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4 October 2010 2 Comments

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.

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30 August 2010 2 Comments

My Week in Manga: August 23-August 29, 2010

My News and Reviews

I’ve become a reviewer for Netcomics! If you’re a manga blogger and are interested in reviewing and working with Netcomics you can send them an e-mail at info (at) netcomics (dot) com for more information. I had read several of Netcomics manga and manhwa titles before becoming an “official” reviewer and really enjoyed them.

Several more blogs have been listed in the News and Reviews section of the Resources page. First is All About Manga, written by Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, currently a freelance editor for Tokyopop. Manga Maniac Cafe is run by fellow manga fan and Michigander Julie. I recently discovered Tony Yao’s very cool site Manga Therapy which takes a look at the psychological aspects of manga, anime, and video games. Finally, the blog of one of my Twitter buddies, Ryu’s Dreams—I’m not sure how I missed that one the first time.

As for reviews posted this past week, I give you the first volume of the Spice & Wolf light novel series. Also this week, my first Library Love post features quick comments on manga that I’ve borrowed from the library. Over on my other book blog, Experiments in Reading, I have a review for Alex Bellos’ Here’s Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion through the Astonishing World of Math. Although not related enough to cross-post the review here at Experiments in Manga, I mention it because the book has some interesting sections on Japanese counting, origami, Sudoku, soroban (Japanese abacus), and Japanese mathematicians, among other things.

Quick Takes

GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Volumes 1-7 by Tohru Fujisawa. I have huge admiration for teachers and what they do. Unfortunately, they don’t often get the respect and credit they deserve. Enter 22-year-old, ex-gang member Eikichi Onizuka who hates teachers but decides to become one, initially as an excuse to chase high school skirt. However, it turns out he makes an awesome, although unconventional, teacher who really cares about his students. Outrageous, often inappropriate, and utterly unrealistic, the manga is shaping up to be even better than the anime (which I thoroughly enjoyed as well).

Hikkatsu!: Strike a Blow to Vivify, Volume 1 by Yu Yagami. I enjoy crazy karate manga, so it makes sense that I would pick up Hikkatsu. Shota’s convinced that he can perfect the repair blow and on occasion pulls it off to great effect. Most of the time though he just ends up shattering things beyond recognition. The manga’s not particularly deep, but it’s funny with good comedic timing. Shota is definitely my favorite character although Asuka, introduced at the very end of the volume, is pretty bad-ass, too. The art and backgrounds tend to be rather busy, but I like Shota’s somewhat mopey character design. The characters are one-dimensional, and their single-minded focus makes them come across as a bit air-headed, but so far I don’t mind as long as the comedy is there.

Maiden Rose, Volume 1 by Fusanosuke Inariya. I’m almost surprised that this title wasn’t published under Digital Manga’s 801 division instead of the Juné imprint—the sex scenes are intense to say the least and Klaus has a tendency to be rather forceful. I feel bad for poor Taki who is obviously conflicted over their relationship. His reasons are revealed by the end of the first volume, much to the shock and dismay of Klaus. He never knew how much Taki was risking so that they could be together. The character designs are lovely, although the art occasionally has some minor continuity issues. The ending raises some questions about where Klaus’ loyalties lie. I’ll definitely be taking a look at the next volume.

Thirsty for Love written by Satosumi Takaguchi and illustrated by Yukine Honami. This one volume manga is mature and melancholy. Three high school boys are consumed by the loss of the girl they love and who loved them in return. The story is dark and heavy with complicated relationships. The three manage to find discordant comfort in each other, an intense mixture of love and hate as they grieve.  Honami is the same artist who worked on Rin! which I read last week, and I’ve really grown to like her style.

Kurau: Phantom Memory, Episodes 10-16. I have continued watching this wonderful anime since last week. The beginning of the series seemed a little more episodic, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but this middle third of the series is much more cohesive plot wise. The strong characters are something that I love about this series. I still adore Kurau, Christmas is becoming more mature, and I was happy to see that their father plays an important role in story at this point. If you enjoy thoughtful science fiction, you should really give Kurau: Phantom Memory a try.

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23 August 2010 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: August 16-August 22, 2010

My News and Reviews

Obviously, my biggest news for the week was the launch of Experiments in Manga. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m very excited about it. Probably no one else really cares all that much, but it makes me happy. You can read about the release here: Announcing Experiments in Manga!

Also, the site’s search bar only seems to return results for posts published after August 18, 2010. This kinda defeats the purpose of having a search and so I’m working on getting this fixed as soon as possible. Fortunately, everything posted before August 18, 2010 can be found linked to from the Review Index.

Reviewed this past week was Miyuki Miyabe’s novel Brave Story. It’s a great story, if a bit long, with a very good translation from Alexander O. Smith. I also talked a bit about my 365 Days of Manga Loot. The contest is still running, so if you live in the United States you should go enter.

Quick Takes

20th Century Boys, Volumes 1-2 by Naoki Urasawa. Urasawa is one of my favorite mangaka so it was a no-brainer that I would pick up his most recent series to be translated into English. The plot is slowly revealed and it’s hard to know where he’s going with it, but its good. There are also some wonderful bits of nostalgia as characters reflect back on their childhood. I particularly like the character of Kenji and his design. Obviously this very normal guy is going to be caught up in whatever happens to unfold.

Gravitation Collection, Volume 5 (equivalent to Volumes 9-10) by Maki Murakami. Up until now I’ve really enjoyed the craziness that is Gravitation, but for whatever reason this volume just didn’t do it for me. The insanity is still there but it seems to have lost its originality and is knowingly repeating itself. A slew of new characters have been introduced while older characters have unfortunately been left by the wayside. The artwork is more polished than in previous volumes, but I’m not sure that necessarily is a good thing. I almost prefer the earlier, more spastic style—it fit the story.

Rin!, Volumes 1-3 written by Satoru Kannagi and illustrated by Yukine Honami. Originally intended as a single volume, the story ended up becoming three. I’m not sure if it’s because of the translation, but the first volume feels really disjointed and fragmented but the subsequent volumes improve. It’s a sweet story, more about Katsura learning to have confidence in himself than the boy/boy romance, although that’s there too. Honami’s art is lovely and her layouts are wonderful. I love kyūdō (even if I hardly know anything about it) so I like the series for that if nothing else.

Kurau: Phantom Memory, Episodes 1-9. I first learned about this anime series while perusing the TV Tropes Bifauxnen entry. It’s good science fiction with believable relationships. I have developed a huge crush on Kurau (as to be expected) and Christmas is adorably cute without being annoying. The two of them are wonderful together. It’s nice to see a competent, likeable over-twenty woman as a lead character. I’ve really liked what I’ve seen of the series so far and am looking forward to watching the rest.

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