Manga Village

Students at Imperial Academy are lining up for the “Confess Your Love” rally, during with students announce the name of the person they love to the entire student body in hopes of winning over their beloved’s heart. Maora wants to confess to Maguri, but Maguri already has plans to confess to Shizumasa! By Arina Tanemura Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Genre: Romance Rating: Teen + Price: $8.99 Unless you’ve got a score card and have read the last three volumes, this volume will seem like a jumbled mess to you too. Imperial Academy is having the school festival, and one of the events give students an opportunity to confess their love for another student in front of the whole student body. Confessions and attempted confessions run amuck. But the focus of this volume is on the ball, held on the second day. Haine, the heroine of the story, must attend as she is the Shizumasa’s “girlfriend”, but she has nothing to wear, and she won’t ask Shizumasa for help. The mysterious postman comes to her rescue and helps to create a beautiful gown for her. She goes to the ball, and dances with Shizumasa, but, like a Cinderella, she…

I’ve somehow made an amazing new friend. He seems so… mature. And so composed. Could he really use a friend like me? By Yuno Ogami Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Age Rating: M/Mature/18+ Genre: BL/Yaoi Price: $12.95 or FREE at www.emanga.com Half-Japanese businessman Micah Ryu Remmington is notorious for being cold-hearted and ruthless in the pursuit of profit, but while he’s in Japan on business he indulges his softer side with a visit to his childhood neighbourhood. Rain drives him into a bar called L’Etoile Solitaire, where he meets college student Yuuki and is immediately attracted (and Yuuki feels the same). Trouble is, Yuuki is the heir to a struggling hotel that Micah plans to take over — and Micah is already engaged to a famous heiress. The path to true love never did run smooth… BL manga has a tendency to get formulaic: there’s a template for stories like this. And that’s not a bad thing. Just as superhero comics are built around the “chase, two fight scenes and a weird villain” and shounen manga is built around the boy who wants to Be The Best, BL manga (like all romance) is built around two people who fall in love…

Series Description: Four of China’s supremely skilled detectives – Emotionless, Iron Hand, Life Snatcher, and Cold Blooded – loyally serve their Master Zhuge Zhen-Wo, the head bodyguard and advisor for China’s all-powerful Emperor. Entrusted by the Emperor with the power to arrest and execute any corrupt officials or lawless criminals within the Chinese Empire, these Imperial Constables act as protectors, using their venerable skill as kung fu practitioners and meticulous sleuths to root out potential usurpers and discern the cause of many strange occurrences during the Sung Dynasty! Volume Description: In this continuation of the first series, Emotionless is saved from near-death by the master of the West Town, Yuan-Shan Lan. In return, Yuan-Shan Lan wants Emotionless to murder him! Meanwhile, Iron Hands and Cold Blooded have been assigned on another dangerous mission to find the criminals wreaking havoc on local towns, but end up entangled in the plot of dangerous villains who are after the powerful Delirium Dagger! Written by Tony Wong; Illustrated by Andy Seto Publisher: DRMasters Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Kung Fu/Action Price: $13.95 So, I’ve been avoiding this review for, like, months. I’d mentioned offhandedly in a review–or one of our roundtable discussions–something about the…

The Straw Hats are keeping the Officer Agents preoccupied while Vivi makes her way to the Palace.  Sanji’s got his hands full with Mr. 2 Bon Clay while Zolo battles mano a mano with Mr. 1-or rather sword to sword body in this case!  That leaves Nami on her own with Ms. Doublefinger-a prickly predicament with only her wits and Usopp’s special weapon to depend on.  Can the Straw Hats prevail against the best of the Baroque Works?! By Eiichiro Oda Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Jump Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action/Adventure Price: $7.95 The fight for Alabasta is in full swing as the rebels charge for the capital, and the Straw Hat Pirates battle Baroque Works, giving Vivi the time she needs to try to stop them.  The boys do their usual best, but it’s Nami finally stepping up to fight for herself that really makes this volume shine. This volume pits the best of the Straw Hats against the best of Baroque Works, which is fine for Sanji and Zolo.  Both are skilled fighters and can handle their opponents.  Sanji and Mr. 2 Bon Clay are fairly evenly matched with their hand to hand techniques.  Mr. 2 Bon…

Nobara’s drive to get the girls’ volleyball team ready to qualify for the next Spring Tournament has tensions running high. Have Nobara’s dreams finally outgrown those of her teammates? By Mitsuba Takahashi Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Genre: Sports/Romance Rating: Teen Price: $8.99 ISBN: 1-4215-1014-6 After having so much time spent on the romance, it’s a relief to get back to the sports aspect of this story. Even though I don’t care much for the sport, the drama created by it is so much better than the teenage angst from boys and girls sorting out their feelings. Both volleyball teams at Crimson High are having player problems. Nearly all the 2nd years have quit the boys team, leaving the first years on their own. While the girls, after an emotional fight after losing in the Summer Tournament have decided to get serious about training. Their new coach pushes them hard, but the focus soon falls onto Nobara. She gave up the chance to improve individually to play with her teammates. As a result, she shows no ambition to better herself, even when she makes an impossibly high jump of 9 meters. So, it up to her teammates and the…

Though it isn’t much of a confession, sometimes I am surprised at how many people assume I read a lot of manga in Japanese. Because I spend most of my days (and nights) translating works into English, it is (I hope) understandably hard for me to spend my free time reading manga in Japanese. As a reader of Japanese let me say we are so lucky to live in an era where the talent translating manga into English is second to none (present company excluded). Actually more important than that is the way the fans have convinced the publishers to give the most authentic retelling of their newly beloved series. It wasn’t so many years ago when stories were simplified, for lack of a better word, to be understandable to native-English speaking audiences. What that means is that instead of talking about the “Hamburg steak” a character had for lunch, she would talk about a cheeseburger. The fans got more savvy to Japanese culture, however, and the publishers followed suit. Translators rejoiced and editors had to start learning about Japan. By Kiminori Wakasugi Publisher: Viz Media/Viz Signature Age Rating: Mature Genre: Comedy/Music Price: 12.99 USD Fast-forward to 2006 when during…

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…

It appears that Justin and I are on the same road these days when it comes to manga reviews. I recently picked up the 18th volume of Fullmetal Alchemist to review as a standalone and introduction to the series, and here I am again with the 8th volume of Gin Tama. By Hideaki Sorachi Publisher: Viz Media/Shonen Jump Advanced Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Comedy/Aciton Price: $7.99 Gin Tama starts off with the usual “What’s been happening since we started” page, and shows off the characters. There are a lot of them, and throughout the manga, they make a lot of appearances. It seems that all of them have very distinct personalities, but vol. 8 doesn’t seem to be that great of an introduction to any of the characters. We start in the middle of a story arc that gets finished within the first 5 lessons (chapters) of the book, and move on from there. Gin Tama is set in Edo at around the same time as Perry’s opening of Japan. Instead of Americans, though, Hideaki Sorachi has used Aliens instead. This lends the setting both a grasp on both past and current events, and allows Sorachi the ability…

Yako Hoshino, a young man with spiritual powers of his own, comes to the agency seeking help with a possessed book.  He’s seen a lot of strange phenomena in his day, but the last thing he expects to see is Rasetsu bearing a striking resemblance to his old love Yurara! By Chika Shiomi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Romance Price: $8.99 Another group of quirky characters come together for more ghost-busting action.  Shiomi’s knack for combining comedy, romance and supernatural scares brings us another great title, with a few old faces thrown in with the new. Rasetsu is about a girl by the same name, who is haunted by an evil spirit.  Three years ago, she was attacked and marked by him, with the promise that when she turned 20, he would be back.  Instead of giving in to the evil spirit, Rasetsu finds the strength to fight back and becomes an exorcist, working for a company in Tokyo.  Enter Yako Hoshino, grown up now, and working in a library.  His blunt personality gets him on Rasetsu’s bad side, but his power and her resemblance to Yurara’s guardian spirit brings them to work together, though not necessarily getting…

It’s not every day that someone stops reading Fullmetal Alchemist and gives it up for two years. I probably already sound like an idiot for giving up this series a few years ago, but Lori gave me the chance to check out the latest volume of Fullmetal Alchemist, and I grabbed on without thinking. Reading it has been a bit of a shot in the dark; understanding the storyline from that long ago to now has taken a few leaps of faith on my part, but it’s easy enough to put the pieces together. So, in this review, and in a few of my next reviews, I’ll be hoping into a series mid-way and giving my impressions of how well the book manages to introduce the readers to the current story. By Hiromu Arakawa Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action/Fantasy Price: $9.99 Volume 18 is a continuation of the events that occurred last volume, and it gives up more information about the Homunculi, and perhaps what their plans are for the near future. Al and Ed are as crazy as ever, and the deadpan humor of the series retains its quirky charm. It is amazing how Hiromu Arakawa…