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7 June 2013 Leave a Comment

Library Love, Part 15

Support manga, support your library!

Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Ju-On: Video Side by Miki Rinno. I haven’t actually seen any of the the films in Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On franchise, but I believe that Ju-On: Video Side is an adaptation of the first direct-to-video Ju-On movie, also known as The Curse. The manga opens with a woman being murdered by her husband as their young son looks on. Because of the violence and deaths associated with the house, the property is difficult to sell. Despite being warned against it, the Murakami family moves in. Their lives are quickly consumed by horrifying incidents and bizarre accidents. Anyone even remotely connected to the household is at risk as the vengeful spirits take out their anger on the living.

Nana, Volumes 9-12 by Ai Yazawa. I continue to be impressed by Yazawa’s Nana. I have a feeling that this will be a series that I end up buying to have a copy of my own. It’s just that good. The characterization in Nana is phenomenal. As the series progresses, the characters continue to evolve and grow. They are all multi-layered and their relationships are complex. While the interpersonal drama is still extraordinarily important in Nana, these particular volumes start to focus on Trapnest and Black Stones as bands a bit more. The two groups and their members are revealed to be very closely linked. Complicating matters further, they’re harassed by paparazzi. Their careers get in the way of love and romance as they lose some control over their own lives to their music labels.

The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon. I was happy to discover that all the praise The Nao of Brown has received was well-deserved: Dillon’s artwork is gorgeous and the storytelling is mature. Nao Brown is half-Japanese and half-English, living in London with Purely Obsessional OCD. She is plagued by violent thoughts and is afraid that one day she actually will hurt someone, which makes leading a normal life and developing healthy relationships with other people difficult. But then she meets Gregory, a burly washing machine repairman who reminds her of one of her favorite anime characters. The two of them hit it off pretty well, but not without some problems.

Slam Dunk, Volumes 3-6 by Takehiko Inoue. I am much more familiar with Inoue’s later seinen works Vagabond and Real than I am with Slam Dunk, his immensely popular breakthrough series. Although there are some similar themes to be found in all three series, Slam Dunk is more obviously humorous than the other two. It’s great fun. I’m very fond of Hanamichi as a protagonist. He’s a sort of delinquent with a heart of gold. Actually, the delinquent aspects and Hanamichi’s gang are some of my favorite parts of Slam Dunk. Of course, the basketball is good, too, and really the focus of the series. By this point, Hanamichi finally gets the chance to play in a real game. Even though he’s still a new player and makes plenty of mistakes, he also shows an impressive amount of potential.

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2 March 2013 Leave a Comment

Library Love, Part 14

Support manga, support your library!

Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Emma, Volumes 7-10 by Kaoru Mori. I didn’t realize that the main story of Emma concludes in the seventh volume of the series and so was taken a little by surprise when the ending seemed to come along so suddenly. I like that Mori didn’t go for a trite “happily ever after”; the ending is much more complicated than that and realistically addresses the challenges that Emma and William will face due to their class differences. The final three volumes are actually a collection of short side stories, mostly featuring established characters although some simply feature the established locale and time period. Emma is a wonderful series; I really hope to see its license rescued. Thankfully, my library had a complete set.

Nana, Volume 5-8 by Ai Yazawa. I continue to be greatly impressed by Nana and Yazawa’s work in general. Her characters are marvelously complex and multi-faceted. In Nana, the assholes aren’t complete assholes and the angels aren’t complete angels, either. Yazawa eschews stereotypes and the results are naturally unpredictable. The readers and the characters might expect one thing only to be proven wrong. Because the characters are so complex their relationships are just as complicated if not more so. Selfishness and possessiveness create believable and often heartbreaking situations that the characters have to deal with either together or on their own. Life and relationships are messy and Yazawa doesn’t allow her characters to take the easy way out.

Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka. Ode to Kirihito is probably one of the stranger Tezuka manga that I have read. It’s a mix of medical drama and some sort of horror, with a bit of a revenge tale thrown in for good measure. Kirihito Osanai is a young doctor investigating Monmow, an incurable disease that causes a person’s body to take on dog-like characteristics. His theory is that it is an endemic condition while his superior is adamant that the disease is both viral and contagious. Osanai’s life is changed forever when he himself contracts Monmow. Ode to Kirihito is an engaging read with some real-life parallels to how people with various medical problems are treated and even shunned by others.

Stargazing Dog by Takashi Murakami. I did enjoy Stargazing Dog but I don’t seem to be quite as taken with it as so many other people are, although I can certainly understand its appeal. What impresses me the most about the manga is how Murakami captures the importance and significance that human-canine relationships can have. Stargazing Dog is about people and the dogs who love them. The manga collects two loosely related stories together, both of which are rather bittersweet. Because Stargazing Dog stands so well on its own and feels satisfyingly complete I was surprised to discover that there is actually a second volume. NBM only released the first volume of the series in print, but both volumes are available digitally from JManga under the title Star Protector Dog.

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30 November 2012 Leave a Comment

Library Love, Part 12

Support manga, support your library!

Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. When a train is derailed by an avalanche, two criminals on board make their escape. Handcuffed together, they disappear into the mountains under the cover of a blizzard. Black Blizzard was my introduction to Tatsumi. It also happens to be Tatsumi’s first full length, non-serialized graphic novel. Written in the late 1950s, it is one of the earliest examples of gekiga. Black Blizzard is a great read, even if the ending’s twist seems a little too convenient. But even so, the story is quickly paced and engaging. The English-language edition of Black Blizzard from Drawn and Quarterly also includes an interview with Tatsumi which is a nice addition.

Here Is Greenwood, Volumes 1-2 by Yukie Nasu. Okay, I’m really enjoying this one. Here Is Greenwood isn’t an outstanding series, but for the right audience (to which I apparently belong) it’s solidly entertaining. It has a large cast of quirky and offbeat characters. The residents of the “Greenwood” dormitory frequently find themselves in some fairly ridiculous and unbelievable situations, generally of their own creation. The main protagonist is Kazuya Hasukawa, a perpetually stressed out student at the prestigious all-boys Ryokuto Academy who Mitsuru Ikeda, the head resident of the dormitory, delights in tormenting. Here Is Greenwood is really funny stuff if you enjoy the absurd, which I certainly do.

Nana, Volumes 1-4 by Ai Yazawa. The first volume of Nana serves as a sort of prologue to the main series and can stand completely on its own. It introduces the two main characters and their backstories: Nana Komatsu, a young woman trying to establish her independence after one too many heartbreaks, and Nana Osaki, a punk singer working towards her success as a musician. The two women become roommates by chance more than anything else, but their friendship becomes very important to them. The characterization in Nana is phenomenal. All of the characters are complex and their relationships are complicated and messy. Nana has a sense of humor, but it’s really the human drama that makes the series.

Peace Maker Kurogane, Volumes 1-3 by Nanae Chrono. I’ve enjoyed manga with a basis in history for quite some time. More recently, I’ve developed a particular interest in the Shinsengumi. So, I was looking forward to giving Peace Maker Kurogane a try. Unfortunately, these early volumes just aren’t working for me. I have a decent handle on what was happening during the time period in which the series takes place, but I had a hard time following the plot of the story or even caring about what was going on. Things start to come together and get to be more interesting with the third volume, but I’m not sure that’ll be enough for me to track down the rest of the volumes that are available in English.

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