Description: When an old antique shop re-opens as the hottest new bakery in an unsuspecting neighborhood, there’s no doubt that a few surprises are cooking. Love, rejection, old high school flames and the most delicious boy-to-boy affections all blend together to make a treat unlike any other. The Antique Bakery is now open…care for a dessert? Antique Bakery teases the palate with humor, fun flirtation and a host of sweet and sour moments. No matter what you crave, this is one shop you can’t pass up. By: Fumi Yoshinaga Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Comedy Price: $12.95 As I said last week, for the month of November I’m going to review cooking manga. When I reviewed the first volume of Kitchen Princess, I said this about cooking manga: In my mind, cooking manga demonstrates everything that comics can be—all about great stories about something everyone does. I mean, let’s face it; everybody eats. Cooking manga is shonen, shojo, seinen, yaoi—it cuts across genres in ways that other types of stories don’t. I just think it’s cool how creators play with food and cooking to come up with so many different situations, characters, plots. Plus, there’s some inherent…
Towering above the sleepy village of Tepes are ancient ruins once erected by the Nobility. One day, four of the town’s children wander into the ruins and vanish without a trace, only to mysteriously reappear a few weeks later. But only three return, bearing no memory of what had happened to them. Adapted by Saiko Takaki; Story by Hideyuki Kikuchi Publisher: Digital Manga Publishers Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Horror ISBN: 9781569707876 Price: $12.95 Ten years later, a new breed of vampire emerges; one which can seemingly hunt during the daytime. Losing the safety daylight offers, panic and mass hysteria begins to grip the townspeople–inciting riots and lynch-mobs. Amidst the turmoil, the enigmatic vampire slayer known only as “D” is called in to investigate. Can he solve the mystery of the walking dead’s newfound powers and unravel the truth behind the missing children’s connection to the secret of the ruins? After all the action in the first volume for this series, volume 2 pulls back a little, letting D flex his brain more than his brawn. There’s a lot more talk than taking of heads, mostly about the nature of the Nobility. Those who like more variety in their manga will…
Nuclear war has ravaged the future, and the result is the last remnants of humanity fighting against other species. One of those species arose to become nobility: Vampires. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley Story by Hideyuki Kikuchi; Art by Saiko Takaki Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror Rating: Young Adults (16+) Price: $12.95 It starts with D, who is riding around the countryside to Ransylva, but is confronted before he can get there. Instead, he faces a woman who refuses to let him pass. The two battle briefly, but D seems to handily defeat the woman. But as he starts to leave, she pleads with him. She realizes he is a vampire hunter, and that’s just the type of person she needs. The woman, Doris Lang, successfully convinces D, who then says he is a dhampir, to help her. Doris has been bitten by someone in the nobility, which means she is cursed to become a member of the undead. The villagers continue to provoke her and fear her for being bitten. Doris tells D about her interaction with Count Magnus Lee, who was the vampire who bit her. That night, Larmica and her minion, werewolf Garou, try to…
For centuries, a far-off kingdom has been protected by the nightly singing of the Utahime. This powerful voice is only passed down from one female songstress to another within the Utahime’s bloodline. Then the impossible happens…a male songstress has been born. What follows then is a bitter-sweet and tragic tale revolving around this reluctant Utahime. By Aki Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Genre: Fantasy/Drama Age Rating: 16+ Price: $12.95 While the description goes on about the male songstress, this title is actually about three friends, Kain, Maria and Thomas. Fate ties them together, but misunderstandings tear them apart. It is only through the realization of the truth that they are brought back together, though not in time to prevent tragedy. But regret can become hope if one tries. Utahime begins in the present, where we meet Kain, the male songstress who has taken over for his sister, Maria, who died suddenly, and Thomas the village head who helps to keep Kain’s secret. The power of the songstress is supposed to be passed down from mother to daughter, but with twins Kain and Maria, it somehow passed on to Kain. The story then jumps back in time to when Thomas, Maria and…
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…