Publisher’s description: She’s cute. She’s a barrel of fun. She’s irrepressible. And…a bit of a klutz. She’s Haruo Hattori, and now she’s leaving her little country farm town, her boyfriend, and her loony family for college in the big city. Before she leaves, she makes a pledge that she’ll remain true to her boyfriend, despite all the temptations a big city can throw at her, and the temptations pile up like cordwood when the need for a few yen to rub together nets her a job at Club 9, a hot hostess bar. The charming country girl lights a lot of fires in the hearts of the club patrons, and her short skirt is fanning the flames! How ya gonna keep `em down on the farm once they been to Club 9? Collecting the story-arc from issues #13-19 of the Super Manga Blast! ongoing series. Club 9 is raucous slice-of-life, fish-out-of-water comedy as only What’s Michael? creator Makoto Kobayashi can craft. By Makoto Kobayashi Publisher: Dark Horse Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Comedy Price: $15.95 A week or so ago was Free Comic Book Day, and I took my kids to the comic book store to get free comics. I also…
Thus far, Arai has successfully concealed her true identity from Kentarou, who doesn’t suspect in the least that his huffy housemate is actually his dearest childhood friend, Shi-chan. But Kentarou’s little sister sees right through Arai’s disguise when she makes a surprise visit. Now Arai is at the mercy of the little devil’s whims, lest anyone else find her out! But when Karen’s future at Wakaba-Soh is threatened, Arai may be forced to expose herself as Shi-chan to Kentarou. Can his feelings for Shi-chan ever apply to Arai? Or has Karen already claimed his heart? Find out in the final volume of Welcome to Wakaba-Soh! Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Chaco Abeno Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance/Comedy Price: $10.99 The second, and final, volume of Chaco Abeno’s Welcome to Wakaba-Soh is a light read of a romantic comedy, harem style. This last volume focuses on Arai who is trying to keep her secret from Kentarou that she is actually his beloved childhood friend. This slice of life manga’s protagonist Kentarou seems innocently clueless about the true identity of Arai. The lack of focus, or plot at all, makes it hard as a reader to know…
Getting a book in the mail that you didn’t order or didn’t think you wanted to have can end up being a mini-Christmas. I love Christmas. That is why, when Daniella Orihuela-Gruber threw out the idea of having a manga exchange, sort of like a pen-pal arrangement, I jumped right on it. Having someone decide what you’re getting is a thrilling experience. I sent Ed Sizemore the first volume of Aishiteruze Baby, and received the One Piece vol. 1-3 omnibus from Jammer of Jammer’s Animovie Blog. By Eiichiro Oda Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action Price: $14.99 I’ve heard stories about One Piece. I’ve seen the rave reviews. I’ve read how some of my favorite manga bloggers are in love with the book. Yet, up until Jammer sent me the first three volumes of the series, I had never thought of picking it up, or even borrowing it from the local library. Where One Piece should be a part of my “manga awareness,” instead there was a blank spot. With Jammer’s help and Daniella’s guidance, I’m getting a chance to finally see what the hype is about. One Piece starts by introducing the main character, a one Monkey…
I have to blame my current shojo addiction on David Welsh, of the Manga Curmudgeon, and my own blogger’s nagging insecurity that I’ve been missing out on something. When I first started up the manwha Pig Bride from Yen Press and Viz Media‘s Aishiteruze Baby, I found out that this girly, sparkly, cutesy manga was… actually, a lot of fun. A guilty pleasure, if you will. By Shouko Akira Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: High School/Romance Price: $8.99 Like shonen manga, shojo tends to fall into categories, and the high-school love story is pretty popular. There are others, like the reverse harem for example, but some of the more interesting series (in my opinion) on the market right now are high-school love stories – Kimi ni Todoke, We Were There, and Itazura Na Kiss are fantastic. Monkey High! is another high-school romance, but does things a bit differently. In Monkey High!, female lead Haruna Aizawa is an uncharacteristically cold girl who, probably due to a recent scandal her politician father has been in, tends to think that everyone in high-school is just playing on a monkey mountain. She’s seen her “friends” from K Academy leave her, and it…
In a Tokyo of the not-too-distant future a young girl looks up to the stars with melancholy in her heart and hope in her eyes. Thirteen-year-old Asumi kamogawa’s whole life has been tied to those stars; her future may very well be among them. And she is not alone… Asumi is on of many young people with ambitions to some day head into space in Japan’s first manned space mission. By Kou Yaginuma Publisher: Vertical Inc Age Rating: Teen Genre: Drama/Space Price: $10.95 The dream of going into space is one man has had for centuries, and was finally fulfilled in the last few decades of the 20th century. But no matter what happens, that dream never dies, as we see in the series Twin Spica, a new title from Vertical about 5 young people working to make their dreams of space travel into reality. The focus of Twin Spica is on Asumi Kowagawa. She has some strong and tragic connections to space. When she was 1, Japan’s first attempt at a manned rocket flight into space failed, and crashed into her city. Her mother was badly burned and put int a coma, dying 5 years later. This tragedy doesn’t…
Our childish ideas of being together… I thought I’d forgotten all about them. By Yugi Yamada Publisher: Digital Manga Publisher Age Rating: M/Mature/18+ Genre: BL/yaoi Price: $12.95 Despite being disappointed by her at least once, I have a high opinion of Yugi Yamada. Her art is distinctive and interesting, but not nearly so interesting as her writing, which is sparky and funny and unpredictable. She likes to take the most well-worn BL clichés and turn them on their heads or give them a twist that makes the end result more realistic and less sentimental than it usually turns out in the hands of less skilful artists. Dry Heat is no exception, being Yamada’s take on the “childhood crush all grown up” story. At just 7 years of age, Tatsuhiko declares to his ten-years-older friend Itaru that when he grows up he’s going to become prime minister of Japan, so that he can legalise gay marriage and marry Itaru. Ten years later, and five years after they last saw each other, Itaru learns that Tatsuhiko has gone missing, and is charged with finding him again. His search brings him to a sleazy area of Tokyo where he makes contact with Terasawa,…
Irel Clark is a professor’s assistant whose latest find is the “Holy Grail” for members of his profession — literally! But when it turns out that some decidedly unholy individuals are also after the blood of Christ, Irel must drink from the chrism bottle he’s recovered to save his own life. Immortality leaves something to be desired, though, when undead cannibals walk the earth in constant need of human flesh, and Irel’s newly immortal body is nothing short of an all-you-can-eat buffet! By: JinJun Park Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 Zombies don’t always make a story better. What starts out looking like a roller coaster action adventure in the vein of Tomb Raider instead becomes an all-you-can-eat buffet, and not in a good way. A lack of likable characters make the directions the story may be going in less than interesting. This title starts out deceptively cool. Professor Langhem and his assistant Irel are trying to get past several armed guards around an old church. They are searching for the Holy Grail, but what Irel finds is a chrism bottle. The first two chapters of the volume follow the heist and subsequent escape, but…
With Ryo’s birthday around the corner, Asuka’s all aflutter making preparations for the festivities. Even the best-laid plans tend to go awry, however…especially when Ryo already has plans with another man!
College student Ayame’s boyfriend is the handsome police detective Koichi. After what seemed like a destined meeting, Ayame and Koichi are a couple who want nothing but a lovey-dovey relationship with plenty of hot sex to spice it up. However, having a police detective for a boyfriend naturally implies that constant troubles won’t be far behind. Between battling injustices in society and indulging in sexual passions in bed, there is never a dull moment in their relationship. Though wanting some peaceful time together is understandable, can you really complain when you have to settle for hot and spicy sex? By Takane Yonetai Publisher: Aurora (LuvLuv) Age Rating: 18+ Genre: Romance Price: $10.95 Make Love and Peace reminds me very much of Cotton Candy. It’s light and fluffy, and fun while it lasts, but I wouldn’t want to eat it all the time. The plot of this series is pretty light. It’s a slice of life that shows the ups and downs of the relationship between a college freshman and a cop with lots of sex scenes thrown in for no real apparent reason other than to titillate. The actual plot and execution isn’t bad. College freshman Ayame is dating police…
Publisher’s description: Complex, powerful, and emotionally wrenching, not simple is a novel told in visual form by one of the most acclaimed creators at work today. R to L (Japanese Style). Ian, a young man with a fractured family history, travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister. His story unfolds backwards through the framing narrative of Jim, a reporter driven to capture Ian’s experiences in a novel: not simple. A story within a story, a book within a book, a tale about the search for family, for an emotional home. By Natsume Ono Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating:Teen+ Genre: Drama Price: $14.99 I found this book very affecting, yes, but neither as brutally disgusting as Tucker Stone, nor as frank and “phenomenal” as Christopher Butcher seems to have. Instead, I fall somewhere in between. When I first saw the cover image, I fell in love. Seriously, I probably drooled a little. And the look of the book is gorgeous. It’s a great size, with subtle colors and line work on the cover unique among it’s manga brethren. In fact, the interior art, the pacing, the characterization– it has…