The Spinal Column
Posted: December 30, 2011 Filed under: Miscellaney 6 Comments »When you have a ton of manga, you spend a lot of time staring at the spines. In addition to relevant information, most spines have a small or cropped version of the cover. Surprisingly, very few artists take the opportunity to make their series stand out on the shelf by doing something special on the spines. There might be a few good reasons for this, perhaps the best one is that bookstores usually stock multiple copies of recent volumes, so a continuous image would be spoiled in the best setting for it anyway. But still, I love it when collections take advantage of the fact I’m going to be staring at the spine, and not the cover, for a long time after I buy it. Plus, getting to add another piece to a continuous image appeals to obsessive-compulsive collector types like me.
Here’s a look at the handful of series I’ve spotted with something special running along the spine.
Shadow Lady 2
Posted: December 28, 2011 Filed under: Shadow Lady 1 Comment »Masakazu Katsura – Dark Horse – 2000 – 3 volumes
Okay, okay. This is honestly kind of bad, but I like it anyway. Lots of action, and this time there’s a rival character for Shadow Lady that gets just as much page time, doing all sorts of backflips through skyscrapers with crazy gadgets in a skimpy costume. It’s awful cheese, but it’s self-conscious, and a lot more fun because of it.
The rival character, named Lime, is introduced in the first chapter. She starts off as a romantic rival, having chased Bright to the big city and insisting on being his girlfriend, but Lime and Aimi get along rather well for rivals. Later, we find out that Lime is Shadow Lady’s newly introduced rival, and there’s a chapter or two of them fighting. Somehow, Lime knows Shadow Lady’s weakness, and that becomes a rather dire point of contention, especially when both ladies insist on having the media involved. Either of them revealing their identities in front of the cameras would be… bad.
Later, for whatever reason, a serious plot involving demons is introduced. We find out, in about a two page flashback, how Aimi became Shadow Lady, and in order to stop De-Mo from getting executed, Shadow Lady has to recover some gemstones with Arch Demons sealed in them. This doesn’t even make sense, but Shadow Lady is not a series for serious, thought-provoking plot. The fact it took a volume and a half to get to the part that explains why and how shy Aimi transforms into Shadow Lady says a lot.
But really, you read this for the panty shots, don’t you? There’s one particularly impressive page that crams three very natural-looking ones into only five panels. It’s incredible. It’s what Masakazu Katsura is best at.
A Truthful Picture
Posted: December 28, 2011 Filed under: Truthful Picture | Tags: BL Leave a comment »Sumako Kari – Digital Manga Guild – 2011 – 1 volume
This is another one of the Digital Manga Guild BL titles that has been published at eManga.com recently. I’m actually rather addicted to these, but I haven’t been talking about them here very much. I tend to read another one as a means of putting off writing the last one up here. eManga made it especially hard for me today, since it looks like there are several new DMG titles posted, but I need to clear these off my writing backlog.
Another thing about eManga.com is that they are currently offering the first five volumes of the Vampire Hunter D manga for free. I realize that the audience for Vampire Hunter D and A Truthful Picture don’t overlap much, but all the same, free is a great deal, and it’s worth checking out.
Anyway, A Truthful Picture is another nice, fluffy, hand-hold-y BL title. Actually, I haven’t written it up here yet, but it’s pretty close in tone to Rainy Day Love. A Truthful Picture consists of 12 mostly very short stories featuring different couples. There’s very little sex, and I think the only time the book really goes to the bedroom is with the first couple, who has three stories dedicated to them.
Short stories like this are harder for me to get into, since the appeal of BL, for me, is in the characters, and stories this short are more about situation. There’s plenty of cute moments to be had throughout, including musings over the fact that glasses are like a part of your partner, themes of missed opportunities and second chances, a story about one childhood friend who will never admit defeat to another, a story about an older couple who may have an opportunity to get together after one man finds himself impotent, and maybe a few other situations. The first three chapters feature the same couple in three different situations. The first chapter is about them getting together (one boy repeatedly takes cell phone photos of another, until he fears he’s been caught), the second is about whether or not it’s okay for the seme to tell his parents, and the third is about how the uke feels like his happiness is fickle and could collapse at any time. But even with three chapters to develop the characters, I still couldn’t really get into the couple.
My favorite was the pair of chapters called “After a Long Day,” which is about a man who keeps seeing a childhood friend everywhere. Later, we find out that the childhood friend confessed his love and the man rejected him rather cruelly, but the man just can’t seem to get the childhood friend out of his mind. The narrative is a little choppy, but I especially liked the end, when the childhood friend couldn’t believe that the man had a change of heart and began hiding from him again. This was the story with the most believable characters… but the narrative wasn’t very smooth, unfortunately.
Mostly, this is just a volume of short stories full of “aww” moments. It’s good for it, that’s for sure, if that’s what you’re looking for. But the author states periodically throughout that these were short stories drawn over the course of 7-8 years, and it’s clear she’s… maybe not a full-time mangaka? Or these were filler for something else? In addition to a handful that jump around story-wise and the stories that lack character development, the art is also really, really rough. These things don’t matter very much, since the focus on the stories is, again, the idea being conveyed rather than the plot or characters, but keep that in mind. It’s a good, quick read, and very sweet (I don’t regret spending the money on it, and I still hate that the digital copies are $7), but there’s definitely better one-shots and short stories out there. Try Rainy Day Love first.
Redmoon 3
Posted: December 28, 2011 Filed under: Redmoon Leave a comment »Mina Hwang – ComicsOne – 2001 – 15 volumes
We finally learn what the name of the series means in this volume! Philaro is the Sun on his world (the emperor, in other words), and his brother is apparently the Sun in his absence. Except his brother isn’t the true Sun, and an imposter Sun is called a Redmoon.
Anyway. The story slows down here, which is a bad thing considering it wasn’t exactly booking it in the first place. I say slow down, but there’s still plenty of action. Philar begins to get attacked by cyborgs at nearly every turn. Said cyborgs are robot copies of his family and everyone in his neighborhood. Random sympathizers on the street that look to be concerned about his injuries are probably robots that are going to blow up in his face. This whole section is like a more extreme version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, especially considering the cyborgs really are aliens.
The problem is that this volume is too much of Philar running and hiding from the cyborg attackers and not enough reveals about who Philaro is, what the people are doing hunting him, and what’s up with the aliens on Earth. What is revealed doesn’t make sense. In one scene, Philaro’s servant takes Lunarena to a mountain pass and shows him the body of Philaro, explaining that Philaro knew that everyone on their ship was going to die, so he transferred his mind into the body of a human, who the servant then killed… except Philar is still alive? I was baffled by this.
We do know quite a bit about the alien race, admittedly. I think Philaro is being hunted because his brother wants to remain the Sun, but then again, Philaro doesn’t seem interested in coming back, so I’m not sure why he has to be killed just yet. Maybe because he still poses a threat? It’s also been hinted he has some future as the emperor of the galaxy or something, so maybe that needs to be prevented, too. But most of this stuff was revealed earlier. There’s not too much about the alien civilization in this volume, and as the most interesting thing this story has going for it, its absence is noticeable. Hopefully things will pick up again next time.
Pokemon Black & White 1
Posted: December 28, 2011 Filed under: Pokemon Adventures 1 Comment »Hidenori Kusaka / Satoshi Yamamoto – Viz – 2011 – 7+ volumes
Not that it really matters to anyone reading this, but this is actually a later volume of Pokemon Adventures. Pokemon Adventures is actually a nearly 40-volume series that is a pretty loyal adaptation of all the main RPGs and remakes in the Pokemon series, and it covers all of the games/characters in order. Pokemon Diamond & Pearl/Platinum is another section of the series being released in English simultaneously. My guess is that this just helps capitalize on the popularity of the current games. It works fine for me.
Actually, the fact that this is Pokemon Adventures should matter a little bit to anyone reading this, because that’s the best Pokemon manga in English. Hands down. Not that it would appeal to anyone looking for anything other than a Pokemon manga, but this is at least a fairly engaging and adorable story, rather than being a bland and abridged adaptation.
This volume is pretty par for the course in this series. We start off at the beginning of the Black/White game, with Professor Juniper deciding three young trainers named Black, Cheren, and Bianca should be the recipients of the three starter Pokemon from those games. Tepig escapes, and this effectively ruins the Pokedexes for Cheren and Bianca and puts Black ahead of them on the path to the Pokemon League.
This is an abridged volume, containing 100 pages and 4 chapters, so not much else aside from introductions and wacky hijinx from Tepig transpires. Black battles one trainer, and chases the temperamental Tepig into two different wild Pokemon battles after misunderstandings. Having said that, I think the smaller, kid-friendly volumes are a good fit for this series. The shorter length suits the much younger audience that’s likely to pick them up, and the price tag is also lower, making them a wallet-friendly purchase for kids as well.
I tend to like the Pokemon Adventures series best because of its close proximity to the plot of the video games, and the charm of the trainers and Pokemon in the stories carry over nicely, too, with nothing more dark than the bad trainers that pop up in the games making for fairly friendly villains that are always willing to show off more of the vast number of Pokemon. The subject matter isn’t deep or challenging, but it is exactly what it should be in a Pokemon adaptation. As a fan of the games, I enjoy reading these volumes occasionally, and again, the subject matter, format, and price all strike me as a great fit for kids. Plus, it’s not an insufferable chore to get through if you happen to have a young child that wants it read to them, or want to read it along with a child.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Black Butler 7
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: Black Butler Leave a comment »Yana Toboso – Yen Press – 2011 – 13+ volumes
I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this one yet! I like this series more and more with every volume I read, despite the terrible first impression I had. This storyline is the best yet, though. This volume leaves off on a terrible cliffhanger after a lot of exposition, and it really, really left me wanting volume eight.
This is the continuation of the story that began last time, where Ciel is investigating some kidnappings in relation to a traveling circus and has joined, along with Sebastian, in order to determine whether or not the performers are abducting children. Ciel and Sebastian start the volume by snooping in order to determine who the patron for the circus is. An old illness of Ciel’s, along with shinigami interference, means the investigation at the circus doesn’t go extraordinarily well, but they get enough information to leave and track down the culprit.
The culprit is a magnificent villain. Absolutely, repulsively evil, but he doesn’t seem to understand that he’s doing wrong. His flashback is almost hard to read, because… well, his motivation is that he wants to be one of the “beautiful” people that is “accepted” by society. Ciel’s father and relatives are at the beginning of all this, and what happened to Ciel is actually what this is all leading up to. More of Ciel’s past trauma is explained, and Ciel has to come face-to-face with a situation that literally killed him last time.
The villain uses leverages of debt and guilt to get the circus staff to do the terrible things he bids them, rather than blackmail or force. They do terrible things because they love him for rescuing them, and want him to help other orphans like themselves. The villain also seems to think that Ciel, because his family is involved in the underworld, will appreciate the awful things he is doing to the children, and even the ceremony that left Ciel with Sebastian. He’s a really bizarre kind of oblivious, and more than a little sad, which is saying something considering the fact that he’s a child murderer.
Yana Toboso talks a bit in the back about how long it took her to develop his character and get him just right. The time was well spent, and his evil makes for a wonderful story. She was upset, however, that most of the feedback was about the page or two that had Ciel’s father and uncle on them. He is an excellent bad guy, so that’s a real shame.
I was happy with the villain, the unusually dark tone of the story (the light tone of the circus gets dark really quick after they trace things back to the nobility), the flashback for Ciel, and all the extra insight this volume offered for Ciel and Sebastian. Plus, it ends with an awful cliffhanger that leaves the safety of Ciel’s mansion in question. What’s not to like? I’m completely sold on this series now.
Cross Game 2
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: Cross Game 4 Comments »Mitsuru Adachi – Viz – 2011 – 17 volumes
this is an omnibus containing vols. 4-5
This series is so good! As much as I liked the first volume of this, I completely forgot just how well the characters worked and let the next two omnibus volumes languish on my to-read pile. It’s difficult to convince myself (and others, probably) that this is worth reading, since the story is a pretty simple one. It’s high school baseball. But it’s a lot more than that, too, and it’s hard to explain why that makes it good. Ko’s still getting over the death of a loved one. So is his sister. They’re trying to compete with the varsity baseball team at their high school, whose coach says they aren’t good enough simply because he didn’t hand-pick them. The two volumes in this omnibus mostly cover the game between the varsity and “portable” baseball teams, and it’s just a pleasure to read.
I like Slam Dunk, but somehow, Cross Game is ten times better. Part of that is that I prefer baseball as a sport, but it’s hard to explain the fact that… these characters aren’t as ‘tude-filled as the ones in Cross Game, but as a result, they feel a lot more human. And slightly more clever than they should, to be fair. But man. I can’t get over how much fun this is to read.
The first chapter is the prep leading up to the varsity game, and the last… mmm, maybe two chapters are about Aoba going to visit the training camp that the “portable” team is participating in. One other chapter throws suspicion on Ko, who appears to be brown-nosing the varsity team’s manager in order to get a spot. Both of these stories at the end of the book summon the ghost of Wakaba, Aoba’s sister who passed away. Then again, the whole series does in some ways, since it was Wakaba who had faith in Ko’s pitching abilities when Ko had shown no interest in baseball outside her family’s batting cages.
Aoba, who apparently hates Ko, is the one who narrates the game with the varsity team, and the one that provides all the stats she collected while playing the gifted members of the team. Ko’s catcher also did his share of spying, and coaches Ko through his pitching. There’s a lot of stats slipped in here… but somehow, it’s not boring. Every pitch that Ko throws is likely to make or break the game, and it’s exciting to learn how the batters may or may not hit the particular pitches that Ko is throwing. It doesn’t sound exciting, but I promise it is.
And the other thing I like about this game is that it really isn’t clear who is going to win. Ko and the serious players on the “portable” team are all first years, so they have all the time in the world to reach varsity and go to the big National Baseball Tournament. This game really isn’t important, and given the fact that several members of the “portable” team really aren’t good, there’s not a huge chance that they will win. But Ko’s a good pitcher, and some of the players are good, so they keep the game interesting. There are several points where you think that, yeah, maybe the portable team might win, and several others where you are simply waiting for the trouncing that is due to them. It’s balanced very well, and neither a win nor loss is guaranteed at the outset. It makes reading it genuinely interesting.
Basically, I can go over all the nitpicky details of what makes this a good story in theory, but for this one, you just have to trust me. It’s about baseball, and high school students, and it is very, very good. There’s no substitute for reading it yourself and finding out what makes it great, and if it sounds like your kinda thing, odds are you won’t be disappointed.
March Story 3
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: March Story Leave a comment »Hyung-Min Kim / Kyung-Il Yang – Viz – 2011 – 4+ volumes
The focus in this volume is on Jake, the enormous mentor character that also serves as comic relief. Jake is probably the best thing in this series. Not only do I enjoy her bizarrely cartoonish character design, I love when she’s in a panel with any other character, clearly about five times the size of them for no reason whatsoever. There are a couple stories that feature her in this volume, and I’m glad she’s being used more. She’s far more interesting than March.
The character designs in general in this series are great. There are more anthropomorphic animal characters in this volume, and they look right at home next to the human characters. I love the casual disregard for logic in that way.
Somehow, I liked most of the stories in this volume, yet they left almost no impression on me. The first one is probably the best, about a female beaver (dressed up like an old woman) who kidnaps March and Rodin to try and train March as a bride for her human son. The beaver-woman is cantankerous and a lot of fun, it’s nice seeing March get in touch with her feminine side, and the story itself is rather sweet and features Jake coming to the rescue, rather than March fighting the Ill. It’s a little sillier in tone too, if the fact the main character was a beaverwoman and the problem was solved by Jake was any indication. There’s no real conflict, and it’s obvious by the tone of the story that the beaverwoman isn’t going to do anything bad. I was actually happy to see that she appears to be a recurring character now.
The next story is, again, not as serious and dramatic as the past volumes, but is still a rather serious one about a tap-dancing skeleton that seems to be attacking pirate ships. There’s not too much to it, but the sentimental ending, plus the rather endearing image of that skeleton dancing across the surface of the ocean (again, the character designs are really good) endeared me to it. This is another story that has a lot of Jake in it, but neither Jake nor March is the one that solves the problem this time.
The third story is the one that explains a little about Jake’s past. It’s not really a… “this is her motivation”-type story, nor does it explain her real background or anything, it just examines a period of Jake’s life where she gave up hunting Ill and became a maid at a huge castle inhabited by one old man. It’s another rather sentimental story, and doesn’t really fit in with Jake’s character, but more of Jake is never a bad thing.
And… the final story is more along the lines of the ones we’ve seen previously, with an Ill that appears to be sucking the life from a young woman. This one is also a little more sentimental and lighter in tone than the bloody, dramatic stories we’ve seen previously… and March is once again not the one that slays the Ill here. It’s benevolent, which also doesn’t really make sense, but whatever. It’s still a cute story. The nifty character designs make another appearance, since the theme of the story is a man in a cartoon cat mask making the sick young woman laugh.
The tone definitely changed in this volume, and again, I still really like reading these… but that the volume featured more of Jake, an enjoyable side character, rather than March, the main character, probably isn’t a good sign. Nor is the change in tone. The fact that this still didn’t really stand out in any way, even with Jake in the spotlight, is definitely not a good sign. But again, it’s a decent read if you happen across it… it’s just not anything special. And the overarching plot doesn’t seem to be going anywhere as of this volume. But these are definitely enjoyable short stories, with an interesting mix of action and character development that doesn’t really lean heavily on either, which makes it appealing to a fairly general audience.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Angel’s Coffin
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: Angel's Coffin 2 Comments »You Higuri – Go!Comi – 2008 – 1 volume
I liked this quite a bit! It reads like a cross between Ludwig II and Cantarella, two other series by Higuri that I really enjoyed. Ludwig II is my hands-down favorite by Higuri, but Cantarella had a lot to like about it as well, mainly the demonic themes it mixed with Higuri’s usual European period setting. Angel’s Coffin is closer in time and setting to Ludwig II, taking place in Vienna in the late 1880s (Ludwig II is Bavaria right around the turn of the century). Higuri said in the end notes that she had a lot of leftover research from Ludwig II, thus this story.
It’s a fairly simple story. It’s a fictionalized account of the lover’s suicide committed by Baroness Mary Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. The circumstances of the real event are unknown, since it could have been a murder/suicide, a lover’s suicide, or a straight-up double murder. For context, after the death of Crown Prince Rudolf, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was made heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz Ferdinand was assassinated about 25 years later by a Serbian nationalist in an event that is often attributed as the start of World War I. So there’s where this book is going. Except it stops after Mary Vetsera’s death.
The demon is a strange element here, since the historic relationship would have been enough of a story, but he works well. Seto is trapped in a cursed volume and released by Marie Vetsera. The curse in the volume is actually that he eventually kills whoever frees him, so he goes about doing his best work. Marie has one request, however, and that is to meet the Crown Prince Rudolf, who she idolizes. The two meet and hit it off, and before you know it, they become lovers. Meanwhile, Seto finds himself increasingly smitten with Marie, and unable to actually kill her despite increased pressure from the one who imprisoned him.
It’s a great love story, and the book moves fast since you know it’s moving towards an inevitable and deadly conclusion. Higuri is wonderful with her period settings, doomed love stories, demons, and fast-paced action series, and everything she’s best at is in this volume.
There are definitely better books in English to pick up from Higuri, but that doesn’t make this any less of a great one-shot read. If you’re a fan of shoujo love stories, give it a try if you happen across it.
Please Please Me 3
Posted: December 27, 2011 Filed under: Please Please Me Leave a comment »Kisun – Netcomics – 2011 – 4 volumes
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here yet, but Netcomics has resumed updates, and while they haven’t published any print volumes in a long time, there’s a nice selection of digital comics on their website. I’ve always been a fan of their viewer and pricing structure, so they’re worth checking out if you are so inclined. Most of what’s available is going to appeal to fans of Korean girls’ comics (Full House, Small-Minded Schoolgirls, Core Scramble, and So I Married an Anti-Fan are the ones that are updating at the moment), and it’s always a good idea to support a small publisher like this.
I read this on a complete whim today. It has been some time since I’ve read volume two, and just about the only thing I can remember about it is that it read like a Korean version of Happy Mania. It’s a comedic series about three 30-year-old women that focuses on their careers and relationships. Aeri is the manic freelance illustrator with no luck with dates or financial issues, Nagyoung is the put-together successful career woman who finds herself pregnant and forced into a marriage, and the third roommate (who goes by a couple different names) makes a living by dating wealthy men and having them pay for everything.
The story has some forward momentum, with this volume chronicling Nagyoung’s insecurities and the process leading up to her marriage and impending motherhood, both in her professional and personal life. There’s also a storyline that focuses on Aeri looking for apartments and confronting an ugly financial situation, and also finding the-perfect-boyfriend-where’s-the-catch. The third roommate’s story in this volume involves a car accident, the possible loss of her bread-winning appearance, and confronting the truth of what really matters in her life.
But as serious as all that is (the third roommate’s story in particular is more than a little depressing), the writing maintains a light touch, and you can’t help but smile at the three jaded women and their somewhat bitter outlook on life. Nagyoung’s resignation about some things, but acceptance of others were the funniest parts for me, but Aeri rarely confronts dire situations and is mostly the comic relief character.
It’s fun to read a story like this about adult women, too. As much as I like shoujo manga, reading volume after volume about shy girls in high school can wear me out, and picking up something like this, where the women have a completely different outlook and expectations, is like a breath of fresh air. Netcomics is one of the few places you can find series like this (try Small-Minded Schoolgirls, too!). There’s not a whole lot of depth to the characters or story, but it’s still a fun and quick read, especially chapter-by-chapter (each one is only about 20 pages long).
