My News and Reviews
Another week, another couple of reviews. I had the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Patrick W. Galbraith and Androniki Christodoulou’s Otaku Spaces from Chin Music Press. It’s a great volume that lets otaku speak for themselves. The book is easy to recommend. I also reviewed Blade of the Immortal, Volume 8: The Gathering by Hiroaki Samura. This is part of my project to review the entire series, so expect to see another Blade of the Immortal post sometime next month. I’m still loving the Blade of the Immortal.
A quick Aniblog Tourney update: Shameful Otaku Secret! won its first round match which means that it and Experiments in Manga will be facing off in the second round next week. The poll will open on May 1st. If you enjoy participating and voting in these sorts of things, make sure to check out Shameful Otaku Secret!—there’s some great stuff going on over there. I’ve been getting a kick out of discovering new writers to follow from the tournament. I do get the impression that the anime blogging community is larger than the manga blogging community though, so I’m wondering how the manga blogs will fair considering that. There are certainly fewer manga-centric blogs in the tournament.
This week is April’s Manga Moveable Feast! This month we’re focusing on the Viz Signature imprint. The Manga Critic is kind enough to host. My quick takes this week feature manga from the SigIKKI line (basically, titles from Ikki magazine published under the Signature imprint). Wednesday is the start of Experiments in Manga’s monthly giveaway; you’ll have a chance to win the first volume of I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow (also from Viz Signature). Finally, I’ll be posting an in-depth review of the Dorohedoro, Volume 1 on Friday. Happy Feasting, everyone!
Quick Takes
Children of the Sea, Volumes 1-4 by Daisuke Igarashi. I once gave Children of the Sea a cursory glance in a bookstore and then put it back on the shelf when it didn’t immediately grab my attention. That was a mistake. I’m glad I gave the series another chance because I’ve fallen in love with it. While Igarashi’s artwork is excellent from the very beginning, the story of Children of the Sea develops very slowly and deliberately (with the occasional infodump). I love how Igarashi mixes mythology and legend with reality to create an intriguing and almost mystical tale. The series is still ongoing in Japan. I’m not sure if or when we’ll see more volumes in English, but I really hope that we do.
Dorohedoro, Volumes 1-3 by Q Hayashida. I’m not sure why it took me this long to finally give Dorohedoro a try. I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of this series. Hayashida is a phenomenal artist. Her work is highly detailed and very graphic, perfect for the story’s violence. Dorohedoro is a rather strange manga. It’s goofy in a lot of ways, too, without really being a comedy. The series has a dark sense of humor with great dialogue and memorable characters. Caiman’s head has been transformed by a sorcerer into a lizard’s. With the help of his companion Nikaido, he’s searching for whoever cast the spell on him, killing plenty of other sorcerers along the way. Understandably, the sorcerers aren’t happy about this and so a pair of assassins are sent to take care of him.
House of Five Leaves, Volumes 5-6 by Natsume Ono. My introduction to House of Five Leaves was through the anime adaptation, but my love for the anime easily carries over to the manga. The series is actually my favorite manga created by Ono. I am enjoying seeing a slightly different perspective on the story. Most notable is the addition and development of characters outside of the core members of the Five Leaves. The characters and their relationships with one another are still the most important elements in House of Five Leaves. The plot is almost non-existent but becomes more apparent as characters’ motivations are slowly revealed. I’m really looking forward to the release of final two volumes.
Kingyo Used Books, Volumes 1-4 Seimu Yoshizaki. As a book lover, and a manga lover, I can’t help but be fond of Yoshizaki’s Kingyo Used Books. While one of my life’s dreams is to own a bookstore; reading Kingyo Used Books makes me want to own a manga shop or cafe. The chapters are fairly episodic (although they do frequently feature recurring characters) but they all celebrate the love and importance of reading and manga in people’s lives. Yes, these tales can be a little over dramatic from time to time, but I generally found them to be delightful. The volumes also include extensive notes on the specific titles that are featured in the stories. The only real “problem” is that many of the manga highlighted aren’t available in English and now I want to read them.
Norwegian Wood directed by Tran Anh Hung. I haven’t actually read Haruki Murakami’s breakthrough novel Norwegian Wood (shocking, I know), so I can’t really compare it with the film’s interpretation of the story. Kenichi Matsuyama, who I happen to enjoy watching, is cast well as the lead in a tale of love, loss, and sexuality set in 1960s Japan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the soundtrack is quite good. The narrative is somewhat fragmented but the cinematography is lovely and has a slight art house feel to it. Large portions of the film have little dialogue or story development but simply sit with the characters. Overall, it’s a beautiful film although some of the more emotionally climactic scenes are overwrought.