Manga Village

Oishinbo is something of a cultural oddity here in the United States. It follows a sultry, gourmet journalist Shiro Yamaoka and his girlfriend/wife Kurita Yuko in their quest to create the Ultimate Menu, which has been commissioned  for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Tozai News.  Shiro is a slacker cynic, but has an incredibly refined palate, and so along the way to the completion of this menu McGuffin, Yamaoka teaches his friends and colleagues the finer points of just about every type of food. Written by Tetsu Kariya; Illustrations by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 Shiro isn’t all-knowing – his knowledge and attitude kept in check by his father, a potter virtuoso and elite gastronome. The two constantly fight, and occasionally the old man gets a few past his son. This tension keeps the story engaging, and this tension makes Oishinbo a great comic instead of it being more of a illustrated Japanese food encyclopedia. The artistry of the book comes in two forms – the depictions of the food and background, and the depiction of the characters. The characters have been drawn simply, without much thought to shading and…

I’ve got… nothing to say. Huh. Who knew? Being a manga artist is pretty darn hard…

Ann’s junior high school reunion is coming up, and she hasn’t seen Daigo in two years.  How will their reunion go?  Then finally the story behind Ann’s engagement.  Who is her fiance…? By Hinako Ashihara Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $9.99 This volume picks up where the series left off in Shojo Beat.  It covers just two time periods in Ann’s life; at age 20, and 26.  At her junior high school reunion, she and Daigo have a heart to heart that leaves her as cold as the winter weather.  And then when she is proposed to, she finds out she more like her mother than she ever thought. At age 20, Ann and Daigo meet at their junior high school reunion.  Ann is nervous about seeing Daigo again, but he doesn’t seem any different.  They meet after the reunion, and Ann confesses she wrong to break up with him, but Daigo thinks it was right.  Even though it probably wasn’t what he meant, but Daigo’s words live Ann cold and more alone than before.  She makes a promise to herself that sets her on a dark path, though that isn’t apparent yet. The next…

Rumiko Takahashi is a big name in manga – creator of the immensely popular Ranma 1/2 and InuYasha, she knows what it takes to write an enjoyable story. Arguably one of the most influential manga writers still writing today, she is the one manga-ka who could pull off the feat that is Rin-Ne.

After my rave (possibly raving) review of Kimi ni Todoke, I was excited to pick up the second volume in the growing series. We venture on our way with our extremely shy heroine Sawako (who constantly gets teased and mistreated because she looks like the girl Sadako from The Ring) as she continues to clumsily maneuver through social situations she doesn’t fully comprehend. Her awkwardness causes more than a few problems for her in this volume, which focuses on two of the background characters from last edition – Yano and Yoshida, girls in Sawako’s class that become friends with her. Due to a misunderstanding, rumors start flying around the school about the pair of brash, confident friends, and Sawako is at the center of it all.She of course, in her simple way, has to make things right, which provides most of the drama of the volume. By Karuho Shiina Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $9.99 In a wonderful way, Sawako’s appeal as a manga heroine stems partially from her social anxiety and awkwardness, which I feel is something that many people can relate to. I wasn’t necessarily socially inept in my formative years, but I do…

On with the shojo parade, this week with the intensely wonderful first volume of Kimi ni Todoke. There, I’ve said it. If you were looking for a diss, go ahead and pass on my review. You won’t find anything of the sort here. By Karuho Shiina Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 The main character, Sawako, is a girl who, despite her gentle, friendly demeanor, looks a bit like Sadako, the evil ghost from Ringu  (or The Ring  as we know it here in the States)  and is the victim of some pretty mean rumors. If you believe her classmates, she can summon ghosts to haunt you, and if you look into her eyes for longer than three seconds, you’ll be cursed. Or at least, that’s what the kids say. It isn’t until Kazehaya, the nice-guy heart-throb of the school starts talking to Sawako that things turn around for her, and she starts airing out her inverted personality to new people. It’s a story of positive change that surrounds a misunderstood, painfully shy girl who not only finds friends, but also a bit of romance. If I’m gushing, slap me. Well, not too hard. Kimi ni…

When Crocodile’s evildoing is exposed, the rebellion that will destroy Alabasta just might be averted… But the Baroque Works will do everything in their power to make sure that doesn’t happen – even if they have to kill Princess Vivi!  The Straw Hats are in for the fight of their lives to keep this evil Croc from getting way! By Eiichiro Oda Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action Price: $7.95 With their individual battles against the top of Baroque Works, the Straw Hats converge on the palace square to help Vivi stop the rebellion.  It becomes a race to stop an explosion somewhere in the square that will kill everyone, rebel and palace guard alike.  And Luffy still has some business with Crocodile, who seems to have a second agenda in Alabasta. One of the things that’s so great about One Piece is the action.  Whether it’s one-on-one fights or big battles, Oda knows how to keep the plot moving and keep it interesting without letting the story get tedious.  Even as the fighting continues both in the square, and in the palace, little bits of Crocodile’s plan continue to come out, keeping the reader interested.  The reward…

I’ve been reading a lot of shojo lately, and I have to say that while a lot of it has been quite good (Boys Over Flowers, Honey Hunt) and some has been spectacularly bad (Magic Touch). I’d heard that We Were There was good, but I was skeptical. When I picked up the first volume, I approached the series with some reservation. After the first chapter, I had mixed feelings. Still, We Were There surely was different from what I’d been used to. By Yuki Obata Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $8.99 As a breath of fresh air, the characters of We Were There are intriguing, but not too complicated, at least initially. Nanami (or Nana, for short) is that same sort of shojo heroine you’re used to. As a brand new high school student, she hopes to make a few new friends. Instead, she ends up not fitting in, which, in shojo manga, seems to be the norm, and not the exception. Left alone by the girls, she winds up talking with the super-popular Yano, the love interest of the series who has a bit of an unexplored past. The intro volume gets us…

Being haunted by spirits seems to run in the family 0 this time, it’s Rasetsu’s mother who need help! Can Rasetsu dispel the spirits successfully with her own personal family issues weighing her down? By Chika Shiomi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Supernatural/Romance Price: $9.99 While we do get a glimpse into Rasetsu’s personal life and past, the focus of this volume is really on the invisible love triangle of Rasetsu, Kuryu and Yako.  Even with the new twists introduced, it still hasn’t become a traditional shojo triangle, and that’s refreshing.  There is also a side story that tells how Aoi came to work with the Chief. Yurara, the prequel to this series, set up an unusual love triangle, and Rasetsu seems to be following in its steps.  The love triangle between Rasetsu, Kuryu and Yako is obvious to the reader, but not to the characters.  Yako, who was slow in realizing his feelings for Guardian Spirit Yurara, hasn’t caught on to being part of the triangle here.  It’s nice to see that he hasn’t changed much over the intervening years, and is still clueless about relationships.  This fact makes Kuryu feel better since he thinks it…

Like every volume of this series, this one draws from multiple stories across nearly three decades of the manga. Viz is looking at an ongoing manga with so much history they’ve given up any hope of reprinting it volume by volume here in the US. Instead, they’ve decided to collect various stories based on subject. This does two things: it at once intensifies the “foodie-ness” and dilutes the narrative flow. When a volume is entirely about certain aspects of Chinese cuisine and how these things affect everything from romance to international relations, you cannot help but see the world as entirely consumed with and by food. Written by Tetsu Kariya, Illustrated by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 On the other hand, when a volume leaps around through time, as this one does due to its having the double subjects of ramen and pot stickers, you lose any vital sense of the broader arcs of who the characters are and what their relationships are or where they are going. These are the obvious results of messing with the original format, but there’s subtle ways that this format skews the manga. But before I get…