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Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Gogo Monster by Taiyo Matsumoto. Even after reading it multiple times, I’m not entirely sure I completely understand Gogo Monster but it is very good. The manga is wonderfully atmospheric, dark, and chilling. There’s something very sinister and innocent about it all at the same time. Some might find Matsumoto’s art to be ugly, but I quite liked it and found it to be very effective. Yuki sees things that others can’t. He’s considered to be a weirdo by most of his class, but a transfer student named Makoto reaches out to him. As the story progresses it becomes more and more difficult to know what to believe. Where does reality end and imagination begin, or was there never really a difference to begin with?

One Piece, Volumes 2-4 by Eiichiro Oda. I really want to like One Piece—I know a lot of people who love the series—but these early volumes simply aren’t clicking for me. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy reading them. They are fun and Oda’s artwork is delightfully bombastic, fitting the story perfectly. But I’m simply not compelled to follow the series for some reason that I haven’t quite been able to identify. I’m just not “getting” it yet. And with a series that’s already over sixty volumes long and still going, I find it a rather daunting prospect to try and pursue One Piece. Still, if my library gets any more of the books, I’ll likely try to hang on for at least a few more volumes.

Travel by Yuichi Yokoyama. Travel is one of those manga that I can easily appreciate without necessarily liking. The artwork is abstract and Yokoyama’s draftsmanship is superb. Personally though, I don’t find the style to be particularly appealing. There is no text in the manga itself, but Yokoyama provides plenty of notes at the end to help guide the reader and provide interpretations for the images. (I actually preferred some of my own interpretations.) One thing in particular that impresses me about Travel is the sense of motion that Yokoyama is able to convey. After finishing the manga, it really feels as if a journey has been completed; Travel is a very apt title.

Yuri Monogatari edited by Erica Friedman. If it wasn’t for my library and the joy of interlibrary loan, I probably would have never had to opportunity to read the first volume of the Yuri Monogatari series. Only two-hundred-fifty copies of the book were printed; even the editor doesn’t have a copy. Yuri Monogatari is the first anthology of original English-language yuri. The first volume collects nine stories that are sexy, sweet, thoughtful, and authentic. My personal favorite was the final contribution in the volume, “The Scales” by Althea Keaton. Although it is highly unlikely, I hope that one day I can own a copy of Yuri Monogatari. It’s a wonderful collection.