Mamotte! Lollipop Volume 4 By Michiyo Kikuta Publisher: Del Rey Manga Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $10.95 Rating: The Magic Exams have arrived and changes are on the way. Nina will no longer have the cute boys Zero and Ichi to look after her. What’s a girl to do–perhaps go out for a lollipop? But which flavor should she choose? It’s the end of the Magic Exams, and everyone and their brother (or sister) is after Zero and Ichi. Nina finally gets the potion to remove the Crystal Pearl, but because she doesn’t want to be separated from Zero and Ichi, chooses not to drink it. She has second thoughts as the competition stiffens. She stays with them to end though, with new complications arising. The light-hearted romance of the last volume gets tossed out the window, as the final days of the Magic Exam grow closer. The first half of this volume shows that the Magic Exam isn’t supposed to the game the first three volumes made it out to be. Examinees get tougher, and no one is pulling punches. The entire end of the Magic Exam feels completely different from the story so far, and very out…
Phantom Volume 5 By Ki-Hoon Lee/Seung-Yup Cho Publisher: Tokyopop Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Action/Mecha Price: $9.99 ISBN: 9-781598-167740 Rating: K and his team, after their all-out battle against Iron, are left battered and bloody. Dison calls in the Solbalow, Athena’s flying aircraft carrier to evacuate the crew when they’re suddenly under attack by Iron forces. They barely manage to escape to their base in Guam. Once he awakens, K is told where his power came from, apparently the Meteor Shower wasn’t actually a meteor shower, it was a shower of alien nano-symbiotes that invade the human body and grow in the brain. Those who cannot handle their symbiote die, the others can develop special powers, like K’s ability to imitate or react to anyone else’s battle tactics. Dison and Eaimi, on the other hand, are products of Iron’s Ice Project, altered human beings just like the female cyborg found by Eric. We jump ahead one year and the tide has turned against Iron. Repeated attacks by Athena and Rynus Corporation have cost them not only land but public opinion but Iron has a few tricks up it’s sleeve. First, the return of Colonel Kas Stein, now a cyborg in his…
The Big Adventures of Majoko Volume 1 By Tomomi Mizuna Publisher: Udon Entertainment Age Rating: All Ages Genre: Fantasy Price: $7.99 ISBN: 1897376812 Rating: While cleaning her room, a young girl named Nana finds a mysterious diary. As soon as she opens it, out pops Majoko, a rambunctious wizard girl from the Land of Magic! Together, these two girls explore a fantastic world full of magic spells, wondrous creatures, and endless surprises. Every day is a big adventure when Majoko is around! The Big Adventures of Majoko has ever thing to please a young girl; easy to relate to characters and stories that are filled with fun and adventure. The simplistic and self-contained stories are perfect for the emerging to chapters reader, but don’t expect to see it in the hands of many over the age of 10.
Gimmick! Volume 1 By Youzaburou Kanari Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: T+ (Older Teens) Genre: Action Price: $9.99 ISBN: 1-4215-1778-7 Rating: In 1986, the movie F/X, starring Bryan Brown as special effects maestro Rollie Tyler and Brian Dennehy as Lt. Leo McCarthy came out, followed by F/X 2 in 1991. It was so popular that they made a TV series out of it in 1996 which ran for 40 episodes. Now we get the manga adaptation… wait, it isn’t? Could have fooled me. Gimmick is the story of Kohei Nagase and his crew at Studio Gimmick, a small special effects house that seemingly does work for just about everyone. Kohei is a makeup wizard that can do just about anything with his silver spatula and people come to him from far and wide for his expertise. Kohei and his sidekick, stuntman Kannazuki, move from job to job, and rescue the odd actress along the way, as Kohei tries to become the ultimate special effects man. It’s really impossible not to compare Gimmick to F/X, especially when in the back of the manga, Youzaborou Kanari tries desperately to take credit for the whole idea. He says he came up with the…
Mamotte! Lollipop Volume 3 By Michiyo Kikuta Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Romance, Comedy Age Rating: Teen 13+ Price: $10.99 ISBN: 0-345-49667-6 Rating: Nina’s in love – but who’s the lucky boy? After all, what girl could choose between Zero and Ichi? They’re both wizards, and they’re both supercute! When a matchmaking witch slips Nina a love potion, will the magic spell help Nina choose her soul mate? It’s almost been six months since Nina swallowed the Crystal Pearl and the end of the magic exam is fast approaching. Examinees are still popping in, and Nina still can’t decide between Zero and Ichi. But it’s not like everyone isn’t trying to help her along… This volume starts with a staple of romance plots; the love potion. Nina accidentally pours it into lunch and everyone but Ichi falls for her. Only the kiss from someone who’s had the potion can break it, so she has to kiss Zero? Then Zero’s “fiancé” becomes an examinee just to try and get Zero to love her and puts a spell on him and Nina that will turn them into animals unless Zero agrees to go back with her. The last chapters have Nina getting…
Being carried around everywhere and having handsome Megumi act like a slave may seem ideal, but Suzuka just wishes he would stop. Can anything be done about Megumi’s captive state? Or is Megumi doomed to see Suzuka as his master…forever? Captive Hearts Volume 1 By Matsuri Hino Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance/Comedy Price: $8.99 Rating: Long ago, a thief named Kuroneko-maru stole a family heirloom of a samurai family, the “Scroll of the Rising Dragon”. When he tried to read it, the guardian dragon appeared and cursed Kuroneko and all of his descendants to a life of servitude to the Kogami family. Megumi Kuroishi, a descendant of Kuroneko, has lived most of his life not knowing about the curse, as the Kogami family was believed dead in China while on a trip. But, the daughter of the Kogami, Suzuka, appears and returns, and the curse kicks in, making for much comedy and the stirrings of some romance…maybe? Captive Hearts is first and foremost a comedy. Megumi’s sudden “Manservant fits” can be funny, hitting him suddenly, and making him obsess over Suzuka even when he’s not with her. Reverting him back to normal usually…
Orange Crows Volume 1 By: James Perry II and Ryo Kawakami Publisher: Tokyopop Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Fantasy Price: $10.99 Rating: Five years ago, a young witch named Cierra broke the one unforgivable law of the witch society: attempting to create her own magic. Her unlawful tampering burned down a research room and injured the Mayor’s daughter, Cierra’s best friend. As punishment, she was exiled to the Wilderness, a barren wasteland crawling with witch-devouring Fairies and the bloodthirsty Forsaken…After surviving for five ruthless years, her exile has now ended, and she has been ushered back to civilization, only to discover that the world around her has changed greatly. Will Cierra be able to adjust back to a society that abandoned her? And if her freakish new ability that links her to the terrifying Fairies is discovered, she may not be let off with mere exile this time… Orange Crows is a new OEL manga from Tokyopop. I really knew nothing about it, and the cover didn’t intrigue me in anyway, but with a link to read the whole volume for free coming in my email, I decided to check it out.
Zombie Powder Volume 2 By Tite Kubo Publisher: Viz Media; Shonen Jump Advanced Rating: T+ (Older Teen) Genre: Action Price: $7.99 Rating: We meet Wolfina Lalla Getto, a self-described “journalist of justice” who has been responsible for toppling various criminal organizations in her illustrious career. She’s got a peculiar choice of weapons, a camera tripod, with which she is very effective. However, when Gamma Akutabi rescues her from a camera-shoot gone wrong, he gets the idea that she might know where one of the Rings of the Dead might be, especially when he finds out that her younger brother Emilio lies in a coma, the sure sign, he thinks, of their knowlege of the rings. Supposedly, the Rings of the Dead can turn innocent victims into mindless vegetables by feeding off their life force.
Hunter x Hunter Volume 16, 17, 18 By Yoshihiro Togashi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Action Price: $7.99 Rating: These three volumes finish up the Greed Island arc (thankfully), though in retrospect it wasn’t as bad as it could be. Volume 16 continues “The Bomber” arc within Greed Island that was started in Volume 15. Genthru and his team has 96 and only need 4 more to win the game. Several teams of hunters, including Gon’s gather to come up with a way to stop Genthru. They decide to get a card no one else has and keep it from them. By creating a team of 15 they can activate the quest. After gathering the requisite number (including Hisoka), they reach the challenge of a killer dodgeball game. Volume 17 finishes the game, and starts the war between Genthru’s team and the winners of Plot of the Beach card. There’s more training for Gon and Killua while Tsezguerra’s team buys them time to come up with a strategy to beat Genthru. Volume 18 is the final three-on-three battle between Genthru’s team and Gon’s, and the end of the Green Island arc.
A Samurai during Japan’s Warring States period (1467-1573), Daigo Kagemitsu wants complete control over Japan. He promises his unborn son’s 48 body parts to demons in exchange for that control. When the baby is born deformed, Daigo throws the newborn into the river to die, but it is miraculously found by a doctor, Jukai, who makes prosthetics for the child and adopts him as his own. When the boy Hyakkimaru is grown, he leaves home and begins a journey to recover his body parts. Along the way he runs into a brash young thief, Dororo, whom he teams up with; together they battle demon and monster on their adventure to reclaim Hyakkimaru’s wholeness. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical Inc. Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action/Adventure Price: $13.95 Rating: Dororo, first serialized in 1967, can be seen as a proto-shonen story. It has many of the elements we now see in shonen titles today, though these were new at the time. Tezuka spins a memorable supernatural action/adventure tale and characters that really draw you in, and only disappoints at the very end, though not in story, but lack of it. The first volume of this title is the introduction. Tezuka jumps from…
One of the regulars at Suguri’s pet shop finds out that his precious little French bulldog, Zidane, has a weight problem! He tried everything from diet food to yoga and even an exercise machine to help the little guy lose that doggy fat! Could someone else be feeding him, too?! By Yukiya Sakuragi Publisher: Viz Media Genre:Animal/Drama Age Rating: Older Teen Price: $9.99 Rating: Dog lovers rejoice! It’s another volume of dogs and their owners doing doggie things. Then for the second half of the volume, there’s a new plot stirring up, that could be the end of Woofles and the gang. The first half of this volume is all about Hiroshi Akiba, an otaku-goverment worker, and his bulldog Zidane. Zidane was teased by Chizuru about his weight, so Akiba decided to do something about it. He buys low-calorie dog food, he stops buying treats and even gets a doggie treadmill! This story is mildly amusing, though it has all the typical trappings and pitfalls of a diet storyline. The story of how Lupin, Suguri’s mutt, got his name is mildly amusing too. The source isn’t all that surprising, nor why she chose. This story really just seems to fulfill…
“I’m going to uncover the mystery of the ‘Blade Children’.”…World-class detective Kiyotaka Narumi’s last words prior to his sudden disappearance continue to haunt his younger brother, Ayumu. The cheeky 10th-grader becomes equally embroiled in the mystery of the doomed “Blade Children” when he is mistaken for the prime suspect in a murder at his school. Led by Ayumu’s sister-in-law, Kiyotaka’s wife and fellow detective, Madoka, the investigation into the murder gives Ayumu a chance to clear his name. But in doing so, he not only uncovers ties to the Blade Children but also more questions than answers about who and what they are. Story by Kyo Shirodaira; Art by Eita Mizuno Publisher: Yen Press Genre: Mystery Rating: Teen Price: $10.99 Rating: Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning is a title that started out as a novel and was then turned into both a manga and an anime series. This first volume introduces us to the main characters and the overarching mystery of the “Blade Children”, with individual mysteries giving us the pieces to the larger one. Ayumu Narumi is a 10th grader at a private high school, and brother to Kiyotaka Narumi, a world-class pianist in his teens and a “Great…