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Review: Neon Genesis Evangelion Shinji Raising Project (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Osamu Takahashi
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2009

Synopsis: “Stunning, hot-headed Asuka Langley Soryu has been friends with Shinji Ikari since they were little. And she always sort of assumed they’d stay together – until the day the beautiful, brilliant Rei Ayanami showed up in class! When Shinji starts to get curious about Rei, Asuka needs to figure out if she wants to be just friends with Shinji, or something more. But why are so many people keeping an eye on these relationships – people like homeroom teacher Misato, school nurse Ritsuko, and Shinji’s mother – NERV’s chief scientist, Yui Ikari…?”

An alternative universe take on the classic Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji Raising Project is a mixed bag of new ideas for old characters. Stripping them of their mechs and mental-drama, Shinji and co instead battle the trials of waking up for school on-time, reminiscing their childhood, avoiding those pesky trip-into-boobs potholes and momentarily questioning what their loving parents do for a living.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Dark Horse, Manga, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Review: Rampage (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, May 3, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Yunosuke Yoshinaga
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: February 2010

Synopsis: “China: 184 A.D., a time of great turmoil. A young drifter named Zhang Fei stumbles upon a slaughtered village and encounters the volunteer army of Liu Bei. He joins them in time to help in the defense of a walled city. But later, while attempting to save the life of a little girl, he’s struck by an arrow and thrown off a cliff. Rescued by two wizards, he is revived and given great powers. But the price could cost him his very soul!”

Coasting the countryside in search of his next meal, Zhang Fei enlists himself into a volunteer army fighting against the tyranny of another group’s assaults on local villages. But, when an adorable young girl destined for continued sidekick status is in peril, he takes an arrow strike that puts him on death’s doorstep. Before he knows it, Zhang Fei awakes with the arrow missing and a spear piercing his chest, now making him the vessel for a power he typically can’t control. So what’s a guy to do now?

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: CMX, Manga

Review: Gon (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, May 2, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Masashi Tanaka
Publisher: CMX
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2007

Synopsis: “The little dinosaur with the big bite and even bigger attitude returns, this time to CMX! Long before the dawn of man, savage dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Now, only one remains — the smallest, wildest of them all! GON marches across the wilderness defending the friendly and furry from the mean and hungry. Told entirely without words, these stories highlight the amazingly detailed art and visual storytelling genius of creator Masashi Tanaka.”

Gon, from what can be gathered from the first volume, is a series of self-contained chapters about its title character – the stern-eyed, do-what-he-wants-when-he-wants dinosaur, Gon. A manga series with no sound effects and no text is going to seem a little odd to readers at first but don’t let yourself be too thrown off. A little change is good and in the case of Gon, it’s also really refreshing.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: CMX, Manga

Review: Bamboo Blade (Vol. 04)

By Andre Paploo on Friday, April 30, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Author: Masashiro Totsuka
Manga-ka: Aguri Igarashi
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “When word of Kojiro’s angry outburst at the supermarket gets around to the chairman of the school board, Kojiro’s future at Muroe High is in jeopardy! But there’s really nothing the kendo club can do to help…or is there? Surely the principal wouldn’t dismiss the coach of the kendo team that won the National Tournament?!”

Our technical protagonist Kojiro runs into trouble, while the team begins the search for the next member of the Kendo club. Totsuka and Igarashi continue to deliver the goods as we encounter even more nostalgic school days bliss, the horrors of being a newly employed recent college graduate, and the horrors hidden in a teenage girls’ relatively short past.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Bamboo Blade, Manga, Yen Press

Content or Packaging – Yen Plus Goes Digital

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 29, 2010

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Last week Yen Press announced on their website the future of their monthly manga anthology , Yen Plus – their upcoming July 2010 release will be the last issue that Yen Plus sees in print. The magazine, which has seen serialized chapters of some of Yen Press’s most popular titles including Soul Eater and Maximum Ride, has been in print for two years.

Yen Press does plan to continue the magazine online however, the details of which still pending. It’s too little surprise, however, that this comes at the displeasure of many readers of the magazine.

Looking at the upsides of this decision, the magazine going digital allows it to be available to a broader audience many of whom may not have been able to receive it in print. It also makes getting the magazine both on-time and simultaneously with other readers a controllable possibility. There’s also the possibility, one could hope, that this will allow some new content that they weren’t able to include when also dealing with the costs of printing.

But the question many have been wondering – will these now-magazine readers pay for this future-online edition? The overwhelming response from fans after even the quickest look at forums, blogs and even Yen Press’s own website seems to be no. (Read more for whats, whys and what-ifs under the cut)

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Categories: Editorials, News
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Review: Oninagi (Vol. 02)

By Andre Paploo on Wednesday, April 28, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Manga-ka: Akira Ishida
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: January 2010

Synopsis: “Average schoolgirl Nanami’s life is now anything but average! Having learned she’s the descendent of a powerful demon princess and gained herself three demonic minions – Tsurugi, Kusabi, and Mori – the poor girl has no time to let it all sink in… because she still has to go to class! And as if that’s not bad enough, Tomotaka, the demon slayer who wanted Nanami’s head on a silver platter when they first met, no longer sees Nanami as a demon to slay; now she’s the bait to lure in other demons!”

Leaping into the second volume for my first exposure to the franchise, I encountered a fairly standard manga representative of current trends in Japan, though not one without its charms. OniNagi stands solidly in the realm of myth-based manga, playing with the concept of the Oni to give us yet another demon slaying manga, but mixing things up slightly by making the protagonist a demon of sorts herself.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 15)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, April 26, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: CLAMP
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “Kimihiro is having some wish-granting success with his very first customer, but his first efforts are interrupted by a disturbing dream of witch Yuko vanishing forever. Even people Yuko has helped are saying they’ve never heard of her. Too bad there is no such thing as “just a dream” in Kimihiro’s universe…”

Easily being what could become one of the most memorable volumes of the series to date, the fifteenth volume of XXXHolic may not always be entirely coherent with its continued crossover calamities and abstract concepts, but like any volume of this generally artistic gem, once the ball gets rolling, prepared to be bowled over by it.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: CLAMP, Del Rey, Manga

Review: Physical Attraction

By Shannon Fay on Wednesday, April 21, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Tatsumi Kaiya
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: January 2010

Synopsis: “I first met the cool and handsome Narusawa in college. Interested, I approached and said to him half-jokingly,”Let me do you next time.” …that very same day, he was the one who ended up doing me! Then, just when I thought I’d talked myself into believing ours was a purely physical relationship, I came to a sudden realization-I was in love with Narusawa! But I’m always the one calling to see him, and never the other way around. The booty-call has been our only connection-so how can I tell him,”I love you,” now…?! –Kurata”

Physical Attraction is a series of short yaoi stories, ranging from college love to work place drama to a bit of political intrigue. Most of the stories use some kind of boys love cliché as a starting point, but even when the stories are unoriginal they are still solidly told.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, June, Manga

Review: Yotsuba&! (Vol. 08)

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 20, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “The ranch wasn’t fun, huh? But maybe festivals will be less funner?! (Yotsuba’s playing opposites, ha-ha!) Yotsuba got uninvited to Fuuka’s school for a culr…a clart…a cultural festival! And she didn’t promise Yotsuba there wouldn’t be CAKE! Yotsuba doesn’t want a cake as biiiiiig as Jumbo, nope!! You wouldn’t either, now would you?! Ohhh! And then, and then! There ISN’T gonna be a great big festival for the whole town to go to! And Yotsuba isn’t gonna work hard and help out there with Ena and Fuuka, nuh-uh! Not even for candy, nooooo way!”

For whatever reason this eighth volume of Yotsuba&! didn’t quite hit the same chord as those recently before it – and believe it that in a series as consistently entertaining as this it’s difficult to find specific flaws. Volume seven though was easily one of the strongest to date so volume eight does come on the heels of some tough-to-beat material. Nevertheless, this is Yotsuba&! so the jokes are still funny and the antics still loveably quirky, even if they didn’t seem to hit those consistent laugh-out-loud levels.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Kiyohiko Azuma, Manga, Yen Press

Review: Hero Tales (Vol. 02)

By Andre Paploo on Sunday, April 18, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Manga-ka: Hiromu Arakawa
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2010

Synopsis: “With the Imperial Army in hot pursuit, Housei leads Taitou and the others on a little detour to the home of his master. But the “mean old devil woman” he had described turns out to be nothing of the sort. Master Kouei is a veritable font of wisdom; in addition to knowing a more covert route into the capital, she is well versed in the legends of the Hokushin-Tenkun. There is much she can teach Taitou as he struggles to control the overwhelming power of his star, but will she have enough time to impart her wisdom before tragedy strikes?”

Hiromu Arakawa brings us yet more of her delightful side project, Hero Tales. She moves the story along at a brisk pace as Taitou meets more of the other destined stars, and we get to take in more of the lush surroundings of this mystical version of ancient China, along with its harsh realities of poverty and corruption. Arakawa excels at creating a fun cast and playing with readers emotions, similar to her work in Full Metal Alchemist, while also creating a compelling view of the lives and scenery of ancient China.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press