Manga Village

“If you had half a brain you would have realized it was me a long time ago.” By Wataru Mizukami Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Shoujo Age Rating: T 13+ Price: 10.99 USD Poor Sachiko is having the worst day of her life. For some reason she decides to confess her love for her long-time crush, the standoffish but handsome Akihiko, who is the four-eyed prince of the title. As expected he rejects her confession of love. Sachiko goes home to say goodbye to her grandmother guardian as she is sent to a nursing home. Sachiko is going to move back in with her mother, (Sachiko’s father died when she was younger) who hasn’t seen her, for some reason, since she was a baby. Mom has gotten remarried, but her new husband ran off to escape a massive debt. But Sachiko’s mom’s new husband had a son who, for some reason, lives with her even though there is no blood relation. Guess who that boy is. Sachiko moves into her new home to find that Akihiko is now her step-brother. His enthusiasm toward his new flat-mate is expectedly flat, but that doesn’t keep Sachiko from fantasizing about her brooding new…

It has been a while since Neon Genesis Evangelion fans have been treated to a new manga installment of this beloved series, and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project corrects that error. Or does it? This Evangelion is a “reimagining” of the Evangelion world hinted at the end of the anime TV series. ByOsamu Takahashi Publisher: Dark Horse Manga Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Action/Adventure Price:  $9.95 This alternate retelling starts out as a high school rom-com where Asuka and Shinji have been friends all their lives. It wouldn’t be any fun without some sexual tension and it isn’t many pages before the odd but beautiful Rei Ayanami shows up to throw a wrench in any plans Asuka may have had (not intentionally, of course). Too detailed a plot summary would ruin the fun, but writer and artist Osamu Takahashi delivers young love comedy that may not be always original, but is fun and funny. Non-Evangelion fans may not understand what the big deal is, but regardless, this is better than a lot of shojo romance sitting on shelves today. But this is Evangelion, and the heart marks and bloody noses can only last so long. By the end…

“Since you may die at anytime…your civic duty is to live as well as you can.” Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is a new manga from Viz, and despite the dark premise, this new series has some bright surprises. By Mase Motoro Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: M for Mature Genre: Drama Price: 12.99 USD At some point in the future the Japanese government issued the National Welfare Act. This is a three-tiered government program that immunizes all children, but one-in-one-thousand will be infected with a nanocapsule that will open up sometime between the age of 18 and 24 and kill the carrier. The thinking is this program will improve people’s value of life. As a result suicides go down and the birthrate goes up. Our “hero” is Fujimoto, a young man who has survived his 24th year and is recruited as an ikigami delivery man. An ikigami (literally “death paper”) is notice delivered to Welfare Act victims  24 hours before the nanocapsule initiates heart failure. I put hero in quotes as Fujimoto at least initially hardly questions the obvious moral ambiguity of the government program that now employs him. This first volume is divided into two stories (and it appears…

One of the announcements made at this year’s Comic-Con International was the live-action production of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Dark Horse and Universal. (Actually, I seem to remember some talk of this a couple of years ago, but regardless, it is good news.) Does the story of a rag-tag group of Buddhist diviners and dead talkers trying to make a living delivering corpses to their proper final resting places merit a big screen release? Written by Eiji Ōtsuka; Illustrated by Housui Yamazaki Age Rating: 18+ Genre: Horror Price: 10.95 USD I didn’t expect so much blood…Did you? Summarizing it like that, it seems like it might, but I am even more hopeful that the news of the big screen production will bring people to this excellent manga series now. Nine volumes are available now from Dark Horse Manga, but I realized that we have only a spattering of reviews here at Comics Village, so I am going to try to fill in the blanks as I painstakingly reread some of the earlier volumes of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. The first volume of Kurosagi is not my favorite, but it is the necessary introduction of thankfully small band…

After the finish of Monster tongue wagging Naoki Urasawa fans were begging for something new, and earlier this year both Pluto and 20th Century Boys started their runs in English. Urasawa’s popularity is no fluke, and these titles are huge sellers in Japan, as well. In fact, a three-part movie adaptation is happening now in Japan. (Part 3 comes out later this year.) By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: T+ Older Teen Genre: Mystery, Drama Price: 12.99 USD A series of bizarre deaths reconnects a group of school-age chums from who have been friends since the late 1960s. Half of the book is flashbacks to childhood days as recollections of stories between the reunited friends which often read like scenes from “Stand by Me” or “The Wonder Years”. The boys made a secret clubhouse out of a mound of grass in an empty lot, and there hide from “enemies” like the “evil twins” Yanbo and Mabo. Childhood games are epic in proportions, even if they have no real significance in everyday life, but what makes 20th Century Boys fascinating and mysterious is the symbol the boys created as a sign of their club starts showing…

Negima! started as a popular manga by Ken Akamatsu that was then made into a popular anime that has been made back again into a popular manga with the title Negima?! neo. From reading about the breakdown of this new title’s history it sounds a little like a back translation. In the translation business a back translation is sometimes requested by a client and it means that after a translation is done (say Japanese to English) the client wants to pay for a translation (obviously by a different translator) back into the original language to compare how accurate the translation is. By Ken Akamatsu Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Shojo Range: OT 16+ Price: $10.00 From what I understand Negima?! neo is directed to a wider audience (read: younger) than Negima!, though in English it is still rated for older teens. I have never read the Negima! manga or seen the anime series, so Negima?! neo is my first exposure to Negi Springfield’s universe, and this seems to allow me a perspective (or lack of perspective) that is different from other reviewers. Our story starts at the end of one journey. Magical child prodigy Negi Springfield is just finishing his…

Though it isn’t much of a confession, sometimes I am surprised at how many people assume I read a lot of manga in Japanese. Because I spend most of my days (and nights) translating works into English, it is (I hope) understandably hard for me to spend my free time reading manga in Japanese. As a reader of Japanese let me say we are so lucky to live in an era where the talent translating manga into English is second to none (present company excluded). Actually more important than that is the way the fans have convinced the publishers to give the most authentic retelling of their newly beloved series. It wasn’t so many years ago when stories were simplified, for lack of a better word, to be understandable to native-English speaking audiences. What that means is that instead of talking about the “Hamburg steak” a character had for lunch, she would talk about a cheeseburger. The fans got more savvy to Japanese culture, however, and the publishers followed suit. Translators rejoiced and editors had to start learning about Japan. By Kiminori Wakasugi Publisher: Viz Media/Viz Signature Age Rating: Mature Genre: Comedy/Music Price: 12.99 USD Fast-forward to 2006 when during…

Everyone’s favorite renegade doctor, Black Jack is back for more in Volume 4. Black Jack is probably Osamu Tezuka’s greatest hit among adult readers and you would be hard-pressed to find Japanese citizen over the age of 25 who wasn’t familiar with the skunk-haired hero of the long-running manga series. Vertical Inc. has committed to bring all 18 of these huge volumes to English over the next three years. Any question about Tezuka’s ability to keep the stand-alone stories fresh and interesting will be dashed after setting down this fourth volume. There is a reason he is called the godfather of manga, and Black Jack is a clear expression as to why. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical,Inc. Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Medical Drama Price: $16.95 Black Jack is a non-licensed physician who performs his medical procedures under the surgical table for outrageous fees. People come to him for two reasons: either because they want discretion, or they want the best. Dr. Black Jack can provide both, but it comes at a price. (His incredible fees seemed contradictory to his humanitarian nature, and although Black Jack is full of interesting contradictions, the reason for is prices is explained surprisingly clearly…

I’ll arrange for them to play a special song for you.

But trust me, kid. You don’t want to hang around me. You’ll get hurt.