Author: Saiko Takaki
Manga-ka: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Publisher: Digital Manga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: May 2009

Synopsis: “The vampire hunter know only as D is now on a race against time—this time, to hunt down a vampire lord who’s kidnapped a daughter of a wealthy village elder. D must also contend with a notorious band of bounty hunters also hired to track down the abductor, and hell-bent on eliminating anyone or anything in their way of their bounty. D is faced with obstacles every corner he turns…can he reach the damsel in distress before she becomes one of the undead?”

Many old-school anime fans have had numerous exposures to Hideyuki Kikuchi, whose works have often been adapted into anime and manga, from Darkside Blues to Demon City Shinjuku. Curiously, one of his most well known works only received a manga adaptation recently, with this work created in part for the domestic market from Digital Manga.

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Project X: Seven Eleven – Tadashi Ikuta/Naomi Kimura
Published by Digital Manga Publishing

Project X is a series of books showcasing true-life stories of Japanese business success. The premise doesn’t exactly strike as something immediately interesting yet it was this exact train of thought that left for me curious about the set when I saw Project X: Seven Eleven sitting on the shelf.

For those who haven’t come across one, Seven Eleven is a popular chain of convenience stores that originated in America. This book begins with telling the story of two Japanese men who diligently work towards bringing the American convenience store to Japan with hopes of sending a spark of new life through the floundering Japanese market.

The whole book read to me much like a children’s storybook would: there is no real climax in event and everything is narrated in a very set-pace manner. The catch of the story is the determination of the two men whose focus and self-sacrifice, along with the rest of their eventual 15-staff team, drives the story with a promotion of teamwork and integrity. You can’t help but keep your fingers crossed for their success and continued reading hinges on how much you care for the characters achieving their goals.

Personally, I could’ve cared less about the success of the store itself, with much of the book’s first half dedicated to people telling the duo how futile and useless the effort was, and yet, while not finding it as inspiring per-say as the book’s introduction would’ve hoped, I was just attached enough to the plight of the people involved to follow through to the end of the book.

Project X: Seven Eleven does a good job showcasing the dedication that brought Seven Eleven to flourish successfully in Japan, and going at it from a human angle that well evokes empathy, gave it a particular charm (along with some interesting back-and-forth relations between Japan and America). Unfortunately, its value as entertainment suffers from that same premise, and though undoubtedly more interesting than reading a textbook on the subject, the whole thing still falls flat on the fun scale.

Review written May 13, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book borrowed from Halifax Regional Public Libraries

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