Manga Village

“If you had half a brain you would have realized it was me a long time ago.” By Wataru Mizukami Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Shoujo Age Rating: T 13+ Price: 10.99 USD Poor Sachiko is having the worst day of her life. For some reason she decides to confess her love for her long-time crush, the standoffish but handsome Akihiko, who is the four-eyed prince of the title. As expected he rejects her confession of love. Sachiko goes home to say goodbye to her grandmother guardian as she is sent to a nursing home. Sachiko is going to move back in with her mother, (Sachiko’s father died when she was younger) who hasn’t seen her, for some reason, since she was a baby. Mom has gotten remarried, but her new husband ran off to escape a massive debt. But Sachiko’s mom’s new husband had a son who, for some reason, lives with her even though there is no blood relation. Guess who that boy is. Sachiko moves into her new home to find that Akihiko is now her step-brother. His enthusiasm toward his new flat-mate is expectedly flat, but that doesn’t keep Sachiko from fantasizing about her brooding new…

Haruna Nagashima is not your average high school girl. She never devoted any time to romance when she was in junior high. She never thought about any of that stuff. She was fully focused on one thing: sports. As a softball player, she only cared about softball. But now that she’s moving from middle school to high school, she’s having a change in priorities. By Kazune Kawahara Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 Who doesn’t want to fall in love? Little bumbling Haruna tries to follow advice in magazines and shojo manga to pick up a boyfriend, and ends up a train wreck. So, she decides, that just like when she was a softball player, she’s going to need a coach to get better at love. A fairly silly premise, it seems. I was initially skeptical about where the book was going, but that’s when you meet Yoh – the guy that Haruna gets to be her coach. The primary relationship is right there staring at you, right in the face, but adding this grumpy male lead as the bounce board for ridiculous Haruna turned the story into a real charmer. Yoh tries to show…

This review was originally posted by former reviewer Alain Mendez who writes as part of the Reverse Theives blog as Hisui. You can follow him on Twitter as well. First a little history lesson before I begin my review proper. The title more commonly known as Aria started as Aqua in Monthly Stencil. When the title was moved to Comic Blade the title was changed to Aria but the story of Aria picks up seamlessly from where it ended in Aqua. When the anime was made this series it kept the title of Aria all the way through. You can think of Aria as the sequel to Aqua but it’s really more of one continuous story. By: Kozue Amano Publisher: Tokyopop Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Slice of Life Price: $9.99 There are some titles that just have this hardcore fan following you can never understand until you have experienced the work itself. Sometimes you totally understand what everyone is talking about and other times even then the appeal is lost on those who cannot connect to the vibe the series puts out. Kozue Amano’s Aria is just one of series. I have always known people who will go on…

After the gripping, eye-opening revelations of the 19th volume of the series, volume 20 has been given the unfortunate task of having to follow all of that up as the series begins to wrap things up. This volume can more or less be considered a set-up volume, as plenty of things are brought to light and loose ends are tied up from the previous volume, but the plot is nigh at a standstill. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Hiromu Arakawa Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Adventure, Mystery Price: $9.99 The previous volume finally revealed the origins of Hoenheim Elric, and one of the key moments in volume 20 is Alphonse encountering his father in the city Lior. Alphonse finally is able to ask Hoenheim about the mysterious figure lurking beneath Central, and Hoenheim proceeds to tell Alphonse the whole story. Hoenheim also brings up the subject of the “Day of Reckoning.” This “Day of Reckoning” is the major revelation of this volume, though to call it a “revelation” is a bit of a stretch. Not all that much information is actually divulged and readers are left waiting for future volumes to learn more. Edward also learns…

Miel is a bit out of sorts with the rest of her family. Unlike them, she isn’t really interested in developing her magical powers, which are quite common in Savarin, the kingdom she lives in. As a member of the Violette family, which had been employed as sorcerers in the palace as recently as a couple of generations ago. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley By Natsuna Kawase Publisher: CMX Genre: Fantasy/Romance Rating: Everyone Price: $9.99 It’s under those conditions that Miel brews while taking a walk. And she absent-mindedly lets go of her purse. And it ends up hitting a boy, who was out walking just up the street, right in the head. She apologies and tries to make it up to the boy, who happens to have the same popular nickname — Radi — as the prince, by taking him out to lunch. The guy seems to think Miel is trying to pick him up, and they appear to be on different pages. The two seem to bond quickly. Radi gently tries to glide Miel to understand the path of magic and to help her want to learn, even while Miel doesn’t realize that he is doing this. And…

This place may be a temple, but that scent in the air awakens a thousand and one memories in my mind. Written by Sun Jiaya; Art by Guo Guo Publisher: Yen Press Genre: Historical/romance/manhua Age rating: T/Teen Price: $12.99 The History of the West Wing is based on a classic Chinese play by Wang Shifu. It’s a simple love story, but one set in an earlier era among exalted people, which gives both the writer and the artist a chance to flex their muscles: the writer can play with the intense restrictions placed on male/female interaction among the upper class in China during the Tang Dynasty, and the artist can lavish every page with gorgeous paintings of period costumes and architecture. Normally when I consider a manga, or manhua in this case (since it’s from China), it’s the story that catches my attention first and foremost, but the prime attraction to The History of the West Wing is the art. Guo Guo’s art is full-colour — lush, delicate, and beautiful. There are a large number of full-page pinups in this volume, both interspersed through the story and in a chunk at the end, and while I’d normally resent this as…

If you knew a person that reacted to love with violence and hatred, what would you do? Enter Shogo, a young man whose childhood has caused him to react violently to any display of affection, be it from man or beast. His hatred is not unnoticed, though. As punishment for his aggression against love, a goddess appears before him and relates to him that he is to be punished by the gods to find the love he was never given as a child, and then have it snatched away violently from him over and over again. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Drama Price: $19.95 Often claimed to be one of Tezuka’s most erotic and dark stories, Apollo’s Song is not the Astro Boy and Black Jack you’ve been used to. There is little cheer or happiness in Apollo’s Song. Vertical Inc. has released this comic to mixed appeal from many reviewers, and for good enough reason – its age. Apollo’s Song was written in 1970, a much less progressive time, especially in Japan. With each passage, we see characters and ideas rooted in that time. Women are treated more like objects and less like characters,…

Rosemarie is content with life in the humble kingdom of Ardela.  But Mache, her brother, believes they need to align with the bigger and wealthier nation of Yurinela so he promises her hand in marriage to Reynol, Yurinela’s mysterious young Prince.  Not a girl to just go along with such an arrangement, Rosemarie decides to get a peek at this Prince and maybe sabotage the wedding plans while she’s at it.  Assuming the identity of “Marie,” she shows up at the Prince’s castle as a maid and begins her role as a spy.  But could it turn out that Reynol is not the ogre she imagined? By Natsuna Kawase Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Everyone Genre: Romance/Fantasy Price: $9.99 A strong female lead is a great way to pull me into a story, but add interesting supporting characters, and a premise that’s simple but layered, and you’ve got me hooked!  A Tale of an Unknown Country does all of this, creating a fun read. I love reading stories with strong female characters, and Rosemarie, Princess of the small, relatively poor country of Ardela is exactly that.  She isn’t your average princess.  Outspoken and impulsive, Rosemarie doesn’t take the announcement of her…

In the sixth volume of Black God, the Shishigami family faces some critical decisions. Kuro, the sweet and innocent — vacuous, some could say — sister of Reishin, who is being groomed as the successor to the family leadership position. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley Written by Dall-Young Lim; Art by Sung-Woo Park Publisher: Yen Press Genre: Fantasy Rating: Older Teen Price: $10.99 Reishin falls into the young upstart whose views differ from those of the leadership council. Kuro reacts, too, to the wishes of the council and is chided for her intrusiveness. Later, after she and Reishin take a trip and talk, their mother experiences a prophetic dream, and afterward, her actions are a bit incongruous to her words. Kuro later takes a trip to a nearby city to play, but during the course of her excursion, she takes a slight detour. Unfortunately she ends up in the haven of a killer. And she watches as the killer threatens other young women who have fallen into his trap. It’s hard to believe she would be able to defend herself against a psychopath like Hiyou, and her escape is achieved through other means. After that ordeal is sorted through, the…

Series Description: Winning isn’t everything in the game of basketball, but who wants to come in second? It takes dedication and discipline to be the best, and the Shohoku High hoops team wants to be just that. They have one last year to make their captain’s dream of reaching the finals come true-will they do it? Takehiko Inoue’s legendary beloved basketball manga is finally here and the tale of a lifetime is in your hands. Volume Description: Shohoku’s (somewhat) friendly game against Ryonan finally gets underway. Old rivalries reignite with captain Akagi going toe-to-toe with Ryonan’s center, Uozumi. Hanamichi has flat-out declared that he will personally shut down Ryonan’s ace, Sendoh, but will Kaede Rukawa take care of things before Hanamichi even gets a chance to hit the floor? Either way, this is bound to be a game to remember. By Takehiko Inoue Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Sports Price: $9.99 This was a tough one for me because of expectations. You see, everyone on the planet adores Slam Dunk. I mean, this series is venerated, legendary even. And Inoue’s two other series that are translated into English are awesome. I mean, have you seen Vagabond? It’s phenomenal….