Black Sun, Silver Moon 6
February 10, 2010
Tomo Maeda – Go!Comi – 2008 – 7 volumes
Okay, I’ll admit, I’m glad I stuck around for the ending. I don’t have that much to say about this volume, since the entire thing is basically an exercise in letting the reader sit in anticipation for the moment when Shikimi turns into a demon. There are dreams that foreshadow it. Grey flat out tells Taki that it will only be a matter of time. There are a couple wholesome, positive conversations between Taki and Shikimi that make you think that Shikimi is in control again, but when things start to get too good for the little group, you know. You know what is going to happen.
It’s… pretty brutal, and for a moment, I was concerned that something that never, ever happens in manga transpired. I was impressed that the series would do this, and momentarily baffled by what the conclusion could possibly be, but then it backpedaled and things look like they will play out as promised. And that’s fine. The stakes are pretty high here, and I still wonder about the outcome. On one hand, this is a manga, but on the other hand, the characters seem pretty serious about their black and white issues.
I’m going to go ahead and read the final volume right now. This one left off on a brutal cliffhanger, and I just have to know. I don’t really like this series that much, and never did, but I still have to know how it ends.
Two Flowers for the Dragon 4
February 9, 2010
Nari Kusakawa – CMX – 2009 – 7 volumes
It’s a real shame I fell behind on this series. It really doesn’t deserve it. It’s almost like a younger version of Apothecarius Argentum. The stories are nothing alike, and this one is a bit more fun and playful, but they are both very good at the same things. I’ve got the fifth volume now too, and I’ll be covering it this weekend.
In this volume, the main two plot points are the deepening of the relationship between Kuwan and Shakuya, and Lucien getting his memories back. The former is something that could be spotted a mile away after the traumatic end of the last volume, though it was still a sweet moment, and I loved the strange way the handmaidens tried to get Shakuya to dish on what had happened between the two and their attempts to get a peek at her tattoos.
Lucien’s story was the more interesting one, though. He gets all his memories back, so he remembers just was a manipulative little kid he was, along with everything that happened at the Oasis when he lost his memory during a sandstorm. As expected, it wasn’t an accident, he was assaulted, but now he remembers the face of the assailant. I was surprised at first, since I thought it might be Kuwan, but the characters all point out that he’s been removed from any suspicion after putting his life on the line last time. The actual assassin appears later, in a story involving Shakuya’s main handmaiden, Lupina.
The Lupina story at the end is really one of my favorite moments of the story so far. It’s got the best of everything about this series in it. Lupina meets the assassin prior to his picture being circulated, and falls in love with him a little. When she realizes who he is and what he’s done, we are left to wonder what Lupina will do. Her feelings are wonderfully analyzed and on display, and she was so happy to get a taste of what Shakuya has so much of. Will Lupina warn him? Cover for him? Or be a good friend and loyal to Shakuya? It’s an absolutely wonderful little sub-story, and I loved that it spotlighted one of the better side characters.
But yes. More later.
One Piece 37
February 9, 2010
Eiichiro Oda – Viz – 2010 – 56+ volumes
Aww, I didn’t notice last time that Usopp is no longer in the grey “Straw Hat” box in the character introductions at the front of the book. Robin still is, but she’s not gray, she’s just inside the box.
Huge confrontation with the members of CP9. The masks are all off, and all the motives are out in the open. The Straw Hats are not happy, and neither is Paulie. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the members are all monster fighters of the first order, and there’s nothing to be done about it at this point. Things end badly. The fight moves to Franky.
Franky brings some levity back to the story. We find out he’s not at all a bad guy, as he finds Usopp and, instead of beating him as promised, he helps him and the Merry into his secret hideout/shipbuilding headquarters. He has a good time as Usopp explains current situations to him. Uncharacteristically, Usopp doesn’t join in his wacky asides, which probably just proves how out-of-sorts and upset Usopp is. Franky also has the unpleasant job of driving home just how unseaworthy the Merry truly is, and we get to hear a little legend and a sad story before the bad guys bust in.
Cue flashback to Tom, the legendary shipwright who build Gold Rodger’s ship and the sea train. He’s one of those upright hero guys who always figure into these flashbacks, and we learn of how he built the sea train and raised Iceberg and Cutty Flam. I’m… a little surprised that the identity of Cutty Flam was “secret,” after this flashback. The whole weapons turning against them was a real sad thing for Cutty Flam, too, since he was so good at making them. I mean, obviously his skill is alive and well in the present day, but… you know. Not a good memory for him.
More. More! On to Enies Lobby, I’m sure! Or at the very least, a regrouping of the Straw Hat pirates, who have scattered (haha, though “scattered” doesn’t begin to cover what happens later, I suppose). Who knows how long it will take to find Zoro alone. Good stuff, as always, and I’m glad everything was laid out so clearly. Now there’s a bad guy to get, and someone to get back. We have a goal. Let’s do it!
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
One Thousand and One Nights 9
February 9, 2010
HanSeungHee / Jeon JinSeok – Yen Press – 2009 – 11 volumes
Hooray! This is one of my favorite Korean series, and I’m very happy to see the story reaching its conclusion. I knew it would take a little time with this series, due to its nature of telling a story that parallels its own, and with two volumes left, there are some pretty catastrophic-looking goings-on in the main storyline, along with a translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms given to General Macleod by Sehara.
I… was shocked, to say the least, by the fates of Shahryar, Shazaman, and Fatima in this volume. Jafar finally unearths the secret of Fatima, and it is very disturbing, to say the least. I need more perspective on it, actually, so that I’m sure of what was happening. Elsewhere, Shahryar and Shazaman face off in the middle of a bizarre storm, and their fight is cut with scenes from their childhood. At this point, Shahryar is the “good guy” and a completely sympathetic character, which is an amazing feat considering how many women he slayed at the beginning of the story.
It’s worth mentioning, too, that at this point I’m not sure how the story will put the pieces back together for a happy ending. I’m not going to complain either way, and I’m looking forward to the surprise that looks to be in store. I’m hoping that the next volume will give more hints to the finale, but it may just contain a lot more of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story.
I was a little worried when that tale started, because I’ve tried Romance of the Three Kingdoms before, and just could not get into it. Too many characters, and the author points out in the end notes that it is a very masculine story with masculine motives. Hilariously, the writer also points out how homoerotic these stories can be because of that, and puts a rather unambiguous spin on two of the characters for the retelling here. Like we didn’t see that coming.
I read over the introduction to the story three times, but I’m still not positive of all the character relationships. Basically, we have Jo. He’s… uh, King. He’s also currently host to Woo Kwon, an ally of one of his enemies. I think. Woo Kwon is grateful for Jo’s hospitality, but is only staying until he can find his allies again. Jo is rather enamoured of Woo Kwon in a shoujo manga way, and makes this pretty plain, but Woo Kwon only has thoughts for his allies. Lots of fights and stuff take place. There is also a close advisor to the King that helps him try to catch Woo Kwon’s attention and who hopes to replace him when he inevitably goes back to his allies. As confused as I was by some of what was going on, I can still see what’s going on, and I’m curious about where the second half of the story will go, since it stopped in a pretty good place.
Again, I absolutely love the storytelling techniques and the characters in the main storyline of this series. I can’t get enough of it. It’s been one of my favorites for years now. The last two volumes just can’t come fast enough.
Sgt. Frog 18
February 8, 2010
Mine Yoshizaki – Tokyopop – 2009 -20+ volumes
I reviewed this for the weekly Manga Minis column at Manga Recon, so you can check out my review over there.
Basically, with nothing but what was offered from the first volumes, I’m pretty tired of the same old thing at this point. The volumes are always better with a longer story, and while this does have one that spans two chapters, it isn’t quite enough to keep things interesting. Still cute, still funny, but I would have much fonder memories if this had ended a long time ago, I think.
One Piece 36
February 8, 2010
Eiichiro Oda – Viz – 2010 – 56+ volumes
See, I told you I’d be back with more in a week. Two volumes this time, continuing in the saga of Water 7 and Who Shot Iceburg.
There’s lots of politics at play, more than we’ve had to deal with so far in the series. Rather than the usual “This man is bad and is doing bad things, stop him,” we have a more ambiguous plot on our hands here. Why are the Straw Hats being blamed for the attempted assassination of the mayor of Water 7? Why does he swear it was Robin that did it? Why does he seem to have it in for Robin, aside from that? Lots more questions come up by the end of the volume involving the World Government, the use of legendary weapons, secret agencies at work within the realms of the government, the identities of some of the shipwrights in the Galley-La company, and what makes Franky so super.
There’s not much to say about this volume that doesn’t give too much away. Aside from the brief continuation of the fight with Franky and the shipwrights letting Luffy know he’s not welcome anymore, there’s lots of sitting around on rooftops and gathering information about what’s going on. Towards the end, there’s a big night raid set up to try to reach Iceberg once again, with plans to infiltrate by both the mystery assassins and the Straw Hats, with a massive army of the Galley-La men defending. There’s not much of a fight here, and it’s really more of an information gathering exercise in the end, but we still learn an awful lot about what’s going on here, and it leaves off in a very interesting place for next time.
I love Franky. He wears no pants, has an open Hawaiian shirt, sports a pompadour, is a cyborg powered by cola he keeps in a fridge in his stomach, and calls everything “super.” Part of me suspects that he’s supposed to be vaguely American, and if that’s the case, he’s even funnier. I also thought it was a really strange detail to include when the two square-hairdo girls with him seemed to be walking sideways to a musical beat in order to avoid being blown over by the wind and storm that’s blowing up around the city.
I do have one question, but it’s a vague spoiler, so let me mark it out here. Not that I’ve been at all careful about spoilers concerning One Piece, but still.
spoiler…
spoiler…
spoiler…
spoiler…
I… skipped over this whole part years ago after being so saddened by Usopp and Luffy’s fight, so I am completely unaware of the way the story works here aside from how things come out on the other side. So, Robin is part of CP9, who is stealing Tom’s plans for the Pluton weapon. But… Robin knows all about Pluton already, since she’s seen the plans for it at Alabasta. She also knows about Leviathan, another weapon, since she’s seen the plans for it at Shandora. Is this a hint that she’s not all bad, or not really cooperating with CP9? Obviously she’s not, since she comes out on the other side of all this a Straw Hat, and I assume her silence on the matter through this entire book is another hint. I know we weren’t supposed to forget that she had seen the plans for these weapons, because she states it pretty plainly when she finds the glyphs. I suppose I should just wait patiently and find out in future volumes like a good girl.
More explanation, more forward momentum in the story, and a flashback by way of explanation should happen next volume.
Also, I can’t remember if I mentioned this last volume, but I can’t believe that it took me as long as it did to realize that the weird trees in the Gedatsu title page story were supposed to be an onsen mark, of sorts. I love that they stay there through the entire story, taunting you with the fact they were there from the first page.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Black Sun, Silver Moon 5
February 6, 2010
Tomo Maeda – Go!Comi – 2008 – 7 volumes
Continuing on with the color theme of the past 24 hours, I recently bought the last three volumes of this on sale, and no time like the present to finish it off.
I still don’t really care for it. The parts showing Shikimi’s past were mildly interesting, though still didn’t grab me, and now that we’ve gone back to the back-and-forth of everyday with Shikimi, Grey, Laz, and Taki, my interest has pretty much flown out the window. I just don’t really care for any of the characters, and can’t get into the little comic asides and banter between the characters.
The overall plot chugs on, though, with a major revelation about Taki. It seems like this might go in an interesting direction, and the story takes its time to unveil it, but then… it doesn’t really change anything at all around the house. There’s one moment where it seems like the dynamics might change, but then they don’t. This still has the potential to go somewhere, and I do have higher hopes for the final story arc starting next volume. But boo, Black Sun Silver Moon. You’ve got all the right ingredients and just aren’t mixing them together right.
I also just… hate Laz. I hate her so much. What is she still doing there? She sort of facilitates the discussion about Taki’s true nature, but that would have come out anyway since Grey figures it out himself. She continues to insist she is a man and beg Shikimi to go out with her. She plays no other role. I just… can’t figure out what her role in the story even is.
I did like the unrelated short story at the end of the volume. It was about a strange artist and the neighbor who tries to help him. It had just the right touches of supernatural and sadness, and while fangirls could certainly read a lot of things between the main characters, it also never turns into a BL story, which I liked. It was nice. I wonder if some of her other work is more like this story, “Red Shoes,” than Black Sun, Silver Moon or Beyond My Touch.
Black Jack 9
February 6, 2010
Osamu Tezuka – Vertical – 2010 – 17 volumes
Ah, I knew I had one more series with “black” in the title.
One of my favorite, if slightly far-fetched stories in the volume involved a couple at a hospital who decided to marry despite each having a slow-acting terminal condition. The woman had a form of leukemia, while the man had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which I didn’t recognize until Black Jack shortened it to ALS. It didn’t occur to me that Lou Gerhig’s Disease might not be a worldwide term for it. But Black Jack helps out a Russian doctor who knows the real secrets of suspended sleep/cryogenic freeze that keeps people alive and brings them back when there is a cure for their disease, and after badmouthing the couple as a med student, Black Jack remembers them later in life. Aww.
There was a strange story towards the end of the volume about a surgery that Black Jack botched twice and the stubborn patient that doesn’t value his life and refuses a third and final surgery. I liked the ridiculous and over-the-top ending, a similar one happened earlier in the series.
Also in this volume, Black Jack confronts Iriomote Wild Cats, incompetent doctors that have to perform surgery on him, terrorists that try to blow up his house, a couple other terrorists and gangsters, sharks, and a not-so-angelic Astro Boy. I’ve already read this story in Astro Boy, and I still don’t like it even after reading a good chunk of Black Jack. The ending doesn’t make any more sense this time around. I mean… why? Why do that to the little boy? How cruel.
One of the first stories in the volume is about Pinoko coming down with an incurable illness. Even though I was 100% certain that Pinoko wouldn’t die, it was still a very touching story. I still think Pinoko is quite creepy, but it is very touching that Black Jack cares about her so much. One Pinoko joke puzzled me thoroughly, though. She and Black Jack are performing a complex surgery in another story, and she says she can stay awake because she stayed up watching “woots” the other day. Black Jack asks, “As in ‘yay?’” and Pinoko replies “not ‘woot,’ ‘Woots!’” She always speaks with an impediment, and is probably talking about “Roots” here, which fits in with the Black Jack time frame, but… is Black Jack referring to what I think he is?
But yes, Black Jack keeps delivering the good stuff. From the first story about a teacher trying to use verbal abuse to motivate his students to the stories about his ethics and when he will and won’t accept payment, to the incredibly interesting and detailed cases he covers (in addition to ALS, we also see icthyosis, rare heart conditions, and one or two other oddball ailments), Black Jack keeps delivering the good stuff nine volumes in. It’s probably not for everyone (the moral situations are still ambiguous and nonsensical sometimes, and the stories don’t vary that much in structure, though the subject matter keeps them interesting and entertaining), but it’ll keep me entertained for a long time to come.
And for the record, Lamp is in here twice. Once he is killed away from the storyline and discovered later, which makes him angry, and later he gets to have a prominent role and wear a beard.
Black Bird 3
February 6, 2010
Kanoko Sakurakoji – Viz – 2010 – 9+ volumes
Hmm… maybe I can keep going with the “Black” theme tonight. Do I have another new volume of anything that starts or contains that in the title? Let’s see.
Anyway, Black Bird. I like this series way more than I think I should, but again, it just pushes all the right buttons for me. It’s super-dramatic, but from the standpoint of outside forces affecting the couple rather than the couple continuously doubting each other. There seems to be a constant real threat to both Misao and Kyo, though I know this is a shoujo manga and neither are going to really die. More surprising is when someone else does, something that is quite uncharacteristic… normally this type of series is all about making friends of the enemy. And again with my weaknesses. Kyo is a tengu demon, and a kind of ruler among them at that. I just love my demons. I also love stories about demons/Gods who take brides, of which there are surprisingly more than a couple.
I liked that Misao and Kyo grew even closer in this volume. Most of Misao’s doubts about their relationship disappear, and the only thing left is the lingering dread about what will happen when she finally agrees to be Kyo’s bride. I do like that the “marriage” is an inevitability now, and I have that to look forward to. Other types of demons, vying for either Kyo or Misao, are still trying to separate them, though after the display at the end of the volume, it seems like the story may move past that.
The downsides… hm. I would say it’s not terribly ambitious. There are a lot of really great things about it, including all the stuff I mentioned above, but the characters and plot have very little going on outside the broad strokes. If you like the ideas, and you like a cute shoujo romance that’s well-done, than you’ll like this, but there’s not much to draw anyone else in. It’s pretty shallow, but very fun, and I’m finding myself more and more drawn in. One thing it does do well is its atmosphere and the use of its magical beings. I’m still having trouble keeping track of all the primary members of the Tengu team, but it’s not that important. When they fight against magical barriers and fox demons and snake demons and whatnot, it’s all good. Not… super-good, it’s not the best at demons and mythology, but it still effectively sets a mood, and I do like her art.
I think it’s a great series for shoujo fans to pick up, and it’s pretty easy to get into after a couple volumes, but be aware that it doesn’t try to dig at the deeper issues or anything like that.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Black Butler 1
February 6, 2010
Yana Toboso – Yen Press – 2010 – 8+ volumes
I don’t think I’ve ever been so simultaneously angry and fascinated by a first volume. I was pretty excited about this since a lot of people were hyping it up, but the first chapter made me want to throw the book away. A rich little boy with a staff of zany incompetents working for him and a very able butler with a secret at his beck and call serving a one-off guest… not my idea of a good time at all. Not my sense of humor, and not interesting enough to keep me coming back for an episodic story.
I’m happy I didn’t run across this in Yen Plus, because I would have never, ever given it another chance after that chapter. But since I had the volume, I kept reading. The second chapter was slightly better, but I still didn’t like it. While Ciel was developed into a more likable character, his fiancee was extremely annoying, and the continued mystery surrounding Sebastian coupled with the continual use of static background characters to crack stupid jokes got on my nerves. These characters got worse in the third chapter, but the story was much better, with Ciel getting kidnapped in a mofia plot that let the reader in on the full significance behind the Phantomhive Earldom and their role in English society. Then the fourth chapter, the second half of the kidnapping story… even better. Way better. We found out about Sebastian.
It’s… it’s a plot device I can’t resist. One of my weaknesses. I can’t help it. I won’t spoil it, because I was so delighted when I found out, but I hate myself for being so weak. A series can be the worst ever and use this… explanation/plot device/character type/whatever, and I will love it indescriminately. Now I want to read more of the series, too.
I also seem to have an inordinate fondness for many Square-Enix series. A lot of them use character types I really hate (for instance, the rest of the Phantomhive staff, who serve no purpose aside from terrible comedic relief and as some sort of guidepost for normalcy, I suppose), but the plots are usually supernaturally-oriented and eventually interesting and well-written. Nightmare Inspector is sort of the same way (though I only read two volumes, so I can’t vouch for how well-written the episodic plot was), and I loved Record of a Fallen Vampire almost as soon as I set eyes on it three or four volumes in. Fullmetal Alchemist too, which took me around four or five volumes to really get into. I didn’t realize this was a Square-Enix series until I was finished, but now I’m definitely curious to read future volumes to see where it goes.
I hated you so much, Black Butler, but you had me at the “d” word. You’ll have me for as long as you want me.
