I’m a bit late to the Manga Moveable Feast, but as previously written reviews seem to be acceptable, I’d like to pitch in with my reviews of vols. 1-3 and vols. 4-7 of Emma as well as my review of Shirley.

I think this passage from my review of the second half of Emma sums up what I thought of the series as a whole:

Much of the enjoyment of reading it comes from simply watching the characters go about their business, whether in the drawing room or the scullery. There are nights at the opera, shopping trips in London, and several voluptuous bathing and dressing scenes. In fact, the little bits of business between the main plot elements are some of the best parts of the book.

Deb Aoki scores an interview with Gary Groth, president and co-publisher of Fantagraphics, who delighted the manga blogosphere this week with the announcement of a new manga line to be edited by Matt Thorn.

The latest edition of The Manga Curmudgeon’s shoujo-sunjeong alphabet is brought to you by the letter U.

Yoshitoshi ABe has already made a manga for the iPhone; now you can get his latest for a dollar on the Kindle.

News from Japan: ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings. Manga-ka Yoshitoshi ABe reacts to the proposed amendment to the Tokyo ordinances that would prohibit depiction of young-looking people having sex. (Via the Icarus blog.)

Reviews: Matt Blind looks at vol. 4 of Emma for the Manga Moveable Feast at Rocket Bomber. Snow Wildsmith posts brief reviews of three Makoto Tateno manga at Fujoshi Librarian.

Alexander Hoffman on vol. 7 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Village)
Rebecca Bundy on vol. 1 of Arata the Legend (ANN)
Penny Kenny on vol. 1 of Cactus’s Secret (Manga Life)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 3 and 4 of Bamboo Blade (Comics Should Be Good)
Charles Webb on vol. 22 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga Life)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of In the Walnut (Comics Village)
Zoey on Manhattan Love Story (Manga Jouhou)
Rob on vol. 6 of Marmalade Boy (Panel Patter)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 25 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 36 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Otodama – Voice from the Dead (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Pluto (The Comic Book Bin)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist (Manga Recon)
Chris Mautner on vol. 1 of Ultimo (Robot 6)

Deb (About.Com) Aoki interviews Gary (Fantagraphics) Groth about their new manga initiative:

Q: In my conversations with U.S. manga publishers, most, if not all of the mainstream U.S. manga publishers have said that they are not willing to take a chance on classic manga titles (e.g. published in Japan in the 1960’s, ’70s, ’80s or even early ’90s lately!) anymore. What does Fantagraphics hope to do differently to introduce new readers to the titles you’ll be bringing to the U.S.?

Gary Groth: “Due to my almost complete ignorance of the manga publishing industry and the editorial strictures that guide it, and my pitiful lack of guile in these matters, I was insufficiently aware of how timid and craven our editorial choices should’ve been!”

Ah, that’s just the kind of Grothian commentary I’ve been expecting.

By the way, I’m obviously still linkstalking the story, so point me to your thoughts if I’ve missed them.

DOROHEDORO © 2002 Q HAYASHIDA/Shogakukan

San Francisco, CA, March 9, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will publish manga creator, Q Hayashida’s gritty urban sci-fi/horror series, DOROHEDORO on March 16th. The new series under the company’s VIZ Signature imprint, is rated ‘M’ for Mature Audiences and will carry and MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

In a city so dismal it’s known only as “the Hole,” an underground group of Sorcerers have been abducting people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious “experiments” in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a mutant man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, Nikaido and Caiman hunt and kill the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they’ll kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of “cleaners” into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

“DOROHEDORO blends bloody mutant action with the classic horror elements—zombies, demons, and ghosts—and an intricate postapocalyptic urban setting,” says Leyla Aker, Editorial Manager, VIZ Media. “At the same time, the characters are likable, the dialogue’s funny, and I think readers will be surprised by its charm.”

Manga creator Q Hayashida is known for her bold art style and the way she seamlessly integrates alternate universes into her stories. Hayashida made her manga debut with MAKEN X ANOTHER, which ran in Magazine Z in Japan and was subsequently adapted into a video game. She followed with a sequel, MAKEN X ANOTHER JACK. DOROHEDORO is her latest creation and is serialized in Shogakukan’s manga magazine IKKI and also featured on SigIKKI.com, the publication’s innovative online joint venture with VIZ Media.

For more information on SIGIKKI, please visit www.SigIKKI.com.

For more information on this title, or others from VIZ Media, please visit www.viz.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga (graphic novel) publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. Owned by three of Japan’s largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa and is a global ex-Asia licensor of Japanese manga and animation. The company offers an integrated product line including the popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine, graphic novels, and DVDs, and develops, markets, licenses, and distributes animated entertainment for audiences and consumers of all ages. Contact VIZ Media at 295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133; Phone (415) 546-7073; Fax (415) 546-7086; and website at www.VIZ.com.

Review by: Kiki Van De Kamp

Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
MSRP: $69.98 US
Running Time: 650 minutes
Genre: Horror
Rating: 16 and Up
Release Date: Available Now

When they cry someone will die.

At first glance, you would think that When They Cry is a warm, cute and charming little series about friends, love and the quiet Japanese village life. The characters are certainly adorable and the slapstick comedy is just as cutesy but by the end of the first episode of each chapter the series has a tendency to turn disturbingly dark and by the middle of the second episode somebody ends up dead, turns up missing or goes insane. The Complete Box Set of When They Cry covers all 26 episodes of a series that will not fail to pull you into the dark and gruesome universe it creates.

Told in six chapters (or story arcs), When They Cry focuses on a boy named Keiichi Maebara who moved to the quiet village of Hinamizawa from Tokyo. The village is small and so is the school that crams together grade school students with High school students and each year the villagers hold a yearly festival in honor of their deity. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Hinamizawa but look closer and you’ll see that something is disturbingly wrong.

In the first story chapter, entitled Spirited Away by the Demon, we get a glimpse into Keiichi’s life as we meet his friends Rena Ryugu and the attractive Mion Sonozaki. He also has cute grade school friends like Rena and Satoko. Since he moved here he thought nothing really happens in Hinamizawa but when he learns that there have been a couple of death linked to a failed dam construction project, curiosity gets the better of him.

Keiichi learns that ever since the dam project was mentioned a number of dam supporters mysteriously disappear or die during the annual Cotton Drifting Festival. He meets a photographer named Tomitake and the mysterious Miss Takano who tell him that it might have to do with the village’s deity known as Oyashiro who has cursed dam supporters for even considering flooding the village to make way for a dam. Could it be that the villagers have asked Oyashiro to curse them? Will Keiichi, an outsider, be cursed for learning the truth? Paranoia sets in and Keiichi begins to imagine the worst and this leads him to do horrible things that lead to a body count until the final bloody end.

Oh, but even though the main characters meet a gruesome demise, the story rewinds with the next chapter. In the next story, Keiichi runs into Mion’s identical twin named Shion who talks Keiichi into going into the tool shed where a statue of Oyashiro is housed along with photographer Tomitake and Miss Takano. Unfortunately, such an action is considered a big no-no and when Tomitake and Miss Takano are found dead it becomes clear to Keiichi that he and Shion are next. Then Keiichi begins acting a lot like a similar young man named Satoshi who disappeared and then people start dying in very bloody ways.

In the next story arc we discover what happened to Satoshi who is Satoko’s older brother. Having stood up for Shion one day, the girl falls in love with the tortured boy who is trying to stay strong for him and his sister. When Satoshi turns up missing, Shion believes that her family and the elders of the village might have been involved. Slowly, Shion grows crazy and all she can think of is revenge and begins her quest to find those responsible and punish them in squeamish ways.

The next chapter isn’t a gory as the others as we meet Mamoru Akasaka, a Tokyo special agent placed in charge of heading to Hinamizawa to find out who might have kidnapped the son of the Minister of Construction. He discovers that it might have something to do with a group that’s against the dam construction. Akasaka meets Rika who makes some startling predictions.

Then final chapter is dedicated to Rena who lives with her divorced father and spends her time hanging out at the local dump. When Rena discovers that her father’s girlfriend has a very shady secret, she takes it upon herself to remedy the problem … in the bloodiest way possible. Committing double homicide, the thought of being discovered eats away at Rena who slowly goes mad and decides to take her school hostage.

When They Cry is the kind of series that has all the appearance of a sweet comedy and there are actually some cute and funny moments. Yet all of this dissolves right before your eyes when characters begin to lose it and commit heinous crimes. Whether or not it is the result of a curse or an even more twisted supernatural element you will find yourself horrified and very entertained.

Simply put: When They Cry is a candy-coated nightmare that is not only one of the more inventive horror series you’ll find out there but also one of the more delightfully gruesome ones as well. Downright sweet one moment and outrageously twisted the next, the Complete Series set will not fail to violently grab a hold of you and watch the madness unravel and you will like every minute of it.

DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN

MOVIE/EPISODES: A-
The seemingly sleepy village of Hinamizawa has long worshipped a deity that will turn the village into a landmark where ancient curses, mass murder and children go psychotically crazy. As the series follows the curse of Oyashiro, we witness different yet eerily similar takes on an event you will not forget anytime soon.

VIDEO QUALITY: A+
The episodes look great on DVD as we saw when the episodes were released individually and the Box Set is no different. As far as the animation is concerned, you’ll love how many of the cute-looking characters suddenly deform when they go insane. There’s also lots of blood in this series so if that bothers you then this is not the anime for you.

AUDIO QUALITY: A
The English dub voices are great but it’s the original Japanese cast that steals the show. Top it off with a haunting score and an excellent closing theme song like “why, or why not.”

EXTRAS: D
Each disc contains trailers for Geneon titles and there’s the option to watch the opening and closing animations without credits. That’s about it and it’s a tad disappointing.

OVERALL: A-
When They Cry is the type of anime series that messes with your head and then does it again just for the fun of it as horrific things happen to the cutest characters. Rightfully sick and twisted in the best possible way, The Complete Box Set of When They Cry is the definitive bloody little package that should please horror enthusiasts.

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment

Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Youka Nitta
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2009

Synopsis: “Kaname Otonashi is gifted with a super-hearing ability, so much so that he can even hear voices from the “other side”. Having once worked as a top notch detective specializing in Sound Engineering Investigation, Otonashi resigned to work as a private investigator. His partner, Yasuhide, aka Hide, collaborates with the police department to take on unsolved and mysterious cases. Surrounded by a string of mysterious deaths, the police turn to Kaname’s findings to identify suspects…but can Kaname handle the non-stop screaming of the dead?”

Youka Nitta is famous for creating landmark yaoi manga like the popular Embracing Love and The Prime Minister’s Secret Diplomacy. Not knowing anything about Otodama except for the manga-ka when I started reading it, I was expecting more of the same. I couldn’t have been more surprised. Otodama isn’t a yaoi series (or even shounen-ai), but instead a smart police-thriller with supernatural elements. What it does have in common with Nitta’s other work is fantastic art and a gripping story.

Kaname and Hide used to work for the police until an incident made them both decide to leave. The two now do freelance work: Hide as a private detective and Kaname as an audio technician. Hide occasionally relies on Kaname to help him out on cases, putting to use not only his sharp hearing but also his ability to hear the dead.

When the manga starts, a series of bizarre murders have started occurring around Tokyo – young woman are being killed and their bodies hung from signs over busy overpasses. Hide’s older brother, Nagatsuma, is in charge of the police investigation, but they have only a few leads to go on. Meanwhile, Hide takes on a client who is unknowingly a target for the killer, and an old enemy from Kaname’s past gets involved with the case as well.

The manga manages to weave in many themes, plots and characters; the above paragraph only covers the first story, and even then it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Trying to put it all down on paper would make it sound overly complicated, but in the end everything blends together perfectly in a way that makes sense. I liked how very little of the plot twists have to do with convenience or luck: people do things because it’s in their nature, not because the plot requires them too.

The second story continues to keep up the first story’s intricacy. A madman has been setting off bombs over Tokyo, bombs designed not to kill but to deafen anyone caught in the explosion. The killer seems to have some kind of vendetta against the police and is challenging them to step-up their game.

Kaname meanwhile must deal with Shoei Kodama, a disturbed man who also has powers. While Kaname can hear the last thoughts of the dead, Kodama can sense when someone will die in a certain place. This has developed into a fetish for Kodama, and his hobby is taking pictures of dead bodies. One of the more disturbing parts of the manga involves Kaname waking up in a room full of Kodama’s photography and being assailed by the cries of the corpses in the pictures.

Just to throw one more plot element in the mix, a recent hit and run incident in Kaname’s neighbourhood left a child dead. Somehow, all these distinct plot threads tie together to form a multi-layered thriller. There’s also interesting, ongoing sub-plots about office politics within the police and a debate between the Nagatsuma brothers about the merits of being part of a huge organization like the cops versus going it alone like Hide.

While the plot for Otodama is great, there are several things in particular I like about it. I like that Kaname’s powers aren’t ever key to solving a case. Usually, when Kaname hears the voice of a dead person, it ends up being just one more clue rather than the clincher. Instead the focus is on old fashion detective skills: talking to people, gathering clues, and then putting the pieces together. It’s a credit to Nitta that when I went back and re-read parts I picked up on clues that I had missed the first time round despite them being in plain sight. Part of me wonders what the manga would be like if the paranormal aspect was taken out completely. It probably wouldn’t be too different, but it might lose some of its creepy atmosphere.

It’s also interesting to see a manga where sound plays such a key element. It’s not the first manga to place such a prime importance on sound (think of any manga featuring a band, like Ai Yazawa’s Nana) but it’s always interesting to see a silent medium tackle the subject of audio. Otodama does it in an especially interesting way. There’re very little sound effects. Instead the sound gets filtered through the characters and they tell us what they hear and why it’s important. It’s a neat trick that makes the reader dependant on the characters. It makes you think about what it would be like to lose your sense of hearing, to have to rely on other people to tell you what sounds are going on around you. It also nicely mimics how most of the other characters feel when they need to depend on Kaname to use his super-hearing and tell them what’s what.

As mentioned earlier, the series isn’t shounen-ai but it wouldn’t take much imagination to turn Hide and Kaname from friends/roommates/partners into something more. But even without boys’ love connotations they are still interesting characters. Nitta draws really beautiful, solid character designs. Everyone is distinct while still looking like real people. She’s also great at body language. It’s a treat to read a scene where uptight Nagatsuma answers the phone and talks to his brother. While talking to Hide his body language is loose, but once he hangs up he goes straight back to being his straight-laced self. There are little things like this all throughout the manga, extending not only to the main characters but even nameless extras in the background.

Nitta’s brilliance isn’t just confined to the character designs. Her backgrounds don’t just help set the scene, they are beautiful to look at it in themselves. The layouts are fantastic, never falling into a pattern but always interesting.

It’s rare to find a manga like Otodama. It manages to run several plotlines at once without becoming bloated. The paranormal aspects enhance the detective aspects rather than overshadow them, and the writing is smart. In all my praise of this manga, I almost forgot to mention that Digital Manga did a really good job with the translation and touch up work also. If you are looking for an intelligent and dark manga, I can’t push this one enough.

Review written March 10, 2010 by Shannon Fay
Digital copy provided by Digital Manga for review purposes

Earlier this week, Seattle, Washington indie comics publisher Fantagraphics surprised and delighted many manga fans by announcing that they'll be releasing two new Japanese comics titles in 2010, including a collection of short stories by shojo manga legend, Moto Hagio. This bit of news definitely got my attention, so I fired off a few questions to Gary Groth, Fantagraphics President and Co-Publisher, who shared his thoughts on these new titles.

Due out in September 2010, Drunken Dream includes stories by Hagio "in multiple genres, created between 1971 - 2007." The official press release also goes on to say that this collection "travels through several of Hagio's most revolutionary and poignant tales that span over the years of her lush career." The book will be translated by Matt Thorn, translator and manga scholar who also worked on Four Shoujo Stories (which also featured a short story by Hagio), We Were 11 and A, A' (A, A Prime) , the previously published (but now out of print) titles in English by Hagio.

Most exciting of all, Fantagraphics also announced that both Hagio-sensei and Thorn will be their special guests at San Diego Comic-Con 2010 in July. This marks a rare U.S. appearance by one of manga's most influential creators, so it's a not-to-be-missed event for comics fans.

Read more...

Gary Groth Talks: Fantagraphics' New Manga, Moto Hagio at Comic-Con originally appeared on About.com Manga on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 02:49:05.

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Yes, we've all been waiting with bated breath... Well, guess what? Arata: The Legend volume 1, by Yuu Watase, is finally available for sale!! Reading the story in graphic book format will give you a totally different experience than reading the chapters online. Not to mention the funny bonus manga and cool author notes at the back of the book! I am so, so excited this series is finally out. (All that hard work... Phew!) I think I might head to the Border's near my apartment tomorrow and just admire it on the bookshelf... Hee. :)

By the way, the Yuu Watase interview is super interesting--make sure you check that out too as soon as it's up on the Shonen Sunday website!

— Amy Yu, editor, Arata: The Legend

 

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Author:  Carrie Ryan

Publisher:  Delacort Press

ISBN: 9780385736817

 

May Contain Spoilers

From Amazon:

In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Ouch! There are times that this book is painful to read.  The entire run of the final fifty pages was utter agony.  Things have totally fallen apart for Mary and her intrepid band of weary survivors of a violent zombie attack that sets them on a bone-tiring race to keep ahead of the hordes of Unconsecrated that lumber relentlessly behind them.  There are heart-stopping encounters with the creepy undead, and Mary dreams of surviving long enough to discover whether her mother’s tall tales of an endless ocean are true, or just the wild imaginings of a woman pushed to the brink by the stress of eking out living while surrounded by the constant, overwhelming threat of death.  Death lurks beyond the fence that separates their small village from the terrifying forest, and the fear of a breach haunts everyone.

I love the world building in The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  What a scary place!  A virus has swept the land, turning the infected into mindless, shambling monsters that hunger endlessly for the taste of flesh and blood.  Gah!  I would have gone nuts from the pressure of it all.  I practically did while reading this unique, romantic yarn.  There aren’t many books that manage to weave together a sensuous forbidden love with the quick action and pulse-pounding fear of zombie attacks.  I mean, seriously, who could think of falling in love under the threat of getting eaten?

Mary is one tough cookie, and after her mother dies, she’s abandoned by her brother.  He blames her for their mother’s Return, and he takes it out on her by giving her over to the Sisterhood, a bunch of religious zealots who rule with an iron fist over the village.  Mary doesn’t fit in, because she constantly questions everything.  What was it like before the Return?  Is theirs really the only village left in the whole, entire world?  What caused the Return?  And most pressing for her, is there really an ocean?  How could there be something so vast and free, beyond the horrifying confines of the Forest?

It is Mary’s quest to discover the truth that keeps propelling her forward after the fences are breached and her village is overrun by the Unconsecrated.  It is the only thing that gives her hope amid the death and destruction surrounding her.  Not even the promise of love can slake her thirst for the truth.  She will sacrifice everything she loves to unravel the secrets surrounding the forbidden path and the mysterious letters that mark them.

This book caught me in a grip of suspense, and I couldn’t put it down.  I dreamed about zombies, which was rather unpleasant.  I raced along with Mary, my heart pounding with fear.  I am a wimp and this book scared the crap out of me.  I was disappointed that many of my questions about the Return were left unanswered, so what do you think I did?  I finished this, and immediately pre-ordered The Dead-Tossed Waves from Amazon.  I don’t think my nerves will survive another visit to Mary’s world, but gosh darn it, I need to find out how the virus was unleashed on world.  

Grade: B+

This book was rented from my local library. Support our libraries!

So you’re among the legion of people who are grateful to Fantagraphics for their recently announced manga initiative, to be curated by Matt Thorn. Who isn’t? I know I am. And you may want to express that gratitude by buying something that Fantagraphics has published. If your comics interests rest primarily in titles from Japan, you may not have sampled other works published by Fantagraphics, so here are some books for your consideration:

La Perdida, written and illustrated by Jessica Abel: This series got a really attractive hardcover collection from another publisher, but the five individual issues are handsome objects in their own right. It’s a great story about a young woman who moves to Mexico and finds her romanticized notion of the country very much at odds with the corner of its reality that she inhabits. (My review.)

Escape from “Special”, written and illustrated by Miss Lasko-Gross: This is a frank coming-of-age story about a girl who’s making the adjustment from an experimental private school to the more perilous, less forgiving world of public school. It’s like really bleak shôjo without any bishies, and I liked it quite a bit. (My review.)

Castle Waiting, written and illustrated by Linda Medley: You’ve read this book, haven’t you? If not, good grief, what are you waiting for? It’s absolutely gorgeous and utterly delightful. It takes place in a castle that “becomes a refuge for misfits, outcasts, and others seeking sanctuary.” I think we’re just about due for another collection, so now would be a good time to introduce yourself to Medley’s first collection of Castle Waiting. Of course, it isn’t as though there’s ever a bad time. (My review.)

The Squirrel Mother Stories, written and illustrated by Megan Kelso: Do I need to make any other argument for this book beyond the fact that it has what amounts to Alexander Hamilton slash fiction in it? (My review.)

I did a “Birthday Book” entry on Gilbert Hernandez’s Palomar stories from Love and Rockets, so I’ll be lazy and point you at that instead of cobbling together a new paragraph.

Ageha, the shinigami, has lots of money, and she's got no problem spending it if it will help rescue her sister from Sabato's clutches. Rinne tries to help Ageha in the afterlife. But next to Damashigami, if there's anything Rinne can't stand, it's wasting money!

Read RIN-NE chapter 40 now on The Rumic World.

I noticed that I had three Makoto Tateno titles sitting on my to-be-reviewed shelf and thought I’d share with you my thoughts on them.

9th Sleep (Juné): I’ve never been a big fan of Tateno’s boys’ love fantasy titles (I like her shojo fantasy, though) and 9th Sleep is no exception. The main character is Luke, a young man who discovers that he is the reincarnation of a god, doomed to fight his beloved brother for all eternity. Tateno does seem to love her incest stories, though here it hardly counts since this title is only considered boys’ love because she calls it that. In her author’s note, she acknowledges that it lacks even kissing, so don’t expect Tateno-smut here! The plot is convoluted and odd. We never get enough about the characters to truly care for them, so the meandering story is little more than an excuse for pretty boys to wave swords around. Fantasy fans might enough, but I’d borrow a copy first (or read on eManga rather than pay full price).

How to Capture a Martini (Doki Doki): Naoyuki was in love with his senior classmate Shinobu, but after Shinobu’s graduation he disappeared from Naoyuki’s life completely. Then one day, Naoyuki stumbles across the bar where Shinobu works and becomes determined to win back the heart (and body!) of the man he still loves. This title has one of my new favorite lines in it: “Your head appears to be filled with the perverse liquor of horniness!” Seriously, I spit my drink out when I read it. Overall, though, the main story isn’t much different from Tateno’s other realistic yaoi. There’s a lot of Shinobu and Naoyuki angsting over each other, which usually makes Shinobu run out and have rough, dirty sex with other people. So if you’re looking for smutty romance, this is a pretty good choice. Several bonus stories—one of which is an incest tale with a young uke, just so you’re warned—cap off a worthy read.

Yellow 2, Episode 1 (Juné): I’m not sure what I can really tell you about this one that you don’t already know or assume. Basically Taki and Goh return, meet up with old friends, solve a drug crime, and have very pretty sex. If you aren’t a fan of Yellow, then the $6.95 price for 60 page book might seem steep. But if Yellow was your yaoi gateway drug, as it was for me, the price is a small amount to pay to revisit old friends.

This review is based on complimentary copies supplied by the publisher. All images copyright © Digital Manga Publishing.

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

OK!  Only about a month until I have Peter V. Brett’s The Desert Spear in my greedy little mitts.  I loved the world building of The Warded Man, and after reading Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I am chomping at the bit for this one! Demons are a lot like zombies, in my little universe.  This will be in stores April 13th.

From Amazon:

The sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that arise as the sun sets, preying upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind ancient and half-forgotten symbols of power. These wards alone can keep the demons at bay, but legends tell of a Deliverer: a general—some would say prophet—who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. Those times, if they ever existed, are long past. The demons are back, and the return of the Deliverer is just another myth . . . or is it?

On the graphic novel front, I am looking forward to Twilight’s release, more to see if it creates a wave of interest in other manga and GN properties that have some cross-over appeal.  One thing is a given – if the Twilight graphic novel sells like hotcakes, you can expect other YA titles to end up as comics as well.  The stampede starts March 16th.

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret…

Beautifully rendered, this first installment of Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a must-have for any collector’s library.

Oh, look!  Here’s a title with lots of cross-over appeal for those hoards of screaming Twilight fan girls!  I love this series and I love Yen Press for publishing it.  Can you please take some of your gobs of Twilight profits and develop more talent like Sveltana’s?   

Nightschool Vol 3 will be in stores April 20th.

From Amazon:

Alex has to enroll in the Nightschool to get a Nightpass which allows the wearer to walk the grounds without triggering its protective spells. She is suddenly immersed in the otherworldly environment of nighttime schooling, getting a tour of the magical areas of the school, meeting other students, and attending classes. Alex makes a big splash when she proves too powerful for the class into which she’s originally placed and gets transferred into the elite class taught by Mr. Roi. However, Mr. Roi is off with Daemon trying to figure out what was under the broken seal in Marina’s vision…

What are you waiting on??

For the last few months, Pink Tentacle has been running a fascinating weekly feature on Japanese urban legends. A new installment just went up today, examining rumors that the severed head of rebellious samurai Tairo no Masakado (903 – 940 ...

“U” is for…

What are some of your favorite shôjo and sunjeong titles that start with the letter “U”?

Story by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Art by Shin Yong-Gwan
DMP, 200 pp.
Rating: 16 +

From Hideyuki Kikuchi, the mind behind Yashakiden: The Demon Princess and Vampire Hunter D comes Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist. Megumi is your typical office lady and she leads a fairly nondescript life until one unfortunate night she finds herself the prey of an enigmatic, leather-clad, seemingly inhuman, whip-wielding woman by the name of Inran and her associates. Stumbling through the dark alleys of a popular Korean shopping district, Megumi stumbles across the one person who can save her: Akamushi Fujiwara, the Red Spider Exorcist himself!

I have to admit that it’s the kind of setup that I find hard to ignore. Someone with special knowledge, skills or powers helping people who inadvertently stumble into a world beyond their ken is just a premise that I’m a big fan of, ranging from Kikuchi’s other works like Vampire Hunter D, to Mail, to American takes on the idea such as Midnight, Mass and more. That said, I can’t help but feel that unlike those, there’s something incredibly cliché and derivative about Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist.

At times the manga almost feels like a checklist of Kikuchi’s clichés and tropes. Enigmatic pretty boy protagonist? Check. Helpless damsel in distress? Check. Supernatural beings threatening sexual assault? Check! But again, unlike Kikuchi’s other works, which often contain these tropes and can still be quite fun and entertaining, this just comes off feeling okay, maybe even a bit bland in a certain paint-by-numbers way. Maybe it’s because we spend most of our time with Megumi, who in turn spends most of her time scared and wondering why this is happening to her. She’s hardly an engaging character and I never really found myself caring about what happened to her one way or another, though admittedly the mystery does give the events of the manga a slightly melancholy tone in retrospect.

Maybe it was Shin Yong-Gwan’s artwork. While it’s perfectly acceptable and serviceable, I never really felt like it clicked with the story. Everything is depicted clearly without being overly stylized. While this does make the few action scenes easy to follow, it also does nothing to encourage an atmosphere of mystery or horror. The inclusion of a few, awkward, chibified, comedic overreactions certainly doesn’t help in this area, either.

All that said, he does a rather good job at depicting Akamusha himself. The poses, the clothes and more all lend him a certain level of inhuman grace. When he leaps from a stage and seemingly floats down to protect Megumi, it really does feel like it was an effortless movement and that he’s floating calmly downwards rather than leaping defensively to her aid. On the other hand, Yong-Gwan’s monster designs suffer, so when several people turn into giant centipedes with human faces, the end result is something that looks a bit blander and sillier than it probably should have.

Despite the odd fit with the artwork and the cliché-riddled story, I still found myself enjoying Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist. It’s really hard to explain, but with regards to the formulaic story, well, it seems to be a winning recipe for Kikuchi, so why mess with success? As for the artwork, like I said above, there’s nothing inherently bad about it and there are a few shining moments, as well. So, while there’s nothing new or groundbreaking here, it still manages to be a fairly entertaining and quick read in the horror vein.

Volume one of Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist is available now.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

At PWCW, I talked to Dan Hipp and Peter David, the team behind the new Ben 10 graphic novel, as well as Del Rey editor Tricia Pasternak, about the new book and their stragegy for Cartoon Network properties. Also at PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha talks to Vertical’s Ed Chavez about Twin Spica, their sci-fi series that will launch in May.

The Comics Journal is publishing Matt Thorn’s interview with Moto Hagio (part 1, part 2), which first appeared in the shoujo manga issue of The Comics Journal. Also, Dirk Deppey answers some questions about Fantagraphics’ newly announced manga line, which is edited by Thorn and is launching with a volume of Hagio’s short manga.

David Welsh looks over this week’s new releases at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Today’s course of the Moveable Manga Feast includes Kate Dacey’s review of Shirley and Matt Blind’s commentary on a seeminly anachronistic biplane in Emma.

David Brothers explores Viz’s SigIKKI.com website at Comics Alliance.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber has some Tezuka license requests at All About Manga.

At Manic About Manga, Kris gets a detailed explanation of why vol. 5 of breath has been delayed.

Lori Henderson’s suggestion for avoiding scanlations: Learn Japanese.

News from Japan: Ryukishi07, the creator of Higurashi When They Cry, has a new horror series in the works.

Reviews: Pop over to Okazu this morning for Erica Friedman’s explanation of vol. 3 of Lucky Star and why she likes it better than the other volumes. Good stuff.

Connie on vol. 18 of Hikaru no Go (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of I Hate You More Than Anyone (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean T. Collins on vols. 6-18 of Monster (Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat)
Connie on vol. 15 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Prospero’s Manga)
Emily on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Eduardo Zacarias on vol. 47 of Naruto (Animanga Nation)
Greg McElhatton on One Piece: East Blue 1-2-3 (omnibus edition) (Read About Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Pluto (I Reads You)
Deb Aoki on Ristorante Paradiso (About.com)
Leroy Douresseaux on Ristorante Paradiso (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on Ristorante Paradiso (Kuriousity)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Back to Books)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of Time and Again (Manga Recon)
D.M. Evans on Utahime (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 10 of Wild Act (Slightly Biased Manga)

I was reading the comments on this post at Anime Vice.  Most of the debate over justification for scanlations didn’t interest me, as I’ve seen them all before, but one comment did sort of bother me.  Fellow Manga Village reviewer and blogger John Thomas had joined the conversation and made a simple statement.  “Why not just learn to read Japanese?”  It was the response to this that made me go “Huh?”

I have to confess, that is the one answer I loathe seeing in scanlation debates, and it appears every time.

He goes on to give excuses of no time, too expensive, too difficult, etc., which then steers the conversation toward learning Japanese.

Now, I can almost be sympathetic to this argument, in the same way you can be almost pregnant.  25 years ago, when I first got the notion of learning Japanese, it was difficult to find materials for learning Japanese.  Bookstores had next to nothing in there reference sections, the local colleges only offered a course at the 4 year, and the only self-study courses I could ever find would be at Japanese bookstores in the ethnic parts of Los Angeles, Torrance, and Fountain Valley.  And they were expensive!  It was something that wasn’t a viable option, especially when I was then getting married and starting a family.

With the advent of the internet however, resources, both for a fee and for free are available in abundance!  There are websites that offer courses online, podcasts to help with pronunciation, and tons of sites with vocabulary, dictionaries, practically everything one would need to start learning.  There are even DS games!  It’s so easy to access so many resources now, that anyone with the will can try to learn to read and speak Japanese.

If you are really serious about wanting to read “authentic” and unedited manga, then learning Japanese is the only real option you have, and complaining about someone bringing it up is just asinine.  Is it going to be easy?  No.  Would learning in a total immersion environment be ideal? Yes, but as was pointed out, this isn’t always possible.  Does that mean you should write the whole option off as nonviable?  Hardly.  There might not be any instant gratification in trying to learn Japanese, but sense of accomplishment is so much greater.

Title: Aa Itoshi no Bancho-sama (My Darling! Miss Bancho) Author: FUJIKATA Mayu JAPAN ISBN# 978-4-592-18854-3 USA ISBN# 978-1-40122055-6 Japan: Hana to Yume Comics, 2006 USA: CMX Comics, 2010 I was very happy when I heard that this series was going to be licensed, because it is a fun and sweet little story that deserves more attention. I own this series in Japanese, [...]

[photo by VoidMare, Tokyo Scum Brigade]

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