Seiho Boys’ High School 1
Posted: July 12, 2010 Filed under: Seiho Boys' High School 1 Comment »Kaneyoshi Izumi – Viz – 2010 – 8 volumes
I had fun picking this up since I had absolutely no idea what it was about. It’s set at a remote boys’ boarding school, and cut off from all major towns and forms of transportation, the boys there are starved for female attention. I kept waiting for the other shoujo shoe to drop, such as finding out the main character was actually a girl, or that he was dating the resident smoking hot popular bishounen, but so far, it’s just a series of loosely related one-shots about the different boys at the school.
The stories are fairly solid, but nothing new. The first is about a boy who came out of the closet once he got to high school, but wants to keep that a secret from his former junior high girlfriend, at the school for a visit. The second involves the usual prickly bespectacled boy who is… well, trying to fix the nurse up from plain to pretty, but the nurse plans on asking out the aforementioned smoking hot popular guy. He’s very rude and crass, but in a funny way, much like the glasses-wearing otaku in Fumi Yoshinaga’s Flower of Life. The third story is about the attractive boy and the close relationship he has with his step-sister, but it doesn’t venture into the territory you think it might. There is a fourth story, but it’s unrelated, and involves characters from another one of Izumi’s series, Sonnanjaneyo.
I grew very tired very quickly of the boys constantly griping about how they wanted girlfriends, or how unlucky they were to be in such a remote school. A lot of the humor is based on how attention-starved the boys here are, but it thankfully is staying out of goofy shounen ai territory for the time being. Past the shallow humor and relatively simple premises, the stories did wind up to be relatively touching, more often than not. There’s a slight taste of Fumi Yoshinaga’s character observation and development skills, and that was what got me to stop hating it after the first chapter. All the stories end on a relatively touching note that goes against genre conventions, but again, there’s an awful lot of bad humor and somewhat plain story to get through before you get there.
Each story focuses on a different character, and all the boys are friends with one another, but strangely, the boy who appears to be the main character doesn’t have his own story. We see hints of future plot development when others hint that he might have a girlfriend, so at least the stories are eventually going somewhere.
It’s not… the best, really, not yet, but it does have hints of amazing stories to come in it, and I can see it going places once it gets all the usual stuff out of the way. The griping boys got on my nerves quite a bit, but at the same time, the very sweet twists at the end of the story were usually worth the price of admission. It was a fun read, and I suspect it will improve over time, but it doesn’t really come highly recommended as of volume one.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Fake 4
Posted: July 12, 2010 Filed under: Fake | Tags: BL 3 Comments »Sanami Matoh – Tokyopop – 2003 – 7 volumes
Okay. Any bad blood between me and Fake was completely resolved when the criminal of the moment planted a bomb in the police station, Dee triggered it, and Dee and Ryo had to flee the building ahead of the blast in one of the most Hollywood scenes I’ve ever seen in a manga. It would have been a lot better as a parody, but all the same, it was nice to see.
The majority of the volume is dedicated to this bomber case. A criminal is copying the style of bombing from an older case the chief remembers from years ago, but the suspect in that case has been dead for years. The bombings take place at Bikky’s school and the police station, and Dee and Ryo are drawn in more and more as they involve themselves in the case, escalating into a scene where the criminal traps Dee in the school while Ryo and Bikky are left outside.
There’s a cute Bikky story at the end of the volume (about a secret he keeps from Carol), and a very short story at the end about Dee getting sick and Ryo taking care of him.
I still don’t care much for the humor, but it helps that it’s totally self-aware, and it also helps that the dialogue is camped up to the nth degree to match it. And at this point, the character-based jokes are starting to get funny again, in that you can see the set-up starting and you know the inevitable will happen. I also like that Ryo, Dee, and the others are displaced out of their precinct and are now unwelcome guests in the Bronx, which carries over at least one more volume. We also get to see Ryo and Dee in their uniforms for the first time, doing traffic duty presumably as punishment for setting off the bomb that destroyed the precinct building.
The romance is still dialed down quite a bit, though Dee is persistent, and Ryo is beginning to respond to his advances. It hasn’t gotten much further than intense kisses and an admission from Ryo that he might be changing his mind, but the fact that anything has happened at all is pretty stunning for a series like this. I like that there’s at least a little romance development, even if it is miniscule. Unfortunately, Bikky still interrupts most of the time, though, even during the scenes at Dee’s apartment.
Gestalt 8
Posted: July 11, 2010 Filed under: Gestalt Leave a comment »Yun Kouga – Viz – 2010 – 8 volumes
I still think I might be Gestalt’s biggest fan. It does have some storytelling and character design issues, but I can’t help but enjoy myself when it comes to the magic elements and the story.
I had trouble jumping back in here, since I couldn’t recall if Black Olivier and the being inhabiting Messiah’s body had been explicitly stated in the previous volume. I don’t think they had, since the ambiguity leaves a lot of wiggle room when it comes to the final confrontation. It’s been clear that Ouri’s had some divine help all along too, and even her helper is misidentified at first.
The way the divine beings appear is a little strange, since I was expecting the characters to play out their various roles, but the ending was still suitably epic, with the full telling of the past making things come full circle and the island of Gestalt’s fate on the line, along with that of the rest of the world.
The relationship between the Gods could have been clearer, since the only two I was sure of were Gestalt and Salsaroa, but the other players didn’t matter a great deal (it did a little bit, since one had been important through the whole story and his role wasn’t clear at the end, but it was easy to forgive). Salsaroa’s role was very satisfying, and I loved the way it made Olivier react to things. Of all the philosophical stuff spouted at the end there, Olivier’s was the best as a result of Salsaroa being there.
In the end, Ouri was easily my favorite character, and was a big part of what made this series so fun. Seeing him adapt to the attitudes of the others while staying completely true to himself, was really nice, and it’s a shame the other characters weren’t really developed enough to touch him. His parting words of wisdom were really great, and unlike the usual broken ramblings other manga series end with. Granted, we got some of that with the other characters, but Ouri left his sister with some of the most straght talk you’ll see.
Gestalt does go through several different phases, and it sometimes loses focus of some things while chasing down others… there are a lot of things that are difficult to follow, sometimes the characters are hard to tell apart, and frankly, I don’t think that tournament with Ouri’s siblings ever went anywhere. But all the same, it was worth reading, and I loved all its key themes, its fantasy flavor, and Ouri. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if I liked it this much, I know there are others, and it’s safe to say that it’s worth reading all the way through to the end.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Haruhi Suzumiya 2: The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya
Posted: July 11, 2010 Filed under: Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Leave a comment »Nagaru Tanigawa – Yen Press / Little, Brown – 2009 – 9+ volumes
this is a novel
While I liked the first one for poking fun at different otaku-y genre conventions, this followup seemed… to miss that mark a little bit. The SOS Brigade makes a movie, and things get weird when Haruhi’s fantastic demands become reality, such as Mikuru gaining the ability to shoot lasers from her eyes, or a stray cat suddenly talking.
The problem I had was with Kyon, unfortunately. He was a great deadpan narrator in the first volume, and his tone was perfect for cataloging all the wackiness. In this, however, he comes off as extraordinarily whiny. He is also constantly calling attention to the true nature of the brigade members for some reason (once as a refresher would have been enough, but he dwells on this obsessively), and he also just makes these extended metaphors to try and drive home the weirdness of a situation when that’s… just not necessary. I get that Haruhi is being bossy. I know that Nagato is like a computer alien. I know that you hate Koizumi. I know that Haruhi is abusing Asahina, and I could actually go for far less of a graphic description of this.
I also know this is written for young adults, but I think that even they would grow tired of the repetition.
And my other problem was that nothing happens in the first half of the book. It’s just Haruhi dragging everyone all over the place making a crappy movie, with Kyon’s extended complaints to fill up space. In fact, when stuff starts getting weird, there’s actually far less time devoted to the problems and solutions than I would have liked, and the resolution is both overly philosophical and completely underwhelming. That was the interesting part, and nothing really happens.
As much as I liked the first one, this put me off the series quite a bit. I had bought the third installment before I read this, and that looks like short stories, so I’m going to give this one more try before I throw in the towel. I love the idea, and I liked the first book, so I’m hoping the short story format does the formula some favors. I think it will, since the repetition and boring parts will have to be reduced in them.
Fake 3
Posted: July 11, 2010 Filed under: Fake | Tags: BL 1 Comment »Sanami Matoh – Tokyopop – 2003 – 7 volumes
Reading this and Banana Fish together… it’s like a slap in the face. They’re… kind of the same thing, except to say that is a bit blasphemous. I don’t like Fake, where I love Banana Fish almost unconditionally, but I can respect Fake for the kind of story that it is. Normally I dismiss a series outright when I dislike it, but in the case of Fake, I can see what it is and what it’s doing, and it’s just not my thing.
This volume is almost entirely a story involving a gorgeous FBI agent, a kingpin dealing in human slavery and prostitution, and a serial killer that’s jumped from LA to New York. Dee and Ryo are split up as they work opposite ends of the case, but it soon becomes clear that both events are related. Later, there’s a cute Christmas story, and another all-Bikky story.
There are some things that make me laugh, both intentionally and unintentionally (the fact that the majority of the NYPD seems to prefer men amused me the most here, as did Dee’s rants whenever his amorous advances were cut off), but the near-constant gags just aren’t my thing. It’s also a little too campy and 90s for my taste. I never thought I’d say something was too 90s for me, but I wouldn’t be too worried if buddy cop comedies disappeared off of the face of the Earth without a trace, so there you go.
I was happy to see a more serious take on the job in this volume, and the serial murder plot was just what I needed to keep my interest. While I did like the Christmas story, I think I would have enjoyed it much less had it been proceeded by several comedic short stories instead of a very serious murder investigation. Bikky’s story… in general, I don’t like interrupting Bikky, and I was happy to see his role toned down in the main story, but it’s hard to hate him outside the context of Ryo’s apartment. He is a decent and likable character in his own chapters, it’s just a shame that his main role in the series is to beat up Dee when he gets too close to Ryo.
I’m going to go ahead and finish this series up. It’s not much of a romance, but I know it turns into one more and more as the series goes on, and who knows, maybe I’ll like the camp if I read the rest of the volumes together. Stranger things have happened, and it is very hard to get me to dislike something.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure 27
Posted: July 11, 2010 Filed under: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 4 Comments »Hirohiko Araki – Viz – 2010 – 101+ volumes
English volume 15, I just like using the Japanese numbers.
As expected, this gets quite a bit more serious as Dio steps up to the plate. We do get one more wussy minion just before the final fight, as one last taste of hilarious stand fights (including an awesome face-punching scene), but Dio is strictly business. It takes the entire volume for the characters to figure out what his stand’s power is, and before then, he does quite a bit of damage to the team and the surrounding city.
Actually, I take back what I said about Dio’s sense of humor. Because it’s difficult for Jojo to go more than a few volumes without gratuitous animal cruelty, as a display of his stand’s power, he walks through the street and dismembers a cat, throwing the pieces into the drinks and sandwiches of nearby diners. I promise it’s way less gross than it sounds. He also has a habit of exploding various body parts of passerbys and yanking teeth out, stuff like that. He really knows how to make a first impression.
But it is mostly straightforward, as Kakyoin and the Elder Jojo lead Dio through the city while Jojo and Polnareff try a different tactic from behind. Because they… er, “share blood,” Dio and the Joestars can sense each other, but Dio can’t tell the difference between Joseph and Jotaro. He seems to prefer Jotaro, but the distinction is not important since he only needs the blood of a Joestar to fully assimilate with his body, the former Jonathan Joestar.
Kakyoin and Joseph are the ones who are doing most of the experimenting as to what Dio’s stand ability is, and Kakyoin is the one that finally figures it out. It doesn’t really do anyone much good in the end, though, and the only ones still standing in the end are Jotaro and Dio, exchanging “ORAORAORA” for “MUDAMUDAMUDA.”
And that’s really as it should be. I love this series so much, I can’t properly express why. It’s so over-the-top and manly, and I am so pumped for the final volume now. I should have held onto this one a little longer, because I probably will put off talking about the finale, but just know that I love it. I love every page. I just cannot get enough Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Okimono Kimono
Posted: July 10, 2010 Filed under: Okimono Kimono Leave a comment »CLAMP/Mokona – Dark Horse – 2010 – 1 volume
Here’s one of the more unusual books I’m going to talk about here. I almost want to do it as an artbook review, and maybe I should, but as a CLAMP book, I think it’s worthwhile to talk about the content, too.
The CLAMP name is almost irrelevant in this case, because aside from the front illustration (Kobato in a kimono), the entire book is about kimono fashion, design, Mokona’s original patterns, how to wear them, and what to wear in different situations. Knowing absolutely nothing about kimono except that they come from Japan, this book was extremely fascinating.
It’s broken up into several very different sections. The first section showcases several kimono that Mokona made herself, hand-dyeing and painting the designs directly on the fabric. She has models and several photos, along with an explanation of the design for each one (mostly inspired by older CLAMP series). There are first double-page photos of each, then the subsequent explanations (along with some commentary about the illustrated backgrounds in the photos for each kimono), then a making-of segment in the back. The next section shows off several styles of kimono for different occasions, discussing what makes each appropriate, and the different pieces such as the obi, the pattern, and the accessories. There are two interviews in this book, one between Mokona and Ami Onuki of Puffy AmiYumi fame, and the other between Mokona and the owner of a vintage kimono shop. Both articles discuss kimono as everyday wear, and talk about the subtleties of wearing them out and to occasions. The next takes a look at a model wearing various kimono ensembles to different attractions in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The next section discusses and showcases different kimono accessories (complete with little 4-panel comics in some spots). Next is a lengthy photo diary of Mokona wearing different kimono and ensembles to different social events. The final full section is a short comic drawn by Tsubaki Nekoi and an essay written by Satsuki Igarashi (who doesn’t actually like kimono). The final appendix is something like a gathering of different kimono patterns.
I was pretty fascinated by the different content. One of the things I think I was most fond of was the way the large kimono patterns were matched with different patterns of under-collars and obi, along with hats, hairpieces, and handbags. Frequently it looked like it ought to clash since quite a bit of what was going on with the outfits was very ostentatious, but they almost always looked very good together, and the louder the ensemble, the better it looked. Some of the vernacular failed me (how big is the under-collar? why is it hard to tie an obi? what are the differences between vintage and modern kimono? what makes it difficult to walk around and keep a kimono’s shape? why weren’t tabi socks discussed in more detail? I have literally no clue about these things). But the writing is secondary to the photos, and the photos are very, very generous. Mokona is very serious about kimono design and what to wear to different events in every day life.
The two sections that I liked the most were the photo diary and the accessory spotlight. There were so many different little hairpieces and obi ornaments, along with other cute things like handbags and sandals. Some Mokona made herself, some were vintage, but all were very beautiful. The photo diary was interesting not only as a look at what was appropriate at different events (including Hirohiko Araki’s anniversary party), but also the number and variety of events CLAMP goes to over the course of two years. It was interesting stuff.
There are very few people who are likely to pick this up. CLAMP fans might be disappointed by the lack of CLAMP content. It’s not a comic. But it is super-fascinating. I picked it up on a whim, and I’m very glad I did. Had I know exactly what was in it before I purchased it, I probably wouldn’t have bought it, but I’m glad I did, all the same.
Breaking Down Banana Fish Roundtable, vol 5-6
Posted: July 10, 2010 Filed under: Articles on Other Sites Leave a comment »Once again, Melinda Beasi has gotten a group of female manga bloggers together to discuss the story development in Banana Fish. Once again, I had a lot of fun this time around, and we changed the format a bit to make the discussion flow a little better too, something that I think worked out really well.
You can read it over at the Manga Bookshelf. One of my favorite parts, the big tuxedo melee, is included in these volumes, and it was really fun to take another look at that.
Nana 21
Posted: July 10, 2010 Filed under: Nana 3 Comments »Ai Yazawa – Viz – 2010 – 21+ volumes
Unfortunately, Ai Yazawa went on an extended hiatus for unspecified health reasons a little over a year ago… and was actually in the hospital for about ten months, apparently, and doesn’t know when or if she’ll be able to draw again. That’s most heartbreaking, and I do hope she is well again.
This volume… I don’t know if it’s a terrible place to leave Nana, or one of the best. Words fail me when it comes to the content. When I saw what happened at the end of the last volume, I was sure it was bad, since this series takes its drama very seriously, but I didn’t think it was going to be nearly as bad as it looks. It was.
I’ve got no commentary to offer here. For such an event, this is one of the most raw and human takes I’ve ever seen of it. Nothing is glossed over or honored, we just get the very rough aftermath. It’s how me or anyone else would react in this situation, and for realism, as always, Ai Yazawa is the absolute best. But all the same. Not only do I not want to spoil it, I just have nothing to say that would inform this. It’s heartbreaking. Sad. One of the saddest volumes of manga I’ve ever read, and there’s nothing else.
But what if this was the last volume? As far as loose threads go, Nana is still gone in the present, but we’ve found out what the gathering is for. There are some insights from the characters that ring as true as anything else, and it feels like a good, if absolutely bleak and sad, place to leave things. Actually, there are lots of loose threads, because Nana hasn’t left in the past yet, although we can assume why she does at this point. I think most of the unfinished business was stuff I could fill in without being told, other than the reunion in the present, and all the final thoughts the characters offered at the end here… felt right. As did the unfinished business. Because, if nothing else, Nana has always been very reality-based, and how often do you get a happy ending with all the loose threads tied up?
This is the most crushing emotional low for the characters yet. That it was still 100% more worth reading than almost anything else in my to-read pile is an absolute testament to the strength of both Nana and Ai Yazawa.
What an awesome series.
Butterflies, Flowers 3
Posted: July 8, 2010 Filed under: Butterflies Flowers 1 Comment »Yuki Yoshihara – Viz – 2010 – 8 volumes
Masayuki is such a CREEP. I really, really enjoy the humor, but on the other hand, Masayuki is crossing this weird line that I didn’t even know existed. Maybe he’s made more creepy by the fact he’s wearing a suit and keeping a straight face while doing things like asking for sex or loudly discussing Choko’s period with the entire office.
There’s a suppository chapter. I don’t even know what to say about that.
It’s still ridiculously romantic when it wants to be, and part of me loves that Masayuki can switch from gallant lover to perverted little boy in the blink of an eye. It’s what makes this very much worth reading, but it’s creepy all the same.
There are still a few white knight chapters, where Masayuki steps in to save Choko from uncouth men or other bad decisions, but a lot of the focus in this volume is getting the mood just right between Choko and Masayuki so that they can consummate their relationship for the first time. For a manga, there’s surprisingly little beating around the bush (even considering the intended audience), and I think Masayuki has a lot to do with that.
There’s also a new character introduced, another servant from the former Kuze estate and a childhood friend of both Masayuki and Choko. Jinguji is one of the uncouth men that Masayuki has to save Choko from, but after his initial introduction (he and Masayuki really don’t get on well), he blends in and becomes a background character, reappearing for comic relief alongside Choko’s brother and Suou at the office. The last thing this series needs is a lot of miscellaneous characters that don’t do anything except stand around and crack jokes, so I hope things don’t get too much more crowded.
But I like this more and more with every volume. A big part of that is just what a pervy creep Masayuki is, and I think the shock of this is still quite novel. It’s also surprisingly crass at points, another thing that I love. But the jokes are funny and the romance is intense when it wants to be, and so far it’s been hitting all the right buttons for me. The chapters are still mostly one-shots, and with not very many major milestones for Choko and Masayuki to hit, I’m looking forward to seeing the smaller nuances of their relationship in side stories in the upcoming volumes. As blunt as it is about some things, it is subtle when it comes to the actual relationships, and I like this contrast.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
