My Week in Manga: September 27-October 3, 2010

My News and Reviews

Congratulations again to PB, winner of my first ever manga giveaway, Crazy Karate Contest!

Other than that, this past week has been pretty slow for me news-wise. The only other post was the September 2010 Bookshelf Overload, which probably really isn’t that interesting to anyone other than myself. However, I’m currently working on a post about manga related podcasts and will be adding a podcast section to the Resources page. If you know of any podcasts, please let me know. I’ve also been collecting more links to add, but I haven’t actually gotten around to it yet.

Quick Takes

Neko Ramen, Volume 1: Hey! Order Up! by Kenji Sonishi. I kept hearing good things about this manga and so even though I was hesitant to pick it up, I finally read the first volume. And yeah, it’s pretty good. I haven’t read many four panel manga but I did enjoy Neko Ramen—it’s silly and it made me laugh out loud a number of times. I found the funniest bits to be the gags that remind the reader that Taishō is indeed a cat, albeit one that loves to make ramen. I don’t know if I’ll buy the next volume, but I just might.

Off*Beat!, Volumes 1-2 by Jen Lee Quick. This series is supposed to be at least three volumes long, but only two volumes have been published so far and the third one probably won’t be. This is really too bad since the Off*Beat! is an excellent original English manga, and I want the rest of the story! Tory’s obsession in his mysterious neighbor Colin is swiftly turning into a crush whether he’s aware of it or not. (Plus, he’s really cute when he blushes.) Colin finds himself strangely interested in Tory as well. Just as they start to work out their friendship the series prematurely ends, but it’s still worth the read. I really liked this one a lot.

Suppli, Volumes 1-5 by Mari Okazaki. I think there are ten volumes plus one volume of extras in this series. So far, five volumes have been released in English and I hope that the rest are as well. I’ve only read a few josei manga so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I liked Suppli. Okazaki has some beautiful page layouts and water imagery in her artwork. Fujii was dumped by her boyfriend of seven years and now she only has her work to keep her going. She loves her job, but it’s pretty depressing and stressful at times. And finding love in the workplace only complicates matters further. I’d really like to see her end up with Ishida, the only decent guy at the office who’s genuinely interested in her.

Yotsuba&!, Volume 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Okay, this manga is seriously cute. Jumbo is probably my favorite character so far, but really they’re all pretty great. I was worried that Yotsuba would annoy me—I am easily irritated by little kids and forced cuteness—but I ended up finding her to be quite adorable. Her interactions with the neighbors, Jumbo, and her adoptive father bring out the delight in living each day to it’s fullest. Yotsuba’s a strange child, much to the befuddlement of others; she brings out the kid in those around her. I liked this manga, it made me smile, and I’ll be picking up more of the volumes to read.

Kurau: Phantom Memory, Episodes 17-24. It’s been about a month since I’ve had the opportunity to watch Kurau, but I finally got around to finishing the series. I fell back into the anime easily and I still love the characters. Although the ending it more or less a happy one, it still felt very melancholy to me. Kurau, even with all of the science fiction and alien elements, speaks very much about human loneliness. It’s a wonderful anime series that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to those who like character driven science fiction. I am very glad that I picked it up.