Manga Village

Getting halfway through a series and finding things to talk about can sometimes be quite challenging; with Natsume Ono’s work, it’s a fairly simple matter. It may be my love for her characters, her designs, and her writing, but the complexities are fascinating and are great for discussion.

As a medical professional, I sometimes have a hard time reading medical dramas or watching medical shows on television.This is especially true with shows like House, where the way the series is set up forces it to be completely technical and still be somewhat accessible for the layperson. As part of a long-standing studying stress reliever, my friends and I would gather around the television during pharmacy school and analyze all of the things that were going wrong throughout a given episode of House. I remember running through lists of ways the medical team could have accurately diagnosed the patient and not half-killed him or her throughout the show.

There’s a new manga magazine for both your computer and at your local bookstore, and it’s not filled with your typical emo ninja/sword shielding kids! Taking the next logical step in demographics, GEN is for older readers. So if you enjoy indie comics or the many of the manga offerings of Dark Horse, give this magazine at try. More details and ever a special offer after the break.

Is it possible to look at a horrible life experience in a completely positive way? Hideo Azumi takes a shot at it, but the result is a varried and oftentimes disturbing autobiography that is mesmerizing. Read my review after the jump!

Winner of 2010 Eisner for Best U.S. Edition of International Matierial-Asia! Nearly 850 pages of pure comics genius. And it feels like it ends just a bit abruptly. By Yoshihiro Tatsumi Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly Genre: Autobiography/Memoir Rating: Older Teen Price: $29.95 But that’s a minor point against it. A Drifting Life is epic. It’s sort of a mashup of several things, even though it’s an autobiography mainly about the comics career of Yoshihiro Tatsumi. He also draws highly from his family life, even far into his adulthood. What’s interesting about the work is that pieces of history and other short elements are woven into the narrative in a way that makes this more than just an autobiography — it’s sort of a window into the era and culture of Japan. But, most importantly, it’s about comics. Tatsumi grew up interested in comics, so the main focus through the work is on his career as a manga creator and how that meshed with his personal and school lives. But it starts at the end of World War II, just as the Japanese emperor announced the surrender of the country. The earliest reference to comics in the work is Tatsumi asking…

A collection of short stories in the gekiga tradition, people who are familiar with Yoshihiro Tatsumi may be as surprised as I was by the strangely positive stories in this volume. All are set in remote mountain villages untouched by modern conveniences, and focus on events in the lives of the mountain residents. Many also feature touches of folk tales and fantasy creatures to woven into the narrative. By Susumu Katumata Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly Age Rating: Not Rated; Older Teen Genre: Drama Price: $24.95 The stories vary widely, from coming-of-age stories (Mulberry, about a squabbling young boy and girl who suddenly mature when the girl, who lives in a brothel, gets her first period) to love stories (in Funeral for Wild Geese, a man caught in a blizzard gives up his old life to marry a lonely local woman) to eerie supernatural comeuppance stories (in Kokeshi, the mentally unbalanced master of the village goes around ravaging women until he is avenged by the kappa who were born of the miscarriages of his illegitimate children). Even the darkest subject matter is somehow lightened by the mountain setting and the attitudes of the characters, who seem intent on making the best…

The biggest growing issue with Berserk (aside from the fact that Miura is only publishing a handful of chapters each year) is that the plot has been plodding along for some time now. Sure, there have been some big battles in the previous volumes. Unfortunately, though, a big showdown does not always equate to a big revelation. The only thing volume 33 does really well is let the reader know that volume 34 will contain some huge, earth-shattering moments. By Kentaro Miura Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Age Rating: 18+ Genre: Fantasy/Horror Price: $14.99 A ho-hum battle is fought against pirates, which establishes Roderick and his crew as the best sailors around–at the cost of an entire chapter. Yes, once again Miura proves that he can draw a huge sweeping battle scene and discuss nautical battle tactics, but it’s done to the point of overkill. His drawings are stuffed with details: splintering wood, booming cannons, giant clouds of smoke, and turbulent seas. There are countless pirate crew members decked out in hats, bandannas, and vests whose entire lives last no more than a single panel. While readers can certainly appreciate this painstaking attention to detail, it makes me wonder if this…

I guess this shows my age, but I’m one of those kids that was part of the original Power Rangers generation. When I was little, I would wake up early to watch Power Rangers, chomping at a bowl of Cheerios and waiting to see what kind of cool, gigantic monster the Power Rangers would have to fight. I’m sure that this formative education is why I enjoy the mediocre Rosario + Vampire; I can’t get enough of the baddies Tsukune and his harem fight every week. By Mohiro Kitoh Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Drama/Mecha Price: $12.95 The giant robots genre is a staple in both Japanese and American pop culture. Voltron, the Autobots, and Power Rangers litter the kid’s television landscape. Most of these shows, with a few notable exceptions, are sugar sweet, sappy tales that don’t really challenge the viewer in an emotional fashion – and why should they? These shows are media intended to be consumed by kids around the age of 5. Some writers have challenged the status quo of the genre, but none have done it quite as effectively as Mohiro Kito, a writer with a knack for subverting seemingly incorruptible subject…

Publisher’s Info: They say you cannot choose where and when are born; we are gifted into the worlds are parents are living at the time. Whether a blessing or a curse, as individuals we must make the most of our environments to advance as best possible given the circumstances present. For the cast of Peepo Choo, their places of birth, whether they be the suburbs of Tokyo or the South Side of Chicago, appear to be a curse they cannot escape…until they realize the world is a much smaller place than they thought. On the surface Milton appears to be your average a high school student living in the thugged out streets of Chicago’s South Side. As is the case with many teens looks can be deceiving. When he’s not at school or riding the metro, he is at the local comic shop cosplaying as his favorite Japanese animation character Peepo Choo! A hardcore fan, Milton knows every line from the Peepo Choo animation by heart. He can happily replicate the Peepo Dance with ease, and genuinely believes the world depicted in this cartoon is “the real” Japan. By Felipe Smith Publisher: Vertical, Inc. Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Parody Price:…

Being a guy that’s aging, and probably faster than my inner-child would like to admit, I enjoy it when a comic book caters to me as an adult. While this is rapidly becoming the policy in mainstream comics, where the entire readership is a bunch of 30 year-old man-children, manga published in the USA generally tends to hit the 13-18 crowd. The most popular titles are from Shonen and Shojo anthologies, weekly magazines that target younger children. Let’s just say that Naruto, while interesting, isn’t written for 23 year-olds. By Housui Yamazaki Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Age Rating: 18+ Genre: Horror Price: $10.95 Seinen manga, or manga for men, is a little scarce, but Dark Horse is one of the few publishers that bucks the trend;  the majority Dark Horse’s manga in print are seinen works. Thankfully, the publishing house does an admirable job with their manga. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Oh! My Goddess, Eden, and Gantz are all for mature readers, and they’re all great series. One of DH’s shorter manga installments is a three-volume horror collection by mangaka Housui Yamazaki (the illustrator for Kurosagi). In it, he tells the story of the vengeful dead, delivering their hate as…