Manga Village

Ozunu is the top student at Kusanagi School of Magical Architecture, a national polytechnic high school dedicated to raising professional magical architects of the future.  Their job is to apply feng shui and other spiritual methods in architecture to exterminate fiends and demons in Tokyo, where the protective feng shui seal has been broken due to wars and urban development.  Being raised by a spider fiend, Ozunu has always tried to purify or return monsters to where they came from.  He clashes with his rival Tsugaru, the heir to a magical architecture corporation, who believes strength is the key to everything. Story by Midori Natsu; Art by Haruka Shoji Publisher: DRMaster Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Supernatural Price: $9.95 Feng Shui Academy is based on a series of light novels, and was serialized in a seinen magazine, facts that are glaringly obvious while reading.  The stories and characters are typical for a supernatural adventure story, but the whole book seems to be missing that special “something” that makes it memorable. At first glance, Feng Shui Academy has an interesting premise.  Students training to be starcrafters, learn to use feng shui to fight and exorcist spirits.  And the chapters where we see…

Shall the son suffer for the continued sins of the father?  Alexis hatches an evil plan involving a beautiful girl with a sick fascination for his son.  And could Jizabel’s hatred of Cain also stem from their father? Step into the past as we learn more about the tortured early life of Dr. Disraeli! By Kaori Yuki Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Drama/Horror Price: $8.99 If the last volume was about betrayal, then the theme of this one could be said to be about love.  It can be twisted from infatuation into obsession, and independence into servitude.  But, in the face of a pure heart, such manipulations can be broken. Alexis Hargreaves is the master of manipulation. He uses the emotion of love and twists it from something beautiful to something dark and evil.  We watch him pull both Mikaila’s and Disraeli’s strings to get them to do his bidding, but the puppet he needs most has already cut his strings.  Cain is no long under his father’s spell, and can not only refuse him, but one-ups him!  It was very refreshing to see Cain be one step ahead of his father for a change. Throughout this…

Cain stumbles on a secret that will change his life forever.  It’s not only the Hargreaves who harbor skeletons in their closet.  To whom can you turn when the only person you every trusted betrays you beyond your worst nightmares? By Kaori Yuki Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror/Drama Price: $8.99 Betrayal is an act that can either destroy a person or transform them.  This volume is dedicated to the build up and reveal of a major character as a betrayer.  But the real drama begins afterwords, with Cain’s reaction and resolution to the betrayal. The betrayal revealed in this volume was probably very obvious to a lot of people.  But because it is so obvious that it’s the last person you think of.  Yuki-sensei is a master of creating red herrings to steer the reader off, in this volume she did a supremely good job of it.  She had me guessing all the way to the end.  But, once it was revealed, there was no doubt, because she is careful to lay the path before hand.  In this case, it goes back to the first series, The Cain Saga. Cain’s father, Alexis, expects…

It is time for the truth to be told.  At last, all the secrets of the Hargreaves family are brought from the dark into the harsh light of day, as Cain’s epic adventures draw to a close.  Is Cain ready to find out who he truly is?  Are you ready? By Kaori Yuki Publisher: Viz Media Rating: 16+ Genre: Drama/Horror Price: $8.99 This is it. After 12 volumes of mystery and intrigue (including the Cain Saga), we finally have a resolution to all the main characters fates.  It is the end of Delilah and the evil mastermind behind all the suffering of the Hargreaves family, but the villain isn’t who you’d expect. This volume starts off with Cain saying his final goodbyes before going to try to stop Delilah and have his final confrontation with his father.  He still must struggle past Delilah’s Cards as his father prepares for Judgement Day and the resurrection of the soul of his dead sister Augusta and Cain’s mother.  When Cain finally reaches the Delilah’s headquarters, each confrontation ends in a resolution for each character.  Cain is able to face his father, and finish what he started in the Cain Saga, as well as…

Things start heating up with a holiday visit to the sunny beachside! Sachie catches the eye of handsome Azuma Inui, sparking a rivalry between Azuma and Rakuto. Will a little competition force Rakuto to reveal his feelings for Sachie? Wild Ones Volume 2 By Kiyo Fujiwara Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Comedy/Romance Age Rating: Teen Price: $8.99 Moving away from the Yakuza comedy that made up so much of volume 1, volume 2 is more about the typical shojo conventions seen in every series; at the beach, at the school camp, the school festival, and the most conventional of all, the romantic rival. While these conventions can make the story more generic, the characters are still interesting enough to keep it from being pulled down to complete mediocrity. The volume starts off with a trip to the beach to visit with an old friend of Raizo. Sachie of course has to cause a scene when she sees someone wasting food. Then we meet Azuma, who’s obviously attracted to Sachie, and who conveniently is the grandson of Raizo’s friend. Rakuto and Azuma immediately butt heads, so of course Azuma has to come back with them to live while his grandfather is in…

Haruhiko is 100% head over sneakers for his sweet, shy science teacher Yuka.  After all, she’s a total brainiac…and incredibly hot!  But what’s he supposed to do when an enchanted vixen named Eukanaria suddenly falls into his lap (in a tiny miniskirt) and demands Haruhiko’s help?  Demonic battles, powerful sorcery, and a busy bee who can’t mind her own business…what will happen when magic and mayhem mix? By Izumi Kawachi Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Genre: Fantasy/Action Rating: 16+ Price: $12.95 Coming from a publisher that is known for mostly publishing BL manga, this title is a nearly complete 180.  Enchanter has all the action, hot girls and fan service to appease any teenage boy.  There’s actually a story in here too, though for me the fan service nearly cancels it out. Haruhiko is just an ordinary boy with a crush on his teacher and next door neighbor, Yuka.  His feelings are perfectly natural for a 16-year-old boy, but the situation he gets thrown into isn’t.  While trying to fix Yuka’s MD player, a demon, who could be Yuka’s twin falls literally into his lap.  Eukanaria is being hunted because she carries the soul of her lover, the Enchanter Fulcanelli, who…