I haven’t done this for a while, and last month’s Previews had some tough choices for me, so I thought I’d talk about it a little. There were a lot of titles I collect/want that were up for ordering last month. It’s very hard to keep my numbers down when publishers do this to me. (Yes, I do think they are all out to get me.) It isn’t that publishers had a lot coming out. There were just a lot of publishers that had titles I wanted. Bandai, CMX, Del Rey, Tokyopop, Viz and Yen Press all had an average of 2 books. Well, except Viz who always has at least 5-7 alone that I want. Doing a quick tape of everything (less the Naruto wave I already said I would have to pass on), if I had ordered everything I read, it would have come to over $100, and that with my 30% discount! Even in a good economy, that’s a lot for one month! 15 titles in all!
“On the Third Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Three Sibling Cards,” Manami Minami decides to learn to play Chaos, a popular TCG. Her cousin Tamotsu, who also plays, takes her to the hobby store to by a starter pack. By a strange twist of fate, the pack she buys has an ultra-rare card in it, Sahgan, the Mighty Sorceror. Manami quickly becomes the target of other Chaos players who want to challenge her for Sahgan. With Tamotsu, her new friends from the card club, and Sahgan himself, who comes to Manami in her dreams to give her hints, she faces these challenges and grows as a player, while trying to balance her regular life. I got King of Cards because of the art and the premise sounded intriguing. I like a lot of game manga, such as Yu Gi Oh! Shadow Games, Legendz, and Hikaru no Go, so decided to give this one a chance. And am I glad I did! I have really enjoyed the shojo take on gaming manga. Manami is more interested in enjoying the game than just winning. Over the first couple of volumes, she gets a reason to get better, but…
King of Cards Volume 3 By Makoto Tateno Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: Are Manami’s grades slipping because of her dedication to her favorite card game? Her math teacher thinks so and threatens to tell her mother — unless she can beat him in a Chaos match! Also, a seemingly unbeatable player who actually hates Chaos is gunning for Manami. What’s this girl’s connection to Manami’s card-playing cousin Tamotsu? In this volume, there is plot development in two different directions. The first half of the volume continues the love triange between Manami, Tamotsu and Misa, with a revelation relating back to the last volume that makes this a true triangle. The second half returns to a plot point not seen since the first volume revolving around the Sahgan card.
It’s that time of year again when ghosts and goblins come out to play. Do you want to get into the Halloween spirit, but just don’t know what to get? Well, here’s a list of manga that I’ve either read, or know something about enough to recommend (or warn you away from). I first posted this on my Tokyopop blog, but I’m bringing here with a few updates. Well, I thought it was going to be just a few, but every time I start to think I’m done, I come up with another book! I tried to keep the books in this list to more appropriate to a Halloween theme, than just ghosts, vampires and monsters, etc. It would take forever to list ALL manga with those in it!
King of Cards Volume 2 By Makoto Tateno Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Game Price: $9.99 Rating: A lovesick Manami passes out when she sees the object of her affection with another girl. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the world of the cards, where matches aren’t simply imagined: players summon actual monsters and gods to do physical battle! Later, back in the real world, she must take on Japan’s number one Chaos player! Finally! My long awaited review of this book! At least, I hope someone’s been waiting for it. After much trial and tribulation, I finally got an error free copy of this title, and then after another long time, I finally read it. This volume turns up the romance, though it’s more unrequited love, and it’s only through the Chaos cards can any resolution be found.
This week, I decided to check out some of the new titles I’ve gotten recently. I’ll be doing full reviews of these later, but I just wanted to give some general impressions first. I read Two Flowers for the Dragon Volume 1, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Volume 1and Ghost Slayers: Ayashi Volume 1. Two Flowers for the Dragon I ordered because it is by Nari Kusakawa, who also also did The Palette of 12 Secret Colors which I enjoyed a lot, and the main character turns into a dragon. I love dragons, so, I decided to take a chance on this one, and I wasn’t disappointed. I really liked the characters, and Kusakawa-sensei’s art. It was a fun read, and the cliffhanger the volume ended on made me ready to read the next. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is from Bandai, and this first volume was released simultaneously with the anime, which might cause some confusion for people, as the manga doesn’t follow the anime perfectly. And that’s just fine by me. The manga hits the major scenes it needs to, but some were altered to fit a manga audience better, I think. There is more attention…
The Manga gods (ie publishers) smiled down on me in August. After having such a frustrating time with having to decide with books to cull in July, August orders (shipping in October) was too easy! I had to go through Previews twice just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. But, it was true! My usual manga order was just under $60, right at my goal! I was so shocked after July, I thought there had to be a mistake! But, it seems publishers needed a breather too. Or they’ve got another deluge planned for September-November, with the holiday buying season. In fact, our whole order was lighter, so I could add in a couple of titles! My Nana review copy run seems to have ended, so I made sure to order Nana 13. I have to find volume 12 now though. And I decided to get the next volume of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden 7. I got volume 6 as a review copy and really enjoyed the story! I’m late coming to the whole Fushigi Yugi thing. I’m waiting for the VizBIG volumes of Fushigi Yugi (which are due in Jan 2009!) to get caught up there. And, I…
The Palette of 12 Secret Colors By Nari Kusakawa Publisher: CMX Age Rating: E Genre: Fantasy/slice of life Price: $9.99 Rating: On the island of Opal live the world’s most colorful birds. The birds have attracted a school for aspiring “Palettes” – wizards who have the ability to borrow color from one object and paint its qualities on to another. Young Cello has the potential to be a great Palette, but she just can’t seem to control her power. As the end of freshman year approaches, she’s on the verge of failing, so she’s going to need all the help her bird Yoyo can provide. The Palette of 12 Secret Colors is the sort of book you would want to read on a summer day. It’s slice of life approach to Cello’s adventures on a tropical island makes for perfect light reading. It also makes for excellent reading for younger readers.
Gon Volume 1 by Masahi Tanaka Publisher: CMX Rating: Teen Genre: Action/Adventure Price: 5.99 Rating: What was the story about? It was about Gon and other animals. Gon sees a hyena, coyote, bob cat, lion, bears, fish and beavers. What did you like about the story? I liked the second story when Gon shares with the lion. I also like how Gon made his mansion. What did you dislike about the story? I hate it in the story with the baby eagles, when Gon can’t fly, because he is a dinosaur. I also hate Gon’s violence. Would you recommend this story to kids your age? No. There is too much violence
Gon: Volume 2 By Masashi Tanaka Publisher: CMX Genre: Action/Adventure Rating: Teen Price: $5.99 Rating: Storyline: Gon meets many animals, which were a Giant Tortoise, a Shark, Buffalo, a Hard Tick, a Warthog, Baboons, an Elephant, a Hedgehog, a Squirrel Monkey, a Tamandua, an Ocelot, and a whole bunch of Penguins! What I liked: I liked it when Gon chased the squirrel. I liked how angry Gon was drawn. I also liked how Gon played with the Penguins. What I didn’t like: I hated it when Gon gave one piece of a banana to the Shark and how he behaved. It was a bit violent. Would you recommend this to kids your age? Yes. It’s not too violent and Gon is cute!
The apocalypse is nigh, the end of the world is near, the impossible has happened. My local Barnes and Noble actually had a decently stocked manga section! (Cue dramatic chords). This weekend I decided to go out and see if I could find a physical copy of King of Cards Volume 2. I’m not getting this one again sight unseen. My youngest was going to a birthday party, so I thought after dropping her off, we could drive down to the nearest Borders, which is about 20 minutes away. A check of their stock online said they might have it in stock. I had already written off Barnes and Noble. The one by us always has really lousy selection and the shelves are badly maintained. But, on a whim, I checked out the B&N website, and they said our local one might have it as well. Well, B&N was on the way home, and a whole lot closer than Borders, so I decided to take the chance. (And, I had a gift card for B&N, just in case.) So, we stopped and went to the back of the store, and to my utter surprise, the shelves were full! OMG! (as…
Manami doesn’t know a thing about “Chaos”, a popular trading card game at school. Wanting to learn more about the game, she purchases a beginner’s set that contains “Sahgan the Sorcerer”, rarest of all Chaos cards. Now, not only does every fanatical Chaos player around challenge her, but she also starts having visions of Sahgan himself! King of Cards Volume 1 By Makoto Tateno Publisher: CMX Genre: Fantasy/Romance Age Rating: Teen Price: $9.99/OOP Rating: There are a lot of manga titles about games available, but this series differentiates itself from the rest by relying more on its characters than on the mechanics of the game. Manami just wanted to learn to play “Chaos,” so she could play with her cousin Tamotsu. But things become more complicated when her beginner’s set come with the rarest card in the game, Sahgan the Sorcerer. And as you might expect from a game series, she is then beset with challenges from players that all want to win Sahgan from her. And like all those other manga, she wins all the challenges. But what makes this series different is that Manami stays true to why she started playing Chaos; to have fun. Being a beginner…