With the start of the 2008 Book Expo America, Viz has announced a new addition to their Vizkids line, a sadly neglected line if you ask me. But today, they announced chapter books about who? Why, everyone’s favorite ninja, Naruto! They’re older brother are reading the manga, they’re watching the anime, with their Leaf Village Headbands. Those young ‘uns should be able to read about him too! And now they can. And I know this will sell. Taking my own kids to the bookstore always had them drifting toward the books with TV and movie character they knew. This will be no different. Press Release after the break
Magical Pokemon Journey Volume 1: How Do You Do, Pikachu? by Yumi Tsukirino Publisher: Viz Media Rating: All Ages Genre: Game Price: Only available used Rating: What is the story about? A new trainer named Hazel that started without a pokemon. Soon, she goes into the grass and finds a Pikachu. She trys to draw Pikachu but fails. What did you like about the story? I liked it when Hazel yelled at the Ekans. I loved how they drew the pokemon. I also loved how they made the Clefairy act. What did you dislike about the story? I hated when Pikachu was knocked out. I also hated the way Hazel drew Pikachu. Would you recommend the story to kids your age? Yes
It’s time for another round of mini reviews. It’s the teen edition of Shonen Jump. Next time I’ll give some reviews of some Tokyopop titles.
It’s another Shonen Jump edition of my Mini Musings. Expect to see a lot of these, as I read a lot of Viz. I’ll try to mix it up a little with some other pubs and some Shojo. But a look at my shelves will show more SJ than Robofish. Reviews after the cut.
These mini musings are meant to be quick reviews of manga of ongoing series, mostly titles I follow on a regular basis and don’t really need the full analysis I usually give a volume. Enjoy. Reviews after the cut.
Well, I said I wasn’t going to read my Shonen Jumps until I got caught up with Naruto, which I did. So, I felt it was time to catch up with the issues that were piling up. Reviews after the cut.
It was really hard getting through Previews this month. In the catalog, May is Manga Month, so along with all the regular series, there were new ones coming out that had to be evaluated. Top that with a weakening economy, and you get some really tough decisions to be made with this month’s order. More after the cut.
Dragon Drive Volume 4 By Kenichi Sakura Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Fantasy Rating: All Ages Price: $7.99 Rating: Storyline The three heroes are in Yaudim, the most dangerous place in Rikyu, eating. Reiji is ready to go into the first round in the tournament when they meet Taiyo. He’s the Reigning Champion Sun Wols, and he’s waiting in the second round. After saving Maiko, they head back to their hotel. The next morning, a team of rookies have beaten Taiyo. Reiji gets extremely pumped. Review This one was awesome. I liked Taiyo and the way Reiji and Hikaru battled. Rokkaku was also funny, how he loved to drink and party. The flashbacks got me looking at them again and again. What I liked about it It was cute. Rokkakku’s flashback was so funny as his friend picked on him. Taiyo was pretty good as well. What I didn’t like Not even uno. (one, for those who can’t read Spanish.) What you could do to make it better Nada. (nothing) Is this suitable for children? There’s blood in it, but yes, yes it is.
Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-America President Volume 1 By Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Comics Genre: Political Drama Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $19.95 Rating: With the 2008 Election coming up, I thought it would be interesting to read Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President and see how the Japanese view of our election system stacks up to the real thing while it’s going on. It’s turned out to be an interesting comparison with the way the Democratic side has shaken out. Eagle follows the Senator Kenneth Yamaoka, a democrat from New York, as he decides to throw his hat into the ring before the New Hampshire Primary. Takashi Jo, our protagonist, has been asked by the Yamaoka campaign to be the Japanese correspondant, and follow the campaign. This volume follows Yamaoka from his declaration to Primary night. There is some drama involved in this as well, and I’ll get to that in a moment. What I want to do first is to look at Yamaoka as compared to the current Democratic candidates, particularly Barack Obama. Kenneth Yamaoka and Barack Obama are both young senators of mixed heritage. Yamaoka is a Japanese-American, and Barack is an African-American. Both are…
The January issue of Shojo Beat wasn’t really anything exciting. The preview of Be With You didn’t do anything for me. Haruka felt kind of disjointed, like panels were missing as the characters made huge leaps in time and space. On the plus side, Absolute Boyfriend is on it’s last chapters, so with the end of that comes some relief. But I am still stuck with Vampire Knight, which was as predictable as ever. I’m liking Crimson Hero as long as they say on the game and Norbara’s continued development. Honey and Clover had the obligatory Christmas chapters, and Sand Chronicles didn’t make me cry this time. I did like the fortune telling feature. That was fun to check out. And the featurette on Japanese disaster movies. I really like those kinds of movies, and will have to try and find some of them such as the new Japan Sinks! The February issue was a lot better. I loved the preview of Monkey High! Give me those snarky shojo protagonists! I liked Haruna, and Macharu is cute. I can’t wait to read the whole volume! My faith in Haruka is restored after a moment of doubt with the last chapter….
Dragon Drive Vol 3 by Keiichi Sakura Published by Viz Media Genre: Fantasy, Gaming Rating: All Ages Grade: B Storyline After a battle against Rokkaku, he joins Reiji and friends to compete in the Dragonic Heaven. As time goes on, Reiji meets two small children, Lyn and Sue, abusing a small water dragon, along with Chibi. Reiji battles their dragons and defeats them. Time goes on, his team meets the same two children, engulfed in darkness. After Reiji recovers from anger, He tries to save the children AND go to the next round. Review A new character! Okay but seriously, a new “fun” character to the series! In Volume 3 of Dragon Drive, we see Reiji and a powerhouse of Chibi, fueled with anger. There’re some mysterious people creating a dark aura. The tournament looks like quite a challenge. And the rest will be revealed. What I liked about it Angered Chibi looked really awesome. Huge teeth stuck out of his mouth and there was some pretty huge muscles. I also liked the suspense the manga held. I think it was pretty cool. What I didn’t like Berserker Reiji and Chibi kind of freak me out, even if they look…
You never know when or where he’s going to strike next…