The Kokusen Academy Culture Festival is here and the Special A crew is making sure it runs smoothly. But chaos erupts when Kei’s grandfather tries to haul Kei off to London! Worse, when Hikari tries to intervene, she gets abducted! But the worst part of all is that amidst all the drama, Hikari is starting to realize her true feelings for Kei… By: Maki Minami Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 This is another series with female protagonist that’s as dense as a neutron star with a love interest that is cold yet popular with the girls. I suppose this isn’t bad if you don’t mind female protagonists that act like dumb blonds, but it really kept me from getting into the story. Kei’s grandfather sends his assistant Aoi Ogata to bring Kei back again. He kidnaps Hikari, thinking if he can get her out Kei’s life by seducing her. Hikari’s obtuseness makes it easy, but Kei runs to her rescue. Hikari then tries to get Aoi and Kei to be friends again, but throughout this, she finds it hard to look Kei in the eye and doesn’t know why. When she finally…
“And then you didn’t bring me my tea! Do you know how disappointing that was?” By: Hisami Shimada Publisher: Aurora/Deux Genre: BL/yaoi Age rating: M/mature/18+ Price: $12.95 Usually I cringe when I see a character in drag on the front cover of a BL book. All too often it means the character’s going to be humiliated by being forced to wear drag (as if dressing like a woman were an inherently shameful thing), or that he’s going to be “feminised” in a way that has more to do with stereotypes of femininity than actual female traits. So I was pleasantly surprised to open up Maid in Heaven and find that main character Midori wears a maid’s outfit because… he’s a maid, and the outfit’s a practical one to wear while he’s working. It isn’t treated in a fetishistic way at all… at least, not at first. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story: Midori is the grandson of Akane, an experienced maid to the rich Kosaka family. Akane falls ill, and Midori takes her place in the household, only to find that Asagi, the master of the house, is not only cold and bossy, but is only 18 —…
The old cliche is that pictures are worth a thousand words; The cover of DearS volume 1, is the epitome of the cliche. One look at the tight rubber suit-like clothing, gratuitous bosoms, and the giant dog collar around the girl’s neck, and you get a pretty good idea about what this manga is about. By: Peach-Pit Publisher: Tokyopop Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Comedy Price: $9.99 We start of with this loner, kind of losery guy named Takeya, and he lives by himself in an apartment. Everyone is obsessed with DearS, these aliens that crash landed on Earth one year ago. They’re beautiful, strange, and, well, actually, they’re slaves. Great plot, right? It doesn’t get any better, I assure you. Takeya, in his own way, comes across one of these DearS and in saving her life, she becomes his slave forever. Of course, you don’t get that at the beginning of the book, but later on, it becomes readily apparent.. What isn’t apparent is why anyone would read this drivel. There is not a speck of plot to it; just a girl in a skin-tight plastic suit walking around and buying groceries in an apron. It’s like 7 different…
Life couldn’t be better for Keiichi Maebara. Sure, he’s moved to a sleepy, little town where nothing happens and high school consists of a one-room schoolhouse — but his new friends and fellow students are all cute girls! When he happens upon a story about a grisly local murder, however, his contentment turns to uneasiness as he finds himself drawn into a web of silent intrigue that involves his newfound friends . . . and threatens his very existence. By: Ryukishi07 and Karin Suzuragi Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen + Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 A few months ago, the manga reviewers here at Manga Village were discussing our review grades. John Thomas awarded a grade of 10 to the first volume of Eden: It’s an Endless World! Now, I’ve read Eden, and John’s right, it’s a fantastic series–but I don’t know that I’d grade the first volume with a 10. Here’s the thing–this grading thing, it’s an imperfect beast. How do you compare the excellence of books miles apart from one another? And I’m not talking subject matter or genre–no, I’m talking about how various manga approach storytelling and format. For instance, the first volume of Drifting Classroom is…
Written by Antony Johnston; Illustrations by Wilson Tortosa Publisher: Del Rey Manga Genre: Superhero OEL manga Age Range: T 13+ Price: 12.99 USD I am not generally a fan of OEL manga, but have been a fan of X-Men for longer than I am willing to admit. This is probably the opposite of the audience Del Rey and Marvel had in mind for this retelling this origin story of the X-Men’s certainly most well-known and crotchety member. The blurb on the Del Rel homepage was not encouraging: “The gripping, all-new adventure of the x-men’s greatest icon, comletely reimagined in the Manga style This is not the Wolverine you know.” Despite the lack of a proofreader (like I am any position to cast stones), what worried me here was the term “Manga style” (capitalized, when “x-men” is in lower case). As we discussed in the last Manga Village round table, the question becomes, “who are Del Rey and Marvel trying to sell this to?”. Are they trying pull X-Men readers to manga? Manga readers to X-Men? Probably not the latter, as this is released just weeks before the Wolverine Origins movie hits theaters. But also, probably not the former, as this…
Journey back to the Jurassic…and sneak a peek at your favorite dinosaurs as you’ve never seen them! Dinosaur Hour is a collection of comics about dinos who are bullies and ghost-believers, pranksters and bungling little brothers. With such goofy antics, it’s no wonder these guys went extinct! By: Hitoshi Shioya Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Kids Age Rating: All Ages Genre: Comedy Price: $7.99 Starting this year, Viz has reinvigorated it’s VizKids line with many new titles. This title is among the first wave of books Viz is releases for younger readers. It also has the potential to reach beyond it’s intended audience by being just plain and funny and entertaining to anyone who likes a good laugh. Dinosaur Hour is a collection of stories, so there are no main characters or on-going stories, though it does seem that the mangaka had a thing for the Protocertops, as they appear several times throughout the book. Each story is about two or three dinosaurs interacting. When a new dinosaur is introduced, their name, length, and eating preference is given. You can learn things such as the power and stamina of different dinosaurs, or about the Stegosaurus’ unusual brain arrangement. But don’t…
“Do you like basketball, by any chance?” I have to admit that I have no interest in sports whatsoever, so I was a little dubious when I approached Slam Dunk. It’s a series that’s been greatly praised, from an artist with a formidable reputation, both for Slam Dunk itself and for his other series Vagabond and Real, so I was hopeful, but I was also leery of the possibility that it might be crammed with impenetrable jargon, or might depend on the reader being just as fascinated by basketball as the characters. By Takahiko Inoue Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Jump Genre: Shonen/sports Age rating: T/teen Price: $7.99 I needn’t have worried: no prior knowledge or liking for basketball is necessary. Slam Dunk follows the classic shonen manga formula of a cocky, talented boy determined to be the very best — but in this case, the cocky, talented boy, a fierce redhead by the name of Hanamichi, is also not very bright and doesn’t know the first thing about basketball, except that the girl he likes has a crush on a boy on his high school’s team. Hanamichi’s fiery determination to succeed at all costs (even if it means staying…
Junpei Manaka has a thing for film. So when a beautiful mystery girl in strawberry print panties falls on him on the roof and he gets a voyeuristic peek, what does he do? He decides to find out who she is, of course, so he can make a film of the act. By: Mizuki Kawashita Publisher: Viz Media – Shonen Jump Advanced Age Rating: Teen Plus (16+) Genre: Comedy Price: $7.99 So begins the high school melodrama of Strawberry 100%; Junpei and his friends begin the hunt for the mystery girl and her strawberry panties, and everyone gets mixed up in a strange, all to familiar love circle where everyone is sure that two people are perfect for each other, but intervening relationships, arguments, and other such tomfoolery end up keeping them away from each other. Strawberry 100% is primarily a romantic comedy, and it’s got its bright moments. The slapstick and situational humor, along with well translated, witty dialog can make for some good laughs. On the downside, it’s got some unrealistic, harem-manga qualities that I hope get weeded out in the upcoming books. Focusing on the interplay between all the characters is what makes this kind of story…
“There’s just…dead bodies everywhere.” By: Eiji Otsuka and Shou Tajima Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Genre: Horror Range: Mature 18+ Price: 12.95 USD I have spent much of the last few months comparing MPD-Psycho to a roller coaster ride. A lot is asked of the reader the first couple volumes, a little like loading into the coaster and easing up the first big drop. At about Volume 3 and 4 we start getting payoffs, and by the bucket loads. The faithful reader who dug deep into the tale of the Multi Personality Detective Amamiya in the first volumes found quick twists and breath-taking spirals as the size and scope of the world of MPD-Psycho slowly began to reveal itself. In expert fashion, Eiji Otsuka gives us a ride on a roller coaster on it’s fatal last run. Buckled in and barrelling straight ahead, we look forward to what’s ahead as we hear the girders and steel collapse behind us. Everything in the most recent volumes indicates that no character still alive is returning to any sort of normal world after the story ends. The twists and turns get bigger and more frightening, but at the same time insanely satisfying. Like the…
Saving Kyoko from Reino’s attack has finally knocked some sense into Sho’s head, and he realizes how much he cares for her. But before he can declare his devotion, Ren shows up to ruin the moment. Both men realize that Kyoko has no idea of their true feelings for her and begin a secret battle for her affections! By: Yoshiki Yakamura Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen (13+) Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $8.99 This volume is dedicated to the romance side of Skip Beat. Picking up the aftermath of a stalker attack on Kyoko from last volume, both Sho, Kyoko’s rival, and Ren, Kyoko’s mentor, realize their feelings for her. Kyoko, so wrapped up in her mission to become more famous than Sho, doesn’t see beyond the surface. This of course leads to a lot of melodrama. Kyoko didn’t tell Ren that Sho protected her from the stalker, Ren gets upset, Ren and Kyoko thinks they are hated by the other, and when they start to recover, Sho shows up and makes a challenge/declaration of love to Kyoko. But, all that drama isn’t so bad actually. It all plays as a natural progression as Ren has been working…