuro is a demon who eats mysteries.  The stranger the mystery, the better the taste.  He teams up with (enslaves more accurately, he is a demon after all) a high school girl Yako Katsuragi.  She loves to eat, and has an unsolved mystery about the death of her father.  Neuro will help her solve the mystery if he can eat it.  Neuro uses Yako as his “public face”.  He solves all the mysteries, and she takes the credit.  They are joined by Godai Shinobu, a yakuza who is roped into working for Yako and Neuro after he wins a bet and takes over the Yakuza’s small office, and Akane, a disembodied braid…

Some company needs to step up to plate and rescue the City Hunter manga from license hell. This series, written and drawn by Hojo Tsukasa, ran in Shonen Jump from 1985-1992, and has a total of 35 volumes. It’s about Ryo Saeba, a sweeper, or gun for hire, working in Tokyo. He is known as The City Hunter, the best shot in the Underground World, where he worked as an assassin for my years before becoming sweeper. Now, he works with a partner, Kaori Makimura, who is the younger sister of his former partner, Hideyuki Makimura. Hideyuki died, and asked Ryo to take care of Kaori. Together, they take on work to help people as body guards or private detectives. And even though he is wanted by the police, he sometimes helps out Saeko Nogami, a pretty detective wtih Tokyo Metro Police. There is alot of action in this manga, and lots of sharp shooting from Ryo, making nearly impossible shots to save the day. Ryo is a well muscled, good looking man, and the women are all shapely beauties. Sound like a typical shonen series? Well, it isn’t! This series is freaking hysterical!! What makes City Hunter so funny?…