Manga Village

The exploits of Black Jack, the world’s greatest black market surgeon continue in these 28 stories. The themes turn again to Black Jack’s pride and his not-so-well-known generous side. But in quality of stories overall, volume 14 definitely outshines volume 15.

As a medical professional, I sometimes have a hard time reading medical dramas or watching medical shows on television.This is especially true with shows like House, where the way the series is set up forces it to be completely technical and still be somewhat accessible for the layperson. As part of a long-standing studying stress reliever, my friends and I would gather around the television during pharmacy school and analyze all of the things that were going wrong throughout a given episode of House. I remember running through lists of ways the medical team could have accurately diagnosed the patient and not half-killed him or her throughout the show.

Allison lives with her uncle, the CEO of a bank in deep financial trouble. Blue Summer, a wealthy farm owner, offers him financial aid in return for Allison’s hand in marriage. Allison doesn’t want a marriage without love, but nevertheless she travels to Blue’s mansion to save her aunt and uncle’s business… By: Susan Fox, Toyo Issiki Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing/Harlequin K.K./SOFTBANK Creative Corp. Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance Price: 499 emanga points The manga adaptation of Susan Fox’s “An Arranged Marriage” is a tale of how financial struggles cause a young woman to marry a man for the sake of saving her tyrant uncle’s business. The somewhat naive and modest Allison strives to persevere when she agrees to enter a loveless marriage with the wealthy Blue Summer. Blue Summer has had his sights on Allison for a long time but after becoming wealthy he uses his new-found power to convince Allison’s uncle into trading off financial aid for the hand of his niece. Most Harlequin manga titles for me are a quick afternoon read or a nice light trashy romance to delve in for an hour or less. But the lack of development on the behalf of Blue…

Shonen Jump is entering a new era – with Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha coming down the pipeline in only a few short weeks, it appears that we are headed towards a place where the legitimate publisher can beat the scanlator on the terms of his or her speed. Sadly, the content on Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha isn’t the most impressive of what is being published under the Shonen Jump label. Of the six titles in the original offering; Bakuman, Bleach, Naruto, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, One Piece, and Toriko, only Toriko and Bakuman really interest me in some way (even if it’s only a guilty pleasure kind of way). The one gem of a series that isn’t being published in Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha which I really enjoy is Kazue Kato’s Blue Exorcist. (Perhaps that’s because it runs in Jump Square, but honestly, if it’s being published as a Shonen Jump title in the USA, that shouldn’t exclude it from a USA-centric anthology.) By Kazue Kato Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Supernatural/Action Price: $9.99 I bought the first volume of this series on a whim at the VizManga.com webstore and read it on a combination…

While searching for Alice in a dimension made up of her memories, Oz stumbles on the Sablier tragedy of 100 years ago and discovers some secrets about Alice, Gil and Vincent Nightray, as well as a secret about himself. Then it’s off for some lighter moments as Oz goes to visit his younger sister who he hasn’t seen in 10 years, before an old villain re-emerges; the Baskervilles, who are looking for Oz to find the truth of Sablier from the spirit inside him; Jack Vessilius, the “Hero of Sablier”. By Jun Mochizuki Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $11.99 I had read the first few chapters of Pandora Hearts when it debuted in the print version of Yen Plus. While I had mostly enjoyed chapters, it wasn’t enough for me to keep following the series. I’m glad I checked in with these two volumes. The delving further into the mystery of the abyss was interesting, and the introduction of two new characters helped lighten things up after some grim chapters. It was a bit of a shock to jump back into the series at a pretty horrific moment. The scenes of the Sablier tragedy start…

The cast gears up for the mother of all Golden Week vacations. Hayate sunning in the Mediterranean? Our hero’s story truly is a classic tale of rags to… well, substantially less shoddy rags. But what about the students who don’t work as manservants to the super-wealthy? Well, they’ll just have to win vacation tickets in a game show or hit the jackpot in Vega. That could happen, right? By Kenjiro Hata Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Romantic Comedy/Harem Price: $9.99 I’ve heard a lot about Hayate the Combat Butler, and seen how beloved it was by other manga bloggers, but I never felt the need to read it. The premise didn’t interest me, and I don’t care for harem-comedies, but I decided to give it a shot. It actually wasn’t too bad. The volume starts off at the end of a flashback from the previous volume. It’s very serious and rather intense. I was pulled in immediately by it and was hoping for more once the story returned to the present. Sadly that didn’t happen, as instead the remaining chapters were about where everyone was going on vacation for Golden Week, and specifically, all the girls that want…

The supreme beings that created the ogres have a problem. They are responsible for maintaining the delicate balance of nature, but they may have to eliminate the human race to do so. If mankind disappears, will a new order of sentient beings claim their sovereignty over the planet? Either way, Zakuro holds the key to the future of the world! By Yoshinori Natsume Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Action Price: $9.99 It really shouldn’t come as any real surprise that I enjoyed this volume. I liked Togari, Natsume’s previous series released by Viz, and I discovered it the same way, by reading a volume in the middle of the series. Even though most of this volume is fighting, Natsume still manages to get enough story through to keep me interested throughout the volume. The volume starts in the middle of a fight with Lacey, and ends with a fight against Akebi and the discovery of the supreme beings’ plan. One of the things I liked about Togari was the way Natsume blurred the line between good and evil. Good characters are shown to have dark sides, and the characters thought to be evil might not be so bad….

Gen is a new monthly manga magazine that is an experiment in many ways. It doesn’t go through any of the big publishers, or have any big mangaka as a draw. The manga serialized in Gen comes direct from the artists and would fit more in the category of doujinshi, or fan created manga. But this isn’t doujinshi as it is usually thought of in the US, parodies, or porn. These are serious, original stories and characters written for older readers, or seinen. Gen debuted with 4 titles in a variety of genres. “Wolf” is a sports manga featuring boxing. “VS Aliens” is a high school mystery. “Kamen” is a fantasy-drama and “Souls” is supernatural mystery. Of the four stories, I have to say I enjoyed most of them. “Wolf” didn’t interest me too much at first. The main character Naoto is just a bundle of anger, trying to beat his father with one kind of punch, while his father, a former pro boxer doesn’t really seem to care about the wife and son he left to pursue his boxing career. There was too much anger, not enough plot. The last chapter in issue 3 showed some improvement. I was…

Black Jack is back with a wide array of new challenges. An animator with cancer want to see his work move as he envisioned it just once. A fading actress wants to take the stage one last time. A modern-day Cyrano goes to Black Jack for help with his Roxanne, and Black Jack helps some young people determined to commit suicide that there is something in life worth living for. These are just a few of the cases Black Jack takes on in this volume. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Medical Drama Price: $16.95 Each time I read a new volume of Black Jack, I keep an eye out for several stories that I can relate as a theme. This volume comes out swinging with a strong sports theme. The first two chapters are about athletes, the first is a swimmer who loses the use of his legs, and the other is a boy that does well in gymnastics but loses his arm. Both suffer from losing their abilities to play their selected sport, but both are also redeemed by girls, though their paths to it couldn’t be more different. A third chapter is about…

As Hikaru hits his teens and puberty strikes, Sachiko and Masato have to deal with his growing sexual awareness and rebellious attitude. But it’s Kanon that really needs the help as her entry into elementary school leads to teasing over her brother. There’s no rest for the weary though, as on top of these problems, Masato is transferred and the decision is made to move into the Mother-in-Law’s house, which comes with its own set of problems. By Keiko Tobe Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: True to Life Drama Price: $14.99 Normally, problems that involve Hikaru’s disability affect him directly and in turn those around him. In these two volumes though, Hikaru isn’t affected as much as those around him. Kanon feels the effect the most at the beginning. Hikaru’s growing sexual awareness causes her unease when her friend comes over, and then she has to deal with teasing that borders on bullying from classmates who see Hikaru, but don’t understand. It’s nice to see that Kanon isn’t going to take the bullying, though she does try to hide it from Sachiko and Masato by pretending nothing is wrong. Sachiko isn’t so lucky in dealing with her bully…