Manga Village

In the fourth volume of Flowers of Evil, Takao makes his decision… He will try to win the affection of one his muses. This will be no simple task, as the teens in this manga drama are all now damaged and warped. Growing up without a mother has twisted their hearts. Helping people like that open up may be impossible, but Takao has thrown away his own humanity as well. Furthermore, Takao is now in search now a utopia. One that can only be shared with his best and only friend, that will sit, even if briefly, among the rice paddies and in the mountains of his rural hometown. And most importantly, it will be a place that pokes fun and undermines every little thin ideal that holds this town together. There is no way this new society will be accepted, but that is exactly what these two wanted in the first place. By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Shuzo Oshimi’s latest volume of Flowers of Evil takes place a few weeks after where the third volume left off. Takao is left to view his two muses back in their school setting but from…

Message to Adolf is a title I have heard a lot about, but never had a chance to read since it was first released in English by Viz back in the mid nineties, and volumes are difficult to come by. But Vertical has solved that problem by re-releasing the series in a 2 volume omnibus set in hardback. Finally being given the chance to read this, I had to take it and see what everyone was talking about. Like so many of Tezuka’s other thrillers, Message to Adolf is a provocative and compelling read, but like the subject matter, not for the faint of heart. By Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: Teen Genre: Thriller Price: $26.95 Message to Adolf is about three men named Adolf; Kamil, a Jew who lives in Kobe, Japan, Kaufman, the son of a German Consulate father and Japanese mother who also lives in Kobe, and of course, Hitler. At the heart of the story is some secret information about Hitler, that if is got out, could bring down Hitler and the Nazi party. Both of the boys as well as a Japanese reporter named Sohei Toge become involved in the search for the…

In the third volume of The Flowers of Evil, Takao must make a decision. He now has an opportunity to break free from the social shackles that Nakamura has placed on him, as he has a chance to be loved by someone he has affections for. This could also be an opportunity to be accepted by the masses in his small community. But with this choice comes fear and self-reflection. After having a chance trip to Nakamura’s place, where he got to experience the world his only “friend” has grown up in, he realizes that for both teens, there is very little future to look forward to as they are raised in the boonies. Their lives are mapped out before them. For most adolescents these days, life will continue to be blasé at best, miserable at worst. Can they change things together? Do they want to even bother? By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Takao becomes the center of Shuzo Oshimi’s third volume of The Flowers of Evil. Pushed against a proverbial brick wall, Takao decides to run from the masses instead of becoming one of them. Though he doesn’t break free according to…

Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The routine of class and endless stupidity in a provincial town is taking a toll on middle schooler Takao Kasuga. Though he gets along well enough with his peers, they’ll never begin to dig any of that reading business that’s his only true escape. What can he expect when he’s in love with foreign stuff like the poems of Charles Baudelaire? Yet, his life threatens to take a turn for the worse when he finds and takes home, in a moment of weakness, the gym clothes of pretty, sweet, and smart Nanako Saeki on whom he has a major crush. Witness to the theft is the oddest girl in class, who seems to consider the whole world a pile of excrement and to nurse a terribly sadistic streak… Rising star Shuzo Oshimi, the author of the hit apocalyptic series “Drifting Net Cafe“, finds his groove in an ever-so-slightly autobiographical work that grows more soulful with each volume. Nominated for the 2012 Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize). By Shuzo Oshimi Publisher: Vertical Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Psychological Price: $10.95 Shuzo Oshimi’s Flowers of Evil begins innocently in a school setting where the seemingly normal Takao…

Black Jack’s three year journey ends finally comes to an end with these last two volumes. Unfortunately, the good doctor doesn’t go out with a bang, but more of a fizzle, as these last two volumes are the weakest of them all. The stories aren’t bad. They’re just not as engaging.

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.

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…

Hikaru’s evolution continues, now as the host to both Horizon and Maelstrom. A new cosmic entity has come to Earth, sensing a disturbance in its evolution. The Moderator sees a macro-evolution for the Earth, but with Horizon and Maelstrom not doing their jobs, it’s up to him to see it through, or else wipe all life from Earth, and let it start over. It’s up to Hikaru, Horizon and Maelstrom to find the solution, and the next step in the Earth’s evolution. By: Nobuaki Tadano Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Sci-fi Price: $10.95 Volume 3 starts by showing how much Hikaru has changed from the first 2 volumes. She is no longer a loner, nor does she try to shut out the world. She spends time with her friends Saya and Nao, and acts more like a normal girl. She also starts to notice their classmate Chika, a girl who seems to have the same problem Hikaru had, but reacts in the opposite direction. She doesn’t want to be alone. She is desperate for friends, and to have a place to belong. That no one really wants to be alone is a theme that runs throughout the…

The rogue doctor Black Jack is back with more stories of strange diseases and amazing feats to cure them. These three volumes feature stories that move away from the “corruption of the medical system” and focus more on Black Jack’s patients, both the two-legged and four. We also get another glimpse into Black Jack’s past with the appearance of his father and his new family.

Comparison is one of the great powers of the human mind. We categorize and store information throughout our lives, and then at every step necessary, recall and compare, oftentimes synthesizing new information and opinions. It is hard to review Usamaru Furuya’s Lychee Light Club for the simple fact that there is very little that I have ever read that would allow me to compare, analyze, and then synthesize an opinion of the work. When the mind cannot find the most immediate comparisons, it digs harder and deeper, looking for the things it has experienced before to connect the dots. It is in the shadows of Lychee Light Club and its distinctive beginning that make it such a strange, visceral experience. By Usamaru Furuya Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: 18+ Genre: Seinen/Horror Price: $16.95 Lychee Light Club is, if I describe it in general terms, is a Lord of the Flies with an added bonus of homemade robots programmed to find beautiful girls to worship. The characters of Lychee Light Club are all adolescent, prepubescent boys, who are unsustainably obsessed with beauty and androgyny. Lychee, the robot, is probably the most human of the entire cast. There is internal conflict over…