Manga Village

Lydia Carlton is a fairy doctor, one of the few people with the ability to see the magical creatures who share our world. During one of her rare trips to London to visit her father, Lydia’s quiet life is suddenly transformed when she is rescued from kidnappers by a mysterious young man! Edgar Ashenbert claims to be descended from the human ruler of the fairy kingdom, and he urgently needs Lydia’s help to find and claim his birthright, the legendary sword of the Blue Knight Earl. Things will never be the same for Lydia as she is pulled into a dangerous quest against dark forces! By Ayuko; Original Concept by Mizue Tani Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance Price: $9.99 I first heard of The Earl and the Fairy when the anime was announced in 2008, but didn’t give it much mind until Viz announced the license last year. The way the premise for the anime was presented didn’t sound too interesting to me, I decided to give the manga a try. I’m glad I did. It’s a story filled with plenty of action, but what really makes this volume shine is the characters. The…

When Kanro, one of the Seven Member Committee seeking to eradicate all contradictions, sniffs out the stragglers from Z-Loan at a rundown motel and attempts to flush them down the data drain like their “deleted” comrades, Chika and Shito end up not in the ether–but as characters in a video game! With the help of an old enemy they escape, but then must face the truth about Michiru as her true nature is revealed. Michiru must come to grips with it as well, and what she decides will affect not just those of Z-Loan, but of both the mortal world and the afterlife! By Peach-Pit Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Supernatural/Action Price: $11.99 I was surprised to hear that volume 13 was the final volume of the series, when the end of volume 11 started a new arc. Apparently it wasn’t a just new arc but the beginning of the end. But its an arc that feels rushed and slapped together rather than thoughtfully planned out. I’m sure Peach-Pit had the ending to this series all planned out. Some groundwork was laid as scenes from previous volumes that are referenced, such as Hakka telling Michiru about her true…

Black Jack’s three year journey ends finally comes to an end with these last two volumes. Unfortunately, the good doctor doesn’t go out with a bang, but more of a fizzle, as these last two volumes are the weakest of them all. The stories aren’t bad. They’re just not as engaging.

The exploits of Black Jack, the world’s greatest black market surgeon continue in these 28 stories. The themes turn again to Black Jack’s pride and his not-so-well-known generous side. But in quality of stories overall, volume 14 definitely outshines volume 15.

Reviews are subjective things. A reviewer is drawing on many things when they write their review. Besides technical things such as story structure, character development and art, a reviewers personal preferences and experiences can affect their feeling about a book. And sometimes, even their gender can make a difference as to whether a book gets a good score or bad. In the following discussions, reviewers Alex Hoffman and Lori Henderson will look at different books and examine the similarities and differences they have over each of them. High School of the Dead Volume 1-3 Story by Daisuke Sato; Art by Shouji Sato Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Mature Genre: Horror Price: $13.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-13225-1/13239-8/13242-8 Lori: It’s been a while since we’ve been here, eh Alex? The holidays and RL hit me pretty hard. How did it go for you? Are you ready to get back to work? Alex: The holidays and even the entire month of January has been crazy for me, but I am glad to get back to our talks about manga. Let’s get right down to it with a synopsis of the series. High School of the Dead is the story of a zombie apocalypse. An outbreak…

While searching for Alice in a dimension made up of her memories, Oz stumbles on the Sablier tragedy of 100 years ago and discovers some secrets about Alice, Gil and Vincent Nightray, as well as a secret about himself. Then it’s off for some lighter moments as Oz goes to visit his younger sister who he hasn’t seen in 10 years, before an old villain re-emerges; the Baskervilles, who are looking for Oz to find the truth of Sablier from the spirit inside him; Jack Vessilius, the “Hero of Sablier”. By Jun Mochizuki Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $11.99 I had read the first few chapters of Pandora Hearts when it debuted in the print version of Yen Plus. While I had mostly enjoyed chapters, it wasn’t enough for me to keep following the series. I’m glad I checked in with these two volumes. The delving further into the mystery of the abyss was interesting, and the introduction of two new characters helped lighten things up after some grim chapters. It was a bit of a shock to jump back into the series at a pretty horrific moment. The scenes of the Sablier tragedy start…

The cast gears up for the mother of all Golden Week vacations. Hayate sunning in the Mediterranean? Our hero’s story truly is a classic tale of rags to… well, substantially less shoddy rags. But what about the students who don’t work as manservants to the super-wealthy? Well, they’ll just have to win vacation tickets in a game show or hit the jackpot in Vega. That could happen, right? By Kenjiro Hata Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Romantic Comedy/Harem Price: $9.99 I’ve heard a lot about Hayate the Combat Butler, and seen how beloved it was by other manga bloggers, but I never felt the need to read it. The premise didn’t interest me, and I don’t care for harem-comedies, but I decided to give it a shot. It actually wasn’t too bad. The volume starts off at the end of a flashback from the previous volume. It’s very serious and rather intense. I was pulled in immediately by it and was hoping for more once the story returned to the present. Sadly that didn’t happen, as instead the remaining chapters were about where everyone was going on vacation for Golden Week, and specifically, all the girls that want…

Two weeks worth of manga can make for a lot of hard choices, especially with such strong titles as Veritcal’s releases. How can you choose between the final Black Jack and Princess Knight and the second volume of No Longer Human? Viz has quite the long list with releases from all their lines with new volumes of Bleach, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Maoh: Juvenile Remix and I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow, as well as the debut of a new Shojo Beat series, Dawn of the Arcana. The List: KODANSHA COMICS At Full Moon Volume 1 GN, $10.99 Deltora Quest Volume 3 GN, $10.99 Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex Volume 2 GN, $10.99 Shugo Chara Chan Volume 1 GN, $10.99 SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT Blood Alone Volume 5 GN, $11.99  **Weekly Pick** Vampire Cheerleaders Volume 2 GN, $10.99 VERTICAL Black Jack Volume 17 TP (by Osamu Tezuka)(resolicited), $16.95  **Weekly Pick** No Longer Human Volume 2 GN, $10.95 Princess Knight Volume 2 GN (by Osamu Tezuka), $13.95  **Weekly Pick** VIZ MEDIA Bakuman Volume 8 TP,$9.99  **Weekly Pick** Bleach Volume 37 TP, $9.99 Blue Exorcist Volume 5 GN, $9.99  **Weekly Pick** D.Gray-man Illustrations SC, $21.99 Dawn Of The Arcana…

The supreme beings that created the ogres have a problem. They are responsible for maintaining the delicate balance of nature, but they may have to eliminate the human race to do so. If mankind disappears, will a new order of sentient beings claim their sovereignty over the planet? Either way, Zakuro holds the key to the future of the world! By Yoshinori Natsume Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Action Price: $9.99 It really shouldn’t come as any real surprise that I enjoyed this volume. I liked Togari, Natsume’s previous series released by Viz, and I discovered it the same way, by reading a volume in the middle of the series. Even though most of this volume is fighting, Natsume still manages to get enough story through to keep me interested throughout the volume. The volume starts in the middle of a fight with Lacey, and ends with a fight against Akebi and the discovery of the supreme beings’ plan. One of the things I liked about Togari was the way Natsume blurred the line between good and evil. Good characters are shown to have dark sides, and the characters thought to be evil might not be so bad….

Earlier this year, I reviewed the two available chapters of Mizuki by Nao Yazawa. My only complaints about the series was; 1) two chapters was not enough and 2) the emanga.com pricing was too high for something you could only read online. Well, it looks like DMP has fixed the second issue. They have released both chapters of Mizuki on the Kindle and Nook. So, now you can purchase and actually own these chapters to read anywhere! I think this is great news! This opens the market for this title to more than just folks with an emanga.com account and a credit card. Now, anyone with a Kindle, Nook or their respective apps can buy and read this great title! And at $1.99 each, the price is much more reasonable, especially since it is to own and not just rent. If you were interested in this title, but didn’t want to go through emanga, now is the time to get and read it! You won’t regret it!