Manga Village

Meet Noh-A Joo, a brand new student at Amityville North High School. We’re barely introduced to the girl when suddenly we get to watch Noh-A get her head chopped off in a gigantic battle between Jack Frost, the only surviving student of North District, and the head guidance councilor of the West District, Hansen. Jack, armed with two sword-like blades attached to his arms brings the heat on Hansen, who wields what appears to be a gun that has been blessed with holy power. A few beautiful fights scenes, some perverted comedy, and ridiculous and disturbing panty-shot scene later, and Noh-A is alive, in a neck brace, in the hospital wing of the school. By JinHo Ko Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 It turns out that Noh-A is a “Mirror Image,” an immortal in the realm of Amityville, whose blood can be used to heal any wound. While the origin of her special power is not explained, the comic does explain that Amityville is a place where people who fall out of the reincarnation cycle go, to live and then die for good. Amityville is a world that is writhe with battle. Different districts…

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…

In the first volume, Lim gave us blisteringly fast, bloody fighting. With the talented illustrator Park, he gave us gorgeous art, busty women, high tension scenes, and a background story for three characters thrust into something unfathomable. He also gave us tens if not hundreds of tiny, niggling questions. These questions made it so hard to truly enjoy Black God, Volume 1. Now, with the second volume, we still have questions, but a few more answers. Written by Dall-Young Lim; Illustrated by Sung-Woo Park Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Drama Price: $10.99 In this second volume, we foray into a deeper, darker world, and meet a second motsumita, a superhuman guardian of the earth’s “terra”. While these things have started to take on a meaning other than plain jibberish, their strength as story telling terms has not reached a high point . Throughout the volume, Lim uses these words, phrases, and expressions to divulge a secret, carefully crafted like a lotus, its petals peeling away one at a time. The result is a maddeningly suffocating curiosity that permeates the second volume. Many impressive things from the first volume turn out to be mainstays of the seinen manga…

Nuclear war has ravaged the future, and the result is the last remnants of humanity fighting against other species. One of those species arose to become nobility: Vampires. Originally reviewed by Dan Polley Story by Hideyuki Kikuchi; Art by Saiko Takaki Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror Rating: Young Adults (16+) Price: $12.95 It starts with D, who is riding around the countryside to Ransylva, but is confronted before he can get there. Instead, he faces a woman who refuses to let him pass. The two battle briefly, but D seems to handily defeat the woman. But as he starts to leave, she pleads with him. She realizes he is a vampire hunter, and that’s just the type of person she needs. The woman, Doris Lang, successfully convinces D, who then says he is a dhampir, to help her. Doris has been bitten by someone in the nobility, which means she is cursed to become a member of the undead. The villagers continue to provoke her and fear her for being bitten. Doris tells D about her interaction with Count Magnus Lee, who was the vampire who bit her. That night, Larmica and her minion, werewolf Garou, try to…

When the kingdom of Arbansbool is invaded, the prince escapes with a handful of his closest attendants. But these aren’t just any attendants. They’re all maids whose job is to pour tea, not raise an army and help the prince reclaim his throne. Now chief maid Cacao Sardonyx and her five colleagues must take up arms and save a kingdom in this skirt-slashing, tea-spilling epic! Originally reviewed by Dan Polley By RAN Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Adventure Rating: Older Teen (16+) Price: $10.99 The Prince of Arbansbool, Alex Arbansbool II, is a really pig-headed and selfish boy. Yet, for some reason, Court Maid Cacao seems to help him when in need. It’s a bit weird because she was a performer in a circus but took a shop to serve as a maid when she was selected to do so. She did so because the money would be good and she could then choose to fulfill her life’s dreams afterward. Instead, a neighboring kingdom invades Arbansbool, forcing the prince and his close attendants, most of whom are maids, to escape through a back and secret way. The prince’s bodyguards were killed, so the maids are forced to care for this…

Negima! started as a popular manga by Ken Akamatsu that was then made into a popular anime that has been made back again into a popular manga with the title Negima?! neo. From reading about the breakdown of this new title’s history it sounds a little like a back translation. In the translation business a back translation is sometimes requested by a client and it means that after a translation is done (say Japanese to English) the client wants to pay for a translation (obviously by a different translator) back into the original language to compare how accurate the translation is. By Ken Akamatsu Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Shojo Range: OT 16+ Price: $10.00 From what I understand Negima?! neo is directed to a wider audience (read: younger) than Negima!, though in English it is still rated for older teens. I have never read the Negima! manga or seen the anime series, so Negima?! neo is my first exposure to Negi Springfield’s universe, and this seems to allow me a perspective (or lack of perspective) that is different from other reviewers. Our story starts at the end of one journey. Magical child prodigy Negi Springfield is just finishing his…

Students at Imperial Academy are lining up for the “Confess Your Love” rally, during with students announce the name of the person they love to the entire student body in hopes of winning over their beloved’s heart. Maora wants to confess to Maguri, but Maguri already has plans to confess to Shizumasa! By Arina Tanemura Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Genre: Romance Rating: Teen + Price: $8.99 Unless you’ve got a score card and have read the last three volumes, this volume will seem like a jumbled mess to you too. Imperial Academy is having the school festival, and one of the events give students an opportunity to confess their love for another student in front of the whole student body. Confessions and attempted confessions run amuck. But the focus of this volume is on the ball, held on the second day. Haine, the heroine of the story, must attend as she is the Shizumasa’s “girlfriend”, but she has nothing to wear, and she won’t ask Shizumasa for help. The mysterious postman comes to her rescue and helps to create a beautiful gown for her. She goes to the ball, and dances with Shizumasa, but, like a Cinderella, she…

For centuries, a far-off kingdom has been protected by the nightly singing of the Utahime.  This powerful voice is only passed down from one female songstress to another within the Utahime’s bloodline.  Then the impossible happens…a male songstress has been born.  What follows then is a bitter-sweet and tragic tale revolving around this reluctant Utahime. By Aki Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing Genre: Fantasy/Drama Age Rating: 16+ Price: $12.95 While the description goes on about the male songstress, this title is actually about three friends, Kain, Maria and Thomas.  Fate ties them together, but misunderstandings tear them apart.  It is only through the realization of the truth that they are brought back together, though not in time to prevent tragedy.  But regret can become hope if one tries. Utahime begins in the present, where we meet Kain, the male songstress who has taken over for his sister, Maria, who died suddenly, and Thomas the village head who helps to keep Kain’s secret.  The power of the songstress is supposed to be passed down from mother to daughter, but with twins Kain and Maria, it somehow passed on to Kain.  The story then jumps back in time to when Thomas, Maria and…

It appears that Justin and I are on the same road these days when it comes to manga reviews. I recently picked up the 18th volume of Fullmetal Alchemist to review as a standalone and introduction to the series, and here I am again with the 8th volume of Gin Tama. By Hideaki Sorachi Publisher: Viz Media/Shonen Jump Advanced Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Comedy/Aciton Price: $7.99 Gin Tama starts off with the usual “What’s been happening since we started” page, and shows off the characters. There are a lot of them, and throughout the manga, they make a lot of appearances. It seems that all of them have very distinct personalities, but vol. 8 doesn’t seem to be that great of an introduction to any of the characters. We start in the middle of a story arc that gets finished within the first 5 lessons (chapters) of the book, and move on from there. Gin Tama is set in Edo at around the same time as Perry’s opening of Japan. Instead of Americans, though, Hideaki Sorachi has used Aliens instead. This lends the setting both a grasp on both past and current events, and allows Sorachi the ability…

Yako Hoshino, a young man with spiritual powers of his own, comes to the agency seeking help with a possessed book.  He’s seen a lot of strange phenomena in his day, but the last thing he expects to see is Rasetsu bearing a striking resemblance to his old love Yurara! By Chika Shiomi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Supernatural/Romance Price: $8.99 Another group of quirky characters come together for more ghost-busting action.  Shiomi’s knack for combining comedy, romance and supernatural scares brings us another great title, with a few old faces thrown in with the new. Rasetsu is about a girl by the same name, who is haunted by an evil spirit.  Three years ago, she was attacked and marked by him, with the promise that when she turned 20, he would be back.  Instead of giving in to the evil spirit, Rasetsu finds the strength to fight back and becomes an exorcist, working for a company in Tokyo.  Enter Yako Hoshino, grown up now, and working in a library.  His blunt personality gets him on Rasetsu’s bad side, but his power and her resemblance to Yurara’s guardian spirit brings them to work together, though not necessarily getting…