17 June 2013 6 Comments

My Week in Manga: June 10-June 16, 2013

My News and Reviews

Another week at Experiments in Manga, another couple of reviews. Kaori Ekuni’s award-winning novel Twinkle Twinkle was recently brought to my attention and so I decided to read it. (Vertical is celebrating it’s tenth year of publishing, and Twinkle Twinkle was the first book it ever published.) I absolutely loved Twinkle Twinkle. It’s a peculiar love story between a woman and her gay husband who mostly married to get their parents off of their cases. It’s one of the best things I’ve read recently. As part of my Blade of the Immortal review project, I took a look at Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal, Volume 22: Footsteps. The volume marks the beginning of the final major story arc in the series. Blade of the Immortal has ended in Japan but there are still a handful of volumes that remain to be released in English.

And speaking of manga series ending, after ten and a half years Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son will be reaching its conclusion in Japan at the end of July. The fourth volume of the English-language edition of manga was recently released by Fantagraphics. I hope the entire series will be able to be translated as Wandering Son is a particularly important manga to me. Elsewhere online, there were a couple of podcasts of particular interest: Ed Sizemore returned with a one-time special episode of Manga Out Loud, which went on hiatus last year, and the Comic Books Are Burning In Hell podcast devoted an episode to Taiyo Matsumoto and his work. Also, Manga Xanadu’s podcast is now up to ten episodes! Oh, and one more thing—this week is the Skip Beat! Manga Moveable Feast!

Quick Takes

Cage of Eden, Volume 10 by Yoshinobu Yamada. I enjoy a good survival story, which is why I was looking forward to Cage of Eden when it was first released. Unfortunately, I found very little to like about the first volume and haven’t read any more of the series until now. The tenth volume is better than the first, but I’m still not convinced that Cage of Eden is worth my time even though I want it to be. By this point in the series the dialogue seems to have improved and there weren’t as many glaringly convenient coincidences and plot holes. The fanservice is still a bigger part of the manga than it really needs to be, though. Personally, I’m more interested in the action and mystery than I am in middle schoolers’ panties.

Godzilla: The Half-Century War by James Stokoe. Although I followed Stokoe’s Godzilla comic as it was being released in single issues, I still made a point to pick up the trade collection, too. I don’t have a particular interest in Godzilla, but I love Stokoe’s detailed and spectacularly colored artwork, which is what initially drew me to the comic. The Half-Century War is told from the perspective of Ota Murakami who in 1954 faces Godzilla as a member of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and becomes obsessed with the creature. The following chapters take place in different decades and locations: 1967 Vietnam, 1975 Ghana, 1987 Bombay, and 2002 Antarctica. The comic is pretty great with a quick pace and a good sense of humor. And Godzilla isn’t the only kaiju to make an appearance, either.

Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossoms Pink by Milk Morinaga. After reading Morinaga’s yuri series Girl Friends, I knew I needed to read her earlier work Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossoms Pink. Although overall the manga isn’t quite as sophisticated in its story as Girl Friends, it is just as sweet, charming, and romantic. In fact, I think I probably enjoyed Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossoms Pink even more than I did Girl Friends. The omnibus collects two volumes and nearly a decade’s worth of stories about the young women who attend the all-girls high school Sakurakai. There’s love and romance, friendship and affection with just a touch of the bittersweet. It’s a wonderful yuri collection.

The Two Faces of Tomorrow by Yukinobu Hoshino. I loved Hoshino’s 2001 Nights, so I’ve made a point to track down more of his work available in English. The Two Faces of Tomorrow manga is actually an adaptation of British science fiction author James P. Hogan’s 1979 novel of the same name. Scientists have developed a highly advanced artificial intelligence system that could be an incredible boon to human society, but there are fears that system could gain sentience and then turn against its creators. And so what is supposed to be a carefully controlled experiment is staged on a space station. The Spartacus AI is deployed and then deliberately provoked in order to determine how it will react and evolve. For fans of classic science fiction, The Two Faces of Tomorrow is well worth checking out.

Un-Go directed by Seiji Mizushima. I really wanted to like Un-Go, but after only a few episodes I found myself incredibly bored by it. It poses as a mystery series, but fails to actually engage the viewers in any of the investigations. I did find it interesting that the anime is loosely based on the novels and stories of Ango Sakaguchi. I was also fascinated by Inga. Actually, one of the reasons I finished the series was that I hoped to learn more about Inga and Shinjūrō’s relationship and their history. Unfortunately, none of this is ever explored in any sort of detail. In the end, I was more curious about the characters backstories than I was in whatever they were currently doing. Un-Go didn’t really work for me.

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14 June 2013 Leave a Comment

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 22: Footsteps

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781595824431
Released: January 2010
Original release: 2007
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Footsteps is the twenty-second volume in the English-language release of Hiroaki Samura’s manga series Blade of the of Immortal. The volume was published by Dark Horse in 2010. Because of the difference in how the various chapters of Blade of the Immortal have been collected for the English-language edition, Footsteps is actually equivalent to the twenty-first volume of the original Japanese release published in 2007. Blade of the Immortal is a long-running series, having first begun serialization in 1993. Over the course of its publication it has won several awards, including a Japan Media Arts Award and an Eisner Award. It also happens to be a series of which I am particularly fond. Footsteps marks the beginning of the fifth and final major story arc in Blade of the Immortal.

After staging a successful prison break, setting free hundreds of captives from the hidden dungeons underneath Edō Castle and rescuing them from the fate of becoming the human test subjects of cruel immortality experiments, Rin has finally been reunited with Manji. The two have been separated for quite some time. Manji, despite his near-immortality, is a little worse for wear from his time spent in the dungeons and is currently missing his left arm. Isaku and Dōa, two members of the Ittō-ryū who were also involved in the raid on Edō Castle, were able to escape as well. However, their involvement has brought the Ittō-ryū back under the intense scrutiny of the shogunate. Nearly wiped out when the bakufu betrayed them, the few remaining Ittō-ryū members have been working in the shadows readying their revenge. They may have been forced out into the open sooner than planned, but the Ittō-ryū is still prepared to face the authorities head on.

Although I did enjoy the previous storyline, I am glad that the series is moving on from the dungeons and experiments and beginning to cover some new ground. Footsteps is an excellent volume in general, but particularly as the opening to the final story arc. The volume establishes where nearly all of the major players in Blade of the Immortal are after the fallout from the prison break. The focus turns from Rin and Manji (although they do have some absolutely wonderful scenes together) to the Ittō-ryū, which was largely though not entirely ignored during the previous arc. Anotsu, the highly capable leader of the Ittō-ryū, is gathering his forces and the Ittō-ryū is gaining new members and strength. For better and worse the Ittō-ryū has left a strong impression on other sword schools. Anotsu faces Habaki Kagimura, who has proven to be a worthy opponent, and the newly formed Rokki-dan—a group of death row felons hand-selected for their battle prowess.

I was actually a little surprised by the introduction of the Rokki-dan in Footsteps. Samura already included one group of death row assassins in Blade of the Immortal—the Mugai-ryū. However, the Mugai-ryū has been disbanded. The Rokki-dan is a similar group with a similar goal—to annihilate the Ittō-ryū. At this point, the only difference between the two is that the elite of the Rokki-dan are implied to be even more badass than the members of the Mugai-ryū. This would certainly be impressive if true. Skill-wise, its top fighters may even be able to hold their own against some of the Ittō-ryū’s. The lower ranking members of the Rokki-dan are nothing more than faceless cannon fodder, though. In many ways the Rokki-dan’s introduction does seem to be more of the same, but there should at least be some fantastic confrontations and battles in the next volume, Scarlet Swords, as a result.

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12 June 2013 1 Comment

Twinkle Twinkle

Author: Kaori Ekuni
Translator: Emi Shimokawa
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781932234015
Released: May 2003
Original release: 1991
Awards: Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize

Kaori Ekuni’s novel Twinkle Twinkle was the first of her works to be translated into English. Ekuni is both a bestseller and a literary award winner in Japan. Initially she wrote poetry and children’s stories before beginning to write for a more general audience. Twinkle Twinkle, originally published in Japan in 1991, was her debut novel and earned Ekuni the Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize in 1992. Also in 1992, Twinkle Twinkle was adapted into a film directed by Joji Matsuoka. The novel was translated into English by Emi Shimokawa and published by Vertical in 2003. (Twinkle Twinkle was actually the first book ever to be released by Vertical.) Despite being a well-known and admired author in Japan, before reading Twinkle Twinkle I was unfamiliar with Ekuni and her work. After reading Twinkle Twinkle I sincerely hope that more of her writing is translated. Currently the only other novel by Ekuni available in English is God’s Boat.

Shoko and Mutsuki married four months after they first met, much to the delight of their respective parents who feared that their progeny would never find someone to spend the rest of their lives (and hopefully have children) with. Although Shoko and Mutsuki are pleased with their arrangement, each is hiding a secret from their new in-laws. Shoko is an alcoholic and emotionally unstable while Mutsuki is gay and continues to see his long-term boyfriend Kon. Shoko and Mutsuki care for each other, but their marriage is one of convenience more than anything else. They are each free to live their lives how they choose while at the same time are able to keep up appearances for their families. It seems like a perfect marriage as long as they can prevent their parents from discovering the farce. But during their first year together things begin to unravel. Neither Shoko or Mutsuki quite realize what all of the consequences of their marriage might actually be.

Each chapter of Twinkle Twinkle alternates between Shoko and Mutsuki’s individual perspectives. It’s a great technique that lets readers see both sides of their relationship and how they view each other. It also allows a glimpse into the newlyweds’ internal states of being. Throughout the novel it is clear that both Shoko and Mutsuki deeply care about the other. They’re not exactly romantically involved and they may not be having sex together, but they both want the other to be happy and work to make that happen. It’s not always easy, though. Both of them have habits that either baffle or annoy the other and they’re not always sure what to do about it. As Twinkle Twinkle and the first year of their marriage progresses Shoko becomes increasingly unstable—anxious that she isn’t able to adequately fulfill her role. As for Mutsuki, as wonderful as he can be, he’s unable to ease Shoko’s fears; his kindness often makes matters worse.

Twinkle Twinkle is a very peculiar love story between two incredibly imperfect people. But it’s Shoko and Mutsuki’s faults and flaws that make the novel as effective as it is. No marriage is perfect and even a fake one takes a tremendous amount of effort to maintain. To make matters even more complicated there’s Kon, who at times is on better terms with Shoko than he is with Mutsuki. Kon is extremely important to both of them as well as to the story itself. Together Kon, Shoko, and Mutsuki form an intense triangle with relationship dynamics crucial to their development as people and to the development of the novel. Twinkle Twinkle is fairly light in its tone and is immensely readable, but Ekuni still manages to pack several hard-hitting punches into the narrative. Personally, I loved Twinkle Twinkle. It’s one of the best novels that I’ve read recently and I can easily see myself reading it again.

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10 June 2013 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: June 3-June 9, 2013

My News and Reviews

I was traveling for work for most of last week. Despite my hectic schedule I somehow still managed  to post a few things here at Experiments in Manga. First of all, the Umineko: When They Cry manga giveaway winner was announced. The post also includes a lengthy (but certainly not comprehensive) list of video game manga that have been licensed in English. I also posted the most recent Library Love feature which consists of quick takes of manga that I’ve read from my local library. Technically, if I was strictly following Library Love’s bimonthly schedule, it should have been posted in May. But then I went to TCAF and ended up writing about that instead. (It took place at a library, so that counts, right?) Anyway, expect the next Library Love to be posted sometime in July. Finally, for the first in-depth manga review of June, I took a look at No. 6, Volume 1, the first volume in Hinoki Kino’s manga adaptation of Atsuko Asano’s series of science fiction novels. I enjoyed the anime adaptation of the novels, but was disappointed by its rushed ending. I’m looking forward to seeing where Kino will take the manga adaptation. I’d love to read the original novels, but it’s highly unlikely that they will ever be licensed in English.

Because I was traveling and doing stuff for work for most of the week, I didn’t have as much time to trawl the Internet for interesting articles. (If I’ve missed any big news, please do let me know!) However, I did come across a series of reviews and in-depth analysis of Naoki Urasawa’s manga series Pluto by Jeffrey O. Gustafson of The Comic Pusher. Also, the call for participation for the Skip Beat! Manga Moveable Feast has been posted! Laura at Heart of Manga will be hosting the Feast from June 17 to June 23. Hopefully, I should have a review of the first omnibus in the series ready to go by then.

Quick Takes

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Episode 4: ¥ €$ by Yu Kinutani. Much as the name Stand Alone Complex implies, the individual volumes of the manga largely stand alone—assuming that you have at least a vague familiarity with the Ghost in the Shell universe. This particular volume adapts the fourteenth episode of the Stand Alone Complex anime, “Automated Capitalism ¥€$.” It’s been a while since I’ve actually seen the anime, but from what I remember the manga seems to be a very straightforward adaptation. I largely enjoyed Kinutani’s artwork, although some of fanservice is not at all subtle. The Major has always had somewhat questionable attire, but a few of the clothing choices in ¥€$ are particularly absurd. 

Liberty Liberty! by Hinako Takanaga. I tend to really enjoy Takanaga’s boys’ love manga. While Liberty Liberty isn’t my favorite work of hers—it isn’t particularly compelling or groundbreaking in any sort of way—it’s still an enjoyable read and a solid story. Kouki is a cameraman for a local television station who happens upon Itaru nearly passed-out drunk in a pile of garbage. Kouki’s camera is broken in the resulting scuffle and Itaru ends up working for the station in order to pay off the debt. Despite an unfortunate beginning, he actually has some useful skills to bring to the group. The romantic elements in Liberty Liberty are fairly chaste but include an adorably awkward confession of love after Itaru develops a crush on Kouki, who has feelings for another coworker.

Thermae Romae, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-4) by Mari Yamazaki. It’s been about half a year since I read the first Thermae Romae omnibus, but I do recall enjoying it quite a bit. What I don’t remember is if it made me as unabashedly happy as reading the second one did. This series honestly makes me laugh out loud. Thermae Romae has just enough of the ridiculous about it to make it very funny. And, as a bonus, I end up learning about Roman and Japanese bathing cultures. The last story in second omnibus actually turns the series into a time travel romantic comedy which has yet to reach its conclusion. Unfortunately, there’s currently no release information available for the next volume.

Moyashimon, Season 1 directed by Yūichirō Yano. Sadly, only two volumes of Masayuki Ishikawa’s manga Moyasimon were ever released in English. I was excited when Crunchyroll began streaming the anime adaptation which closely follows the manga. I quite liked the manga so I was glad to have the opportunity to spend more time learning about microbes and following the strange antics of agricultural college students. Moyashimon is an incredibly quirky series with an incredibly quirky cast. It does seem as though the series can’t quite decide what sort of story it should be. Sometimes its serious while other times its rather goofy. It can be legitimately educational, but it can also be mindless entertainment. Either way, I tend to enjoy it and find it amusing.

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8 June 2013 3 Comments

No. 6, Volume 1

Creator: Hinoki Kino
Original story: Atsuko Asano
U.S. publisher: Kodansha
ISBN: 9781612623559
Released: June 2013
Original release: 2011

Hinoki Kino’s manga adaptation of No. 6 is the second adaptation of Atsuko Asano’s nine-volume series of science fiction novels to be released in English. The first, and my introduction to No. 6, was the 2011 anime adaptation directed by Kenji Nagasaki. While I largely enjoyed the anime, the rushed and fumbled ending left me disappointed. The first volume of the No. 6 manga was originally published in Japan in 2011, a few months before the anime began airing. Kodansha’s English-language edition of No. 6, Volume 1 was released in 2013. It’s highly unlikely that Asano’s original novels (which are really what I would like to read) will ever be licensed in English, and so I was intrigued when Kodansha announced that Kino’s manga adaptation would be published. Since the series is still currently being serialized in Japan, I’m hoping that the story will have a properly executed ending this time around.

On the surface, the city of No. 6 appears to be an ideal, utopic society. The crime rate is negligible. Medical and technological advancements offer its citizens unprecedented comfort and care. Shion is among the elite of the elite. Identified at a young age as a prodigy with a particular affinity for medicine and ecology, he and his mother have their every need provided for by the city. But when Shion saves the life of a young fugitive named Rat, helping him to escape, Shion is stripped of his status and special privileges. He has seen a brief glimpse of the darker side of No. 6. Four years later he’ll see even more when he stumbles upon a pair of bizarre deaths and he becomes the perfect scapegoat for the supposed murders. With his own life now in danger, Shion has a decision to make: flee No. 6 and the only life he knows or remain in a city that no longer considers him human.

The first volume of No. 6 does a nice job of establishing the series’ two main protagonists: Shion and Rat. Although the two young men share an important connection with each other, they come from very different backgrounds and have very different personalities. Shion is intelligent but sheltered and there’s a certain innocence about him. He comes across as a bit naive and socially awkward, but he is intensely curious and searches for the significance behind things. Even though most of Rat’s past hasnt’ been revealed, it is quite clear by the end of the first volume of No. 6 that he has had a much rougher time of it. He is quick-witted but world-weary and cynical. The underlying meaning of a situation isnt’ nearly as important to him as is the immediate reality. It’s simply a matter of survival. In part because they are so different, Rat and Shion find themselves drawn to each other.

After only one volume, No. 6 has yet to really distinguish itself from other dystopian fiction. It’s a fairly standard set up with a seemingly perfect society that’s not quite everything it appears to be. The manga itself often feels very rushed in places and lacking in details in others. There were a few scenes that had I not previously seen the anime would have left me momentarily confused. In the afterword Kino admits to having had to cut much more from the manga than was ideal in order not to surpass page limits. Even so, No. 6, Volume 1 provides the needed introduction to the story and outlines the world in which it takes place. I hope that now that the stage has been set that the manga will have room to breath and slow down a little. It is a different version of the story than was seen in the anime; I’m looking forward to seeing where Kino takes it.

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