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20 January 2014 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: January 13-January 19, 2013

My News and Reviews

There were three posts at Experiments in Manga last week, only two of which were mine. First up was my review of Negi Banno’s S.S. Astro, Volume 1, a yonkoma manga about a group of young, twenty-something high school teachers. Sadly, the series was canceled before a second volume could be released. The review is the second manga for my Year of Yuri review project. My other post last week is a part of my continuing efforts to track down manga podcasts. Discovering Manga: Podcasts, Part 3 takes a look a three ongoing podcasts that started in 2013. Also last week, I was happy to welcome Jocilyn Wagner as a guest to Experiments in Manga with her review of Hiroki Ugawa’s Shrine of the Morning Mist, Volume 1.

On to interesting things found online! Alexander Hoffman posted a Lessons from the Crater Project over at Manga Widget, which is a great summary of the events surrounding the Kickstarter project for Osamu Tezuka’s The Crater. The Daily Dot has an excellent overview of the debate over Zoë Hange gender in Attack on Titan, which has apparently become rather heated in some circles. Opening Ceremony took time to talk to the wonderful folks behind Massive—New-to-OC Brand MASSIVE on Husky Gay Asian Erotica. I also particularly enjoyed reading Tony Yao’s post The Beautiful Negativity of Seinen over at Manga Therapy.

One last thing: Usamaru Furuya’s birthday is on January 25. In honor of that, I’m declaring this week Usamaru Furuya Week at Experiments in Manga. Basically, it’s an excuse for me to get around to reviewing the rest of his manga, which I’ve been meaning to do ever since I hosted the Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast a couple of years ago. So, I’ll be posting a whopping five reviews this week! I hope you enjoy.

Quick Takes

Arisa, Volume 12Arisa, Volume 12 by Natsumi Ando. Since its beginning Arisa has gone through so many disconcerting twists and turns, how is it possible that the twins look so utterly happy on the cover of the final volume? For the most part, I was satisfied with the ending of Arisa. Things aren’t resolved as happily as the cover might imply, which I find appropriate considering the darker aspects of the story. And I wouldn’t want everything to be tied up neatly. Once again though, some of the plot twists are a little ridiculous and over-the-top. I’m all for heightened drama, but I also like it to at least make some logical sense. Admittedly, Arisa can be a bit of a mess. Even so, I really enjoyed reading the series. Also included in this volume is a rather silly side story that takes place before the events of the main series. In this case it’s Arisa posing as her sister instead of the other way around. The results are amusing though not particularly believable. Granted, at this point I’m not expecting Arisa to be particularly believable anyway.

Eyeshield 21, Volume 28Eyeshield 21, Volumes 28-31 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. I’ve discovered that, for some reason, I really like sports manga, even when that sport is something that I’m not particularly interested in in real life. For example, American football. Yet here I am thoroughly enjoying Eyeshield 21, completely caught up in the Deimon Devil Bats’ fight to reach the Christmas Bowl. And a fight it is. These volumes focus on the game between the Devil Bats and the Hakushu Dinosaurs with an emphasis placed on football as a combat sport. (I’ve actually never really thought of football that way before, so that was an interesting take on the sport for me.) The Dinosaurs have a habit of intentionally sending their opponents to the hospital, so it’s a fairly rough game. The face-off between the two teams also shows just how far Sena has come as a player since the beginning of the series. Once a weakling pushover, he’s now become much more confident in his abilities and in himself. I’m very excited to read more of Eyeshield 21.

Hetalia: Axis Powers, Volume 4Hetalia: Axis Powers, Volumes 4-5 by Hidekaz Himaruya. I know just as many people who absolutely hate the Hetalia franchise as I do people who absolutely love it. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a rabid fan, but it is a series I follow. I do, however, generally prefer the anime adaptation over the original manga. For some reason, even though the anime and the manga both make the same jokes, I find the anime to be funnier. There are times that I just can’t seem to figure out what the punchline is supposed to be in the manga. The manga still can make me laugh, though, and I even occasionally learn a bit of history in the process, which I appreciate. The number of countries involved in Hetalia continues to grow with these volumes, including more female personifications which is nice to see. The Netherlands in particular seems to get a fair amount of page time this time, too. Hetalia does rely heavily on stereotypes for its humor, but I don’t get the feeling that they’re being used maliciously or to be deliberately offensive.

White BrandWhite Brand by Youka Nitta. Although I didn’t realize it until reading the afterword, apparently White Brand was Nitta’s first collection of boys’ love short stories. I’ve now read several of Nitta’s manga, but it seems that they tend to be fairly hit-or-miss for me. Despite Embracing Love actually being one of my favorite yaoi series, none of Nitta’s other works have really grabbed me. That hasn’t especially changed with White Brand, though I did like it more than The Prime Minister’s Secret Diplomacy. White Brand collects five short boys’ love manga. I’m not sure if it was an intentional or not, but a recurring theme throughout most of the stories is opposites. “White Brand” is about cousins with different color skin tones. “Teal End” is about two men from different countries. “Exhibition Painting” features men from very different classes and walks of life. “One Size Fits All” is somewhat frivolous story about a tall model and a much shorter man. “Hasta la Vista, Baby” is the only story that this play on opposites isn’t immediately obvious.

MushishiMushishi: Sun-Eating Shade directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. I won’t lie—I love both the Mushishi manga and the anime. I was very excited when the special episode was announced and thrilled when Crunchyroll picked it up so that I could actually watch it. Although about twice as long as the individual episodes of the anime series, Sun-Eating Shade matches the tone, atmosphere, and ambiance perfectly. I was very happy to see that the same animation style was kept for the special episode. The backgrounds are still gorgeous, the music is still haunting, the pacing is still relaxed and unhurried. Mushishi has always been a rather episodic series, but I liked how Sun-Eating Shade made references to and loosely tied together several stories adapted in the first season of the anime. If someone didn’t enjoy the original anime series, there is nothing in Sun-Eating Shade that will change their mind. But established Mushishi fans (like me) probably won’t be disappointed with the special episode. I’m looking forward to the second season of Mushishi a great deal.

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27 October 2010 Leave a Comment

Manga Giveaway: Mushishi Madness Winner

And the winner of my second manga giveaway is…Brent P. Newhall of Otaku, No Video!

As the winner of Mushishi Madness, Brent will be receiving a copy of Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi, Volume 6.

I was a little worried this time around because there wasn’t a single entry for the giveaway until two days ago. Thank you to everyone who helped get the word out and thank you to everyone who entered. It makes me happy to spread the manga love, so make sure to look out for next month’s contest!

For this giveaway, I had people tell me a bit about their favorite supernatural or creepy manga. Here’s brief summary of those mentioned, but make sure to check out the Mushishi Madness comments, too:

First up is Matsuri Akino’s Pet Shop of Horrors, a ten volume horror manga which features the androgynous and enigmatic Count D, proprietor of the pet shop in question. Like Mushishi, the series is primarily episodic. I haven’t read this manga myself yet, but I have been meaning to ever since reading Jason Thompson’s 365 Days of Manga post about it’s sequel, Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo.

Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo was released in English in three volumes and won Vertical an Eisner in 2009 for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan. The manga is a historical adventure fantasy with plenty of monsters, literal and figurative, and the protagonist has one of the most horrifying origin stories I know. This series also made Katherine Dacey’s My Favorite Spooky Manga list.

Berserk by Kentaro Miura is a dark fantasy manga of epic proportions that started publication in 1990. So far, it’s up to thirty-five volumes (thirty-four currently in English translation) and although it’s published somewhat irregularly, I’m not sure Miura has any intention of stopping any time soon. For some reason I seem to be hearing a lot about Berserk recently and I know of quite a few people who love this series. I guess it’s about time I pick it up myself.

Hideyuki Kikuchi, probably best known for Vampire Hunter D, is paired up with manhwa artist Shin Yong-Gwan to create the super-creepy supernatural horror manga Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist. This is another series I don’t know much about personally, but I’ve heard very good things—the art in particular is supposed to be fantastic. Yet another manga I’ll need to check out.

Finally, we have CLAMP’s Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. It’s another lengthy series at twenty-eight volumes that just finished up in Japan last October. I really enjoy most of CLAMP’s work, and Tsubasa is no exception—I particularly love the characters. Parts of the manga’s story can been seen from a different perspective in another of CLAMP’s series, xxxHolic, which is still ongoing.

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20 October 2010 5 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Mushishi Madness

It’s that time again—time for another manga giveaway! This month I have a nice copy of Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi, Volume 6 available. The giveaway is open world-wide, so if you’re interested in a chance to win some free manga, read on!

Mushishi is one of my favorite manga that I’ve recently come across. Fortunately, the entire series has been published in English by Del Rey Manga. Although there are a couple of recurring characters in addition Ginko, the protagonist, the story is primarily episodic. This means you don’t really have to start with the first volume. So, if you’ve never read Mushishi, don’t be discouraged by the fact that I’m giving away the sixth collected book!

Mushishi, Volume 6 contains the stories “Heaven’s Thread,” “The Chirping Shell,” “The Hand That Pets the Night,” “Under the Snow,” and “Banquet in the Farthest Field.” I felt Mushishi was an appropriate giveaway for the month of October with Hallowe’en and all the harvest festivals and celebrations coming up—the stories can be rather creepy, and there’s a lot of nature imagery. It’s filled with all sorts of wonderful folklore and pseudosciencey goodness.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Mushishi, Volume 6?

1) In the comments section below, tell me about one of your favorite creepy or supernatural manga.
2) If you’re on Twitter you can earn another entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

There you go! One person can earn up to two entries for the giveaway. The winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Wednesday, September 27, 2010—so you’ve only got one week to get your entries in this time.

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Mushishi Madness Winner

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18 October 2010 Leave a Comment

My Week in Manga: October 11-October 17, 2010

My News and Reviews

Finally, I have posted my first in-depth manga review in over a month—Brilliant Blue, Volume 2. I’m really going to try to post more manga reviews in addition to all of the reviews I post for novels and nonfiction. My goal right now is two in-depth manga reviews per month. Eventually I’d like to do one a week, but that would be pushing it for me right now.

In other news, I also reviewed the first Haruhi Suzumiya light novel, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Although it has a few issues, overall I found the book to hilarious and quite enjoyable. Also, be on the lookout for my next manga giveaway starting later this week. Enter for a chance to win a nice copy of Mushishi, Volume 6.

Quick Takes

Chi’s Sweet Home, Volumes 1-2 by Konami Kanata. This series is just so incredibly cute and adorable. Kanata has perfectly captured the felineness of Chi and the loving cluelessness of her adopted human family. The artwork, while simple, is marvelous. I’m very glad that Vertical chose to keep it in color—I think it would have lost some of its effectiveness otherwise. Chi’s babytalk really annoyed me at first, but I eventually grew used to it or was at least able to ignore it for the most part. I’m not sure how much this series will appeal to those who aren’t cat people, but I absolutely love it.

Love Hurts: Aishiatteru Futari by Suzuki Tanaka. Love Hurts is a collection of four stories, three of which are vaguely boys’ love and all of which are slightly on the dark side. The first two stories are very loosely related to each other while the others are completely separate. It’s kind of a strange collection with murderers, superheros, and aliens all playing their part. It’s not great but it’s certainly not horrible and I did enjoy reading it. Plus Koharu has simply got to be one of the cutest manga guys I’ve seen in a while and fortunately for me, he shows up in two of the stories.

MPD-Psycho, Volumes 4-6 written by Eiji Otsuka and illustrated by Shou Tajima. This series is turning out to be quite different than what I was expecting, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. From the first few volumes I thought it would be mostly about Kazuhiko Amamiya, but it turns out he’s a very small part in a very big picture that has yet to be complete revealed. Although the story is becoming more complex and convoluted, it is still utterly fascinating and I can’t help but want to read more. Tajima’s artwork continues to be fantastically unsettling, as does Otsuka’s story.

Song of the Hanging Sky, Volumes 1-2 by Toriko Gin. Published by the now defunct Go! Comi, only the first two volumes of what I believe is a four volume series have been released in English. Toriko’s character designs, which appear to be heavily influenced by Native American cultures, are simply beautiful. The story can be a little confusing at times, but things become more clear as the series progresses. The first volume introduces the characters while the second volume looks more closely at the tragic history of the ancient race of bird-people. I really hope someone picks up this license—it’s very different from most of the other manga I’ve read so far and quite lovely.

Yellow, Omnibus Editions 1-2 by Makoto Tateno. I had previously read the first omnibus edition but had forgotten how funny it was. The second volume takes a much darker turn, although some of the humor remains. Yellow is by far my favorite work by Tateno that I’ve read so far. Taki and Goh are simply marvelous together and the secondary characters are great as well. It’s starts off rather episodic, but by the end there’s a solid plotline going on. Sometimes the solutions to the riddles posed are rather ridiculous, and the drama can be over the top and completely unrealistic, but the series is a lot of fun to read. I’ll definitely be looking into Yellow 2.

Mushishi, Episodes 1-26. I love Yuki Urushibara’s manga series Mushishi and was excited to learn that an anime series of the story was also made. This has to be one of the most literal anime adaptations that I’ve seen—it’s like reading the manga except it has sound and color. The backgrounds and landscapes are absolutely gorgeous and the music lovely and atmospheric. Although the stories appear in a slightly different order, they’re all original to the manga. It’s not a series for everyone—it’s slow and episodic, and rather strange at times, but I love it.

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20 August 2010 Leave a Comment

Random Musings: 365 Days of Manga Loot

Jason Thompson, author of the hilarious King of RPGs, Manga: The Complete Guide, and reviewer for Otaku USA, is currently running a contest and review series called “365 Days of Manga” over at Suvudu (scroll down, the entry form is in the right most column—one winner is chosen per day and you can enter once a day until you win). The contest is getting close to it’s end, but if your entry is selected, you win five free manga from Jason’s collection along with the opportunity to receive five more by posting your picture with your loot. (Official rules)

I won without even knowing it. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to get an e-mail notification but instead, a package full of free manga just magically appeared on my doorstep. I was not going to complain.

So, what did I get?

The first thing I pulled out was Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi, Volume 6 which really confused me since I already own the entire run of Mushishi—this was before I realized what was going on and that I had won. Mushishi is a fantastic series, by the way. Next out of the package was Koichi Ohata’s M.D. Geist, complete in one volume, and the first edition of No Need for Tenchi!, Volume 11: Ayeka’s Heart by Hitoshi Okuda. I wasn’t particularly familiar with either of those titles, although I vaguely remember a Tenchi anime airing on Cartoon Network at some point. I also received a volume from the notoriously bad .hack manga franchise, .hack//4koma by Koichi Sumimaru, which actually manages to be funny at times (at least if you’re a gamer and I more or less am). Finally, lurking in the depths of the package, I discovered  Kurohime, Volume 6 by Masanori Ookamigumi Katakura. It’s part of an highly episodic series rumored to be cheese-tastic, so I looked forward to trying it out.

Like a good little manga addict, I posted my photo online and wouldn’t you know it, another package full of free manga magically appeared on my doorstep, this time containing Love Hurts by Suzuki Tanaka and Black Lagoon, Volumes 2-5 by Rei Hiroe. I must admit, as excited as I was to win the first time, I was absolutely thrilled with my second package; I really wanted to read Black Lagoon but hadn’t coughed up the cash for it yet and I’ll certainly never turn down yaoi. So, yeah, very happy with my free manga.

Thanks, Jason!

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