Manga Xanadu

Sachie Wakamura just lost her mother, and her estranged grandfather has shown up to take care of her. The only problem is that Grandpa is the head of a yakuza gang! Sachie tries to continue living her normal life, but she can’t run far since Rakuto, one of the most popular guys in school, is part of her grandfather’s gang and her new protector. Soon, Sachie finds herself falling for her bodyguard. But she’s the granddaughter of Rakuto’s boss, so he can never show his feelings for her. Can Sachie find a way to fit into her new family and seize her chance at romance? Wild Ones Volume 1-10 By Kiyo Fujiwara Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Comedy Price: $8.99-9.99 USD Rating: When I first read the first two volumes of Wild Ones, I liked it. It wasn’t amazing or groundbreaking in any way, but it seemed fun and the characters interesting. Then I binge-read the entire series. It unfortunately lost its charm pretty quickly as it fell into a rut of the same romance clichés and no character building. Wild Ones follows Sachie Wakamura, the unknowing granddaughter of a Yazuka gang. After her mother dies suddenly, Sachie…

Shogakukan’s Monthly Flowers magazine announced in its March issue that Yuu Watase will be launching a new manga in the Fushigi Yugi universe. Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Ibun, or Fushigi Yugi: The Curious Tales of Byakko, will start in the next issue due out at the end of February. It will have a color first page and will be featured on the cover. Little is known about the story, other than it is about the Priestess of Byakko, the White Tiger of the West, and the only Priestess whose story hasn’t been told. While the announcement said the chapter in February would “begin” a new series, Yuu Watase said on her blog that the manga wasn’t going to be a full story. This implies that it will either be a one-shot or a short story containing several chapters. I hope it’s the latter, for two reasons; 1) A one shot will only tell a sliver of the Priestess of Byakko’s story, and 2) several chapters can become a volume and more likely to get licensed and released. I don’t want to see a one-shot end up in a volume of Arata, assuming it starts up again. I don’t need one volume of…

It’s a small week for only being the second of the month. Hey, Dark Horse is still publishing manga! It’s kind of surprising considering how rarely volumes pop up. I see merchandise more often than manga, and had forgotten they were even publishing Blood Blockade Battlefront, from Yasuhiro Nightow, the creator of Trigun.  I was never interested in reading either. Volume 7 is out this week. They also have the omnibus of the re-release of Samurai Executioner Volume 4 by Kazuo Koike, who is associated with Dark Horse in the same way Naoki Urasawa is associate with Viz Media. The jewel of the releases this week comes from Vertical Comics, as can be expected. This week they have the second volume of Prophecy, the cyber crime investigation, social media vengeance title you didn’t know you should be reading. Well, you’ve now been given notice. It’s only three volumes long, and comes out of the gate punching. It’s a title that will hook you from the first chapter. In honor of Valentines Day this week, Kodansha releases the sixth volume of Say I Love You, a teen romance filled with all the uncertainty and doubt teens feel about themselves and their feelings….

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Viz Media has announced several licenses, with a bit of “something old, something new” to them. Three of the titles are Tokyopop rescues for the Viz Select line, and two are brand new licenses from mangaka who have already had titles released in the West to quite a bit of success. From Tokyopop, Viz Media continues their CLAMP releases with two of their titles returning; The One I Love and Wish. The One I Love is a one-volume collection of 12 short stories that tell stories about the many sides of love.  All of the stories are told from a woman’s perspective, and deal with the doubts, insecurities and ultimately the joy of love. It sounds like a fun series, though perhaps best taken in smaller doses. The romance may get monotonous, even for romance lovers. It will be released February 10th. Wish is a four volume series that follows Shuichiro, who after saving an angel, Kohaku, from a tree one moonlight night, is offered a wish as a reward. Shuichiro refuses the wish, saying he can get what he wants on his own. But he and the angel soon find out there are…

All good things must come to an end, and several of the titles on this week’s list are doing just that. Viz Media has a huge catalog of titles, and most of those titles have an end. This week, we see four of them. Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan has been following third generation Yokai Yakuza Rikuo, and with volume 25, we see his story come to an end. It took a while for me to get into Nura, but I really started to enjoy the story at around volume 8. I’ll have to get back to finish it some day. High School Debut gets to end a second time, as the 3-in-1 omnibus editions roll out with Volume 5 which includes volumes 13-15. This series had its moments, but was never a favorite for me. Viz is also one of the few publishers taking a chance on josei titles, and two of them end this week as well. Honey Blood is a short-lived vampire romance series, but this volume, Tale Zero is filled with short stories that may (or may not) help the abrupt ending of the original two volumes. Happy Marriage!? finally comes to an end at…

Shokakugan’s Monthly Cheese! is announcing in their March issue out today that mangaka Rei Toma is starting a new manga titled Suijin no Hanayome, Bride of the Water God. This new title has the same name and basic premise as the Korean manhwa being published by Dark Horse here in the US. A young girl is chosen as a sacrifice to the water god by her village to appease him. I’m intrigued by this announcement. There are often titles that follow the same basic premise, and Bride of the Water God really is pretty basic, but it’s rare that you get them also using the same name. Of course Toma’s title may be completely different, especially with the characters and plot beyond the premise. But the similarities are far too close to avoid comparison. I wonder if this series does well, if Viz will consider bringing it over. Viz just finished Toma’s other series, Dawn of the Arcana in September, and it certainly got a lot of buzz among fans and critics online. I don’t think Bride of the Water God has done well for Dark Horse, but that could be because of demographic, and not necessarily the title. I’ll give…

It’s a new year with plenty of new manga to check out. There is a nice mix of titles this week in both shonen, shojo and the young reader demographics. Dark Horse releases the first volume in the sequel/continuation of the CLAMP series Legal Drug with Drug and Drop omnibus coming out. Viz’s kid imprint, Perfect Square has new Pokèmon, Adventures and Black and White. I’ve only just caught up with Vertical Comics’ What Did You Eat Yesterday Vol 4-5, and now I’ve got 6 breathing down my neck! Kodansha has the fifth volume of a shojo series I really enjoy, Say I Love You. I have vols 3-4 stacked up, so with vol 5 I can indulge in another binge read. This is always good and bad. I love getting big doses of my favorite titles, but then it’s a long wait for the new volume! This is Viz Media’s big shonen and shojo week, but it’s not as big usual. The Akira Toriyama One-shot Jaco the Galactic Patrolman finally makes it’s digital and print debut. Joining it is the new shojo title Meteor Prince Vol 1. I wasn’t wowed by the premise of Meteor Prince but those who…

I’ve been looking forward to Yukarism ever since it was announced back in February. But then, I’m always looking forward to a new Chka Shiomi title. I love her works Yurara and Rasetsu from Viz, and Canon from CMX. While the premise of gender-bending and past lives doesn’t thrill me, I’ll trust Shiomi to provide a title I’ll enjoy. TRAVEL BACK TO EDO-ERA JAPAN WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE SEXY NEW SHOJO MANGA SERIES YUKARISM FROM VIZ MEDIA  Dreamy Historical Romance Depicts A Teenage Writer’s Extraordinary Past Life As A Courtesan In Edo-era Japan; New Series From The Creator Of YURARA And RASETSU Debuts In Print And Digitally!!  San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, entices shojo manga (graphic novel) readers with the print and digital launch of the new series – YUKARISM – on December 2nd. The nostalgia-tinted historical romance comes from creator Chika Shiomi, who is widely known among manga fans for her series YURARA and RASETSU (both available from VIZ Media). YUKARISM will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint and is rated ‘T’ for Teens. Print MSRP will be $9.99…

Indulge your love of supernatural romance with this new series from Viz Media. I wasn’t too keen on the license when it was originally announced back in February, but I’ve been wrong before. Keep reading to see if you feel it’s a must get next week. VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES NEW PARANORMAL SHOJO MANGA SERIES KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS  A Mystical Girl Brings Forth Four Magical Knights To Help Her On A Quest To Save The World From The Forces Of Evil San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces a thrilling new paranormal shojo manga (graphic novel) adventure with the launch of Aya Shouoto’s KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS on November 4th. The new series will be available for the first time digitally as well as in print under the Shojo Beat imprint. KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS is rated ‘T’ for Teens and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. A digital version of KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS, Vol. 1 also will debut on November 4th for $6.99 (USD/CAN) from VIZManga.com and through the VIZ MANGA…

Sona-G is one of the most popular bands on the scene with a strapping vocalist and a hunky guitarist! Masumi, on the other hand, has all the trust in the world with her technical skills on the guitar, but she’s just been dumped and the world looks grey indeed. Then one day, Masumi finds herself playing second guitar for Sona-G! What’s going to happen to her decision not to fall in love…? This volume also features another two wonderful stories! Sona-G Series Volume 1: Heaven is Not Needed By Yuriko Matsukawa Publisher: Digital Manga Guild Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $7.95/eBook only Rating: Sona-G Series is a one volume anthology featuring three stories by creator Yuriko Matsukawa. The stories are all romances featuring girls finding love when they aren’t looking for it. While all three stories are entertaining and even fun reads, none are really compelling. “Heaven is Not Needed” is the main story of this anthology as well as giving it its name. It is about high school girl Masumi Murakami who is asked by the wildly popular duo Sona G to play acoustic for them on a big gig coming up. But because her crush left her…

Gen Tsukiomi appears to be a normal high school student but there is more to him than meets the eye. So when his old caretaker asks him for help in protecting his current charge, Hikari Kuze, Gen wonders what is going on. Besides being a ditzy junior high school student, is Hikari like Gen, with a secret of her own? In what often feels like a comedy of errors, Gen tries to figure out who is after them while struggling to maintain his quickly dwindling control over the situation. As if that wasn’t enough, a new romantic rival appears! But which one of them is he actually after? Moonlight Kreuz Volume 1 By Yasumi Hazaki Publisher: Digital Manga Guild Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $7.95/eBook only Rating: Moonlight Kreuz had an interesting sounding premise with romance, comedy and werewolves. But the first warning was there, with the female leading being described as  “ditzy.” And though I keep trying romantic comedies, I’ve yet to find one I really enjoy. This volume wasn’t a bad read, but neither was there anything that made want to pick up more. The lead characters, Gen and Hikari, needed first and foremost to be interesting to me….

This news item seems rather timely. I’ve been catching up on my backlog of Library Wars: Love and War over the last few days. Banned Books Week is next week and I wanted to try to review them for it. I have a love/hate relationship with this title. The story is well written and I love the characters, but I can’t handle the dystopian future it portrays. The censorship, hardball tactics by the Media Betterment Committee, the push to destroy books that some disagree with for the “betterment of society”  just leaves an empty pit in my stomach, and makes it a difficult series for me to enjoy all the time and re-read. It seems it won’t be a struggle for me for much longer. The November issue of Hakusensha’s LaLa Magazine announced that Library Wars: Love and War would be ending in the next three chapters. This would put the series finale in the February issue due out in December. There are currently 13 volumes out in Japan, and Viz Media, the US licensor of the title, just released volume 12 in print and digital. The series is based on a light novel series that went 4 volumes, and resulted…