Life is always about patterns. In the pharmacy world, we look at physician prescribing patterns, dispensing patterns by geographical location, and pricing patterns based on trending legal proceedings. In manga, we see patterns in various genres – the shonen fighting manga, the shojo school-girl manga, all have similar formats that we know sell well, and work well in the Japanese market. Some series attempt to subvert or modify these patterns, which is part of their appeal (or the reason we don’t like them). Even authors follow patterns based on what they are interested in, or what they like to discuss. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Thriller Price: $12.99 Naoki Urasawa has a pattern that manifests itself all too frequently in his suspense and thriller manga – when he gets stuck, or doesn’t know how to work his way out of a problem that he has written himself in, he introduces new characters to his stories. In 20th Century Boys, Volume 7, we see Urasawa flounder to produce a back story for the Bloody New Years, and so he introduces a student Koizumi who looks too closely at the history books, and…
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…
I’ve got… nothing to say. Huh. Who knew? Being a manga artist is pretty darn hard…
The giant robot has already been built and now awaits the Great Awakening… With the Friend’s identity still a mystery, the countdown to the apocalypse continues, day by day, minute by minute–for on December 31, 2000, humanity will meet its final hour. Hoping to get as many people who knew about their group’s emblem involved in their clandestine efforts, Kenji’s crew reaches out to their childhood antagonists: the twins Mabo and Yanbo. Back when they were kids, Yanbo and Mabo terrorized Kenji and company to no end. As adults, and with a crisis looming, will the evilest brothers in history now fight on the side of good? Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa Publsiher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery ISBN: 9781421523408 Price: $12.99 20th Century Boys has been an engrossing read from the very beginning, as Naoki Urasawa is great at feeding readers just enough information to keep them guessing. However, in the more recent volumes things seemed to be unraveling too fast. Volume 5 fixes this problem, as Urasawa throws a wrench into his story that changes its entire scope. As the fateful 31st of December rapidly approaches, Kenji is gathering…
A robot may not harm or kill a human being. Article 13 of the Robot Laws. Adolph, a member of a robot hate group, is being used as a pawn and hunted down by the members of his own brotherhood. He must now turn to his worst enemy for protection–Gesicht, the robot who he believes killed his own brother. Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa x Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen (16+) Genre: Mystery, Thriller ISBN: 9781421525839 Price: $12.99 Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto is beginning to show signs of winding down. With a mere three volumes to go after the conclusion of volume five, things appear to be headed towards the climax as Urasawa’s continues to peel layers off of his multi-layered plot. Inspector Gesicht’s past really begins to unravel here as Urasawa finally sheds light on the gaping hole regarding Hans’ brother and Gesicht’s involvement in the whole affair. Gesicht’s recollection of his horrid memories further blurs the line between human and machine. Apparently robots can harbor feelings of true hatred, a concept that is fascinating on its own. It is also Hercules’ turn to face the mysterious enemy and this…
Kenji wrote “The Book of Prophecy” in his boyhood. Now this childish fantasy has become the scenario for the Friend’s fiendish plot to destroy mankind. Kenji goes underground and waits for a chance to fight back.Meanwhile, the evil organization is closing in on a man called Shogun in the ganglands of Bangkok. The mystery grows deeper, the fear more intense, as we near the final battle at the turn of the century… Is there really any way to save the world from annihilation? Originally reviewed by Matthew Rozier By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media-Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Drama ISBN: 9781421519234 Price: $12.99 Volume 4 of Naoki Urasawa’s suspense thriller 20th Century Boys continues to chug right along, delving further into the exploits the Bangkok-residing, grizzled Japanese man known only as “Shogun.” Who is he really? What is his role in all of this? The answers are contained within. It is now summer of the year 2000. Wait, what? It is 2000 already? The world is supposed to end in December 2000, right? [The time skip from 1997 to 2000 happened in the latter stages of volume 3.] Four volumes into the series and there are supposedly only…
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…
Yamaoka and his father Kaibara Yuzan, have never enjoyed an ideal father-son relationship. In fact, it’s about as far from ideal as possible, and when they start arguing about food–which they inevitably do–the sparks really fly. In this volume of Oishinbo, the subject of dispute is fish, starting with the question of whether mackerel can ever be truly good sashimi. Later, things come to a head during the “Salmon Match” which pits father against son in an epic contest to develop the best dish before a panel of judges. Will Yamaoka finally defeat Kaibara? Or will he once again be left in his father’s shadow? Written by Tetsu Kariya; Illustrated by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 The overall premise of Oishinbo is that Yamaoka and his partner Kurita are compiling the “Ultimate Menu” of Japanese cuisine for the 100th anniversary of the publishers of Tozai News. Each volume of Viz’s compilation of this long running series is centered around a type of food. This volume is all about fish. The stories are episodic, and can be broken down into two types; Yamaoka helping someone out or putting someone in their…
Though it isn’t much of a confession, sometimes I am surprised at how many people assume I read a lot of manga in Japanese. Because I spend most of my days (and nights) translating works into English, it is (I hope) understandably hard for me to spend my free time reading manga in Japanese. As a reader of Japanese let me say we are so lucky to live in an era where the talent translating manga into English is second to none (present company excluded). Actually more important than that is the way the fans have convinced the publishers to give the most authentic retelling of their newly beloved series. It wasn’t so many years ago when stories were simplified, for lack of a better word, to be understandable to native-English speaking audiences. What that means is that instead of talking about the “Hamburg steak” a character had for lunch, she would talk about a cheeseburger. The fans got more savvy to Japanese culture, however, and the publishers followed suit. Translators rejoiced and editors had to start learning about Japan. By Kiminori Wakasugi Publisher: Viz Media/Viz Signature Age Rating: Mature Genre: Comedy/Music Price: 12.99 USD Fast-forward to 2006 when during…