Manga Village

Fumi Yoshinaga was first introduced to US audiences through her BL titles. But this versatile writer has also created stories for young adults and adult audiences that both men and women can enjoy. She is also the featured creator of this month’s Manga Movable Feast. So here are the Villagers talking up their favorite Yoshinaga titles.

It’s just the girls this time as the Manga Villagers discuss the latest title for the Manga Movable Feast this month, Fruits Basket. This is a shojo title created by Natsuki Takaya and published by Tokyopop. This 23 volume series was among the first big hits in the US, and was Tokyopop’s biggest seller. It’s the story of Tohru Honda, a high school girl who has recently lost her mother, and through some circumstances, comes to live in a tent in the mountains, which also happens to be near the home of classmate Yuki Sohma, who is living with his cousins Shigure and Kyo. The Sohma family has a secret. They are cursed by the thirteen signs of the zodiac. Tohru accidentally learns their secret, but after promising to keep their secret, she is allowed to live with Yuki, Shigure and Kyo. What were your initial impressions of this title? Connie: (as a disclaimer, I re-read the series a few years ago, and read the ending two years ago, but haven’t picked it up since then. I didn’t have the volumes with me to re-read it for the feast. my impressions aren’t terribly fresh.) I couldn’t wait to read it…

For this month’s Manga Movable Feast, the reviewers of Manga Village got together to for a roundtable discussion of the featured books Aqua and Aria. Aria, and its prequel Aqua, is a science fantasy about a girl Akari Mizunashi, who goes to Aqua (previously Mars before terraforming) to become a Undine, or gondolier tour guide. It’s slow paced, with each chapter being a slice of life of Akari’s adventures in gondoliering, the city of Neo-Venezia, and Aqua itself. What are your first impression of this manga? Justin: I was drawn to check it out because I’d read some good reactions to it from a few bloggers I trust. When I first took a look at it, I remember being impressed. The art is lovely, the pacing subtle and lyrical, and the narrative takes time to linger on small, slice-of-life details. However, I remember after a short time getting easily distracted. It was very easy for my attention to fall elsewhere because there was a static, muted quality to the first volume. I almost felt like, after I’d read a few pages, I knew everything I needed to know. So, initially, I had two conflicting impressions of the work. Lori: I…