My News and Reviews
It was another two review week here at Experiments in Manga. To start off, I reviewed Goodbye Madame Butterfly: Sex, Marriage, and the Modern Japanese Woman by Sumie Kawakami. The book is an intimate look at the romantic lives of women in Japan. Unfortunately it has gone out of print, but there will be a digital version released in the near future. The second review to be posted last week was for Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal, Volume 9: The Gathering, Part II. This volume is the end of the second major story arc in the series. I’m still loving Blade of the Immortal. Look for the review of the next volume to be posted sometime next month.
I meant to mention this last week after I finished reading The Guin Saga novels that are available in English, but Vertical has a really interesting Guin Roundtable transcript available on their website. It does include some minor spoilers, but it’s a great way to gain more insight into the series (especially the English edition). Over at About.com:Manga, Deb Aoki has started a fabulous series of posts about Making a Living in Manga, specifically examining North American creators. Also, if you’re an anime or manga fan, please consider taking time to complete the Anime and Manga Fandom survey being conducted as part of a fellow fan’s dissertation project.
Finally, May’s Manga Moveable Feast begins this week! The Feast will be focusing on Oishinbo and other food manga. Khursten of Otaku Champloo, who is hosting this month, has already posted a fantastic introduction to food manga in Japan. For the Feast I’ll be reviewing Oishinbo, A la Carte: Ramen & Gyōza and posting some random musings on the series later in the week.
Quick Takes
20th Century Boys, Volumes 10-12 by Naoki Urasawa. The Friend’s face has finally been revealed to the readers! Although the Friend’s identity makes some amount of sense to the story, I can’t help but be skeptical. I’m pretty sure Urasawa still has at least one major twist in store when it comes to the Friend. And that’s not even considering all of the other twists and turns that 20th Century Boys has been taking. The story keeps getting more and more complicated and there’s a huge number of characters to keep track of, but I’m still enjoying the series a tremendous amount. I particularly like how important people’s memories of their pasts are to the story’s current timeline.
Black Butler, Volumes 5-8 by Yana Toboso. If every volume of Black Butler was like the eighth, I would have been more enthusiastic about the series from the very beginning. Black Butler is finally starting to settle into a nice balance between the humor and the darker elements. It’s somewhat a personal preference, but I enjoy the series more the darker it gets. I am pleased to see that the Phantomhive servants get the opportunity to prove what badasses they are. I much prefer this side of the characters to their previous buffoonery. I also enjoyed Sebastian and Ciel’s brief stint at the Noah’s Ark Circus (I happen to like European-style circuses), which gave Toboso plenty of opportunity to have fun with character designs. Toboso’s version of Queen Victoria is pretty great, too.
Deeply Loving a Maniac by You Higashino. Morita is an otaku and his lover Sakura has become the object of his obsession and devoted affection. This could potentially be a creepy relationship, but Sakura enjoys the attention he gets from Morita so it’s endearing instead. Sakura even allows Morita to dress him in cosplay, which is adorable. It’s obvious that these two genuinely care for each other. Morita’s otaku tendencies can still cause some stress in their relationship, though. Apparently, Deeply Loving a Maniac is the second volume in a three book series. It stands perfectly well on its own, but I hope the other two volumes are licensed as well. I’d love to see how these guys got together in the first place.
Usagi Drop directed by Kanta Kamei. I’ve really been enjoying Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop manga, so I was interested in seeing how the anime held up in comparison. The anime is actually a very faithful adaptation of the first four volumes of the manga. (These are all of the volumes before the story’s infamous time jump.) The anime does include some brief, wonderful moments not in the original manga which I quite enjoyed. The voice actors were cast perfectly, too. The beginning of each episode is done in a lovely style reminiscent of watercolor paintings. I actually wouldn’t have minded seeing entire episodes done in such a fashion. They weren’t, but the largely pastel color palette is carried over which helps to unify the animation.
