I think I am a glutton for punishment. After thoroughly disliking the first two volumes of Magic Touch, you would think that I would know to steer clear of the manga from that point onward. Sadly, the review copy for the third volume came in the mail, and I feel it’s my obligation to give the book its review. By: Izumi Tsubaki Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Plus Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 I know that I am not a martyr for the cause here – it was my conscious decision to read the third volume and give the series another try. The cast of the manga, while not spectacular, is charming in its quirky way. I was hoping by the third volume the relationships would have progressed further, and we would actually get to see some real plot building. After finishing the third volume, my hopes have been dashed on whatever sharp stones Magic Touch could find. Repeatedly. Chiaki and Yosuke are still doing that same thing they do, which is close to absolutely nothing. The two get bashful around each other, and only at the end of the third volume does Chiaki realize she might…
Like every volume of this series, this one draws from multiple stories across nearly three decades of the manga. Viz is looking at an ongoing manga with so much history they’ve given up any hope of reprinting it volume by volume here in the US. Instead, they’ve decided to collect various stories based on subject. This does two things: it at once intensifies the “foodie-ness” and dilutes the narrative flow. When a volume is entirely about certain aspects of Chinese cuisine and how these things affect everything from romance to international relations, you cannot help but see the world as entirely consumed with and by food. Written by Tetsu Kariya, Illustrated by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 On the other hand, when a volume leaps around through time, as this one does due to its having the double subjects of ramen and pot stickers, you lose any vital sense of the broader arcs of who the characters are and what their relationships are or where they are going. These are the obvious results of messing with the original format, but there’s subtle ways that this format skews the manga. But before I get…
Series Description: Azuma Kazuma, an energetic and dense young man, was introduced to the art of bread making when he was six. He decides to take the path of bread-making and become a baker right after graduating from middle school. Through his travels, he encounters many rivals and found work at the branch store of the most famous bread maker brand, the Pantasia. By: Takashi Hashiguchi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Food/Comedy Price: $9.99 Volume Description: Kazuma Azuma’s team Pantasia is one defeat away from losing their shop as they enter round six of the Yakitate 25 baking competition. Their opponent is Mokoyama, a man in a panda suit whose silly exterior belies his great baking power…and otherworldly baking powder. If that weren’t enough to bear, Azuma must teach a lesson to a spoiled mini-gourmand who insists on having his bread and eating it too. Will Team Pantasia rise to the occasion or run out of steam? November begins the holiday season, both here in the US and other countries around the world. As such, I’ve been undertaking a month of cooking manga reviews. Last time, I made this comment about cooking manga: When somebody tastes great…
I love apples. They’re one of my favorite fruits. The best apple is one that is sweet, has lots of shine, and has a satisfying crunch. In a sense, my taste in apples is like my taste in shojo manga – it needs to be cute and sweet, it has to look great on the page, and it has to have solid writing and relationship building. Magic Touch is the definition of a rotten apple.
It should be like a dream come true. Chae-Kyung grew up living a normal life, but now she finds herself as the betrothed to the Crown Prince of Korea. The only problem? The Crown Prince, Shin Lee is a royal jerk. Chae-Kyung is taken away from her family and her life as she knew it and thrown into the strange world of the Royal Palace, where she struggles against loneliness and her growing feelings for the Crown Prince amidst the political and romantic background of the Royal Palace. By Park SoHee Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $10.99 Goong takes place in an alternate reality, where Korea still has a royal family, and the government is a constitutional monarchy, like the United Kingdom. Chae-Kyung is from the ordinary world, where she lived an ordinary life, and is suddenly thrown into the turmoil of learning the traditional and customs of the Korean royal family as well as deal with political and romantic intrigue. This is a title wrought with melodrama and a crisis of some sort at every corner. It’s a title that you know you shouldn’t want to read, but just can’t help getting drawn into. Starting…
Bacteria to School Just when you thought you have seen it all, Del Rey brings one of the most original and funny stories to English this reader has read in a long time. The first Moyasimon is the tale of university student Tadayasu’s opening days at a Tokyo agriculture school. He is joined by his buddy, Kei, the son of sake brewer. What makes Tadayasu special is his secret ability (that everyone seems to know about) to see microscopic organisms with his naked eye. Any bacteria, fungi, germ, or other microbe appear as tiny (and cute) little guys floating in the air. Since each microbe has its own qualities, each looks different (for example, a microbe beneficial for making sake appears to Tadayasu as a little smiling ball with a top-knot like a samurai). By Ishikawa Masayuki Publisher: Del Rey Manga Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Comedy Price: 10.99 USD Despite Tadayasu’s truly unique ability, he is one of the most down-to-earth characters in the book. Between his eccentric professor who takes Tadayasu under his wing and bad sake-brewing classmates, Tadayasu’s special talents come into play again and again in some often bizarre and always entertaining situations. What makes Moyasimon…
The giant robot has already been built and now awaits the Great Awakening… With the Friend’s identity still a mystery, the countdown to the apocalypse continues, day by day, minute by minute–for on December 31, 2000, humanity will meet its final hour. Hoping to get as many people who knew about their group’s emblem involved in their clandestine efforts, Kenji’s crew reaches out to their childhood antagonists: the twins Mabo and Yanbo. Back when they were kids, Yanbo and Mabo terrorized Kenji and company to no end. As adults, and with a crisis looming, will the evilest brothers in history now fight on the side of good? Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa Publsiher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery ISBN: 9781421523408 Price: $12.99 20th Century Boys has been an engrossing read from the very beginning, as Naoki Urasawa is great at feeding readers just enough information to keep them guessing. However, in the more recent volumes things seemed to be unraveling too fast. Volume 5 fixes this problem, as Urasawa throws a wrench into his story that changes its entire scope. As the fateful 31st of December rapidly approaches, Kenji is gathering…
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…
Yen Plus is Yen Press’ monthly manga magazine. It’s about 450 pages of mostly pure manga, and divided into two sections. One side reads left to right (western style) and is composed of OEL and Korean titles. The other side reads right to left (Japanese style) and is all Japanese titles. The magazine carries between 10-12 titles, some titles occasionally taking a month “off”. For example, in this issue, Maximum Ride and Sumomomo Momomo did not have chapters, making for only 10 titles. By Various Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Action/Romance/Supernatural/Horror/Slice of Life Price $8.99 On the OEL/Korean side, the titles that ran this month are Nightschool: The Weirn Books, Pig Bride, Time and Again, Jack Frost and One Fine Day. These are all strong titles, making this side of the magazine most enjoyable. Nightschool by Sveltlana Chmakova is a supernatural adventure story about a girl named Alex who is a weirn, a kind of witch who seems tied to some sort of dark future. Sveltlana’s art is beautifully done and her story remains intriguing month after month. Pig Bride is a romantic comedy. Si-Joon Lee, when he was young, got himself engaged to Mu-Yeoh Park, a…
Though Elle wants nothing to do with fighting, her grandfather has different ideas and betrothes her to an up-and-coming boxer from his own gym. She hates the idea and doesn’t want to marry him. One day she meets a handsome street brawler who intrigues her, but her jealous fiancé finds out and goes after the guy! What will happen when a trained boxer goes a couple rounds with a scrappy street fighter? By Rie Takada Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: OT Genre: Shojo Price: $8.99 Cheerful and energetic Elle Nagahara just wants to find a normal boyfriend. Sounds like any teenage girl except she is already engaged so the ever so handsome Ruo. Though she views her betrothed as a brother figure and tries to break off their relationship by seeking other boys that often fall victim to Ruo’s fellow gym members. And her grandfather just so happens to be the owner of the gym. After growing up in an environment of seeing bloods and guts on the ring Elle no longer wants any part of any violence. Though her stance begins to change when she encounters a street fighter named Kizuki at the mall one day. Now she begins…