Manga Village

PET (which stands for polyethylene terephythalate, a type of plastic) was a simple plastic bottle until nine-year-old Noboru Yamada recycled him.  Now PET’s a SUPER ROBOT programmed to protect Noboru at all costs!  Whenever Noboru’s in trouble, PET transforms, plugs in, and jets to the rescue!  Unfortunately, PET’s “help” usually does more harm than good, proving time and again that just because you call yourself “super” doesn’t mean you have a clue. By Kenji Sonishi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: All Ages Genre: Comedy Price: $7.99 Another entry into the “manga for young kids” category, Leave it to PET hits all the right places on a kid’s funny bone. The short, simple stories and cartoonish art will pull them in, but don’t expect any meaningful environmental messages just because there’s a recycling theme. Leave It to PET is about a boy named Noboru and his recycled robot “friend” called PET.  When Noboru took the time to recycle a drink bottle he found, that bottle came back to repay Noboru’s thoughtfulness by doing good deeds for him.  This volume is a shining example of the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished”.  Noboru’s single act of thoughtfulness has plagued him with PET,…

Yuri returns to Ugarit along with the news that Nefertiti, the queen dowager of Egypt, has fallen from power.  Kail is relieved that the dire threat posed by the covert communications between Nefertiti and Nakia is now over, but feels certain this development will only fuel the war between the Hittite Empire and Egypt.  What neither he nor anyone else on either side of the conflict realizes is how hot things are actually going to get! By Chie Shinohara Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Mature (18+) Genre: Historical Romance Price: $9.99 With Egypt’s internal problems solved, they turn their attention back to the Hittite empire.  Kail is well aware of this and moves to face their challenge head on.  But all the fighting doesn’t slow down the behind the scenes intrigue, as the fruits of Yuri’s labors in Egypt are endangered from the inside. This was another fantastic volume of historical drama.  Picking up where volume 22 left off, we see why this title has a mature rating, but it’s done tastefully, and full of emotion.  Then it’s off to battle as the Egyptian army, led by Ramses and the pharaoh himself, Horemheb, who intend to take back Byblos.  Kail…

When I was a kid, there weren’t any Japanese comics to be found—I think the first manga I ever saw was a 48 page pamphlet version of Keiji Nakazawa‘s Barefoot Gen called “I Saw It!” that was collecting dust in a quarter bin in some comic shop somewhere. There weren’t any comics from outside the U.S. period, except those found in the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. Chock full of sexy, muscular heroes and beasts, the stories in the magazine-sized European import stunned me with their raw power and lithe, sweeping energy. The magazine reprinted for an American audience some of the most exciting comics to come out of continental Europe from the previous decade or so, but to my eyes they might as well have come from another world, one where half-naked men and women wrestled monsters and spirits and each other for supremacy in strange, alien landscapes. By Katsuya Terada Publisher: Dark Horse Age Rating: Mature (18+) Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy Price: $14.95 So imagine my surprise and confusion and excitement when I first beheld Katsuya Terada’s The Monkey King: this book is like the best, most lavish collection of comics from some lost, kick-ass, alternate world Heavy Metal…

But trust me, kid. You don’t want to hang around me. You’ll get hurt.

When Hikari finally asks Kei out, it seems like a dream come true.  But they weren’t counting on a double date with Sakura and Jun!  And when Kei and Hikari finally get a moment alone, who shows up but the dreaded Yahiro?  Throw Megumi, Takashi and Akira in the mix, and it’s another troubled day in paradise! By Maki Minami Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 This is the way you keep a romance from advancing.  You throw everyone else’s romantic troubles at the burgeoning couple!  Sakura and Jun start what ends up being a rollercoaster rider for not just Kei and Hikari, but the other members of SA as well.  Aoi’s pressures from Kei’s grandfather grows, so that it requires Hikari’s intervention, and finally, it’s Kei’s birthday.  Not that he’s got much time to celebrate with his SA friends, with crisis after crisis at the company keeping him away. Less focus on just Kei and Hikari’s relationship has made this a much more enjoyable volume.  Hikari doesn’t show her density as much as she and Kei try to help Sakura and Jun work out their problem.  Or when Aoi tries to pressure her once…

Series Description: Masato Kamioda is a devout Christian aspiring to become a priest. He is the only male student at the Saint Sophia Girl’s Seminary as part of the reform to repair the moral decline and the lax discipline at the academy. But not all welcome the him to the fold and the Vice President is determined to expel him. What kind of person has Ayano-chan has been abducted by?! But, before he can rescue her, Kamioda, who has been chasing Ayano, has to face Sherrice D’Arc first! By Taro Chiaki Publisher: DR Master Age Rating: 15+ Genre: Comedy/Harem Price: $9.95 Well, they can’t all be winners. If you read my review last week of Case Closed volume 26, you’ll know I’m trying an experiment: I’m diving into series cold, well past the beginning volume or volumes. Manga series have stages, and there’s no question that a 26th volume falls into the late stage of any manga we’ve seen in the West. But the 7th volume? That’s either end-of-the-beginning or beginning-of-the-middle, for the most part. By all accounts, it should be close enough to the beginning as to not confuse and muddle as much as this volume did. To be…

Manga that share the same content matter with Sundome are normally considered erotica; While Sundome isn’t exactly a manga with sex in it, it’s definitely all about sex. More specifically, it’s a manga that, in the midst of a really twisted relationship, tries to discuss the concept of sexual arousal without sex. Basically, Sundome tries to explore what it is that turns you on, what arouses you. By Kazuto Okada Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Mature (18+) Genre: School Drama Price: $12.99 It does this through the interplay of Hideo Aiba, your regular boring dweeby kind of guy, and Kurumi Sahana, a girl who is far from ordinary. Everything about her turns on Hideo, and she notices as soon as she sits down next to him in class. In the first chapter of the book, she makes a deal with Hideo – I’ll be with you, but I’ll never have sex with you. In pure twisted fashion, Hideo says yes, and from this agreement, a relationship takes shape, as cruel and strange as that shape may be. Sundome explores the crevices and dirty nooks and crannies of the human mind, and as it does so, it intrigues me and infuriates…

You’re the ones who’re horny every freaking single day of the year! By: Jun Yuzuki Publisher: Del Rey Genre: Comedy Romance Age: OT 16+ Price: 10.99 US As I stated in earlier reviews, I tend to be a reader of seinen manga, and as an adult male, that is the demographic that I fall into. However I try and read all genres and give them a fair shake, or at least an alternative perspective. Although I have found plenty of gems outside of the seinen genre, there are also plenty of head-scratchers as well. Unfortunately Gakuen Prince falls more into the second catagory than the first. Just like the schools in at least 50% of shoujo manga, Jyoshien Gakuen Private High School used to be an all-girls school, but not long before our story begins boys were admitted for the first time. Rise Okitsu is a plain jane (until she removes her glasses) who just wants to survive high school life. She is hazed by her more fashion and make-up conscious classmates, and Rise just tries to shrink and hide. However, this is the first day of school for the tall, dark and brooding Azusa Mizutani. All boys like Azusa…

Cai-Sheng is a celestial fox demon raised by a group of wild fox demons, who hope she will master the ability to transform into a male and same them from extinction.  One day, she befriends a little boy and girl, who save her from a dog attack.  Her caretaker marks them with symbols that will not disappear until Cai-Sheng repays her debt.  Two hundred years later, Cai-Sheng meets the reincarnated boy and girl and decides to repay her debt by match-making them, but things get complicated when the girl falls for Cai-Sheng’s male form! By Yi Huan Publisher: DR Masters Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance/Gender Bender Price: $9.95 Divine Melody is a Chinese manhua that is filled lots of romantic possibilities, but still manages to keep them from getting convoluted.  It lays down a good foundation in this first volume, introducing a lot of characters without overloading the reader with too much information. The main romance in this story is the love triangle between Han Yun-Shi, Su Ping, and Cai-Sheng’s male form.  I-Huan is taking her time with it, just introducing all the players in this first volume.  Su Ping is under a demon’s curse, and Han Yun-Shi is…

Rando is back to his same old tricks, trying not to get caught pretending to be a girl, trying to get a job, trying to do this or that, and almost always getting caught by his crush / fake twin Rina or her group of friends. The big story arc this time around is that they’re all going on vacation to Okinawa, and Rando/Yuna has to go to the beach… By: Yasuhiro Kano Publisher: Viz Media/Shonen Jump Advanced Age Rating: Teen Plus (16+) Genre: Comedy/Gender Bender Price: $7.99 Once the story line is finished, it’s back to the same old stuff that happens in the first volume. This is not a good thing. None of the characters develop, there are no leads to the whereabouts of Yuna, and Rando seems content to just sit around and wait until she comes back. This volume abandons the main premise of the series quite easily for a dollop of fan service, and a splash of cheap laughs. If this manga is going to be character driven, the characters need to do something other than almost get caught for sexual harassment every three pages. When I first reviewed Pretty Face volume 1, I gushed…