The sins of the father are visited on the daughter in this second volume of Twin Spica as Asumi struggles with starting at Space School.
A new volume of Black Jack means another volume filled with stories of our favorite medical mercenary saving lives, fighting against corporate greed and cover-ups, family betrayals and “legitimate” doctors pitting their pride against Black Jack. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Medical Drama Price: $16.95 Some of the stories that exemplify these themes are “The Two Pinokos”, where Black Jack meets the girl who he modeled Pinoko appearance from. She and the people of her village are dying from beryllium poisoning, and the corporation responsible will do anything to keep that fact from getting out. In “Hurricane”, a young wife wants Black Jack to keep her old husband alive, but only until she can get him to make her his beneficiary. Comeuppance theater ensues. And in “Black and White”, a “reputable” Doctor takes a patient away from Black Jack, believing he is saving him from a quack, but gets in way over his head. The main theme of this volume though, seems to involve animals. In several of the stories, Black Jack is either working on an animal to save it directly, or saves a person important to an animal. “A Cat & Shozo” has…
I think I’m forming a love-hate relationship with this series. I didn’t care for the first volume. I thought the characters and story were too stereotypical for a supernatural romance to ever really get interesting. And some of the scenes of Misao and Kyo bordered on obscene. But one volume later, things seem to have really changed. I found the characters and story getting a lot more interesting, and even some of the “healing scenes aren’t so bad, though neither are they so much innuendo. By Kanoko Sakurakoji Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Romance Price: $9.99 Starting in volume 3, I noticed a distinct improvement in the lead characters Misao and Kyo. Misao has finally accepted her feeling for Kyo, so she isn’t so conflicted about enjoying his “healing”, which she still needs. Why? Because she’s still just as gullible as in the first volume. She’s easily lured into the Kuzunoha clan’s compound and allows the talisman that Kyo gave her be thrown away. She knows what Shohei is after, and continues to believe him when he says he’s given up on her. But her trusting nature seems to be a double-edged sword, as her…
Now that the terror of their first meeting has subsided, Irel begins to wonder if his fear of Lamia is unfounded. Despite her troubling diet, she doesn’t seem to relish the experience of gnawing Irel’s flesh any more than he does. Both share a common goal: to uncover the mysteries surrounding the blood of Christ. If they work together, they might be able to find the answers they seek. But traveling as a pair might only serve to make a bigger target for even greater terrors… By: JinJun Park Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 Volume 2 of Raiders tried to introduce more plot and less zombie munching with a government conspiracy, some actual tomb raiding, and an attempt at character development. Unfortunately, it’s all just too little, too late. This volume picks up right where volume 1 left off, with the massive fight in the middle of London. The four-way battle is short-lived though, and ends with a realignment of several of the main players. Lamia and Irel are working together now, with Clarion joining them. Irel has decided he would rather Lamia munch on him than on innocent bystanders. They continue the search…
In a Tokyo of the not-too-distant future a young girl looks up to the stars with melancholy in her heart and hope in her eyes. Thirteen-year-old Asumi kamogawa’s whole life has been tied to those stars; her future may very well be among them. And she is not alone… Asumi is on of many young people with ambitions to some day head into space in Japan’s first manned space mission. By Kou Yaginuma Publisher: Vertical Inc Age Rating: Teen Genre: Drama/Space Price: $10.95 The dream of going into space is one man has had for centuries, and was finally fulfilled in the last few decades of the 20th century. But no matter what happens, that dream never dies, as we see in the series Twin Spica, a new title from Vertical about 5 young people working to make their dreams of space travel into reality. The focus of Twin Spica is on Asumi Kowagawa. She has some strong and tragic connections to space. When she was 1, Japan’s first attempt at a manned rocket flight into space failed, and crashed into her city. Her mother was badly burned and put int a coma, dying 5 years later. This tragedy doesn’t…
Irel Clark is a professor’s assistant whose latest find is the “Holy Grail” for members of his profession — literally! But when it turns out that some decidedly unholy individuals are also after the blood of Christ, Irel must drink from the chrism bottle he’s recovered to save his own life. Immortality leaves something to be desired, though, when undead cannibals walk the earth in constant need of human flesh, and Irel’s newly immortal body is nothing short of an all-you-can-eat buffet! By: JinJun Park Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 Zombies don’t always make a story better. What starts out looking like a roller coaster action adventure in the vein of Tomb Raider instead becomes an all-you-can-eat buffet, and not in a good way. A lack of likable characters make the directions the story may be going in less than interesting. This title starts out deceptively cool. Professor Langhem and his assistant Irel are trying to get past several armed guards around an old church. They are searching for the Holy Grail, but what Irel finds is a chrism bottle. The first two chapters of the volume follow the heist and subsequent escape, but…
Ayu still can’t give up on her love for Mayama, even though his relationship with Rika seems to be deepening. Nomiya’s growing interest in Ayu might be a balm to her broken heart, but he’s moving to Tottori for six months! Is Ayu cursed to suffer hopeless love affairs forever? By Chica Umino Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance Price: $9.99 This volume is all about the love polygon of Mayama, Ayu, Rika and Nomiya. Ayu seems to be deliberately torturing herself by working with Mayama and Rika, and seeing their relationship grow. Rika is preparing for the Valencia Art Museum Annex, a project she and her late husband submitted for and won, and seems prepared to also make it her last, something Mayama’s not prepared to let Rika do. And Nomiya, the player, finds himself doing something he never thought he would, falling for Ayu. There’s a lot of drama going on in this volume, especially with Rika. She still haven’t been able to get over her husband’s death, no matter what kind of face she puts on. A flashback from Hanamoto shows what a difficult time she had after the accident, and how she became…
A demon’s wrecking havoc in Feng Xia neighborhood! While tracking down this demon, Yun-Shi’s shifu ends up at Hui-Niang’s house. Will she survive this encounter? Su Ping learns that Cai-Sheng is familiar with the mysterious long-haired man. Su Ping starts to wonder how they are related. Wei Zi-Qiu receives an order that if Cai-Sheng is to harm humans, she must be killed. What will Zi-Qiu do? By I-Haun Publisher: DrMaster Publications Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Fantasy/Romance Price: $9.95 Cai-Sheng finally starts to realize her faults, but not until after she loses the one must precious to her, Hui-Niang. Her drive for revenge puts her in potential trouble with heaven, and her naiveté about human relationships puts any relationship between Su Ping and Yun-Shi in peril as well. I didn’t feel as excited about this volume as I did the first two. That Cai-Sheng’s selfishness not only cost Hui-Niang her life, but those of her children as well bothered me, and I didn’t really feel anything for her when she took her revenge on Yun-Shi’s shifu. If she had done what she had promised in the previous volume, they wouldn’t have had to die. Even though Cai-Sheng realizes her error, she…
Everything changes one day when Misao is attacked by a demon. Her childhood friend Kyo suddenly returns to save her and tend to her cuts–with his tongue! It turns out Misao is the bride of prophecy, whose blood gives power to the demon clan who claims her. But most demons want to keep her power for themselves–by eating her! Now Misao is just trying to stay alive…and decide if she likes it when Kyo licks her wounds. By Kanoko Sakurakoji Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Romance Price: $8.99 I was really looking forward to this title when it was announced. I loved Backstage Prince by the same mangaka. The characters were great, and the setting, kabuki theater, was different. It was a lot of fun. This title also features Yokai, Japanese monsters, which I also love. So, I had high hopes for this title. Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite measure up, with too many cliches, 2-D characters, and a romance that doesn’t really do it for me. The plot to this title is almost like a checklist of cliches. Girl who is the only one at her school who can see demons. Check. Girl yearns…
Black Jack is a shonen manga created by Osamu Tezuka. It’s about an unlicensed doctor what lives and works in the underworld. A “scalpel for hire”, he will take on any surgery, anytime, anywhere, for anyone that is willing to pay his price. It’s an episodic series, with each chapter being a self-contained story about some situation Black Jack gets involved in. Much like most TV shows, there’s no origin story or over-arching plot to follow. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Medical Drama Price: $16.95 Black Jack’s background itself is a mystery. Though, throughout these volumes, we meet people from his past that lets us start to piece his story together. The Doctor that saved him and became his inspiration to become a doctor himself. The boy that reminds him of his own rehabilitation. The boyhood friend that donated skin to Jack that gave him his distinctive facial coloring. The stories are scattered, so that in order to get the whole story on Black Jack you have to read them all. The stories aren’t linear either, as some chapters in volume 2 have Pinoko being able to cook properly, while other stories in volume 3…