Manga Xanadu

The awkward feelings between Louise and Bruce are growing, though it seems like Louise will never realize what’s going on in Bruce’s head. But when Bruce’s family runs into even more financial trouble and he needs money fast, a modeling competition may be the best–and most embarrassing–way to solve all his problems at once. Orange Junk Volume 2 By Heldrad Publisher: Chromatic Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romantic Comedy Price: $6.00/eBook – Free at Sparkler Monthly Rating: The second volume of Orange Junk starts a new arc that takes the characters out of school and into a modeling competition. The change of venue brings in new characters, including a rival for Louise’s affections, and plenty of new opportunities for comedy and drama. I really enjoyed this second volume, possibly more than the first. While the series does use the shojo tropes well, all the time spent at school was starting to drag. This volume changes that as the characters move into new environments. Bruce’s mother has to be hospitalized, and as the bread-winner with no insurance, it’s up to him to try to find a way to cover everything. Enter the male modeling competition with a cash prize for 1st place. While Bruce…

When Louise’s wealthy family loses everything, she has to pull herself up by her bootstraps and start over in a new high school – where the smartest boy is the meanest, and the hottest boy is the weirdest. But Louise needs tutoring, so the three become a team…and it’s heaven, hell, and everything in-between. Orange Junk Volume 1 By Heldrad Publisher: Chromatic Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romantic Comedy Price: $6.00/eBook – Free to read at Sparkler Monthly Rating: In general, I don’t care for the riches-to-rags stories. I don’t find financial hardship to be funny no matter who is writing it, so I had my doubts about Orange Junk when it was announced as a new addition to Sparkler Monthly. But I have a terrible case of curiosity and decided to check the series out on my lunch break at work. I ended up reading all 7 available chapters over lunch and break. Orange Junk spins an engrossing story filled with appealing characters and a story that balances the humor and drama just right. The protagonist of Orange Junk is Louise Barton. Her family used to be wealthy, but her father’s company went bankrupt and they lost everything. They move into…

This week I check out some of this week’s manga, some stories in the news, the Top Ten Department, and look at one of the problems OEL creators have with selling their work. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode71/MangaDomeEpisode71.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Nicholas Harker discovered he is heir to the legacy of an ancestor he never knew he had: Dracula. Under his progenitor’s evil influence, Nicholas has begun, with a vast fortune at his disposal, to rebuild Castle Dracula in the outskirts of Boston, leaving behind a wake of corpses. While the love of Jill Hawthorne seems to be the only thing that weakens Dracula’s hold over Nicholas, Mason Renfield realizes he must remove her from the picture, in order to usher in the full reemergence of his dark lord. But Jill’s new friend, the fiery wiccan Cate, has plans of her own—to destroy Nicholas and avenge her mother’s death. Story by Nunzio De Filippis & Christina Weir; Art by Rhea Silvan Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment Age Rating: Teen Genre: Supernatural Price: $10.99 Rating: After reading volume 1 of Dracula Everlasting, I had some doubts about the series. I was under the impression that Nick was to be the protagonist, but this volume proves that isn’t the case. Cate and to some extent Jill are the ones to really move the story. While I do like good, strong female characters, as Cate and Jill are portrayed, I imagined a different story in…

Three weeks into the new year and I’ve wrapped up my second series. Bizenghast is an eight volume series that was among Tokyopop’s first original titles, and was also the longest. I first discovered it when Tokyopop ran the first few chapters online. It’s a fantasy mystery series about a young girl, Dinah, who lost her parent when she was young. With her only friend Vincent, she discovers the Mausoleum, and accidentally enters into a contract with it, and must solve riddles to free trapped spirits. It’s a coming of age story for Dinah as she learns to live again and starts to become someone who can rely on herself. Both the story and the art are uneven, especially at the beginning, but improve as the story goes on. The improvement in the art is very telling, especially in the last volumes. I enjoyed watching Dinah’s journey overall, but did have some problems with it. It felt rushed at times and dragged at others. I would have liked to have seem more about Bizenghast’s past more in the first volumes, so that it doesn’t seem like a thrown on after thought at the end. I also didn’t really care for…

This week Digital Manga Publishing announced that their manga, starting with Vampire Hunter D, would be available on the digital comics site, Comixology. At first this sounded like good news, until I saw the pricing. Each volume on Comixology will cost $9.99.  This is only about $3, or 23%, off the print pricing. That didn’t seem like a very good deal to me, so I went looking around at other sites DMP has put VHD up on and checked the pricing.

With Tokyopop’s closing, a lot of attention has been paid to the loss of the Japanese licenses. Of course, this is what most manga fans are concerned with. The loss of such an extensive line, for what will probably be forever really hurts. But Tokyopop had another line of books that were actually doing quite well, that as a parent, I am acutely aware of losing; the HarperCollins YA adaptations.

Kyrian is an immortal Dark-Hunter who just lost his Dark-Hunter powers and along with it, his immortality. Now he is faced with the chance to regain not only his humanity, but his very soul. The problem is that it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Desiderius is closing in, and if Kyrian and Amanda are going to save humanity, Kyrian must take the war to his enemy–or it may be too late.

Did everyone have a good Halloween? Get lots of treats from Trick or Treating, or from your kids, as in our case? This week we have “big” announcements, digital manga, con reports, new licenses, new initiatives, and OEL manga.

Schools may lock up the the night, but class is in session for an entirely different set of students.  In the Nightschool, vampires, werewolves, and weirns (a particular breed of witches) learn the fundamentals of everything from calculus to spell casting.  Alex is a young weirn whose education has always been handled through homeschooling, but circumstances seem to be drawing her closer to the Nightschool.  Will Alex manage to weather the dark forces gathering? Nightschool: The Weirn Books Volume 1 By Svetlana Chmakova Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: Supernatural Price: $10.99 Rating: [May Contain Spoilers] Mystery, magic, and a little mayhem have always made for a good combination in a story.  Nightschool: The Weirn Books provides all of these elements in a way to make an intriguing world and a great cast of characters to live in it. The world of Nightschool is one divided between the normal, human world of the day, and the magical, supernatural-filled world of the night.  As is usual for this type of world, the daytime world is unaware of the nighttime world, while the reverse is the opposite.  The Nighttime world is filled with the usual suspects as well.  Vampires, witches, demons…

The End of Time in Japan Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ manga series will end serialization with the January issue of LaLa DX.  Haruka, which was licensed by Viz and was serialized in Shojo Beat until the magazine’s cancellation, is a reverse harem manga and based on a playstation game.  The series, which started in 2000 will end at 16 volumes.  Here in the US, Viz has released the first 6 so far.  Haruka was a series I enjoyed in Shojo Beat, but found the collected volumes to be less interesting.  It remains to be seen if the series can continue without the support of Shojo Beat.  I think it will be on a long release schedule.  It’s not a bad title, but it’s not a great one either.

Yokai…Japanese spirits.  Most people fear them, and a few people even hunt them, thinking they are horrible monsters to be destroyed at all costs.  But young Hamachi wants to be friends with them!  He sees them as mischievous creatures that could co-exist peacefully with humans if only given a chance.  When his grandmother dies under mysterious circumstances, Hamachi journeys into the Yokai realm.  Along the way, he encounters an ogre who punishes truant children, and angry water spirit, and a talking lantern.  Will Hamachi be able to find his grandmother’s killer, or will he be lost forever in another world? Yokaiden Volume 1 By Nina Matsumoto Publisher: Del Rey Manga Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Supernatural/Humor Price: $10.95 Rating: The plot of Yokaiden sounds very generic.  Orphaned hero goes off to another realm filled with monsters to avenge his grandmother’s death.  But Yokaiden turns out to be much more than it’s basic plot.  It’s a showcase for many of the strange and sometimes playful, sometimes dangerous creatures that make up Japanese folklore.  The interplay with these beings often overshadows the plot, and its clueless main character. Hamachi is your typical happy, often oblivious protagonist.  Despite losing his parents at  young age,…