When Viz Media first debuted their new website, SIG IKKI, a collection of seinen (young men’s) and josei (young women’s) manga titles aimed at older readers, Children of the Sea was the first comic to see its debut. Now that the first 8 chapters have all been released online, they’ve been printed into the first collection of the manga title, in a whopping 320 page Signature size book which looks more like a Pluto or a 20th Century Boys style publication. By Daisuke Igarashi Publisher: Viz Media – Sigikki Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Mystery Price: $14.99 Children of the Sea is at its heart, a character driven mystery. It hinges on the fantastic and strange myths of the sea, and three children all connected by a “Ghost of the Sea.” Ruka is a young, brash, tomboy who can’t really express herself through words, and gets in trouble playing handball and gets kicked off her school’s team right at the beginning of their summer break. In her sulking, she decides to travel to Tokyo, and meets Umi, a strange, glowing boy, who is connected to her father, who works at an aquarium in Tokyo. Soon, she also meets Sora,…
In the fifth volume of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk, the “friendly” match against Ryonan High is beginning to wind down. With captain Akagi out of the game momentarily, Hanamichi Sakuragi has finally been given his chance to strut his stuff and prove that he is a bona fide ball player. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Takhiko Inoue Publisher: Viz Media/Shonen Jump Age Rating: Teen Genre: Sports Price: $7.99 Like a rookie in most any professional sport, Hanamichi’s play is wildly erratic. At times he shows flashes of brilliance and shows off his raw athletic ability, but most of the time his greenness, combined with his inflated ego, steals the show. In this volume, Hanamichi has his hands full. Not only does he have a tough task in defending Ryonan’s center Uozumi, but Rukawa has become exhausted from having to defend the talented Sendoh. Still, Hanamichi has managed to give Shohoku a spark, and thanks to his efforts they have decimated Ryonan’s previously big lead by the time Akagi returns to the court. Hanamichi is one of those characters who, despite being unbelievably dense at times, is one who is all the more endearing thanks to his relentless energy and…
Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine…for a horror movie. With striking similarities to a haunting movie character–jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor–she’s mistakenly called Sadako by those around her. But behind her scary facade is a very misunderstood teenager. Too shy to fit in, all she wants to do is make some friends. But when the most popular boy in class befriends her, she’s sure to make more than just that–she’s about to make some enemies too! By Karuho Shiina Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Romance Age Rating: Teen Price: $8.99 I liked the first chapter preview of this title in Shojo Beat, and was glad that it lasted for the whole volume. Sawako is a victim of misunderstandings, which, thanks to Kazehaya, an outgoing and popular boy in her high school class, she starts trying to rectify. Her tentative reaching out to fellow classmates meets with some success, not everyone likes the attention she keeps getting from Kazehaya. The plot of this title seems cliché. The misunderstood shy girl who makes friends with the popular boy, and suddenly she’s popular too. But that’s not the draw of this title. It’s all about the characters. Sawako doesn’t try to be…
Kenji wrote “The Book of Prophecy” in his boyhood. Now this childish fantasy has become the scenario for the Friend’s fiendish plot to destroy mankind. Kenji goes underground and waits for a chance to fight back.Meanwhile, the evil organization is closing in on a man called Shogun in the ganglands of Bangkok. The mystery grows deeper, the fear more intense, as we near the final battle at the turn of the century… Is there really any way to save the world from annihilation? Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media-Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Drama ISBN: 9781421519234 Price: $12.99 Volume 4 of Naoki Urasawa’s suspense thriller 20th Century Boys continues to chug right along, delving further into the exploits the Bangkok-residing, grizzled Japanese man known only as “Shogun.” Who is he really? What is his role in all of this? The answers are contained within. It is now summer of the year 2000. Wait, what? It is 2000 already? The world is supposed to end in December 2000, right? [The time skip from 1997 to 2000 happened in the latter stages of volume 3.] Four volumes into the series and there are supposedly only…
Kekkaishi is one of the more under appreciated titles when it comes to shonen manga. With wildly popular series like Naruto and Bleach out there, it is not surprising that other quality titles will get lost in the pile, and Kekkaishi is an unfortunate example of this. With crisp, attractive artwork — some of the best artwork one will find in a shonen manga — endearing characters and a rock-solid plot, what is keeping people from giving this series the recognition it deserves? Now that Viz Media has licensed Sunrise’s anime adaptation, perhaps Kekkaishi will finally fulfill its potential to be a real hit. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Yellow Tanabe Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Shonen, Fantasy, Supernatural Price: $9.99 In usual shonen style, volume 18 picks up directly where the cliffhanger ending of volume 17 left off and quickly resolves the previous story arc. Before moving on to the next arc, Masamori assigns Sen to spy on his younger brother Yoshimori. Sen enrolls at Yoshimori and Tokine’s school. Yoshimori soon becomes concerned about Sen’s standoffish attitude, while Sen is more concerned about succeeding at his mission. Just when both of them are beginning to make the…
“Since you may die at anytime…your civic duty is to live as well as you can.” Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is a new manga from Viz, and despite the dark premise, this new series has some bright surprises. By Mase Motoro Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: M for Mature Genre: Drama Price: 12.99 USD At some point in the future the Japanese government issued the National Welfare Act. This is a three-tiered government program that immunizes all children, but one-in-one-thousand will be infected with a nanocapsule that will open up sometime between the age of 18 and 24 and kill the carrier. The thinking is this program will improve people’s value of life. As a result suicides go down and the birthrate goes up. Our “hero” is Fujimoto, a young man who has survived his 24th year and is recruited as an ikigami delivery man. An ikigami (literally “death paper”) is notice delivered to Welfare Act victims 24 hours before the nanocapsule initiates heart failure. I put hero in quotes as Fujimoto at least initially hardly questions the obvious moral ambiguity of the government program that now employs him. This first volume is divided into two stories (and it appears…
After the finish of Monster tongue wagging Naoki Urasawa fans were begging for something new, and earlier this year both Pluto and 20th Century Boys started their runs in English. Urasawa’s popularity is no fluke, and these titles are huge sellers in Japan, as well. In fact, a three-part movie adaptation is happening now in Japan. (Part 3 comes out later this year.) By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: T+ Older Teen Genre: Mystery, Drama Price: 12.99 USD A series of bizarre deaths reconnects a group of school-age chums from who have been friends since the late 1960s. Half of the book is flashbacks to childhood days as recollections of stories between the reunited friends which often read like scenes from “Stand by Me” or “The Wonder Years”. The boys made a secret clubhouse out of a mound of grass in an empty lot, and there hide from “enemies” like the “evil twins” Yanbo and Mabo. Childhood games are epic in proportions, even if they have no real significance in everyday life, but what makes 20th Century Boys fascinating and mysterious is the symbol the boys created as a sign of their club starts showing…
Yamaoka and his father Kaibara Yuzan, have never enjoyed an ideal father-son relationship. In fact, it’s about as far from ideal as possible, and when they start arguing about food–which they inevitably do–the sparks really fly. In this volume of Oishinbo, the subject of dispute is fish, starting with the question of whether mackerel can ever be truly good sashimi. Later, things come to a head during the “Salmon Match” which pits father against son in an epic contest to develop the best dish before a panel of judges. Will Yamaoka finally defeat Kaibara? Or will he once again be left in his father’s shadow? Written by Tetsu Kariya; Illustrated by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 The overall premise of Oishinbo is that Yamaoka and his partner Kurita are compiling the “Ultimate Menu” of Japanese cuisine for the 100th anniversary of the publishers of Tozai News. Each volume of Viz’s compilation of this long running series is centered around a type of food. This volume is all about fish. The stories are episodic, and can be broken down into two types; Yamaoka helping someone out or putting someone in their…
Convinced that finding the jewel of the Dragon God will release the Kuroishi family from their curse, Megumi and Suzuka travel to China together. Will they succeed in their mission and finally break the captive spell? By Matsuri Hino Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Comedy/Romance Price: $8.99 In this final volume of Captive Hearts, Megumi and Suzuka go to China to fulfill the Kogami family’s contract with the Dragon God, which will hopefully cancel out the Kuroishi family’s curse. But it turns out the Kuroishi weren’t the only ones to have been cursed by the Dragon God, and this new group isn’t as understanding about things as Megumi. The comedy and hijinks continue in this last volume of Captive Hearts, though the burden is taken off of Megumi and is transferred to a group of villagers who were cursed by the Dragon God to turn into animals at night. Their bumbling efforts to get Suzuka make for some laughs, as so their transformations, as not all villages turn into animals. Some just gets ears and tails. The majority of the volume takes place in the village, as the leader and fortune-teller, Granny, tries to get…
Short Tempered Melancholic is a series of one-shot shojo stories. Unlike many manga, which span multiple volumes with twisting and turning plot arcs, ever evolving characters and increasingly complex storyline additions, Short Tempered Melancholic is a piece of work that stands on its own – more importantly, it is 4 separate works that all stand on their own. By Arina Tanemura Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 To then review Short Tempered Melancholic, each of the stories in the collection must be looked at. The title story is actually in two parts, and involves a young girl ninja who battles between her training and giving up her ways for a boy she likes. It’s a cute, saccharine sweet tale, and the action breaks up some of the storyline, giving it air to breathe. This is most definitely the best of all the stories, and especially for a mostly shonen reader, the action gives it less of a learning curve than the other stories. The rest are fairly typical plot lines. The second story is “This Love is Non-Fiction,” and is probably the second best of the 4 stories in the book. It unfortunately…