War is over. The Friend is dead. Mankind no longer faces the threat of extinction. Peace has finally come to Tokyo…Or has it? The mystery still remains. Nobody knows who the Friend was and where he came from. The only clue is hidden deep within the memories–the memories of the hero Kenji. It is time to open Pandora’s Box and discover what is left at the bottom. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller ISBN: 978-1421543260 Price: $12.99 Rating: 21st Century Boys picks up right where 20th Century Boys volume 22 left off, even replaying scenes from the end of that volume. This volume is not a sequel, but a direct continuation of the story left unfinished in 20th Century Boys. The story turns to trying to discover the true identity of new Friend, and stopping the one last threat to mankind that Friend left behind. After Friend and his super-duper virus is stopped by Otcho and one of Friend’s former followers, Tamura Masao, and the childhood friends are reunited, the fallout from Friend’s death begins. Japan is taken over by UN forces in an occupation that looks a lot like the…
In 1969 a group of boys built a secret base out of dried grass in a field. There, they came up with a story about an evil empire and the heroes that would stop them. They wrote in a notebook called The Book of Prophesy. 27 years later, events in the book start to come true. In 1999, the boys, led by Kenji Endou, have come together to try to stop the evil empire led by “Friend”, and their battle comes to a head on New Years Eve. Fifteen years later, in 2014, the battle with Friend begins again, with a “New Book of Prophecy”, this time led by Kenji’s niece Kanna. Jump ahead again 3 years to the Era of Friend 3 and it’s like 1971. The battle is taken up one last time. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller Price: $12.99 Rating: I started reading 20th Century Boys when it first came out and followed it for the first 5 volumes. My first review of the series wasn’t very favorable. I found all the time jumping in them to be confusing and difficult to follow. After 4 years and…
In an ideal world where man and robot coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated…except for one very conspicuous clue – the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victim’s heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to the most strange and complex case – and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Sci-fi ISBN: 9781421519180 Price: $12.99 Rating: I had read the first two volumes of Pluto back when it came out in 2007, and absolutely loved them. But the time it took for me to collect the rest of the volumes and newer, shinier titles put reading it on the back burner. Thankfully, this month’s Manga Movable Feast gave me a good excuse to finally pull them out and read them. I’m glad I waited until I had the whole series before I read them….
Continuing my ASPCA Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month coverage, I started to notice a pattern in some of the titles I’ve read. In manga, animals are often used to make a point about a character in the manga. They can help to define a character, be indicators from the past that explain the characters situations or used as plot devices. My big problem with some of these uses, is that I usually involves said animal being dead. And said animal is usually a cat. This pattern started out rather innocently. In Fullmetal Alchemist volume 5, when Ed and Al go back to their teacher, Izumi, she is shown helping the kids in the village by fixing their toys using alchemy. But then, a little girl comes to her with a dead kitten, asking her to fix it. It’s a sad moment as Izumi has to explain why the kitten is not the same as a toy, but it works into the whole theme of the manga, so it fits in well. And we didn’t have to get to know the kitten first, so it’s more heartbreaking for the girl than the reader. On the other hand, Karakuri Odette decides…
As I looked through my piles of manga, I realized I had more unread Viz Signature titles than I thought. I actually have more, but these were single volumes and made for quick enough reads that I could get them in. While they are two different titles in tone, they do not differ very much when it comes to my reactions to them. I am a sci-fi fan, but can I be a fan of these two titles? Read on to find out.
In a city so dismal it’s known only as “the Hole,” a clan of Sorcerers have been plucking people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious ‘experiments” in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they’re hunting and killing the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they’ll kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of “cleaners” into the Hole, igniting a war between the two worlds. By Q Hayashida Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Mature Genre: Fantasy/Horror Price: $12.99 Rating: I discovered Dorohedoro through the Sigikki.com site. I’m so glad it was put up there, because, based on the volume description, I would have completely bypassed this series, and that would have been a serious crime. While this volume does have violence and some gore, it also introduces some of the best characters I’ve read about in a long time. The volume description makes Dorohedoro sound like a serious battle title, with Caiman and Nikaido hunting down and killing sorcerers and En…
Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naive, diffident nature has more than once caused him to be let go by the lords who employ him. Hungry and desperate, he agrees to become a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a group calling itself “Five Leaves.” although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws. By Natsume Ono Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Historical Drama Price: $12.99 Rating: I love historical dramas, especially those set in Japan, so it should be little surprise that I like House of Five Leaves. But after reading the first two volumes, I find there is much more here than just seeing the characters in Edo-period costumes. House of Five Leaves is a character drama, with Masanosuke as the focus to introduce us to an interesting group of individuals. Let’s look first at the focus. Masanosuke is not your typical samurai. He has a strong sense of honor and the…
Moveable Manga Feast Moves Out In a massive collaboration, several blogs have gotten together to review the same book on the same week, as suggested by David Welsh of the Manga Curmudgeon blog. It kicked off this week, with Sexy Voice and Robo, with new reviews going up every day. You can find an introduction to the book and all the reviews posted here. From the long list of reviews, this turned out to be a big success with such a wide breadth of reviews, both good and bad. This is a shining example of the power of social media. An idea on Twitter became a week long celebration (or panning) of a title, bringing together the mangasphere. I just think that’s cool.
In the last years of the 20th century, a cult has been growing in power and popularity, led by a mysterious man known only as “Friend” This has little bearing on convenience store owner Kenji, until a childhood friend of his seemingly commits suicide. A closer look into it reveals that there may have been more to it, and it could have something to do with the cult. As Kenji looks further in, he finds that the cult and it’s leader is following a story he and his friends wrote when they were just kids, about an evil power trying to take over the world and the heroes who stop them. Kenji decides to try and stop The Friends with only the help of his childhood friends. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller Price: $12.99 Rating: [May contain spoilers] 20th Century Boys is a mystery/thriller story, something of a specialty for it’s creator, Naoki Urasawa. The story spans 45 years, from 1969 to 2014. These first five volumes cover mostly the 1969-1997-1999, and only touch on 2014 at the end of the fifth. The story isn’t told linearly. It jumps from 1969 to 1997…
Viz’s SigIkki website isn’t just an experiment in manga for mature readers. Going to the site does more than let you read some great manga. You, the reader, can make a difference in which manga will get published. Your clicks and reviews can make all the difference in the world for a title seeing print. In Japan, the fate of a manga is decided not just by circulation, but also by what the readers say. Survey cards are checked and titles can live or die by what readers say in these. Viz has taken this idea and applied it to the web. The titles at SigIkki are not guaranteed to see a print edition unless enough people show interest through page views and reviews that readers can leave. While this is a good idea for a small market as these Ikki titles will attract, that also means that your favorite title manga get a print edition unless YOU do something. Just like pre-ordering, this is putting your money were your mouth is, just without so much of the risk. Going to the site and reading chapters is easy, but if you really love a title, so much so that you…
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. Sora begins investigating their strange connection to the sea. But the current research is too slow for Sora, who is lured away by with the promise of answers. This leaves Umi severely depressed, and it is up to Ruka to help her new friend find his brother. But time is quickly running out… Children of the Sea Volume 1 By Daisuke Igarashi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Mystery Price: $14.95 Rating: In an attempt to draw in more adult readers, Viz has been expanding their Signature imprint. The titles in this imprint are meant for a more mature audience that have out grown or aren’t interested in the eternal power ups of shonen or the angsty drama of shojo. Children of the Sea, the first title from the online manga magazine Ikki, is the perfect debut title. With none of the usual manga conventions,…