The Guin Saga series as a franchise is as epic as the story that it tells. The Guin Saga novels are an insanely popular with 126 books in the main series and 21 side story novels. There is a manga, an anime, cds, artbooks, rpgs, and even a musical based on the books. The only thing that stopped the series was the author’s untimely death. So with a mountain of source material it can be quiet a daunting task to try to adapt any of the Guin Saga story. But fortunately there is a simpler place to start. The side story novels start with Guin as an established character but are stand-alone stories that do not directly tie into the massive ongoing plot of the main storyline. One or two major characters carry over but most of the main story is unimportant and unaffected by the events in this manga, which make it and unusual but excellent place to start. Originally reviewed by Alain Mendez By Kazuaki Yanagisawa Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $12.95 The country of Cheironia is under the grip of a horrible plague that is clearly magical in nature is killing more…
In the fifth volume of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, the “friendly” match against Ryonan High is beginning to wind down. With captain Akagi out of the game momentarily, Hanamichi Sakuragi has finally been given his chance to strut his stuff and prove that he is a bona fide ball player. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Takhiko Inoue Publisher: Viz Media/Shonen Jump Age Rating: Teen Genre: Sports Price: $7.99 Like a rookie in most any professional sport, Hanamichi’s play is wildly erratic. At times he shows flashes of brilliance and shows off his raw athletic ability, but most of the time his greenness, combined with his inflated ego, steals the show. In this volume, Hanamichi has his hands full. Not only does he have a tough task in defending Ryonan’s center Uozumi, but Rukawa has become exhausted from having to defend the talented Sendoh. Still, Hanamichi has managed to give Shohoku a spark, and thanks to his efforts they have decimated Ryonan’s previously big lead by the time Akagi returns to the court. Hanamichi is one of those characters who, despite being unbelievably dense at times, is one who is all the more endearing thanks to his relentless energy and…
In the fifth volume of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, the “friendly” match against Ryonan High is beginning to wind down. With captain Akagi out of the game momentarily, Hanamichi Sakuragi has finally been given his chance to strut his stuff and prove that he is a bona fide ball player.
Jin is a typical high school kid who lives with his chiropractor dad and homebody sister. But one day he discovers that he has abnormal martial arts powers (great fighting, leaping and running skills). Mysteriously, however, he only has these powers one day a month. Jin has a core group of friends: an attractive girl named Fusano (who likes Jin but would never admit it) who’s also good at martial arts; former bad boy Choji; and brainy computer nerd Tomonori. After school one day, Jin and his friends go to an arcade, where he is called outside by some tough guys posing as cops. It seems they were hired to test his abilities, but unfortunately he doesn’t have any of his special powers on this day, so they beat him up until his friends come to help him. Almost more mysterious than his occasional powers is the truth about the gang of bullies…who were hired by his estranged older brother. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley By Shoko Fukaki Publisher: CMX Genre: Action, Martial Arts, Adventure Rating: Teen+ Price: $9.99 Jin and his female friend, Fusano, both have very good fighting skills. But Fusano is a much more adept student while…
Yokai are mysterious, troublemaking spirits and demons that have tormented Japan for centuries. Kotoko’s grandfather exorcised them for a living, but Kotoko never thought that her family lineage was an asset. Then she meets Kuro, a yokai doctor. Yokai have doctors? Now Kotoko is learning firsthand that healing the yokai is a lot more challenging than getting rid of them! Originally reviewed by Dan Polley By Yuki Sato Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Action, Science Fiction Rating: Older Teen (16+) Price: $10.99 Kotoko has a famous lineage: Her grandfather exorcised yokai — mysterious, trouble-making spirits and demons. She’s a 16-year-old student who had to perform to exorcise some of those demons when word about her background got out around school. So she pretended to do so, and got an ovation from her classmates. Kotoko manages to see some of Kuro Gokokuji’s actions, and he seems to be a bit erratic to her. For everyone else, Kuro is a loner, but to Kotoko, he has some connection to the yokai; she sees that he is affected by them. Finally, she corners him on the rooftop of the school and let’s him understand that she knows that he can see the yokai….
Kenji wrote “The Book of Prophecy” in his boyhood. Now this childish fantasy has become the scenario for the Friend’s fiendish plot to destroy mankind. Kenji goes underground and waits for a chance to fight back.Meanwhile, the evil organization is closing in on a man called Shogun in the ganglands of Bangkok. The mystery grows deeper, the fear more intense, as we near the final battle at the turn of the century… Is there really any way to save the world from annihilation? Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media-Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Drama ISBN: 9781421519234 Price: $12.99 Volume 4 of Naoki Urasawa’s suspense thriller 20th Century Boys continues to chug right along, delving further into the exploits the Bangkok-residing, grizzled Japanese man known only as “Shogun.” Who is he really? What is his role in all of this? The answers are contained within. It is now summer of the year 2000. Wait, what? It is 2000 already? The world is supposed to end in December 2000, right? [The time skip from 1997 to 2000 happened in the latter stages of volume 3.] Four volumes into the series and there are supposedly only…
Kekkaishi is one of the more under appreciated titles when it comes to shonen manga. With wildly popular series like Naruto and Bleach out there, it is not surprising that other quality titles will get lost in the pile, and Kekkaishi is an unfortunate example of this. With crisp, attractive artwork — some of the best artwork one will find in a shonen manga — endearing characters and a rock-solid plot, what is keeping people from giving this series the recognition it deserves? Now that Viz Media has licensed Sunrise’s anime adaptation, perhaps Kekkaishi will finally fulfill its potential to be a real hit. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Yellow Tanabe Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Shonen, Fantasy, Supernatural Price: $9.99 In usual shonen style, volume 18 picks up directly where the cliffhanger ending of volume 17 left off and quickly resolves the previous story arc. Before moving on to the next arc, Masamori assigns Sen to spy on his younger brother Yoshimori. Sen enrolls at Yoshimori and Tokine’s school. Yoshimori soon becomes concerned about Sen’s standoffish attitude, while Sen is more concerned about succeeding at his mission. Just when both of them are beginning to make the…
Gimmy, along with his younger twin brother and sister, lives in a desert town. But this desert town is unique: It is overshadowed by a humongous tree that is the home to a town’s rain goddess, who provides water to the town. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley By Atsushi Suzumi Publisher: Del Rey Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Action, Fantasy Price: $10.99 Every so often, the town must provide an offering to the deity so that she continues to bless the town with rain. This time, Gimmy is tasked with that. So he sets off to create a doll, only he faces tremendous difficulty. But while he is trying to create a doll, his kid twin siblings overhear him, and they create a plan. Instead of Gimmy’s doll as an offering, they wrap themselves up and hide in a wooden box and the villagers and village head mistake them for the offering. Gimmy eventually realizes what has happened and insists upon journeying to the top of the tree — it’s a really long climb — and bringing his twin siblings back home. But when he gets to the top, he is met by a rude girl, and the two of them…
The great Mongolian tribal leader is shown in this series, which follows the Genghis Khan from boyhood through to adulthood. Khan, whose name was Temujin, is shown at the beginning of the volume as a baby. Originally reviewer: Dan Polley By Seiichi Morimura Publisher: CMX Rating: Teen + Genre: Action/Adventure Price: $9.99 In the next sequence, he is shown as a young boy, and he embarks on a hunting trip by himself. But his father talks to someone else in the clan and confesses that there are others who doubt the bloodline of the young Temujin. There are those who claim he is an “outsider” and that he will eventually become a great leader. Meanwhile, on the hunting trip, Temujin encounters another boy from a different clan, and the experience will forever change his life. As the boys confront each other, wolves appear to attack. The boys save each other from the wolves and a bond is born — but the fact remains that the boys are from different clans. Later in Temujin’s life, once he has grown up and assumed the mantle of Ghenghis Khan, he engages in battle with the boy he swore as a blood brother, and…
In the darkness stands a girl draped in pure white. Don’t let her innocent appearance fool you; her hands grip a glistening scythe. Momo is the dark messenger of death who, along with her wise cracking cat named Daniel, is tasked with releasing humans from their mortal bonds and delivering their souls to the great beyond. First encounters with Momo always end in farewells. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley Written by K-Ske Hasagawa; Illustrated by Asuka Izumi Publisher: CMX Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Supernatural Age Rating: Older Teen Price: $9.99 (OOP) Momo is dead. She’s a shinigami, actually. But there’s something different about her. Unlike the other shinigami, Momo is not dark and scary; instead, she seems to visit those who are struggling in their lives. And she provides a sort of guidance counseling as only she can. In the first of three short stories, a young man is so self-involved in his depression that he can’t see the world around him for what it truly is. But Momo drops by and imparts some wisdom with him, and he tries to understand what she means. The second showcases a brother who has eternal regrets from something his sister did. And the…