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20 December 2010 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: December 13-December 19, 2010

My News and Reviews

Some of you lovely readers are already aware of my glasses frame crisis, but I’ve been using a very old prescription for the last week (I think it’s from 2002, if not before). Because of this, I didn’t do as much reading as I would have liked because my eyesight is terrible and it gives me a headache. Also, apparently all the manga I read had to have a pink cover this week. However, I did discover that watching TV didn’t cause too much of a problem as long as I wasn’t expected to read subtitles. So, I ended up watching a lot of English dubbed anime. And speaking of anime: Crunchyroll is now available on the Roku player, woohoo!

This past week I posted my first in-depth manga review for December—I was very excited to see the publication of Yaya Sakuragi’s Stay Close to Me and hope more of her work is licensed in English. I also posted my first entry in my Finding Manga series where I gave some tips on finding and buying manga through Half.com—Finding Manga: Half.com.Over on All About Manga, Daniella Orihuela-Gruber has been gathering together the 2010 Great Manga Gift Guides. It’s a great list of great lists, so you should check it out.

Finally, I meant to mention this last week but forgot. Over on Experiments in Reading I have a review posted for the anthology Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories about People Who Know How They Will Die. It’s a great collection and worth a read. Machine of Death includes the story “Prison Knife Fight” by Shaenon K. Garrity who is a freelance manga editor for Viz among other very cool things. The only explicitly Japan-related story (yakuza!) is “Improperly Prepared Blowfish” by speculative fiction author Gord Sellar who is currently living South Korea. 

Quick Takes

Cardcaptor Sakura, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-3) by CLAMP. Dark Horse’s omnibus reprints of CLAMP’s work have been of extremely high quality and the first gorgeous volume of Cardcaptor Sakura is no exception. Once upon a time I had seen a few episodes of the anime adaptation that I really enjoyed, so I was excited to finally get a chance to read the original story. So far, the manga is utterly delightful. I was afraid the cuteness might be overwhelming, but it’s balanced nicely against the more serious elements of the story. There is also plenty of humor, and I enjoy watching the interactions and the developing relationships between the characters. I’ll definitely be following this series.

Hate to Love You, by Makoto Tateno. In the United States, Tateno is primarily known for her boys’ love works and Hate to Love You was her first foray into the genre. Despite being the sons of rival real estate agencies, Masaya and Yuma became childhood friends although by the time they reach high school they’ve grown apart. But their constant fighting about their fathers’ businesses, which they stand to inherit, can’t hide the fact they still harbor feelings for one another. “Hate to Love You” wasn’t bad, but I found the unrelated bonus story “You Can’t Call It Love” to be more memorable. It’s not a pleasant story, in fact it’s rather dark and disturbing, but it is more emotionally potent.

Hayate X Blade, Omnibus 1 (equivalent to Volumes 1-3) by Shizuru Hayashiya. Hayate X Blade is one of the few yuri-ish manga that I’m familiar with in English translation. It’s a bombastic action comedy that doesn’t always make a lot of sense but it is a lot of fun. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the Sword Bearer program is, other than being an excuse to have cute girls fight one another, but I’m okay with that. Not to mention the fact that I’ve developed a huge crush on Ayana (as well as a few others). I’m really enjoying this manga. It may be a bit ridiculous at times, which in this case is not a bad thing. It’s funny, has great art, and the girls are all unique in looks and personalities.

The Lily and the Rose, by Dany & Dany. The Lily and the Rose is the first work that Dany & Dany, a pair of Italian manga creators, wrote specifically with a United States audience in mind. Their artwork is quite accomplished and distinctive; I’ve never confused their style for anyone else’s. Christophe and Alain fell in love as schoolmates, but Christophe chose the priesthood over his friend. With Christophe gone, Alain is left with nothing but a burning desire to kill the man who murdered his mother. Seven years later the two meet again under less than ideal circumstances—Alain has been charged with catching Christophe in a scandal, creating one if necessary.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Second Season directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first Haruhi Suzumiya light novel so I figured I’d give the anime a try as well. The second season is based on some of the later books. The animation team does some really cool things with color and lighting, especially in the “Endless Eight” sequence of episodes. Although the speculative fiction elements of the story are marvelous, Kyon is really what makes this series work for me. Although outwardly resigned to being the only “normal” person in the SOS Brigade, his inner dialogue and griping is hilarious.

Monster, Episodes 28-39 directed by Masayuki Kojima. These episodes include the University of Munich Library arc which has some of the most epic scenes in the entire story. I was really looking forward to seeing this part, and was not disappointed. At this point, the story also reveals quite a bit more about Johan and just how disconcerting he really is. Some plot threads are introduced in this section that don’t really go very far (this was the case in the manga as well), so I was surprised to see them included while some of the arguably more pertinent scenes were significantly compressed or dropped entirely. Had I not previously read the manga, I think I may have been confused by some of what was going on, but overall this is still an excellent adaptation.

One Piece, Season One: First Voyage directed by Kōnosuke Uda. I wasn’t particularly taken by Romance Dawn, the first volume of the One Piece manga, but I saw so much love for the series during the Manga Moveable Feast that I haven’t given up on it yet. It only took me a few episodes of the anime to get me hooked. Oda’s manga works fantastically well in adaptation and his artwork was just asking to be animated. (Although almost everyone seems to have bizarrely long arms. Luffy, okay that makes sense, but Nami, too?) The English voice cast is simply perfect and I loved the use of music for dramatic purposes, especially in the early episodes.

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6 December 2010 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: November 29-December 5, 2010

My News and Reviews

Last week was the One Piece Manga Moveable Feast. This was the first time I was able to participate in the Manga Moveable Feast and for my part I wrote a review of One Piece, Volume 1: Romance Dawn. This also counts as my second in-depth manga review for the month of November, meeting my goal! Now let’s see if I can do it again for December. January’s Manga Moveable Feast will be hosted by Anna of Manga Report and focuses on Karakuri Odette by Julietta Suzuki. I’m really looking forward to reading the series and participating in the Manga Moveable Feast again. My other posts for this week included the Bookshelf Overload for November and the announcement of the Feast of Firsts manga giveaway winner.

Quick Takes

Eerie Queerie, Volumes 1-4 by Shuri Shiozu. The first volume of this series is definitely the strongest. Mitsuo is supernaturally sensitive and discovers to his dismay that ghosts can easily take advantage of him and possess his body. This can be a bit awkward when the spirits are women who want to make a few last memories with his male classmates before moving on. After the first volume though, things kinda fall apart and Shiozu tends to lose focus on the supernatural aspects of the story. The manga is goofy and amusing, but I wasn’t really convinced by most of the relationships or romance. And then it just ends and I was left wondering what the point of it all was.

House of Five Leaves, Volume 1 by Natsume Ono. I absolutely adored the anime adaptation of House of Five Leaves (I really hope it gets a DVD release) and I was very excited to discover that the manga had been licensed. The manga is also very good. Ono’s artwork is a bit unusual but the droopy lines seem fitting and are effective in conveying the emotions of the story. Most of the time I just want to give Masa a huge hug (which would probably freak him out, the poor guy). He’s a rōnin, a masterless samurai, that due to his timid nature and odd personality finds it difficult to hold down a job. Masa ends up falling in with a group of kidnappers that go by the name of House of Five Leaves, fascinated by the mysterious and charismatic leader Yaichi.

Lupin III, Volumes 1-5 by Monkey Punch. Lupin really is a cocky bastard. The humor is lewd and crude, the characters are foul-mouthed, and Monkey Punch frequently breaks the fourth wall—I quite enjoyed the humor. Unfortunately, I found the manga itself somewhat difficult to follow and the characters, especially the women, hard to tell apart most of the time. There isn’t so much of a coherent plot to Lupin III in these first few volumes, instead each of the short chapters is more of a vignette. Occasionally an episode might continue over several chapters and there are several recurring characters in addition to Lupin although their roles might change significantly from story to story. The more I read of Lupin III the more I liked it.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki’s Lupin is a much more noble, family-friendly character than the Lupin from the original manga (although some of the strong language still remains). With marvelous visual gags and plenty of humor, The Castle of Cagliostro is a fantastic anime and a lot of fun. It’s definitely a movie that I would watch again, probably repeatedly. After it turns out the huge haul they lifted from a casino was completely counterfeit, master thief Lupin and his right-hand man Jigen search for its source in Cagliostro hoping to strike it big. Things get a bit complicated when Lupin gets involved with the Lady Clarisse, though.

Monster, Episodes 12-27 directed by Masayuki Kojima. The anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster continues to follow the manga very closely although some scenes have been abbreviated or lengthened. The anime does lack some of the subtlety of the manga and some of the more dramatic scenes come across as too overly dramatic. Overall though, it’s still quite good. I particularly appreciate the efforts gone into the casting of the voice actors for the English dub—even the secondary characters that only show up in one episode have been chosen well. As far as I can tell, only the first fifteen episodes have been released on DVD, but the full series is available streaming through Hulu.

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29 November 2010 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: November 22-November 28, 2010

My News and Reviews

Last week was Thanksgiving vacation for me which means that I didn’t have to work but did have to do much more driving than usual. I did still find time to get some manga reading in and raided my youngest sister’s bookshelves in between visiting with my family. I even found time to post my review of the second Spice & Wolf light novel; I’m enjoying this series so far and will definitely be picking up the third volume when it’s released in December. And as a reminder, I’m currently running a boys’ love/yaoi manga giveaway, Feast of Firsts. The winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday, so you still have a couple days to enter.

It’s also time for the most recent Manga Moveable Feast, featuring Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. David Welsh of The Manga Curmudgeon is hosting, so check out his post Setting Sail and the updating index. I’ll be posting a review of the first volume, Romance Dawn, later this week. This will be the first Manga Movable Feast that I will have participated in, so I’m particularly looking forward to it.

Quick Takes

Case Closed, Volume 1 by Gosho Aoyama. After being caught sticking his nose into a crime in progress, the teenage detective prodigy Jimmy Kudo is poisoned by mysterious men in black. Instead of killing him as intended, the untested poison instead transforms Jimmy’s body into that of a grade schooler. (And quite an adorable one at that.) As cute as Jimmy, now going by the name Conan Edogawa, and the art is, there is still a substantial amount of blood and gore. The manga vaguely reminds me of Encyclopedia Brown. The mysteries aren’t particularly complex yet, but watching Jimmy/Conan’s deductions is fun.

Fake, Volumes 1-7 by Sanami Matoh. Fake was the the first boys’ love series that I ever read. I often see it listed among people’s favorites, but I’ve never been quite as taken with it as others seem to be. Which is not to say I don’t enjoy the manga, because I do. Ignoring the fact that realistic police procedure is completely thrown out the window, particularly in the early volumes, the series has a decent plot and a fair amount of humor to go along with its sexual tension. Occasionally the recurring story elements and gags can get a little tedious. I really do like the relationship between Dee and Ryo though, and the secondary characters are pretty great, too.

Sand Chronicles, Volumes 1-9 by Hinako Ashihara. After borrowing and reading the first volume of Sand Chronicles from the library, I knew it was a series that I needed to own. I also knew it was going to break my heart and it did, repeatedly—this manga is so good it hurts. The characters must find balance between love and loneliness and selfishness and selflessness. None of them are bad people, but they do have issues to work through. The main story is completed in eight volumes while volumes nine and ten consist of bonus and side stories. Sand Chronicles won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2004 and it’s seriously one of the best shoujo manga that I’ve read.

Twin Spica, Volumes 2-4 by Kou Yaginuma. I’m really enjoying this manga so far. It’s a quiet series and a bit melancholy at times, but very touching. The art is also lovely and quite good, although its cuteness sometimes seems at odds with the seriousness of the story. The students of the newly instated astronaut training program all face mental, emotional, and physical challenges as they strive to accomplish their dream of traveling to space. Twin Spica is very realistic science fiction, which I appreciate. I like all of the characters, but I think Mr. Lion is probably my favorite. I’m looking forward to reading future volumes as they are released.

Monster, Episodes 1-11 directed by Masayuki Kojima. So far the Monster anime series has been extremely faithful to Naoki Urasawa’s source material. And because the original manga is fantastic, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Both the animation and the voice acting is solid. Although a few of the voices in the English dub annoy me from time to time, the casting is very well done overall. The soundtrack is also good and I particularly like the opening theme. The anime runs for seventy-four episodes, and I’m interested in seeing how the complex, one-hundred-sixty-two chapter manga will be adapted.

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