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I’ll arrange for them to play a special song for you.
Ozunu is the top student at Kusanagi School of Magical Architecture, a national polytechnic high school dedicated to raising professional magical architects of the future. Their job is to apply feng shui and other spiritual methods in architecture to exterminate fiends and demons in Tokyo, where the protective feng shui seal has been broken due to wars and urban development. Being raised by a spider fiend, Ozunu has always tried to purify or return monsters to where they came from. He clashes with his rival Tsugaru, the heir to a magical architecture corporation, who believes strength is the key to everything. Story by Midori Natsu; Art by Haruka Shoji Publisher: DRMaster Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Supernatural Price: $9.95 Feng Shui Academy is based on a series of light novels, and was serialized in a seinen magazine, facts that are glaringly obvious while reading. The stories and characters are typical for a supernatural adventure story, but the whole book seems to be missing that special “something” that makes it memorable. At first glance, Feng Shui Academy has an interesting premise. Students training to be starcrafters, learn to use feng shui to fight and exorcist spirits. And the chapters where we see…
The School sports festival is coming up, so everyone’s gearing up for some fierce competition! Even affairs of the heart become a competitive event when Yoh suspects his friend Asaoka may truly have feelings for Haruna…
When Yurara’s guardian spirit picks up a ghostly stalker, she vanishes, leaving Yurara to deal with the paranormal pervert on her own! By: Chika Shiomi Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Genre: Romance/Supernatural Rating: Teen + Price: $8.99 Not much of a volume description, is it? It doesn’t even come close to describing what’s going on in this volume. There is some serious character development going in here. The description only acts as a lead in. This volume starts off with two self-contained chapters that work to lead into the heart of the book; Yurara’s relationship with Mei. Mei is a serious flit, so Yurara doesn’t want to take his advances seriously, especially when it seems he’s really only interested in her spirit guardian. But when Yurara goes to the school rooftop to investigate the spirit that seems to be following her, Mei gets very upset with her. Yako explains to Yurara about Mei’s past and being in love with another woman who was killed by a spirit by pulling her off a rooftop. Yurara then meets that spirit when she possesses Mei and it’s up to Yurara to get rid of the spirit before it manipulates Mei into taking…
Master and Jade don’t get along very well. They’re always fighting. But when they do… See? Yuto rains fire and brimstone down upon them. Yuto’s a sweet kid… most of the time.
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…